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Pagan / Wiccan/ Heathen, Adult Beginner to Intermediate

This is the season for spring cleaning. Outdoor tasks may include removing dead foliage from the flowerbeds and planting springtime blossoms. Getting rid of the old and decayed to make way for the new. Indoors, spring cleaning means shaking dusty rugs, organizing closets, doing all the chores that have piled up over the winter. What a perfect time to clean out our personal altar, family sacred space, or group temple.

Material objects have a way of accumulating inside the altar cabinet – the wax from half-burned ritual candles, flyers from events we've attended, pretty colored stones and feathers gifted to us by Nature. Scrawled pieces of paper containing helpful spells, herbal recipes and holiday rites copied from a friendly witch. Along with a lot of dust, cat hair and broken objects. During the annual spring cleaning , Marda Stew-Wort took the opportunity to repair her broken ceremonial tools, organize magickal items, file her papers, and generally neaten up her place of worship. Some ideas for cleaning your ritual space: • Gently wash altar cloths, prayer flags, and other fabric items in castile soap or a gentle herbal cleaner. Hang them to dry in the spring sunshine. You don't need a huge clothesline; a sunny balcony or the back of a chair will do. Put down an old towel on furniture and the floor to prevent water damage. • File all of the recipes, flyers, collected rituals and spells in manila envelopes. Tiny scraps of paper in your clergy person's own handwriting can be glued to a larger piece of construction paper, or plain white paper with holes punched to fit a notebook. Truly ambitious witches may wish to create a scrapbook of their paper goods, or add them to their community grimoire. Techno-Pagans may wish to copy everything onto their Disk of Shadows. • Repair and maintain your ritual items – wood glue the broken blessing bowl, file down the rough edge of the chalice, silver polish the charms and ritual blades. Dust off the statues and brush a new coat of paint on anything that has faded. An incantation or speaking your intent is appropriate while preparing ceremonial items – "Help me to use this object in my Art" or "Bless this censor, keep it safe and filled with the energies of the Air." Polish wooden objects with lemon oil to preserve them. This works on the exterior of drinking horns, as well. • Discard any herbs that are more than one year old, if they are to be ingested, or any votive herbs that are discolored, sticky or moldy (yuck!) or so dry that they are papery. If an herb has lost all scent, it's probably no good. Essential oils that have separated, gotten smelly or otherwise "gone over" can be used to freshen drains. Herbs and oils can be composted, or scatter them outdoors in an appropriate place. • How is the harrow or altar itself? A coat of varnish or paint might be warranted. Be sure to put down drop cloths or newspapers, and open windows for adequate ventilation. Scrape away old paint, sand rough places, wash the surfaces. Spray varnish and paint can be useful, but messy – perhaps a project for outdoors on a sunny afternoon. • We often hold on to burned candles that are really only little nubs of wax. Marda Stew-Wort uses the wax to make new ritual candles, which contain all of the energies from the celebrations of the past year. Cotton candle wicking can be obtained at a crafts store, and empty soup cans or thin waxed-cardboard milk or juice cartons may be found in the the recycle bin. Wash them, and use vegetable oil on the interior of the container if you intend to remove the candle. Measure a length of wick to fit inside the length of the container, then wrap an end around a pencil and lay it across the container top to hold the wick. Carefully melt down the candle wax in a double boiler, on a stovetop with a fire extinguisher nearby. Bits of wick can be removed with an old metal fork. When the wax is liquid, let it cool just a bit, then pour it into the containers. Let the wax harden, cut the wick. The containers can be decorated with contact paper, or glue on colored glass, shells or pretty stones. Permanent markers can be used to draw designs or sacred symbols on waxed-cardboard candle containers. OR fill a baking pan with sand. Make indentations or large holes in the sand. You can line these indentations with pretty stones, seashells, glass roundels, aquarium rocks, and other natural items that will not burn or melt. Again, use a pencil to keep the candle wick in the right place, and pour wax into the sandy indentation. Let the wax harden fully and remove. The stones and shells will adhere to the wax – and so will some of the sand. Brush off loose particles and use the lovely candle for your next ceremony. • If the ritual object is too badly damaged, it may be time to retire it. Compost natural items, safely burn combustibles such as paper, wood or feathers, while offering a prayer of thanks for their service. Please don't burn plastic or any object with a chemical coating. Any object that can find a new life could be saved – ratty Tarot cards re-used as talismans or bookmarks, shabby cups or wands placed in an outdoor temple. Or let the kids use these for their own magickal play. A statuette that is no longer fit for an indoor altar may look stunning in the flowerbed, surrounded by colored stones and seashells. Some items can be buried in the garden or backyard … while speaking a prayer, you may wish to completely crush the broken plaster statue or hammer flat a metal chalice which can then return to the elements. Be wise and safe in disposing of ritual tools… broken glass or plastic objects might have to be discarded at the recycle center.

