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

Question of the Week - Question #10 - Pagan Pennies

Sorry about the delayI've been focusing on a couple of other projects over the past few weeks. Questions of Faith the book is very nearly 2nd draft, and after that it will be in the hands of a few beta readers and then on ward after that. Here is the 10th Question of the Week in which we focus our attention on our Pagan pennies. This can be a tough concept for a lot of people, because it can make them face some personal prejudices that they may not even know that they had. Everyone no matter how rich or poor they might be when it comes to their own personal finances only has so much money to spend. What is important is how they spend it.

Now like with most of the questions I'll be asking there is no right or wrong answer to this one. This one is just about putting some thought in to what you do with your money and making some informed decisions. In my early days as a Wiccan everyone I knew who was on the path was short on cash. Over the course of the past 15 years things have changed a fair amount, but there are still a high number of people at the poverty line or below. Maybe this is more a local thing I'm not sure, how do things look in your area?

People often joke about people of the Jewish being rish or tight fisted with ther pennies. Have you ever wondered where the jokes come from? Think about it for a few minutes, the last time you where at an event hosted by someone from that community where did they get the supplies for it? In my experience they likely will have purchased them from another member of their community. As a community they support growth within the community by purchasing from and encouraging others to purchase from other members of the community. Interesting why to spend your money isn't it? Not to mention a great way to support your community. So what do you do with your Pagan Pennies? Do you make a habit of supporting the small local merchant? Do you buy from the big chain story because it is a little bit cheaper? Or do you fall some where in the middle supporting them when and where you can, but going for the cheaper option when it is there?

One of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph is the idea that people support and encourage others to support a locally owned Pagan Business. In your experience is that what we do with Pagan/Wiccan stores? I've seen it go both ways with communities being hugely supportive of a store and I've seen communities it stores alive as it where. I think in the case of stores it comes down to the owners and what they give back to the community.

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Question of the Week #9 - The Great Rite

I've decided that I am going to start off each Question of the Week with some important information just to keep us all on the same page. The objective of the questions as a whole is several fold.

1) To encourage people to take a closer look at the own spirituality.
2) To encourage discussion on this blog and on others.
3) To act as a blog prompt giving people something to post about.

So in order for it to do all of these thing please post your answers to your own blog, include a link back to the original question and comment there as well. This will drive more people to your site to read your answers and also show more people the way to this blog so that they can take part in the questions as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------

This weeks question comes from a discussion I had with a friend the other night. The Great Rite is a beautiful, symbolic or real act in circle and can have great power behind it. But is it something that you do? Lately I've been talking to many pagans as of late and it seems to be less and less common. Is the Great Rite a part of your own spiritual pracitce? Is it something that you do in every circle you hold? Maybe it is something that you reserve for Full moons or the Major holidays?

Regardless of how you work with the Great Rite or if you do at all. How did you come to the decisions you did surrounding it?

enjoy the Question and See you all next week.

Question of the Week #8 - Paying for an Education

This week I've decided to go with something that in the past has really gotten people talking. In fact money is a subject that will generally get people talking anytime. I've got some pretty strong opinions on this topic so I am very excited to read any responses that come in. Also don't be surprised to if you see me commenting back on this one. So now on to this weeks and struggling to keep my opinions out of it.

There is a line in one of the earliest books on Wicca by Gerald Gardener that basically states you shall not charge for magic. The accepted meaning of this in many circles is that you will not charge to teach Wicca. So assuming this interpretation is correct at what point does something becoming teaching? There are groups of people in classes being held already the world that charge for them, there are even online classes that charge as well. Yet despite all these things charging people still keep bringing up this ideal that you shouldn't charge for Wicca.

This whole thing of not charging is limited to Wicca. All sorts of other organizations and religions charges for there classes. Even the ones that are semi religious in nature still charge. So why shouldn't you be charged for Wicca? Is there anything about Wicca that comes for free? Or do you have to pay for it in some way or another all along the way? So let us say that the lessons are free will they still have the same value to you?

Money is what makes the world go around on so many different levels. Does it make our faith go around as well?

Question of the Week #7 - Life and Death

Sorry we are a day late this week. But it is better to be late then not at all I guess.

So this evening at our local book study the subject of death came up. We talked briefly about people having the ability to make our death something meaningful to us and also to choose how we die. A great example of some one decide how to day comes in the epic poem Beowulf where the king goes to face a dragon at the end and tells his men that they are not to get involved and that he would die in this fight. He decide to step up and face his death in a noble fashion defending his people. Have we lost this option in the modern world?

As we get older now a days we might move in to a Seniors Care Home. From there we might move on to a Nursing home, and then on to a Palliative Care. No where along the line do we get a much say in what happens to us. Even in death the options are take away from us Euthanasia is illegal in most of the modern world.

