Birthday Competition

 

 

A little birthday treat up for grabs and open to all members.

But there is a catch!! 🙂

We will be looking for a new theme once Samhain is over and this is a chance to get more involved with the site.

So, you can submit suggestions or a theme made especially for the site.

WINNERS:

If you are a non-pro member and your suggestion wins then you will get a FREE PRO MEMBERSHIP to the site, access to pro members group and a FREE EMAIL BOX and some FREE ADVERTISING if you have your own site!!!!!!

If you are a winning Pro Member then you will receive $30.00 payable through paypal!!!

Post all suggestions in this discussion only, if you post elsewhere on the site it will not be accepted.

This competition is closed to site admins.

Blessed Be
Trinity )O(

The Charge of the Crone

 

Hear the words of the Dark Goddess who stands within the
crossroads, whose torch illuminates the Underworld: 

I am the Queen of Magic and the dark of the Moon, hidden inthe deepest night.

I am the mystery of the Otherworld and the fear that coils about your heart in the time of your trials.

  I  am the soul of nature that gives form to the universe; it is I who await you at the end of the spiral dance. 

Most ancient among gods and mortals, let my worship be within the heart that has truly tasted life, for behold all acts of magic and art are my pleasure and my greatest ritual is love itself. 

Therefore let there be beauty in your strength, compassion in your wrath, power in your humility, and discipline balanced through mirth and reverence.

You who seek to remove my veil and behold my true face, know that all your questioning and efforts are for nothing, and all
your lust and desires shall avail you not at all. For unless you
know my mystery, look wherever you will, it will elude you, for it is within you and nowhere else.

For behold, I have ever been with you, from the very beginning, the comforting hand that nurtured you in the dawn of life, and the loving embrace that awaits you at the end of each life, for I am that which is attained at the end of the dance, and I am the womb of new beginnings, as yet unimagined and unknown.

 

By James  Garrison

http://studioraziel.wordpress.com/

 

Invocation To The Goddess

 

 

 

Whenever ye have need of any thing,
once in the month,
and better it be when the moon is full,
then shall ye assemble in some secret place, and adore the spirit of me,
who am Queen of all witches.

There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery,
yet have not won its deepest secrets;
to these will I teach things that are as yet unknown.

 

 

And ye shall be free from slavery;
and as a sign that ye be really free,
ye shall be naked in your rites;
and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love,all in my praise.
For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit,
and mine also is joy on earth;
for my law is love unto all beings.

 

Keep pure your highest ideal;
strive ever towards it, let naught stop you or turn you aside;
for mine is the secret door which opens upon the land of youth,
and mine is the cup of wine of life,
and the cauldron of Cerridwen,
which is the Holy Grail of immortality.

 

 

I am the gracious Goddess,
who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man.
Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal;
and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom,
and reunion with those who have gone before.

 

 

Nor do I demand sacrifice;
for behold, I am the Mother of all living,
and my love is poured out upon the earth.

 

 

Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess;
she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven,
whose body encircles the universe.

I who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon upon the mysteries of the waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.

For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.
From me all things proceed and unto me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold,
all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength,
power and compassion,
honor and humility,
mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know me,
know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not,
unless you know the Mystery:
for if that which you seek,
you find not within yourself,
you will never find it without.

For behold,
I have been with you from the beginning,
and I am that which is attained
at the end of desire.

 

Anubis

 

 

Judge of the Dead 

Pantheon: Egyptian  

Element: Earth

Sphere of Influence: Judgement and Death

Preferred colors:Green, Black

Associated symbol: Black Jackal, Number 9

Animals associated with:Jackal , Dog

Best day to work with Wednesday

Strongest around Samhain

Suitable offerings:Green Feldspar

Associated Planet: Mercury

  

The souls of the dead are protected on their journey to the halls of judgement by Anubis, son of Osiris and Nepthys. He is the guardian of cemeteries and sacred places. Anubis, whose hieroglyphic name more closely translates as Anpu, is the Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian God of death and dying, and sometimes God of the Underworld. His mother is Hesat or Bastet with an unknown father, or Nephthys, and his father is variously said to be Set (god)|Set, Ra or Osiris. His daughter is Qeb-hwt, also known as Kebechet. In later times, Anubis was combined with the Greek mythology|Greek god Hermes to form Hermanubis. 

The center of his cult was in Cynopolis. He has the head of a jackal or some other kind of dog, and the jackal is his symbol. The jackal imagery is related to Anubis role among the Deities of Egypt, as the jackal is a scavenger and is strongly associated with death and dying. He was also know as the Guardian of the Dead. In art, he is depicted as a man with a canine head and alert ears, often wearing a ribbon and wielding a whip (implement)|whip.   

Papio anubis is the scientific name for the savannah baboon. The name is taken from Anubis because the baboon is commonly thought of as dog-headed. 

Alternative: Ienpw, Anpu, Yinepu, Imy-ut 

Anubis is worshiped today by some Neopaganism|Neopagans.

In Book xi of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, we find evidence that the worship of Anubis was maintained in Rome at least up to the 2nd century.

Anubis is closely related to Ap-uat, another god whose symbol is the jackal, and who for many years was thought to be just another name for Anubis.

Worship of Anubis is likely older even than that of Osiris. The Unas text (line 70) associates him with the Eye of Horus. In the Book of the Dead, he embalms the body of Osiris, wraps it in linens made by Isis and Nepthys, and protects the body by laying his bare hands on it.

In his embalming role, Anubis is known as Imy-ut (“he who is in the place where embalming occurs”). He guards the physical remains of bodies, as well as the tombs and necropoli.

Anubis was originally the lord of the underworld, however following the rise of the cult of Osiris he becomes the gatekeeper. In the Horus story he stands down his position out of respect for Osiris in order to allow him to take over. Anubis role as gate keeper was primarily that of either holding or watching the scales with which the souls of the dead were weighted against the feather of Maat. If the soul was as light as the feather, Anubis led the soul to Osiris; otherwise, it was fed to Ammit.