While Marda Stew-Wort is doing her annual spring cleaning, she makes sure to perform a cleansing of household energy, as well. Wash your floors with peppermint oil or pine-scented cleaners in mop water. Wash windows with vinegar added to the water. Smudge your home with sage, asperge your office with droplets of water, anoint your ritual tools with sacred oils. Place uncooked eggs in the corners of rooms to absorb negativity, then discard the eggs in an appropriate place outside. Or place containers of sea salt in the middle of the room, then use the salt to scour the sinks. Open the windows and doors and use a besom to sweep disquieting energies away. Place quartz crystals in windows, or sun-catchers to refresh your home's sense of welcome.

While we are sprucing up our material space, e may also choose to perform a spiritual spring cleaning. Focus on an image that means "clean" to you… a burbling spring, a fresh breeze, a clothesline filled with sweet-scented laundry. Take a ritual bath with lavender or hyssop herb. Some metaphysical stores sell unique soaps and oils, just for the bath, and candles and incense designed to cleanse the body and personal space and refresh the spirit. Meditate to quiet your mind and soothe your soul. Eat foods that represent purity – berries, milk, honey, whole-grain breads, fresh greens. Drink lots of water. And now that everything in your home is sparkling clean, relax and enjoy the season of springtime.

Clairvoyance means 'clear seeing', which is self explanatory. When you see something or someone clairvoyantly, you are seeing them as clear as you are seeing these words written on the paper. Clairvoyance is a gift that many psychics and mediums use to produce evidence that our souls live on eternally after death.

So how can one learn to develop the gift of clairvoyance? The simple answer, and the one that most people will advise you to do, is sit and meditate on a daily basis. You can learn to use your clairvoyant gift by opening up your chakras. The following exercise shows you how you can do this.

You must calm yourself for this quick exercise which I am going to give you. Make sure your feet are firmly and comfortably on the floor, imagine roots growing out the soles of your feet. Going deeper and deeper into the earth's core. When you feel they are deep and firm, imagine white light pulsating from the core, all up the roots, through the soles of your feet, until you feel energy gathered in your legs. You are now grounded.

Next imagine a red lotus flower at the base of your spine, imagine it opening and showing how radiant it is, as it opens more and more, the red light gets brighter until there is the brightest red beam of light and energy you have ever seen. Now move up to just below your naval and imagine an orange flower opening up, as if its springtime, the light gets brighter and brighter. Now just above your naval a beautiful bright yellow flower starts opening. The colour is so bright its almost blinding, yet it is so delicate. A green flower starts opening now at your heart chakra, which is located in the middle of your chest. It has a gentleness about it as it opens and as it is opening its as if you can sense spring time, the freshly cut grass, the delicate feeling of the grass beneath your feet.

Your throat chakra begins opening now to reveal a beautiful cool azure blue. This is located on your throat. And now the cool blue changes shade to a become a deeper blue, more of a turquoise, and as the flower opens more and more it gets deeper, until it is a royal blue colour.

Your third eye is starting to wake up and want to open. So the gorgeous purple flower starts opening, just like a rose does in "Beauty and the Beast". You start to feel energy rush into you in between your two eyes. You realise that this is your psychic eye opening up. When the purple flower has opened and there is the most blinding purple light beaming from your third eye, you begin to imagine a fountain of white light above your head, coming from your crown. The flower opens and the most blinding light pours out of your crown and begins to fall like rain all down and around you, enveloping you in this protective energy.

The white light and energy that was stored in your legs from before begins to rise up through your body, passing each chakra, pouring more energy into it until it reaches your crown. It then flows like a fountain until it has enveloped you completely. Then imagine a purple light surrounding you about 2 or 3 inches thick. See the white surrounding you and then on the outside this beautiful purple light. Your chakras are now open and you are completely protected.

