Moons and magick

National Geographic

 "I have found that covens are for moons and magick. 
Save the Sabbats for family and festivities!"   
~ Melanie @ The Pagan Family

I have been contemplating my pagan path a lot lately.

You see, I had been in a coven for over 16 years. I have been pagan for longer! But my membership in the coven defined my path for so many years. Now that I'm on my own, I think, "What next? What now? Which way, Lady?" And, secretly, am I somehow "less"?

When I mentioned my change in status to my friend Melanie at the beginning of the year and that a Sabbat was coming and now as a solitary with a child, I wandered how to celebrate the Sabbat with my son and without a coven, she made the statement "Covens are for moons and magick, save the Sabbats for family and festivities." That sentence has been resounding through my head now for months. I think it defines what I felt was lacking in my path at the time I chose to part ways with the coven I was in.

• Moons and magick were... well... not feeling as magickal as they once had.
• I was operating under the assumption that the coven was my "family of choice", when in fact I was incorrect.

 Choosing to step out of the coven was a difficult decision. There are lots of things I could say about what led to that decision but those things don't need to be said here and now.  What I'm writing about is basically "thinking out loud" about where I am: Why is Melanie's statement having such an impact on me? Why am I contemplating it so hard? What next, what is different now?

In the very beginning of this year, coven-less, I was quite adrift. But as time went on I realized... nothing *really* has changed other than I don't go to someone else's house once or twice a month. About the only other real difference is that I no longer have a membership in COG. Since all that ever really meant to me was that I had a little card that said I held ordination credentials through COG, and if you asked me to produce that little card right now I'd have to say, "um... dunno where it is." I think that makes it pretty clear how important that card really is in the grand scheme of my life.

Being Wiccan, being a witch, it doesn't mean you need to prove to anyone you are an ordained priest. (unless your state requires such proof to act as clergy in a public capacity, which Iowa does not) Being a Wiccan or witch means you are empowered to be your own priest... not just empowered, EXPECTED to be your own priest.

In that coven's tradition, I held elder status. That did mean a lot to me. I worked for that, I EARNED it. (insert light bulb moment) I am still an elder!  That still means a lot to me.  Elder status conferred "clergy" status, ordination status. Whether that means anything to another wiccan or witch is up to them. It won't change who I am, it won't change the fact that I know I am a Priestess. It doesn't change the fact that once recognized as an elder by myself and others (in that coven and outside of it), I will always remain an elder, an ordained priestess, as long as I choose to be one. I may, should I choose, perform the services of clergy should someone request such services.

So, here I am, contemplating moons and magick, Sabbats and celebrating, and what is next in my path. Another coven? (maybe) Solitary for a while? (surely)

Whatever my path may look like, right now it is one I am building as I am led back toward what has called to me for years.  And exploring THAT is for future blog ramblings. :)

Learning by Doing: Nettles

 

This post was moved from an old blog of mine, and dated 9/4/2011.

My friend Melanie mentioned a while back on her blog Susun Weed and her online herbal courses. I remembered hearing about Susun Weed even farther back from another friend, and I'd checked out her courses and put them on my wish list... then forgot about them. Well, Melanie's post about Susun on her blog reminded me, and since we had the means this summer, I signed up for Susun Weed's ABCs of Herbalism course.

One of the things Susun believes we should all do and the first assignment from the course that I decided to tackle, is to drink at least 3 quarts of nettle infusion a week. You can find a lot of great info by Susun about nettles.  For the infusion, take 1 oz of the dry nettle herb and pour a quart of boiling water over it, and let it steep 4 hrs or overnight. Strain and drink. I let mine steep over night, as it's convenient that way. After I strain it, I split it into two servings and put one in the fridge for the next day and put the other over ice for that day. I do add a little agave syrup or honey as it is difficult to drink otherwise. ;) Susun says to use miso instead of honey but I don't like miso either!

Back to the nettles. See my glass above? that is my infusion. I was surprised at how dark it was! The flavor is strong and not very pleasant but I'm sure I will get used to it in a few weeks. This morning was day 4 of drinking it. The assignment is to drink it for a month and then record changes in hair, joints, skin, health etc.

I think I already have something to report. I suffer from "tennis elbow" in my right arm. Saw the chiro about it a month or so ago but it only helped a little and didn't stick for long. It was really bad last week, with shooting pains that caused my arm to go completely weak and unusable, and nearly brought me to tears a few times. Can't even lift a gallon pitcher with it. Well I haven't had shooting pains for 4 days, and yesterday I kind of thought perhaps there wasn't that much pain in it at all. Today it feels like it's definitely better. 4 days! and this pain that I've lived with for nearly 8 months is going away?

I will drink nettles for the rest of my life if it cures my tennis elbow.

Susun has a free online course for "Nourishing Infusions". Click here to check it out.

Editing to add:  I purchased my first pound of dry nettle leaf herb from MountainRoseHerbs.com at a very reasonable price! Then I discovered that my food coop stocked Frontier Herb nettles at a slightly lower cost so I ordered another pound from them. My glass of nettle infusion above is the Mountain Rose nettles! Shop around, prices on herbs fluctuate just like any other food based on crop success. I buy organic herb of course, since I don't want to worry about poisoning myself. :) 

Edited again to add:  The nettles from Frontier Herb did not taste as good as the Mountain Rose Nettles. Neither taste great, like hay actually. But the Mountain Rose nettles were stronger and with a less hayish taste. Good to know.