Welcome to Gaia! ::

BLESSED BE NEWS

Message from dark_angel_32189: I'd like to thank all of our staff here at Blessed Be News for the hard work and effor that they put into this newspaper. I'd also like to apologize to our readers...I know that we're missing quite a few of our usual articles. A lot of our writers are dealing with final exams in school right now; and real life stuff should always come before internet stuff. I hope you all can understand. smile

Table of Contents
- Introduction (you are here)
- Guild Happenings
- Members Section
- Animal Totems
- Astral Projection
- Beginner's Section
- Book Review
- Crystals and Gemstones
- Divination
- The Elements
- Litha
- Pagan Humor
- Pagan Music
- Spells
- Yule
- Classified Ads

The following people joined our family in October and November. Please make them feel at home. smile

Lliria, shia chan13, Miss MistressMissus, Rhyea, RPM Osbourne, The_Count_of_Capieville, bakibakikya, Shinu_Rei, Countess Elsinore, Lotus Poem, PandaxPrincess, Lilylilylily_woah, artemis nj, AgentAbhorrence, Teayo, Daffodil the Destroyer, Runeteller, PiercedPixie2, Lumiere Meridienne, The Spawn of Cookies, Found Bleeding, Apollinar, Mikuru1, Blazing Moons Angel Zuki, gaaras and milk, Goddess Michi, I Am ROQ, HawkeTheThief, Adelle Bleumoon, LonnaSohma, MeatEatingOrchid, The Pied Piper of Sunday, SpiralMare, Insanity_Of_The_loveless, Ethan Strombel, AmethystLexi, Zing0619, modernfaze, GothicRavn, Daine Salmalin, Fantasy-girly, MiladyMidnight, GS Sailor Chibi Galaxia, Ice Cold Faerie, 0xXx0 Gaara 0xXx0, SylphofSecrets and ThisisAidan

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We'd like to wish the following people a very happy birthday!
December 2nd - - hidden_in_the_shadows23
December 3rd - - Orianna Dulcina
December 5th - - Midnight_Margaritas
December 7th - - [R ! C O C H E T], Mavener-Moonstone, Toxik_Envy, and SiicoSeeren
December 12th - - zabazor
December 13th - - Lady Austina
December 14th - - ForbidenFaeryDesire
December 15th - - Blind_Witch
December 17th - - DeserayGoddess and Wraith_92
December 19th - - flames saoirse and Katharina27
December 20th - - Albino_Emo and Sky Raven Moon
December 21st - - Hiondra and Oh Em Jesus
December 22nd - - NiEsE, I-onishi, and Deilusia
December 23rd - - Caity-Chan
December 25th - - Louve Blanche
December 26th - - DaineLyandra and Oshun
December 29th - - Celestial Burden, Riaku-Death Goddess, Miss MistressMissus, and KananiAznHoku
December 30th - - Domdaniel
December 31st - - Yumitoko and lightprincess03

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Member of the Month

Congratulations to SlaineWildfire for winning our 'Member of the Month' title for December 2008.



The Interview:
Blessed_Scribe: Which Sabbat is your favorite to celebrate and why?
SlaineWildfire: Samhain, definitely. I love the atmosphere of the day itself: The world is turning colder, there are spirits and the smell of change in the air. Plus there are children trick or treating and adults getting their party on. It's a fantastic day, and I really love it.

Blessed_Scribe: What does your religion mean to you?
SlaineWildfire: Religion is a comfortable thing. To me it means that I always have something to have faith in, even though I'm not as much religious as I am spirit oriented. The spirit of the belief and the strength of it is what matters, not what actions you take to personify it or how strongly you advocate a group's principles.

Blessed_Scribe: How do you respond to friends or family members who question, criticize, or misunderstand your chosen religion?
SlaineWildfire: Frequently, I don't. My family is almost entirely Christian, so I tend not to bring up what I believe in. When we do talk about it, I tend to talk about it in terms of faith. Because I was raised Christian, I still have some tenants of the Christian faith that mean a lot to me... For example, being kind unto one another and treating each other with grace and wisdom will always be something I'll adhere to and it's something I'm fairly certain everyone can agree on, regardless of religious preference.

Blessed_Scribe: In your opinion, why are rituals an important part of religion?
SlaineWildfire: Personally, I don't care for rituals and only use them when I feel the situation is serious enough to demand it. However, I have found that if you click on some level with the use of ritual it can become very personal and very important to you. It can be a comfort, and it can be a way of showing the world who you are and what you believe in. It can also be a very poignant way of living your faith, and that's not something to sneeze at.