You can visit me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FAEWhisperer and of course catch me and follow me on my blog www.TheWitchInside.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Try to balance an egg or a broom on end.  Different theories say this can be done at any time of the year; others believe that it can only be done on the Equinoxes.  Use raw, slightly older hen’s eggs in a medium or large size.

Take a walk around your yard, neighborhood or a public park.  Look for signs of spring including buds, returning migratory birds, emerging flowers, amphibians such as frogs, insects, and greening grass or plants.

Plant seeds indoors for your garden, for a container on the patio, or herbs for the kitchen.  Look up the moon’s astrological place and its meaning online to find the best time to plant.

Twist wire into a spiral cone shape.  Fill it with yarn scraps, dryer lint, hair clippings, straw, shredded paper, and other materials that birds can use to build their nests.  Hang it from a bush outdoors.  Birds using your hair to build nests is good luck.  Look up local birds online, or get a library book about birds.

If you live in an area with spring peepers, listen to see how many “froggie sounds” you can count.  Read about frogs, toads, newts and other amphibians online or in a book.
Go outdoors and smell the fresh spring scent!

Make a nest for the Easter bunny – you don’t have to buy a basket. Decorate a box or older basket with markers, construction paper, ribbons, silk flowers, raffia, and other materials.  Fill with shredded paper, which is better for the environment than plastic “Easter grass”, or use a pretty handkerchief.  Fill with healthy snacks such as oranges, craisins, muffins, peanuts or crackers.

Carry an umbrella and walk in the rain.

Look online for recipes to color eggs naturally.  Onion skins make yellow, beets make pink or purple.

Spring is a good time for planning, making vows, or renewing your New Year’s resolutions.  Write a list of ideas, work out a fitness program, start a diet, set aside time to meditate, think of ways you’d like to improve your surroundings.  Do a ritual to bring your new desires into manifestation.

Set a sacred chalice or cup outdoors during the spring rains to collect water for a ceremony, a blessing bath, or for cleansing an object or aspurging (sprinkling) your household.
Learn about other cultures’ holidays.  Read about Holi, Nowruz, Purim, the Matronalia, Easter, Passover, Eledumare and other springtime festivals.

Make an “Oestara Bonnet”.  Find a white hat (easier to decorate, but any color will do).  Straw hat, baseball cap, fedora, or any hat.  Add ribbons, fabric bows, silk flowers, hair clips, and color with fabric markers or fabric paint.  Draw sacred symbols, astrological signs, flowers, rabbits, eggs, ducklings, frogs and other springtime symbols.  Wear for ritual or just for a lift in your spirits.

Drink citrus punch with mixed with ginger ale.
Go to garden supply or farm supply stores that have baby chickens and ducklings.  You don’t have to buy anything… just watching is fun and educational.  How many varieties of chicks or ducks can you find?  Go to a park or animal exhibit where you can feed the ducks and geese.
Fly a kite!

Mud puddle ceremony:  Think of several situations, people, and things that are no longer beneficial to your life.  Find a really sloppy, muddy, wet mud puddle.  While endeavoring to “harm none”, release negative thoughts, situations, baneful thinking, unpleasant people (thoughts of them, or their effects on your life) into the mud.  Reaffirm that you wish no harm on any person… you just want their problems and “mud” to be released from your life.  Ask that the difficulties and negativity stick to the puddle, and that the problematical situations evaporate.

Spring foods include chives, tender greens, cress, peas, onions, new potatoes, and of course, eggs.   Add some of these to your lunch.

Assign positive labels to jelly beans, such as red for love, blue for tranquility, yellow for optimism, black for stability… pour them into a candy dish, set them on your coffee table or at your work station to share.

We might not be able to afford an entire new wardrobe for spring, but if we can add one or two new items, in a bright or pastel color, sometimes that can revitalize our entire look.  Check for pretty scarves at import stores, bright-colored flip flops or sandals, pastel hair accessories, an orange T-shirt, a sparkly umbrella.  Wear something you normally wouldn’t think of.  Don’t forget thrift stores.  If you’re usually an all-black person, wear a mint-green handkerchief.

Decorate your front door, office, or altar with Springtime symbols.  Look for eggs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, flowers, kites and other spring themed-objects at thrift stores or cut out pictures.  Some commercial locations have decorations you can re-use each year. 

