Daily Practice Facilitator : WiseWitch Date : 12 October 1997

Red Deer:
Before we begin, please consider leading a session of Wicca 101... everyone has something to offer! To volunteer, E-mail me:
HUZD95A@prodigy.com
1) Please keep all BBs, MMs, MPs, and side-conversations in IM for the duration of class.
2) Please hold questions and comments until our facilitator opens the floor.
3) Should an exclusion be called, PLEASE cease talking to or about the excludee immediately (except in IM).
4) Would one or two who expect to attend the entire class please log for back-up?

Talli arc:
{---logging

LadyOfPeace:
{~~~logging

Red Deer:
thanks loggers
with that, I pass the besom to WiseWitch for an examination of "Daily Practice"

WiseWitch:
Okay!
Daily Practice - how much 'should' one do daily? Why should you do ANYTHING daily?

Celtic Air:
because we love the goddess

WiseWitch:
Oh - BTW - pop in with questions at will. If it gets overwhelming, I'll let y'all know. First, the whys.... some folks say that it's enough to 'just be open to inspiration from the God/dess/es. But, what does that mean, really? And, more than that, how does one do it?

JHeuer:
Doing anything daily? Many don't have the time,but I throw in a meditation-usually about 5 minutes max.

WiseWitch:
Being open, to me, means that you are experienced with trance states, that you are always looking for them God/dess/es and know how to hear them. Daily practice lets to do that. And being open means that you don't expect the God/dess/es to do ALL THE WORK, that you meet them halfway.

Celtic Air:
How DO you hear the goddess?

WiseWitch:
It's kind of like aerobics.

Trollfrog:
[how can you NOT... the ones troll knows get really pissed if you ignore em]

WiseWitch:
We all use oxygen, are aerobic beings. But with exercise/practice, you are better able to use oxygen... And when faced with a time that you have to want to use more oxygen - say running for a bus - your body responds in a trained way. So, too, with the spiritual. Daily practice prepares you to hear/listen to the
God/dess/es, and trains you to do it well. So, what is a really good amount of daily practice? Well, for ALL of us, it's more than we usually do [g] I'd say that about 15 hours a week is right - an average of a bit more than 2 hours a day.

JHeuer:
Many craft teachers offer various exercises for the mind and spirit. These are like physical exercises- -they take time, and practice- -but in the long run the benefits are well worth it, no?

LadyOfPeace:
Wise, what is your definition of Practice??

WiseWitch:
I'll be getting to that, Peace.

LadyOfPeace:
K :)

WiseWitch:
right, JH

ValkyrieFire:
2 hours a day?

Nuit Goddess:
can you name some specific exercises?

WiseWitch:
right, Val. 2 hours a day - not all at one time, but spread out.
sure will, Nuit

Cloudburst:
{--thinks aerobics analogy is right on{G}

Celtic Air:
2 hours at a time or bits here and there?

Nuit Goddess:
thank you

WiseWitch:
All sorts of things can be part of your daily practice. Meditation is one big part - it's basic to listening AND to trance work.

ValkyrieFire:
Yes, but there are ways to increase the oxygenation of the blood without straining or pushing and without training for 2 hours a day

Celtic Air:
I visualize/daydream does that qualify as practice?

WiseWitch:
Listening to Pagan music - I'm not talking Enya/Clanned here, but officially Pagan stuff,like Real Magic/Bonewits, Kiva, Tribe of the Spirit, etc.
Getting to that, Celtic!

JHeuer:
Celtic Air, visualization is a major part of magickal practice.

Mr Medieval:
I listen to celtic music all the time

WiseWitch:
Study is part of it - reading, making tapes to study or of visualizations, learning Tarot/runes/whatever, reading magazines - including Archeology ones

Celtic Air:
I can't find any pagan music so I listen to music like the tape "Pure Moods"

elmn8h8:
:::raising hand::i have that CD{S}

LadyOfPeace:
Celt...... find a Metahpysical shop or a Barns and Noble

WiseWitch:
Occult practice is part of it - spellcasting, daily offerings to the Gods, visualizations, etc. Planning your goals/work is part of it, too.

Celtic Air:
I have a question about offerings.. how can you offer them anything it all came from them, isn'

WiseWitch:
I'm not saying you'd necessarily do each of these things every day - but you'd cover them all in the course of a week.

Hart's Child:
they have pagan music at barnes and nobles?!?!?!?!

