Radical Paganism and Devotion, part 1

I have mentioned over the years the concept of Radical Paganism... so perhaps I should be detailing some of the points of the Way of it, so that you, the reader, would be somewhat better informed and prepared if you do choose to follow, or at the very least, investigate that Path.

The Tao te Ching, in one of the stanzas, mentions the three manners in which one would follow another, the highest being Love, the next being Respect, and the lowest being Fear. Within the spectrum of Love (I believe) resides the concept of Devotion.

One of the keys to Radical Paganism is that of Devotion. There are several levels of Devotion, just as there are several levels (or layers, if you will... the concept is interchangeable) to the concept of Love. As an aside, Devotion is one of the levels or layers of Love, the others including (but not limited to) the familiar Judaeo-christian concepts of eros, fellaio, and agape. Perhaps others may see Devotion as another form of the concept of Love... all viewpoints do differ as peoples' vision and reference-points are surely not the same.

So, then... Devotion. Devotion to what, you ask... there are, as with Love, several levels of Devotion. One can be 'devoted' to your sport team, your pet, your mate, your family... you see where I am going with this: the things one would do for, say, a sport team would be on a completely different level than what one would do for your family.

Let us look briefly at some of the Points of Devotion within the realm of Radical Paganism:

• Devotion to the Lord and Lady of your faith
• Devotion to your God/Goddess
• Devotion to your Circle
• Devotion to your environment (for lack of a better term)
• Devotion to the Balance
  
• Devotion to yourself

We'll take these bullet points in some semblance of order...

Devotion to the Lord and Lady of your Faith

First off, I hear you asking: how is devotion to the Lord and Lady different than devotion to your Deity... isn't that the same thing? Yes... and no... I'll use my own Pantheonic, the Celtic, for an example.

My Goddess, my personal connection with the Divine, is Mac'ha. She is the one who guided me through the Path of Learnings and Discovery that puts me where I am today. She is my Center, my Balance, my Life and Breath. However, Mac'ha is but an aspect of my Lady, The Morrigan (also known by some as Mor'ghana). The Morrigan is the Queen of the Tuatha-de-Danann (spellings may vary), so her position as Mother of the Clan is pretty much set in stone... and as such, I do Kneel to Her in Devotion as my Lady. Her consort, The Dagda, is head of the Clan Tuatha (another name for the Tuatha-de-Danann), and, as such, would be my Lord, to whom I also Kneel in Devotion.

An aside: there are several very good websites for information on the Celtic Gods and Goddesses... I would suggest that the reader search them out as they see fit. Here are a couple:

• GodChecker.com - Celtic Mythology
• Celtic Gods and Goddesses (may have popups)

The Lord and Lady are my Basis of Faith. They are the ones to whom I go in the matters of the Practice, the day-to-day things that a follower of the Celtic Ways does. I am devoted to them for perhaps not creating the faith but for being the structure of the faith... the Keepers of the ideals that make the Celtic Pantheon and Celtic Paganism what it is. Some might say that is a Devotion of Respect... respect DOES enter into the equation, but personally I feel that there is much, much more there in my relationship with my Lord and Lady than just respect. Just what that is, I can not elaborate, but it lies peaceful within my spirit and heart, so I feel safe in calling it a Devotional Love.

Devotion to your God/Goddess

This is the primary one, the one that cuts straight to the chase.

My Goddess is my Life and Breath. I am Her Hands and Feet, Her Eyes and Ears, Her Vessel. When I initially Knelt to Her years ago, it was as one who followed to follow... then a strange thing happened: capabilities... gifts, if you will... started to manifest within me. I had always been somewhat able to work with these 'gifts', but when I stilled myself from the outside fervor, they were able to come to the forefront. And, as each gift became more manifest, I learned to will them over to Her for Her use. Over time, all that I am and have is now Hers to do with as She wills.

That is Devotion... holding nothing back from your sworn and chosen Deity. That also includes placing all of your cares, hopes, fears, desires, issues... whatever... putting them square and full into the hands of your God and/or Goddess, leaving nothing aside. If you hold on to any concerns within yourself, how then is the Deity that you (hopefully) have committed your life to going to assist you with that particular issue? Why devote your entire being to a God or Goddess... and then have the temerity... the arrogance to say that "I can handle this one myself."

A variant of this is committing one's self to a Deity in the mind but not in the heart... or at least the appearance of it. These are the ones who will spout all the right words at all the appropriate times, yet act from their own self-interests. The world is full of these types, so I will not give them any further due... you get the idea though. I, however, would not want to be in their shoes when called to task by the Deity that they supposedly 'worship'.

