Sunday, October 23, 2011

Dedication Ceremony & Pagan Pride Day

I finally did it! Yay! Sorry i haven't posted anything in a while, been super busy in trying to catch up with my college assignments and getting back into the schedule that is college after my short break. During my break, during a waning moon I finally had my dedication ceremony to my now Matron goddess Hekate. There is a funny story behind all this actually. Now, as some of you may know, I have been practicing Wicca for about 6 or 7 years, give or take a couple of months. Now, since the  beginning of my practice, I was interested in the goddess Hekate. Though, unfortunately, like many others before and behind me, I did not do enough research into her and went by her misconceptions which shied me away from her. Perhaps maybe it was also because I was not ready for her at such a young age.

Either way, my first matron goddess was Cerridwen, then I moved on to Bastet, Brigid and now Hekate. For the past half year, I have been hearing a calling from the goddess ever since I watched Pagyptsian's video about the Right of her Sacred Fire to honor Hekate. Instantly a light went up in me and my interest was sparked again. The reason why I haven't dedicated myself to her until now is because I was still unsure if I was ready or not, though, by  now you can definitely say that I am!

My dedication ceremony was exquisite and wonderful. It involved the Rite of Her Sacred Fire among a few other things that I put together and made up to my own liking and comfort. The connection I feel with my Mother goddess is so strong, pure and secure, that I feel almost invincible in it. I feel very protected by her, seeing as she is a protectress of women and children, and I feel so intune and in harmony with who I am as a person because Hekate helps us to accept all aspects of ourselves. She also helps us to be less judgmental of others, to judge justly and try to see things from the perspective of others. She also helps us to accept change and the darker parts of ourselves.

Though, as a goddess, Hekate is not for the feint of heart. She is very strong and powerful, though she hasn't been forceful to me. She has been sort of distant, but more as an over seer who is watching their person, making sure they are okay and will occasionally nudge them in the right direction.

Today I went to the Roanoke Pagan Pride day in Roanoke, Virginia. It was absolutely amazing! It was the first time I have ever been to a Pagan festival, mainly because there are not any where I live and this one was the first one at Roanoke! Because of this, it was kind of small but enjoyable none the less!

I bought many, beautiful and wonderful things, such as a citrine necklace with many citrine stones! I also bought a new mortar and pestle, some incense, a dream catcher with a moonstone in it, tongs for my charcoal tablet as well as a scrying mirror! I am so excited to use it! If you click on the GIF under my banner, it will take you to my YouTube channel and you can see the many wonderful things I bought yesterday!

Another thing I would like to mention is the amazing experience I had. The woman I bought the mortar and pestle from is also a psychic and I told her I was interested in buying some of her spell candles. She said they were two for 1$, so I thought, why not? She asked me what colors I was going to pick and the first one I picked was the white one and she said "Really?" and so I asked her what colors she would pick for me she picked the white one and a light blue one. She said she picked those two because when she was around me, those were the energies she was receiving for me. The white being purity and the light blue being healing. I thought that was pretty amazing!

All in all, I had a wonderful time with my best friend and sister, Mandy. Unfortunately we did not get to join any rituals, but that's alright. We had fun. :)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Faerie Rocks, Thoreau House and Nature!

So, I finally managed to get some time to walk in the trails in the woods on my campus. I am very glad I did. Nature is absolutely beautiful! I think, as a Pagan or Wiccan or of any spirituality that involves harmony with nature and the things around you, taking the time to become in tune with the wind, the sun, sky, trees, rocks and all of nature around you is very important. I feel that, in a way in strengthens your bonds around everything around you, making you a part of the cycle and renewing your brother or sisterhood with the Divine in nature. Personally, I never feel more alive, more calm and spiritually sound than when I am in nature, in the loving embrace of the Goddess and God. Not only do I believe that nature is the embodiment of the Goddess and God, but also Divine Spirits. I believe that each rock, tree, stream and plant has a spirit of its own, that adds to the collective spider web of energy that we are all connected by. Saying that all things have a spirit within them, I believe that we should respect everything in nature, including the rocks. The rocks are part of the earth, the body of the Goddess and God and therefore are their children as much as we are. This goes the same for the plants and trees. I consider them my brothers and sisters in my earth walk.

