A goal is not always something to be reached; it often serves as something you are meant to aim at. --Bruce Lee

I love the artist Tara Mchperson!  I own some of her handsigned Rock and Roll posters from back in the day when she really needed the money.  What I love most about them is that she always addresses the VOID.  You can find that sad, or beautiful, or tragic, but I see it as REAL.

There are periods in your life when you feel as if you are just walking about like a zombie in a void.  You get up take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, drink coffee, go to work, get home, eat, watch TV, go to bed, REPEAT.  You do this routine every day until the weekend comes then you get up, do chores, run errands, watch a little TV or play on the computer, go out with friends, REPEAT.  This is one way this cycle manifests and I am not criticizing this cycle. Some people find bliss in this cycle or repeat rotation but not me.

Another option:  You go to school every day striving for a goal, and working a little part time job or NOT working a job and having your partner do all the work so you can just concentrate on school. You come home and do homework every night then go to bed and get up the next day to do the same thing REPEAT.  The weekends are spent doing homework, hanging out only to start the same routine again on Monday REPEAT.  This routine is slow, steady and lasts as long as it takes until you either give up or finish school to get your goal/degree. Once again, this is not a BAD routine I am just showing you how it is common in our lives.

Other scenarios:  You get married, have kids, do laundry, do dishes, go grocery shopping,  cook meals, take care of your children (wash them, teach them, discipline them, play with them), take care of your pets and plants (the same as children), only to finally after they are all asleep and tucked away YOU go to bed, get up the next day and start the same. REPEAT, WASH<RINSE> REPEAT.

ROTATION:  I feel that life works not only in cycles but in patterns of rotation.  Yes, like a wheel or gears, or part of machine…however you want to state it.  It is what you do when in the rotation; or how you perceive the rotation that is integral to how you “escape” or “supersede” it.  Some people say they take comfort in patterns and routines this in itself is a way of overcoming a rotation so you do not get bored.  Myself, I am easily bored.  I discovered this about myself at an early age.  So I would read voraciously, be involved in way too many activities, and run around the block with excess energy pretending I was a horse or a marathon runner whichever one came to mind first when galloping.

I got bored in my spiritual life magically speaking (apparently I am a social witch), then I founded a coven and that kept me busy.  I got bored in my spiritual life again (I had done the covens, groves and circles) then the opportunity arose to help co-found a Wiccan church and that has really kept me busy.  Just when it was getting launched and flying like a rocket I came to the discovery that in some areas I was still bored.  I needed and wanted more not out of others but for myself.  The other clergy started running more circles so I could participate and learn; I teach students so that kept me busy learning also; I was not learning what I needed to learn in my heart. To find out what that was I had to step back, stop being “so busy” and listen; really listen to my higher self and to my Gods. “What was I doing wrong” I asked? What I did not ask was, “What was I doing right?”

 I went outside to our circle and starting approaching things differently, I know my elements, I know my Gods, I know how to raise and manipulate energy, I understand intensity and vibrations.  I made myself start “reflecting” on other options; I shook up my comfort zones and questioned them.  I spoke to my deities and told them that while I would always love them that I needed a bit more and I did not understand what was missing I did not understand my void.  I explained that I loved the Temple, I loved teaching classes, I loved my husband and children and all the things they had given me but I was at a pivotal point in my own personal life and that I needed something specific.  I was scared to say it out loud, it seemed wrong somehow to ask for a deeper personal spiritual life for myself but once it was said I felt pressure easing off me like a ton of bricks and I realized that was what I needed. I needed to be honest, I had a life too, I did not exist just to serve other humans and the Gods I also existed to serve myself and my heart else how could I serve others?  My void was stated, my needs were clear, my Gods came through.