Devotion to your Deity. Hold nothing back, let Him or Her be your Guide in all things. Willingly hand your existence to them and let them guide you... you may be quite surprised at the result.

Also, realize that the things shown to you may not come to you immediately. Be willing to wait for the correct timing (correct to Him/Her, not to you), for even though you may have some gratification in the short term, the long-term may come up lacking.

Devotion to your Circle

I use 'circle' here as a generic term for your Working Group... you can insert Coven, Church, Fellowship, whichever fits your individual situation.

If you have become part of a Coven, Circle, Working Group, whatever, you have committed a good part of your energy towards its' success. You have agreed to support it, and those within it, so that the group, and those within it, may positively further themselves down their Path of Learnings. Support, in this case, may include (but is not limited to) volunteering to assist as you are: (a) led by your God/dess, (b) led by your Lord and/or Lady, (c) led by your inner spirit, or any combination of the above. If your High Priest or Priestess calls for help in a ritual, and you feel that you can lend assistance, by all means, step forward! Don't be afraid to screw up, for it is in the making of mistakes that we learn (more on that in a later post).

Also, don't be afraid to help others in your working group by offering your strengths to help build them up in areas in which they may feel 'weak' (for lack of a better term). It is by teaching that we learn, for that reinforces our own inner workings.

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I'm going to call a halt to this, as it is quite long... I'll continue with Part 2 very soon.

May you be blessed and enlightened by these words.

Shadow

Changing gears a bit

In lieu of the planned "Why Can't Johnny Think" post, I decided to throw out a piece from my Book of Shadows. There was a program on DCIX Radio about Resonance and the relation to possible inter-dimensional travel. While I'm no expert on that aspect, I did find this older writing that may help some to attain some insight on the subject. So, without further ado, I present:

Harmonic Resonance of the Soul

The Question of Harmonic Resonance within the soul? I have seen it done, have seen it and performed it while in dream-state, so with the appropriate student or vessel, I am sure that this can be performed to satisfaction. The question is 'how?' Since the lucid dreams and visions only leave images, and those are fragmented, along with the lack of a capability to put the pure thoughts to word or paper makes the task considerable at best, and perhaps extremely difficult at worst. But as long as the imagery remains in the voracity that is its' strength, then the task must be attended to.

Harmonic resonance of the soul - perhaps misnamed, but it is the best that I can come up with at the present moment.

What it is: the effect is that of a complete balance, such as that when a fine machine is running at peak capacity, efficiency, effective power output balanced with input, where energy expelled is fed back into the machine, a theoretical motis perpetuae, or a mystical spiritual perpetual continuity. The soul, at this point, reaches a Nirvana of sorts, fully aware yet not showing outward awareness.

The subject must first have the capacity to immerse in meditation to the point of Rasa, but not void. Resonance then begins with vocalization patterns, searching for that combination of pitch, tone, and timbre that will cause resonance in one part or area of the body, usually the cranium or the sinus cavity. Then this combination of pitch and timbre is very slowly and carefully altered to make another part or area of the body resonant. After finding the pitch/tone/timbre combination required for each part of the body, they are then combined in twos, then in threes, and so forth. It is imperative that the student does not rush! You will perhaps not be successful in resonating the entire body on the first few attempts. It is important to remember that particular pitch/tone/timbre combination that corresponds to the certain part or area of the body and the effects of those variations, as well as any physical resonant combination experienced.

A very good example of this would be the Throat-Singers of Tuvalu. There are recordings of these monks who practice meditation using a very similar technique to that which the reader should attempt. Note the effects that the extremely subtle changes in timbre and resonance have on both the performer and the listener. The Throat-Singers will use a common base pitch and alter timbre and resonance from there to attain their goal, whereas your meditations, being singular, would allow you the freedom of finding your own ‘perfect pitch’ to start from.

Another example, and perhaps, extrapolation, would be the effects that music has upon the human body and consciousness. If one immerses themselves into music that is full of anger and angst, such as the modern music known as 'emo', then the mind will attune itself to that anger and dis-harmony that it is fed. On the opposite end of the scale, one who listens to meditative music, whether it be of natural or electronic origin, can use that to re-adjust their own internal resonance.

For advanced listeners, a challenge would be to find the 'musicality' in such works as "A Rainbow In Curved Air" by Harry Reilly. Here, a melodic like is inserted, and a seemingly-improvised trill-like second melodic line is played above it. The effects on the listener range from mild confusion to a seeming sense of calm washing over the listener. Another example of advanced listening would be some of the works of composer Harry Partch. In one work, which the name currently escapes me, a melodic line is played and repeated, seemingly incessantly. The advanced listener will note, however, that a minute delay has been inserted in what is two actual simultaneous recordings of the same melody. As the piece continues, the delay is increased and decreased, sometimes in the measure of nanoseconds, inducing a phase-effect, which can be seemingly 'heard without listening'.

