Images of Air

Thursday’s Talking Point – Images of Air

In my mind, air is represented by the wind blowing across my cheek, by birds flying over head, clouds in the sky. I associate it with the Direction East here in the UK.

When I lived and practised my Pagan religion in the American State of Kansas though, I associated Air with the South. This was because the very name, Kansas, is taken from the Kanza Native American tribe and when translated means “People of the South Wind”. Anyone who has ever felt a strong summer breeze coming up from the south while standing out on the prairies of Kansas will know exactly why this fits.

People of the South Wind is also one of my favourite songs from the 70s rock group, Kansas.

 

I have compiled some of my favourite Images of Air. Some were found over at Wikimedia and have been credited as such.

Others, I created myself using a really cool Interactive Art program I found a few weeks back called Silk, then modified using a free photo editor I rather like called Photoscape.

I will feature some of the mandala images I have created using silk weave in a future post.

 

 

Aquarius

 

Wind Turbines
By London Rachel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Mountain sylph
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Libra

The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat
A priestess offers gifts of food and milk to the spirit of a cat. On an altar stands the mummy of the deceased, and the tomb is decorated with frescoes, urns of fresh flowers, lotus blossoms, and statuettes. The priestess kneels as she wafts incense smoke toward the altar. In the background, a statue of Sekhmet or Bastet guards the entrance to the tomb.
Source: Wikipedia, in public domain.

 

Incense smoke
Image by NanLT made using silk weave and photoscape

 

Feathers
By Greg Tee (originally posted to Flickr as Feathers) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Fairy magic
By none listed, authors were John Strange Winter, Frances E. Crompton and Mrs. Molesworth [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Feather in flight
By Louise Docker from sydney, Australia (Solo Flight) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Gemini

 

Fairy kite
By aussiegall from sydney, Australia (fairies kitesUploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Fairies dancing on flower
Image created by NanLT using silk weave and photoscape

 

Alchemical Air

 

 

What images and symbols do you associate with the Element of Air?

A Chicken in My Pot

It’s Kitchen Witch Wednesday!

Since I’ve been cooking for just myself in recent months I don’t often buy a whole chicken, but I had a coupon for £1.50 off a whole free range bird. Now, what to do with it! Because while I can get lots of meals out of this bird, I don’t want to get bored eating nothing but chicken for the next week.

To start, I put the whole chicken in my slow cooker and turned it on high. This allowed me to go about my day, and even go out for a few hours, while it happily cooked at home. Added bonus: chicken stock!

Meal 1:

Picture by NanLT

Chicken Enchiladas, my way

Ingredients:

• Meat from 1 breast and thigh
• 2 medium onion, chopped
• 4 mushrooms, chopped
• 3 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
• 50 gm butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chilli and paprika paste
• 2 heaped tablespoons flour
• 1/2 liter milk
• grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 large tortillas

Method:

1. Heat the butter and oil in a pot and add the bacon. Let it cook down until crispy. Add in the onions and mushrooms, cook until softened.
2. Stir in the chipotle chilli paste.
3. Add the flour and stir constantly for 2 – 3 minutes to let the flour cook down.
4. Gradually add the milk, stirring it in completely each time, until it reaches a desired consistency. You’re aiming for a medium-thick sauce as it will loosen up further with the addition of the tomatoes and beans.
5. Add in the tins of chopped tomatoes and beans, and about a half cup of grated cheese. Stir to mix. Taste, then season with salt and pepper. If you’d like a bit more heat, add some dried chilli flakes or a good dash of chipotle Tabasco seasoning.
6. Chop the chicken into 1/2 inch cubes.
7. Butter a large casserole dish
8. Place 1/6 of the chicken into each tortilla, spoon a bit of the sauce into each, and roll up. Place in a single layer in the casserole dish.
9. Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas and grate more cheese over the top.
10. Bake in a hot oven for 45 – 55 minutes, until it is hot and bubbling.

This recipe can serve 3 – 4, so will provide several nice meals for me.

Plans for the rest of the chicken include a chicken pie and a nice chicken soup. Both of which will also provide me with 3 or 4 hearty meals. That’s my week of meals sorted.

All of these meals can be easily frozen as well.