Blessed_Scribe: Taking your religious beliefs into consideration, what is your position on the illegal use of drugs?
SlaineWildfire: My roots of faith stem from the Kemetic faith, and the Egyptians believed strongly in purity, so I'd say that in general you should attempt to take good care of the body that you are given. However, I do believe that some drugs can enhance the spirit and give you the ability to transcend the veil between the spirit world and the physical world and I have no problem with that. In general, though, I think it comes down to the person. If using a specific drug does not harm anyone, including yourself, then I say go ahead and do it.

Blessed_Scribe: What made you interested in learning about Wicca?
SlaineWildfire: Wicca was my window into the world of Paganism and Neo-Paganism. I started there because it was the most easily accessed pool of knowledge that I could find, and I was passionately curious about a faith that didn't believe in sin or in an all knowing, homogenizing god.

Blessed_Scribe: Why, in your opinion, is Neo-Paganism popular today?
SlaineWildfire: For many reasons, I would imagine, and those reasons are probably very different for everyone who looks into the religion. I would say in general, though, that people are looking for something that they haven't been exposed to in order to find the answers that they are looking for. They might also want to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, or be looking for the wrong reasons - wanting to control others or whatnot. But those people don't tend to stick with it for very long.

Blessed_Scribe: How would you like to be remembered when you die?
SlaineWildfire: Simply. She loved as much as her heart allowed.

All living things are made up of a very complex combination of atoms, molecules and energy cells. As these ingredients coexist, they make up a large magnetic energy field that can be sensed, felt and even seen around the physical body. This complex combination is known as an aura. Auras are filled with colors that reflect information about the person or object. The colors can tell everything about us, because every shade of every color has a certain meaning. Psychic readings can be given using someone's aura.

Young children, up through around 5 years old, can naturally see auras. Children have much cleaner and stronger auras than most of adults. Because of their innocence, they have stronger auras and can see them as well. Adults tend to have a harder time seeing auras because of the way we are brought up.

In order to read an aura accurately, first you need to understand the inner workings. The aura is made up of 3 sections of energy. Each section has a specific purpose, and relates to a certain component of a person's life. Each section is also divided further into energy layers which appear in colors, and each color represents a characteristic of the object. The size of the aura depends on the subject. Humans will have a larger aura than the average house plant. A complete aura for a human can be anywhere from 6 to 25 feet or more all around the body.

The inner-most layer is only a few inches from the object. This first section is usually a thin white light that outlines the entire body. Some people believe that the compact intensity of energy generates the white color of this layer. Others believe this white light is the bodies protective shield, sort of a natural force field. Like any other energy, it can be drained, weakened, and/or overcharged. This tends to create slight color or shape distortions in the aura.

The mid-section usually begins 3-4 inches from the physical body and can extend out several feet. These layers reflect recent emotions, personal traits, as well as the current well being or health of the object.

The inner section of the aura is generally the easiest to view. The mid-section of the aura is a little harder to see if you are just looking for a small amount of time. Even if you do see the section the colors are still going to be harder to read.

These two layers can actually help you with everyday life. Reading the colors of these sections can help you deal with any person at any moment helping you get along with people better, or by allowing you to avoid negative or stressful people and situations.

Moving to the third section, this section reflects the more long lasting emotional and mental state of the subject. Past lives and events are stored in this section. This section is much more distinguishable due to the lack of intensity of the layers. It's more see through, and therefore harder to see. Since this last section usually contains the 'hidden' history of a person, it should no be read or interpreted without prior permission from the person. You wouldn't want someone probing you about hidden secrets, so give them the same respect.

Colors are interpreted differently, so look into them and see which feels best for you. Exercises to help see auras can be found all over the internet. So if you want to learn how to read auras, just look it up.

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Sources:
Aura Color Interpretations
Learn to See Auras
General Aura Information

TITLE: The Elements of Ritual
AUTHOR: Deborah Lipp
PAGES: 273 pages
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2003

SYNOPSIS (from the back of the book): If you’ve got the basics of the Craft covered and you’re ready to take your practice to new levels of spiritual meaning and magical power, The Elements of Ritual is your guidebook. This is intermediate Witchcraft, literate and sophisticated, written by an experienced High Priestess.

Become truly familiar with the Elements and their role in every phase of ritual. As you gain insight into the nuances of this essential magical relationship, your own creative and magical abilities will flourish. Many books tell you hoe to cast a circle; this one explains why. When you have finished reading The Elements of Ritual, you will know what each step of the circle-casting ceremony means, why it’s there, and what it accomplishes. With this knowledge, you can confidently create your own rituals, using sound magical, theological, and pragmatic principles; also included are practical how-to’s, how-not-to’s, and much esoteric, hard-to-find information.

Delve deeper into the Craft you thought you already knew. Experience more meaningful ritual and more powerful magic with The Elements of Ritual.

