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Meditation Malfunction
There are times I have a lot of trouble meditating. I can’t seem to get myself to that ‘no thought’ or ‘no mind’ frame and just can’t fully meditate.
I’m not ADD. I can focus without force! I just can’t simply meditate any old time I want.
The very first time I was almost into a totally meditative state a sudden thought came to mind.
Wow. It takes twice as long to exhale as it does to inhale. I wonder why that is!
I was so very frustrated. I was so close!
It took quite a long time before I realized that meditation isn’t always about getting to that empty state. Sometimes it’s just about relaxing so you can refocus. Relaxation doesn’t have to be unproductive. You don’t need two hours in a room thick with incense smoke and soft music. Maybe you just need a cup of tea and a hot bath.
There’s no wrong way to meditate. I’ve also found there’s no right way, either. If you’re determined to meditate – try out different things!
Here is a favorite of mine to listen to while bathing, meditating, relaxing.
Dream Interpretation
Dreams are amazing. They are a harmless way for us to play out our desires, fears, and just experience things we otherwise wouldn’t be able to (like flying).
Dreams can be literal or symbolic. Some folks are stuck asking “What does it mean?”. I do that sometimes too! Sometimes dreams are so bizarre that everything has to be a metaphor. Surely I don’t literally want to be a manatee (okay honestly I do) but what are the correspondences?
If I have absolutely no idea – I will traipse over to one of my favorite dream interpretation dictory sites and look it up. http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary – Dream Moods Dictionary says this for a manatee:
To see a manatee in your dream represents your passiveness in a situation. You are lacking ambition and drive. Alternatively, it represents someone in your life who is lazy, slow or gentle.
I’ve even had dreams that I’m a man with a constantly erect penis and am baffled that no one is offended or saying anything about it.
Dreams can be silly, meaningful, mournful, beautiful – and they are all unique to each person. This is something that I always hope to explore more but rarely get the opportunity.
On the rare occasion when my dreams are so detailed I am questioning whether I am awake and in reality – I will always wake up with a debilitating migraine. When something in my mind clicks and I do realize I’m in a dream – I will start to bend a shape the dream and make it even more ridiculous. Why not? I’m going to have a migraine anyway, so I might as well have fun!
Path Searching
I have had lots of friend ask me:
How did you find your path?
Honestly? I just tried a bunch of stuff until something just felt right.
As a pre teen in the mid 90s I started out reading books about Wicca. I still own some of those books. There were things that resonated with me, but there were things which didn’t also.
A couple years later I looked into some Germanic and Heathen paths. Some of it sounded super cool. I was really interested in Norse mythology. However, it didn’t stick. The way things ‘went down’ just didn’t jive with me. No embodiment of the Lord and Lady spoke to me.
In the early 2000s I was introduced to a woman who simply called herself a wisewomyn. Sometimes she’d refer to herself as a hedgewitch. Now – this woman knew her shit. She knew every possible thing there was to know about herbs and dirt. How did she learn it? This is what she told me:
Well I looked up all the shit that was poisonous. I stayed away from everything toxic. Everything else I ate, drank, or used until I could determine its use. Then I wrote it down.
I said to her: They make books for that.
Her answer:
You think I’m going to let someone else tell me what works and what don’t?
To this DAY that is my advice to everyone. Don’t let someone tell you what works and what don’t. Try it. If it works or if it feels right – adopt it and shape it into something that is yours.
I understand that sometimes we have to be exposed to something new in order to try it to begin with – but don’t be afraid to try it. No one person is exactly right.
Here’s an idea:
Try casting your circle differently.
Typically it is: East-Air … South-Fire …. West-Water … North-Earth
Try it this way: East-Earth … South-Fire … West-Water .. North-Air
Why North as air?
Because the cold is blown in from the North every winter 🙂
Does anyone else do it this way? I’m sure someone does. I think each person needs to decide what element goes with what direction and what it means to them. I think each person should decide what everything means to them!
Is there something that you know you do differently? For example: I read tarot cards. However, I have never read a ‘how to’ book. I know that each card is supposed to have a meaning but I can’t for the LIFE of me tell you what each card means. Instead – I rely on my intuition and the order of the cards as they are pulled along with the pictures on the cards to tell me a story that I then relay to the person getting the reading 🙂
Does anyone else do this? Or do you do something similar? What things work for you that you don’t think would work for anyone else?
TotallyPagan 