Pheonix Rysen

"A person's identity is defined as the totality of one's self-construal, in which how one construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in the future"; this allows for definitions of aspects of identity, such as: "One's ethnic identity is defined as that part of the totality of one's self-construal made up of those dimensions that express the continuity between one's construal of past ancestry and one's future aspirations in relation to ethnicity" - Unknown Up at really too early in the morning to be awake on my day off waiting for the over the counter pain meds to kick in so I can go back to sleep (60 hours delivering packages in a week does this for some odd reason) and I come across a video about a drummer loosing his hearing. Got me to thinking about Identity. Most experts view identity as your overarching sense and view

 I am an avid follower of Thorn Moony and her blog on Patheos.com/pagan, so naturally when she published a book it is in the must read column for me even though we do disagree an quite a few things.  Thorn set out to write an updated book for those seeking to join the Gardnerian Tradition, so they had an idea of what to expect. To this end she has mostly succeeded if you are looking for a sales pitch...  As people who are all long time members and learned witchcraft from the Gardnerian Tradition, Thorn is still dismissive of those who are not in her tradition in her writing. This dismissive attitude goes both ways really. Those not in a Tradition dismiss because "all the secrets" are on the internet. Thorn and those in the Tradition dismiss because without their way of doing things, initiation, elevation etc. they claim you are not getting all the secrets. Really that sounds like the Tradition brain washes people....  anyway ... It is rather hilarious that just recently Thor

 I am reading the pdf book "Advanced Goddess Theology" by Esra Free of the Cosmic Goddess Coven which is approximately 104 pages long.  The first thoughts that I had about the book was that this was/is a High Priestess I will either get along famously with or have some serious heavy debates with, but either way someone I would want to meet.  This book is an excellent one for delineating exactly the differences between the Wiccan point of view and the Middle Eastern point of view on deity. As Above, So Below is to be kept in mind for all things. Meaning that just as we would remove troublesome things from our bodies, so to will the Goddess remove troublesome things from herself. The other way around in regards to things that benefit. So to live "Correctly" according to this is to live in a manner that is a benefit to the Goddess. (I am using quotations on "Correctly" as everyone will interpret it differently based on their life experience and I am not wanti

 Just a little ramble that entered my head. Just what is the difference between keeping confidence or keeping a harmful secret? My opinion is in the words themselves. A secret is bad when it causes harm. However different people have different concepts on what is harmful, which causes no end of confusion. All I can do is share my go by. If it is not my story it is not mine to share

 Since the move and start of a new job ... all the new. I have noticed a few new (to my awareness anyway) things. I tend to forget more when I am overwhelmed. I go into this automatic mode. Things that I do regularly still function as everyone is accustomed to, but higher thinking does not happen. The first sign of it is I stop daily journaling and start eating the same foods. I also tend to be more of a people pleaser during an overwhelmed mode, saying yes to things I wouldn't normally or forgetting about things that would conflict with my ability to fulfill prior obligations or the new request. I am drawn to art more and want to create. Yet when it comes to the actual creation of art I either shut down completely or become overwhelmed to the point of tears. I don't know why. It is an improvement over prior, but still ... I don't have words. Dramatic art pieces or strong emotional music will bring tears to my eyes or cause a shut down. Best I can guess is something long br

 Basics of Religion In many religious traditions, the emphasis is not on belief, but rather it is on participation in ceremonies. Ceremonies are often about community, about bringing people together and reinforcing the heritage that binds them together. [2] Religion may best be understood as an evolved complex of traits incorporating cognitive, affective, behavioral, and developmental elements selected to solve an adaptive problem. [4] Structural Functionalism  Structural functionalism, in sociology and other social sciences, a school of thought according to which each of the institutions, relationships, roles, and norms that together constitute a society serves a purpose, and each is indispensable for the continued existence of the others and of society as a whole. In structural functionalism, social change is regarded as an adaptive response to some tension within the social system. When some part of an integrated social system changes, a tension between this and other parts of the s

 This is a conversation that I have had many times with various people; how Dungeons and Dragons' Character Alignment applies to life. Recently the conversation about how it applies to leaders and/or business owners has come up. You see the vast majority of the people out there are actually in the Good realm with some in the neutral realm, but to be a business leader you have to have some evil. After all every decision you make will ultimately impact someone some where negatively. With out the inclination or openness to evil you will eventually destroy yourself, not to say that evil doesn't find its own way to destroy itself, but with the evil inclination you will sleep better at night. What is interesting to watch is the Politicians of the country trying to make business / leadership into an area that Neutral or Good classifications can work and possibly succeed. Or give the appearance of this; which is in reality creating more Lawful Evil Character Alignments with high charis