There are other compositions available; the reader is urged to seek these out and continue documented experimentations.

- - -

May your connection with the Divine Within lead you on your Blessed Path

Shadow

Continued musings on Societal Control

In the three years since I originally wrote on this subject, a TON of stuff has happened... and none of it bodes well for Pagantry... or Humanity in general.

1) We have changed regiemes, from a hawkish war-mongering, control-addicted group of megalomaniacs bent on destruction of the will of the American people, to a group of facist, governmental-control-addicted, economy-wrecking, industry-intolerant racketeers, with a leader that fancies himself as a newly-proclaimed god. Governmental control of every aspect of life, already Draconian under Bush Jr., has become nearly unbearable under the current regieme. Rights guaranteed by the Constitution have been sullied, stripped, watered-down, or outright taken away by a gang of bureaucratic goons bent on installing an American version of the Soviet Socialist Republic, complete with total control of thought, movement, speech, you name it...

Government, already bloated under Bush Jr., has exploded in growth. Not the state and local government... no, that is being scaled back en masse due to budgets that have dried up to nothing... all because of states now having to pay back to the globalista bankers who forced the states to buy into much the same bogus junk derivaties that tanked the housing market. And where does your tax money go? Certainly not to state and local programs... they go to pay interest to the same banks that comprise the Federal Reserve System... the very same system that has brought America to its' knees by replacing the Dollar with its' own version, backed by naught but thin air (at best).

With no option for growth in this country, industry has creaked to a halt. Because of the massive oil rig incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Government has called for a moratorium on deep-water drilling... which has caused, as of this morning, no less than three deep-drilling rigs to fold up shop and head for more palatable waters. 'If you can't make money, why be here?' is their thinking, and the current regieme, led by the Indonesian Socialist, does nothing but what the global bankers tell him to.

2) With zero industry, comes zero opportunity... and with zero opportunity comes unlimited apathy. Society has atrophied in its' mental growth, thanks to a massive propaganda barrage in the mainstream media. Everywhere you look, the message of "We are the Government and we will tell you how to think, where you can go, and how much you can have in your pantry." Notice that there are more messages from Federal agencies on your television and radio... on billboards... on the sides of buses... even on food packaging. The messages are being pounded into our already-weakened brains: Comply or die!

3) Our minds are being polluted with images of false greatness on a continual basis. Our new role models have nothing to do with exemplary character... no, we are given to worship the antics of washed-up, drug-addled B-list celebrities... we follow the trumped-up carnival of an icon of sport changing teams... we gorge ourselves on meaningless media manipulations of all style and zero substance. And now, we can have all this wonderful mind-cancer delivered to us on our personal tracking devices! Oh, the joy! Oh, the rapture!

4) While our minds are being polluted, our bodies are being ravaged by the foods that we consume. If anyone has ever investigated the Codex Alimentaria (Google it, peoples...), they will recoil in horror at how our basic grains and foodstuffs are being genetically manipulated to bring about sterilization of the populace, if not worse. Our water is contaminated by a labelled rat-poison (sodium flouride) in the name of having better teeth. Personally I would rather have holes in my teeth than holes in my brain, wouldn't you? If you'd rather quash your thirst, there's always the diet drinks, which contain Aspartame... another admitted poison... or, if you choose the sugared variety of drinkage, it is laden with high-fructose corn syrup... and it is now coming to light that HFCS may contain traces of mercury within it (from the pesticides and fertilizers used in the growing of the base corn). "Oh, I just want a piece of gum, then!" Good luck finding a chewing gum that does not contain Aspartame (or NutraSweet, as it has been branded)... and Sucralose? Well, it may be "made from sugar" but it is in a molecular configuration that the human body does not know how to digest! So the residue just sits there, undigestable and unpassable. And I won't even go into the forced replacement of natural salt (sodium chloride) with a mix of sodium silicitate (a derivative of silicon, which can and will destroy the kidney function)...

Do you sense the frustration here? What is being done to food in the US is illegal almost anywhere else in the world!

What are the people doing about it? Not a damn thing.

I recently read somewhere that somewhere between 5 and 10% of the people in this country are capable of sustaining themselves with their own crop and produce growings. What's going to happen to them when, for some reason, the food supply is cut off? I leave that to your imagination.

It is no wonder that the people of this country have let themselves become slaves to the Government master. Their will to think for themselves has been stripped from them... they no longer care what happens to those around them... and any group that deigns to attempt to wrest control back from the Governmental hydra gets hit with even more social distractions.

