Working with a male God is decidedly different. One would think this would be obvious. I, as that one, was not prepared for how different. Granted some of that is particular to the God, but still. The energies come through differently. Power comes through differently, not more, not lesser, but threaded differently and carrying a new shape. This should not be such a surprise, yet it is.

The Methodist church I was raised in called their God he, him and father, but that never felt like a masculine thing, but more of a cultural “all genders default to he” thing. After all, I was learning in elementary school about the founding of our country and “all men are created equal” was never explained to mean “just the men”. We were in fact taught that we could just sub “everyone” for he or him when we encountered it in that type of context. (Oh how funny, only to grow up and find that the overarching institutions took “he” literally!)

As I was growing and forming my ideas about God I understood the Christian God to be not genderless, but genderful ~ encompassing both genders. I was unaware at that time of any genders other than male or female. Later I figured genderful meant all genders. This just made sense because of their stories and all men (everyone) being created in His (all of everyone’s) image. When I left Christianity it was a lot to do with the humans in that institution and the institution that protected atrocities, but also a serious disconnect with the personality portrayed of their God in the old testament. Add in the story of tossing up one’s son for sacrifice to make the old testament punishments not occur again (floods, famine, pillars of salt) just seemed twisted. Feel free to disagree with how I viewed their God, but understand that this is how he was portrayed to me or how I conceived him to be based on how he was portrayed to me.

The disconnect I felt with the personality was the breaking point for me and when I left there was no feeling of admonishment, nothing bitter between their god and myself, just a relieved sigh on his side that I wasn’t going to be a thorn in the religion’s side anymore and a version of, “No shit, Sherlock” when I announced my departure because I belonged to Others.

So, I moved into Goddess spirituality not to get away from a patriarchal deity, but because the process and underlying beliefs about existence and will and changing my world all made sense there. Goddesses were a bonus! Oh look! Gendered Beings! Imagine that. No, we are all the same encompassing all stuff. Being cis-gendered female it made sense to me to explore them. Gods were over there doing their own thing, but not really calling me in any deep way. I interacted with them in a superficial way compared to the Goddesses I encountered. These Gods I associated with extreme maleness and I just felt no need to explore them deeply living as I am in a patriarchal society I felt I knew maleness fairly well. And I’m female! Let’s stay there!

Then Poseidon came. Ha. Ha ha ha. Full tilt masculine, no pretense, and not giving a right shit how I felt about it. “Waaahhhh?! But I don’t do male Gods,” I replied. “Well, ya do now,” was the answer. So, it’s been interesting already even only being in the first phase of this relationship. Interesting and different and truly fascinating because I’m exploring something that feels very much unknown. Something a bit foreign like an unknown object under a bare foot that you try to identify before you bend at the knee and lift to see if you’ve guessed right.

I haven’t lifted my foot high enough yet to see all of the object, but from what I’ve seen thus far I’ve only guessed about 50% correctly That’s a failing grade. Even on a curve.  I expected no higher grade seeing as how I’d plopped the male Gods into my “over there, we’ll touch, but not hug category.” So again, it’s different and interesting and new and I do so enjoy new challenges even when they look intimidating. Ok, in the interest of honesty – especially when they look intimidating.

This entry was originally posted at http://pj.dreamwidth.org/407499.html with tags: all gods are feri gods, reclaiming/feri, religious work,  spiritual growth in fits and spurts, spiritual practices

 “THE NECESSITY OF CUTTING OFF ONE’S LEGS IN SPIRITUAL WORK” 

How much of yourself are you willing to give to achieve deep transformation? Are you willing to “cut off your legs”? I’ll explain my symbolic missing legs and what I’m willing to sacrifice for my deep work—and why!—and then I’d like to hear from you. Are you willing to be brave for the spiritual realizations you seek?

This Alchemeet’s subject was about doing Deep Work: how we approach transformation, what we’re willing to give up for it, why we are willing to give up parts of ourself for it, and how that process looks to each of us. There was discussion of how/when we recognize the need to do some brutal limb trimming (metaphysically), the fear inherent in such an act, and how we sculpt anew the person we become through this process.