As a pagan how do you feel about it? Should we have more control? Should we take more control over the last part of our life? If as pagans we believe in Reincarnation should maybe Euthanasia not be an option for us since we believe that we will just come back again for another life. Is it to easy of an out for us?

Lots of things to consider on the subject of Euthanasia when it comes to religion and beliefs. Bat the subject around and see how you feel about it. Would you feel the same way if it wasn't a choice being made for you by you but a choice being made by a loved one for themselves.

Enjoy the question and I look forward to reading the answers.

Question of the Week #6 - Pets and Circle

This first Question of Faith comes to you on behalf of our wonderful dog Ginger. After finishing off the introduction, explanation of how this will work, and its history. I started to pace a little bit trying to come up with the first question. There were a number of different options available to me but I knew that the first one had to be something special and also something fun that would encourage people to take part. Ginger just sat there watching me as I walked back and forth with an innocent face that just wanted to be petted and maybe know what I was doing as well. When I paused and reached down to give her what she wants and pet the top of her head the idea struck.

Witches in myth often have pets as a part of their story and a few Craft books mention them as well. But rarely are they given their true due and offered any in depth discussion. How does your family pet come in to your own practice? I’ve known people who put them outside before ritual while some people close the door behind them before starting to keep them out. Still others let them wander about as they wish coming in and out of the circle like it wasn’t there. In my own house we tend to let them wander in and out and do as they please with the exception of Ginger the dog which does tend to get a little overly excited by everything. Well to be honest she gets overly excited by, well anything really.

If you do let your pets or familiars, if you prefer, wander about during ritual have you ever paid any special attention to how they act during the course of the ritual. It’s not at all uncommon for us to be cleaning up after the ritual and finding a cat or two just hanging out under the alter table. I’ve also seen kittens go in to overdrive during an energy building ritual. So many different things can happen with pets in circle and during rituals. I’m sure that we all have stories of pets and the relationship with magic I for one would love to hear some of them.

Regardless of whether you have an open access policy or separate your pets from magic and ritual what led you to that decision. We may never have given any serious thought to why we do what we do but there has to be some type of reason for it and it’s important to know that reason and not do things just because.

The search for an answer is the best part of an answer.
Randilin
P.S. – If you have a picture of your pet among your ritual or magical tools why not share it with the world?

Question of the Week - Question # 5

This week we take a look at those wonderfully things called Daily Practices. They can a part of any faith or any aspect of your life and so many things we do include or suggest additional Daily Practices. People working on losing weight will have an exercise routine as part of their daily practice, but I'll be talking about those daily practice in my other blog Our body is Her Temple later today. Painters and other artists, for example, also work to put pen or brush to paper every day. You get the idea it is part of many different things in all of our lives.

Now I'd encourage any of you to go to your bookshelves and pull out any Pagan 101 book. Take a minute or two and flip through the book. I be willing to wage good money that they book offers up suggestions for things a Pagan should be doing as part of a Daily Practice. The most common suggestion is to journal, the act of taking a few minutes to write down the events of the day, anything special that happened to you, and how you felt about it all. It can be a great idea that works well for a lot of people My wife for example is a big journaler she does it every night. It is a part of her daily practices.

So what are your Daily Practices? Why have you choosen to make them such an important part of your life? Finally how did you go about turning them from just something that you did and making them a regular daily practice?

Look forward to seeing any replies. This is now a regular feature of my blog now and will posted every Monday.

Question of the Week - Question # 4

Good morning one and all. Welcome to the forth installment of the Questions of the Week. Hopefully people are finding some interest in the and we will starting seeing some mores answers in the coming weeks. These are wonderful blogging promts for those who need or like them. Also commenting that you've answered will drive more traffic to you blog. People are looking at the questions so they will likely take the time to check out your answers. Most importantly they can help you to understand more about yourself and the reasons you do things the way you do.

For this weeks question I want to look the internet it has become one of the main sources of information for pagans the world over. New websites and groups are popping up every day. Which ones are worth the time? What makes one site better then another in your opinion?

I look forward to visiting a variety of blogs and seeing what sites people like.

Answering QotW #2

'What do you consider to be Virtuous?' and 'Why is it Virtuous?'

I'm still struggling with a lot of the ideas behind virtue. There are a wide array of things that might be considered to be virtuous. Many people might consider giving money to charity to a virtuous act, but is it still virtuous if your doing it mainly for the tax reciept? What about giving something like a sandwich or something to a homeless person, will it only free up more money in the end for a vice?

A lot of pagans talk about the 3 fold law, Do good or bad and it will come back at you three times over. But what happens if your act is good but the cause and effect of that action ripples down into things that are not so good? That is kind of where my mind goes when I start to think about what is virtues. If something I do leads to someone getting hurt and I am aware of the possibility in more then just the abstract is my original act one of virtue? It is a nasty little web of never ending possibilities. I'm sure I'll get more into it when I ask about the three fold law.

