Pagan interest thread

[MoonFaceMama]

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 ) 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?

I too am sidling in sheepishly.....
I have had a crazyily busy summer and have tried to restrict both MN and FB.
We have had to replace bathroom and then tackle some redecorating so I have just been plodding along.

I will read the latter part of the thread properly later. I want to talk about setting up a group and would appreciate your input.
Love and blessingsEM x

Hello All, I wonder if you can send some positive vibes my way?

My H dumped me by e-mail today, my darling DD has been right in the thick of it all.
He's been having an affair with a friend of ours and is the father of her eighteen month old D. My DD is 5.
Needless to say this is all news to me!

We've spoken and have said we'll remain civil and our finances are going to be ok. I'm at the solicitor and the STI clinic next week.

Oh my, ChildOfIsis... I'm so sorry

There are no words to make you feel any better about this but I am full of sympathy. My H left me when DS was tiny (he'd been having an affair all the time I was pregnant). He left me when I went away to visit my father who was very ill with cancer. I came home and H was gone He's still involved with DS but things are frosty between us to say the least.

I wish you much strength and courage. You sound as if you are being very brave. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat. The whole thing is a nightmare and so so shocking. I'm truly very sorry.

Hope the home improvements are going well, Earthy.

Do you know today I feel fine. Despite having no sleep last night.

I've been away on a course and have accepted that this is his mess, i didn't ask for it but i can choose to respond to it with dignity and calmness.

He wants things to be right for me and DD and is sorry about it all.

DD and he have had a great day and I've had a fantastic time surrounded by loving friends.
If this is what the future looks like, Bring it on.

I'm so relieved that i don't have to try and be something i'm not in the hope it will make him want me. If he's not in love with me then he doesn't deserve me.
i'm worth more than sloppy seconds.

You're right, CoI. Dignity and calmness is what I lacked (well, I had it initially then I lost the plot a little - I have since learned to be more mindful and to handle things better, which is a great relief!) You sound very strong and together. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. How old is DD? DOes she know?

She's 5 and was with me when i read the e-mail.
I've told her that daddy isn't in love with mummy anymore but is in love with the other woman .Also told her that he's had what called an affair and that it's a very naughty thing to do when you're married.

i've reassured her that we both love her very much.

Oh crikey - I can't believe he did it by email. I think you gave a very sensible explanation. My DS is the same age and doesn't know the details (he was much younger when it happened) but I always give him the facts (his father makes up strange stories that make no sense).

Blessings to you, ChildofIsis. x

Hi Grockle, just musing away the early hours. I woke up and had a shock when I realised h wasn't in bed with me and it all came back to me.

I have given it some thought and realised again that recriminations and accusations aren't going to help going forward.

It's just dawned on me that we've all been on some sort of emotional hamster wheel whilst this has been happening.
All of us have been existing together rather than living our lives to the full.
Well the wheel has stopped, we've all had a nasty bump and now we're free to be ourselves.

Thank Isis for common sense and a sense of perspective in life.

I feel much better for having reassured myself.
I actually am blessed in that he's not walked off without a backward glance leaving me destitute to look after our DD on my own.

He was here with DD yesterday whilst I was away on a course. they had great fun together and I had a fantastic day surrounded by loving, supportive friends.

I am a volunteer worker for a charity that runs personal development and self-esteem enhancing courses.
Thank Isis that I am, the resources I've got from doing the courses have kept me sane over the last day or so and helped me see the truth of the situation.
I hope that it'll help us to find a successful way of co-parenting our DD into the future.

How are you today, CoI?

Your volunteer work sounds great. I'd love to go back to doing voluntary work but I don't know how to manage it, with work & DS. I am sure yours will be very useful to you - it sounds like a great thing for you as well as for the people you help. I could probably do with attending one of those courses!

I'm sure there'll be someone in your area. Nearly every town/city has trainers teaching the work.

I'm ok today, had the odd wobble but that's to be expected.
I had a great time on tuesday as I met up with my birth mother for the third time.
It's shocking how alike we are.
I've yearned to look into someones eyes and see my own. DD looks like H.

I've just realised what a 'big' year I'm having.

My Mum's very ill with her heart, my best friend had a radical mastectomy with 70% risk of it returning somewhere else in her body, I've found my bm and h has left in shitty circumstances.
Well if I can survive this then I can do anything. Mind you I don't think I could do a marathon, Ha Ha.

What a lot you have going on, ChildOfIsis... How're you doing?

I'm struggling today - I had an MRI to scan my head for a brain tumour yesterday. Obviously, it being something so serious is unlikely and they have to check for these things but it suddenly dawned on me today that they were looking for something quite serious. I feel very unsettled and quite sad. Plus the MRI hurt my head - I've had terrible earache since they did it and I can't work out how to make it go away.

Oh Grockle I hope that nothing untoward comes from the scan. It sounds like it really hit you.
Do you think that maybe your ears are hurting because there's something you don't want to hear?
If there's anything that I can help with, please let me know.