More chicken recipes

• Easy, Healthy Chicken Enchiladas (otherwisesimple.wordpress.com)
• Easy Chicken Enchiladas (capturesunshine.wordpress.com)
• Chicken Pot Pie (simplysophisticatedcooking.wordpress.com)
• New Recipe Alert! Crock Pot Chipotle Chicken “tacos” w/ sweet and spicy salsa! (onemotherofaday.wordpress.com)

Why Pagan?

The life of Jesus of Nazareth plate 47. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thursday’s Talking Point:  Why Pagan?

When I am confident in my own beliefs, they are not threatened by the beliefs of other.

Occasionally, I am asked the question, why are you a Pagan. Or, I am asked a variation of this question, why are you not a Christian. Strangely enough, no one ever asks me why I’m not Jewish or Muslim or Hindu (but I was told once by a Hindu friend that I am, I just don’t realise it).

Questions as to why I chose to reject the religion of my upbringing an follow a Pagan path arise as well when I point out that I actually believe that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, really lived. That as a man he was a great teacher. That he was and is a prophet in the Jewish and Muslim faiths. I even believe that his words of wisdom led to the formation of the Christian religions.

But, I’m not Christian. And, I don’t want to be.

So, why not? The very basic answer, and one that I never had reason to probe deeper until recently, is that I am not Christian because nearly every time I sit in a listen to a Christian religious sermon I come away from it feeling anger. Doesn’t matter what the denomination or the topic of the sermon, and I don’t want to take away from those who are able to find comfort and solace there. This is me, and my reactions and I own them completely.

Why the anger though? And how can I believe in Jesus, but not be Christian?

I believe my anger stems from an instinctual realisation that the dogma of modern Christian religions bear very little resemblance to the teachings of Jesus as I understand them. It isn’t the man I reject, it is the religion which has arisen in his name.

I’ve recently started reading a book, Jesus Through Pagan Eyes by Rev Mark Townsend which provides a look at Jesus from a Pagan perspective. This, of course, is what has set my mind to pondering my own attitudes towards Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus, the prophet, taught many things as documented within the Christian New Testament and the Muslim Quran. Love one another, heal the sick, provide for the poor. Jesus wasn’t speaking to the leaders of the Jewish religion of his birth, he was out there speaking to the social outcasts and rejects. He was sitting with the social lepers, the unclean, the ones denied entrance into the temples and he preached the idea that we should hold love in our hearts for all people.

Christianity, as a religion, I believe has fallen away from those teachings. The money lenders are once again sitting inside the temple. Note, it isn’t the individuals I am speaking of here, it is the organizational hierarchy within the church I am speaking of. The work and dedication of the individual is overshadowed by the corruption of the whole.

Some of people I meet up who identify as Pagan have the idea that in order to be Pagan, one must reject completely all ideas associated with Christianity. Generally, these are people who are still finding their own identity as Pagans and those who decided to become Pagan not because it was a religious belief which called to them, but because it was a way of rebelling against the status quo. They are sticking the proverbial finger up at the religion of their parents, or of the social group they came from.

These people will accept blindly the wisdom of other Ascended Masters such as Buddha or Confucius while rejecting, just as blindly, any suggestion that this man from the Sea of Galilea had anything of importance to say or even that he might have existed!

If they continue to follow a Pagan belief system, this urge to rebel against what they came from will hopefully evolve into an urge to move towards a deeper understanding and integration of their own spiritual beliefs and an acceptance of the beliefs of others, however different. Included in this, for some Pagans, is the desire to include the teachings and wisdom of Jesus within their own Pagan practice.

I can’t say that I am one such person, however reading this book is giving me a lot of insight into my own beliefs and attitudes.

 

UK Link Jesus Through Pagan Eyes

US Link Jesus Through Pagan Eyes

 

Related articles

• J is for My Journey and Jesus (naturalpantheist.wordpress.com)
• Revd Mark Townsend  (Author of Jesus Through Pagan Eyes)

I’m Not Seeking Enlightenment (Revisited)

 

 

Some time back, I wrote about how I am not seeking to become “enlightened” and how that isn’t a concept I use to describe myself.

 

Why I am Not Seeking Enlightenment

 

Today, I had the privilege of reading a blog post written by yogaleigh over at “Notes from the Bluegrass“. and one particular passage stuck out. You can read the entire post for yourself, Okay so I’m just not a Buddhist.

 

There was one bit that stuck out for me, where she is discussing the Buddhist concept of Enlightmentment.

