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Pagan interest thread

621 replies

MoonFaceMama · 04/09/2010 08:38

Hello,

As a pagan who practices alone i sometimes find it difficult to mark the passing of the wheel of the year in a secular society which largely ignores there things (ie, i sometimes forget special days Blush ) I get the feeling there might be others on here who feel the same, or who do remember, and that maybe we could support each other in reminders and suggestions for celebrations...

Personally i tend to mark the seasons in ways that feel appropriate and are informal, i'm not big into ritual (but willing to discuss this with those who are). Now that i have a ds i think i'm more concious of helping him to have structure to his year (when i was little i had this through the church) and am considering joining a local pagan group so that i have a community of support in this, which might, in time, be available to him should he wish to access it.

So...a place to discuss pagan celebrations, ideas etc... Any takers?

Smile

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MoonFaceMama · 07/09/2010 09:33

I'm sure i saw some pagans round here somewhere... Hmm Grin

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spiritmum · 07/09/2010 10:14

Hello, I'm not really pagan as I tend to avoid labels wherever possible, but if you want to pigeon-hole me I suppose I'm Christo-pagan with Buddhist and Taoist influences Wink. We do keep an eye on the wheel of the year. I practise on my own and every now and then think about the craft, before unthinking about it.

My eldest is looking forward to the Equinox so she has something to do before Samhain. Wink

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MoonFaceMama · 07/09/2010 14:55

Hi spiritmum!

I know what you mean re labels. I guess pagan is just about broad and nonspecific enough for me. And it's pretty much a definition without definition iykwim. Vague enough to give people a notion of my beliefs with out a prescriptive set of behaviours! I must say, your particular pigeon hole sounds taylor made! Grin i look forward to hearing your take on things!

What are your plans for the equinox? We normally go for a walk and try and have a seasonal meal. But really we do that everyday so i've started making a teeny bit of effort to do something else. For lammas i collect some corn and made a st brides cross. It's currently tucked behind the greenman above the fireplace. I'm thinking for madron i might light the first fire of the autumn (not needed it over the summer and hoping can last till then!) and put the st brides cross on it, as a way of marking the transition from one to the other. Smile But i'd like to do something else aswell...

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faeriefruitcake · 07/09/2010 21:37

I like to spend the special days with my family, including the large extended family. Or just spend some time in the day reflecting on what the year has brought and may bring.

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BelleDameSansMerci · 07/09/2010 21:46

We-ell, I used to be a Pagan... I've found it hard to engage with matters spiritual since I had my DD (now 3). I miss it and I think I'm just starting to get back to normal. Anyway, I'd like to lurk and/or pop in on this thread if that's ok?

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MoonFaceMama · 07/09/2010 21:50

Hi faerie! Welcome! Are your family and extended family pagan? Or open to paganism? Do you do things together that specifically reflect the special days or is it more general than that? Sorry for all the questions! Smile

I try to reflect on the past and future too. For instance earlier this year i visited a stone circle and spent some time reflecting and being gratefull for things that have happened recently (got married, had ds). I found some little natural bits and bobs and wove them together to make an object for offering. I chose the bits etc to reflect what i'm glad, and hopefull for. Part meditation, part offering... Smile

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MoonFaceMama · 07/09/2010 21:56

Ooh, x post, hello belle! Of course, more the merrier!

I know what you mean about it being hard to engage in spiritual things. Particularly, i think, as some pagan festivals aren't really acknowledged by wider society. It's easy for it all to slip by Smile

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BelleDameSansMerci · 08/09/2010 08:10

There's just DD (3) and me which I suspect ought to make things easier. Of course, though, I want her to choose her own way (as my mother did) and that brings further complications. There is a Pagan group near where I live and we occasionally go to their family events. Unfortunately (and obviously) a lot of them are at night and so DD is a bit young yet. She has asked me for a Halloween/Witch Party this year though so I expect my non-verbal approval of her liking this kind of thing is rather more evident than I think Grin

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MoonFaceMama · 08/09/2010 09:38

I know what you mean about letting the little ones choose their own path. I completely agree. I guess i just want to offer some structure to the year in the same way lent in to easter, advent into christmas etc did for me when i was a kid, and at the same time open up the possibility of pagan paths iyswim. I'm not really into ritual and tend to prefer adapting traditional activities that have paganish roots (at halloween my mum always got kids to bob for apples. That sort of thing) or more freeform spur of the moment things.

