IN OUR ONENESS...KNOW THY SELF

Religions universally promise believers that there is life after death.  Although the worship of ancestors is not universal, a belief in the immorality of the dead occurs in all cultures.

There is variation among cultures in the degree of interaction between the living and the dead, however, as well as in the intensity and concern a people may have for the deceased.  Eskimos are never free of anxieties about ghosts,while pueblo Indians of North America constructed elaborate ghost beliefs, while the Siriono of South America, although believing in ghosts, paid little attention to them.

Perhaps humans have some basic need that causes us to believe in ghosts and to worship  ancestors: to seek verification that although the mortal body may die, the soul survives after death.  The nineteenth-century sociologist Herbert Spencer speculated that the beginnings of religion were in ancestor worship-the need for the living to continue an emotional relationship with their dead relatives. A major problem with Spencer's argument is that many societies at the hunting-and-gathering level do not practice ancestor worship.

One writer has pointed out that two major attitudes are widely held about the dead: they have either left the society or remain as active members (Malefijt 1968:156-59)  in societies thay separate the dead from the living social group, any possibility of the dead returning is regarded as undesirable because they could disrupt the social order and daily routine of life.  In such cultures, Malefijt believes, the dead are likely to be greatly feared, and elaborate belief system-a cult of the dead---is constructed and practiced in order to separate them from the living.  The primary function of cults of the dead is to aid survivors in overcoming the grief they may feel about the dead.  Such cults are not found in societies where the dead are seen as active members of the group; instead, funeral ceremonies are undertaken with the hope the deceased will return to society in their new status.  These beliefs, according to Malefijt, results in the development of ancestor cults instead of cults of the dead.

The study of ancestor worship among American and British anthropologists has emphasized the connection between the identity and behavioal characteristics of the dead, on one hand, and the distribution and nature of their authority in both domestic and political domains of the society, on the other (Bradbury 1066: 127) Although the belief in ghosts of ancestors is universal, the functions ancestors play vary greatly among societies.  It is also clear that variations in ancestor worship are directly related to social structure and that this relationship is not based on mere common religious interests alone: rather, the structure of the kin group and the relationships of those within it serve as the model of ancestor worship (Bradbury 1966: 128).  Among the Sisala og Ghana, for example, only a select number of Sisala elders, based on their particular status and power within the group, can effectively communicate with the ghosts of ancestors (Mendonsa 1076: 63-64).  In many other parts of the non-Westren world, non-elder ritual specialists, such as heads of households, are responsible for contacting the ancestors.  A cross-cultural study of fifty societies found that where important decisions are made by the kin group, ancestor worship is a probability (Swanson 1964: 07-108).

Many, but certainly not all, non-estren societies believe ancestors play a strong and positive role in the security and posperity of their group, and anthropological data is full these kinds of examples.  It is important, however, to recognize that ancestors are but one of several categories of spirits whose actions directly affect society. 

John S. Mbiti's study of East and Central Africa shows that the status of spirit;s may change through time.  Ancestor spirits, the "living dead," are those whose memory still exists in the minds of their kin, and who are primarily beneficial to the surviving relatives.  When the living dead are forgotton in the memory of their group and dropped from the genealogy as a result of the passing of time (four or five generations), they are believed to be transformed into "nameless spirits," non-ancestors, characterized as malicious vehicles for misfortune of all kinds (1970).

In keeping with Mbiti's model, the Lugbara of Uganda recognize two types of dead.  The first group, simply called "ancestors," comprises nameless, all deceased relatives; these are secondary in importance to the recently deceased, called "ancestor spirits" or "ghost," who can be invoked by the living to cause misfortune to befall those whose acts threaten the silidaryity of the kin group. (Middleton 1971:488).

Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion Third Edition Lehmann and Myers
 

Embrace the new and fresh aspects of your life that ring true to your freedom-loving nature.  Give your soul room to breathe as you take a long walk among the trees.  

