Over the last week or so i have been knitting a little bit, but mainly dealing with the impending festival. Beltane, where i celebrate the union of the goddess and her consort. I admit it i am a pagan, a witch, infact i class myself as a hedge witch. I rarely admit what i do to others and this is all a bit odd for me. There still seems to be a slight stigma around paganism, dispite it's recent rise in popularity. So i am going to try and explain a little bit of it to you.
Paganism is nature worship. The oldest form of religion. Proven to be practised as far back as neolithic man. Basically it means one who lives with the goodess. So pagan is an umberella term for many types of worship. You have neo-pagans , cyber-pagans, alexandrian and gardenian witchcraft, shamanism, druidism, asatyuvian, the list goes on. I personally am a hedge witch. This means i work with the seasons and nature and give thanks to her and all she has provided for us. The first major differance is in the fact i have both a god and goddess, they have differant names and forms in each civilisation over the years, the ancient egyptians, ancient greeks, we al know about Zeus, Aphrodite, and such, again this was a pagan society, the norse people, such as Odin, loki, Freya, Thor. You can chose one or many. they are all aspects of the goddess and god.
There are 4 major and 4 minor festivals a year most of which align nicely to christian ones. you have yule (christmas), Imbolic (around the 2nd feb) to celebrate the re-awakening of the earth, Ostara (20/21 march) spring equinox the change into longer days, Beltane (1st may) traditonal time of first blooms, Litha (20th june) longest day, Lughnasadh (1st aug) harvest time, Mabon (22nd sept) autmn equinox, Samhain (31st oct) end of season, thanks for the year, the harvests, etc.
I also practise herbalism and find it more effective in many cases to conventional medicine. Although i subscribe to the idea of using the two in conjuntion to each other. No amount of herbalism is going to remove a burst appendix or such. also certain herbs are banned from being sold in the uk and among them are some of the most effective pain killers. So i need something to ease my back.
Meditation and what i class as path working, where you use a story to help you along, are popular parts of paganism. I like to meditate and find since i have started doing all this, i have become alot clearer about who i am and what i do because i have clarity of thought. And through my appreciation of the earth do what i can to protect it. recycling, considering what i buy and how it is grown/lived/made. I go on annual 'litter picks' when i can, around sping time to try and do my bit. And do not perform the type of magic that i would be percieved to. I may ask the goddess for guidance or help in some way, similar to a christian asking their god for something. However my moto is ''if it harm none, do as you will.' also believing what i give out i get returned. Much of what i do is based on appreciating what the goddess has given us. Respecting it. Just sitting in the garden and admiring the garden and miracle of it is, in it's own way, paganism.

I hope i haven't scared anyone with this, it has taken alot to share and is a very very brief insight into something alot of people don't understand and therefore are afraid of. Next time i promise to return to knitting and crochet.

Blessed Be

cambridge woman

Been sulking about cambridge woman. big time haven't picked up needles in days. Then whilst looking for something, i have just this minute found another random ball of the same yarn YAY. Must go, i've got a jumper to complete!