What have your experiences of the pagan group been like? The one near us looks quite welcoming and non dogmatic from the website. They had a picnic in the summer but we couldn't make it. I'll have a look on their website and see what they have coming up...

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BelleDameSansMerci · 08/09/2010 19:50

MoonFaceMama ours has a summer picnic too - which we also didn't make. It's been really welcoming - they're lovely people. We're in West Yorkshire this is our local group but you can't get to the website unless you're a member as there has been some unpleasantness in the past, I believe.

Sorry for rushed message - DD not exactly overjoyed at prospect of bedtime today!

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MoonFaceMama · 08/09/2010 22:29

Hi belle, we're in west yorks too, near leeds. Grin I had been looking at a group called leodis pagan circle. Sorry i'm on my phone so can't link at the mo. Sad about the web unpleasantness. Will have a proper look at your link when i'm on the computer. Am off to bed for now! Smile

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BelleDameSansMerci · 08/09/2010 22:34

Perhaps we should start our own coven Grin

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MoonFaceMama · 09/09/2010 08:20

Grin

I would definatly be up for meeting sometimes! We are blessed with some wonderfull places in yorkshire aren't we! I love the cow and calf, otley chevin and brimham rocks, all places i feel really close to the energy of the universe. I think for me there is something special about those places that are similtaniously high in the sky, on the top of a hill, and still offer access in to the flesh of the earth (ie the rock) iyswim. And i always get a real sense of people having gone there for ever to feel just that. That's the same feeling i get at stone circles etc, but then i also like to think about the huge effort that went in to constructing it. And all that after a day of farming and hunting! Grin

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PortBlacksand · 09/09/2010 08:39

Morning. I would say i was an atheist with pagan leanings - i was very into all the rituals etc. in my youth but now i'm a bit more mellow and 'hedge' about it all. My interests focus on Earth Mysteries and Folklore as well. Oh and i'm a stone circle addict too.

MoonfaceMama - i don't know if you've heard of the megalithic portal (i'm a member). May be of interest to you.

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PortBlacksand · 09/09/2010 08:40

Although the site appears to be down at the mo

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Kaloki · 09/09/2010 08:44


Pagan is probably the best description of my beliefs, not that I usually worry about the festivals too much.
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MoonFaceMama · 09/09/2010 15:04

Hi portblacksand and kaloki! Smile

I love megalithic portal Pb! Though i'm not a member and haven't been on much for the part couple of years, but it was one of my most used bookmarks for quite a while. I just got out of the habit and don't have much free computer time now. I mostly mn from my phone while feeding ds!
Do you have any particularly favourite sites? I recently went to merrivale on dartmoor and it was amazing. And i love the whole kilmartin valley.


Just wondering kaloki, do you celebrate or anything like that, or are you more philosophically pagan iykwim...[hopes that doesn't sound bad] I haven't really worried about festivals that much to date...certainly not enough to remember them Blush but think for me personally it's something that's becoming more important of late. I don't know why cause i guess the date shouldn't matter and in a lot of respect i'm more than happy to take my cue from nature. But i guess am adherance to the calendar is quite human so i won't beat myself up for it! Grin

Anyway, welcome to you both. Grin

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PortBlacksand · 09/09/2010 15:55

Well ... a couple of obvious ones - the walk from Avebury to West Kennet and Castlerigg for atmosphere.

There's one near where i live called Mitchell's Fold - it has a tale attached to it too.

I also like the circular churchyards in Wales - spotting which one i think may have once been stone circles - i like trying to read the landscape. I'm a bit out of practice though - a running theme on this thread i think Grin

Anyone else got endless books on the craft, runes, tarot, dowsing etc. gathering dust on the shelves?

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spiritmum · 09/09/2010 20:47

Hi, everyone.

I'm in Essex and we have a real dearth of sacred sites here. No too much in the way of paganism either; in fact I wasn't allowed to go into the dc's school and talk about it! I did go to an amazing storytelling session on witchcraft a while back though, absolutely spellbinding.

