Pagans & Politics

How Do Pagans Approach Social & Political Issues?

Here in the U.S., the silly season of Presidential elections has spurred a lot of interest from the Pagan community. The Separation of Church and State is even more important than ever before here in America and Pagans are trying to make their voices heard.

Paganism/Witchcraft/Pagan Metaphysics is one of the fastest growing religions in America today. As well as around the world. Many people are becoming disillusioned with the unethical actions, politics and overpowering control that fundamentalist religions are expressing and pushing in our world today. And many are looking for peaceful alternatives. “Membership in Wiccan, Deity, Druid and Pagan sects has been skyrocketing — up from an unregistered blip in 1990 to more than 350,000 as of 2001” according to an article in the Washington Post.

As the level of strict religious views rises in our political discourse, I have received a huge amount of eMail from researchers, pagan activists and those looking to understand our path, asking for information that outlines the opinions of Pagans from a faith/belief perspective on today’s many issues. While I cannot speak for the opinions of all Pagans, I can discuss the basic principles outlined in the teachings of Pagan Metaphysical theology.

The following is a general description of how our Metaphysical Theology views some of today’s hot topics.
It is important to note that Pagan Metaphysics strives for peace and harmony within the Divine Universe and within the individual being. Through mutual respect and acceptance we can discover and acquire peace for all and create a world that is harmonious for everyone. But this approach does not take away the choices of individuals to direct their own lives with free will and the acceptance of the consequences of those choices. Continue reading →

Optimism And Healing

Feb22

Overcoming Life’s Hurdles

How we look at the world around us is based on perspectives that we form through our experiences and how those experiences impact our life. But it is also formed by the type of people we surround ourselves with. From childhood we mimic the views and attitudes of our parents. In adulthood we learn to think for ourselves, value our own opinions and have more control over our views, emotions and responses. The choice is up to us.

Being optimistic doesn’t mean you live in a fantasy world where everything is wine and red roses. It means being able to look beyond the doom and gloom to find the positive element in all things and focus energy on that. All situations have some element of good, but we rarely see what that is until we’re well beyond the event. If we allow ourselves to heal and get beyond it, that is. Continue reading →

Dealing With Grief, Trials and Challenges

Feb22

Jonathon Boots

Letting Go and Letting the Divine Carry The Burden

“You can’t change the past. You can only change the way you allow the past to affect your present and your future.” ~ Springwolf

What ever the situation, making change to deal with the trials of life, or letting go of the past is not easy. No matter what the situation or what the loss, be it the death of a loved one (animal or human), the loss of a friendship or love relationship, the loss of innocence, allowing drugs or alcohol to control your path or a hurt that has been felt and carried for a long time; our psyche goes through a period of mourning.

In today’s world the line between Psychology, Therapy and Spirituality is growing thinner. Working on the issues in one’s life doesn’t mean throwing out your beliefs, nor does it mean your personal views and spiritual practices will be under scrutiny. Rather there is a growing movement to understand how both the mainstream concepts of therapy can be supported, expanded and enhanced by the spiritual beliefs of an individual. . After all, when more than 80% of the world’s population holds some type of spiritual belief, why wouldn’t we try to understand the human condition from both a physical and spiritual perspective. No matter what that path of spirituality is.

Why we hold onto the past is just as important as why we should let it go and make way for a better future. But it’s hard sometimes to get there from here. We become so used to the pattern of struggle and grief, that it can eventually be all we know. Letting go of that can be scary. But it does no one any good at all, to live in such a place of despair.

Learning to let go doesn’t mean you’re forgetting about the past. It simply means you’re not going to live in those long gone days any longer. It allows you to open the door to the light of the future and welcome in the change, the opportunities and the excitement of the unknown.

