Goddess Worship on a Busy Schedule by Gini Judd

In an ideal world, we would live in harmony with nature and the goddess.  We would arise each morning and salute the sun, then perform a morning ritual and take time for meditation. Then we would receive massages while nibbling on pealed grapes while an orchestra played soft music by our Grecian fountain.

      That’s not how most of us live.  Most of us leap from bed in the morning and rush to get everyone out the door and off to school or work on time.  At the end of the day, there are activities, chores, dinner, and then a collapse into bed. Time for ritual and meditation?  In our dreams, we feel a twinge of guilt as we pull the covers over our heads and vow that someday soon, we will find the time for daily worship.

     The problem is that many of the books and programs out there are intimidating.  In the first week there are only a couple of exercises, but by the end of the first month they demand an hour or more to complete their program.  Lovely, if you don’t have to earn a living or raise kids or keep house, but intimidating if you do. But in reality, it can be done.  The key is focus.

      Suggesting that you drop everything and go walk two miles is a time-consuming demand.  But the reality is that each of us walks a mile or two a day, just getting from one place to another.  Just like those short walks add up to a mile or more, so a minute or two here and there can deepen your spiritual life.

     When you get up in the morning, take a long, slow, focused breath.  Raise your arms to the sky and feel your feet attached to the ground.  Feel your relationship to the earth.  See?  Your first morning stretch is now a moment dedicated to the goddess. When you step into the shower, take a heartbeat to thank the goddess for the cleansing energy, and feel your negative energy run down the drain.  When you bite into your breakfast bagel or sip your cup of coffee, thank the goddess for the gifts of the earth and focus on the energy you are receiving from her bounty. Waiting for the bus?  Close your eyes and feel the wind.  Stuck in traffic?  Sing.  Bored and tired halfway through the workday?  Stand up and repeat your morning stretch. 

Imbue moments of your life with slivers of ritual, and you will feel energized, aware, and more in touch with your faith.

 

Goddess Card Sept. 10th

Goddess Cordelia- You have been indoors too  long. Go out side and get some fresh air. A daily venture outside will not only revive your spirit and soul, it will give you hope and faith in this planet’s very existence and future. Step outside today and witness earths excitement and entertainment.

 

Get out side for a while and connect with nature. See the signs of summer on it’s way. Smell the air and thank mother earth for all that she gives to us!! We need to get out and be positive!!! Connecting with nature helps us feel the balance!  Life is about balance and finding that balance in and through our lives.

 

May the love of the Goddess be with you today!

Goddess Card Sept 9th

 

Goddess Hathor – Receptivity- Allow yourself to receive. This will increase your intuition, energy, and ability to give to others. If you are feeling guilty when asking for help, or bad about receiving gifts then you are blocking your feminine energy. Your receptivity is just as natural as your giving energy.

  

Receiving allows you to give more to others. If you are only on one end of the spectrum then you are out of balance. Balance is the key to life. You need to give and receive to be in balance. Plus, you have to remember it is nice for the person that you give to, to give something back. That allows them to have give and take in the ebb and flow of life as well. It is not about keeping track or making sure you always give exactly at the same time and level. Just see to it that you receive back in a similar flow of what you give out in a way that has balance and creates a nice harmony in your life.

  

May the love of the Goddess be with you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sea Foam Siren Goddess Cancer By : Aphrodite Rose Lorelei

I am the alluring Goddess Cancer, Luna surf fathoms, pearl veils of oceans mists.

Mermaid pools of Lemuria tears and crystal drenches Atlantis.

Waterfall coves of Dolphins Golden treasure. 

Aphrodite’s Heart of Beauty!     I love you.       -Aphrodite

 

The Goddess Path By Linda Kean

 My path to the Goddess started when I was really pretty young. I was brought up Catholic. I went to Catholic school until 5th grade. In those younger years and even today. I always felt a strong affinity and/or bond with mother Mary. When they taught us the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of paradise, I thought it was pretty amazing that God made Adam out of dust and Eve out of his rib. I do remember when they told us the story about Jesus and his birth, even as a kid I thought it was very interesting that God would not just have made his son appear like Adam. I thought it was poignant that Jesus had to have a mother. So that made me think that God saw in the fall of paradise that he could not make people be the way he wanted and that he had to give Jesus a mother so he could be nurtured and treated well so that he could become the man he was meant to be in that life. So I guess I really saw Mary as being one of the most important people. I mean they just had a statue of Joseph in the church and they had shrines to Mary. She was the way that Jesus got here, so she seemed even more important to me.

 When you went to church and wanted to light your candle it was in front of Mary that you light your candle. So I guess even form that very young age and even from the Catholic church I always saw Mary as our mother and one you could always go to with your feelings, Problems, wants and prayers. As a child it made perfect sense that you would go to her she was that mother and all mother’s take care of their children. When I got older things just seems to not make sense like the pope would change rules. You know like we could not eat meat on Friday during lent unless that Friday fell on St. Patrick’s day. “Like what? If it is a Friday rule then isn’t it a Friday rule?”

