I is for.....

......Isis.

Another fertility Goddess, this time from the Egyptian pantheon.  Her message is that love can overcome death.
I always have an image of her looking something like the character Lana Lang, from Smallville.  I think this is probably because in later seasons Lana sets up a company called The Isis Foundation.

Week 1.

The first week of this year is now over, in fact we have entered the second week.  I made myself promises, as you know, towards the latter end of 2011.  So far I have not gotten distracted from my aims for the coming year and that is to be applauded, by me anyway.
I wanted to focus on my writing again.  When I say writing, I do mean novel writing and not writing for features etc, although if that opportunity ever arose I wouldn't say no.  I have so much stuff, mostly first drafts a quarter and half way written and they take up so much space on my external hard drive and memory sticks that I could have at least one potential book in there.
My aim for the first part of the year is to sift through them all and see what sets the creative mind alight.  Then I had that dream, you know, we all have them - I think - a dream where you just know you have to do a certain something - and I honed in on one particular story line.  This has kept me busy until now and everything else has been pushed onto the back burner.  I have to say I am really pleased with the progress I have made this week and I look forward to more of the same over the coming weeks.

None of this would have been possible for me if I hadn't lost my way last year.  I decided towards the end of the year that I was going to make things happen for myself and I have been slowly building up to that.  Then when the dream occurred I knew it was time to get back into all things crazy and write and write and write.

I also think that these challenges that I have gotten interested in have helped also.  They have been a focus for me, a reminder to do what I promised myself I would and without them I would probably still be procrastinating.  I also think the determination of my friend Sally over at The Village Witch has helped me get my butt into gear.  She recently realised her dream and is living proof that dreams can and do come true.
I want to thank Sally and those bloggers who have come up with these wonderful challenges for kickstarting my writing.

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

I look forward to the week ahead and all the wonderful opportunities it will bring me.

H is for........

............Hestia.

Hestia always makes herself known to me whenever there are difficulties on the home front.  Whenever the difficulties get too intense a sort of calming influence can be felt, by me, breaking through the dramas and tensions.  Sometimes I dream about a housekeeper at such times too and I always think of that as Hestia letting me know she is around us.

The kind of image I get of her is a calm, middle aged woman, not so much motherly, more of a housekeeper.  The closest I can describe her so you have an idea of what I mean is someone who looks a little like Lynda Bellingham - of the OXO ad fame.

As Hestia is Goddess of Hearth and Home I think this imagery I have suits her well.

G is for............

............Gaia.

I never see Gaia as an ordinary woman.  Not that I see any of the Goddesses I have discussed as ordinary, what I am trying to say is "seeing" them as a mortal woman.  Gaia always appears in my minds eye as this



I have spent the day trying to conjure an image of Gaia in my mind, not that I have ever been successful before, but I thought I would have one last attempt for this post.  But I have only ever got this sort of image.  I guess this is how she wants me to perceive her and how I do too.  Sometimes we are not meant to see mortal looking types when we see deity, and I guess that is just how it should be.

F is for.......

...........Freya.

Freya is another of those Goddesses you can call upon if you need help with your cats.  She is also the Goddess of love and sex, erotic feelings and all that sexual passion.  Freya is another one of those Goddesses I have no problem visualising.  I see her in my mind's eye as a really sultry woman, exuding sex appeal and leaving men and women lusting after her.
In modern times society would label Freya as a loose woman, but I definitely don't see her in that way.  I see a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality, she exudes it.  She is likely to dress as she sees fit, generally clothing that accentuates her assets.

A is for.....

.......acceptance.

This post is for my contribution to Rowan Pendragon's Pagan Blog Project, it is a post I did on this blog a little while back, but it pretty much says everything I want to convey on my subject matter.

Do you accept who you are?

One of the best things we can do for ourselves is accept who we are.  I was just reading a post on another blog about  whether we really need validation from others or not.  You know, so many of us are afraid to show our true selves to the world for fear of rejection.  I guess I am a fine one to talk, given I won't come out of the broom closet with my family and local friends.
That said, I accept myself  - cowardice and all  - for what and who I am.  If I was asked by family or the local friends about being a witch then I would certainly not deny it, I just don't feel that comfortable broadcasting it to all and sundry.

Within the craft you pretty much have to accept not only yourself, warts and all (no pun intended!), but also your actions.  This kind of thing can leave a person feeling pretty uncomfortable, especially if you don't like introspection.  I have to admit, navel-gazing can feel very self-obsessed when you first begin.  But like all things in the craft, and life, the more you do it the better you get.

Sometimes we go through challenges again and again, we just don't seem to be able to break out of some cycles.  This is where a time of self reflection can really come in handy, and we should never feel guilty for looking within to solve problems.

I think there are times when we have to finally stop judging ourselves - and others too - and just get on down and look within.  Once the initial uncomfortable feelings have subsided we soon realise that what we are pretty critical of ourselves and we should work on our feelings of self hatred.  Let's face it, we all have something wehate about ourselves, no matter how small.

Accepting who we are is a vital lesson within the craft.  It helps us too come to terms with our own failings and give ourselves a break.  We learn to move on from negative situations and people and this helps us to become more forgiving of ourselves.
When you can accept yourself you become happier with who you are.  You act in the best way for yourself and those around you.  You are less prone to damaging actions and accept responsibility for what you do and say.

Acceptance is a key word in the craft.

E is for .......

.............Eostre.

The Goddess of Spring and Fertility.  I always envisage this Goddess with long blond hair, wearing flowery, floaty dresses and having an abundance of bunnies and chicks surrounding her while she ambles along a meadow.  She oozes happiness and carefree days, in my mind.  I guess this is only natural, given how we feel more carefree and light and airy during the spring.

And as "fluffy" - I hate that terminology - as this description sounds, I do think it describes this Goddess, even trying to put a modern twist on her I can't get away from floaty frocks and young chicks and bunnies.  Sometimes we just have to accept light and fluffy/airy appearances for what they are, a natural appearance.