Spells: What we want versus what we need June 11, 2009
Posted by frootbat31 in spells, tips.Tags: pagan, spells, wicca, witch
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I’m finding more and more as of late a tug towards Buddhist teaching. Not that this interfers with my being pagan. If anything, Buddhism meshes very well with the concepts of “An it harm none” and the “Threefold Law of Return”. I find, however, that Buddhism lends more in explanation of these principles.
We could argue on the topic of ‘harm none’ and what it means, but many religion teach us to harm others harms ourselves. It creates an imbalance and often anger is met with anger, fear is met with fear. I’ve also discussed in a previous post how the 3-fold law isn’t the same as Karma. Karma is from the Sanskirt, meaning ‘action’. Its the culimination of our actions (good or bad) towards our reward. We must weigh what is considered good or bad. I personally see things as balanced and those that are imbalanced.
Take for instance when dealing with a difficult person. Your gut reaction tells you to deal harshly and with defined assertiveness, when some people work so much better with a gentler hand. What do you hope to gain by dealing with a difficult person? Is it to crush their overinflated ego into dust, or is there hope to nurture them into being stronger and better people?
This leads into the idea of what we want, and what we need. Our gut instinct always reaches for what we want- and what we want and to get it NOW. What we need, however, might not have anything to do with what we want, let alone when we want it. To simplify; I want a huge piece of chocolate cake right now, but a bowl of red grapes for a bedtime snack is the better choice for me. Tomorrow, I will likely regret even wanting the cake to begin with.
This is why when casting spells you should always meditate beforehand, to search through the feelings of instinct, anger, fear, and all the muck of emotion to realize what you need to grow and learn from situations.
Inner journeys and mastering fear May 2, 2009
Posted by frootbat31 in learning, tips.Tags: courage, fear, spells, wicca
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Fear is one of those ‘negative’ emotional that you try to avoid. Its unpleasant, even gripping if uncontrolled. However, fear is also necessary to the human condition.
Lately I’ve been exploring the subject of fear. I have plenty of fears of my own, so many in fact, its been hindering my efforts to move forward in my life to the point where I feel rather depressed and frustrated with things. Normally one doens’t enjoy putting their fear under scrutiny, but this is necessary if you hope to master it.
The first step to mastering fear is recognizing the fear. Not everyone can name their fears specifically. They prefer to avoid unpleasantness, laugh things off, find ways to procrastinate, or re-direct their attention to more pleasant things. To overcome fear, you must be able to accept the fear.
The next step is to find the cause of fear. Saying you have a fear of failure doesn’t clarify the reason why you fear failure. You need to ask yourself “What’s the worst the can happen?”. If you face your fear, will the world fall apart? Will it be the terrible thing you imagine it would be. A quote I once heard says, “Fear makes the wolf bigger”, so imagining the worst changing nothing in the actual state of being.
You can’t live without fear. Its part of the human condition, but ‘Courage is not the lack of fear; its having fear and facing that fear’. Facing fear and realizing things are not as bad as they seem can certainly add to lessening worries.
Some tips on facing fears:
- Use positive affirmation and self talk. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the positive. Instead of seeing what is to be lost by doing something, focus on what is to be gained.
- Ask yourself if your fears realistic? I used to worry incessantly about my son. I think women tend to be wet-wired for this, but my fears would be things like; what if he gets cancer? What if he gets mauled? What if I screw him so bad he ends up a killer or something? Are these fears realistic? No because I wasn’t seeing things as they are now, but creating scenarios based on fear only.
- Accept fear happens. Its what makes you human. Work through fear to accomplish your goals.
- Having fear and finding courage offers to hone you against adversary.
You can overcome fear, whihc doesn’t necessarily mean it will all go away, but you can master it.
When Pagans are in Shadow September 14, 2008
Posted by frootbat31 in wicca.Tags: endure, hardship, magic, pagan, problems, spells, spiritualism, wicca
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You would think that being a pagan or witch, you’d have all the power and magic to fend back troubles. So empowered with the ancient gods and goddesses, how could a pagan possibly face any problems? One would think, even should you face hardship, you would find a way to magic it away. But you’d be surprised that Life doesn’t work like that.
Staying in the Light, remaining safe, never facing adversary will actually weaken your character. You’ll grow soft and compliant. Its the hardships that manifests endurance. Its the troubles we face that allow us to see what sort of mettle we are made of. Some of the most profound lessons learned come from bitter struggle. Survivors may bear scars, but they are healed wounds, calloused from experience, and quite often, a survivor realizes how precious life, family, or the basics of necessities are.
Many Wiccans follow the Threefold Law of Return, believing whatever energy they put out into the Universe returns to them threefold. Karma, however, is not so clearly defined. You can be the most giving, loving, and wonderful person, but this doesn’t mean you won’t face hardships. The God/dess has lesson you need to learn, and sometimes those lessons can be cruel.
Lately I’ve endured depression and a number of friends faced illness, work related stresses, nightmares, conflict in friendships, and even loss of family. Through this, we endure. I realized that by being the shoulder another can lean on, or the clown to provoke a smile in someone feeling alone, or just being a quiet presence to someone who cannot deal with words, but just needs another being near them; all this helps me to heal.
Our ability to help another person with compassion has no limits. The well for love and trust is fathomless. In service, ‘in the doing’, you may find your own way. You will also find that some situations are not ‘problems’ but challenges presented to you to find the answer.