  I have to say I really got disheartened by the Church, but I went with my family especially on Easter and Christmas as we got older, because yeah like all the other “good” Catholics we only went those two times during the year. No matter what Mary always had a place in my heart. I did do many prayers and prayer work to her during those years when I was not really into the whole church thing. I started to do my own prayer work and “magic” my own way at my own house. I found more books about candle prayers, angels, and magic. I didn’t really have any affiliation with any religion, but really just kept my catholic status because it was what I had known. I was always good with listening to what I needed and leaving what I didn’t.

  I work in Lakewood and I had passed by Goddess Blessed a few times kind of always wondering what was inside. I went in a few times when it was the old store and I bought a few candles and other things, but I admit I was a bit shy about what I did personally with prayer work. etc. So I just kind of shopped a bit here and there in metaphysical stores,

  I had a very dear friend of mine suggest that I take Reiki I, he was sure that I would be very good at Reiki. After a few years of him trying to help me find this path I decided I would find a Reiki I class and there just happened to be one at Goddess Blessed in Lakewood. Kathy’s store, had moved one store front over and had a lot more space, and I have to say I went in and it just felt like home. I felt so welcomed! The place was so homey, had wonderful smells and Kathy was just so sweet and kind to me. I did the Reiki class and then I just could not stop going back. It was like a home away from home and the Temple room makes you feel so at peace. I started spending a lot more time at Goddess Blessed, taking classes of all kinds, learning more about the Goddesses and Goddess spirituality. It was like I finally understood where I belonged, but in a sense I was always there. Mary is one of the many faces of the Goddess. Like Kathy I believe that there is so much emphasis on the God side of the Divine that the Goddess of that divinity has been lost.

  When Kathy wanted to start her own Goddess Temple. I told her I knew a little bit about what it would take to get your 501 C 3 and I started helping her. She and I with help from a dear friend of mine who had worked with Not for profits before, got all the paper work together and filled for our Not for profit status. Although we were told by many that it was pretty impossible to get it, we did it!!

 We were so thrilled when that paper came from the Government, it was just so exciting! We had officially become the  4th Goddess Temple in the world.  Now we have monthly potluck meditation services, a bi-monthly news letter, web site, blog, and we do our Sabbat services in the metro parks. We have a wonderful family that is made up of amazing volunteers and church/temple does not even feel like what “church” used to feel like to me. We all get to help out with altar, readings, prayers, smudging, and our own  celebration to the Goddess. I am invested in this path and the Goddess spirituality because I get to be apart of what is going on. I am helping and learning and I am not just being told what to do, and how and when to do it. I finally know where I belong and it feel so good to be in the home of the Goddess.

Temptress Goddess Taurus By : Aphrodite Lorelei

I am the beautiful sensuous Goddess Taurus, the heart of artistic beauty, ecstasy of love.

Heavenly luxurious, I am the Golden romantic Goddess Venus, sparkled of emeralds, pearls, liquid amber: the pearly gates of Aphrodite’s ruby dazzled heart of Paradise, Pasiphae’s cups of desire, The creamy ocean of full moon lapis bulls, siren empress radiance heavens.

I love you.

-Aphrodite

Finding the Goddess Path By: Sheila Santiago

I remember the first time I questioned the existence of a Goddess. I was about 13 and in the car with my aunt. I do not remember the conversation I just remember her making a comment that referred to God as “Her”…I quickly responded. God is a “He” and my aunt asked me, why? I couldn’t answer with anything other than, that’s what everyone says. That answer didn’t sit well with me.

I decided then that for me it didn’t make sense for there to be just “God” & not a Goddess as well. There had to be an equal counter part…I have ever since believed that one cannot exist without the other.

It was then that I began my search for the path I am on today.

That moment in time forever changed how I looked at religion & spiritual matters or any question’s that didn’t have a definite answer for that matter.

I have always been an avid reader of history and non-fiction; I began reading books on every religion that I could get my hands on. Back then the library was my only source of information, there was no internet available to me. I am glad there was no internet now because there is as much bad information out there as there is good and I wouldn’t have known how to decipher which was which at that age and I certainly didn’t have anyone knowledgeable enough in the subject to talk to about it.

For a long time I felt like I would never find what I was looking for, I felt lost and confused for a long time. I learned about many paths and liked certain things about each but nothing felt right.

It wasn’t until I was an adult and ready that I met someone who was on this path herself. The path of the Goddess. This path made itself known to me at a time in my life when I was ready for it, as it happens to many people when they are ready.

