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Post by pegasus on Nov 21, 2014 15:03:46 GMT -5
Thank you, Deanna! I was thinking of this as a subforum, not merely a thread, so when we had the invitation here to create our own threads, I took that to mean as a thread in this (assumed) subforum. Subforums with threads in that dedicated area would certainly be more tidy then one gigantic forum with tons of unrelated threads all jumbled in there. I'll wait and see what Sencha had actually intended, before I post my own thread, then.
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Post by Sencha on Nov 22, 2014 10:09:55 GMT -5
There's now a Dedicant Path sub-forum. I'll be posting all future replies there.
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Post by deanna on Nov 28, 2014 14:12:31 GMT -5
Should I recreate my journal over to the new sub forum or can you move it as a whole from your end?
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Post by Sencha on Nov 29, 2014 10:07:56 GMT -5
I'm moving all the Dedicant Path threads to the Dedicant Path board.
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Post by rlt123 on Dec 2, 2014 22:30:06 GMT -5
month 4 week 2: Before meditation, I feel a bit tired and am thinking about stuff I did for the day. After meditation, I feel energized. The different breathing exercises brought the same results, although the deep breathing helped me to calm myself more.
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Post by rlt123 on Dec 2, 2014 22:55:55 GMT -5
Month 4 week 3:
I have been trying to meditate almost everyday. Forgive me for my short answers. Due to the cold weather, I had to do all the meditations indoors. The tree of life meditation helped energize me. The background flute music really helped. For the druid's egg, i had in my hands a small packet full pictures and a small list of wishes I keep next to my bed. The meditation calmed me and gave me sensation that I am indeed safe. For the Sacred space meditation, I picture a blue kitten in a tree. I like cats. When it is warm out, I go on a few meditative walks, as I try to focus on the types of animals and plants that I see. The meditative body scan and the cave meditation calmed me. Again, I am beginning to meditate every day.
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Post by rlt123 on Dec 2, 2014 23:03:26 GMT -5
Month 4 week 4: I had a little trouble with the past life meditation. The recording was kinda scratchy, so I had trouble concentrating. I have concluded, however, that I was a man in a past life due to the fact that I am tomboyish. On a another subject, I chose Ogma, the god of literature, as one of my gods due to the fact that I love to read and want to be a librarian (If he wants me).
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Post by Sencha on Dec 4, 2014 15:51:57 GMT -5
As with all things, the more you practice, the easier they get. Probably a good idea just to concentrate on the deep breathing for now. The rest will come in time. One of the eventual goals of a meditative practice is to be able to do it in all situations at all times. It helps you to control your consciousness and seek the Awen. Sounds like you're well on the way. Sorry about the scratchiness. It's a bandwidth issue with the server. Trying to get it resolved. Being a librarian sounds like a good goal for you. My name, 'Sencha,' means 'historian,' or 'chronicler of lore.' My mentor gave it to me because I too am a nut for literature. Different people seek the Awen in different ways. If you love literature, the bardic arts may be a path to consider.
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Post by wngdwolf on Dec 7, 2014 7:37:58 GMT -5
Week 1: 1. What in nature inspies you? Honestly, everything. I don't mean this glibly or casually, or as an easy reply. I love how the light bounces of water, glnting diamonds, how the sun shines through leaves creating glowing hues of greens, golds, yellows... I love the animals and bugs... The voices of the birds, calling, squabbling, jesting... I love all the animals and bugs, their bright colors and fuzzy little ears, bright eyes, sharp toes, and their many, many talents, like the ability to climb facedown the trunk of a tree. Their sense of play reminds me to keep it light. I love the trees and how my soul feels swept clean when I walk under them... I love the flowers, mointains and forests, the sea, moon, sun, and stars for all the obvious reasons... I could go on, but you get the idea. I also love science, the study of the natural because it makes evident the not nust the presence but intelligent thoughtfulness that went into the making of reality, the knitting of substance out of Spirit. For example, the Periodic Table of the Elements proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that God/dess/etc exists, and one of the greatest Divine Paradoxes is that God/dess/etc itself cannot be defined. The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao.