Read more about Dealing With Trials & Grief – Trials, Trauma & Grief – A Dissertation

Reflections A-to-Z

Feb18

The Springwolf Reflections Index

I’ve received a lot of great feedback about my new little blog here. I can’t thank you all enough for your input, encouragement and great ideas. I’ve implemented many of them already; such adding a picture of the card for the Daily Tarot Meditation drawing and posting links on Facebook.

Another great suggestion was to provide an index of the articles. Blogs are great for chronologically listing your posts, but sometimes you have to scroll through a ton of articles to find the one you’re looking for. Thanks to my friend Rayne for that perspective and the suggestion!

Of course I can’t do anything normally and have to put my own little flair on the idea. I create an index that appears on the top menu bar as “Reflections A-Z“. It’s the alphabetical listing of what’s here so far from A to Z.

Looking At Blessings And Struggles A Little Differently

Feb18

The Perspective of Spirit vs. Embodiment

Carole Bourdo - "Wolf Song"

I think it’s very important for those of us on a spiritual path to be careful about assumptions and generalizations in both our thoughts and communications. I think it’s even more important for those of us on a spiritual leadership/teacher role to be careful how we put our messages out to others based on those assumptions or generalizations. As with anything in life, generalizing an entire group of people because of the actions of a few can be dangerous. By placing fault, blame or accountability on any group as a whole only adds to the negative discourse and feeds the fray of hate and anger.

If you believe in reincarnation then the condition of an individual or a group of people should be viewed from the perspective of spirit and not from their physical condition in this single embodiment. This morning I read an article about the rich that made some generalizations and assumptions about all of them as group that can help me explain my perspective. I do believe the article was well intended and was trying to make a compassionate point, but it’s attempt to shine a light on one aspect of the human condition can be perceived in an opposite manner as well.

The article began:
“Why are some people blessed with over-abundance, while others have nothing? The answer to this common question is, a person is not showered with blessings so they can just indulge in pleasure. When we have more than we need, it does not really belong to us. From a spiritual point of view, it has been given to us to hold in escrow.” Continue reading →

You Can Only Change Yourself

Feb17

But That Will Change How Others Respond To You

Everyone knows the adage “You can’t change others” or “You can’t learn lessons for others” when dealing with negative situations. Those wise old sayings come from centuries of experience passed down from one generation to the next. But it seems in our desire to be helpful and show compassion we have to be reminded of their message constantly. If you continue the same patterns of response, you are allowing others to control your emotions and direct your path. They don’t have to change you, because they have the ability to manipulate you through their own actions and your consistent patterns of response. They already know how you’re going to react, because you’ve done it so many times before. In doing so, you become an enabler and through your own actions, you promote the negative behavior you want changed in the first place.

This can occur in any type of relationship. It’s more often associated with relationships that are impacted by addiction. But it can also occur in work situations with a boss, or co-worker. Continue reading →

Should You Really Follow Your Heart?

Feb14

Which Is The Better Guide: Emotions or Instincts?

Happy Valentines Day to one and all.

Today many people will experience new love, others will rekindle old love, and some will find the strength to walk away from destructive love. It’s a day where people often allow their emotions and heart to get in the way of what they need and allow what they want to take over. But are your emotions the better guide to making the right choices?

The answer might be easier to figure out than you think. We often tell people to “Follow your Heart” when making important decisions. While that might sound like good advice, it’s often the wrong thing to say. Our heart or emotions are often clouded by a variety of psychological elements. Past hurts, nagging voices in our subconscious, fear and trepidation of a potential future of pain and distress all play a role in forming our emotions and emotional responses. Continue reading →

The 5 Minute Meditation

Feb10

Let Go Of The Stress & Relax

There comes a time in everyone’s life when the stresses of work, finances, relationships or family become overwhelming. When this occurs even the little things can seem like one more boulder on your shoulders and you simply can’t take anymore. And it always seems to happen at the worst time of the day too.

Close Your Eyes & Relax

In today’s world meditation is viewed from two perspectives, from the spiritual form of enlightenment and becoming one with spirit. If this type of meditation interests you, you may want to read The 5 Minute Alignment Meditation.

