(no subject)

[theatokos]

I keep meaning to write actual paragraphs about stuff that have meaning. Things I want to post about:
*things I'll miss about the Bay Area when I move
*things I'm looking forward to living in Lampeter
*thoughts on "what if there is no god? what if magic is real? what if it's not?" etc
*post some pictures of Bennett - he's huge and amazing and growing up and it makes the difficulty of the last year so worth it

I am making fiery thai noodles. I am going to a ritual tonight. I am going to dress up and wear my fabulous faux fur coat. I'm working on being grounded, present, and eating my fear.

I hope you have a great Friday night!

Comments

[so-sporktastic.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a wonderful Friday night for you.

I always go all drooly when you mention food. ♥ you.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

You know it was so great to be my own autonomous being for a few hours. And then it was incredibly sweet to crawl back into bed next to Bennett. I think time alone is important only in that it reminds me that spending time with B is my favorite thing ever.

[sapphire-kittum.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to more Bennett pictures. :D

Mmmm noodles sounds good!

[kimsansf.livejournal.com]

i also have a running list of things i love about oakland/the bay area to post one of these days! lol!

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Are you thinking of moving? Or just thinking of the things you love?

[miss-malloreee.livejournal.com]

ditto on how rewarding being a mommy has become, if you would of showed me Anna the way she is now, at 2 months old, I would of never believed it! she was soooooo worth the battle!

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

*things I'm looking forward to living in Lampeter*

Well, here I am & Lampeter is pale & interesting today - delightfully peaceful & Sunday quiet.

Regardless of whether or not our spiritual practices are compatable (I've checked out the Feri Tradition btw & run away!) I'm delighted for you that you are coming here. The Pagan Society at the university is made up of an eclectic mix of paths. At the very least, we shall have tea together & talk, I'm sure :)

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

What about Feri makes you flee? I am not surprised. It has that effect on many! I think we will have much to talk about over tea!

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

My main objection is that it's hierarchical, secretive & initiatory. I'm not really into Neo-paganism to be honest. As I've already said, I'm a simple soul whose life work has been in service to an eco-feminist, Goddess-centric Path.

I hold the Earth sacred & believe that how we live on the Land, how lightly we tread & our response to a planet in crisis is what marks us as authentic pagans. Creation myths, the trappings of ceremonial magic & ritual practice have their place of course (& I've been a coven guardian for many years & therefore I'm an experienced Circle worker) but essentially, they play a very small part in the work of a priestess.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Hm, I wonder what links you saw? Feri is not well organized and there are many who are big into the ceremonial side of things and others who are less so. My teacher, T Thorn Coyle, is BIG on personal responsibility, ethics (as self-defined) and doing a lot of work on self - not in a self-absorbed way, but more like getting one's shit together in order to be aligned with the Divine and an effective instrument in the world.

I wouldn't say Feri is hierarchical *at all*. It is initiatory, but once initiated everyone is a preist/ess. One of the things that I really like about Feri is its strong emphasis on all beings having the light of the Divine in them, therefore all persons are gods. The tradition is highly ecstatic, which I am still making my peace with, as I tend to be more contemplative and quiet in my beliefs and faith. Which I suppose makes me a good fit for being a theologian. As for secretive, well, my prediction is that in the coming years it will become a lot less secretive.

I am guessing that you are more of a monotheist then? By that I mean, not God-the-father monotheism, but mono as in One Goddess. Is there are particular face of the Goddess that you work with?

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

There's a plethora of stuff online. I looked at several sites & they were much of a muchness to be honest. And I'd read about Victor Anderson & Gwydion Pendderwen years ago in Margot Adler's marvellous work, Drawing Down the Moon.

I'm not heavily into teachers either! Although I mentor & have run workshops & my coven; shared knowledge, essentially I see myself as someone who open doors. I believe knowledge is a priviledge & we have a responsibility to share it. But to do so without setting ourselves up as somehow superior, which I fear happens a great deal in the Craft. And is my personal bete noir.

