A Book Review

Last night, I was finally able to finish a book that I had been greatly looking forward to- By Land, Sky & Sea: Three Realms of Shamanic Witchcraft by Gede Parma. This is the first book of his that I've read, though he does have others. Because of the nature and capacity of this book, I have decided that it would be a down right shame to not do a review on it and get others to enjoy it as well.

I have long been drawn to, and have worked with, the shamanic path and it's teachings. While I am no where near as adapt at something as my dear friends who also walk that path, I find the lessons, trials, and victories to be uniquely rewarding every time. This book by Gede Parma was able to put a lot of things into perspective for me that I hadn't really thought about before.


The book is divided into the three parts- the Celtic three-realm cosmology of land, sky and sea. It's a wonderful change of perspective from what seems to be the standard Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that, as I highly believe in the value of balance and the four elements. Part 1, or Land, talks about the "middle earth" or our current plane of existence. This particular portion deals with ground, aligning, loving to body, touch, and divining the land. In this section you will find meditations, exercises and a ritual to immerse yourself in the beauty and divine nature of the Land. Part 2, or Sky, discusses the Upperworld. The theme of the section is the Wyrd, receiving Gnosis, Letting go and being Free, Seeing Clearly, and to Fly or Astral Travel. This section is alight with simple techniques to practice these things with, amazing depth and exploration of the Wyrd and learning to let go and Be. As with the previous section, this one too ends with a lovely Sky ritual to bring you that much closer to the Upperworld. The last Part, Sea, is akin to the Underworld. That being said, it is a section that obviously deals with death and rebirth, transformation, trance, past lives, and the Great Mystery. This section of the book was absolutely amazing. There is so much information on how to delve deeper into the land of Mystery and how to use the information to transform yourself, your life, and your path... to truly accept your divine right as well as to recognize the divine within. The ending ritual for this chapter takes you into the depths of the Underworld to the realm of Persephone as she fills her role as Queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades.  Each section of this book comes with lists of correspondences, is delightfully well written, and clearly comes from a writer who has walked the very same path.
I can't recommend this book enough, and I hope that you will get as much enjoyment and knowledge out of it as I did!
    

Teaching the ways of the Path to a Toddler...

During my child's infancy, I spent a lot of time thinking about when I would be able to start teaching my little girl how to follow an earth based path, and how I would teach her. First of all, teaching can and does begin at infancy, sometimes it's just harder to see and understand because babies lack the use of words to tell us in a voice that we easily understand. That aside though, we're now growing through our toddler years, and I'm steadily getting my daughter more involved so she can learn over time. Like most two year olds, she has the attention span of a gnat and frequently likes to turn her listening ears into the "off" position. So, having her take part in a longer ritual with a lot of speaking parts but little movement is next to impossible, and as the phrase "sit still" still translates into "jump up and down and act like a little heathen" working on breathing and meditation is also out. However, my daughter LOVES to help me in the kitchen. She has her own little apron and set of mixing spoons/whisks/spatulas to cook with. While I don't let her in there when I'm cooking on the stove (as I don't want her to accidentally set her hand on a burner) I have her come in and help me bake. While we bake, I go through the list of ingredients and we make it part of the recipe to look up those ingredients in one of my magical reference books. The two I use are Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen and The Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients: A Wiccan Guide to Spellcasting . The first one gets used much more frequently in this setting, but it never hurts to have a back up reference book. =) So, doing this, she is having fun, I am baking something which I love to do, and my daughter is learning something about the path she is being raised on. It's nothing huge, but the same goes for children and adults, it takes small steps to learn big things.

Today we made Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (recipe courtesy of Duncan Hines):

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Spice Cake Mix
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup raisins

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Combine cake mix, egg whites, oats and oil in large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until blended. Stir in raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets. Remove to cooling racks; cool completely.

Oats are known for money and prosperity, while Raisins are ruled by the sun and fire and eaten to open the conscious mind.

Go bake and enjoy!

A time of enlightenment

My path is unique, and I most certainly dance to the beat of my own drum. Sometimes, that dance leads me to a book or a song or some other form of divine expression in which to meditate on and subsequently learn and grow from. At the present moment, my dance has lead me to The Temples of Light: An Initiatory Journey into the Heart Teachings of the Egyptian Mystery Schools (Book & CD) by Danielle Rama Hoffman. Being a Priestess of Isis, this book naturally appeals to my desire to become closer to the mysteries of Egypt and the powerhouse of knowledge within. I received the book today and have thus far read through the intro, how-to, and general areas of this book. I have decided, after reading this material, that I will take you all on my sacred journey through the temples of Egypt as I work my way through them on a personal/spiritual  level with this book as my medium.

Let the discoveries begin!

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.