December 03, 2007
Spiritual Light & Sacred Dark
December 2007Editor's Note
Welcome to the Silver Chalice E-zine!It is that magickal time of year, when we are fully embraced by the deep quiet and inner journey, and just about to shoot forth new momentum in the outer world. The Solstice with its promise of summer's return is just around the corner.
A perfect time to explore where we choose to align ourselves.
Do we side with the Light, the Source of all? Or do we yield to the continuous temptations to side with the Shadow, the visibly manifest world of Illusion?
And what about honouring the Sacred Dark?
We'll explore these issues in, well, this issue of the Silver Chalice.
Thanks for joining us. I wish you the best of the season!
With Blessings,
Table of Contents
| What's New on the Site | -- Altar Articles |
| Events | -- Palmistry Parties In Alberta, Canada |
| Feature Article | -- Light & Dark, A Matter of Alignment |
| Wicca Tips | -- Celebrating the Light By Honouring the Dark |
| Quote of the Month | -- Douglas Adams on Perspective |
| Energy Field Barometer | -- A Happy Human Life |
| Ask The Priestess | -- How Important Is the God in Wicca? |
| Word on the Street |
What's New On The Site
There are some new articles in the Wiccan Altar section. These articles are updated and reorganized from previous incarnations for easier reading. Check them out:
Your Magickal Wiccan AltarYou may think your Wiccan altar is decoration . . . Just something to put up, and then leave it sit there. But what you will discover is that the state of your altar can change the state of your life... Read More
Tools of the Witch Trade: The only limit to what you can put on your Wiccan altar is your imagination! Still there are certain standard items found on most Wiccan altars. But before we go into that, it's most important to ... Read More
What do you need on your altar? A Wicca altar doesn't have to be complicated or costly. You don't really need anything other than what you have on hand, but you might want the customary Tools of the Witch Trade . . . Read More
Where does the Power of colors come from? Partly a trick of human vision, and partly the physical form of light. Either way, colors have Powers that can be harnessed by the aware witch . . . Read More
Here is a quick reference guide to the meaning of several colors: Red--Stimulates, warms, cheers; Excitement, passion, vigour, strength. Pink . . . Read More
Events
Palmistry Parties In Alberta, Canada
Erin will be available for Palmistry Parties and Spiritual Coaching in Alberta, this December.
What's a Palmistry Party? It's a group of your friends gathering together, and each getting a palmistry reading or spiritual coaching session from Erin.
This is a nice way to celebrate your friendships and yourself, at this time of year when we seek to reconnect with loved ones, and when the Sacred Dark is calling us to know ourselves at deeper levels.
Book now… Only a few more spaces are available. Email Erin to Book Your Palmistry Party Now.
Feature Article
Light & Dark, Joy & Misery:
A Matter of Alignment
It's a lovely snowfall today. One of my favourite things in the world, and rare here on the West Coast of Canada:
Fluffy white flakes gently sifting from the sky, blessing everything it touches with delicate white kisses . . . .
Or is it?
It's All About Perspective
I'm lying on my bed, in the loft of an octagonal cabin. Above me, spaced around the post-and-beam carousel roof are four huge skylights, one in each direction. They are 8 ft long by 4 ft wide: bigger than I am. And I'm directly under one, looking up.
Watching the snow fall.
It's a completely different experience, from this angle. They are not soft white fluffs drifting like feathers, not from here. Instead, they're dark lumps, landing above me like feeble projectiles, blocked only by the merciful interference of safety glass.
Bombarded by Snowflakes
Looking up, I can easily feel overwhelmed, attacked by the relentless onslaught of little shadowy missiles coming for me, without pause.
Sometimes life seems like this. One problem after another, an accumulation of hassles and disappointments and struggles. Without cease.
Feeling burdened by this view, and knowing that it's prettier elsewhere, I shift my focus to look through the skylight across from me. At this angle, that one is like a window: I'm looking out the side rather than up.
And lo! here is the beauty of the snowfall, just as I remembered it.
From Despair to Joy in 1.2 Seconds
What makes the difference, I wonder. Here grey wet lumps; there fair white feathers. Same snow exactly, but the experience is worlds apart.
And all I need do to change worlds is shift my focus from one window to the other.
Deep, right?
This is not really a new thought; it's a spiritual truism. I've noticed it before, on those funny spring days: look one way, it's dark cloud and ice-slate waters. Turn my head a little and it's all sunshine and glorious blue sky, shimmering ocean and shining seagulls.
But it's coming home to me in a new way. Today I realised what makes the difference. It's not solely a matter of turning the gaze. It is entirely dependent on what the gaze aligns with.
What Is My Alignment?
Do I align with or against the light?
