Pheonix Rysen

 There was a time when I had to read all the newest blog posts from all the bloggers out there, that time is not now. There was a time when I would chase new information and fall into every rabbit hole out there for paganism, that time is not now. There was a time when I would write mini books on various topics, that time is not now. There was a time when the ultimate vacation was a pagan festival, that time is not now. So what is it time for? I can honestly say I do not know. My expectations for people and my tolerance for things has changed. No longer do I care if a group accepts me. No longer do I ponder big lofty ideals.  Character, it was something that was a huge campaign done by the school system I grew up in. They even had cartoon characters to represent the different aspects of character. For the life of me, I cant remember a one. But character is what I care about. Do you do you best to do right by others? Even if you dislike a person do you give a moment of time to jump star

 Arrogant  - having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities As with the opposite chief feature of self-deprecation, arrogance is a way of manipulating others’ perceptions of yourself in order to avoid taking a “hit” to your self-esteem. In this case, however, the basic strategy is to get others to see you as special, perfect or flawless — diverting attention from your ordinary imperfections, weaknesses and failings — and thereby keeping your self-esteem artificially inflated. ["Arrogance" published on Personality & Spirituality.net] Components of Arrogance:  ["Arrogance" published on Personality & Spirituality.net] In the case of arrogance, the early negative experiences typically consist of disapproval or outright criticism from significant others, especially the parents but also siblings and others. From such experiences of competition, disapproval and conditional love, the [individual] comes to perceive their well-being

 A new thing I am trying is a weekly Tarot Reading on myself. Please note that the imagines are not mine, but are from the tarot deck I use. What to Expect:  10 of Swords - Ruin, Misery, and Sorrow. What to Release: The Lovers - Love, Passon, Romance, and Harmony What to Focus on: Reversed 4 of Wands - Releasing insecure home life and Unstable Partnerships Overall Guidance: Reversed Knight of Swords - Bully, Troublemaker, Impulsive Something Unexpected: Reversed The Star - Doubting one's ability and Stagnate creativity

 So someone ran it by my nose Again, which got me thinking about it Again. That Required to be near orgasmic happy about the mention of initiation Ridiculousness. Why by all that is holy and unholy in this world do covens require you to get to a demonstrative near orgasmic emotional state before they will get serious about (setting a date) having you initiated? About the only other life event that has this culture of expectation for this level of emotion is marriage. Even then it doesn't always have to be demonstrative and in fact in some places being overly demonstrative is frowned on. Why do I bring this up? Because it involves Emotional Validation or the lack there of. Not setting a date for initiation unless an individual is in a demonstratively near orgasmic emotional state at the mention of it is an invalidation of that person. Choosing to have no outward emotional state is an emotional state. Having the opposite expected emotional state is a valid emotional response. But hav

August's Full Moon is in the sign of Aquarius. Aquarius prioritizes community over self and loathes convention. Meanwhile, their opposite, or sister, sign, Leo, has no shame taking selfies, dedicating quality time to self-care, embracing what's popular, and presenting it in a way that earns them lots of applause (hello, countless pop stars — from Madonna to Dua Lipa — born under the fire sign). And while this full moon is happening in the sign of the Water Bearer, it opposes the sun in its last degree of Leo. When a planet is hanging out at 29 degrees of any sign, also referred to as the Anaretic degree, you can expect to experience the most intense, peak energy of that sign — as well as a sense of urgency. So with the sun at 29 degrees Leo, this full moon could stir up peak regal energy. You could feel truly comfortable in your skin, at the top of your game, craving recognition, and driven to do whatever you need to do to make sure you see your desires fulfilled — because you&

Change is Pain  Prior to my motorcycle accident you could say that I subscribed to the "pain is weakness leaving the body" or the "no pain no gain" philosophy. Even now you probably wouldn't recognize much of a difference, but I have come to a new understanding of Pain. Those philosophies are in my mind not quite complete or at least not worded just quite right. You see, or well you will hopefully see by the time I am done writing. Those philosophies are saying just about the same thing and will lead you to what they mean if you sit and think about them.  The above is a piece of propaganda used by the US Marine Recruiting office to get more people to join the marines. Its also figuratively true, and very effective in their commercials. Pain is weakness leaving the body. If you punch a tree over and over again every day for a few years your hand wont be broken (unless you punched TOO hard). Instead, it will be toughed, and calloused, and you will be able to take

  from https://www.pinterest.com/yesiamlds2/_saved/ It is interesting. According to societies norms we do not set out to receive or experience grief or trauma. Yet life is full of it, right from the moment that we are first brought from the womb into the world. So perhaps avoiding grief and trauma are not the way to go? We’ve learned that negative experiences can spur positive change, including a recognition of personal strength, the exploration of new possibilities, improved relationships, a greater appreciation for life, and spiritual growth. We see this in people who have endured war, natural disasters, bereavement, job loss and economic stress, serious illnesses and injuries. (2) Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) refers to what can happen when someone who has difficulty bouncing back experiences a traumatic event that challenges his or her core beliefs, endures psychological struggle (even a mental illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder), and then ultimately finds a sense of pers

  June is the month of focusing on self love.  From Wikipedia: Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour proper, conceitedness, egotism, narcissism, et al. However, throughout the centuries self-love has adopted a more positive connotation through pride parades, Self Respect Movement, self-love protests, the hippie era, the New Age feminist movement as well as the increase in mental health awareness that promotes self-love as intrinsic to self-help and support groups working to prevent substance abuse and suicide. I am immensely grateful for my health. having learned that I had lost a friend to ill health, another friend is possibly seriously ill and other happenings. I am immensely grateful, that while not as great of health as I could have, I am still better off than others. I am no long

  Due to religion being something we all struggle to add to our lives, being pagan, and having the need or desire to have a regular journaling routine; I decided to create this guide for myself. Using the cycles of the moon and the lore in the pagan community to create a flexible journaling routine for myself. The idea is to create something that allows for small steps to progress to a larger picture using the general pagan first and second wheels of the year; the Sabbats and the moon phases. Due to my wanting to make this more of a guide to journaling rather than a study on the Sabbats and Moon Phases they will be referenced only enough to be prompts on what information to possibly combine for the actual journal writing. If you have not already collected this information it is recommended that you do so first. The collection can be as simple as a book that covers said topic. I make this recommendation so that if you are stumped on what to write you have something to go to to reference