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?
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Pagan interest thread
MoonFaceMama · 04/09/2010 08:38
and here we are on all Hallows Day, albeit a bit late 
. I feel a certain sense of relief as 'halloween' always feels rather full of foreboding for me.
Now tell me what rituals do you observe for the Winter Solstice?
Hello everyone, how are you all?
Woken to a glorious morning, so I have abandoned all plans to go shopping and decided to do some house stuff, then go for a walk in our glorious valley and mountains.
DP has a new camera so I'll try to put some pictures up.
We have asked Hathor and Juno to protect DD as the birth of DGCno 4 approaches. Hope you can spare a blessing too!
I'll tell you our Yule plans soon xx
Hello all.
I'm a long-time MNer (have namechanged over the years).
Not sure if this thread is still going but thouight I'd post and see...
I'm quite solitary and my family don't really know much about my beliefs. They know I celebrate Samhain and Yule but just raise their eyebrows and I think they assume I am just doing it to be a bit different 
.
I used to be part of an active pagan community where I lived before which was lovely for DS - we'd do Ostara egg hunts and Imbolc celebrations but now it's just me and DS, doing our own thing. We tend to do informal rituals (cake based, like others )
I'm in Dorset.
Oh, how lovely. I've been at a funeral today & had another on Thursday but couldn't attend. So, a long, sad week for me but an exciting happy one for you
congratulations on your new grandson earthy!
Sorry i haven't been around. I've been busy and started some (very) part time work. I had loads i wanted to say but kept putting it off till i had enough time to write it all, and now the moment has passed. a lesson to be learnt there.
Welcome funny Qtr and grockle
what a shocker that dm article is! I'd be ashamed if i wrote something as rubbish as that! Lol at "worshiping the occult" ! That's the funniest thing i've heard in ages. I think the quote is spiritmum. What questionable behaviour! Haha.
Can't stop now but will be back soon!
Hello! I'm a veteran MNer, but new to this thread. I'm not entirely sure if I fit here. I've been increasingly drawn from atheism to pantheism, and I'm not at all "woo" 
. I've decided to start introducing pantheist celebrations / rituals to my three DCs as I want them to enjoy the seasonal rhythms I experienced as a child (vaguely CofE).
I started a thread about child-friendly ways in which to celebrate Yule, and was given the heads up about this thread.... :)
Anyway, that DM article was predictably shite, but I did like Prof Hutton's quote:
"It is gives a sense of connectiveness to the land and to our remote ancestors, both of which we lack in modern life,? he says.
It is also feminist, in that it gives women at least an equal role, unlike most other religions.
?It is environmentally friendly, and regards the natural environment as sacred. It has a powerful personal ethic, which could be described as individualism. It suits the free spirited in that you don?t have to do much. It is a back-garden religion."
How could anyone object to us when described like that? :)
hi spawnchorus! Welcome! Have you decided on your yule plans? I haven't thought about it yet [disorganised pagan emoticon]
I just can't get past the photos in the dm article. Cliche lazy journalism! Not sure about the "individualism" bit of the quote you give. For me paganism is the ultimate acceptance of ones dependance upon and responsibility to everything else in existance (though natch this means acknowledging the worth of each individual )
Well I'm just here to worship the occult.
We tend to have a pentagram theme for our Xmas decorations (usually made of twigs and sprayed gold / silver!) and also lots of 'woodsy' wreathes with berries on etc. We do 'Christmas' but it is about pressies for each other, the big meal, candles and playing and snuggling on the sofa.
I must admit that while I would say I am a pagan / buddhist mix, and I do take note of and feel the seasons changing, now more than ever with a big garden to do, I know next to nothing about the pagan days / festivals. I find it very perscriptive to be told 'on such and such a day we eat xyz, do xyz and think about xyz.' Erm. No. Bugger off.
Unless it's Xmas. (Santa's Day of recycled wrapping paper and as few things with batteries as possible)
hi nemo!