I'm left with the idea that a virtuous act is one that is done not for person gain and an action that doesn't have directly predictable negative effects. The best example of this would be to help someone learn to help themself. A few charities use the expression "We give a hand-up and not a hand-out." this simple phrase sums it up very nicely I think.

Question of the Week #3 - Lammas

Blessed Lammas everyone. I hope that everyone spent the day with friends, family and loved ones harvesting what they need for the coming year.

In agrocultural societies this is the time of year when harvesting really starts in earnest. It is more then that as well the smart farmers are already planning ahead for next year thinking about what they will be plant and what they need to do in advance to prepare the fields. That idea of forethought and planning is where we are going with this week's question.

Take sometime and write out where you want to be at this point in time next year and what you need to do in order to get there. In the end you will have a bit of a road map to your own success. Then when next year comes around you can look back and see how close you came or how far beyond you went.

I've also already set up a scheduled post with a link back to this one so be sure to comment here and leave a direct link to your answer. That way you have a quick path back when it is time back.

Question of the Week - Question # 1 - Answer

I thought I should get myself caught up on answering the questions I've been posting. It wouldn't be right for me just to post them and expect others to share something of themselves and not do the same.

Question of the Week #1

I've defined my path as a lot of different things over the years as I have explored different aspects of it that felt right to me at the time. I started off with a very heavy interest in the Norse/Teutonic paths, which resulted in a strange combination of Teutonic practices and Wiccan. Over time and as I studied more the combination felt less and less correct. In the end I have for the most part dropped the Teutonic practices.

Over the course of the past few years my practice has become more and more inline with traditional Wicca. I've briefly defined myself as Gaiast Wiccan & still work with several people who do use the term, but it just didn't work for me over all. I still find myself exploring different styles and working with the a variety of practices in search of the ones that do work best for me. For now I use the term Wiccan, a lot of people out there might agrue against the accuracy of the word in my case as an uninitiated person. My counter to them is to say that if I had been initiated then I would describe myself with name of style that I was initiated in to.

Question of the Week - Question # 2

Thanks to the people who took the time to answer and comment on the first of the new Question's of the Week. Please be sure post your answers to your own blogs and link back so others can find out about Question of the Week and join in the discussions and comments. As always the more that take part the more we can all learn about each other and in turn about ourselves.

Ideas for questions come from all sorts of strange and wonderful sources. If I know what they are I will try and share them just for interest sake. This weeks question comes in part from two seperate books. The first is being read as part of a local Book Study my wife and I are taking part in and the second is a fiction book. When I continued to see the references to virtues popping up I knew that they had to be included in a up coming question of the week.

So a comment is made by one of the characters "Before we can become virtuous, we must first know what virtue is." in Against the Tide of Years. The character is from the 20th century and is discussing the concept of virtue with a priest in 1240's BC. They both have very different ideas on just what is virtuous and why. In a lot of ways modern day pagans might just have some of the same difference as these two characters did from the general population. Our moral code is different, the pressures of religion is very different, even our general outlook on life can be very different from those around us.

The book the Other Side of Virtue goes in to this at length in place and brings up a number of possible ideals of virtue. It leaves the reader to think through and work through their own idea of just what is virtuous and what is a virtue. That is my question to all of you 'What do you consider to be Virtuous?' and 'Why is it Virtuous?'

This question can go alot of different ways so feel free to explore it, work with it and let the question take you where it needs too.

Question of the Week - Question # 1

So for a number of years I've been posted a weekly question to an E-mail group that I help moderate. I stopped a number of months ago when the answers seemed to stop coming. No one apparently noticed or at least no one has commented on it absence to me so I've just never bothered to start it back up again. The reality was I think the idea had run its course with that particular group. Lately I've been missing that push and pull of questions and ideas so I've decided to restart them here in blog form and invite my fellow bloggers to answer them in there own blog. Be sure to comment so we can all track and visit the answers and comment on one anothers answers. You can look for a new Question of the Week every Monday.

With any of these questions there will never be a right or wrong answer. The idea behind them is to look deeper in to your beliefs and try an expand on our understanding of your faith. By posting the answer to your blog you making yourself put our ideas in to words and giving them that much more power. Also one of your readers might just find some much needed wisdom in them. I'll try and keep all of the questions as generic as possible so that they can be answered by as many different paths as possible. If however a question does come out as specific to a certain path just try and think of it in terms of your own path as best as possible. So lets get down to business and get on to the first question.

Question of the Week #1

Pagan and NeoPagan are great big catch phrases that covers a wide array of religions and beliefs, in much the same way the word Christianity has become something of a catch phrase. In order to understand your own path better it can be helpful to define and put it in to words. Wicca, Gardenarian, Alexandrian, Shamanic, Teutonic, Heathen, Witch, are just a few examples of terms some people use. Of course you're never tied to term for longer then you want to be and many people practice a mixture of the paths. How do you define and describe the path you are on?