A teacher landed in my lap.  The first thing he asked me was…”How was my circle balanced?”  I could answer that, but it made me stop.  I thought and thought, and came back to let him know that I did not like the concept of balance in a “traditional wiccan circle” for myself and this made me feel guilty.  I wanted one type of circle for me, and another for the Temple but I knew he would not have been prompted to ask me if there was not a reason for it.  I sat down and drew for him all the circles I knew and I have to brag here I was amazed at the wealth of maps of circles I knew and the amount of circle styles I knew and this explained my void.  I told him how just recently I had an “epiphany” about how to divide the circle in different quadrants eight to be exact, and how it corresponded to my deities, and how historical this number came up and up again.  I showed him all the old maps from John Dee, Aleister Crowley, Plutonius, mystics in Egypt, and they all had divisions and symbols and balance but were not what I was looking for even though I had tried them and understood them. That was my void.

He nodded left, came back a few days later and had a puzzle.  He took all eight pieces showed me different ways of laying them out and then explained to me where my issues were arising and I realized I was not bored, just resigned and blocked.  I needed another fresh perspective to push me, to cheer me on, to tell me it was okay for me to want to “make my own alchemical circles” and yes I could “combine Egyptian deities” and Yes I had “to release pre-conceived notions” and that it was Okay.  He also had eight quadrants, and he approached everything differently than me but that could me my “launching point” not the end of my destination.  I felt peace and pieces fall together I had to voice my feelings and confront my void to get to my destination.

I have worked with him now for about a month; he patiently listens to me and prods me, questions me, then pushes me.  I needed a teacher, I needed a guide, I needed someone to step in and push me when I had already passed the “degree system” that is earned and taught in Wiccan traditions.  I needed someone to help me after I had ran covens, and helped co-found a church.  I wanted to be good just to be good.  I wanted to “supersede myself” have my “own style” and leave behind my own “circle maps”.  The Gods are okay with that. What I find myself asking is “why was I so silly as to not realize that they would be?’ Why did I assume that it was not okay for me to push boundaries just to push boundaries? Have you too gotten so caught up in life, that you have forgotten this truth? 

I told you I hated routines and boredom, some people hate it so bad they fill those voids with drugs and alcohol; or with drama from people or groups (they are the instigators of it yet they will blame it on others), some people fill this with love or passion or sex, some people with creations and art, some people fill it with pain and suffering and are always hurting and crying, some people fill it with a new project and a new job, some people fill it with exercise, some people project it onto others therefore they are perpetually angry and mad, there are millions of ways to fill your voids some unhealthy for you and some very good for you.  But, you cannot ever see it if you do not stop and listen to yourself and look at yourself objectively and question the void, your role in it, and its role in you.

I was taken to the Void on a journey this week.  It was not empty, it was not scary, and I understand the void better now.  I looked at it and saw vast possibilities, I understood the voids role in my life and in the universe and I felt happy in my heart.  The void is not your or my enemy it exists for many reasons but the one we have trouble comprehending is this; there is a VOID only if you let it exist.  You need the void.  You need it to create, and to fail, and to soar, and to fall.  You need it to see that you are dissatisfied, and that you need to learn and grow.  You need the void to rest because you are tired and you are pushing yourself too hard.  You need the void to understand that you have to think, you have to plan, you have to be active, and you cannot just “exist” as a big void you have to create.  Lastly, you have to understand that the “void” is unique to you…it’s there to push you on, to help you discover your “mission” and your “gift”.

This week, look for your VOID.  This week, realize that if you think you do not have one you do.  Find that void, empty it out of all your pre-conceived notions and “ways of being and doing”.  Make friends with your void, but do not become too comfortable with it else you do nothing at all.  Life is full of creation and void.  Life is full of construction and destruction.  Life is full of rotations and learning.  Somewhere within yourself and outside of yourself is a balance.  Where is your circle balanced?  Mine is balanced within me.

Thank you for the gift of your time, and for listening.  I pray you find the balance you seek and that you make friends or at least peace with the VOID.

  

I would rather run with the turkeys than fry with the chickens!

Hey ya’ll!  Do you remember when you were a little one and told your parents “I cannot wait until I grow up then I will never ever have people tell me what to do!” ?  I do.  I also remember my mom laughing at my naivety and saying…”Baby, no matter how old you get you always have to answer to someone.  There are always rules to follow.  There is always a pecking order.”  I was absolutely positive she was wrong.  I just knew it.  But here I am, fastly approaching another year realizing…she was right.