I hope you are feeling better.
We do christmas too. Any excuse for a celebration!
We have decided on one thing we will be doing for yule! (well, aside from cake, naturally ) Dh would like to find a yule log and keep a fire in all night. Sounds fun to me!
Nemo re pagan days i don't think there is much prescriptiveness there! The dates fall quite naturally for me. They are evenly spaced and act as a tipping point or doorway leading to the next part of the year. So each is a time to consider what that time of year means to me.
For me one of the joyous things about pagan paths is that you can celebrate what you want, when you want and how you want!
Blessings to Al,
I cannot believe that soon we will be celebrating Yule, this year seems to be flying by(perhaps on a besom .
We also celebrate Xmas, not the religious aspect, but more as a family time, with us all getting together a lot more from Xmas to New Year.With us all being off work it's a lot easier.
Yule is being thought about here too, we too have a Yule Log, and of course an nice feast and plenty of cake.
Dc's will have broken up from school, so we have a calm peaceful day going for a nice winter walk then back home and they make some lovely Yule nature type decorations. I meanwhile love to bake at Yule, and make extra that we wrap nicely and give to our next door neighbours with their Xmas cards.
Of course it's another day for counting blessings.
How shocking of the DM to 'steal' quotes, although I shouldn't be surprised. Paganism for me is about being as close to nature and the seasons as I can be, living a 'modern' life. It's about teaching my children to be respectful, of people and nature.It's sad that the media always seem to want to ridicule something our ancestors did for thousands of years.
My dad, bless him, read the DM article and showed it to me because he thought it was fairly reasonable. Which I guess by the DM's standards it was. Still a load of bollocks though
For those of you that do any spell work, could I pick your brains? I don't normally do any as generally I find other ways, but I'm having such a rough time of it right now that I could do with something to give me strength and hope. If you haven't seen my other threads, the very short version is, me and DH are essentially homeless (yet paying rent), DH attempted suicide the other week and I am struggling with depression. So want a kind of luck/strength ritual, which doesn't involve much in the way of props (most of our material possessions are in boxes at various friends house) Any ideas?
I did think that maybe a binding spell to keep the landlord, well, 'out of your face' might be good? And maybe something to... ask that you find the right safe space to live in maybe... Unfortunately I am only a theoretical witch and don't know the specifics
kaloki, i'm so sorry about the crap situation that poor you and your poor dh find yourselves in. I'm afraid i don't have any suggestions really. One thing i do like to do is make things then offer them up to the elements. I feel it is an expression of trust in "what will be" (though i guess that must sounds pretty crass to you. I am very lucky to have never really been in need of help.)
So for instance at samhain i made chaplets of leaves (while thinking about people i had lost...such is that time of year). Then i had floated them off on the lake. The thing with this is i think to spend some meditative time making so you have an attachmet to the object, but to let it go. For me this speaks of trust (that nature will find a good use for it) resourcefullness (i could sit and make another, no problem) and a positive detachment.
I'm really sorry i don't have anything better to offer...maybe someone else does?
I didn't see your other thread btw, where was it? Blessings.
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Oh Kaloki, I'm sorry
Having been through similar myself I sympathise but I have no spell to help.
My friend has a lovely spell book that I could look at for you if that would help? Otherwise I'd google.
hi everyone,
I hope you are all keeping warm!
I'm loving the cold dark nights at the moment. I keep making the poor dog come out for a night walk for me. Last night we cast moon shadows from the huge (almost) full moon. We are lucky to be very quickly (and mudily) able to get away from streetlights and the stars are so beautiful. I must find out more about them and the planets to be seen at this time of the year.
Last night held an extra treat as on my way back through the village i found that the village tree is up, complete with lights. I do love christmas lights
I hope you and yours are all doing well. Special thoughts for nemo, kaloki and earthy.
Bright blessings. Xxx
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