Many named what limb was theirs to struggle with, how it felt, and what its absence would potentially look/feel like. We talked of how Deep Work not only shift us, but shifts things in our life in new and unexpected ways. Sometimes the unexpected ways are world shattering. Going in we know that we will be changed when we come out on the other side, but how that will look in our day-to-day lives is widely varied. The things that no longer serve us disintegrate and sometimes that means jobs are lost and relationships ended. The impact is staggering and yet we continue to do it.

We spoke of the fear that surrounds the deep work of shifting ourselves and our world and it seemed unanimous (was it? it could just be my biased filter thinking so) that doing the hard work of becoming more our authentic selves was worth all of it. It was, is, worth the effort, the losses, and the changes that occur within it. For some the process itself is where they draw great worth from it regardless of the outcome.

(Then we all got cookies. You should have been there. Yay cookies! Ok, we did not all get cookies, but only because I couldn’t get them through the wireless device. But we should have gotten cookies! We also learned that baths are holy, showers are patriarchal, and the value of sleep can never be overrated. <—— Yes, we had humour, too. Combining mirth and reverence is one of our specialties.)

A heartfelt thank you to all who participated and thoughtfully opened their hearts and shared with people they didn’t know. I am honoured  and humbled to be witness to that level of honesty. May you be Blessed.

The next Alchemeet will be in December and hosted by Helaena. Time and subject to be announced so stay tuned to this site for details!

This post originally appeared at Infinitesimal Significance (two big words spelled correctly).

What is Alchemeet?

ALCHEMEET

Alchemeet: /ˈalkəmēt/ noun. A meeting of minds in which base information comes together to create a more valuable whole, much in the way alchemists of old attempted to take base metals and turn them into gold.

Alchemeet is a once-a-month pagan meeting-of-minds that takes place online and is available to anyone who would like to join. One of our hosts will begin the meeting by positing an opinion or concept around a spiritual topic and then lead a discussion.

Read more

____________________________________________________

This month’s Alchemeet, hosted by

Bone(weaver) of Bone and Briar.

ALCHEMEET ANNOUNCED

The very first Alchemeet will be hosted by Boneweaver onNovember 5th at 8pm EST on Google Hangout, so block it off on your calendars!

“THE NECESSITY OF CUTTING OFF ONE’S

LEGS IN SPIRITUAL WORK”

How much of yourself are you willing to give to achieve deep transformation? Are you willing to “cut off your legs”? I’ll explain my symbolic missing legs and what I’m willing to sacrifice for my deep work—and why!—and then I’d like to hear from you. Are you willing to be brave for the spiritual realizations you seek?

Join us for our once-a-month pagan meeting-of-minds! It should run about an hour, give or take, and is available to anyone who would like to join. Read more about Alchemeet.

AND, “How to Tinychat”, which is where the Alchemeet will be held so the maximum number of people can join in!

ALCHEMEET: HOW-TO TINYCHAT

It will be held on the tinychat platform. Feel free to just show up, even if it’s a last-minute decision. We chose to go with the platform that can accommodate more people: tinychat. Never used it? That’s okay! This post is a walk-through.

Step 1: Go to www.tinychat.com/spiralheart
Enter the Password. Normally, we’d post it fifteen minutes before the scheduled Alchemeet, but so y’all get acquainted with the platform, we’ll tell you the Password for now is legbones

Step 2: You will see a box like this show up. Select GUEST and enter your name where it says USERNAME, then hit GO.

Read more

The randomly selected winner, sent in by Tim:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Samhain

Samhain used to be just

Hallow’s Eve,

When Mom would unwind

Words from books and

Sew them back together into skin

For me to lash onto my own

Pretending I was something else,

The same as every day

But Samhain was the night

When everyone was someone else

Familiar strangers to ourselves

Disguised, but

Recognized by neighbors

Who knew the stories we wore

These days it’s harder

To escape from myself

Because I wear my costume

Every day,

And rarely think of saints.

We’re all saints,

So All Saints Day

Is for us all

A Saint is a just a Ghost welcomed in;

Disguised in the human suit

It wore in life,

Or clothed in family folklore,

Wondering why we won’t

Take off our silly skins.

The truth is,

We wouldn’t recognize each other

If we did

Costumes are more familiar

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Congratulations, Tim!

Bone and Briar wants your creative side to shine! Introducing Sabbat contests. At each Sabbat we will host a short contest and randomly choose a winner for a prize! The contest will be posted about a week prior to each Sabbat (northern hemisphere specific) and the random drawing will occur the day after the contest closes. Media used for creating the entry will change with the Sabbats. For example, our first one is a writing, but don’t look ahead because the next may be rendered in Play-Doh™.

