pagan PATHS
Issue
book: The First
Dedication This book is dedicated to everyone I have met whilst walking this path of mine. Some may have just been passing through whereas others have become lifelong friends. No matter where you sit in the journey thank you for joining me and walking beside me for at least part of the way.
Merlin 2014 Pagan Paths has been published to provide seekers with an indication of the variety of paths and choices that they can make as they follow their personal journey into Paganism. First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Moonshadow Media Productions, 6 Lee Place, Ilfracombe, Devon. EX34 9BQ Copyright Š Moonshadow Media Productions All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the express permission, in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote passages and reproduce images for the purposes of a review.
Introduction The paths through this life are many and various, nobody can say, for certain, which, if any is the correct path. Indeed, in my own life I have passed through Christianity, Agnosticism and Pagan with numerous changes along the way. By far and away my biggest and strongest feelings of belonging and working in harmony with life and the planet, have come since I accepted my life as a pagan, instead of fighting against it. The beauty of this particular route is that there are many teachers, all of whom offer wonderful lessons based on both experience and ancient wisdoms, but at the root of all these teachings there is always freedom of choice! Not for me the dogmatic approach of followers of certain faiths and belief systems, those who profess that their way is “The Way” or “The Truth”. Those who claim tolerance and yet attempt to persuade other people to adjust their ways and beliefs to match their’s cannot be said to exhibit tolerance, can they? The decision to compile this book (which was originally going to be a magazine) was taken in the Spring of 2014. I do not know how long it will take to complete, in fact, it may never reach completion in my lifetime. The idea is that it will be a living document detailing the various pathways that people have chosen to follow – all of those falling under the broad heading of Paganism. Please understand from the outset that the inclusion of a piece of writing, that is a documentation of someone’s personal journey, is not an indication of my belief in the things they believe in, but it is an expression of recognising that each person has their own journey, their own path to follow. And so let it begin………………….
Dave Baxter / The Merlin
Let us begin this book with a little bit about me or maybe the person you think of as being me. My name is Dave – but that is not my name. I live in a seaside town in North Devon, on the UK coast – but that is not my home. I work in the entertainment industry – but that is not my job. My male body is 61 years old – but that is not my sex nor is it my age. So as you can see dear friend who I am and who I appear to be are not always the same things. Now this may have confused you and I make no apologies for that. It was an intentional thing because it simply illustrates that we are different things to different people depending on the time and place. In this existence I was born into a middle class Christian family but by the age of 14 or 15 that changed. I had been told by the Minister of the Chapel I had attended for years that although I had been christened in that very building and that my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles had all attended and taken a very active role in chapel life, I was “not a member of this church” I could not believe that a cleric could begin to think such a thing, let alone say it, and it confirmed my suspicions that I wanted none of it. There were different and possibly better paths that I could follow. I threw myself into the process of comparing different beliefs and for a while I became a Buddhist, an agnostic, an atheist – in fact, I wandered from belief to belief for many years and drifted directionless in a Sea of Holes (ref: Lennon / McCartney Yellow Submarine). Then all of a sudden I discovered the “New Age” and something inside of me just clicked. I had found something I could relate to, I had arrived
“home”, to a place I had never been although I had been there many times. That place was the Somerset town of Glastonbury. The vibration there resonated with my own personal vibrations. Never before had I experienced such a deep sense of belonging. I sat and talked with people about things that I had only heard of as passing comments, I discovered the magick of meditation, of being present, of working with crystals. I learned things about how colours can affect one’s moods and how sounds can be healing, about the sacred feminine, about being still and yet experiencing monumental movement. On reflection I have often wondered how I coped with this major influx of knowledge in such a short space of time…….from discovering the place to taking my first meditation group and joining the NFSH (the National Federation of Spiritual Healers) was approximately 6 months. I felt so fired up by what was happening I could not wait to share these things with other people. However, I learned one very important lesson out of that, one that has stayed with me to this day and that is – you cannot make people change, they must first want to change and then you can guide them through the process. After discovering all of the above I then went on to learn that a vast number (not everyone, I hasten to add) of my new found friends and associates followed Pagan paths. At first I found this very confusing because there was a sense of “knowing” that conflicted with the world that I knew and lived in. Mine was a world of business, grasping, a “dog eat dog” culture. A world forever chasing the “almighty dollar” and “keeping up with the Jones family”. But, this new world I had fallen into was so very different. It was full of people who looked like me, walked like me and spoke the English language but they were walking in a different place on the same street. It was as if some subculture was beckoning to me from afar and saying that it was ok to relax into it, that everything would be ok, simple existences were fine. The animal kingdom does not require cars or televisions and yet it has everything it needs or could ever want. Now please don't misunderstand me when I make this comparison with the animal kingdom. I am not saying that we can, or should do without