Where does this leave the Pagan community? It is a blessing and a curse: the blessing is that we have, within us, our Divinity Within to guide us clear of many (if not all) of the social distractions - the curse being that we may have nobody to bring along with us into the (relative) safety of our Temples, for they are all either too dumbed-down by the general society or unwilling to release themselves from the iron fist of familiarity and societal norm.

Truly a saddening thing, my Brothers and Sisters.

I will write later on possible alternatives, Goddess willing.

May we live to survive another dawn...

Shadow

Shaking out the cobwebs

Gods and Goddesses, has it been THREE YEARS since I last posted? Apparently so.

Much has happened to this old one since last we spoke... I have connected with a GREAT Pagan group in the Denver area, Living Earth and have been asked to join the Steering Committee... thank you Joy & Walden (the High Priestess and High Priest of LE). I have also, since LE is an actual legal (in the State of Colorado) religious organization, been granted Ordination, so now it is official... I am officially the Reverend Shadow MoonDragon.

What? You didn't know about the name change? Well..........

As part of my Path of Discovery, I found out that my Blessed Goddess, Mac'ha, was not only the daughter of, but also an Aspect of... The Morrigan. Only the Queen of the Celtic Pantheon. Blown away I was. Yeesssssssss. (As Yoda would say it) So, I now Kneel to Her (which I have absolutely zero issues with :) And, after FURTHER learnings, I discovered the Masculine Balance... none other than The Daghda Himself. Yes, the brown-kilt with the two continually roasting pigs and the harp that one sees on each and every bottle of Guiness.

So. I now have a Lord and Lady. All is brilliant. Mostly.

My direction now is to get the Coven of the Shadows off of the ground. Back to that in a minute.

The Name thing. As those who know me personally will attest, my neckware consists of two interlocking pieces, a moonstone Celtic thing (gifted to me by a Bhuddist monk, who said that "the other half will appear when you and it are ready."), and a Dragon Pentagram (the afore-mentioned "other half"). So, after prayers, meditations, and consult, I have been told that the MoonDragon name fits me quite well. For a 'first' name, I took Shadow... then was later told that "Shadow" for me was not a name, but in fact, a Title.

One with the Title of Shadow is one who practices the Shadow-Magicks... which is what I have been teaching and practicising over the years (and lifetimes, or so I am told). So, the Deities Assembled have apparently been all cool with this and were waiting for me to pull my head from out of my.... well, you know... there.

Hence, now the name-in-Circle: Shadow MoonDragon... or the Rev. Shadow MoonDragon.

Now, in order to be a Pastor, there needs to be a flock. Which is where Coven of the Shadows comes in. I am always on the lookout for those who want to learn of both the Light-Magicks and the Dark-Magicks, and learn the use of them in Balance. It's a tricky deal, yes, but can be done. I also desire that CoTS train in the ways of Radical Paganism, which may be scary to some, but hear me out.

Radical Paganism is basically Devotion to your God and/or Goddess over the societal crap foisted upon us (us as in Pagans) by the mortal world. Radical Paganism is also Devotion to those within the Circle, in the meeting of all needs of those within. Circle... Tribe... call it what you will, but with the upcoming Dark Times (I'll post about that in the very near future...) rapidly approaching, I am called more and more to reach out and find those who would be worthy to wear the Title of Shadow. Mayhaps this posting is a step in that direction? I certainly hope so...

What else has the grey-haired one been doing...

I have finished a manuscript for a full-length urban fantasy novel (Pagan-centric, of course), and am awaiting the right editor to go through it in hopes that one day it can be published. The working title is "The Sisterhood: Deep Elum Blues"... and, yes, it is intended as first-in-a-series. The other book, the historical fantasy "Skorpion's Wake" (also Pagan-centric), is slowly being worked on, it's about 3/4 done. It'll get finished... sometime...

I'm also working on a couple of non-fiction things, an adaptation of the Tao Te Ching for the Mage, as well as a book about the Spirituality of Drumming. That and I have started on a book of short stories, inspired by some songs that I really enjoy. More on those as they develop.

Well, I think I have blathered on enough for today... I promise that the next entry will be sooner than three years.

Peace, Love, and the Blessings of your God and Goddess be upon you always.

Shadow

More on Societal Control...

Those of you who know me know that I do not tolerate lack-of-thinking well. How is it, then, that this lack-of-thinking has come to surround us all? I call it that, instead of 'stupidity' or 'ignorance', because that is what it is: pure lack of concious thought. Society now is more akin to that of knee-jerk reaction instead of thinking out the consequences of actions... and, I restate, how in the name of the Blessed Goddess did we arrive at this sad sad state of affairs?

