Category: Spirituality/Paganism & Magick

A brief summary of what pagans are, what paganism is, and the basic beliefs, aimed at non-pagan readers.

There are almost as many denominations to Paganism as there are to Christianity. Within Paganism, there are a large variety of beliefs, dieties, and concepts. However, we (much like Christianity) have certain core values and beliefs that are central to paganism. Some of our core beliefs include:

• Respect For Nature
• A Belief in Harming None (including both yourself and others!)
• Belief in Deity or Deities (differs depending on denomination)
• Mutual Respect for All Life
• A Belief in "Magick"

Before you decide that Wicca is your path, check out Rose Ariadne's checklist on what it means to be a witch.

"A caped dark figure moves through the trees into a clearing in the wood. She stops in front of an altar prepared in readiness for her arrival and lights the three votive candles on its surface. When the third candle is lit, torches as if by magick, are lit at the edge of the clearing and more hooded figures enter the circle of light. She turns to look at them, where they are now standing quietly in the circle waiting. She lifts back her hood and loosens the cape, allowing it to fall her feet. In the flickering light the sickle moon on her forehead is clearly visible. The pentacle around her neck glistens as she gracefully walks to the centre. She is a teenage witch - high priestess of her coven." -- Lady Sirius.

Is it this drama and intrigue capturing your imagination? Is it the glamour and the mystery? Or is it simply the desire to get that amazingly sexy quarterback in the football team to fall in love you?

by Michael - LightLounge Guy

Understanding time, at least philosophically, is difficult. By experience, we know that the past does not exist. If you've enjoyed a weekend get-away, then you know that the day after you return, the trip has dissolved into no more than a perforated, tissue-thin memory - dream-like at best. Looking in the opposite temporal direction, we know the future is no more than a hope or a fear. When we wake up in the morning, it is still now. We can wait forever, but tomorrow never arrives. Regardless of what the clock or calendar says, the time is always Now.

The shamanic journey is common to all cultures (even European) and the nature of the journey is remarkably similar, even in cultures widely separated by era and geography. In the spirit world, both time and place are illusions. The lessons from the other worlds are universally true, drawing from a collective consciousness that is accessible to all.

Cross-culturally, there is a common belief in spiritual help that is witnessed as an intervention from a non-physical realm into the physical realm that transcends, changes, or heals. This non-physical realm is where the spirits dwell.

In case you don't know, Terrance McKenna was a 60s era visionary genius. With his brother, he wrote the definitive text on psilocybin mushrooms. More important are his works on the I-Ching and on his discovery that the future determines the past just as much as the past determines the future...

Recently passed philosopher, scientist (and some may say, eccentric) Terrance McKenna was a complex man with a complex theory that ended in a simple statement: December of 2012 will be a time that we will never forget.

Writer Robina Hearle spins a charming tale of an encounter with a helpful deva, who first came to her in a dream. This deva has continued to help Ms. Hearle and her sister with their healing practices.

I have had the privilege of seeing a Deva; this has enabled me to teach others by way of this story.

I was driving home one day after visiting my sister Sue, musing to myself that it was about time we held a workshop. The subject that seemed so obvious was The Healing of the Inner child, as we constantly talked to our respective clients about the importance of this issue. (We both work as Reiki Masters and Spiritual Healers facilitating others to heal themselves.) I made a mental note of my thoughts to tell her, needless to say I forgot about it.

December 21, 2012 marks the end of the Mayan Calendar, a date many believe marks the end of the world. However, author L.A. Panchuk, after years of research, says the date may have other meanings.

In exploring the areas of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala in 2006 and 2007, author L.A. Panchuk toured and documented the local Mayan folklore stories of old and recorded the great question of their Calendar and its meanings. What he discovered shocked him and created a document that he says now points to several different possibilities to the meaning of the Mayan Calendar.

The entire physical universe is a holographic projection of light from a single point out of nowhere that became everywhere. A hologram is created by the merging of two perpendicular laser beams with an image on a photographic plate and projecting it outwards as a three dimensional form of light. Physical matter is made of electron with its antimatter counterpart known as the positron. The electron-positron pair are formed from the merging of two photons or light particles.

The Big Bang is the theory about how the physical universe began. It is assumed that in the beginning, all matter in the universe was compacted to a very dense point in spacetime known as a singularity. When the extreme mass of intense gravitational pressure could no longer contain itself, it exploded and released itself in all directions, thus causing what we define as the Big Bang. Scientist do not know where did the singularity come from, but the truth about the Big Bang is different from what they think.

Tarot card reading is simple. In 10 easy steps, anyone can do their own personal tarot card reading.

Tarot card reading is simple.

Imagine you can see auras. People, plants, animals and inanimate objects appear to radiate a resplendent light. As you examine the colors and shapes of this light you begin to hear a voice inside you that guides you to understand the meaning of the colors and how they relate to the subject around which the aura emanates. Practice this imaginative process and begin to test the results of your perceptions. At first you may not seem to be getting accurate information, but with dedicated practice your imagination may result in the actual ability to see auras and divine real meaning through your new perceptions.

Auras appear to be artifacts of our interactions with all of the rest of creation to manifest what we need in our world. Auras are a sort of visual key to understanding the negotiation or mediation processes between our conscious, subconscious and unconscious desires and our collective super-consciousness which is our link with creation whereby all our dreams are made manifest.