I have lots of books on the craft which I read avidly but can't quite take that plunge. I know why; so many of them talk about needing to proceed with caution, the need for protection and even the possibility of awakening something that you can't deal with or angering the 'old ones'. I come from a liberal Christian background where making mistakes is normal and God is nothing but love, and although I'm not a Christian any more I still find it hard to reconcile what I read in these books to a universe which I find essentially beneficent.

I'm also rubbish at living a 'green' lifestyle; we do manage somethings, but not others. I have three kids and I do what I need to do to get us through with what we need whilst staying sane, even if that means running the washing machine five times a day or buying a packaged pizza. So I feel I can never quite measure up to the earth-centered lifestyle that I'd need in order to really say I follow a green spiritual path.

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BelleDameSansMerci · 09/09/2010 21:02

spiritmum I'm originally from Suffolk so not that far from where you are. There aren't many ancient sites left in East Anglia at all, I think. Many of them were destroyed by Cromwell's lot, I think, or had already been subsumed by Christianity by the time he was in "seek and destroy" mode.

I'm rubbish at the green stuff too. I have a black car, with two seats and a big engine that I call my broomstick! I think, borrowing from Buffy, that I would call myself a Techno-Pagan ie someone with the beliefs but who also embraces technology and the modern world. Not sure if that's a good mixture sometimes.

I don't do much ritual stuff any more although I used to do a lot before I had DD. I would, if asked, probably still call myself a witch but perhaps semi-retired witch would be more accurate these days Smile

I'm feeling quite old now - definitely reaching the "crone" stage of the maiden/mother/crone trio despite actually only just being a mother.

I'm rambling so I'll disappear for it...

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nemofish · 10/09/2010 18:40

I'm another lapsed pagan with Buddhist leanings.

Got to read and run, but will be back later...

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nemofish · 10/09/2010 21:15

I am getting myself involved with the local Pagan Federation in an effort to be more 'actively' pagan.

I would like to teach dd something of her heritage (she has, as far as I am concerned, inherited the psychic / healing gift that has been present in our family for at least the last 5 generations) and also some pagan stuff. Dh not particularly religous but is supportive of my craziness and sympathetic to paganism.

I have taught her to say 'Namaste, Lord Buddha' when she sees a buddha, which is quite funny in the garden section of B&Q! Grin

I feel a bit self concious about passing on information / pagan ideas / traditions, as we have an older dsd, I don't want dsd's mother to think we are dangerous or something... I already hide any books on ritual magik and mediumship upstairs!

How about 'mumsnet moot' thread or 'mumsnet merry meet?' Wink

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MoonFaceMama · 11/09/2010 09:53

Hi everyone and welcome nemofish!

Such a shame to think of all those ancient sites being destroyed, and mitchells fold having stones removed as late as 1995. I really thought people were undertanding of the cultural importance of these places now days Sad It sounds like a wonderful place though Port Smile

Belle and spiritmum i sometimes think trying to live a green pagan life in modern britain is a bit like a muslim trying to live a caliphate life here! Everything is stacked against you!

Belle, i definatly feel i am moving in to my mother aspect at the moment. I'm really glad that i have the triple goddess as a positive model for ageing, it's always portraid so negativly (well, if at all)!


Nemo i love the image of your dd greeting the buddha in b and q!

It is a shame so many people have a judgey attitude towards paganism. Sad that some of you have felt it necessary to be less up front about this, or even been discriminated against.

Nemo i'd be interested to hear about your adventures with the pf!

Does anyone subscribe to any pagan magazines or anything?

Back later Grin

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PortBlacksand · 11/09/2010 17:01

Not unless you count Fortean Times Grin I'm also a member of the folklore society.

Yes it is tragic how Mitchell's Fold has been plundered - but it does have a lovely atmosphere.

I love this time of year - i got married in September and had ivy, blackberries and even a conker on my cake. And the church was all done up for Harvest Festival which was perfect.

I've got no plans for Samhain yet...hmmm.

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MoonFaceMama · 11/09/2010 20:04

Ooh the folklore society sounds interesting!

It is a lovely time of year isn't it. We've had a few of those misty mornings that burn out to hot afternoons lately, a sure sign it's the end of summer. Your wedding cake sounds lovely! We got married at beltain in a tiny ancient disused chapel and had jars of spring flowers that we picked. Was very cheep seasonal. Grin

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