2. Do you have a favorite place and why? Lots! My favorite places tend to be environments, rathan specific physical locations: Forests, stables, under the water in a kelp forest, rocky prominences with interesting configurations. The theme is that I don't like areas exposed to brutal heat or intense sun, and/or the home of animals. I suppose this answer is cheating so I will say specifically I love Cathedral Rock in Ventana Canyon north of Tucson, Az; the fern meadow of Mt. Bigelow of the Santa Catalina Mountains, also north of Tucson (guess where I was raised?), Biltmore Forest of Asheville, NC, the gorges of Ithaca, NY, Milford Sound, New Zealand, Leo Carrillo State Beach north of Malibu, Ca. Muir Woods in Ca, and pretty much every botannical gardens I ever visited. These places all have some very important things in common: raw elemental energy and direct access to Spirit.
3: How does nature inspire you? I feel so completely connected to... Everything. The true Interconnectdness of All Things is tangible. There is no separation; separation truly is an illusion. I feel whole, and as such I feel raw "Spirit", Divinity, Grace, moving through me, through everything, through us all, and truly, all miracles become possible. There really is only Unconditional love, for all beings at all times, in both time and non-time.
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Post by Sencha on Dec 7, 2014 13:26:11 GMT -5
Sounds like you'e already developed your powers of observation quite a bit! Yes, whenever someone asks me if I believe in god(s), I always reply, "Tell me exactly what you mean by 'god(s),' and I'll answer." 'Direct access to spirit' is one of the purposes of this exercise/question. Sounds like you've got the idea! Yes, one of the concepts of Druidry in the Black Mountain Order is the idea of the web of life and how we're all connected.
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Post by wngdwolf on Dec 12, 2014 10:55:10 GMT -5
Week 2 My favorite seasons are the Equinoxes (which is ironic in that my birthday is on the Winter Solstice). I love the "Between times". Dawn and dusk are my favorite times of day, too. The Veil is thinnest at these times; the light diffuse, the weather gentler. I think animals are more active at these times, too. There's a riot of birdsong, and certain flowers seem more pungent. Here in the LA area, we have feral parrots (!! I know, right??) and it is always at dawn and dusk when they most active - squabbling, squawking, playing, cavorting.. parroting (haha). There are hundreds of them (I'm hoping someday they will gift me with some of their feathers). When I was a kid, at dusk in the autumn, the orange trees with which my neighborhood was filled would perfume the streets. It's one of those powerful memory-jogging scents. Oh but I digress... sorry... what was the question? And I do prefer Autumn to spring. The light is softer, and the green is fuller. The Laughing Lord is strongest for me at this time. Yes I know "he" is Wiccan, but that wry sense of humor is a key aspect of who I am, so He is important to me. And I don't think of "he is Wiccan" in the same sense that Anubis is Egyptian. I think the Laughing Lord/Green man was always there. I believe he is truly a Celtic deity - we have such an innate and specific type of humor. I like it that the Wiccans brought him forward. I think that's important to human spirituality. In fact, the Sikhs have a book, _God Loves Fun_ which I've been meaning to read. This reinforces my sense the the Laughing Lord really is much bigger than Wicca, or even than Celtic. I don't need a season to inspire me to celebrate nature. In all her forms, nature inspires me in every moment. It's that at different times of the year, and day, I feel .. I just FEEL more. My favorite holy days are Samhain and Yule, definitely. And not because of my birthday (as a matter of fact, I've started celebrating Festivus 1) because it is on my birthday, the 23rd, and 2) the humor of this parody is TOTALLY me to a T. I love the lights and decorations of these times, and I love the Christmas carols - and funnily enough, I hate the secular Christmas carols. They irritate me. I love the celebration of the Mother Goddess and Sacred Child, and I'm beginning to tune into and appreciate the Father God in the pagan sense of this time too, at Yule. And I love the presence of Cernnunos during the Dark half. What I love so much about this quarter of the year is that love, joy and fun are the MOs. It's what we as humans collectively are up to.
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Post by wngdwolf on Dec 14, 2014 14:03:44 GMT -5
Week 3 Moon Path Reflection: Seeking Awen
What does the Awen mean to you? Like most religious symbols, the Awen represents several things. - The Trinity. God/dess/Etc him/her/itself directly. When things show up in 3s, it's a very powerful sign that the Divine is directly involved, signalling a Divine intervention, a direct communication from the Divine or otherworld, etc.
- Collaboration
- Balance and harmony, or forces that bring these things.
