Daily Devotion

One of the main things I’ve struggled with for the past 12 years was developing some sort of daily way to include Deity/Lord/Lady/Spirit into my daily life. I became so used to hiding my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs all during middle and high school, it has since been incredibly hard to become open and forthright about my beliefs. Having been on several online Pagan sites, I get the idea I am not the only one who has issues or complications from past experiences.

So for the past week I’ve been thinking of ways to include my spirituality in my everyday living. One way I do this is by meditation. I do it every day right after I get out of the shower. I’m usually quite relaxed after a shower (something about scalding hot water as it hits me is relaxing and renewing), so this seems the best time to do it. I’ve also been awake for quite some time before this happens (I do all my housework and exercise before showering which can take several hours), so I’m less likely to fall asleep as opposed to doing it right after I get up for the day or right before I go to bed. I love sleep, and early mornings or right when I get up are not good times for me to demonstrate perkiness or motivation. Outside of making my husband’s coffee, not much else is going on in my head for at least 30 minutes.

I typically do a 15 minute guided meditation I found on Google Play. It’s not really Pagan specific. It’s just a Release All Your Tension sort of meditation. I will eventually start working on visualization exercises once I’m better at focusing on one thing rather than randomly wondering if I’d emptied the dishwasher that morning for the tenth time. I’ll keep you posted.

I chose 15 minutes as the length of my meditation because right now it’s ideal. 10 was too short to fully stretch my ability to practice, and 20 minutes caused me to start zoning out/falling asleep. So for right now, until I can focus better, 15 minutes it is!

The other way I can do a small daily thing are the psychic cards I made the other day. I’ll be doing these right after my mediation. I don’t expect them to take any longer than 5 minutes. I’ve always read and been taught when it comes to psychic stuff to always go with the first answer your mind conjures, so I don’t imagine it’ll take too horrifically long to get through 30 cards.

I also take a moment to talk to my Deity. I light the huge pillar candle on my altar. It’s His candle. I always make sure I have a candle for Him. I light His candle, and just talk. I talk about my day, anything I’m worried about, I’m pleased about, or just something I found amusing. I want to build a relationship with Him. Part of that is talking to Him, and allowing Him to be a part of my life.

So, this is how I include my practice and my beliefs into my day. How do you do it?

– Alfrún

Psychic Learning Tool

I got this idea from Dedicant: A Witch’s Circle of Fire by Thuri Calafia (if I seem to be using and quoting this book quite a lot right now, it’s only because I’ve chosen this to be the beginning of my journey. There will be more along the way, I promise.). You create colored cards, and “guess” the color on the back of each card. I plan on keeping track of my correct guesses as I go. Ms. Calafia recommends you do this several times a week. Here’s how I did it:

IMG_20141030_181457

 

Take 15 index cards and cut them in half as you’ll need 30 cards. You can of course use whole index cards, but I have small hands, so I cut them in half. I have the same trouble shuffling tarot cards.

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My Beginnings and My Transcript

I am beginning my year and day studies in a few days time (November 1st, after Samhain, the new year, seems as good a time as any). I’ve technically started a little early with this exercise, but as I’ve just gotten the new book (Dedicant: A Witch’s Circle of Fire by Thuri Calafia), I was excited to start. I started tonight by producing my Transcript. You can access it from the sidebar menu. I’m not entirely certain what she means by some of what she asks for, but maybe I’ll figure it out along the way. Feel free to pop over there any time you want. It’ll be updated as I go along.

Tomorrow I will be creating colored flashcards. Here’s how and what they are for:

You will need 30 index cards (or cards similar to this)

Markers, paint, or crayons of the primary and secondary colors (red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple)

Draw a circle and color it in for each card. Five cards of each color, so you’ll end up with 30 cards total. Then, with the colors facing away from you, or downwards, guess which color each card is. I’ll be keeping track of my “scores”. I’m interested to see if I get better.

This exercise helps to develop intuition and psychic muscles. Go for it, and good luck!

– Alfrún