QotW Answer #1

This pass week I am happy to say that the Question of the Week idea has found a new home. I won't be posting any more questions here on my blog instead you can stop by The Modern Pagan every Monday for a new Question. For the first few weeks you might recognize some of the questions as ones that have appeared here but rest assured new questions are already lined up.

You can find the first Question Here Pets/Animals and the Magic

For myself I am going to break this down in to three seperate catagories. First is wild animals, followed by Cats and Dogs, then finally anything else. So to start off lets look at wild animals.

I've been blessed and able to take part in a number of different rituals outdoors sometimes in fields, on beaches and on one memorable ocassion knee deep lake water. Working in the wild always offers an interesting experience. You might come across animals on the way to the ritual, during the ritual, or even on the way home. All of them will have an impact on your experience at the ritual. Keep your eyes open for any animals around your ritual they bring blessings, and perhaps messages from the Divine themselves.

When it comes to household pets like cats I don't try and keep them out of anything or prevent them from going anywhere. It just doesn't work they will find a way to get in to whatever they want. I do pay close attention to them for much the same reason I watch for animals in the wild. We've had one cat for a number of years who loves it when we do ritual work in the house. As soon as we start to set up the alter that cat appears and curls up under it.

My experiences with dogs is very different. Ginger for example was a Border Collie cross so to her in many ways ritual would have been torture. She was a strong believer that everyone should stay where they are and not move around a lot, in her mind once you where in the herd you should stay there. We really had no choice but to put her outside during rituals. My decision to remove Ginger from the circle was made for purely partical reasons.

When it comes to everythign it is kind of up in the air. Animals and pets in cages or tanks I don't really pay to much attention them personally. My fish for example just don't seem to care if we are casting circle.

See you all in a week with another question and another answer