THE GREATEST MYSTERY OF LIFE IS DEATH.
THE GREATEST FEAR OF LIFE IS DEATH.
THE GREATEST SORROW IN LIFE IS DEATH.
THE GREATEST PROBE IN LIFE IS FOR DEATH.
 
  Death is indeed natural. To bring comfort to your fear of your final departure look upon it as an adventure; supposing there is something there; if not, then you'll feel nothing, it'll just be a long dreamless sleep.
 
  Some people say death is the only thing we can be sure of attaining on our own.  It's a very personal thing death.  Some are afraid of dying alone, because when they come to think about it they can't die any other way - you go out on your own or do you?  

Witches, for the most part, believe that we are much more than the physical body.  We are spiritually immortal by design - an immortal energy. It is the basic fabric of who we are.  The universe is infinite.  And because we are part of the universe, and embody the universe within, we, too, are infinite. 

Witches believe that the spirit continues with the rest of the infinite universe.  We may change and become something quite different in form, but we continue.  

I understand every living thing in its earthly form has an expiry date.  What haunts me is how my friend died.  I truly needed to know my friend was okay.  On the Friday morning after he passed at 6:30am I stood outside I cried out for him to appear. 

My heart believes the closest orb is my friend and the one further back his guide. 

A Love Prayer to honor and show your true intentions to the Divine Powers.  Love, is the finest sense, vibrated. Recite the prayer from the very core of your heart. 

  I, a Light Worker of my Creator, in human form, believe fully and whole-heartedly in my Creator's Truth, Light, Love and Law.  Only spiritual love dwells in my heart, mind, body and soul.  I am one with Divine Love. 

 I, 'a Light Worker of my Creator', bless those who reside and believe in the dark negative forces.  I also request my Creator to bless them to change their minds to loving thoughts and actions.  As we are all creatures of our Creator, it is my intent to turn negative thoughts, pursuits and behaviors to positive, loving thoughts and deeds without prejudice or judgment.  

It is my intent that this be done for the highest good of all concerned in the name of the Maiden, Mother and Crone as well as the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.   In gratitude and trust, I thank the Divine Powers for these gifts that are given and know it will be done.  Blessed Be.

One Witch's Way Rowan Pendragon
http://onewitchsway.com/2011/02/av-sunday-laurie-cabot-national-geographic/

 I watched the show My Ghost Story on Bio.  Most guests on the show telling their stories spoke of fearful tales.  In the last fifteen minutes of the program  an older gentleman told of his experiences with the unseen on his property.  He had a fuzzy snapshot of a little girl skipping across the lawn.  He believed she is the young girl who died in the house when she stepped too close to a fire and she and her dress went up in flames.  Also he has a picture of a woman dressed in period wear walking the grounds.   

Like me, he isn't afraid of what he sees.  He believes as I do  - ghosts and spirits have the power to come and go.  A ghost feels entitled to the place they dwell or visit to bring peace to family and friends in solving their earthly demise.  They like to hang out at the places and close to the people who made them happiest.  Spirits are around us to protect and guide.  

Ghost is a general term which refers to the visible spirit of a former person.  Spirits is the term used for souls of the dead, whether active or not.  

Most people are afraid of the unseen.  They are more afraid of what they don't understand than the entities themselves.   

The "occult" science is that branch of learning, searching for things not yet known to all - the hidden facts of life. Rather than being a word to be shunned occult is a word that attracts the thinking.  Our spiritual nature cries out that we seek the things we don't understand. (Mysterious secrets give wisdom to the wise, but entangle the minds of fool)  

I am a Canadian writer, practicing Witch and Spiritualist who also divines with Tarot and ordinary playing cards.  The cards, as well as messages from Spirit assist to connect to the information I need for myself and hopefully inspire others.  My only desire is to share with you what works for me.  

Witchcraft and Spiritualism gave me a chance to take my life in a whole new direction. Remarkable improvement took place in my life. I enjoy life more and that is a good thing. My family is important to me. I have only a few friends, but they’re very loyal.  There might be a slight setback, but the overall results are positive.    