LadyOfPeace:
Yes Hart...... the ones in Texas do and they can order it also

WiseWitch:
Celtic, the idea is to offer them a gift for a gift, and give them honor and attention. Sacrifice

Hart's Child:
wow. I never knew

WiseWitch:
OTOH, I'd NOT say that preparations for High Day rituals are part of DAILY practice - that would be added. Say an hour a week. All of which explains why I have few students, no? [g]

Celtic Air:
What is a high day?

melilot:
no ww it's your personality {EG}

WiseWitch:
High Day - one of the 8 'Big Pagan Holy Days"
kissie kissie, Meli!

Red Deer:
Air - you attention is NOT already Theirs... you've been given the free will to do with is as you want

Celtic Air:
oh a sabbat!

Red Deer:
therefore, it is the one true gift you have to offer.

Cloudburst:
Good, hosty!

WiseWitch:
So, how does one fit all this stuff in to modern life?

Morven:
very good RED DEER - something of yourself

Mr Medieval:
I greet the God/Goddess every morn when the sun and moon share the sky

ValkyrieFire:
May I ask a silly question?

WiseWitch:
sure, Val

Red Deer:
just make sure it's silly

WiseWitch:
Great, Mr M

ValkyrieFire:
What is the result of the 15 hours, and of not doing them?

elmn8h8:
"the only silly question is the one that goes unasked"

Hart's Child:
so simply being conscious of the Goddess/God within is part of daily practice?

ValkyrieFire:
What if it's only 13? or 10?

Red Deer:
val - ever heard the expression

LadyOfPeace:
See I think trying to Live the REED and LAW every single day is Practice

WiseWitch:
Val for me, I find that if I put in this full amount - and this amount is my opinion of what it takes, not 'law', I hear the God/dess/es a heck of a lot more and grow more

Red Deer:
"you get what you pay for"?

ValkyrieFire:
okay, karma, isn't it Red Deer?

WiseWitch:
In my life, with work and family and CHAT [g], it all fits in bits a pieces here and there. I get up, and meditate 20 minutes (usually while the clothes wash)

LadyOfPeace:
Thats the problem Wise... making the time

ValkyrieFire:
I agree with Lady, now that I'm back in school, I am so busy, I have little time for anything anymore.

Cloudburst:
Peace, I'm hearing a system that doen's require finding time - more like using time that's already there

ValkyrieFire:
I meditate when I take a shower

MafiaMama3:
why is it so hard to make the time? who is more important to y'all than the god/goddess?

Mr Medieval:
yes but you can " think of the Lord and Lady ...while you are in your car, washing dishes

WiseWitch:
I hang the clothes, do household stuff, then exercise - while I exercise I listen to Pagan tapes - another 20-40 minutes there.

ValkyrieFire:
I do listen to music and I also study... my two theses are on Wicca

MafiaMama3:
exactly, targe

ValkyrieFire:
but I don't ever count the hours

WiseWitch:
I listen to tapes while driving to work - not every day, mind you, sometimes I don't have a car with a cassette player!

JHeuer:
Making the time is the big problem these days- -with people's busy schedules. So whatever time one can make is of course better than not making any time at all.

WiseWitch:
I listen to tapes/CDs while ironing and doing dishes. I do planning and evaluation while my son does his homework - that can be interrupted without problems.

Xori:
with practice, it becomes a way of life, something that fills our every day things

LadyOfPeace:
Ok... I am up at 6 and get the kids off to school by 7... then I work till 2:30 and pick the kids up and home... then homework, supper, reading and time with kids and baths and then to bed... by then it is 9 or 10

WiseWitch:
After he's asleep I can make tapes of meditations or tarot cards or whatever

Xori:
it becomes part of our nature, of our being

ValkyrieFire:
I have class... my teachers would get peeved if I meditated in class... then I have homework, and my volunteer work, and my discussion group

WiseWitch:
I can do a visualization tape just before bed.I can read in bed I can read on my lunch hour from work

Hart's Child:
a visualization tape?

WiseWitch:
And I have classes thru my grove three times a month.

JHeuer:
You can play most meditation tapes just after you have gone to bed, let the recorder shut itself off by itself.

Cloudburst:
Peace, what you're thinking about while you do things like cook supper DOES count...{G}

WiseWitch:
right, Harts - I have tapes of pathworkings - Kaballah, of exercises from Motherwit, etc.