I'm doing ok. This situation has thrown up loads from my past, mainly abandonment issues from my adoption. I've done some regression work and now am ok about it. I don't like what he's done but I can take it and I will make the best of it.

I am starting to see that maybe this is a catalyst for me to move in a different direction. I believe that there are blessings in every situation and that through adversity comes strength.

I can go and do anything I want now, and I probably will.

Thanks childofIsis...I don't know what is happening - maybe there is something I don't want to hear. I'm feeling much better though, so that's good. I'm glad you are feeling relatively positive about your situation. I well remember that sudden realisation that I could go anywhere and do anything - it was such a revelation!

It is a revelation, you're right.
Also I'm getting a sense of an inner strength I didn't know I possessed.
There are some very low moments, but genereally it's been quite easy to deal with. Which in view of the madness of the whole thing I find really strange.
I never knew I could be so rational about something so emotive.
Also the fact that I'm holding all the aces helps enormously!

It looks like everything will continue as per usual financially, at least as long as we're both living independently of anyone else.
My solicitor has told me about a legal agreement we can make to do with the money so that I've got some come back if he goes back on his word.
I've cleared out all his stuff from my bedroom and the living room so it definately 'feels' like my house now.
Mind you there is 23 years worth of shite models/computers in the attic that need dealing with. He'll be doing that.

wow, stumbled on this thread, I would say by accident but my journey as wiccan so far has involved things like books persistantly falling off the shelf in Waterstones. I could have written the ops post, really feeling the need to start explaining the wheel of the year to my ds's now and realising how much I still have to learn. Live in sight of the Cow and Calf and started telling them about the fight between the giants that put it there and realised I cannot even remember both their names only Rombauld.

I am sorry this is a hard time for some
of you at the moment, I have found in the past that things often change rapidly around the equinox and are in flux till shortly afterwards' Blessed be

Hi Upsydaisy, glad you found us.
You're right about flux at equinox.
Particularly in my case the phrase 'as ye sow, shall ye reap' H is now reaping his harvest! I'm reaping a future full of dignity and support.
Unfortunately DD is having his 'harvest' thrust upon her.
I'm glad it's come to the surface before Samhain.
I can start the next new year free from worry about my marraige. Free to go and do what suits DD and me.

As in Ilkley, upsydaisy? I used to live in Leeds.

I love the feeling of a new year approaching amd new beginnings.

I'm still desperate to find a lovely book for DS with explainations of the sabbats for DS. It's sad that there's millions of books about christmas but I can find nothing about Samhain or Yule etc.

How're you doing, CoI?

Thanks for asking Grockle.

I've been having a really difficult week, feeling lots of anger about what the future holds for DD.
DD has been refusing to go into school; which she loves; for fear of me leaving her like Daddy did.
I am certain all will be ok in the end. However I have 28 years of emotion and memories to work through.

I saw a solicitor on wednesday, she was lost for words when I told her the situation, in 20 yrs of legal work she'd never come across such a dumbfounding affair. Apparently she's never usually stuck for words.

I've empowered myself by recharging my protections and binding OW from harming me and DD.
My little house is becoming just that; My house; as his stuff gets removed.
I'm surrounded by loyal support, including MNers and am feeling very uplifted and loved by it all.

I'm not craving h's attentions anymore, I'm looking forward to a time when I can be with someone new who will respect and love me.

The future is looking rosie, unfortunately there's some manure to get through before I can smell the flowers!

Yes Ilkley, shouldn't out myself really, but tis a reasonably sized town. I like to ponder if some of the chasing yout tail consumerism here is because the railway line blocks the flow of energy btwn the moor and the river, as Otley seems more spiritual. Mind you I am still adjusting to moving from inner city and this is the smallest and most homogenous place I have ever lived. Lovely day last week though took kids blackberrying in the woods in the late afternoon sun.

Sorry to hear you have had a bad week COI. I would be tempted to write all my anger down and burn it , counselling technique, but hey ho if done under a waining moon couold be a banishment ritual

Sorry you had a difficult wekk,. ChildOfIsis. I think this is one of those things where there are lots of ups and downs. The ups are good and the downs are, well, bad. But I'm glad you are so positive and looking forward to things.

My ExP's family live around Otley so I used to spend a lot of time there. It's a lovely part of the country. I love the chevin.

Do any of you have a besom. And, if so, where did you get it? I'm feeling the need for one but don't know where to look. I've googled but the garden ones are not made of hazel and birch which is what I'm after.

Hi Grockle, I got mine years ago at my local hardware shop. I think it was locally made. Do you have anywhere similar near you?

Bright Blessings for the equinox to all too.

I think we'll go for a wander in the Forest at the weekend. There are lots of witchy shops in Burley - they're a bit touristy but they might have something overpriced locally made. Failing that, I've found a site on the internet that sell hazel and birch besoms so I'll order from there.

Happy equinox everyone

Mabon blessings, Happy Equinox to all

Happy equinox everyone