the comforts that being human can bring us, I for one like my caravan, my car, my house, my ipad etc. etc. etc. but the difference is that now I realise I could survive without them. So after almost 25 years of being the “new me� where am I on my journey into me? I have learned a lot but now I know less than I did when I began to follow this path. I am now a life coach, a musician, a meditation tutor, a healer using both spiritual and crystal methods. I practice my own solitary style of The Craft, performing rituals as and when I feel it appropriate. I have officiated at several hand-fasting celebrations for friends. I revere the natural world in all her shapes and forms and would never knowingly harm a living thing (with the exception of flies which I cannot stand*). If asked what path through The Craft I tread, I would (and often do) respond - solitary, tending towards Hedge Witchery. I recognise that I am still learning and that the journey is a long and sometimes difficult one but it is worth every step. As a part of my learning experience I would love to study sound therapy with my good friend (from the very first days of my own Glastonbury Experience), Elaine Thompson who is one of the world's experts in the style of therapy I would love to explore. I have an interest in the Tarot as a working tool and have fairly recently been performing meditations with certain cards from the Major Arcana. Thanks Delphine! So that is a tiny part of my story. I thank the Goddess and all the other people whose lives have touched mine along this path. I hope that you, the reader, have found it of interest and will enjoy the rest of this book. Blessed Be Merlin. * see I still acknowledge my imperfections
Rebecca Head
Merry Meet, my name is Rebecca and this is the story of how I became a Witch. I was brought up as a Christian in the Salvation Army. I was quite a devoted Christian and was very keen on working my way up the ranks of the Salvation Army. I was a ‘Junior Soldier’, I sang in the choir, I played the tambourine, I went on the marches, I played in the band and I went to all the bible study groups. I was happy in this practice, life was simple and I was too young to understand or know any different. However, I always believed in magic, fairytales, mythical creatures, fairies, witches, ghosts, dragons and unicorns too, which I thought was normal for a little girl, but I didn’t grow out of this, instead my interest in the mystical and magical grew stronger. I was always accused of being a little aloof and daydreaming too much. As I got older, I started to question the bible and my beliefs and I couldn’t seem to get the answers I was looking for, my devotion to the Christian God waned, I stopped going to bible studies, I rarely attended service on a Sunday until eventually it stopped completely. I wondered what would happen next; surely I was not an atheist? I had to believe in something didn’t I? But it didn’t fit, it didn’t make sense, how could there possibly be this God? And why do so many people worship him? It was definitely over between me and Christianity. Now what was I going to do? Then at the age of 20 I went into a new age shop, this place was like an Aladdin’s cave, full of magic and mystery, fairies and dragons, witches and wizards. It was here that I discovered Paganism. I started to soak up all the information that I could from all the lovely people that went in this shop. They weren’t weird people, they weren’t funny looking with pointy noses, they didn’t have any children in cages and they weren’t at all scary. I bought every book on witchcraft and paganism, I bought every colour candle you can think of, Altar cloths, Athames, Pentagrams, Tarot cards and so much more and then…tada! That was it; that was the answer to my question…I, was a Witch! How fabulous I thought.
All these years I’ve been daydreaming of magic and being told to snap out of it, now I didn’t have to; it was real. I was overjoyed. Some members of my family still think I’m daydreaming, still think I should snap out of it but at the same time also think I’m going to burn in hell because of my betrayal, how can anyone be so blinkered? This question has plagued me for many years now, and I do not think there is an exact answer except that people will always need someone to blame and God fits that role perfectly. I bought myself a Book of Shadows and my journey began! I decided to follow a solitary path, whether this was due to no longer wanting to be in large groups like with the Salvation Army or because there were so many other paths it was difficult to choose just one to fit into I do not really know, but I do know that it was the right path for me. I am happy in my own company, I like to learn at my own pace and I like that I can add my own interpretations into everything that I do and also I can be flexible. I practice when I can and when the need arises and occasionally I attend open rituals with others as this is a good way to meet new people and learn new things as this journey is a continuous path of learning. Soon, I discovered the reasons why I felt the way I did about the earth, why the moon seemed to speak to me, a new reason for meditation which I’d been doing for years as part of my Martial Arts training, but now I looked at it in a different way as with Chi energy which I’d also used in Martial Arts now I use it as part of my craft. I learned to read the Tarot and to scry, and so many of my friends ask me to do this for them regularly. I love that I can help people with a simple pack of cards and they too can see the answers they are looking for. I found that there were many others like me around and I soon realised that I attracted like minded people into my life but I also found that unless I went to Glastonbury in Somerset, Burley in the New Forest or Cornwall then places for me to go and be with other like minded people were few and far between, as were the shops where I could buy the things I needed. As a result of this I decided to set up my own on line Pagan shop, this has been up and running for nearly a year now (Beltane 2014 1st year anniversary) and through this I have met and made acquaintances with some truly wonderful people (Dave included) and have found places to go where I can chat with similar people about Paganism.