Mr Medieval:
looking at pix of our gatherings .... bring back the circle to my mind and heart

Nestor11:
also you can review ideas or your concepts on the commute to work too

LadyOfPeace:
It will be so much easier after Peacemkr and I are handfasted

WiseWitch:
And lets not forget the joys and challenges of Sacred Sex as part of your practice!

ValkyrieFire:
so it's not necessarily a 100% undivided attention 15 hours?

Mr Medieval:
Greenfire is a good book for that WW

Cloudburst:
you got it, Val

WiseWitch:
right, Val - it can be combined with other things.

FyreFlye:
Don't forget cooking... you don't have to think about something else--even your practice. You can make it part of your practice.

ValkyrieFire:
then how much undivided attention?

WiseWitch:
I do spell practice as I iron, often

Cloudburst:
gardening same, FyreFlye

WiseWitch:
some things need more attention, Val - music takes less, trance work takes full attention

ValkyrieFire:
I know I'd be pissed if people ever thought of me in passing and never called, or chatted

Nestor11:
And also remember that your job can be a sacred action too - - and the different God and Goddess are partial to different occupations!

Mr Medieval:
as I make my walking staff/s I listen to celtic or goddess music ...and spell work as I make them

ValkyrieFire:
oh? There's a goddess for beurocratic bullshit?

ValkyrieFire:
;-}

Xori:
if I may give an example - we all have colds here, and as I was cooking our dinner stew, I added a little something along with the spices :)

WiseWitch:
Right, Nestor - and you can take cues from things at work to direct your mind to the God/dess/es. Say - a quick prayer each time you get a cup of coffee.

Cloudburst:
{G} Nes, what of my job isn't sacred action takes so little concentration I can practice while I do it{G}

FyreFlye:
Thanks Xori . . . that's what I meant about cooking, I just didn't express it well

Nestor11:
you can make it a sacred action by invoking the special God and Goddess who is special to that function before you start your job

MafiaMama3:
a class on daily practice

WiseWitch:
Today was a day I didn't get much time in - only 30 minutes so far today - a 20 minute med and 10 minutes listening to music as I washed dishes.But yesterday I got 2 1/2 hours in, and I got

Nestor11:
for example --It is not at all unknown for me to pray and invoke Apollo and Herme before I submit a new program on the computer

WiseWitch:
3 1/2 hours in the day before. It will vary, day by day, the object is to average a really good amount a week.

Mr Medieval:
I pray to them everyday at work .... not to kill the boss's daughter that works there .... LOL

Red Deer:
don't forget the hour for teaching tonight WW

Hart's Child:
so what is more important? The # of hours or the quality of the time?

WiseWitch:
Red Deer, this hour I'm not taking for MY practice - when I attend class here I count it more than if I teach.
Both, Harts.
Just like in sex, Hart's [g]
darn screen freezes!

moonListener:
good point HC

FyreFlye:
Hart's, I find that the specific activity matters,too. I've been reading more than journaling my thoughts and discoveries lately, and while the reading is good, I miss the reflection.

Cloudburst:
Hart, the really important thing IMO is to build practices into everything you do so you don't have to count hours{G}

Nestor11:
Well Hart many of the orignal pagans ( in ancient times ) was and followed the Goddesses and Gods in every aspect of their daily life

ValkyrieFire:
oh?

Nestor11:
so all time was sacred time and all actions were quality action for they were dedicated to the gods

ValkyrieFire:
Nes, what ancient pagan are we talking about, and how do we know?

Hart's Child:
definitely food for thought

WiseWitch:
Some folks say that it's harder to 'connect' with they God/dess/es in today's industrialized world. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. But by making sure that we spend time daily

Nestor11:
well I am espcially taking about the ancient Greeks and Romans

ValkyrieFire:
the whole farging world was pagan 6,000 years ago

WiseWitch:
INVITING them in, we know we are doing what we can to connect.

Nestor11:
and the Egyptians were the same as were the persians, Hittiles, Assyrians, Babyloians etc

Mr Medieval:
and the picts as well Nestor

ValkyrieFire:
and what evidence do we have?

Nestor11:
yes the Picts, Celts, Norse, Slavs
VF - there are sacred calendars remaining

Mr Medieval:
in their writings, songs

Nestor11:
and they tie into the civil calenders too

WiseWitch:
Now, let's go into PLANNING as part of daily practice for a bit, if no one objects

ValkyrieFire:
mmhmm, whatever

Cloudburst:
IMO, the fact that Pagan languages tend to have words for "god/s" but not "religion" speaks for itself. Sacred not separate.