I can honestly say that my life has not been the same since I began my journey on this path. I have known Love, peace & inner wisdom like never before and I am ever grateful.

When Kathy introduced the idea of starting a Goddess Temple to honor the Goddess I knew I definitely wanted to be a part of it. Finding out that there is a large community out in the world who share in my beliefs when once I thought I was alone has made me want to do what I can to be there for others who find themselves on a path searching.

Goddess Card for June 18th

Goddess Sekhmet – Be Strong- You are stronger than you think you are and your strength assures a happy outcome. See yourself as strong and victorious. You are the embodiment of strength. Being strong means seeing yourself in the most favorable light you can imagine!

 

See the strength that is truly inside of you. Call on the Goddess Sekhmet to help you find and use your inner strength. Spend time today seeing the strength that you have inside. Realize that you are string independent and hold the power to make your life what you want it to be.

 

Light a white candle and ask Sskmet to come to you and show you the depth of your strength. Bring the inner light of peace to your core and see your strength surround you. Take the feeling and use it to take the steps along the path in your life to better yourself today!

 

May the love of the Goddess be with you!!!!

 

 

Dealing with Religious Intolerance By Shelia Santiago

We still live in a world where Witch burnings are a reality as recent as 6 months ago there were multiple Witches burned in a village in Africa. It is a scary thing knowing that someone would kill you just because your spiritual beliefs were different than theirs. It is a sad reality and one that has always been the source of war and conflict.

For many years I kept my beliefs and practices under wraps because of this. I always felt it was a personal choice and no one else had to know.

Once I joined a coven and began sharing my beliefs with others of like mind I began to come out of my shell little by little and now 6 years later I am completely open about my beliefs but I am also careful.

I have a few non-confrontational bumper stickers on my car and I have 3 pagan tattoos so while I am not shouting it to the world the signs are there for those who notice and wish to discuss or question.

I Have been the victim of religious intolerance because of my “signs” At my job I knew from my first week in training that I could never speak about my beliefs without being judged harshly or even possibly fired.

The people in the office were all very Christian and not only did a couple of people have Bibles out of their desks they would quote scripture across to each other here and there just out of the blue. I have never worked in an environment where there was so much “church” behavior. I kept quiet and to myself and never commented on any of it or added anything to the conversation.

A few comments were made about my bumper stickers so I knew that a lot of what was happening was because they wanted to make me uncomfortable…little did they know that I could care less what they talked about or believed. Good for them to believe in something is all I say. They took it one step further and took one of my bumper stickers off of my car.

Well that was the last straw. Not only did I replace the sticker I added 2 more not so non-confrontational and I also did not hide my tattoos any longer. Obviously my tactful and respectful manner did not matter so I decided to just be myself. I took my book covers off of my pagan books and wore short sleeves and no longer hid my pentacle necklace.

If I am going to be discriminated against why not let them know that their ignorance doesn’t make me run away, it makes me stand proud. I do not have to believe in what you believe in , but  I respect others choices in their beliefs.

I find it amusing that these so called “Christians” were not being very Christian. If people practiced what they preached then perhaps there wouldn’t be as much war and conflict over religion. All that should matter is that people Believe, period.

Why do some people feel the need to cram their beliefs down others throats? Be happy with what you believe in and go on your way.

All you can do when you come up against people like this is keep to your beliefs and go along on your way. If these people will not take the time educate themselves and don’t care that they are ignorant and just wish to believe that their way is the only way then there is nothing you can do but walk away. Sometimes it is just best to wish them well and ask the Goddess to let them let tolerance into their hearts.

I have personally found that true Pagans are the happiest most easy going people…I think perhaps it is because we are not concerned about trying to force our beliefs on others, nor are we concerned that what others believe in is wrong. We instead are happy with our choices and we are happy that you made your own choice. We just believe in Peace and Love and Living life happily. Shouldn’t everyone live life that way? 

Blessed Be!

 

Kiss Of Aphrodite Lorelei By: Miss Aphrodite Lorelei

I am the tender Goddess of beauty, love, graceful joy, and softest femininity.

I am the Siren of the wild seas, mystery of the deep waters and passionate fires of sensuality.

I entwine hearts and inspires innocence and joyous creativity.  I dance with my glorious love muses. The Three Graces: Aglaia, “The brilliant”; Euphrosyne, “She who rejoices the heart”; and Thalia, “She who showers with flowers”.

I am the opulence of fertility and pleasure.

I am the sigh of heavenly embraces and the whisper of breathless kisses.

I inspire lush exotic dreams of desire, wild exploration, mystic devotions and the honey of soma pearls.

I am Dolphin Islands of crystal waves, doves perfumed of sandalwood, amber, roses and waterfalls of emerald myrtle.

I kiss you with swan tears of lilies, myrrh rubies and golden tresses of opals!

I love you!

Aphrodite Lorelei