With Every Ending Is A New Beginning - Yule and the New Year

When one door closes, another opens. When one chapter ends, another begins.

Winter Solstice (Yule) is the last celebration of the calendar year. It marks the beginning of winter's end, where days become longer and nights become shorter again. It is, quite frankly, the beginning of the end; the last chapter in winter's book.

Although, here, winter seems to only have just begun. We received our first snowfall (that stuck to the ground), freezing temperatures, and school closings within the past week. It makes it hard to remember that winter is already beginning to end.

Yule in our house was quite different this year. We welcomed another person into our home; my significant other. I also completed my higher education, and am currently job searching again. A member of the family is preparing to move 200+ miles away as his job relocates, and our budget seems to be getting tighter with the times. However, despite the highs and lows that came with winter, I would not change this time for the world.

We had a wonderful Yule. Everyone really got into the season this year. The family put up five Yule trees!

This is the family tree, decorated with homemade ornaments as well as others that celebrate highlights of our lives. 

This is our music themed tree, decorated with musical instruments, lights that make music, and music notes. We decorate around this tree with Santa, Mrs. Clause, reindeer, and a Santa climbing a ladder up our tree, with his elves carrying the presents he has dropped right behind him.

This is our vintage/victorian themed tree. It is decorated with pearl strands, crystals, and other vintage/victorian styled ornaments.

This tree sits on the ledge by our staircase. We decorate it with multi colored lights and ornaments. In front, we put two carolers, still with song.

And finally, this is our snowman themed tree. All the ornaments are snow or snowman related. In front are two polar bear cubs building a snowman.

It's all very "Christmas-y" I know. But when you live in a home with two Catholics, a Buddhist, and a child too young to understand anything more complex than Santa, things look a bit more like "Christmas" than Yule. 

Of course, I decorated my altar for the season. It is more Yule than "Christmas," and as promised, here are photos of my altar:

As usual, I also have the template for my altar, with everything explained:

And, of course, an infographic:

Finally, as 2014 ends, and 2015 begins, I want to share my year's goals with you. This was inspired by WitchyWords.blogspot.com so creative credit to her. I did make my own, personalized for me. I think it is a wonderful idea, and I encourage others to do the same. Writing your goals down and putting them in a place you will see, helps you to achieve them! So here's to 2015, in all it's splendor and glory. Here's to hoping this chapter of life will be better than the next. Here's to achieving goals, and working hard. And here's to a blessed, witchy year!

The Passing of Wisdom: From Medicine Man to the Eclectic

I am feeling very honored and blessed right now. That is the only way to feel after someone very wise and experienced passes their wisdom and knowledge on to you, without you asking. The fact that someone so wise and experienced feels that you are worthy and deserving enough to carry on the knowledge of their teachers, is...and incredible thought.

The Backstory:Through a social media sight, I had befriended a Shaman man over two thousand miles away from me. I have not, to this day, met him in person, but we have very similar views on life and spirituality. Over the course of a year, we have had delightful chit-chat. We have both felt drawn to one another, with no real explanation. This attraction was not one of lust, romance, or anything close. It was a friendship. I saw him as a mentor, he saw me as a student. He felt there was a necessary reason to contact me. With his background in counciling  homeless, foster care youth and young adults, and working with those with traumatic pasts, it is clear to see why the draw of keeping contact was felt. Of course, I did not know about his background of working with trauma, and he did not know of my traumatic past, until recently.

Once we had this realization, it was almost a "duh!" moment when we put the feelings and the situation together.

The Passing of WisdomHe was only checking up on me when the truth about my past and his background surfaced. I did not ask for help or guidance, or even his opinion. I simply answered his question when he asked about my hesitation when it came to relationships.

And it was then that he, without request, passed on to me, the wisdom and knowledge of his teachers. Below I will include passages of this wisdom (the relevant parts), in order to pass the same wisdom on.

"First you must protect your energy, your essence, your internal self. Make a bowl of clay or purchase a well made, small clay bowl that can endure weather. Hold it in your hands and sit or pray or both with it. The important thing is to put your energy/spirit/soul into it. Do this for at least a week three times per day. If you can do it for two weeks straight this would be ideal. You will know when it is time to take the bowl and find a water source that has an island in it. You may have to travel for this being in [my location]. If you do, then do it. It can be a lake, the ocean, a river, a stream with a gathering of stones surrounded by water. It has to be some earth surrounded by water. Then take the bowl and bury it on the island somewhere where it will not be found or seen by people. It is your protection and decoy. When you are psychically attacked all of the negative thoughts, perceptions, etc. that people hold of you will go to the bowl and not you. When you are burying it, focus on this. Ask the divine to help you set up a foundation of protection to begin the journey of self realization and cleansing of those things that you let into your life. You will have some deep experiences going through this process. You may have to go on journey and it may not be easy to get to the island, but what you focus on you will get, so get to this island. This teaching and task was given to me by one of me teachers who was a man who literally kept a fire going for the world 24/7 in the Huichol Mountains in Jalisco Mexico. Don Pablo De La Cruz was a great medicine man and elder who has passed but his teachings will now live on through you."

