A Prayer to Isis: (from the book Isis Magic by M. Isidora Forrest)

I hail you and praise you
Glorious Goddess
At the end of this day which you granted me.
May my actions within its hours
Be judged to be justified.
And may my words within its hours
Be found to be true.
Drain from me all ill intent and action.
I offer to you all energy I have locked
In unworthy action or reaction.
I ask your welcome now in this temple.
Accept me this night for rest,
For study, and for worship.
Grant me dreams of meaning
And the memory to recall them.
Hail to you Goddess of the starry pathways.
Hail to you Goddess of the deep black.
Hail to you Goddess of the shinning sun at midnight.
May I partake in your glory forever.

My role with a military circle

More often than not, my role within our circle is referred to as lay-leader. While, in essence, that role makes me the High Priestess of our circle, in no way does it imply that I am always the one teaching or the only one responsible for the happenings and care of our circle. We all provide "lessons" and we interact as a group of equals that are at different points along our various paths. Then, occasionally, I get one of those calls. You know, the ones that make you think "Ohhh crap. It's gonna be a long night." Well, I got one of those calls tonight, and it really made me stop and think about the unique position that I find myself in. The military, for those of you that are unfamiliar with it, has a certain protocol that must be followed if an individual is looking for counseling or guidance of any sort. While I have been put in charge of a "religious gathering" which makes me the churches equivalent to a pastor, and I am ordained like one, I still do not hold the same rights as one of the military chaplains. Why you might ask? Because there is no school that I can go to for a degree in Pagan Pastoral Care or anything like that. Yes, I could go through a Universal Unitarian, but that is still not the same thing. There is no specific "denomination" for me. So, while I am a High Priestess for my circle, I do not, under military rule, have the right to counsel and guide circle members should they call on me needing assistance. I can listen and offer thoughts and stories of personal experience, but I can not guide. It's an incredibly frustrating fine line to have to walk on the rare instance that I'm called to do so.
Just an interesting thought and realization for the night...

Good night readers- it's off to bed for me!

A beautiful picture of my Kuan Yin

The essence of compassion, Kuan Yin is known to hear the cries of the world. She inspires us to learn the skill of inner and outer silence in order to Hear.

Imbolc Feasting Recipes!

Good afternoon everyone!
I will be posting the recipes (with proper credits) as they are emailed to me from circle members!

My Slow Cooker Beef Stew (recipe from Taste of Home):

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 6 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch slices
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Hunt’s® Original Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon browning sauce

Directions

• Layer the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag. Add stew meat; seal and toss to coat evenly. In a large skillet, brown meat in oil in batches. Place over vegetables.
• In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, broth, mustard, salt, pepper, thyme and browning sauce. Pour over beef. Cover and cook on high for 1-1/2 hours. Reduce heat to low; cook 7-8 hours longer or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 cup) equals 272 calories, 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 53 mg cholesterol, 381 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 19 g protein.

Corn Bread with Lavender Honey:

I totally cheated and used the Jiffy Boxed Corn Bread. =)

For the Honey, you take:

1 bottle (small) of a light honey

2 tbs dried lavender flowers

1 reusable steeping bag

Heat honey in a double boiler, put lavender in steeping bag then toss the bag into the honey. Keep over medium heat for 30 minutes with occasional stirring. Let the honey cool down to a thicker consistancy (will be almost like water when you take it off the heat) then pour back into the bottle. Super easy and super yummy!

Easy Quiche (thank you Tina!)

3-4 eggs (depending on size and extra filling)
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C Bisquick
2-3 C shredded cheese of your choice
2 C whatever you want (Bacon, spinach, ham, etc.)

Mix it all together and dump it into a 9 inch ungreased pie dish and bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes (45 minutes if only used 3 eggs, 55 if used 4).
Let cool for 5 minutes then serve!

A New Beginning

Well folks, it's already the end of January, 2011. I swear I'm stuck in a time warp. Anywho...


I had a random thought today and decided to start my own pagan, witch-y blog. Yup. That's right. You will now be subjected to my thoughts on the pagan world, among many other things. Buckle your seats folks, it's going to be one heck of a ride!


Today my circle and I celebrated Imbolc together. I few days early, yes, but when most of the group is in the military, weekend get togthers seems to be our best option. So, we met up at 2 o'clock today for ritual and feasting. As always, the feasting was extravagant, with far too much food for the 15 of us that were there, with outrageous stories, good friendship and a lot of laughter. However, as seems to be a theme that is occurring more than I like, our ritual was lacking. That's not to say that it wasn't good, but it wasn't great either. The words written for it were well done, it was a shorter ritual but sweet and elegant. When I sit back and type this out, it seems that anyone who reads this could come up with a handful (if not more) reason's WHY it's like this sometimes. Spare yourself the brainstorming, because I can tell you why... Are you ready for it? Mindset. It seems that some of our members, particularly the ones that have been a part of this circle for many years now, have problems with coming into a ritual with the right mindset. Not only does it drag a ritual down, but it sets a poor example for our newer members. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a good time and laughing my butt off at a good story, but to me, when a ritual is being started, it's time to dawn the role of Priestess or Priest and take the work of the goddess seriously, not be goofing off in the corner because the circle has been cast and the "serious stuff" is done. Or is that just me being totally off? Our circle has amazing power when it's focused and in tune with itself, it just seems that more often that not, as of late anyway, it's not in sync and stumbling over the hem of it's own cloak.


Anyway! Enough of that!


The husband and I will be having a small ritual of our own on February 2nd. That one is bound to be fun, as I do love working magic with my man. I also have a great story to read to my little one about Brigit's Fire as we celebrate her that day. It's so fun now that she's getting older and starting to understand. We wave hello to the goddess (moon) every morning when we leave for preschool, and say hello to the god (sun) every afternoon when we come home. It really is the simple things in life.


Well, I suppose I'll sign off for now. Keep checking back and I will post the recipes from our yummy Imbolc feasting!