Doing the right thing, patience spurred on by ambition, makes life easy for me.  I live my life surrounded by people who care about my well-being while doing the things I like to do.    (Positive responses one takes attracts positive results)

Because I couldn't understand or accept all the injustices around me I became an angry and  fractured soul.  Once I embraced a Higher Power and started talking I disposed the problems ( problems are a necessary stage to purification).    (We all want to be loved - We all want to be heard)  

Life isn't perfect.  Life can be really unfair.  We all suffer a run of bad luck or illness.  Slowly and gradually life will change for the better.  Most problems will dissipate into thin air.  The bad times fade.  It takes courage to make the changes in your life to claim your life. Sometimes we need help and support to do the right thing - kindness - disposed or mutual understanding to do good  to others (In ye harm none do as ye will).  

When I pray I speak out loud in a polite and respectful manner to my Spirit Guide and Grandfather.  As I apply my own natural talent and effort as well as positive invisible forces supporting my destiny, heaven-sent people, new places, and unique opportunities appear like never before.  I'm not pushed or agitated by the whims of others for a long period of time.

No matter ones faith, when we pray do we not expect to be heard?   

It can be hard to believe the photos I post are what they are.  I can't give you a rational explanation.  Some things are not meant to understand. - defies logical explanation.  I have nothing to fear.  The snapshots are not illusions.  They are beyond imagination - they are reality.  They allow me to know I am on the right track and and give me the courage to continue in my quest for what is right.  

 

Books In Sync October-November 2011 Book Trailer Recognition Contest my promo trailer  The Summons is entry # 3    http://booksinsync.com/booktrailercontest.html Please stop by and VOTE!!!!


 

I am a Witch.
Was it nature or nurture?
Both.
I became a Witch as soon as I found my true voice.
Some are born into it.
Some take decades, lifetimes even.
Most never hear the call of the Goddess.
They are the lucky ones.
For those of us that hear Her
Listen to Her exclamations of pain.
Not the screams induced in birthing.
(She is happy in the act of creation and
Joyful in the evolutionary process
that was meant to produce conscious and coscientious children.
Her dance is the helix of DNA
And the spiralling of new galaxies.)
No. Her agony is caused by those same children-
most of whom are unconscious and unconscientious-
despite seeming to have given up their ape fur.
They have forgotten to care for the Mother
To nourish and protect Her
As She has always done for them
And will continue to do so
Til the very end of the Kali Yuga.
Even as man disposes of his waste in Her waters
(The waters we awakened to life in
and from which we crawled onto the shores,
Dripping and shiny new.)
And makes a toxic stew of Her skies.
They gleefully blow up the tops of mountains
Forgetting that these are Her breasts.
They purposefully destroy Her rainforest
Unmindful that we need its oxygen
And the as yet undiscovered cures
Contained in its flowers.
These are the things that Witches know.
These are the reasons we respond to our Mother's pleas.

What is a Witch?
A Witch is she who is intimate with the phases of the Moon
And rejoices in the magick each phase signifies:
When She is new, She is eternally young Persephone
Who represents the new beginnings and fresh start.
The Maiden is the renewal of life in springtime,
The thawing of frozen ground from which virgin buds blossom.
When She is full, She is bright and shining Demeter
Who has grown into the fullness of Her power

And knows the secrets of every living thing.
She gives freely the means of  existence,
in abundance and clean water to drink.
She comforts those that need Her--
It is what the Good Mother does.
When She is waning, She is wise Hecate
Who knows that death is only the crossroads
That we all arrive at sooner or later.
The Crone opens the tunnel and Her blazing torch illuminates the way.
But this is not an ending-
The tunnel is the birth canal
And the light at the end of it is that which we see as we are born again.
What is a Witch?
A Witch is he who is secure in himself
Enough to be open, honest, and loving.
He understands that these traits are not solely feminine,
They are also masculine and, more importantly, universal.
He seeks to bring healing to a humanity rent asunder
By greed and the yearning for dominance.
He does as he will but brings harm to none
Leaving only peace in his wake.
What is a Witch?
We are they who carry hope in our hearts.
We who keep the fires of Brighid burning
Until all may bask in Her warmth.
Witches know what it takes to make magick happen
And together we can change the world.So Mote It Be. )O(

Author Drew Hoffman - Poet/Writer/ interested in exploring every facet of my creative expression.

