Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Samhain!

Hi and Merry Meet,
I woke up this morning to rain and windy pounding down on us... not the best conditions to run a race in, but I felt that this was also a gift of the four elements coming together in harmony to start my Samhain. The earth was my race course, the wind was the air, rain-my friend water, and the fire was me! It was a very special (wet and a little chilly too! :) start to my day.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day and that it is everything (and more) than you ever thought it could be! I know it has been for me! :)
Blessed be,
Autumn

Monday, October 26, 2009

Samhain

Hi and Merry Meet,
As I said yesterday this is my first Samhain. I am very excited about this turn of the wheel because I love the idea of welcome home the spirits of loved ones that have passed on. In Japan, I celebrated O-ban with friends and for them it has a similar meaning. In Japan, they also feel that the veil between the spirit world and our earthly one is also thin on this night... they just celebrate it in August.


In Japan, families go out and tidy up graves and prepare feast of foods that spirit loved ones liked. The light fireworks to help them find their way home for the night. So, I want to spend part of the day tidying up my yard as the graves of my loved ones are not close to where I live now. I think that by just raking up the leaves and making my home look presentable I can achieve the same goal. As long I focus on my loved ones while I'm doing this, I think they will feel the love even if I can't go to where their earthly bodies were laid to rest.


I do plan on making chocolate chip cookies from scratch as they were my grandfather's favorite and I really want his spirit to find his way to my house for a short visit. I'll also put out a bowl of water for my dog that crossed over a long time ago. I feel it is important they they know I remember them. I know that they are happy as they send me messages a lot, but I want them to see my message to them.


As for my feelings on the God and Goddess myth for this holiday I feel that this is a celebration of life and love. I'm celebrating the the God is going into the Earth to rule the shadowy side of life. While, the Goddess is morning her loss, she is still ruling over the living. Grief is just as much as part of life as joy. I don't feel that the God dies, just takes on his next form as ruler of the underworld. For me, it is like the Goddess appearing in her three different forms. I think the God is like that as well. He is born as a child, he is a man, and then in his wise old years he rules the underworld.

I've been using my meditation times to also think about what my spiritual resolutions are. The main one that I want to focus on is working on centering myself in times of stress and connecting with the Divine anytime I feel my emotions getting out of hand. I think that by working on that I will learn to be calm and relaxed even under fire. It is something that I want to change about myself. I have a tendency to get worked up and run myself into the ground worrying and stressing about the wrong things. If I can learn to relax, center, and ground myself I think my emotions will come into the balance that I am striving for.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Samhain!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Time Off

Hi and Merry Meet,
I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long! I needed some time away from my computer. I felt like I was just taking up too much time sitting here playing on it and not plugging into my real life. So, I've taken time to reconnect with real life and get my computer use back into balance.

Some of things that I've been working on in my mini-time out were reading up on astrology. I've always been interested in my horoscope but never really got into depth with it. I bought a great beginner book on and started to read about it. I found a website that would make up my natal chart so that I could really look into it. I'm fascinated by it! I've also started looking into palm reading. My husband has even taken an interest in this. I keep asking to see his hands so I have something to compare to besides my own. I've been explaining what I'm looking at and now he keeps looking at his hands and has asked to look at mine so we can compare our thoughts. It's kind of cool that he is interested in something that I'm learning.

Since I've stepped away from the computer I feel like my daily meditations are taking the extra time that I have in my day without the computer filling my time. I'm happy with that! I enjoy it and it is very relaxing to me. I'm working on tarot meditations. I pick a card randomly from the deck and then focus on that cards energy. I find that it is helping my with my readings and it is strengthening my relationship with individual cards. I've been using my Mystic Farey deck for this work. I am in love with the art on the cards and the colors of the cards. I have had a hard time reading these cards for others, but for myself I find it is no problem. I use this deck in my rituals since it seems partial to workings and not public readings.

Another thing that I've been working on is my definition and feelings about Samhain. Since this is my first Samhain I have a lot of thoughts about, but they are not very organized yet. I want to explore more about this in another post. I also want to look back at my thoughts on elements in my life.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Out My Window Wednesday!

