Pagan living magazine june 2016

Pagan Living Magazine Magazine Striving to provide you with the tools you need Striving to provide you with the tools you need to live a domestic, practical and witchy life ‌. to live a domestic, practical and witchy life ‌.

Summer 2016 2016 Summer

We Review Review We Janus and and Janus Artemis Artemis

AmberK AmberK Continues to to Teach Teach Continues Us about about The The Gods Gods Us and Goddesses Goddesses and

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Pagan Living Magazine

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5 The Summer Sun 6

Horoscopes

12 Body, Mind, Spirit 17 Monthly Moon and Holidays 20 It Begins with a Cup of Tea 22 Learning a New God - Janus

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24 Learning a New Goddess Artemis 26 Financially Secure Pagan Part 2 29 Connecting with the Gods

and Goddesses

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24

32 Norse Based Paganism 34 Songs for Rites of Passage 36

The How vs. The Why

38

Honoring The Spirits of Place

40 Questions Asked and Answered 44 Starting a Crafting Business

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The Summer Sun

By Johnny D. Adams

Ok, so summer is here and I have a deep dark secret to share…the truth is, I really don’t like summer. Yea, yea, I know- Pagans are all about the outside and nature, but summer just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe, it was all those years, when I was growing up, facing the 110 plus degree temperatures in Southern Arizona or maybe it was the blast of hot air as you went outdoors. I also think it was all those days spent pushing the mower with the white surgical mask on, trying to avoid allergy attacks and then spending the rest of day zonked out on allergy meds.

Let’s not even get into the itchy eyes and constant sneezing.

Now don’t get me wrong, summer holds some special memories for me as well. Gardening with Grandpa was great. Fresh peaches with cream for dessert, and eating honey straight from the hive was something not to be missed. It’s just overall, I prefer colder weather. I don’t like to sweat and let’s face it, as a large person there are only so many layers of clothing which I can remove in public.

But in the end, summer is like everything else in our lives. You have to learn to take the good with the bad.

The light with the dark. The joys with the sorrow. Without the sourness of vinegar, what would we compare the sweetness of honey to? If you could have peaches and cream anytime you wanted them, then you wouldn’t enjoy them as much. So, as much as I like to say I don’t like summer, the truth is, every hot day I bake in the sun just gives me more appreciation of the winter. Besides, if I didn’t have the summer heat, then I wouldn’t have my garden and the wonderful canned goods which feed my family through the winter.

So, I hope you will take some time this summer to enjoy the season and all the beauty which comes with it. After all, those snowcapped mountains will be here before we know it.

Chinese_Witch_Hazel_at_Crathes_ Castle_Gardens_-_geograph.org.uk__134635

4 Pagan Living Magazine | Summer 2016

Horoscopes Gemini - June 2016

Is there a good reason you’re being so stubborn early in the month? Your way might be the best way or it might not be; at least give other people’s opinions and suggestions a chance. Your dreams have special meaning, and if you’re interested in lucid dreaming, these are perfect days to try it out or work on perfecting your method. You know those interesting designs, concepts, or procedures that have been swirling around in your head? Talk to a friend or professional who has experience in the same field as your idea.

Gemini - July 2016

Are you being rational or are you coming across as foolish? The words make total sense in your head, but for some reason they don’t sound all that logical when they come out of your mouth. You’re a fabulous conversationalist and your flirting game is in the spotlight. Whatever you want, you should be able to get it by just asking for it, in your own unique way. You love to learn new things and it wouldn’t be uncommon to find you studying in a library.

May 21 - June 20 Cancer - June 2016

You feel safely tucked away in your comfortable shell early, and there’s very little you want to step outside of it for. There are days you don’t mind taking a walk on the wild side, but these aren’t them! You do your best to stay calm, but when people say things that seem like they’re designed to upset you, it’s really hard to keep your cool. If it’s impossible to hold your tongue at the moment, be sure you apologize afterward.

Cancer - July 2016

You’d love to stay focused but there are just too many things going on in your head. Once your daydreams take over, it’s hard to get a grip on reality. You’re demure and reserved around someone you really like but that doesn’t mean you aren’t screaming ‘pay attention to me’ on the inside! You can’t help but play the shy card, but that doesn’t mean you’re hard to get.

Cancer - August 2016

June 21 - July 22

Where’s the fire? While you’re moving frantically from Point A to Point B, it feels like you’re just running around in one big circle.

Once you catch your breath and get your bearings, you’ll be able to get back on the right track. It’s nice to try to be there for all of your friends, but despite your best efforts, you can’t be in two places at once. Decisions are hard to make, especially when you hear conflicting sides of the same story.

Pagan Living Magazine | Summer 2016 5

Learning a New Goddess: Artemis

By Johnny D. Adams

h, summer. A time to get out doors, A of the house, enjoy the outand go wild. To that end, for our

summer issue, we have chosen the Greek Goddess Artemis as our Goddess for this issue.

Artemis, the virginal moon goddess, is one of the most widely venerated Greek Deities. The daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo, Artemis fills the role as the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wildness, childbirth, virginity and she serves a role as protector of young girls both bringing and relieving diseases in women. Artemis spends her time roaming the forest with her band of nymphs, carrying a bow and arrows; a deer often accompanies her. During these trips, she was known for avoiding men.

As the Goddess of forest and hills, Artemis was worshipped throughout Greece.