Happy Spring Equinox!

People are seeking alternatives to standard medicine in which to remain healthy, with holistic therapies becoming more accepted in health maintenance procedures. Therapies such as aromatherapy, spiritual healing and even Reiki are being used in our NHS hospitals. I myself am attuned to a healing therapy known as Reiki – however it is not the usual Usui Reiki, it's a Reiki known as Celtic Reiki.

Celtic Reiki was created by Martin Pentecost when he began to communicate with the trees and he explored their healing potential. The symbols used are adapted from the Ogham system.

What appealed to me to become a Celtic Reiki practitioner at first, and now a master, was that I knew where the energies were coming from: the trees. Also we were taught and encouraged to send healing energy back to the specific tree(s) that we used, to replenish and thank the tree for their energies. This, for me, respected the law of threefold return which I try and live my life by.

During my first attunement that solely is for self-healing I was able to open my chakras more effectively by using the symbols, and I did also use the healing energies on my cat who at the time had a poorly leg due to severe eczema. Nevertheless, it worked and her leg has been in good condition since. My second attunement brought with it the opportunities to practice on friends and family. One of my friends had been suffering headaches for a while, so I gave her healing and she reported that it had worked, and has recommended me to others. I've since used it on a stray cat we've adopted when he had a abcess that was severely swollen. After a few days it cleared up. The same cat has had it return once more, but luckily I caught it in the early stages, and it has diminished before growing much bigger. It has never come back since. I feel this cat was sent to me for me to give him healing to prove to me how this system works.

When I received my Master atunement in 2011, the energy that I received from it was phenomenal. I was suddenly and completely at one with all of nature. I could hear the sound of the ocean when I closed my eyes, and the trees were literally a thought away. I would go to bed every night and perform a self-healing session to help the energies flow through me easier, and to also allow myself to become accustomed to the level of intensity.

The best thing about Celtic Reiki besides the healing is the manifestation elements of the symbols. Many of the symbols can help you achieve weight loss, develop psychic abilities and help you move forward if you feel that you're stuck in a rut.

I would urge everyone to try this wonderful therapy as it truly is Mother Nature providing health and happiness.

*With Faerie Blessings of Star Sparkles, Love & Light,*
**
*Aurora, The Faerie Whisperer *
www.thewitchinside.blogspot.com  The Faerie Witch Inside blog.
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Picasso’s “The Fool”

For Millennia, the fool has captured the attention, hearts, and minds, of the people of every country. From politics to playing cards, this character has been the role of many people, to play its part in politics, acting, and religion. The very word “fool” is derived from the Latin form of “follis”, meaning bag of wind, a reference to both the taunting jokes from his mouth, and the stinking odor from behind.

There are many words for a fool, a clown, a jester, and all meaning extremely similar things, with a similar goal in mind: to entertain, to bring joy, and to demonstrate a message beneath. We can date oldest fools to around 2400 B.C, in the clowning of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, the pantomimus in ancient Greece, as well as the shaman animal traits of Russia and North America, all of which have been fulfilled by religious leaders. Each of these has gone on to affect each kind of foolery we know today.  The Clowning of Egypt has become the circus and rodeo clowns, the tom foolery of fairy tale, the makeup worn in theatre, and in storytelling, to show more closely the role the person is supposed to play. The Pantomimus became the French mimes, the improv, and the comedies we watch in the theatre, from plays to movies. The Shaman animal traits have developed into the court jester, from the motely garb they wear, to their ancient place in the courtroom.

Because of their kind demeanor and honesty in the courts, this has often been some of the main elements for the fool, chastising peasant and king alike. In medieval courts there were two types of fool, that of the natural, and that of the licensed. The natural fools, often considered “touched by God,” were the disfigured, the mentally handicapped, or the insane; the licensed fools were those given permission by the courts. Both were given permission to mock and ridicule the royalty and their guests, as a form of advice and warning, and as entertainment to the others watching.
Examples of historical, clown-like comedic performers have been the pantomimus in ancient Greece, the Lazzi of Commedia dell'Arte, buffoons, court jesters, as well as the French mime tradition. On top of this there are many non-European clowning traditions including clown-like figures in Japanese Kabuki theatre, and North American native shaman traditions to consider, which may or may not have influenced what we now think of as a clown in the Western world.

