Celtic Goddess for Kids

Oh my gosh! I found a fantastic page on facebook, called Southern Hemisphere Pagan, and this article is copied and pasted from them.. I wrote none of it. This is a beautiful article though. (the photo was used in the article too)

Fauna II by KayleighJune on deviantART

Damara (pronounced “duh-MAR-uh”) is a Celtic Goddess of the British Isles, known to rule over youth, innocence, and the imagination. Damara is also recognized as Queen of the Fairies and the protector of the inner-child and children in general. She rules over maintaining their purity along with keeping their sense of wonder and faith toward the world around them.

Garland Day, on May 13 (Northern Hemisphere), is a holiday that is only celebrated in very few small English villages. It is related to the Damara, Goddess of fertility who was worshipped in Britain. She is associated with the month of May. Her name means ‘gentle’ and is considered sweet and a rather docile Goddess. She helps bring peace and harmony to families within quarrelsome households. She was also deemed the protectress of young children and entrusted with keeping their sense of wonder and faith toward the world around them.

It is no wonder that Garland Day is a day for the children of the village. It is a day that they usher in the arrival of Spring by weaving flowers, garlands, and depositing them around the village, sometimes leaving them on the doorsteps of strangers or hanging them from poles. By doing this, the villagers believe that they will receive the blessings of Damara and will be ensured a bountiful harvest the upcoming year.

Damara’s themes are fertility, health, luck, kindness, abundance. Her symbols are flowers and green items. Damara’s message is one of guiding children. If you have your own children, spend some time with them, perhaps playing and enjoying their company. Take care of your own inner child too! Go on and have some fun today! Reconnect with that sense of awe and discovery that you felt when you were a child and learning about the world and he universe. Believe in fairies, believe in angels, as they are all around.

Source: Goddess-guide.com
Debbie Wolf Reeves
http://goddesses-and-gods.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/goddess-damara.html365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess by Patricia Telesco
Image: http://kayleighjune.deviantart.com/art/Fauna-II-342617065

Witchy Update

It's been a minute since I posted. Anyone who actually read this, I'm sorry but it's a lot easier for me to keep up with a pen and paper BOS than it is a blog.

So yesterday was a Super Moon and I didn't get to do any rituals.. Last month I froze negativity out of my life as well as specific negative people. It's been working so far, so last night I did include request for it to be renewed it in my prayers..

I also asked to be revisited by a Goddess who I technically worshiped while I was Christian and didn't realize it until She started changing me to act more like Her. Freaked my little Christian self out when I realized what was happening. Anyway, I apologized to her for my previous reaction, and asked her to visit me again.

Grounding. I've grown so much in Grounding. I am reading THE ELEMENTS OF RITUAL by DEBORAH LIPP and she explains it so well. She also emphasizes centering. Grounding and Centering are not the same, but they co exist in the same ritual. She opened my awareness of what I was doing and what the point is of grounding and centering.

I have previously stated that I don't care much to learn magick. The more I understand, the more I realize.. magick is unavoidable. Simply staying positive, and being grateful for the gifts of life, is creating positive magick. Magick is the energy you have in your body right now, it is the spirit in you, love, passion, even hatred. Magick is everything and everywhere. Even Christians use it, with every prayer and every breath of hate... Learning to use magick correctly and how to harness it is not essential to being a Pagan. But experiencing Paganism without Magick is like trying to be a lake with no rain. A lake is just a valley with no rain.

Anyway. I felt the need to express I'm still here, I'm still Pagan, I still love my Lord and Lady.

Catching up

Its been a few days since I posted. I have been off the Wiccan path, life getting in the way. Dealing with family and people above me and attempting to work more. I even forgot Meditation Monday. I will have to do it this week, so I can try to keep the weekly habit.

Changing faiths can be tough. There is still so much I don't know. I mean I know that the search for knowledge and understanding is never ending but I'm even noob in the basics. Basics! I can't even discover the meaning of snakes in my life. (Probably a good topic for meditation..)

After getting some mandatory life stuff out of the way.... the rest of the day will be dedicated to meditation, and reading. I will also work with energies and grounding myself. Basics.

The full moon. I had no idea what to do for it. "To Frolic" isn't exactly descriptive and, again, life got in the way of looking anything up. I didn't even remember to cleanse and charge my miniscule collection of crystals in time to actually attempt it.

Alright, time to stop procrastinating.

Let's talk about Sex

Here is something else I agree with Wicca on: Sex is sacred, reverent. Two people making love brings joy and wonder, not guilt and shame. Sex is treasured and revered. Thank the Lord and Lady, I can be bi in and don't have to hide it. I can publicly support others right to choose their orientation. Another of my Christian chain has been broken! I now have zero reason to believe masturbation is an act of sin. (yes I believed this when I was younger, sometimes -rarely- the fear still pops up)

I am not a slut, I have had very few partners. But being polyamorous, oh my word. It is so nice to have beliefs that agree, that don't clash like polyamory and Christianity. I don't know how likely it is I find another mate, but if I do, my beliefs mirror Wicca's. Sex is to be revered, but celebrated, which means to be careful who or how many partners you have (don't be a slut) but definitely not to be celibate either. I am suddenly extremely sad for all the nuns.

Lord knows I love sex too much to be celibate. Here's a quote from Wicca for Beginners, pg 33:

You are sacred. Your body is sacred. Your vagina is sacred. Your penis is sacred. You Don't put anything that isn't sacred into your sacred body. And you don't put your sacred body into anything that isn't sacred.

Introducion to Sabbats and Esbats

These words sound funny to me, they taste funny, they feel funny, but hopefully I will come to understand and love these Pagan Holidays.

Esbat: The time of the full moon which is celebrated monthly. The word is French and means "to frolic". I have no Earthly clue what to do to celebrate an Esbat, but I wrote down when the next twelve Esbats will be.

January 15

February 14

March 16

April 14

May 14

June 12

July 11

August 10

September 8

October 7

November 6

December 5

Sabbat: A great festival of observance of the Pagan year (there are eight sabbats per year). The word is Greek and means "to rest". Again, no clue on celebrations. But I wrote these days down, too.

Febryary 2, Imbolc

March 21, Ostara

May 1, Beltane

June 21, Midsummer

August 1, Lammas

September 21, Mabon

October 31, Samhain

December 21, Yule

I was wondering if any of the Esbats coincided with a Sabbat, but it makes sense if they don't now that I know the meanings.. You can't rest and frolic at the same time!