When you run a coven, or Wiccan church usually there is some sort of teaching program in place.  When you are first starting out you think…”Finally, now things can be done my way!” but even this is the folly of youth.  First, if you are a Highpriestess usually you are teaching a tradition or sharing what you have learned.  This is why you are the Highpriestess you have training, you know a thing or two and thus when it gets down to making a structure for your coven or group you are going to teach “what you know”.  What you know is limited by “what you learned” and thus, whether you like it or not rules fall into place and “certain ways of doing things”.  Structures start descending like gossamer cloths from the heaven and drape upon the “abstract concepts you are sharing with others" .   Alot of times you very quickly begin to discover that what worked in a "women's only circle" or in the mid-west or somewhere else does NOT work where you are. Then you go back to the drawing board....only to admit "things cannot be done your way, they have to be done for the group dynamic."

Next, you find even if you are claiming “there are no leaders we rotate” well those are the leaders.  The person who started the “group” is the leader.  The person who writes the ritual is “the leader” and so to some extent no matter how “punk rock” you are like me you find that your anarchist heart has to resign to the order of the universe.  Everyone has a “way” of setting up their altars; what tools they use and what incense is used for what spell.  Even if you use books all the time, because you are a newbie and had no teacher to tell you the herbs or the proper color usage you are “following someone’s rules and ways of doing things”. I am sure Scott Cunningham was the teacher of half the witches of the eighties and a lot in the nineties.  So if you only have book learning…it’s okay but you have to admit you learned a structure. 

Outside of that, if you mix in the bigger Pagan community you find there are Elders and leaders of other organizations that do things differently than you do.  In the case of Elders they have been there for quite some time, and if you ask “respectfully and with an open ear and mind” you might just learn "their way".  Elders and other Highpriests and Highpriestesses are also another “structure or group” you find yourself mingling with if you stroll very long in the community.  Sometimes, you find that you might “tangle” or get “rattled” by some beliefs or practices of another group.  You might not choose to personally endorse or follow their beliefs but that is okay.  That is why you have a group to begin with, to worship with those who you do agree with and who you can get along with.  BUT what is not okay, is to “be mean” or “harass” the other group.  Because, we all share the same well and we all drink from that well that the Goddess freely gives us we are all united under the belief system of Paganism.  Thus, once again we have a structure within a structure.

To make this one step more complicated, if you are sponsored entity like my Temple you probably have several boards above and below you that you have to also listen to and get along with.  I know we have a members council so that all people have a voice and can suggest and help the Temple move in the direction they feel is important.  We also have a Clergy board, and with five clergy you find that in reality you are either rotating for everyone to get their way from time to time or compromising because everyone has a great idea and we want to merge those ideas for the best of the whole.  Above me, I have the ATC Highpriestess to answer to and an Arch priest.  Now, do not get me wrong they do not give orders and me have to run like a chicken with my head cut off.  BUT, they do have to be informed about everything and guess what?  They give great advice!  They know a lot of things I cannot possibly even think off! Thus I learn "their structured" ways of doing things...and another layer of meringue is piled upon the pie.

If you throw all those ingredients together, not even including that more than half of my day goes to building and sorting and posting about church stuff, rituals, workshops, and activities.  One day you wake up and realize your life is both really full and structured or really chaotic and almost toppling over and I like the former not the latter!  So here I stand with tattoos still, various piercings sealed shut but still scarring, with my “Death Cab for Cutie” tee shirt and my still wild hair to only smile.  Contrary to my little maiden ideas “answering to someone” is okay.  Contrary to my wild teenage rebellious “don’t tell me what to do!”  I find myself asking “what should I do?” and "what is best for the whole"?  In spite of my Twenty year old phrase of “stop talking down to me!” , I realize no one ever was talking down to me…they were guiding me, mentoring me, parenting me just like the God and Goddess does. I have to remind myself from time to time with the younger ones...I was there once, I do remember that perspective and they are not wrong...just not seeing another aspect of the diamond.