Hi and Merry Meet,
I got up this morning and was sitting here looking at a rainy day... then suddenly the sun peeked out behind a cloud. The light filtered though my front tree to give me this shot (I apologize for my very dirty windows!):I think that's all of the sun I'm going to see today... looks like a nice long rainy day! :)
Blessed be,
Autumn

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Elements In My Life

Hi and Merry Meet,
I've been thinking about how I use the elements in my daily life. Some of them I find I incorporate without thinking about and then others I've had to think about.

Earth- I love to talk to my house plants now that the weather has gotten colder and I'm not out in my garden as much. This is something I do almost every day. I try to get outside no matter what the weather for a few minutes a day to connect with Mother Earth. Even if I only stand outside on my front porch, I feel connected to the land around me. There is something very satisfying about enjoying the world around me.

Air- This one is harder for me to think about how I use this element in my daily life. I sometimes burn incense when I want to relax, but not daily as it sets off my husband's allergies. :( I control my breathing in my meditations and when I'm stressed out I used yoga breaths to relax me. I need to work more on bringing air into my daily life. I'm not sure how to do that yet, but I'm sure I can think of something.

Fire- I talk to my stove when I cook and thank the fire that heats my food. (Yes, I talk to a lot of things in my house!) I also love burning candles as part of my meditation circles. I find that the flame helps me focus my thoughts and prepare to meditate. It also heats my house and I am so appreciative for it's warmth. Winters here can get mighty cold!

Water- After a run, I thank the water that washes off all the sweat! I don't have a dishwasher, so I hand wash all my dishes. This gives me an appreciation for the water that I use. I don't live to far from a fresh water lake. I drive by it everyday and I love to watch the waves roll or the lake laying flat. Watching it is so hypnotizing to me. I could watch bodies of water all day! There is something very special about it.

I've only starting giving thought to this and I think I have more to go. This is only scratching the surface of this topic! Any thoughts?
Blessed be,
Autumn

Monday, October 12, 2009

Happiness Is....

Hi and Merry Meet,
Well, after having some nice weather, I woke up to frost and a very cold day. We've had frost a few times, but now it looks like it could snow! My friends in Japan had snow already, and I think we are not too far behind. That's ok... snow = skiing!!! I love winter, but this time of year is my favorite. Cool/cold days and beautiful leaves. There is something very special about this time of year.

Yesterday my family came to visit us. That meant before they came putting away anything that would tip them off to my religion. I feel sad that I'm hiding it from them, however, I'm not too sure that they would understand. I've post about what I think their reactions would be. I'm not ready for a blow out with my dad. Or my mom crying and sicing all the church ladies on me. Not so much.
However, they did like the shirt I got... they think it is only for Halloween!! Here it is:I thought it was so funny and cute. My husband just laughed. I didn't wear it yesterday, but I did show them. My dad thought it was silly, mom just laughed and asked if I would wear it to work. The answer to that is no. I will however, wear it any place else! :)

Today there is no work, so I can use the day to catch up on things that I let go this past week in my madness with interviewing! I found out that I was the first one to go and that they have two more people to do. I hope that we all have the same observation group! It was a big challenge, but I have a feeling they did that to see how we would react and how we would handle it if it was our job. I'm happy that I don't have to stress over the weekend about it! :)

After I catch up, I want to sit outside for today's meditation. I think it might be one of the last days that I can do it outside with out freezing too badly!

Enjoy the extra day if you have off!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Friday, October 9, 2009

Interviewing and Haircut

Hi and Merry Meet,
I made it though my interview this morning. It was a large group to interview with (23 people!!!!), but I did the best that I could. I was surprisingly relaxed even though I was in the hot seat. I'm please and feel relieved. I even said a little charm that I found in book to relax before an interview.

I also got my hair cut and dyed today after my interview... so nice to get pampered after being stressed out! Here's my new look... a bit emo, but I'm happy with it:I also got a scrying bowl that I have yet to take a pict of! I saw it months ago... it has the three different faces of the goddess on it. I fell in love with it, but wanted to wait until there was a special reason to get it. As luck would have it, it was still there. I think it was meant for me! I can't wait to clean and consecrate it!!!

Tonight, I'm sitting back and relaxing! I think I earned it after interview this morning!
Blessed be,
Autumn