REVIEW: What can I say…I LOVE this book. I’ve known how to do the “basics” for years, and now that I have read this book - I feel like I was missing something the whole time. Everyone always worries…“am I doing this right”, that most of the time they don’t get a chance to ask “why”, or “what exactly is the purpose of this…” The Elements of Ritual gives us the chance to have those questions (and more) answered in a way that is easy to understand, and makes sense. It takes us through…step-by-step, each of the core parts that make up Wiccan ritual, and explains each one from the point of view of the 4 elements (Air…why we do it; Water…what is the mythology behind it; Fire…what is the meaning of it; Earth…how we do it). It does an excellent job of dispelling some common “myths” associated with Wiccan ritual - such as the idea of “sacrifices”. Did you know your ritual isn’t really complete without one? (I can hear the collective GASP - “Wiccan’s don’t do sacrifices!” To which I answer…“but what is a sacrifice?”) Truly, I wish I had read this book a long time ago. If you are anything like me…just reading through the first couple of chapters will have you going, “Oh…I get it now!!!” I can’t say enough good things about this book, and overall it is an invaluable tool for advancing one’s practice. I highly recommend this book to everyone, not only to read…but also to be included as an essential book in one’s resource library.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deborah Lipp was initiated into a Gardnerian coven in 1981, became a HPS in 1986, and has been teaching Wicca and running Pagan circles ever since. She as appeared in the A&E documentary “Ancient Mysteries” on MSNBC, and in The New York Times.
http://www.deborahlipp.com/

1. Introduction
As we spoke about in part 1, Cartomancy is defined as the use of cards in order to divine the future. While Oracle cards aren't traditionally concerned with predicting the future, they do fall under the definition of divination, as they're attempting to uncover that which is hidden.

2. The Cards
Oracle cards come in many, many varieties, from shamanistic to New Agey. Similar to Tarot, these cards often consist of cards bigger than playing cards that have beautifully wrought works of art on each card. While the themes may vary, the goal is often the same - to help a person navigate a difficult part of his or her life. There are no suits to these cards, and they do not traditionally come with the same weight of history that Tarot does. In fact, oracle cards are a fairly modern invention that came about due to the popularity in esoteric circles of Tarot. You can find many different types of oracle decks that emphasize different patterns or life problems, and it's not usual for a single person to own many different oracle decks that are used at different times of life. I for example had a deck that was made by a small community known as Lily Dale that emphasized an interpretation of the chakras and the rainbow of energy in our lives. Think about them less as telling the future and more as self-help cards. Traditionally, there is also less interpretation of the cards and more rote recitation of the meanings included in the booklet.

3. Deck Examples
Because there are so many out there, I figured I'd include a few examples of some of the decks that you can find. Just as with Tarot, it's a good idea to actually physically handle any deck of oracle cards you may be considering buying. While there are plenty of superstitions about cards, I do encourage people to choose carefully before purchasing a deck. "Because it's pretty" might not be a good enough reason for purchasing. Here are a few that I have used myself or had others use for me with good results. I'll also include a link to a very comprehensive list of oracle decks for your information and perusal.
Goddess Oracle: A friend of mine had this deck. It's absolutely gorgeous, as you can see by the images I've linked too, and it was surprisingly accurate. It gave some unique perspective, especially as seen from an outsider.
Druid Animal Oracle: This was an awesome deck that a very close pagan friend of mine had. He was examining the path of modern druidry and bought this deck as an extra insight, and it was fantastic. The artwork is pretty, but the cards are extremely helpful, and the booklet is very clear.

Feel free to visit this link for more information on oracle decks and to get some insight into the wide variety of styles that are out there.

4. Reading the Cards
Almost every deck of oracle cards will come with a unique method of reading and interpreting their cards. This is good, since almost none of the varying decks use imagery that crosses over from deck to deck. In general, simple layouts used for Tarot can be applied to oracle cards, particularly "past, present, future" three card layouts being the most helpful. Some people also draw a single card a day as a way to focus their meditation on the meanings of the cards and how they can shed insight into their daily lives. However you choose to read them, don't forget that they aren't the same as other cards and you should read the pamphlets included with the decks quite thoroughly.

Sources:
All personal experience

In the southern hemisphere the Summer Solstice or Litha is celebrated around December 21st-23rd. Litha marks mid-summer and is when the sun is at its highest in the sky, and represents to us the longest day and shortest night. The northern hemisphere celebrates this day in June, when the sun enters Cancer.