This beautiful wisdom did not stop there. He continued, instructing me on cleansing myself.

"During this first task you must cleanse yourself at least a few times a week and smudge every day. To do this 'cleanse' take an apple and serrate the skin with a knife. Make cuts horizontally and vertically all around the apple. Do not cut it apart. Just serrate the skin. The juice will start to come out. Take the apple and a bowl of honey (about 4-5 tablespoons) to the shower. Take a shower and use the apple like soap. First cover it with honey and then take it and begin to wipe yourself with it starting at your head and like a bar a soap, use it to wash every part of your body, every part, including the bottoms of your feet. When the honey rubs off take more and rub it on. You will feel a difference when you are done. Make sure that you buy the healthiest looking apples. Do this three times per week. This was given to me by one of my great teachers Don Ernesto Nerey, who has passed. Again you will be keeping his teachings alive and thank you for doing this and keeping the light alive in this very dark world."

I had always had trouble coping with my traumatic past. But through my own spirituality, I have managed to focus on the silver lining of it all; realizing that without it, I would not be the person I am today, and I would not be blessed in all the ways that I am. It is part of me healing; removing the "victim" mindset. Yes, I was a victim. I was. But now I am a survivor. I survived. I am surviving. I'm growing, and maturing, and flourishing in many ways at once. I've gotten that far virtually on my own. But his last bit of wisdom, though it is a repetition of the positivity I have taught myself to see in all things, including my past, will stick with me. And in those times where I seem to find myself unable to be positive, it will be this wisdom that I remember:

"Stay out of the 'victim' mindset. What happened to you is very traumatic and I do not want to diminish it, however, a victim is just that. The challenge this situation is presenting you with, or one of them, is to learn how to hold the perspective that you want to hop din your life and for your life in the face of an onslaught of negative energy. Life is the teacher, the gift, the provider. There is no better other way to learn other than from your life about magic and how to harness it and use it in beneficial ways for yourself and others. You are not a victim but rather a student who is going to learn and grow through what you are currently experiencing. Alchemy is about turning lead into gold. What you shared with me is the lead that the universe gave you to turn into gold and today is your lucky day because the universe is showing you that it is right here with you through this communication. You have to ask yourself "what are the odds that out of the millions of users on this site, how did I connect with a traditionally trained medicine man?" We are always being guided. Help is always there. Have faith. This communication right here and now is showing you this truth."

The Medicine Man who passed his wisdom to me

The Medicine Man who passed his wisdom to me

Adding a Deity to Worship

I'm not one who usually cares for Greek mythology and Greek deities. It is something that I know about. I've learned about, and recognize as an organized polytheistic religion (Hellenism). But it has never been something for me. I'm eclectic, so the things that click are the things that stick. Hellenism has never clicked with me...

Until now. I don't know how to explain it. But I've been overly attracted to the demigod Achilles, as of recent. I'm not sure what it is. I feel almost as if I'm being called to him..by him? I usually trust my instincts, and so I am choosing to do such. I just find it odd...he isn't one of the more popular Greek deities either. He's a demigod. And I seem to be more attracted to the mortal aspect of him than the god aspect. 

What is this? Is this a calling from a deity, to follow/worship them? I have no idea. This has never happened to me. In fact, the two deities I DO worship ("Logos" and "Pathos") never really called to me. I had to discover them. Hell, I had to go out of my way to discover them! It was an insanely long process! This whole Achilles thing is just kinda falling into my lap.

I've looked online for information on Achilles and the myrmidons. I've read into the mythology about Achilles and his bloodline. I figure, if he is calling to me, then there must be a reason for it. But I've yet to figure it out. I wonder if there is a message he has for me that I still am not getting, or perhaps he is just calling to me for worship. I'm not sure. How does one go about worshipping an ancient Greek god anyway? This is all very new to me. I am not entirely sure how I feel about it yet. I looked online for pictures of Achilles, thinking that maybe having an image of him would help me understand this path he is calling me down. However, all the pictures I could find were either of ancient pottery items with carvings of Greeks (who knows which one he even is), digital made characters that look like they belong to some RPG website, or pictures of Brad Pitt playing Achilles in the movie "Troy." No help there.

I wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences. If so, and you stumble across this post, please share your experience in the comment section below!!

ALSO: a quick update. I am still planning to do a post on Yule with an infographic and photos of my altar. Things have been a bit crazy, so I haven't gotten to it yet. But I will, please have patience!