Friday, March 1, 2013

Free Friday

What is magic?  and how is it different from religion?

I'm thinking about this a lot lately as I research for my thesis and try to unravel the intermingled and entangled idea of those things we call magic and religion in the ancient world and whether we really can separate and define them in such a way.  I guess in some sense this can be applied to today's society as well.  As much as we've been living with this division of magic and religion (Thank's Frazer) is there really this great divide?  The answer to that probably depends on how you define religion.  For myself I always think of big organized religions when I say the word and yet lately I've been becoming more aware that this definition really isn't accurate, that isn't what religion is.  Who decides what it is?  Society?  Because that really seems to be how this all works, that society comes to some agreement that religion is A and magic is B and superstition is some vague in between   This really doesn't help anything at all.  Sure people have worked hard to create definitions of religion but I've yet to really find one that works for me, I've yet to really succinctly define it or magic myself.  So I'm curious and I ask you to think, What is the difference?

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...


  1. My health, yey no longer having the flu :)
  2. Being greeted by my cat every evening asking for tummy rubs when I get home.
  3. Laughter and joking with my husband
  4. The moment of mental clarity last night when everything for my thesis finally clicked into place.
  5. Driving to work with the sun rising behind me and the moon setting ahead.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Rumi

Yes I know I missed yesterday's post - I have to be honest and say that when you spend all day and night researching magic and religion in the Greco-Roman world the last thing you want to do is write a theological post on your blog.  So I have to be honest with myself and say that maybe that particular weekly posting might get a little sporadic as my brain slowly melts out of my ears on the heavy stuff.


Today's Witchy Wednesday

(Source: http://forum.cafemontenegro.com/showthread.php?36980-Poetry-by-Rumi)

Wise words - then again I love Rumi.  But I post this for a reason.  Monday I actually partook of the wisdom (I believe T. Thorn Coyle is where I read it, although I'm sure others have said it) of taking the time to address those negative thoughts from the past that constantly re-enter your mind over and over again and embracing them, acknowledging them and figuring out what caused it, what I learned from it and then allow yourself to embrace it as part of your whole life experience and move on.  There are many thoughts that come to me on a regular basis regarding things I have done in my past that I do not like, things that bring me shame or just bother me and I often push them down, tell myself to get over it and let it go, never taking the time to deal with them.  Monday I tried the other way - and wow, what a difference.  It was something relatively small and not overly emotional (other than I felt stupid about it at the time and since) but I took the time to embrace it, discuss it and work with it and it no longer bothers me.  I actually deliberately made myself think about it the next day and I could view it with a sense of just a part of the larger journey.  Definitely applying this practice to the rest of these things as they emerge, although I'm certain that some will take more effort than others.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Back in the land of the living

Well it might have been the dreaded PCon Crud or it might have been I caught something from work but I've been off sick for the past week which is why there has been no posting.  So I'm trying to get back into the swing of this and thankfully today is relatively easy to work with.

A friend of mine posted this on FB and I thought it was incredibly wise and beautiful so I leave you with these words to ponder today.

This magnificent refuge is inside you.
Enter. Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway…
Be bold. Be humble.
Put away the incense and forget
the incantations they taught you.
Ask no permission from the authorities.
Close your eyes and follow your breath
to the still place that leads to the
invisible path that leads you home.
~ St. Theresa of Avila

Art by Julie Dillon