MafiaMama3:
why do u need evidence? what about your faith in the religion and what it teaches of them, val?

Cloudburst:
Makes a pretty good goal for us, too

ValkyrieFire:
and which writings and songs survived Targe? The ones not burned, and the ones not Christianized? And the ones not interpreted by "witchful" thinking?

Mr Medieval:
they weren't in scotland

Nestor11:
well VF --we can start with Hesiod Homeric hymns and some of the Egyptian hymns and then you get to Ovid in Latin

Cloudburst:
Go for it, WW

WiseWitch:
I think that the debate over paleopagan practices is a bit off the topic of today's daily practice, okay, darlings?

ValkyrieFire:
oh right, the Scots kept their ways of life and never burned witches...uh huh

Nestor11:
As you wish My lady Wise Witch

Cloudburst:
Dang tootin'. If we do more daily practice we need less "proof", IMHO of course

PAniteowl:
Start talking WW {G}

WiseWitch:
I see setting goals as a really important thing in our lives in general, and in this area as well.

Mr Medieval:
ok WW... does just sittin under a tree and FEELING the energy of the earth count towards the hours?

Xori:
I agree Cloud

WiseWitch:
Sure, Targe!

elmn8h8:
::raising eyebrow::

WiseWitch:
So, PLAN YOUR WORK!
Oh, not every minute, but set overall goals. Get your book lists together, and organized. Decide what you want to learn, and how to learn it.

WiseWitch:
In my case, I want to get more deeply into Tarot cards, so I've made a plan and worked it into my daily practice.

JHeuer:
It generally helps in this day and age if we make some degree of overall planning, but always remaining flexible enough with it to accomodate such things as daily events around us?

ValkyrieFire:
I guess my main problem is that I do value academia very highly

Mr Medieval:
stones are my main thing to learn... they hold a great deal of energy

Hart's Child:
I have trouble working stuff in around school, too

Aaleph:
crystal healing is my forte

WiseWitch:
so, I made a plan - organized the books I have, identify where each card is covered in each of them, and make tapes to listen to as I drive to work with each card organized on the tape. It took a week to just get the Major Arcana list together - I found I have 13 books on Tarot cards! [g] Now, it's gonna take me WEEKS to make the cassette tapes.

Hart's Child:
you remind me of my mother WW! : ) She is SO organized.

Mr Medieval:
must be a long drive to work WW :)

WiseWitch:
I'll do that for at least 4 hours a week. it's only 20-30 minutes, Targe, but this is a long term goal. I should have the Tarot NAILED in a year. But I'll still be working on shorter-term things, like meditations, like fortnightly BIG visualizations, etc, in that time

FyreFlye:
I've found I was overwhelmed trying to work with so many books at once . . . now i limit myself to a handful at a time, which still gives good cross-perspective. But you're right, it takes a little planning to keep up with it.

Mr Medieval:
I take a book at a time .... make notes

WiseWitch:
And I'll still be reading the magazines as they come in, and meditating, and so on. Other long term stuff I've done has included a year each on Elements, back when I was Wiccan. Think of spending a year on Water.....conserving it in every way around the house, every use of it being a meditation, etc.
every cup of ANY liquid drunk a meditation

Cloudburst:
Oooh...who can I assign THAT to?

LadyOfPeace:
Right up my alley WW

Mr Medieval:
in my old job... every thing I did was like that WW... trying to heal the earth

Cloudburst:
I did Water this year. Soemthing to do with the drought - suddenly every waste was a disaster and every drip from the A/C was sacred

WiseWitch:
Which for no reason reminds me - how DID I get my 15 hours a week - it's simple - 10% of my time, sleeping and awake! that's why 15, not 10 hours, not 40 hours.

PAniteowl:
hehehe .. WW is "tithing" time {G}

ValkyrieFire:
10% of 24 hours

WiseWitch:
Why not, Owlie? They probably stole the idea from us [g]

ValkyrieFire:
and that is more than 15 hours

Cloudburst:
I suspect WW is more than tithing - 15's just the official # {G}

PAniteowl:
LOL .. Yep WW & Cloud {G}

melilot:
geeeeeee...this pagan thing is a lot of work can't i just give money and be done with it {EG}

moonListener:
lol Meli

Cloudburst:
Wrong outfit, meli{G}

Red Deer:
actually, WW, 15 hours is more like 9%...

WiseWitch:
Val, I round things off.