Her best known followers were on the island of Delos. The Spartans would provide tribute to her as their patron goddess before starting new military campaigns.

http://www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/artemis

The Temple of Artemis is located in Ephesus and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the first marble temple of the Ancient world. Like all the other Artemis temples, it was faced to the west.

The temple was designed and constructed in 6th c. BC. Early construction was built at the expense of Croesus, the wealthy king of Lydia. The temple had been rebuilt three times before its eventual destruction in 401 AD. Only foundations and sculptural fragments of the latest of the temples at the site remain. Today, a single column, constructed of dissociated fragments discovered on the site, marks the site of the temple, which lies just outside Selรงuk.

The rich foundation deposit of more than a thousand items were recovered which include, what may be the earliest coins of the silver-gold alloy, electrum. Marshy ground was selected for the building site as a precaution against future earthquakes. The temple became a pilgrimage site and tourist attraction, visited by merchants, kings, and travelers. Many paid homage to Artemis in the form of jewelry and various goods.

6 Pagan Living Magazine | Summer 2016

Connecting with the Gods and Goddesses

By Amber K, Priestess of Wicca last article, “Who Are the Gods?,” goddesses.

Inwemyexplored the nature of the gods and Are they deified ancestors, or pow-

erful pre-existing intelligences, psychological constructs such as archetypes, aspects of our individual personalities, hoaxes by religious elites seeking wealth and power, or something else entirely?

We may never understand the nature of divinity, especially because different deities may represent different categories of reality. It is possible that some arose from the depths of the human collective unconscious, and others were intentionally created, while still others are folk memories of venerated leaders and healers. And some gods and goddesses may be a mosaic of different origins and energies.

Perhaps, the practical Pagan does not expect to understand these mysteries, but does know that goddesses and gods have always held power in the human mind and imagination. We can be inspired by them, be in awe of them, learn from their legends and myths, use them as role models, draw their energies into us while aspecting, and so forth – no matter what plane of reality they inhabit.

For our purposes then, they are real, even if we don’t understand the nature of that reality.

So if we hope to create a relationship with a god—be it teacher, protector, guide, ally, mentor, model, or whatever—the first thing we need to do is build a relationship. How we do that depends a lot on whether we are reaching out to a particular deity—say, Artemis—or whether the deity has chosen us.

Many, many Pagans have had the experience of being chosen by a god or goddess. How this happens varies, but it’s never quite as straightforward and obvious as a letter from Hogwarts.

Commonly, our Pagan has an experience during meditation, a dream, a shamanic journey, or a ritual, in which the deity speaks to them, saying in essence “You’re with me.” But sometimes, a person will just feel a powerful sense of connection, a nonverbal, intuitive certainty that this relationship was meant to be.

In many other cases, we initiate the relationship because there is something we like about the myths we have read, or we are attracted to im

For the purposes of spiritual growth, we can act as though our deities are sentient, independent, powerful beings with whom we can communicate and build reciprocal relationships. In my experience, if you treat a given goddess as though she were these things – a real Person – then she will interact with you more or less as a person would. I accept the possibility that each goddess or god that I am acquainted with is actually a very sophisticated and complex imaginary friend, who exists in my head but not in “objective reality”… but they certainly act real. Ever heard this? “I know the voices in my head aren’t real, but sometimes they have some pretty good ideas.” wicca123

Pagan Living Magazine | Summer 2016 7

Norse Based Paganism and New Heathenry in the Modern AGE

Photos and Text by Alyssa Dyane Boland

has been a definite influx in people interested in practicing the faith of the Vikings these NetworkTandhere days. Popular shows like “The Vikings” on the History Channel, “Beowulf” on the Esquire of course, the “Thor and Avengers” movies have also fanned the flames of interest in

the topic. More and more we see Pagans are wearing their Thor hammers and casting runes seeking answers. The Norse religions are indeed very rich in culture and history, and their nature based practices are enticing to pagans and non-pagans alike. But what exactly is Norse Paganism and how does it differ from Odinism, Heathenry and Asatru? Or are they all the same? Those, my witchy friends, are complicated questions to answer.

Most of the modern Norse based faiths have the same basic building blocks. They are all descendant of pre-Christian, Germanic countries (Austrians, Danes, Dutch, English, Flemish, Germans, Icelanders, Lowland Scots, Norwegians, Swedes, etc.). They are polytheistic in their views and they hold a great reverence for Nature. Additionally, they believe in an underlining spirit or energy that runs through all things connecting us. They hold that the planes of existence can be mapped out into nine worlds, unified by the world tree, Yggdrasil. These worlds include: Asgard - the home of the principal deities such as Odin, Thor, Frigga, Bladr and Tyr; Alfheim – home of the Light Elves who are shape-shifting beings of great power; Nidavellir- home of the Dwarfs; Svartalfheim – home of the Dark Elves; Midgard- home of the Humans; Jotunheim – home of the Giants; Vanaheim – home of the deities associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, magic and foretelling the future; Muspelheim- a world of fire and lava, and home of a devillike giant with a flaming sword, called Surtur; and One World/ Two Realms: Helheim, which serves as resting place for ordinary souls who did not go to Valhalla or Niflheim. Niflheim is the realm of ice and snow where the dishonorable and malevolent dead are confined. Both Helhim and Niflheim are ruled by the death goddess, Hel (see 8 Pagan Living Magazine | Summer 2016

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