I have saved the most important for last the BIG bosses.  Your personal God and Goddess and your guides are always advising you, constantly rooting for you.  If they say…hey take another road not that one and you find you avoid a huge wreck or maybe just a  traffic jam are you really going to ignore them the next time they give you advice?  I hope you are smarter than that!  Did you know that if you are lucky enough to be “chosen and called” by a deity to run a group of any type first and foremost you have to answer to them, listen to them, do as they ask. (yep, you have another boss)  A Clergy, Highpriest, Highpriestess, or leader of any ritual knows that a wonderful ritual is one where their body houses the God or Goddess they invoke and that they are merely a vessel.  They also realize, that the rituals they feel compelled to do are never really for themselves but for the other people in the group for their job is to “dispense the sacraments of the Gods to the their people” (and many times they never have a clue who that ritual was really for but the Gods do).  Service is an honor, not a duty.  Service is a wonderful thing to behold that gives you more than you could ever get being selfish and demanding.  Service can “burn you out” but it can also “wrap you in more love than you can fathom”.

 The next time you go to a festival or event and you see a bunch of Highpriest’s, Highpriestesses and Elders sitting around smoking and drinking coffee or just laughing and talking realize this.  Their life is not as carefree as you thought; they are discussing to each other their issues or concerns; in some cases they are answering to each other for actions that occurred in their shared community and this is difficult and humbling.  Yes, they too have someone to answer too “leadership” is not all about the costumes and the great pagan jewelry it is about: planning, hard work, serving, listening, cooperation, compromise, being a janitor, maid, cook, coordinator, secretary, accountant, mother, bad cop, good cop, and everything in between. I bet you would not believe it, but even as a HPS you have to deal with people from out of town or people that do not even knowing you telling you how you should do this or that all the time...and sometimes you can stand up to them; but sometimes it is just better to shut your mouth, paste on a smile, and say "Thank you" (though you are thinking wth?) and assume they want what is best for you like your Momma does.

Last night, I went out to dinner with my parents.  They have grown shorter with age, and of course they are more wrinkled.  We ate fried southern style catfish and hush puppies, drank pungent sweet tea with lemons, finished it off with homemade coconut cream pie and chocolate meringue pie and we laughed.  I looked at my parents, and I realized that they were not as “foolish” as I once thought them to be.  Of course, everything they told me did not work for me but you know there sure was a lot of good ole’ practical common sense there flowing out of their mouths; mom was right, I bet if I asked her right then who she had to answer too she would have a list of people and start ticking it off.  I decided not to ask her, but hug her instead and she decided NOT to comment on my bright pink hair with feathers flying all about in it because she realizes I have enough on my plate…and after all I am an adult and I have my own list of people to answer too.

What structures or traditions do you follow?  Do you mind the concept of service?

You could add a lime to that coconut...but I prefer Prosperine!

Prosperity:  The condition of being Prosperous

Prosperous: Having success, Well-to-do; well-off: a prosperous family, Propitious; favorable: a prosperous moment to make a decision

Right now, in the present economy, talking about Prosperity almost seems blasphemous but it’s not.  It is a concept that is deeper than it looks, and is attainable in any season, any weather, any condition, even in the present economical windfall.  I find myself concentrating on the concept of prosperity time and time again…refocusing my mind, and driving the chatter out of it while breathing deeply to get calm and then I start to notice how well we (especially me) are all provided for.  There is so much bounty in America…we have garage sales!  There is so much bounty in America we fill up thrift stores!  There is so much bounty in America, that we give away coats!  These are little things we take for granted, but our grandparents during the “depression” did not. 

Today, take the time to look around your office.  What do you have?  Do you have pens and paper?  Do you have a desk, chair, air conditioning, heating?  Do you have running water, and a “septic system”?  Do you get paid minimum wage or above?  Take a deep breath, and tell the Universe thank you.  NO, do not tell it you need more money, do not say big deal I have running water, think of how people all over the world do not have these basic things.  These are not requirements for living, they are perks.  Do the same at your home, then in your relationships, and finally look at yourself and see how much you have.