MafiaMama3:
uh oh, sounds too christian to me, meli

Red Deer:
which is a "sacred" number

PAniteowl:
ahhh .. Meli wants to be a Lazy Witch {G}

melilot:
hehehehehe pa

FyreFlye:
You make an important point, WW. I think what's easy to forget is that it's not just quantity and combining it with other things, but making it a priority for focused attention above other things, too.

drawers:
how can i become a pagan?

FyreFlye:
Listen and learn, drawers {s}

drawers:
ok

WiseWitch:
LOL Drawers - the point of this class is that the answer is "practice, practice, practice! "

MafiaMama3:
and if u have a calling to believe paganism, u will know it

melilot:
well first drawers you need to give a teacher..like me 15% of your monthly income {EG}

Cloudburst:
Good one, Fyre. My biggest problem isn't doing it all the time, it's doing it in a focussed way - something that takes 1/2 hour of total focus is harder to manage than attention to Water

WiseWitch:
So, just cuz I'm curious - what are everyone's long-range plans?

JHeuer:
Drawers, many answers can only be found within.

Mr Medieval:
WW the main thing right now for me is working with mind and body to heal myself ... got toxic chems in every major organ in my body .... I think I am working more than 15 hours a week

FyreFlye:
Another good point WW made is that 15 hours works for her . . . my time needs are different because my life has recently switched gears, and I'm working out the amount of time that works for me

WiseWitch:
okay, Targe.

Cloudburst:
{- working on finding the focus time to learn runes, and slowly building up a collection of sticks a la Marian Green

Hart's Child:
I have a very short attention span, & find it very difficult to meditate for extended periods of time w/o my mind wandering

Red Deer:
to enjoy every moment of life to the fullest WW

melilot:
i'm planning on working on my healing arts and learning more about cronage ww

JHeuer:
This happens to me too, Hart.

MafiaMama3:
{===trying to figure out exactly what my path is,ww...

LadyOfPeace:
Its that Pisces in us Hart {EG}

melilot:
that's a given hosty {EG}

Red Deer:
meditation is one of the best ways to INCREASE your attention span hart

PAniteowl:
I've taken on more "teaching", but that also means I have to study more in order to prepare for classes ...

WiseWitch:
See, the problem with not knowing where you're trying to go is that unknowing is exactly where you're likely to end up [g]

Red Deer:
'tis also an important aspect of pagan practice meli

Hart's Child:
any suggestions for keeping my mind on track?

FyreFlye:
To more fully articulate my beliefs in order to build a daily and seasonal practice that works for me, WW

Nuit Goddess:
I'm planning on learning and practicing with my tarot cards

Cloudburst:
Hosty's right, Hart - start very short, and work up

Red Deer:
hart... just remember, your mind is a river

MafiaMama3:
am working on it, ww

melilot:
yes hosty but for the two of us it's like a sacred calling {EG}

Red Deer:
and each thought is a leaf floating upon it

Cloudburst:
You can even set your little kitchen timer for 5 minutes to begin with

Red Deer:
sometimes a leaf will capture your attention, when you become aware that it has, let it go

WiseWitch:
That would be wonderful, Owl!

LadyOfPeace:
WW I want to bring my Empathic powers to their full potential

FyreFlye:
As far as goals go, it's important to keep trying things while you're en route to the "ultimate" or "correct" answer. In other words, don't skip a particular activity just because you're planning to come up with your own way of doing it.

melilot:
ladyp becareful what you want {G}

PAniteowl:
{G} .. Listen to Meli, Ladyp {G}

LadyOfPeace:
I know Meli....... I am practicing my Shielding also {G}

melilot:
i'd add to that and to learn the control needed to avoid harming myself

Mr Medieval:
be careful Lady... mine are... it took me awhile to release what I pulled in... was burning me out

FyreFlye:
Sounds like a lot of people here are concentrating on tarot... me too...

Red Deer:
well folk, Ive got 10 P

WiseWitch:
just yourself, Meli?????

Red Deer:
thanks for a wonderful discussion {{{WW}}

melilot:
with empathic ww your feeling others the harm can mostly come from not being able to turn it off

Xori: I agree with meli - a big lesson I've been learning lately

Red Deer:
and we can keep on till the cows come home mama {g} but I can't keep it as formally class

LadyOfPeace:
I know how to release MrM... I need to see where it takes me

WiseWitch:
Well, I'm glad you all could make it to class! Thanks for coming!

LadyOfPeace:
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{WW}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Thank you Sweetie

melilot:
thanks for a wonderful class you old witch {G}