However, fools set themselves aside from the clowns we think of today, in the fact they had an excuse for folly, and in the idea they did not commit the acts of tumbling, juggling, stumbling and etcetera, but to advise, provide an idea for free open thought, fully aware of the power held to influence, delivering information no one else would dare deliver, but the lack to commit proper action himself. A major example of such is in 1340, when the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Sluys by the English. Phillippe VI's jester, who told the king that the English sailors "...don't even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French.”
“That, of course, is the great secret of the successful fool – that he is no fool at all.” –Isaac Asimov

Fools are often shown wearing a three-cornered hat, two corners being in the front and a third in the back; this was based upon the original hat of choice, a pair of donkey ears and tail, both to make an ass of the target of the fool, and “To make an ass of me”, in the words of William Shakespeare.  Also in the bard’s words: “Motley is the only garb.” Fools would dress in motley during the reign of Elizabeth I, keeping the fool outside the social hierarchy and therefore not placed in a certain class, being outside sumptuary law, and able to speak more freely. Motley, meaning in most forms, a mix of varying things unrelated to each other and together relating to nothing at all, much as the fool’s social place was.

During the holidays of Samhaine, Yule, and Saturnalia, we see a shaping of the fool from different folk cultures, which Gerald Gardner incorporated into his Wicca, from the popular Loki, Pan and Puck, all effected during Roman expansion. These created the title of Lord of Misrule, who had precedence over all for the holiday. This position was a joyful one for the twelve days of Saturnalia, as the fool could make any person do as he pleased in the sense of good fun, but records show he was often sacrificed, in honor of Saturn’s own sacrifice.   In Britain and France, the Feast of the Fool was held, in which a Lord of Misrule was chosen to preside over the drunken, and often rowdy festivities, and social precedence was postponed, forms of a silly switching of places were performed, servants and masters, men and women, all were fools to life, the festival made famous in America as a basis for Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”

In the Tarot, we can see many forms of the fool. In fact, the fool is not the only one to wear Motley. In the Middle Ages, Death was shown in Motley wear, because both humble all, but the last laugh is reserved for death. Often, in the decks before Waite-Smith, the Fool is almost always unnumbered. In the fifteenth century, the fool was numbered as a zero, an Arabic number, when all others were Roman; Charles Williams numbered the fool as "nought" in his book “Greater Trumps” These were both done in the presence of a sense of nothing being the opposite of an amount.
As a final note, we can consider today, the role of the political fool still exists, in forms of shows which cordially make fun of recent politics, by political cartoonists, joke news reporters, and comedians alike. If one wishes to bring the elements of the old fool about, to incite in ritual or to study, some famous fools include:

Harlequin, based upon a number of sources, essentially playing the character of a motley dressed, black masked man, chasing down the damned souls to end them to inferno. However, he rarely pursued them, being heavyset, although extremely nimble. He often chases a woman, Columbiana, caring only for food and fear of his master, often regarded as Death or some form of Satan, more than she. He is not considered an evil spirit, but care should be placed in invoking him, much like Loki, he is very mischievous.

Richard Tarlton (died September 1588), an English Thespian, was most likely the famous clown of his era. Information of his early life is rare, working poor men’s hard labor. 1583, he is reported as one of the original members of the Queen's Men, and already an experienced actor. He was a major influence on Elizabethan fools and clowns, “he of clowns to learn still sought/ But now they learn of him they taught.” Tarlton studied natural fools and other simpletons to add knowledge to his characters. He combined the styles of the medieval, the professional minstrel, and the amateur Lord of Misrule. While on stage, he would match and provoke hecklers by responding with a creative, sometimes insulting rhyme. He would spend time after the play in a battle of wits with the audience. He worked with Queen Elizabeth's Men at the Curtain Theatre at the beginning of their career in 1583. The 1600 publication Tarlton’s Jests tells how Tarlton, upon his retirement, recommended Robert Armin take his place.

Robert Armin, most likely the best Shakespearean actor to have ever lived, becoming so popular, the bard felt  the need to write him out of Henry IV.  In “A Nest of Ninnies”, Armin wrote about the difference between a natural and artificial fool.

 

Our friends, co-workers or family members sometimes wonder why we are Pagan. Here are some of the replies given by people who are involved with Nature Spirituality: 

Goddess: 
I feel an amazing connection to the Goddess. As a woman, I feel most comfortable interacting with a female form of Deity.

