Elemental Images

Here is the Elemental images picspam. Full sized images available here.

Masks of the God

The second in my picspam-type entries, this time focusing on the God. Enjoy!

Guises of the Goddess

This is a simple picspam-type entry, but I hope it can still move people and be thought-provoking. I'll be posting more of these types of entries in the coming weeks, through the end of July.

But before I begin, to the other US citizens I have following me...

Elements

I did some thinking and restructuring, and added this lesson to my Wicca 101 series. Enjoy.

Elemental Powers

Wiccans call upon the powers of the Elements in ritual and other Magickal work. Across the board, the four classical Western Elements are included, being Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Some of the time, a fifth is included, the Element of Spirit, sometimes also called Akasha or the Ether. Each Element has many common associations, although some may differ between individual, Coven, and Tradition.



There are other associations as well, but these are the more basic ones.

In ritual, the Elements are each called in turn to watch over and lend strength to the workings that will be performed (it should be noted that the most common places to begin calling the Elements are North and East, and there are compelling reasons for both). Often physical representations of the Elements are present on the altar or at the edges of the ritual space in the appropriate direction. It is also very important to dismiss or banish the Elements at the end of ritual; imagine the unchecked power of Fire hanging about!

The Elements as a group are sometimes called the Quarters, as the space between each is one quarter of the ritual space, or the Corners or Directions.

There is a bit more to discuss in relation to the Elements, but as that relates more directly to Tools, I am saving it for that section.

1 - This color association is my own, and I came to it thusly; It is said that Spirit is the combination and perfect balance and harmony of all the other Elements. If that is so, then what are all colors mixed together? Well, first we must decide if we’re talking about light, or pigment. If light, then the answer is white. If pigment, black. This is yet another duality, and as discussed before, Wicca is non-dualistic. So, if we combine black and white, the result is grey, or perhaps silver. This makes more sense to me than purple, which is red and blue, and while can be send to be a blend of male and female energies, to me then excludes the other colors in the spectrum.

Joyous Midsummer

Then came the jolly Sommer, being dress’d
In a thin silken cassock coloured greene,
That was unlined all, to be more light;
And on his head a garland well beseene.
--Edmund Spenser, "Faerie Queene"

But yonder comes the powerful king of day,
Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud,
The kindling azure, and the mountain’s brow,
Illumed with fluid gold, his near approach
Betoken glad.
--James Thomson, "The Seasons: Summer"

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And, for the Other side...



This image inspired by "The Death of Llew" by Mike Nichols.

Quotes

Just a few quotes for today, as I haven't updated this blog in a while... :/

"We dance around the ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows." --Robert Frost, poet

"Without Evil there can be no Good, so it must be Good to be Evil sometimes." --Satan in "South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut"

"God answers every prayer. But sometimes the answer is, 'No'." --priest from an episode of "Law & Order"

"Not all who wander are lost." --J. R. R. Tolkien

"Follow your Bliss." --Joseph Campbell

"The problem with Yahweh is that He thinks He's God." --op. cit.

"There are two kinds of knowledge; Symbolic Knowledge and Intimate Knowledge. Science deals with the former, arts deal with the latter. The primary focus of the religious pursuit is the latter. To confuse the boundary by using physics to analyze spiritual experiences is to largely miss the point." --user "felisarcanum" on LiveJournal

"The injection of religion has a coma-like effect"
--from "Wreath of Barbs," :wupmscut:

"Witchcraft is, and was, not... for everyone. Unless you have an attraction to the occult, a sense of wonder, a feeling that you can slip for a few minutes out of the world into the world of faery, it is of no use to you." --Gerald Gardner

Found Article: The Question of Oaths

An article found on LiveJournal, written by Jenett.

Found Article: The Sacred Phallus

I'm a member of a Pagan Yahoo! list, and this was recently posted by the author. I am reproducing it here with his permission. Enjoy.

Phil the Fill-in Philosopher

I downloaded an app on my Pixi called Phil the Fill-in Philosopher. it's kinda like mad-libs in that it asks you for words, but you can opt to skip that and it generates the words, then puts them into nuggets of wisdom. Some of them end up nonsensical or humorous, but a few so far have been worth repeating and pondering...

"You know it will be a good day when a butterfly sits on the moon."

"Love flows warmly around you."

"If you decide to endure, you can do it."

And my personal favorite:

"To further develop your self-awareness, surround yourself with metaphorical people."

Beliefs Survey

Shamelessles taken from CricketSong at Lunar Wisdom.