Various Paganism, Tarot, Etc

December Story Time (Part 3 Continued from December 16th)

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Bianco Nero Tarot Upon the Traveler’s Path

The young man was so lost in his thoughts of his childhood (Six of Cups) that he wandered off the path and into a deep wood without realizing that he’d lost his way (Two of Wands).

When he comes to the realization of where he is, he realizes that if he wants to survive this trip, he needs to keep on track (King of Swords) rather than allowing his mind to wander and his feet to take him wherever his nose points.

Using his knowledge of the land, he plots a course to freedom from the dark wood (Three of Wands) that will take him back on course to the adventure he seeks. Unfortunately, as he seeks the path that will take him back to the light of day, what he finds is that instead he ends up wandering deeper and deeper into the woods (High Priestess) until he begins to doubt himself and the way forward.

He wanders for a long time, confused as his thoughts and reason pull at him to go one direction and his intuition pulls him in another (revisiting the connection between the King of Swords and the High Priestess), until he realizes that charging forward and plowing along the path is not the answer (Knight of Wands).

He realizes the only way to break free of the dark wood’s grasp is to tap into the skills he learned as a boy (Eight of Pentacles), and he digs through his robes until he finds the compass he’d forgotten he’d earned as his time apprenticing for the king.

Touching the compass and realizing it’s power, he finds a peace within himself and realizes all is not lost (Temperance). He has all that he needs to accomplish his goal (Nine of Pentacles) of getting free of the dark wood.

Choosing to take a momentary break and camp for the night, he pauses to rest and in the night he dreams of a cougar in the trees watching him, silently stalking and observing as it waits for him to show weakness (Queen of Wands). He awakes with a start to find a delicate winged dragon-like creature curled up against his side purring away as it sleeps. Feeling protective of the tiny creature and paranoid from his dream, he is fearful but vows to defend himself and his companion if needed (Nine of Wands).

(…to be continued)

 

Impact of One’s Path

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So… I think that Pagan Perspective is taking a week off this week, as there’s no new question to work with.   Due to this, I decided to snag a question from one of the pagan/witchy type groups I’m a member of on Discord and use that instead.

sun

Topic for the Week of 12/16: How has your religion impacted your overall well-being? Has it changed how you see the world and other people?

The first part of this question is immeasurable for me. I get a great sense of peace and overall well being from connecting with nature, and the communion of that practice. It is a part of me at my very core, a part of not just who I am but of my internal makeup and my soul.  Because of that, it’s impossible for me to differentiate myself from that enough to really clearly delineate my path from myself and my well-being.  They are simply too integrated to be able to separate them.

I also can’t really say if my path has changed my outlook on the world or other people, as I’ve been (essentially) on the same path my entire life.  Yes, I transitioned from Wicca to a non-theistic Paganism when I left my parent’s home, but not a lot of my inner beliefs really changed in that shift, as I never really connected with deity in the first place.

What I can say is that the deeper I go into my spirituality, the healthier my emotional and mental health become… which in turn improves my outlook on just about everything.

 

December Story Time (Part 2 Continued from December 9th)

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IMG_1176The Adventure Continues

Still in his youth, our intrepid traveler steps onto the path of adventure, his mind wanders back to his boyhood and the reason he has chosen the path he he now treads upon.

Given as an apprentice at a young age, his time before that was quite tepid and boring (Temperance), and his time since has been filled with hard work (Two of Coins) that took not just inner strength (Strength) but also an openness to work with others and at times allow others the praise and sense of accomplishment that he himself desired (Three of Coins).

As he worked through these tender years, he spent his time dreaming of the accolades he could achieve with his freedom (Six of Wands), and with each dream of these adventures and accolades his secret desires for them grew and grew (High Priestess) until it became a burning need in his heart and his greatest wish (Page of Cups).

And thus he took action to free himself from his apprenticeship in order to move forward and seek out his heart’s desires (Knight of Cups).

(To be continued…)

DECK USED:  DARKNESS OF LIGHT TAROT

 

December Story Time (Part 1)

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Just a little creative writing and story telling exercise.  I will be starting something like this with you once your basic lessons are done with the tarot suits.

Parameters for Part 1:  Draw (at least) five cards. Use one card per sentence to tell us a fun fictional tale.

Wayhome Tarot

The Adventure Begins

There was once a young man at the end of his rope stuck upon a path that split in two different directions (Two of Swords).  He stood at the head of the path in indecision, unsure which way to go and seeking insight from his surroundings to give him a direction (Hanged Man).