For example…I moved in my home about two years ago, when we did I remember complaining that it was empty.  Now, I find that every surface has something on it.  I have plates that match, coffee cups aplenty, Ed Hardy Drinking glasses, retro platters and pitchers, nifty bowls, silverware that overflows the drawers, more pots and pans than I could imagine.  But when I moved in here…It was bare!  Now, once a year we have a Temple Garage sale…and we all gather together and put our “extras” out and sell them and use the money for our building fund.

I used to have to work every day long hours doing hair in a high paced shop and still manage a new church.  Now, I can work from home. I have more free time to concentrate on the Temple and my family.  Guess what?  The loss of that income has not hurt my family!  We adjusted, and I start to see that I was moving so fast I could not see the bounty the Goddess provided for me so readily.  I have four wonderful children, who all love me and who are all healthy!  I have a strong handsome smart husband who shares my faith, and thinks my cooking is awesome!  I have a spiritual family that feed me when I hunger, is strong for me when I feel weak, and does not expect me to be “perfect” and loves me for my quirks.  Life if full….Life is bounty-full….I am prosperous!

Just in case, the mental exercise does not do the trick I have a dish here that I think you could make that might make you ingest the feeling and emotions that “change your vibration” so that you too can resonate and get yourself “attuned” to Prosperity.  Draw it into you personally; share it with your friends and family, take it to a card game, a pagan meetup, but share your spell of prosperity with all…because when the Gods give you something it is so wonderful to share it!

SPELL FOR PROSPERITY:

You are going to utilize the skills of Kitchen Witchery for this spell.  The spell will be dedicated to the Goddess PROSPERINE/PROSPERINA which is the Roman name for the Greek Goddess Persephone.  She is the Goddess of Vegetation, the Spring Maiden, the Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the wife of Hades/Pluto, and the Queen of the Underworld.  Light a candle for her, lay out an offering to her, and pour her a refreshing glass of juice.  Invite her into your home……

 “Prosperine, Lady of Bounty, please assist me

 as I share your prosperity in this dish I bake in your honor

May all who eat it, including myself; start to see your gift everywhere!

May we live in prosperity,

May we dwell in prosperity,

May we rejoice in our prosperity!

Thank you for all you have done for me and mine!”

Gather the ingredients, and sing while blending and cooking them or hum….PROSPERINE, or a song that makes you feel HAPPY and full…..When it is done, serve, and enjoy!

Prosperine’s Coconut Rice Pudding -

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

18 ounces evaporated milk

1 can cream of coconut (14 ounces)

1/2 cup golden raisins

3 egg yolks, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Place water, rice, butter and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat and stir frequently. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Spray Crock-Pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add evaporated milk, cream of coconut, raisins, egg yolks and vanilla to Crock-Pot and mix well. Add rice mixture and stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 4 hours or on HIGH for 2 hours. Pudding will thicken as it cools. Garnish servings with toasted coconut, if desired.

Thank you for the gift of  your time!  Please share with me if this spell brings you the prosperity you desire.  I am off to Mabon and dancing in the woods with the Pagans!

I didn't buy these tools at Sears !

This is my altar set up before a ritual it is  not perfect yet, the black and white candle are missing, the cauldron with the charcoals and incense resins, the symmetry is not truly pleasing for everyone to see yet.  But if you look closely, you can see some of my favorite things and these things are beautiful to me.