 
Other religions don’t have a Goddess – it’s all men. 
My own mother was very distant. When I am doing a full moon ritual, the Goddess speaks to me. She is closer than my own mother. I feel as though the Goddess is my mother. I feel comforted. 

Nature: 
This is the only religion that treats Nature like a friend. 
I feel happiest when I’m outdoors. I love going to Pagan festivals, camping out, being around other people who appreciate Nature.

 
The seasonal holidays (sabbats) are all about farming and the natural world, the cycle of the Earth. They are based on the seasons. 

Dissatisfaction with conventional religion: 
It’s all about sin and guilt and wrong and bad. Okay, Pagans have morals. But it is more about doing what is true to yourself. “Harm none”, don’t hurt other people, but not all about what’s sinful and bad. 
They are so judgmental. (Deity) gets angry if you have an abortion, it’s like your whole life is ruined. Then you’re going to Hell, going to pay for it for all eternity. So, does (Deity) really care if someone is gay, someone has sex before they are married? Don’t get me wrong, abortion is a big deal but not something to get punished about, in fire and in torture, forever.

 
You can’t be “saved” if you smoke cigarettes. This lady accepted (Deity) but the pastor said that if she kept smoking, she wasn’t really saved. She did not return to church because she’d smoked another cigarette.

 
The other religions think it’s terrible if you question, if you talk back, if you don’t agree with something that is written down or something the clergy says. 

Why don’t they allow Gay people to get married? They are interfering with politics, with freedom. In Wicca it doesn’t matter if you’re Gay. 

Women are supposed to be these meek little mice and obey the man. As a priestess, I am in charge, I am empowered. Women in (another religion) do not have that kind of power. 

Spirit, ancestors: 
I was always able to see spirits, to see dead people. Everyone else thought I was crazy. I didn’t realize that not everyone can see ghosts until I was about twelve. Then I started hanging around other people who could see spirits, and knew I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t alone. 

I’m a Christian Witch, and before anyone says that can’t be, well yes it can. I accept Jesus as my Savior and I do magick. I believe in the Bible, people are doing magick all the time in the Bible. What Jesus was doing was magick! 

My ancestors were Pagan, so I am Pagan. 
Channeling is a gift from God. I’m not, I don’t consider myself Pagan or Wiccan, but I want to be part of something, some religion. God is in all religions, but this one sees that God gives us visions and that being able to communicate with spirits is a gift. 
When I am doing a ritual I can really feel the elementals and spirit. 

Divinity: 
We see God in everything, see Goddess in everything. In Nature but also in people, in each other. We see God in rocks, trees, the air, the lakes and rivers. God is there whenever someone does something kind. 
Pagans become their Gods. Some people believe that they are the children of Gods, descend from God. When I am aspecting, I become the Goddess. I become divine… well, you always are divine, but you bring the Goddess into yourself, and you become more divine. 
I feel an attunement with the Gods. 

Gay Rights: 
In the old days, in Greece and Rome, homosexual men were the warriors, the teachers, the leaders. 
Pagans allow Gay people to get married. 
The (other religion) really doesn’t accept me. I am tired of hiding. I am tired of people finding out and then treating me different. 
I went to (a festival) and there was a whole village full of Gay people! My Gay-dar was going whoop, whoop. I was so happy to find this whole community of Gay men. 
Women don’t have to be mothers to be valued. There is Maiden, Mother and Crone, but mother can be a teacher, a community leader. Women don’t have to be with a man to be important. 

Magick: 
I have always been able to touch something, and know who owned it, who used it. I could tell an object’s history by touching it. People thought that was weird. Then I found out I was just doing magick. 
(Another religion) says that magick comes from the devil, that magick is bad. It’ evil. It’s dangerous. What about doing magick that is good? They say there’s no such thing as “white” (good) magick. What about magick that is for healing? 
Pagans believe in magick. Pagans believe that magick is real. 
Psychology has this thing called “magical thinking” which means you think you can change something. Make a bad situation better just by wishing. But then prayers are okay. My experience has been that magick really does create changes for the better. 
Every little ritual is so magickal. 
Some day they will be able to explain magick with science. It will be like electricity or something. 