 What they don't tell you about Initiation and Blood Magic. Everyone goes on and on about how wonderful their Initiation is/was. I have no doubt theirs was. Mine; however, was a nightmare waking. Due to the nature of mine I have a ... no words to describe it... different perspective of things. There are undoubtly differing opinions on why mine was such a ... experience. One I have been told was that I was not ready. At that time I had much to shed from prior life experiences, so possible; however the entire purpose of initiation is to birth a new person, so not quite buying it. It is a definite that the things I needed to shed contributed to some of the difficulties experienced; however I had help in making it the nightmare waking. But I am not here writing to expound on things I have written on prior, so back to the topic at hand. Blood Magic Blood Magic is the use of blood in magic; in short.  In many Wicca initiations the taking of a measure is common practice. ON this measure i

At work our head of security is moving on with life leaving a vacancy. Some coworkers, either intentionally or not, made sure to bring it to my attention. You see I have 18 years experience in Safety & Security with the appropriate experience for the job opening. There is one proplem however, the motorcycle accident that almost made me an amputee and has crippled me for life also taught me to trust again. You see there are certain fields of work out there that just make you less inclined to trust people. Security and Law Enforcement are just two of them. I would imagine that a certain level of management would also cause a learned responce of not trusting others. Having been in a role that my employees were just as apt to do wonderful things as there were to turn on me like a pack of rabid wolves and reporting to a board that was constantly looking for faults to explot for their personal agendas, I know for a fact that there are certain roles out there that will cause to you not

If you haven't noticed yet I use this blog as an open source Grimoire. It is fun for me to see how I progress through time, what topics I decide to share, etc. However of late the need and desire for an actual physical Grimoire has come about. At this time the only internet connection I have is a limited data plan on my cellular phone or the local public library. Unless I am willing to use a business' open internet connection meant for their customers and well that requires purchasing items in my mind which requires money, something that is not plentiful at this time. Having noticed the new features that Blogger.com is offering for my blog has helped me in making a decision on how I want to organize my physical Grimoire. As if it is a teaching tool type of book. Each of the following sections will have mini sections under them allowing me to add information to that area at the "end" of the section allowing for hopefully easier to find information. As one never truly s

Litha Pronounced: Li-tha Astrological Timing: 0* Cancer Calendar Timing: June 22 Sun Zodiac Sign: Cancer Sun Zodiac Sign Element: Water Sun Zodiac Sign Element Quality: Cardinal Moon Phase: Half to Full Also Known As: Midsummer History/Mythology: Here we are at Midsummer, we have arrived at the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Goddess is now full and pregnant with Child, and the Sun God is at the height of His virility. This is the peak of the Solar year and the Sun is at the height of its life-giving power. The Earth is awash with fertility and fulfillment and this is a time of joy and celebration, of expansiveness and the celebration of achievements. [3] Yet within this climax is the whisper and promise of a return to the Dark. As the Light reaches its peak so this is also the moment when the power of the Sun begins to wane. From now on the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer and we are drawn back into the Dark to complete the Wheel of the Year. [3] Nearly

Lughnasadh Pronounced: ˈluːnəsə, LOO-nə-sə Astrological Timing: 15* Leo Calendar Timing: August 1 Sun Zodiac Sign: Sun Zodiac Sign Element: Sun Zodiac Sign Element Quality: Moon Phase: Full Moon History/Mythology: At Lughnasadh we see the fields of corn being cut, and for some this is the true time of the festival. In the fields John Barleycorn, who laid with the Lady in the woods at Beltane, has grown old, and now stands bent and bearded with a crocked cane. He looks to the Sun as he has changed from green to gold, and he known that his time has come. His life will feed the people, and it is this sacrifice that we honour at Lughnasadh. [1] Also known as Lammas, or First Harvest, the name of this festival as Lughnasadh is Irish Gaelic for “Commemoration of Lugh”. Some authors give the meaning as marriage, gathering or feast (in the name of) of Lugh. The meaning remains basically the same: Lugh is the Deity of Lughnasadh, and there is a feast. [1] Although Lugh gives his name to this fe