My wand.  It is a crystal quartz wand about the length of my arm and a gift from one of my best witch friends.  Joanna bought it for me because she felt it was shameful for the priestess of a church to use just a magnolia wand she had put together herself.  So she did research, and bought me a quartz crystal wand.  Every time I use it I feel it resonate and amplify my natural energy.  Every time I pick it up I feel the love from all the circles I have cast for protection for the Temple and my family, and all of the circles we have done every other week for several years come to mind: the one utilizing mirror magick, the circle for Hecate, the HUGE one that I got to use it for at PPD, the Artemis ritual at Daughters, the Isis ritual at Daughters, the love spells we did that was controversial, the Mama Bast ritual, and the healing rituals, prosperity rituals, abundance rituals, luck rituals, and the list goes on and on.  But most of all I love the fact that Hecate fills that crystal quartz every new moon or full moon with the most intense light I have ever seen, and that it vibrates at a chord that helps me when I sing to her "Hecate seal this circle tight, and fill it with your holy light..." and how when at the end of every ritual I am done, and draw up the circle and I say "thank you Hecate" I hear her say "thank you" back and feel the light dim like turning off a switch. Thank you Joanna best friend of my soul for giving what I needed though I had no idea I needed it.

Next, you see my cheesy incense burner that looks like an Oak tree?  Well my husband when he came into our marriage brought that with him.  It was on his personal altar in his home, and every time I touch it or use it I am reminded that I have been given one of the most precious gifts of all...my husband Brian a High priest whom I can never say enough good things about.  I wanted a Pagan husband, and I got him. I love incense, of course most of my blends are Frankincense and Myrrh because the Egyptians like these...but I try to combine the incense in my burner with the properties that help "raise" the vibrations around me to resonate with a spell.  Thus I use rose for love, or peppermint for protection, or lavender when we need to feel calm, nag champra I associate with holiness, and I have been told most of my life I smell like incense so I cannot help but enjoy the lighting of those holy sticks after all these years.  In fact, discovering new types and scents are one of my favorite things to do and my collection of them really mind boggling at times.  Want to give a Highpriestess a great gift?  How about hand rolled resin incense sticks?  Thank you Daniel!

Behind them you see the two pitchers I use constantly to pour out ale to the people that visit and attend our Temple here.  One, was a gift from step daughter who is also a wonderful witchy girl!  The other blue Greek one was given to me by two friends, my former Highpriest Amos and my best bud Allison.  When I look at both pitchers they remind me of HOW FULL my life is, and how my cup will never go empty because I am loved not only by the Gods but by people who I am fortunate enough to adore. 

To the right of the Gods and a little behind them on that gold platter, is a cobalt blue retro drink set.  I utilize these to pour small individual drinks out to each God and Goddess on my altar, this time it was five. By the way I think statues to your God or Goddess or a sort of tool because we all know they do help you focus and gives the deity a physical form to dwell in. Here are mine in the picture going left to right ( Thoth, Ra-Ptah, Osiris, Sekhmet, and Isis).  The retro cocktail set I bought from the Temple garage sale a few months back.  Everyone knew I was going to do it.  A good friend of mine Lori brought them in as a donation, they were beautiful, retro and blue.  They were so me!!  I thought they were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen so I HAD to buy them!  When I use these items I am reminded that in my life I am able to purchase things with the abundance the Goddess Isis has given me.  That it is safe for me to be abundant because everything she gives me she knows I will share with others and use for the betterment of the world around me.  That is what I feel my path is all about, and so when I pour out from my prettiest drink set fruit juice or homeade beer to my Gods and I press this on their lips I find that my heart dances because I can share with them my best.  I know they enjoy my giddy heart, and I know that I have everything I have because they are there with me.

Lastly,  my favorite tool in this picture is the altar everything is laying on.  This altar is built out of cement blocks put together by hand by my friends and family.  It is not gold and shiny, it is not elaborately scrolled but it is filled with love, and power, and light, and alot of great circles have been conducted here.  Trudy and Terry and Anne and Tom have done some big magick here, even the Grandmother witch of us all Pat!  My son's wiccaning was done at this altar, the Temple initiations have been done at this altar. I have worked with many friends at this altar and my husband at this altar.  My pic here on facebook is at this altar with my son on it Cayden.  But the real secret to this altar?  It is not as simple as it seems.  In every corner in the making of it there are crystals to amplify the energy of the group and the center; and in its guts deep in the middle there are letters to Gods and Goddesses of the Temple and prayers and tokens to dedicate that altar to the Gods and Goddesses we love so much.  When I step up to that altar I feel nothing but the love I have for my Gods and my fellow pagans, I feel the love they have for their Gods and for me...and I know there could be no better spot for me to stand than right there.  That is a sacred spot, that is sacred ground and there are very few of those that I know...but I have one in my back yard!