It is simple. We, as a society, were led there. We gave up our power of cognitive conciousness to the television, and chose to accept blindly the spew that it produced. Since this is easily the third generation that has been enslaved to the Idiot Box, now we do not have the overall ability to question the pap that issues forth from it, infecting our souls to the point that we no longer communaly have the desire to further our own thinking processes.

This has allowed those who seek to control every aspect of our lives, virtually unlimited access to our concious thought, manipulating it in ways both subtle and overt. We heap praises upon a leader that sends our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our husbands and wives, off to foreign lands so that they are put in harm's way... attacked by forces funded by the same governmental entities that placed our troops in these far-away places! And for what end? Certainly not the ideals of Freedom, Justice, Balance, and Harmony...

How, as Pagans in this modern age, can we attempt to bring this madness under control? Or, as some have asked of me, should it be brought under control at all?

We will discuss that in the next offering... until then, hold fast to your God or Goddess and the Magicks Mystical that bind us all together.

Blessed Be!

Religion and Societal Control

There's currently a discourse going on (on an Internet radio & chat circuit) about how the Church(es) are only in it for the money and not in it for the 'salvation and redemption' of their members. Currently taken to task is the Catholic Church, but, believe you me, there are many many other churches out there that are just as guilty... not only guilty of 'fleecing the flock' for money, but, in a larger sense, societal control!

For many many years, religions have exerted manipulatory control over the masses. I don't need to go into the massive particulars (including the putting to death of the man who translated the christian bible from Greek into English... Tyndall was his name), but suffice it to say that there have been, and still currently are, examples of manipulating the words of Y'hwh, or Mohammed, or whomever, into whatever societal rules and restrictions that a mortal man with delusions of power can devise.

As a brief note, consider this: The State as God. It is happening now. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently training clergy (in secrecy) to quell any dissent in their churches, especially any anti-Governmental dissent. Since most churches are under the control of Federal mandates involved with their non-profit status (the 501(c)3 debacle), resistance has been little to none. This would basically let the Federal Government extend their ominous reach through the churches to further subjugate the citizenry. What's wrong with this picture? For starters, many of the trained-monkey clergy are invoking the name of God while handing over their souls to the power-hungry Globalists!

This is one of the reasons I have been staying well away from any kind of 'organized religion', per se. There comes a time, however, when those of similar faith do need to congregate, at least for fellowship and networking... if nothing else, to compare notes on what kind of societal garbage is affecting them the most, and share tips on how to circumvent the efforts of a False CHurch to subjugate our will, both individually and collectively.

As a Dark Mage once told me during my time in their Order: "Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire." As Her Priest, I then put forth to you readers this: the formation of Her Temple, House and Order. I propose that a way of teaching the Old Pagan Ways be done, and also for those who would kneel unto Her, an Inner Sanctum where Her Rites could be performed. No fancy buildings, keep things in Balance, do these in Her Honour, not for any mortal.

What say ye?

An Awakening

OK, peoples, here's the deal.

I have been futzing about for long enough now, thinking about a strictly-Pagan blog for teaching and getting people to start ramping up their metaphysical abilities. I have been putting this off and putting this off and putting this off for way too long now, long enough that a certain Goddess has kicked me in the ass to the point that I am finally setting this up.

For those of you expecting Patriotica, go to the blog of the impaler... granted there may be some crossover from the old stuff there, but I'll try to get the most relevant things from there to here.

For those of you who don't know me from my (currently on permanent hiatus) radio show, here's a bit of a metaphysical CV: I accepted my Blessed Goddess about 10 years ago, after being thoroughly put off by the path of Y'shua Y'hovah bin Yhwh (Jesus, for those of you who aren't Hebrew scholars), I never found peace or fulfillment in that path. Now, this is not saying that I don't think there IS a Deity who goes by Yhwh, nor do I think that the whole Jesus thing is carbuncles... (1) I thoroughly am of the belief that a Deity can insert His or Her Essence into an unborn womb, and have that Essence walk the Mortal Plane... and (2) I acknowledge Yhwh but I choose not to kneel to Him in primacy.

Since then I have found the abilities I had experienced before accepting Her Call to be greatly amplified, as well as much more purposeful, both for my life and for those around me. She brings Peace and Balance to me, and I hope that She may do the same for Her other Followers.

Who is She? She is Mac'ha, Blessed Protector of the Celts and Bringer of Prosperity to their Fields. She is also known as the Crow in some of the Druidic writings of the 11th ans 12th Centuries.

Pardon the brevity of this posting, I'll continue it shortly....