One path lead to stability and responsibility, but would take a good deal of effort and balance to make work (Two of Pentacles).   The other path lead to adventure that would require a great deal of bravery and resistance (Nine of Wands).

What he really wants is success and accolades, though, and the path that contains adventure appeals to him the most because of this (Six of Wands).  Thus this is the path he chooses as he steps from the cross roads to seek the spark, gathering his energy and strength in close as he prepares to step into the unknown with the open receptivity for what is to come, but the stability of good sense to assist him in keeping him on his path (Mother of Swords).

DECK USED:  WAYHOME TAROT

 

The Right Path

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This week’s question from the Pagan Perspective YouTube channel is about finding your path.

Topic for the Week of 11/25: What let’s you know you have chosen the right path?

Is it strange that I’m having trouble formulating a reply to this question when I am so certain of my (somewhat unconventional even in the pagan community) path?

The thing is… it’s my heart and my gut that tell me I’m on the right path. I feel it deep inside where the soul lives.

I think that to get to that point, though, you have to get to a point of acceptance of the knowledge that everyone’s path is going to be different. Spirituality isn’t a “cookie cutter” experience, but rather highly individualistic. There is no right or wrong other than what is right for you (and of course, you know, legalities).

Once you can accept that each and every person is a unique snowflake and their spirituality is going to echo that individuality, then as you start exploring different practices, beliefs, faiths, and dogmas… you will find that some just feel right… and others don’t.

Take what resonates with you instead of trying to fit into a mold someone else had decided should be yours, and you will find it easier and easier to identify those things that work for you.

SocioEconomics and Eco-Justice

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This week’s question from the Pagan Perspective YouTube channel is about how socioeconomics and eco-justice tie into our beliefs and path.

field

Topic for the Week of 11/11:

from soul seeker:
“I am wondering if and how your path supports socioeconomic justice and eco-justice?”

from Rebekah Getchell:
“…in reading the book ‘For Earths Sake’ I found the argument and perspective that the domination of nature and women go hand in hand in our patriarchal society. it submits as evidence pointing to this fact, that we refer to nature in a feminist view, mother nature, mother earth, the now stopped practice of naming hurricanes after women. It supposes that we cannot fix one without fixing the other. Curious your thoughts and beliefs about this idea and argument.”

Okay so honestly?  I’m kind of confused by this question.  I did some research on the topic and it sounds to me like this is primarily a question on how my personal path supports equality and outreach to assist and lift up into equality those that qualify as minorities and the less fortunate.  (The word “eco-justice” confused me as well, because I was thinking ecology… but it’s in reference to economy.)

The thing is?  I am very disconnected from my community.  Aside from supporting balance and minorities through the way that I vote, supporting public services and small businesses in struggling areas,  etc. I don’t really have a lot of contact with others.

I do enjoy spending time sharing my path through online to those that can reach out through that medium, and providing ideas and perspectives in those areas online where I share such information.   These include places like Discord, where I often run into people new to the path that are unable to find learning resources through their local environment.

As for no longer naming hurricanes after women.  This is incorrect.  They have simply begun including the names of men into the practice as well.

As for the “mother” nature view.   I am devout to the energies of creation, evolution, and balance.  These energies are neither male or female.   I lately got myself nipped by a woman in a chat that justified the fact that there are hundreds of exclusively “sacred feminine” tarot decks out there and no “sacred masculine” tarot out there by the fact that women have been suppressed for centuries.

I disagree with this viewpoint, because if we are seeking balance in these things, then at this point we have swung out of balance far and beyond rectifying the imbalance between how the two genders are treated and the equality that is lacking.    So yes, maybe “mother” nature is not fostering balance in this area…. but I think that there are a lot of women out there that are very much pushing for what is not balance, but restitution and atonement for those hundreds of years in the past.

I may be male, but I as a Korean man in America?  I am also very much a minority.  (Not to mention I looked like a tall twelve year old until in my 20s, which means that I dealt with that issue as well.)  I know how that feels, and I know it can breed resentment.   But I do feel that there needs to be less of an expectation of being “owed” recompense, and more of a focus on balance and equality.

It feels like I’ve gotten off topic, but I have a little confusion as to the topic as a whole to begin with, I think.  I guess because I never considered my faith and practice as something that was a part of this particular topic.   I hope that my answer made some sense, though.