And since Anderson 'created' the Feri tradition with initiation as a big part of the path, surely that constitutes a hierarchy? Initiation, by definition, suggests a hierarchy. Goddess spirituality states that women are priestesses (or Witches) by virtue of their sex. Unless one actively seeks it, there's no 'training' or initiation involved other than one's personal commitment to the Divine Mother.

Yes, Goddess is One in my world although She may manifest through archetypes & I 'work' sometimes with diffrent aspects & faces. Since my practice is private, I tend not to talk about specifics.

Just as a point of interest, feminist spirituality doesn't dismiss the Male Principle (nature proves the foolishness of such a stance) but I agree with Starhawk who wrote that the Goddess contains the male.

Edited for typos...

[seaivy.livejournal.com]

Hello Ewigwalbllche

I am reading this on readthisandweep's friends list. I hope you don't mind. I find this discussion very interesting.
My beliefs are similar to hers. I read a bit about Feri but that was some time ago.
May I ask you a question?
Would you explain more your statement
"to be aligned with the Divine and an effective instrument in the world. "
I'm interested in how /who ? you see the Divine and what you mean "to be an effective instrument".
This is a really interesting discussion and there don't seem to be many on L J.
Thanks.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

Alignment. It's not a submission of personal will to a fully transcendent god (as much of Christianity), but rather a honing of my will and parts (body, mind, spirit or the tripartite soul as Feri teaches) to be brought into agreement with the Divine spirit. By being aligned with myself and all my parts and the Divine I am more effective in the world. I don't mean an instrument as a passive tool used by something/someone else, but rather as a physical entity that is efficacious in my action, deliberate in my craft, moving outward in the world.

Personally, I am a panentheist - I see the Divine as immanent AND transcendent, the vast whole in which we live, move and have our being, and yet also the personal, relational face of God/dess. At the utmost expression of Divinity there is no sex or gender, although I see expressions of sex and gender in gods and goddesses as useful ways for us to see qualities of divinity and also a need that we as humans have to personalize the abstract.

I hope that is clarifying in some capacity for you! This would be a good discussion point for the spiritual_pagan community - I see that we're both members of it!

[alizarin71.livejournal.com]

Even though I'm in Ohio, I will miss you three even more when you are in Lampeter. We will still connect, though, I'm sure.

I'm not competent to talk about magic in any organized way. But--What if there is no God? I'll lay out my crap right here in livejournal, along lines that I've probably discussed with you before: I believe in heaven, hell and god to the extent that we manifest them here on earth. We've sure done a great job with hell. I've been privileged to see some of god and heaven in my friends: In short, it's a pretty flat theology, borrowing much from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions. We see God if we take the opportunity to make God. (A real artist's theology, isn't it!) And maybe this point of view is not, in the end, too far out of line with panentheism, immanence or transcendence.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

I was JUST thinking of you this morning!! Holy cow, I miss you so much. GAH. Are you two still thinking of making an appearance this summer? I wish we could make it to OH... maybe? Doubtful, but I'll hold out hope. I mean, Auntie Hrafntinna needs to meet her little viking! (That just made me bust out laughing!)

Your theology is not flat at all. In fact, I quite agree with you. Panentheism IS immanence AND transcendence - yay for both/and!

When you get a moment, write me a freakin' email and tell me about your life in OH and jobs and how much you love being engaged (can I tell everyone at the next FB?) and what's shaking artistically in your world. And other stuff as you see fit.

[alizarin71.livejournal.com]

Yes, please do tell them! I'm only sorry we haven't told more of them ourselves (I'm especially thinking of Em here, and A. too if she still shows). Thank you!

Re: work: I'm still looking, still applying to places, and also still making websites for people. I'm thinking seriously of making that my job. My portfolio is a work in progress, but you can see it at www.chrissellers.com (http://www.chrissellers.com). --That pretty much wraps my work and artistic news together in one big enchilada. I'm loving life--I'll write more about that in a real email. The "little viking" bit is hilarious. xo