 

I also had to note that the experts all agreed that the goal is enlightenment and, as I’ve mentioned before, somehow I can’t get that interested in enlightenment. I feel like I’m here now in this body and the point of this journey for me is to understand the fullness of my being–including my higher self–while in this body and on this planet and to walk my path with all the consciousness I am capable of amassing. I get that that might mean that one day in practice I may achieve enlightenment, I’m just saying I don’t care whether I do or don’t.

 

I gave a big cheer inside of myself when I read this. Yes! This is just it – I am living here right now in this body and I need to fully experience being here, in this body, in this place, right now. So thank you for putting into words something I have not been able to fully enunciate myself.

 

 

Related articles

• Okay, so I’m just not a Buddhist… (bluegrassnotes.wordpress.com)
• Don’t Call Me Enlightened (Part 2) … Writings of  Pagan Witch
• When It’s Okay to Judge   … Writings of a Pagan Witch

 

Who am I?

Thursday’s Talking Point

Today the talking point is my choice, so I’ve decided to focus on the subject which has been most on my mind these past many months.

Who Am I?

A lot of the work I have been doing lately has focused on this one single question. Am a defined by what I do, by who I am with? Am I the labels put on me by others? Or only those I accept for myself? Am I all of this, or more?

On the recommendation of my friend, Heather over at Delusional Mom, I have started reading the book Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally

Inside it are stories to read, and various action and writing assignments which the author encourages you to try for just 37 days.

One of the assignments is to set a timer for 3 minutes, then write about who you are for that time. At the end of the three minutes, set the timer and write again, leaving out anything mentioned in the first writing. And then do it a third time.

Once you have removed I am a mother, I am a wife, I am a daughter, I am a witch, I am a healer? What is left?

In 2012, I was left facing these very real questions. My children were no longer living with me (temporary, they are returning home this summer). I no longer had a husband, my father died and I was not able to return to the US for the funeral. Suddenly, I wasn’t a wife, I wasn’t a mother, I wasn’t somebody’s daughter. My religious practices were being questioned from every direction, both with regards to what they mean for me and in terms of how I am raising my children within these beliefs.

After all of this was removed, what was left? And I have been left with one very simple realisation.

I am, me.

All the rest, it’s just stuff.

I am more than the sum of the parts that have gone into defining who I am.

If you had to define who you are, what would you say? How would you define yourself if those things were removed?

 

Asking for Your Help

Reblogged from The Healing Room:

I have a calling. As I have talked about before, I am being led to become a Soul Midwife.

I have been in contact with Felicity Warner who founded the Soul Midwives movement here in the UK and am making arrangements to take the courses on offer through them. And that will take money.

I have the funds available in Paypal to cover the Introductory Course, and from then on will be saving every bit of money I can via Paypal in order to fund the next course.

Read more… 128 more words

All I have gone through in this past year has lead me towards knowing this is where I need to be. I am asking for your help in reaching the next step.

My Journey Into Hell and Coming Back

Or, where have I been for the past year!

Yes, I have seriously neglected not just this blog but all of my writing for the past 11 months. I can’t promise that I am fully back even now, but I am working towards that.

The reasons why I have been away are not something I will ever discuss in such a public forum. Suffice to say, I have made a Descent to the Underworld and had every part of my being stripped away leaving me laid bare, vulnerable, and with nothing. Actually, I was flung head first and without warning into the depths of the Underworld, and I am now rebuilding who I am and what I am about in life, and picking up the pieces of my life that remain, slowly but surely.

As part of this process of change, I have filed for divorce from my husband after 14 years of marriage. No, this was not an easy decision. No, there is not a chance of reconciliation. Yes, I am doing the right thing.

Doesn’t make it any easier.

I have had my beliefs as a Pagan woman questioned countless times by people who don’t understand, and clearly didn’t want to understand. This has served to reinforce for me just how right the Pagan path is for me.

In the midst of all the past year’s shit, I have been able to find comfort and strength from my relationships with the Gods and my Patron Goddesses. At times when I didn’t think I could fight yet another battle, it is They who held me up and said – You can do this!

For that, I am grateful.

So, for you my readers, those of you who still remain, I cannot promise to be here writing regularly, not just yet, but I will do my best to at least write something as I continue in this life journey and look towards discovering just who I am.

Blessings.