At Litha, the tale of the Oak and Holly King, the light and dark lords, is told. The Oak King represents the waxing year, Mid Winter to Mid Summer, while the Holly King represents the waning year, Mid Summer to Mid Winter. They are both necessary because without decay and destruction no new growth can begin. Twice a year they meet each other and fight. At Yule it was the Oak King who won the battle. At the Summer Solstice, although light is at its strength, it also is the peak of the Oak King's reign, he is conquered by his darker twin, the Holly King, and the inevitable journey towards the darkness and the depths begins.

Litha is considered one of the best times to perform magickal rituals and the traditional time to harvest magickal and medical herbs. One of the names for the Moon at Midsummer is "Honey Moon" as this is a time when the hives are rich with honey. The honey can be fermented and made into a traditional Midsummer drink called "mead".

It is believed that on this midsummer night, the gates between this world and the world of faeries are opened, and the faery folk can come and go as they please. You can welcome them in if you wish, but beware- they do have a reputation for mischief. Whatever you do, do not eat any of their food, for it is said that those who partake of it become their servants forever.

The Midsummer fires are traditionally kindled from Oak and Fir and herbs are thrown into the fire to prevent sickness, bad luck and to help the crops grow.
The herbs are: St. John's Wort, Rue, Vervain, Mistletoe, Lavender, Thyme, Fennel, Plantain and Mugwort.

In return for the Goddess & God’s blessing it is suggested you do something for the earth- perhaps recycling waste or cleaning up litter around your home town.

Activities
- Decorate your circle with solar images, sunflowers and sweet scented summer herbs.
- Make and wear daisy chain necklaces & crowns
- Re-enact the battle of the Holly & Oak Kings.

Colors:
Blue, Green, Gold & Yellow

Herbs:
Frankincense, lemon, myrrh, pine, rose and wisteria.

Foods:
All garden vegetables and fruits

Deities:
Apollo, Balder, Oak King, Holly King, Sul, Isis, Hestia.

Symbols:
Oak leaves, acorns, bees, honey, floating candles, cauldrons, marigolds, ivy.

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Sources:
"The Book Of Wicca" by Lucy Summers
http://www.janih.com/lady/sabbats/litha.html

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Solstice Herb Bread

Ingredients:
C. flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. dry active yeast
2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 1/4 C. hot water
2 tbsp. Crisco

Directions:
Mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add herbs, water, and Crisco. Beat slowly, stirring in remaining cup of flour until smooth. Scrape batter from sides of bowl and let rise in a warm place for 35 minutes or until it doubles in bulk. Punch down and beat with a spoon for about 15 seconds. Place dough in a greased loaf pan, patting down and forming a loaf shape with your hands. Cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes or until it again doubles in bulk. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Brush top with butter or margarine and remove from pan to cool.

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Build Your Own Stonehenge

Here's a unique way to celebrate the solstice: Build your own Stonehenge. As you might know, Stonehenge is one of the oldest (4,000+ years) and best known astronomical calendar sites in the world. You can recreate it without going through the bother of lugging 25 to 50 ton slabs of rock around the neighborhood. All you'll need is a bit of ambition, and a location offering an unobstructed view of the eastern or western horizon. Locations offering a 360º horizon view are ideal (and rare).

Materials:
Center stake for reference point.
50 feet of rope.
20 to 30 marker stones or small stakes.
A compass.

Directions:
The first thing you'll need to do is create a viewing circle. Anchor a reference stake at the center point of the circle and place your compass on top of it. Find due north and place a marker at 50 feet north of the center. Repeat the process for east, west and south. (The rope is used as a guide to insure that all markers are equidistant from the center stake.) Again, using the rope as a guide, place a small marker stone every few feet around the perimeter of your circle. The center of the circle now becomes your fixed reference point and the westward facing perimeter is where you'll be placing the sunset markers.

The calendar can be started at any time, but the solstice sunsets are the most fun. Mark the point of sunset with a pole, stake or other (not easily moved) marker. Tag the marker with the date of sunset.

Repeat the process every seven days or so. Over the weeks and months you'll note that the sun appears to "walk" faster at some times of the year than others. When you've finished (in a year's time) you'll have a working astronomical calendar and an excuse to invite friends and classmates over to the house to check the date.

Enya: Although most of the songs have lyrics, which I personally don’t recommend for meditation, most of her songs are extremely relaxing, yet spiritually powerful at the same time. They’re perfect for winding down after an extremely stressful day. Songs can be purchased from iTunes, or the nearest music store.

The official site can be found here: http://www.enya.com/
They also have a MySpace, here: www.myspace.com/enyaofficially

Music for Deep Meditation: The name says it all. These songs are made specifically for meditation. They feature various sounds, music styles, and instruments from different countries around the world, from Egypt, to Africa, to Canada. A few albums even feature a short guided meditation exercise. Songs can be purchased from Amazon.com, iTunes, or the nearest music store.
This artist does not feature an official site or MySpace.