Now that I finished this post, I realize that the subject of tools led me to realize that in all the arguments I have heard for or against...I have never heard one talk about the love behind them.  The time involved in them and that is really why I love my tools.  To hold them, to use them, is to remind me of one thing...LOVE and for me that is the greatest magick in the world.

Thank you for the gift of your time!

That'll do me.......

Nut, the sky mother’s belly was full with creation, but because of Ra’s jealousy and rage he cursed her so that she could not give birth to her creations on “any day of the year” and all the gods knew her pain because they listened to her constant groans and torment as they echoed across the heavens.  But Thoth, being the God of wisdom realized this was not best for the whole…and so he thought long and hard on the matter and transformed himself into a baboon.  

As the playful baboon Thoth went to Khonsu, the God of the moon, and starting to entertain him with jokes and antics like the first court jesters.  As the moon boat dipped in the West Thoth, the baboon gracefully jumped aboard and sailed with Khonsu to the depths of the underworld.  While he rode in the boat with Khonsu he entertained the God with sounds, and pictures and revealed to him the art of writing.  Khonsu was enamored with this skill and told Thoth that he would “give him anything he desired” if he would only share this magic with him.  Thoth, sly and wise, told Khonsu that he only wished to play a game of dice.  Laughing, Khonsu agreed and so Thoth the baboon and Khonsu the moon began to play the game of dice.

At first, Khonsu rolled the best scores and the baboon jumped up and down complimenting the round faced God on his skills, and this pleased Khonsu whose ego was stroked enough that he agreed to the suggestion of wagers to make the game more interesting.  At first only fruits and shells were wagered on the outcome of the dice games; and Khonsu won again and again.  After a while, Thoth suggested the gamble for higher stakes and Khonsu again agreed and this time they played for gold and for silver.  So the game went on, day upon day, month upon month, for almost a full year.  During this time, Nut the sky mother’s shrieks of pain were still heard throughout the universe.

Khonsu continued winning the game gaining more and more treasures so the baboon God Thoth suggested they increase the wager for just a little of the moon’s light.  Khonsu, hesitated a moment, yet he looked at all of his winnings and feeling confident and taking in the flattery of Thoth agreed to the wager.  The game was on….Thoth blew on the dice and said: 

“Bones, Bones, roll as you may. Your numbers choose both night and day.  Where the power of sky and stars hold sway, cause these bones to roll my way, Roll for me this day, Roll for me this day.” (Tamerian spell for gambling)

Luck was with Thoth, the God of Magick, and Khonsu groaned each time Thoth won the roll giving up more and more of his light to the God.  After a while, his face became thinner and thinner but he played on confident that the luck would change in his favor and the days rolled on.  Thoth, rolled and rolled, winning enough light for five extra days and since he was the measurer of time he decided to add these on to the end of the year that RA had created.  Laughing, and whooping Thoth bowed deeply and swiftly took his leave from the God Khonsu and leaped on the Moon boat and transformed himself into the Ibis (his sun form which is that of a bird); and jumped.  He soared higher and higher in his bird-form until he reached NUT. 

 

<Because of this dice game the moon waxes and wanes for Thoth never did give Khonsu back his full moon power. It is also because of this game that Thoth has the power of moon and sun. It is also the reason why there are 365 days in a year!.>

 

Thoth called out for Tauret the hippo Goddess and the dwarf-god Bes to assist him in the labor of Nut and delivery of these God children.  It took five days, exactly as much as Thoth had won for each child to be born and as each child was delivered into the universe, Thoth blessed each and gave them their names so that they would be counted among the company of the Gods.  The first child born on the first day was named Osiris the Good, and the universe cried out and said “the Lord of the whole world”  had just been born.  The second day saw the birth of the heroic Horus, Horus the elder, who was most like his grandfather Ra.  The third day saw the birth of the red-headed Set and in him was chaos and wildness of energies.  On the fourth day the Goddess Isis was born, and on the fifth day Nephthys the dark eyed goddess came forth blessing all the previous children but she lavished her highest praise on her brother Set.  