For instance, if I set myself against the source of the light, looking upward from below, I see small shadows bent on attacking me. When I set myself even a little more in line with the source of light, the beauty is so stunning it awes me.
This metaphor for spiritual living is one I'm very familiar with, although sadly that doesn't make it much easier to accomplish.
A Happy Life
These are the simple directions for happiness and a spiritual life . . . .
If I want my life to be full of beauty, I need to keep my attention focused the right direction. I can look at every situation from a higher perspective, and see the beauty and the gift of it. Then I become able to sense behind it, the boundless Love that offers such marvels to me daily.
This is the spiritual path - acknowledging the beauty that lives even within painful experiences.
Or I can succumb to the temptation to look at circumstances from the bottom up, and see only the pain and suffering heading my way. This is the path of misery. Not to mention disempowerment and despair. One might even say evil.
The Power Of Choice
My choice, in every moment. And the choice is. . . shall I live a spiritual life, or a life of suffering?
This is the wonder of free will! I instantly make life joyful or miserable, as I choose to align in each moment with the Light or with the Illusion.
I think I'm ready for a new point of view, the spiritual point of view.
My, it's beautiful here!
Wicca Tips
Pre-Yule: Celebrating the Light
By Honouring the Sacred Dark
Ah, the deep of winter! Yule nears, but the long dark days still reign.
After the cleansing, the letting go that Samhain offers, we now bask in the spaciousness we've created. In these wonderfully dark months, we enjoy the peace and stillness of the slowing year.
Well, that's the theory . . . . Read More
Ask The Priestess
How Important Is the God in Wicca?
Dear Priestess,I was just wondering if as a Wiccan, do you place more emphasis on the Goddess, or do you see the Goddess and God as equals?
Some websites I found only worshiped the Goddess. And others said that both were equal, but didn't really mention the God at all. So I was wondering what you thought about this.
God & Goddess Lover
Dear GGL,
You ask a good question. While Wicca is a religion that worships both aspects of Divinity - Goddess and God - I think there is a special emphasis on the Goddess in much of Wicca, for various reasons.
The main one is probably that there are so few other religions where the Divine feminine has any real place at all. So people who are drawn to the Goddess come to Wicca, and don't give as much focus to the God.
Another factor, which particularly influences me, is that there's such an emphasis on gods out there in the world. I feel it helps to balance things, to celebrate the Goddess especially.
But in truth, I don't believe there are two kinds of Divine, one with a female body and one with a male body. To me, these are just symbols of two main types of energy: Manifest and Unmanifest.
And both Manifest and Unmanifest are merely aspects of One Unified Consciousness that is beyond any human concepts.
So I don't make a big deal of one over the other. Both are necessary, and in the end. . . both are illusions!
There is only one overall Field Of Consciousness/Energy which is so far beyond what our cute little 3-D brains can consider, we come up with various ways to perceive and talk about it. Like Goddess/God, Manifest/Unmanifest, Matter/Energy, Body/Spirit, Dark/Light, Divine Within/Divine Without, etc.
Mostly I use the word "Goddess" as a nickname for this Divine Source. It avoids confusion with the Big Daddy In The Sky God.
I realise this can be confusing. But to me, Wicca Spirituality is not really about celebrating the Goddess or the God in the forms we can imagine them. It's about knowing the Divine personally, and *becoming* the Divine.
That's my perspective on it.
Thanks for asking. Bright Blessings to you!
Do you have a question you'd like an answer to? Email the Priestess and your question could be answered in a future issue.(Note: questions may be edited for brevity or clarity. No real names will be disclosed. For reasons of legality, all questions become the property of Wicca-Spirituality.com.)
Quote Of The Month
The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.- Douglas Adams
Spiritual Rebirth Barometer
Here's an interesting thing. It may not apply to everyone, and I'm not sure exactly what it means but here goes . . . .There seems to be a movement away from pursuing a Life Mission. This presumably applies to those who have been diligent about such a pursuit so far.
Why? Who knows! Personally, I'm still trying to make sense of this. And it may be a local phenomenon. . . I don't know how many people this is reaching.
But what it seems like is a movement toward satisfying a human need for enjoying life. Sometimes we can get so caught up in Being Of Service, that we forget to take care of the more physical side of the equation.
So if you find yourself yearning for more happiness in your life, go for it! You might be right in line with the Spiritual field.
Notice or suspect an energy field going around? Can you confirm this reading, or shed more light on it? Please let us know, and we can share your insights with others.
Word on the Street
Thanks for writing!! I appreciate hearing from you!
What People Are Saying About Wicca-Spirituality.com:
Just found your site and wanted to compliment you for work well done. Initiated in 1982, so I'm not a newbie. I will be recommending this site. Thank you for your efforts.
Blessed Be! -- L. in USA
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