Instinct & Personal Path

From the questions to think on in The Circle Within by Dianne Sylvan...

How much thought have you given to your personal path and why do you do things the way you do? Have you been running purely on instinct, following books by the letter or a combination of the two? Does your altar face east for a particular reason or because a book said it should?

I use a combination of book knowledge and instinct in my practice. After looking at information in the books, I decide what I agree and disagree with and move on. Even some of the spells that I have found in books or online I have added my own personal flair to.

Our altar faces North during ritual because that makes sense to me. I start calling the corners in the East because that is the standard and it makes sense. When I use the Family of the Healing Waters ritual standard, we call the particular angels because they best embody the directions.

Seeing the God & Goddess

From the questions to think on in The Circle Within by Dianne Sylvan...

Up to this point, how have you seen the God and Goddess? Do they have faces and names? Are They are presence without words?

I have always related to the specific gods and goddesses, not the all-encompassing Lord and Lady. I do understand they are more than each of these specific deities, but that is how I grasp Deity the best.

Hera is my patroness and has been since the beginning. I have meditated on her a couple times and have many statues of her and her animals around the house. Scott asked me the other day if I had dedicated myself to her yet. I didn't know to do such a thing, but it is something I may do now that I know about it.

For a long time I have used the Christian God or one of the Archangels as my god in ritual. I thought that Hephaestus was my patron, but was not sure how we would work with Hera since they have some conflict in mythology. I am still exploring this possibility.

Silence

One of the books that I had the pleasure of reading for the first degree was Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott. It is an excellent book and I have recommended it to many of the people that I work with.

Scott believes that our relationships with other people are the conversations that we have with those people, both at work and at home. She highlights several principles in the book that allow you to really engage others in conversations. One of the principles that I did not expect was Silence.

I had never really thought about how much time there was silence around me. When I get home from work, the first thing I do is turn on the computer so I can listen to music. Scott and I spend most of the rest of the evening talking or watching our TV shows on Monday night. The only time that we are both quiet is if we are both reading.

Silence has become a big part of my morning now since my radio in the car is not working. After I say goodbyes to Evy in the morning and get in the car, there is almost complete silence until I get out of the car and walk into the office. It is time for me to really think about the things that are going on in my life both mundane and magickal. This is also the time when I get some of my best ideas. I have really started to enjoy and look forward to the long drive to work in the morning (besides the traffic) because it is time for me to catch up with myself and prepare for the day.

Spend a little time each day in silence and let me know how it goes. Hopefully you will find it as enlightening and uplifting as I do.

What's in a Name?

Magickal names are usually a hot topic in most Wiccan and Neo-Pagan communities. Everyone discusses how they got their names and their significance. These are some of the most interesting conversations in my opinion. You can really start to see where people are coming from (or where they have been) and get a feel for what is imporant to them.

Currently, my complete magickal name is Damia Serephina RisingPhoenix HealingWaters. That is quite a mouthful so I usually go by my real nickname, Angie, or in some circles as Serephina. Serephina comes from the word serephim, which means "fiery ones". I have always been very drawn to angels and continue to use them as part of my magickal practice. Also between the red hair and double fire signs for my moon and as rising sign I am a bit fiery myself.

For my erotic romance writing and cover art, my pen name is Kassandra or Kassie Thrace.