- The 12 Steps, 12 Traditions and 12 Concepts of Service, which are groups of the Awen themselves, being divisible by 3.
- I'm sure I'll think of more as time goes on.
What are the forces in your life that are seeking balance?Because I've really worked through my issues, my life is in balance. I have given to God/dess/etc the things that are none of my business, like someone else's opinion of me, the injustices of the world.. in short, all the things I can't control. Serenity, happiness and abstinence from my eating disorder are my top priorities. Currently, I work the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Recovery. These are the tools I use to bring myself into balance and harmony with situations that used to baffle me, or to which I'd bring strife. It's very clear to me that while these situations may truly be out of balance, I am not a victim of them. I have choices and what I do matters greatly in changing them, either for the positive or negative. Without my tools of Recovery, I can only make things work. I've spent a lot of time and energy clearing the wreckage of the past. My life is now amazing. How have you/can you seek the Awen and attain balance?
I just keep an eye out for it. My daily prayers include, "God/dess/etc, please do for me the things I can't do for myself", "Take my will and my life. Guide me in Recovery. Show me how to live." (A Triad!! This has been an amazingly powerful prayer for me. My life keeps getting better and better.). "Help me set aside the things I think I know, so I may learn something thing new." I hate to give such brief answers, but that's were AI am at with ths today. KISS, Keep it Simple, Stupid.
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Post by Sencha on Dec 15, 2014 11:40:02 GMT -5
LOL...there are those that I call 'VSDs' for 'Very Serious Druids.' They lack a sense of humor and forget the sacredness of laughter. Another discussion we've had quite often: Our Druid ancestors were European, yet the home of our Order is now on Cherokee land in North America. Should we honor our Druid ancestors, or our Cherokee ancestors, or both? Or are they both just different names for the same energies? Yes...the High Days exist for more communal expressions of celebration. Getting together with others for food, fun and fellowship. This can be true even if your practice is a solitary one. There's something comforting in knowing that you are celebrating a High Day at the same time that others across the world are doing so. I did a study once. Pretty much every culture in the world has a late harvest celebration (Samhain) and a winter solstice celebration(Yule). Almost as if we're programmed by nature to honor these times of the year. Yes, there is no correct or incorrect interpretation. We all get our own meaning from such symbols. To me it symbolizes a 'middle way' between two opposing forces. It reminds me to seek moderation and that everything isn't always black-and-white. That would explain why some of these concepts are so easy for you. I was raised by a grandmother who, whenever I visited, made me tell her one new thing I'd learned that day. Made me seek knowledge on a daily basis. Concerning the Awen, I think of people like the Dali Lama, who lives each moment in inspiration. I'm not always able to get there myself, but it's a goal to shoot for.
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Post by wngdwolf on Dec 17, 2014 18:47:49 GMT -5
Week 4: My tree. Lucky me, I get 2! My birthday is Dec 23 which is specifically Pine. I was also born on the solstice of 1969, which is Yew. I love pines and currently have some pine friends in my neihborhood. Red woods. I need to go find a Yew and introduce myself. Addendum 12/18: Oh and I just remembered, the staff I consecrated a couple months ago is pine! This is very exciting because I bought this staff many years ago. When I asked for an oak staff, this is what they gave me, but it's way too light to be oak, both in weight and in color. This is more evidence of the Divine being truly present in small ways. The power is in the baby steps.
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Post by wngdwolf on Dec 18, 2014 10:45:13 GMT -5
Sad. More and more, my life is about ever-increasing happiness, joy and freedom. Laughter is the hallmark of this. Well, since ultimately there is no separation, does it matter? Follow your heart each day, stay in the present and do the next right thing, and you will end up doing both. and having fun doing it. LOL - I like to say I used to live in black and white, and now I live in color. Thanks for the feedback, Sencha. I like your grandmother. I used to to the same thing with my son when he was having a hard time. I'd ask him to list 3 things he's grateful for. As he got older, he refused to do this. But that's OK - the seed is planted. I do have a current conundrum. I'm starting to date a guy a like a lot, but have some serious reservations about. He has a pretty shady past (like 15 years ago and more), but professes to be clean now. I don't want to hold his past against him. I think the present is far more important, but so far, I don't have enough information to make a decision either way. Hmmm... "More will be revealed", eh.
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