a need for ritual

I have made some changes to my pagan blogging.  I find that my blogging is tied to my ritual work.   My spiritual practice carries on everyday and for a time I did not feel the need for much in the way of ritual.   Now, with another turn of the Wheel, I am missing a more formal ritual practice and blogging here and on A Pagan Tapestry is a part of that practice. 
I have deleted the divination blog, I have a new site for Tarot readings and if you want one from me you can always contact me here. 
I have deleted the Black Cats and Full Moons blog.  I loved doing the historical research for it and I will probably bring it back, I just need to figure out a schedule and let it be a treat to do it again and not something hanging over my head that is not finished.
I also deleted the resources lists, which I had moved to a separate blog because they became so extensive.  It occurred to me that exactly because there was so much, it was not needed anymore.  When I started these blogs just a few years ago there were a handful of pagan podcasts, one or two pagan publishers and even online stores were hard to find.  Now there are hundreds of podcasts, radio shows, dozens of publishers and online and brick and mortar stores everywhere.  Good changes.
I cleaned up the remaining blogs, there is no need for all those links.
Pagan Tapestry will change as the Wheel turns and this blog will become more active.   The Borrowed Book of Charms is still active, many people have let me know that they are using it and I am glad for that.
I don't know what comes next, but for right now I feel a pull to move back to more ritual and these blogs are part of that. 

Life and The Craft

I find that as time goes by The Craft becomes more and more part of my daily life and at the same time it has simplified itself.  Most of my ritual tools are safely wrapped away and seldom disturbed.  My altar has become a collection of candles and a few statues.  Each candle is for a specific god, goddess or spirit.  A large jar candle dominates the space and is offered to Goddess and Universe.
I have tiny little altars scattered throughout the house dedicated to specific goddesses.  They are tea lights and tiny tokens or pieces of jewelry on a decorative saucer.
I cast a circle, raise energy, state my intent and let it go, simply and often.  It nearly always produces a result.
I do love ritual, but it just doesn't seem to be necessary when there is no time or desire. I put together a ritual for the Blood Moon and realized that it was the first time in a while that I had done something that formal.
Perhaps this is a phase too, only time will tell.

Isaac Bonewits

Isaac Bonewits died today.  He had a losing battle with cancer that seemed to take him away from us very quickly.  I never met Isaac, but when I first started A Pagan Tapestry he came across it somehow and put a link on his site, Views from the Cyberhenge.  He was very encouraging to a new Pagan blogger.
From what I have read about Isaac he was very encouraging to many people.  He was also entertaining and fun on Facebook.
We need more, not fewer, Pagans like him.  Involved from their head to their toes, 24/7, teaching, writing, talking, arguing.    Part of Paganism is the individual, intellectual pursuit of knowledge.
In Isaac's name, let us not lose sight of that.

Isaac Bonewits 1949-2010

be careful what you 'ward'

One morning this week I was listening to a podcast where warding was being discussed and I choked on my coffee.
Sometimes I am my own worst enemy and the results can be hilarious or dismaying.  This time it was hilarious.

I sometimes drive home in a funk after doing some shopping in the afternoons.  I am pissed off about being run over, cut in front of and treated rudely by other shoppers.  I start off being annoyed and sometimes end up ranting about it.

Guess who is causing this?  ME!
I go into the store wanting to just get done quickly, not run into anyone that wants to chat, just get it over with and get home.  I am so focused on this that I am making myself invisible. I am warding off any interaction with others.  So they cut in front of me, run into my cart, step on my foot..... I'm hard to see. I had no idea I was so effective, but I am really focused.  I'm just experiencing an unwanted side effect.

I laughed so hard I nearly cried, but at least now I know what is going on.

Tarot and me

One change in the last few months is that I have gotten serious about the Tarot.  I have dabbled for many years, picking them up and putting them down, but now I find myself using them everyday, sometimes just one card, sometimes for a reading with a spread and sometimes for meditation.
Unlike some readers I do not look for the future in the cards, other than a probable or likely outcome.  I find them much more useful for considering the present from many different angles and choosing a course of action based on that.
I have done a little reading for others, but I find that a lot of people are stuck in the past and mainly interested in finding a reader who will tell them that a love interest from their past is still in love with them.  I find that depressing, especially since the cards rarely, if ever, support that.  So I am very cautious about who I read for.
But I use them daily for my own connection to spirit.
I was surprised to find out only recently that some readers never do a reading for themselves and think that such a reading would be inaccurate.  I probably wouldn't be so interested in the Tarot if I felt that way.  I'm glad I was never told that when I first started out learning about Tarot.

The deck I use the most is the Mystical Dreamer, I get very strong messages from this deck.

I recently acquired a brand new deck, Shadowscapes Tarot.  The images are incredible, but I am having trouble with some of the cards.

So, while the Tarot is not new to me, it seems to have suddenly opened up for me in the last few months.

I need to spend more time here

I have really been neglecting this blog and actually this one is where I should be blogging.  Pagan Tapestry is chugging along thru the Wheel and will undoubtedly be outraged enough at the upcoming elections to vent a little about that.  The other blogs are mainly collections of information.  I have them separate so that I can find things myself.  It works better than a file cabinet.
Here is where I should be writing, I have spread my wings this year, delved into my mystical life more than I ever planned and learned much.  I want to record it, mainly for myself, but it might help someone else along their path also.
Let me get my thoughts together and I will be back soon.  At least, unlike the Tapestry blog, this one does not have to follow a linear path.  Thank Goddess.