After all of this was done, the heavens earth and sky were fulfilled and set into their proper places.  All the creatures that lived were following their instilled natures and all the Gods that took care of them had taken their stations. Thus, Ra, being the first and creator of it all became bored and weary of eternity; he looked at the impermanence and the excitement of mortal men and women’s lives and felt envy and longing.

The Gods lived in the palace of Ra removed from man and woman, knowing nothing of suffering or joy immortal, beautiful, and bored.

Lessons from the Hands of Thoth:

* Never judge by appearances!  Thoth while he is the god of wisdom and magick, also realizes a power we humans should be aware of…the power of utilizing aspects of ourselves that we need to when we want to obtain a goal.  The power of tom-foolery and making “a monkey” out of ourselves is a good one.  Maybe from time to time we should take ourselves less seriously; maybe we should be willing to shake a tail feather, and lose from time to time knowing that every thing is not important what is important is the end result.

* Listening to the pain and suffering of those around us is important, but doing something for them to ease their pain and suffering is more important.  Thoth took time to plan and to take action and because of this he was successful!  He was also very patient taking over a whole year to get the results he wanted, but determination and wisdom means that sometimes you do not get immediate results.

* Thoth is a God who is not only wise, but is also a trickster.  You know the trickster God the one that gives you what you want but leads you down a crazy path to get there!  Or shows you how you really don’t want what you think it is you want…oh that is wisdom.  Hmmmm wonder if contemplating your personal ideas of wisdom and a “trickster” might blur the lines between the two?

* How is it that Khonsu lost? He got cocky, he let his ego be fed in a way that made him not take notice that he was being stroked and led in a certain direction.  His ego was WAY too big!  Do not be so foolish as to listen to all those “compliments” and people that are “stroking your ego” be cautious!  Sure you should surround yourself with people that are not unhealthy and mean to you; but you should also surround yourself with people who are honest and tell you the hard truths whether you want to hear them or not.  Khonsu’s ego was huge, and this was his downfall make sure you too are always grounded else your ego will lead to your downfall!

*If you practice this path, then learning the calendar is easier if you remember this story.  Knowing who the Enneads are and the roles of many of your deities becomes common place if you remember who does what.  Tauret looks like a Hippo but she is a Goddess of midwifery!  Bes, is a dwarf but he assisted in the delivery!  If you are pregnant, or assisting in a Wiccaning or friends with a female and you follow this path a gift of Bes or Tauret would be in line would it not?

*Set is not the Devil, he is not “bad”.  In our modern 21^st century culture we have been programmed to see things as extremes: white or black, good or bad, rich or poor, etc.  But Set is described as Chaos and primordial energy not tamed or focused…sounds a lot like our lives and us as practioner’s of magick that are trying to constantly learn does it not?  Why not study Set, get to know him and realize there are other aspects and characteristics of him that might interest you.  Did you know he was considered the God of trading, God of the Desserts, also the God of foreign languages?  Egyptian Gods have lived so long their characteristics and complexities defy human understanding at times; yet help us flesh them out to be more than “stereotypes” but “archetypes” and isn’t that what a spiritual path is all about?

* Know your creation story. Use it as a tool to teach you, to instruct you, to make you smile, laugh, take delight in it!  It is a story after all, and it is customized by the Gods for you…your mind and spirit will gain things from it that no other person on earth will ever grasp!  You are a wonderful unique vessel…and the Gods envy you at times.

If you want to learn about the Egyptian Calendar and the creation story then try these:Egyptian Mystics: Seekers of the Way by Moustafa Gadalla, Egyptian Cosmology the Animated Universe by Moustafa Gadalla, and Egyptian Rhythmn: The Heavenly Melodies by Moustafa Gadalla

Lastly, not least imporantly...THANK YOU for reading, and freely giving me the gift of your time!