I’m lying here in bed, wrapped up in a red (fire!) doona, listening to ‘Elemental Castings’ (podcasts hosted by Craft author and teacher, T. Thorn Coyle) and coming to a succinct realisation; when I find space to be physically and thus emotionally and mentally ‘alone’ I become extremely nostalgic.

My life these days is generally lived with the tide and current of my Pure Will as it flows along the cosmic River of Life, or to be less wanky and less esoteric, I tend to go with the flow more than anything else. In fact, the large majority of the time is spent attuning to my Deep Self and thus self-actualisation becomes a realisation of Divinity; thus I am able to, with empowerment and determination, choose my life. After all, what is choice but the exercising of God-given free-will and a spiritual journey into embracing the Law of Eternal Paradox (Change, etc.).

Yuletide is here. In fact, I have wrapped presents for my loved ones and placed them under my family’s house altar, upon which sits our Blue Protector Goddess (of the Heart) who at the moment is wearing beautiful stars and moons bought for me as a gift from the German Christmas Markets by a friend. Last Saturday was my coven’s debut on the public Pagan scene in QLD. We had a crowd of approximately 60 people which is a great turn out! We recently dedicated four Witches into the inner court and now have a total of five aspirants - one of whom was aspired during the open Yule ceremony. Thank-you to all the covens, groves and solitaries who came to join our celebrations - especially to Earthwyrm Coven and Pagan Awareness Network (PAN) for the legal protection! The coven returned to my mother’s place on the coast and partied and wined, retiring into the still night with cheer and jeer.

Now, back to Thorn’s podcast (interviewing Patrick McCollum - www.courtingthelady.com). A few stimulating things were talked about which I internally and emotionally responded to. I have to say that I deeply admire both Coyle and McCollum and their work for and with the Pagan community.

While the interview was quite lengthy and they spoke of many significant issues. The philosophical discussions concerning immanent Divinity and here is the now, now is the here were particularly pertinent to topics I am writing and teaching about at the moment.

An illustrating comment was - “All is sacred…can you see that all that is here was here in some way from the beginning, it has merely changed form”. Patrick McCollum spoke of one of his early Craft teachers taking him into a parking lot and asking whether or not he could feel the innate sanctity in the place. He answered that he couldn’t in contrast to the still and raw domains of the wild forest places. I think being able to connect and commune with the spirit of place anywhere is an important insight; however, the ability to identify what is medicine and what is poison to us and the Earth is an essential skill for a Witch, and for any Cosmos/Earth/Life-aware individual. So I ask myself, coming from a philosophy, tradition and personal feeling that all is sacred, all is of the Mother (Latin Mater=matter) - if the asphalt covering the Earth is still sacred because its origins are within the womb, is it also possible that because of ‘human frailty’ and a decisive ability to create strong paradigms of power-over, separation, and exploitation of our precious resources as inanimate and thus ‘unfeeling’, that human-engineered/modified designs somehow consolidate and affirm a thought-form which is decidely anti-immanence?

I believe that this is possible, otherwise our deep trust in our own ability to create with the Universe is challenged. We are able to impact our environment to its benefit and detriment and thus to our own. If we cover in the Earth and create metropolises to allow for the comfort and convenience of modern-day human existence, this necessitates that we require these things to exist and to be nourished, when in fact these designs and ideas derive from the notion that we are somehow above and beyond all that surrounds and pervades us. However, I do agree that one can step onto a road and place an offering, cast Circle in a living room and create change in the midst of a busy office-space (and indeed we should!), and this is because we are able to bring forth and remind all things that they are inherently sacred. For instance, when I drink water that comes from a tap and may be potentially unstable, I sit with the water and imbue it with vital life-force once more whilst praying to the water that it remembers its original purity (versus original sin). As is written of the Goddess Persephone and her mysteries - Pure I come from the Pure Below.

I truly believe that the majority of Pagans live in cities nowadays because that is where we are meant to be - raising consciousness that will affect the communities at large. Reminding each and every one of us that we are divine, that is all of the Holy Mother and thus should be approached with deep abiding respect - perfect love and perfect trust for self and all.

I’ll conclude this blog with a quote from my interview with Tricia of Gaia’s Garden based in Victoria, Australia (for the full interview visit www.gaiasgarden.com.au and click on podcasts) and another simple reflective quote from T. Thorn Coyle. See you next time

From Gaia’s Garden interview:

On the nature of Paganism:

“We use the word tradition in the NeoPagan sense of the term, in that it means what denomination means for Christians. Our tradition, though we believe it is as ancient as the stars; we didn’t create it so much as respond to need of the spirit and the natural world. Paganism never imposes anything on Nature; it always derive its culture and and its ritual from what we see happening in Nature. The beautiful thing about Paganism is that it is Nature-based, therefore it’s constantly recreating itself; constantly manifesting in different ways and different varieties. Though we are based in the most ancient forms of understanding and exploration of the cosmos, we inherently have to be new and new and new. Life is always renewing itself.”

“Spirit is where we are, in every moment. Because spirit simply is.” T. Thorn Coyle.

Holy Mother, in whom we live, move and have our being. From you all things emerge and unto you all things return. - Feri Blessing.

P.S. Spirited: Taking Paganism Beyond the Circle is a finalist in the Wicca/Paganism category for the COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) 2010 awards. The winners will be announced on Saturday, the 26th of June, in the States. Yay!