Summer solstace

Happy solstice! The weather in my neck of the woods definitely isn't summer! Its been raining non stop, and not getting much above 65. However, I had a wonderful time yesterday with my channeling friends (I am part of a channeling group, and we had a BBQ yesterday). Its really nice to hang out with like-minded individuals, and feel comfortable being yourself. We did a little bit of channeling (channeling= giving psychic readings for each other by channeling spirits/guides and use of cards). Interesting information that people got for me was that my boyfriend and I would be moving in 6 months, which would be wonderful. Also, the issue of pregnancy constantly comes up for me and we have been told we will be getting pregnant soon. When we first heard this, we were most definitely freaked out! We weren't planning on children for 5 or so years, and here we are faced with a possible pregnancy much sooner than anticipated. My future daughter has made herself known to me for the past 6 or so months, preparing me for her arrival. I have met her in meditations, and its powerful and strange. Her name is going to be Anastasia, which she told me and just so happens to be my boyfriends favorite name. I have also met my future son but told him not to tell me what his name was, since I want to pick! haha.

So, these experiences are common in my life, and those of my friends. People with pagan/wiccan/new age beliefs tend to accept their gifts and develop them, unlike believers of the major religions, who seem to be scared of them. Being psychic is normal for people with my beliefs, and nothing unusual. I "see" my future children, guides, gods/goddesses and ghosts frequently. Its interesting, sometimes frightening but I am blessed with a gift and I am learning to use it. It can be confusing, but I am so blessed and happy that I was chosen to experience these things and help others develop their gifts.

Ok, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my weekend, rain and all. Happy father's day as well everyone!

Approaching mid-summer

Hello world wide web. It has been a few days since my first entry, and felt the need to write a little something about the approaching holiday, the summer solstice. I will be celebrating with friends this year. I'm really interested in celebrating the holidays more, as it makes me feel good and I like celebrating the turning of the wheel and the gods and goddesses. My first ritual that I ever did was for Imbolc (candlemass) which is feb. 2nd and is a holiday to coax the sun back (that's a very basic description!). I live in Maine, so it was very cold and we had snow. I went out under the moon and cast my first circle, really nervously, afraid to mess up. Experience has told me that you can't really "mess up" casting a circle or calling the quarters. You cast a circle how you wish and there is no one way to do it (other pagans might disagree).

Anyway, so the upcoming summer solstice got me thinking about holidays and celebrating my faith. My favorite holidays are Christmas and Halloween. Now, you might be thinking why does a pagan celebrate Christmas? Well, I was raised celebrating Christmas and learned once I began to study paganism that before people celebrated Christmas, they celebrated Yule (winter solstice). Heck, they decorated trees, believed in Santa (though they didn't call him that) and had yule logs and evergreen for decoration. Basically, its pretty much the same but instead of the christian son, I celebrate the pagan sun. I love the spirit of the season and feel like numerous religions and paths come together doing this time to celebrate love and light and its just so darn nice!

Halloween is also one of my favorite holidays. Pagans call it Samhain, and it is the celebration of the dead and when the veil is thinnest. This is where Halloween comes from. As I studied paganism more I learned that most modern holidays (and Christian ones) come from Pagan roots. Its actually quite interesting!

So, I'm excited to celebrate with my friends the longest day of the year. I feel it will be the opening of a new chapter for me, in my health, career and attitude. I hope everyone has a nice weekend, and to my pagan/wiccan readers, happy solstice!

Hello world

Hello there! This is my first attempt at an entry, as well as a blog on this site. Let me tell you a little bit about myself before I go any further. My name is Morwen, and I'm from Maine. I recently graduated from grad school with a degree in social work. My dream job is to be a child therapist with my own practice. I have been writing in online journals for about 8 or so years, but they have focused on my private life and day to day ranting. I wanted to start a more grown up blog concerning my faith, paganism, and the struggles and blessings living as a pagan brings. I will not go to far into what paganism is, since it would take a long time and that is not the focus of this blog. If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask and I will gladly answer. For more information on pagan/wiccan beliefs check out religioustolerance.org, they are a good resource.

I have been studying paganism since I was 16, about 8 years ago now. I had always believed in God, reincarnation, the afterlife and so on, but it was not until I discovered Wicca did I have a label for what my faith was. I eagerly told my mother what I had discovered, and she was nervous at first. She didn't understand what it was, like many others. Once I began to explain the main beliefs (everything comes back to you three fold, there is a God and Goddess, and you are to harm none) my mother discovered she agreed with much of the religion. Since I was young my mother had taken me to meditation classes and to have reiki treatments. I learned how to meditate around age ten, and met my spirit guide (which scared the living daylights out of me initially!). So, calling myself a "wiccan" did not stray far from my families beliefs and practices. You may have noticed that I started out following the wiccan path, and now call myself a pagan. This is because as I studied wicca more and more and learned about the levels (circles) of priests and priestesses I began to dislike some of the wiccan tenants. I did not like Christianity because of the "level of command" and rules about who could talk to god. I did not want to belong to a religion that also had similar rules and levels of power. So, I started studying paganism in general.

Once I went to college, I found like-minded individuals and a student organization for pagans and the like. I spent those years learning, and chiseling out my specific beliefs, and developing my gifts (which I'll get into later). I made great friends, and met my boyfriend there. We have been dating for five years now, and he is also a pagan. We have a few differences in our beliefs, but not many. For instance he believes that all the gods and goddesses of every pantheon (Zeus, Mercury, Pan, Thor, Shiva) and so on, are individual gods separate of each other. I however believe in the aspect theory where there is one over all "God" or "Spirit" that then breaks down into male/female (god/goddess) and then all of the other gods (zeus, aphrodite, diana...). So, in my belief all of these gods are simply aspects (or a part of) the over all spirit.

So, that's me in a nutshell. I hope to use this blog to share with others the wonderful faith of paganism, my adventures as a modern witch (don't worry, I'm a good witch!) and the difficulties of being a pagan in this society. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks for reading!