Other Reasons: 
I am Pagan because it makes sense. 
Asatru is a religion for the strong. I live by the Nine Noble Virtues. 
I am not “Pagan”, that was a tribe that was originally in Western Asia. I follow my own personal philosophy. Yes, I believe in magick as a force that can be used for change. 
Wicca works for me.

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Do you have an answer to the question that you would like to share? Email us. We may use your answer in a future article.

 

Telling Your Partner-Part 4

*** This column is not legal advice and is not intended to take the place of professional legal advice. *** 

The situation: I live in Michigan. My spouse found out I’m pursuing a Pagan spiritual path and now wants custody of our children. What does it mean when s/he says I will lose because I’m not providing in the best interest of the child/ren? 

Sometimes if your spouse/significant other discovers your curiosity about non-mainstream religions, they may try to scare you back into your former mainstream religion. If you are not the provider for the family, this may be a credible threat. Let’s take a look at what Michigan family law has to say about the “Best Interest of the Child/ren”. 

CHILD CUSTODY ACT OF 1970 (EXCERPT) 
Act 91 of 1970 


722.23 “Best interests of the child” defined. 

Sec. 3. 

As used in this act, “best interests of the child” means the sum total of the following factors to be considered, evaluated, and determined by the court: 

(a) The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the child. 

(b) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed, if any. 

(c) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs. 

(d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity. 

(e) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes. 

(f) The moral fitness of the parties involved. 

(g) The mental and physical health of the parties involved. 

(h) The home, school, and community record of the child. 

(i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference. 

(j) The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents. 

(k) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child. 

(l) Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute. 

Wow! This all looks pretty complicated… and your situation may be complicated or simple. 

In “most” cases, the custody is determined on which parent meets the larger number of the 11 conditions. The most common exception to this is (j) The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents. 

This exception works in the Pagan parent’s favor most of the time. When the mainstream religious parent does not want the children to be exposed to Pagan beliefs, lifestyles, or education, they have violated the spirit of (j). 

If you have been raising your child in a Pagan spiritual path, and you can find a way to document it, you may qualify for (b). However, if your spouse/significant other has been a long-time member of a mainstream church and attends with the child/ren each week, the strength of your claim for (b) may be lessened. 

It may be very difficult to convince the court of the devoutness you hold for your Pagan spiritual path. Have the leader(s) of your group write of your devotion to the Gods and enter the letter as evidence. If the Judge and Friend of the Court personnel do not understand Paganism, your chance at custody will be seriously diminished. 

The opposing attorney or Friend of the Court personnel may also cite (f) the moral fitness of the parties involved. This one is pretty simple. Are you seriously following a spiritual path that brings you closer to Deity or are you using your new religion, Paganism, as an excuse to act badly? In other words, are you a Pagan person or a Play-gan. In most cases, the court will not look at a new intimate relationship as a moral issue. But, if you are indulging in many new intimate relationships, a LOT of alcohol, and/or are having legal issues with substances, you are probably going to lose custody of your children. 

My own personal experience with the custody issue came about 25 years ago. We were pretty poor and my husband was desperate to get custody of his two sons. We went to the Legal Aid office and a lawyer was assigned to us. We did our own research on the above laws and built our own case. It’s a good thing we did… because the Legal Aid lawyer assigned to our case didn’t show up and they sent a different lawyer. Because we were familiar with the laws and had done the research, we knew the balances were weighted in our favor. We were able to prove that we represented the “best interest of the children” because we had gotten written reports from school counselors, professional counselors, and our religious clergy person. 

Because we had documented everything, including phone calls, living arrangements, who the mother was involved with (a known child molester), and unsatisfactory living arrangements, we won custody. This was 25 years ago. Think how much easier it may be for you in this present day. 

Please do not try to grab your children and disappear with them. There is usually a much better way to solve the problems. 

These are the opinions and thoughts of the columnist. Your situation may be different. Always choose the best path for yourself. 

Please feel free to comment and “Ask Imbrium”.

Read Part 1 of "Telling Your Significant Other

Part 2 of "Telling Your Significant Other"

Part 3 of "Telling Your Significant Other"

You can find previous articles from Imbrium on Moving From Christianity To Paganism in our Articles Index 

(“Ask Imbrium” is a regular column which tries to address the issues of people who are leaving the Christian Church to embrace Paganism.)

Please send comments and questions to: imbrium@magickal-media.com OR start a discussion on our BLOG

 

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