The other is through the eyes of mainstream medicine as a non-denominational practice that can relieve stress, improve blood flow, stimulate the immune system and create or enhance productivity.

Meditation from a non-spiritual sense has also been shown beneficial for relieving stress, improving health and increasing productivity. Over 300 hundred clinical studies here in the U.S., and thousands upon thousands of stress reduction programs throughout the world, attest to the usefulness of meditation for corporate professionals, blue collar workers, or for anyone who has stress in their life.

In 2008, a new study by Emory University researchers showed that those who practiced any form of Meditation had physiological changes that indicated lower stress levels. When presented with a stressful task, study subjects who practiced Meditation had lower levels of a stress hormone called cortisol compared to those who weren’t taught meditation methods. Lower stress levels have been linked to better immune function and lower rates of a variety of diseases, including depression and even cancer. Read more about Meditation As A Stress Reliever.

Continue reading →

The Art Of Communication – II

Feb9

Expectations & Assumptions

Communication is one of those things that people often mess up with expectations and assumptions. We expect people to respond to our communications in a certain way and when they don’t many people don’t know what to do. Assumptions are equally as good at messing up communications as well. But the good thing is, they don’t have to with a few little changes in our thinking.

I read an article recently by a journalist who shared a personal story relating to a miscommunication between her and her husband. Only I felt her conclusions to her story were missing a key point. She made assumptions that impacted her expectations and created the problem. Basically the short side of the story was this. The journalists husband was given the afternoon off because of a job well done on a recent project. He called his wife and told her about the nice reward. She decided to cancel her afternoon, pick their daughter up from school, ran by the grocery store and planned a nice special afternoon for the entire family. The time went by when her husband should have been home, but he had not arrived. Of course she tried to contact him on his cell phone, but there was no answer. Another hour went by and she was becoming angry. Two hours went by and her anger grew. Finally after 3 hours, in walks her husband all smiles and happy only to be met with her anger. She laid into him and in his defense he reciprocated the anger. In the argument he announced that his phone died and he didn’t have a way to charge it. Ok that explained the cell phone. His delay in coming home occurred because he took the opportunity to get a hair cut and stop by a store for shaving cream on his way home. Ok that explains where he was. Continue reading →

The Art Of Communication Part I

Feb8

How We Listen and Hear

Communication is essential for every species on Mother Earth. It’s used for organizing a hunt for food, locating group members, mating, in play and in some cases for singing. No matter what the species, some form of communication is going on through vocalization and body language. Some animals may not ‘vocalize’ in the way we think of it, using sound vibration such as a cricket’s legs or lobster’s claws. But clicking, tweeting, howling or with words, communication is still going on all around us. The more complex the communication, the more room there is for miscommunication.

Which brings us to humans. Thanks to our ability to rationalize, we have often made a mess of communicating with others. We start at an early age trying to decipher tone and body language. We realize quickly what love, compassion, laughter and anger sound like. But even when we’re young it can be hard to distinguish between anger and frustration or compassion and love. Our elementary school teachers are often good at showing compassion, but many young children can’t distinguish that kindness from love, in the similar form that we receive from our parents. And body language is totally confusing with all of its subtleties, no matter what age you are. So we use our rationalization to read into what we hear or see and try to interpret the communication the best we can. Continue reading →

"Believe In Yourself, Even When No One Else Does."
~ Harvey McKay ~
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“Take a chance on faith. Not religion, but faith.
Not hope, but faith.
I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar.
Hope walks through the fire and Faith leaps over it.”
~ Jim Carrey ☆ 2014
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“I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. And I am one of the seven billion human being. Basically we are the same… your emotion, my emotion, your mind, my mind.., same physical. So I always look [at it] that way. We are the same.”
~ Dalai Lama 2012 ~
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"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
~ Bruce Lee 1971