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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in fear
Dispel Your Fears: A Rite for Good Riddance

The world can overwhelm us at times with problems relating to work, illness, and all manner of problems that get in the way and want to stay. But these problems are not beyond your control! The ultimate best times to release bad luck and unwanted negative energies are immediately after a full moon or on any Friday the thirteenth.

For this spell, get yourself a big black candle, an obsidian sphere (or at least an obsidian crystal), a piece of white paper, a black ink pen, a cancellation stamp (readily available at any stationary store), and a big flat rock that is slightly concave in the center. Write on the paper what you wish to be freed from—this is your release request. Place the candle and the obsidian on the flat rock, and light the candle near an open window so the negative energy will leave your home. While the candle burns, intone:

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Prayer for Wholeness in Body and Spirit

 I pray: 

 

I will not live drawn and quartered by the hate and fear around me. I will not respond to hate and fear with hate and fear, thereby ripping my body apart myself, but will remain whole, loving, confident, present, and happy.

 

When in action, I will not be disjointed. I will be integrated.

 

When my arm reaches out—to give, to heal someone, to bless, to receive—God the Father’s hand supports my arm so its mere and insufficient human strength is upheld by His endless power.

 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    So profound. And so beautifully expressed. And so important to be reminded of at this time. Thank you.
  • Francesca De Grandis
    Francesca De Grandis says #
    Ted, thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment, more than you may know.

b2ap3_thumbnail_praybeads1_sm.jpgWhat makes you feel safe? What makes you feel tense and anxious? Does anything make you fear for you life? Most of us can answer that question, but how much sense does the answer make?

My mother was emotionally wounded by her relationship with my father. He was an alcoholic and cheated on her. When the feminist movement rose, she was primed for it.  I was raised to distrust  - and fear – men, which did nothing positive for my future relationships. My father’s abuse of me primed for fear of rape, and the ensuing divorce primed me to fear abandonment. I spent years in a chronic state of anxiety. Going out into the world always required an act of will. Some days I just couldn’t. My animals – horse, cats, dog – were my saving grace. My horse was why I left the house. He needed to be provided for, and the barn was a haven.

I was afraid of being catcalled, raped, having things come at me that I didn’t expect, loosing work (I had a housecleaning business) being audited, not being able to pay the bills, my boyfriend of the moment leaving me. Some of those things were under my control: ie the likelihood of my loosing work was reduced if I did a good job, the likelihood of being raped went down if I didn’t expose myself to certain situations (the reality of one never deserving to be raped is completely different from the statistical data about when and where it occurs), and I could spend less than I made. (generally I spent more. I had a HORSE.) Some things were not under my control: being catcalled, begin audited, and having unexpected things come at me (by definition).

But why fear some things but not others? I didn’t fear driving, and my likelihood of  being injured in a car accident was far higher than the likelihood that I would be audited, or raped (Are there statistics on catcalling in the 90s?) or even killed by fists or bunt object. I was not afraid of being shot - depsite the crime rate being higher back then than it is now. But then, we didn’t have the internet back then, and I didn’t own a TV.

Current brain science confirms that we are biased toward information that is negative. It is so basic to our biology that we don’t think about it. there are perfectly practical reasons for this. Nature is dangerous. It’s better for a clawless, furless primate to think that that rustle in the bushes is a leopard than to relax and ignore it, and  this trait work just as well when we are our own predators. But this trait is rotten for evaluating current actual threats. From the standpoint of human existence, we are barely off the savannah, but modern humans still have most of those instincts. This is generally a good thing. After all, when we get that feeling that something is wrong, we are well served to listen.

But it’s a bad thing when we use our fear to dictate what others should or should not do. Do as thou wilt, but harm none means that my rights end at your nose, and vice versa. There is no such thing as a right that forces others to do things for me, or that prevents others from doing as they please as long as they stay off my property and away from my person. Being afraid that my neighbor will do X (leaving aside for a moment the whole “attracting what you fear” thing) does not mean that I am morally justified in advocating for a law against X. First and foremost, I may be fearing a leopard, when its really a porcupine in the bushes, who would much rather be left alone.

Some things make us more afraid than we need to be based on how often the feared thing actually happens. I spent a lot of time ruminating on the things I feared. My brain made trenches with those thoughts that got deeper and deeper. Climbing out was hard. It became easier when I had a reason to climb out (my animals) and the comfort and reassurance of connection to deity. It also became easier when I learned to defend myself (ie a concrete action). External things can feed those fears. Media is an obvious example, but there are also likely to be people around us that wallow in such fears. My BIL is into prepping.* he talks often about society collapsing. As it happens, that was another thing I feared when I was in my teens (I read On The Beach and grew up during the cold war) and I had to get past that in order to function in the here and now. I can’t spend too much time chatting with him or he will draw me back into that fear.

Our biology biases us toward fear, but giving in to it is not a way to have a good life. I believe that the gods want better for us.

What do you fear? And how do you ease those fears? 

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Fearless

Those two boys are walking awfully close, I thought.

As they came nearer, I saw why.

They were holding hands.

 

Beep beep beep.

As the car went past, I saw that it was our coven's newest member.

Witch said the sticker on the bumper.

 

I raise my hand in salute to fearless youth.

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Spring’s Flowering: Baba Yaga and the Gift of the Winter Hag

For the past 6 months or so, I have been hosting a weekly Goddess Meditation at my healing centre. Using the beautiful and insightful Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky (gorgeous artwork by Hrana Janto) has quickly become a touchstone in the week for many of us who gather on a Wednesday afternoon to see which Goddess will present Herself to us and listen to what She has to say of where we are or what we may need address at this particular time in our lives. It has been an interesting process to observe which Goddesses appear and to see a pattern emerge. There have been times when we have had a slew of challenging Crone Goddesses and the past couple of weeks seen such a trend. But this is not a surprise. These are challenging times for many of us and, though these Goddesses can be a bit unnerving, they reflect a connection to the inner resolve and inner strength that can help see us through. 

Recently, Baba Yaga (Russian/Slavic) came to join us in the meditation circle. Baba Yaga, who rides in a mortar and lives in a cottage that runs through the forest on chicken legs, is certainly one of those Goddesses to make you sit up and take notice. Perhaps the best known of Her tales is the story of Vasilisa, a Cinderella-type tale.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Tiffany Lazic
    Tiffany Lazic says #
    Warm greetings, new blogger :-) I share a fascination with Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged home! Glad you enjoyed the piece. I sa
  • Tasha Halpert
    Tasha Halpert says #
    How nice of you to respond. I look forward to more posting and more reading on this site. What fun!
  • Tasha Halpert
    Tasha Halpert says #
    I have always enjoyed reading about Baba Yaga ever since I first encountered her as a young child in my Jack and Jill magazine. In

b2ap3_thumbnail_yonder.jpg

 

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Fear and the Wisdom of the Ancestors

 

The role of the Priestess is to not only walk between the worlds, but to merge them together, to take the 'as above so below' truths and bring them into one, solid, grounded focus.

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