I found a lot of cool things on my walk yesterday, not only did I find the Faerie Rocks again, which are a group of really large rocks in a small clearing that are covered in lichen and have a magical aura and ancient spirits, but I also found a lot of really neat flora, like this mushroom for example. I have never seen mushrooms this large or this tall anywhere! They had very cute, and resilient spirits within them and out of respect, I did not trample them. Instead, I took some pictures and thanked them for their beauty. There were little red ones too that seemed to be guarding the hole of some sort of little animal. Around the Faerie Rocks, I found the mushroom that is shown in the picture, and near by was a yellow, old and decaying mushroom. I thought this was very interesting because it reminded me of the cycle of the earth and of life in general, the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The decaying mushroom symbolized the dead and dying, but by decaying it is releasing nutrients into the soil, giving way for the life of newer mushrooms and other flora and giving birth to new plant life, such as the mushroom in this picture here. It is really amazing when you stop to think about it, relating Mysteries to nature around you really puts everything in a perspective that you can appreciate.


At the Faerie Rocks that I mentioned before, I meditated and gave an offering to the Goddess and God and the Divine in general, as you can see in this picture. Earlier in the day I went to the bank and they were handing out apples, so I thought. What a good thing to use as an offering! Now the Faerie Rocks, at least to me, feel absolutely ancient. They are very large and are covered in lichen and moss. They are in a cluster of 7 or so rocks in a small clearing and they just emanate their earthiness when you step into the clearing. I feel like the Veil is very thin here, because I could feel the magic in the air and strongly feel the spirits of each of these stones. When I was sitting there, eating my apple, I could not help but feel calm and relaxed, it turns out it was a very good place for grounding one's self. I feel that whatever worries I had, at least when I was there, were washed away and I was left with a sense of calmness and peace that went down deep in my bones. This is one of the things that I love about being Wiccan, it has opened me up to everything around me and help me to realize the connection that everything has. I mean, before I found Wicca, I thought that we were all connected, but never on this level. I have never felt so spiritually deep before I found my path, and I am glad I did. So after eating my apple and meditating in this sacred space, I found a very pointy and sharp rock that was the size of my palm to carve a pentacle into the surface of the apple. I view my offerings to the Goddess and God as a token of my love, devotion, affection and a promise to stay in harmony with nature and live true to myself. I carved the pentacle onto the apple as a sort of 'seal' to the promise that I have made to the Divine and myself, to protect nature and to stay true to who I am.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

First Ritual with Hekate

On the night of the dark moon, I finally did a sort of connecting/connection ritual with Hekate. Since the start of my Wiccan path and way of life six years ago Hekate has been in my mind. Unfortunately, I was one of those who took the misconceptions of her to heart and I pushed her from my mind as an idea to be my Matron goddess and instead, went onto Cerridwen and many other deities as my matrons.


I have been through Cerridwen, Bastet and Brigit, all of which are beautiful goddesses who have helped me become the person I am today. It wasn't until recently when I watched Pagyptsian's video on youtube where she took part in a ritual called 'The Rite of her Sacred Fire' which is considered a dedication ceremony to Hekate in which you open your heart, mind and soul to her and banish your fears and doubt from your heart. Unfortunately we are not allowed to burn candles or incense in the apartments on campus, so I had one battery-light candle that I used and a flower that was given to me that just reminded me of Hekate. It was a wonderful experience because I could feel her with me. I felt that not only is she guiding me with her torch, but also that she is burning my doubts and fears away. I feel I can put my burdens in her hands and she can help me sort through things and banish the parts of myself that are a hindrance to my spirituality and me growing as a Wiccan and as a Witch.
I am really glad I have done this, and I can't wait to dedicate myself to her after I get to know her more and more, she is really helping me to get to know the light and dark sides of myself and accept myself as a person, she also helps me to see from the perspectives of others and to judge justly. Not to mention she is a protector of women and children and so when I have to walk across campus at night, I ask for her protection.
Brightest Blessings. :)