When we demand too much certainty in life, and ask for too many guarantees, we only frustrate ourselves and waste an immense amount of our energy.  

When, however, we are able to live without certainty, comfortable with the paradoxes of life, answers have a way of arriving in their own time.

  In order to be at ease with the rhythms of existence, we need a sense of curiosity and wonder.  We need to be able to face the insecurities of life with an eternal question in our heart, rather than a constant demand for concrete answers. 

Being comfortable with not knowing is as necessary to learning process as an empty mouth is to feeding.  

(In Search of Balance John Robbins & Ann Mortifee H J Kramer Inc. pg.44)

Psychic Phenomena --  manifestation of the existence of spirits, ghost or anything which is extraordinary to the physical world.

WHITE WOMEN: (see Fairy)

Witte wieven literally means white women today, but "wise women" in dialects of the Low Saxon language of the Netherlands. The word witte in Dutch means white.

Wit or witte meant "witty" or "wise", from the root word "weten" which means "to know." The word for wisdom was wijsheid. Witte wieven is often translated to be

"white woman" (sources differ) as the words come from the same roots. The association of wise women with the color white was either an accidental translation error, or a symbolic color association for wisdom (sources differ).

Historically, the witte wieven are thought to be wise women, herbalists and medicine healers who took care of people's physical and mental ailments (wala in OHG).

It was said they had the talent for prophecy and looking into the future. They had a high status in the communities, and so when they died ceremonies were held at their grave sites to honour them.

According to mythology, their spirits remained on earth, and they became living spirits (or elven beings) that either helped or hindered people who encountered them.

They tended to reside in the burial sites or other sacred places. It was thought that mist on a gravehill was the spirit of the wise woman appearing, and people would
bring them offerings and ask for help.

While many scholars believe Witte Wieven originated as above from honoring graves of wise women, others think the mythology of witte wieven come from part
of the Germanic belief in disen, land wights, and/or alven (Old Dutch for "elf") for several reasons: The practice of bringing offerings and asking for help from their
graves is very similar to honoring disen, land wights and alfen in Germanic paganism. In addition, in some localities the mythological witte wieven were described directly as "Alfen" or "Alven".

Jacob Grimm mentioned them in the Deutsche Mythologie (1835) as the Dutch variant of the Germanic weisse frauen: "The people of Friesland, Drenthe and the Netherlands have just as much to tell of their written wijven or juffers in hills and caverns ... though here they get mixed up with elvish personages."[1]

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Fairies a host of supernatural beings and spirits who occupy a limbo between earth and heaven.  Both good and evil, fairies have a various times in history, been blended and confused with witches.

Belief in fairies is universal and ancient, dating back to pagan deities.  Fairies come in all shapes and sizes and are known by scores of names, among them brownie, elf, dwarf, troll, gnome, pooka, kobold, leprechaun and banshee.  They exist in virtually all cultures but are most common in Europe and the British Isle.

Divination -- When there is no communication you don't know how much you've lost.

Fairy -- whether the form was of a pixies, gnomes, or just plain garden-variety fairies, these charming creatures, promise the materialization of your dearest wish when you least expect it.

Elf -- help from an unexpected, or even unknown, sources will be yours if you dreamed/or seen of these mystical, magical characters.

Face -- if smiling, it signifies pleasant new friends, experiences, and/or financial gains.

Woman -- it usually means that you will be fortunate in your love affairs.