I have now been on this path for 16 years and have remained a solitary. I have learned so many things. I use crystals, I use herbs, I use the phases of the Moon, I read the Tarot, I’ve also recently studied mediumship and have also decided to join a school of Witchcraft just so that I can learn a little bit more and I tell everyone proudly that I am a Witch. At the beginning I found that being a solitary was difficult at times. Not having anyone to ask for direction and answers, never really knowing if I was doing it right or not and sometimes just making a right mess of things. And also being in a coven gains you different degrees depending on your level and you can be a High Priestess or Priest which is something you miss out on when being a solitary, I found at the beginning that this seemed to give me less precedence, people seemed to want more, they wanted evidence or proof of some kind of training, this really used to bother me, but I have realised that none of this matters and that I know where I am in my journey, I know I still have a lot to learn and always will but it is the best thing that happened to me and I am so glad that I found it. I’m also really pleased to have taken on a student just this week, she is new to the craft and wants some direction and asked for me to be her teacher. I am sure that throughout this time, I will learn as much from her as she does from me and it will all be quite exciting. So my path continues on this long journey‌ until next time Merry Part. )O(
Image by Howard Pinsky
Kai Seidr
Hi I am Kai from Scotland I first ventured on “The Path� as it is widely known and called, when i was around 15. As someone who spent most days in nature, often daily, I became very attracted to the various forms and textures and shapes of mother nature’s fauna and flora. I felt there must be some very high intelligence behind it all and somewhat magical presence which i felt underfoot as i walked the earth. This Awen (Inspiration) led me to study and read various books on nature, natural history, magic, shamanism, Witchcraft, magical arte, sacred geometry and more. Eventually my much attunement led me to join various Wiccan and Traditional witchcraft covens and attend spiritual conferences on various alternative/mystical sciences at the Edinburgh Uni. and Quaker House. At this time I felt a more deeper attunement to shamanism and earth traditions I began to meld these ways into my daily practice of meditation journeying and ritual and other spiritual devotions. I devoted 15 years to this daily work and learned more and more, that the more I read the more I realized that learning all that I wanted to learn would take lifetimes. Sometime in 1996 I began sharing my inner work through craft making spiritual tools, these I began to sell to the various spiritual communities here in the UK via my Wildwizardcrafts small business. I advertised in underground pagan / earth mystery magazines and had an overwhelming response from customers and admirers. This helped me to continue my spiritual daily practice for the years to come, working and spiritual practice is very hard to juggle!
I had found my calling and a way to continue my work unhindered whilst at the same time being able to bring my inner wishes and blessings for humanity and mother earth into being through my art and my work. Thus bringing Inspiration, healing and assisting personal empowerment whilst showing people how amazing our mother earth is. Over the past 28 years I have met many wonderful people on many paths though I mostly work solitary apart from Goddess Creativity workshops and groups I hold when called by the Good Lady herself. If there is a need I get the call and I set to work and meld and try to inspire through ritual myth and magic and crafts. I am very attuned to the earth and The Maid, Mother and Crone aspects of old and of course the various trees and plants and minerals of these islands, I feel they have much to teach us and still as we stand in 2014 I do work with god and goddesses with special reverence to The Lord of the Forest however I do not feel it is necessary to follow man - made ideas of godhead, personifications I can really attune with and that is where I draw inspiration, once again - mother earth. I feel there is a fashion in paganism to which I do not relate at all. However, I see why and how it happens, and sometimes see that it can be a harmless entrance into the craft of the wise, so it can sit to the side as I walk along my own path. There are many strong opinions on what and what is not paganism and I feel that it is all a bit blurred, spoken often and done little, by very big egos who seem to get heard the most and even have great followings and readers. Still like with The Fashion! It has its place, sometimes a bad teacher is better than a good one, not all medicine is sweet. The term pagan does not sit with me either, I feel it has been abused and misused as has the word “witch�. We are either made fun of or feared but that is the way of the world. I must say however that I think most spiritual practices should be kept secret and not written about, but in this day and age I suppose it is easier to teach people by book through location and time limits. A lot of traditions and practices would not be copied and abused by those who insist on burning their fingers on the flames, still I must wake up after all it is 2014.
Images Copyright Š 2014 wytchwynd photography