All entries are to be submitted via email to witches2brew@gmail.com (photos for non-written entries) and they will appear on that Sabbat’s contest page for all to enjoy. The winner will be notified via email and their winning entry will showcased on Bone and Briar’s blog. Good luck and have fun!

====================================================

Samhain Contest

We’d like to hear your Samhain thoughts! Send us your musings either in poem or invocation form, not to exceed about 150 words. No, we won’t be counting and there is no minimum word count. Anything related to Samhain from either established lore, your personal practice, or a mix of the two. We want to keep the parameters flexible for optimum creative flow. Email entry to witches2brew@gmail.com.

Winners will be drawn at random. Deadline for submission: midnight on Oct. 31st, 2013

PRIZE:  A 3-card tarot reading and a bone throwing reading. Prize can be had in person or via Google Hangout and will be decided based on proximity, schedules, and availability of all parties. 

Ready! Set! Go!

There was a handfasting this weekend. In my religion this is one of the things we do in addition to/in lieu of a traditional wedding ceremony. Traditional being defined as the dominant culture’s take on it which for me is the social structure of the U.S. Being part of a minority religion can make for difficult conversations with folks who practice the dominant religion because our outer public image is almost wholly different from that of (in this country) Christianity. I could go into all the why’s and wherefore’s and privilege, but this post is not about that.

I don’t doubt that I’m on the wrong path religiously. I don’t wonder how I’d be if I’d remained in the religion of my youth. I know what I’d be. I would be someone living a stunted life. Because a bad fit is not changeable. If I have a bad fit in a marriage staying in that relationship doesn’t somehow turn me and my partner into a good fit. Longevity cannot right a wrong fit no matter how much one wishes for that. That is how it is with religions. You fit or you don’t. Like a marriage every detail may not line up perfectly every day, but you know you are where you should be. Of that you are certain.

My religion is orthopraxy over orthodoxy. This suits me very well as I believe right action trumps the belief behind the action every time. My religion is experiential over thinking-based. Prone as I am to overthinking things this may seem like a poor fit, but it is exactly the opposite. It is what balances me and makes me whole. It is the experiential nature of moving and shifting energies that takes me out of living only in my head and allows me bring my whole Self to life. Our rites, be they group or solitary, bring a deep moving of Love through us and out to the Universe and from the Universe into us. They facilitate change within us that pushes a ripple out to our local community, the larger society, the world, and beyond. It sounds grand and too big and yet from what I know of other more well known religions it seems no different in that piece, only the tools to get there differ. My tools do it best for me. (In the interest of honesty I believe my tools do it best, period. Otherwise I wouldn’t be using them. Rock/paper/scissors – the proper tool at the proper time matters.)

Which brings me to the handfasting. I had the honour of co-facilitating it. I had the honour of standing in community with my people and co-creating something that not only elevated us all, but was one of those times that cemented again the knowing in my core that I am where I’m meant to be religiously. It was a private ceremony in a private home and even if I wanted to share the details here (I don’t, this event was not for public consumption) I could not possibly do it justice with words. And that, the ineffability of the experience, is the absolute marker of being exactly where I should be. When a group of people, some of whom are previously unknown to each other, come together and create an experience that shifts not only the couple united, but all of us attending, well … the words “mystery” and “magic” are the only ones that suit. Outer image differences aside, I think if you are a good fit with your religion (no matter what that might be) you understand exactly what I mean.

Two weeks! 

***Chanting a Circle Cast: Creating Sacred Space Through Sound*** 

Join us for a free workshop on Saturday, August 24th wherein we shall chant the elements with prayer beads. We will raise our voices as a personal and community healing by casting a circle with repetitive chants.

Where: A private residence in the South Hills near Pittsburgh, PA
When: August 24, 2013; 1p.m. to 6 p.m.
Why: to be in community and practice chanting technique and a different way of creating sacred space.
Cost: nothing
What to bring: prayer beads, bought or maybe, in the standard 5 decade pattern. If you have no beads and no means to get some a length of yarn or rope with the appropriate knots will work, too. Also bring pot luck dish to share.

For location address email witches2brew@gmail.com