What are the spirits and gods to you? Are they archetypes? Are they integral to your practice? Are they an afterthought?
All my life I have seen animal / nature spirits and gods as Real. Not archetypes. They each have their own personality, their own strengths, and their own weaknesses. Some get offended easily or are more "gruffy"; others can be very forgiving and nurturing.
Seeing them as Real is not a leap for me because when I was a child, I talked to inanimate objects (stuffed animals) because I felt they had deep within a substance of identity...a personality. I still have this habit as an adult. I "talk" to my stuffed animal killer whale who makes a great cuddler when I sleep. I "talk" to the printer when it begin malfunctioning: soothing it, listening to it, telling it I appreciate all the hard work it's done, and promise to get a repair guy in soon. And then it will work perfectly for me. I "talk" to my car all the time. Tell her how awesome she is and thank her for drudging me up to Beltane and back safely. I "talk" to my computer. The list goes on.
Of course I'm NOT saying my gods / animal guides are inanimate objects. LOL! Eee-gads no! But you get where I'm coming from. They are very integral in my practice.
HOWEVER, as I have recently learned, what has been an afterthought for quite a few years to me are the ELEMENTS. When one studies Wicca 101, they are instructed as to what each element represents. Every circle I cast, I call upon them, but I never truly KNEW them. It was like throwing a big party and inviting them, but only letting them reach the door because they weren't "cool" enough like the Gods to come on in. So one would shove plates of hours'dourves to them under the front door before being dismissed.
I never gave them proper credit. I unintentionally saw the Elements as tools, not proper spirits. So now when I call upon my Elemental Totems, I acknowledge their power and their place in my life.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-05-06 04:49 pm (UTC)All my life I have seen animal / nature spirits and gods as Real. Not archetypes. They each have their own personality, their own strengths, and their own weaknesses. Some get offended easily or are more "gruffy"; others can be very forgiving and nurturing.
Seeing them as Real is not a leap for me because when I was a child, I talked to inanimate objects (stuffed animals) because I felt they had deep within a substance of identity...a personality. I still have this habit as an adult. I "talk" to my stuffed animal killer whale who makes a great cuddler when I sleep. I "talk" to the printer when it begin malfunctioning: soothing it, listening to it, telling it I appreciate all the hard work it's done, and promise to get a repair guy in soon. And then it will work perfectly for me. I "talk" to my car all the time. Tell her how awesome she is and thank her for drudging me up to Beltane and back safely. I "talk" to my computer. The list goes on.
Of course I'm NOT saying my gods / animal guides are inanimate objects. LOL! Eee-gads no! But you get where I'm coming from. They are very integral in my practice.
HOWEVER, as I have recently learned, what has been an afterthought for quite a few years to me are the ELEMENTS. When one studies Wicca 101, they are instructed as to what each element represents. Every circle I cast, I call upon them, but I never truly KNEW them. It was like throwing a big party and inviting them, but only letting them reach the door because they weren't "cool" enough like the Gods to come on in. So one would shove plates of hours'dourves to them under the front door before being dismissed.
I never gave them proper credit. I unintentionally saw the Elements as tools, not proper spirits. So now when I call upon my Elemental Totems, I acknowledge their power and their place in my life.