Crowley
Why am I a pagan? I guess the primary reason is my link to the Goddess. After 6,000 some odd years of patriarchy, and 4,000 years of monotheism, I think it is most definitely time for a change.
I am forutnate to live in an area where there are many pagan folk and many pagan communities. I am involved with two of them to a great extent. One is Cedar Light Grove. It is affiliated with ADF (Ar ndraiocht Fein). This was the group Isaac Bonewits formed a while back in his split with Reformed Druidism of America (RDNA). The latter was more of a philosophical counter culture group. The former, created by Bonewits was a religion, a praxi, a faith. Although Cedar Light is part of ADF, it is much more. It is a mixture of a diverse group of people on numerous different paths. We come together from our various multiverses to celebrate the Eight High Rites of Neo-Paganism and to commemorate the weekly (and most holy) Rite of Caffeina on Sundays. (Actually, Rites of Caffeina involves sitting around drinking coffee, eating assorted breakfast items, and talking about the mundane and the profound. We do also do Walk with the Old Ones which is a bit more esoteric). It is both a social and spiritual gathering. I am very grateful to have found it.
I am also involved with a much larger group called Four Quarters- an Earth-based Interfaith Sanctuary. It is up in Pennsylvania, just across the Maryland border in a town, appropriately called Artemis. The most interesting fact about Four Quarters (and there are many interesting facts to choose from) is that at its heart are a number of standing stones, put in place by the community. As of right now (November 2006) there are 34. Every summer we add three more. It is a veritable modern Stonehenge. Spirit radiates from this place. I cannot describe it and give it any real justice. If you are pagan at heart, I encourage you to make a pilgrimage there. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I do believe this is a spiritual site that will continue for many, many generations.
One of the purposes of this site is to document my Dedicant's program in ADF. I am going to link it to a Dedicant's page that lists the various requirements to pass the program. I have done much. I have much to do. I truly am in no rush. I enjoy learning. The ADF program gives structure to that learning. I don't agree with everything ADF says or does. Like all bueracracies, it is a bueracracy. It at times is too full of itself. It can be dogmatic. But over all, it is a good organization and one I would like to promote.
One of the things I am trying to work on during the 2007-08 year is meditation, trance, and journeying. I am keeping a journal about insights, practices, and experiences that I discover. I will also include missteps and mistakes I make as I stumble down the path towards greater enlightenment (or at least lesser ignorance). Stay tuned to this journal for random epiphanies.
I call myself a druwitch because I am part Druid (the ADF part) and part Witch (the Four Quarters part). I also participate in a dedicant's program at Four Quarters. I've completed the first third of that program and have two thirds to go. I try to make it up to Artemis and the Stones once a month (at least) for the New Moon Seminar. There is so much knowledge in this group, that I just sit, take notes, and soak up spirit. Once again, I feel very fortunate.
There probably is much more I could say. I have a livejournal that I write in now and then. I go by the name Jack in the Green. Jack in the Green was a part of British festivals, especially Beltaine. He is a form of the Green Man whose likeness is found in old churches throughtout England and Europe. His persona resonantes with me. I take him as both a patron and as a magickal name. My journal, once again, functions as a spiritual journal and a documentation for the ADF dedicant's program. I don't write anything from my mundane life. And to be honest, my mundane life isn't too exciting. I work, I read, I practice my faith. I value my friends and my family very much. I'm pretty much a loner in my personal life. I've tried marriage and it wasn't a very good experience. I think some people were meant to live alone. So I savor my aloneness. I savor my friends. I try to find a balance between the two. Most of all, I savor spirit and what She brings me on my journey. It is a blessed journey. One that brings me much happiness.
Just as an aside, Mother Gaia is having a birthday party. She is 4,555,293,506 years old this year. We are celebrating Her birthday at Cedar Light Grove on March 22, 2008.
I will post pictures from this celebration shortly. Feel free to send presents. Please don't let Her know I told Her age. She is senstive about that.
A burn is coming to Four Quarters InterFaith Sanctuary in Artemis, PA. It will be a burn like no other. It is called Wicker Man. The burn will take place over Memorial Day Weekend. You can find more information out at this address. You can see some of the prospective designs for the Man at this site. I hope you will participate with us in the Wicker Man!
Posted March 18, 2008 Click Here To Write Me
Just a little pagan humor:
I just got my second tattoo, also at Body Tribal.
I will put pictures of it here, as soon as I take a picture of it.
Below is a picture of the Green Man, my first tattoo.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.