Loki devotional giveaway drawing takes place tomorrow!

June 15, 20151 Comment

Thank you so much to everyone for your overwhelming support in my first Loki devotional giveaway. As of 11:59pm on Saturday, entries are closed for this drawing. A random number generator will be used in the morning to select the lucky recipient and the book will be mailed out just as soon as I confirm with the winner.

Making devotional books like this has been a wonderful experience and I look forward to continuing this work for a long time. I’m working on a new volume that I’ll announce soon and I have others planned. I’m also getting close to finishing a new Loki project that, with any luck, will be done in the next couple weeks.

Thanks again for entering and sharing this little contest. The giveaway fund will continue to grow and another drawing will be held in the future. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Icon Necklace Previews

June 15, 2015June 15, 20152 Comments

The icon necklaces I listed the other day received such great support that I made a few more today. Thrift store luck was with me this weekend I had the chance to rescue this lovely icon of Hades from a second hand shop for just a few dollars. He’s just lovely (and I’ll write more about this interesting new acquaintance soon!) and He’s generously allowed me to use Him as a model.

These first two necklaces are just a preview; their listings will be live in the morning but if you want one set aside for you, just let me know!

This third necklace is currently available. Do you see that little flowery charm in the center? I’ve been saving this one for myself because it reminds me so much of a fruiting mandrake plant. Alas, it looked so good on an icon necklace with green glass beads that I couldn’t keep it for myself.

Each of these necklaces has a silver tone lobster clasp so you can easily place and remove the jewelry whenever you want to. This feature allows you to use these necklaces on all kinds of icons and figures, including homemade ones, like my knit Mother Laufey doll. Thanks for supporting this new and exciting venture!

Deity Icon Necklaces – now available!

June 13, 2015June 13, 201510 Comments

As I’ve worked on prayer beads, I’ve ended up with several beads that are entirely lovely, but not numerous enough for another big project. So I collected them all together and made tiny necklaces for deity icons. Yup, now you can dress up your favorite Powers. 😀 Here’s Mother Laufey modeling the Blue Sea Star necklace.

Each necklace is made with high quality polyester coated beading wire for superior drape. Silver tone lobster clasps let you easily place and remove the necklace.

Sunset Pearl Necklace

The Sunset Pearl necklace has clusters of irregular orange, pink, and mocha pearls along with a faceted glass crystal and a frosted lavender central bead. Also available are the Iron and Amber necklace, and the Purple Butterfly necklace (both pictured below).

Purple Butterfly necklace

Iron and Amber necklace (Not real amber, just pretty glass!)

If there’s something special you’d like made, just let me know! I can probably make an icon adornment that’s perfectly suited for your favorite figure.

Using Prayer Beads – Part 2: Getting Started

June 10, 2015June 10, 20154 Comments

As part one made clear, prayer beads are used in many faith and cultural traditions and have been very a very long time. They are used in different ways though most frequently as an aid to focus and concentration during prayer and contemplation.

Polytheists and pagans are often attracted to the idea of prayer bead use because these tools themselves are attractive. Colorful beads, soothing textures, and meaningful imagery all combine to create an object that invites touch and engagement. Do you experience the sensation of “grabby hands” when you see a string of prayer beads? That’s OK – that’s supposed to happen. 😉

Let’s say you have a string of prayer beads that you bought because you liked the way they looked. You have the desire to use them but just aren’t quite sure how to get started. What kind of practice is best for you? How can you make your prayer beads work? These questions are quite common among new prayer bead users, especially those who don’t have a background in their use.

Since prayer beads are often used as focus during prayer or worship, let’s first identify what you wish to focus on. Is there a beloved Power you would like to pray to? Is there a situation that you want to send good energy towards? Is there a Power that you would like to get to know better? Identifying the subject of your focus is the very first step.

“But,” you might say, “I want to focus on Loki and Kali and my friend’s cat and people without jobs and also dolphins and maybe I need a new bike and…”. Hang on, let’s just deal with one focus at a time. You *can* use your prayer beads for all the things you wish to focus on, but it’s best to address one concern at a time. If you want, you can also have a separate set of beads for each topic; for instance, you might have a set of beads for Loki, one for Kali, one for sending healing energy to animals, one for helping people, and one for helping yourself. No matter whether you have one set of beads or many, the first step will always be selecting your focus and then sticking to it.

Just for this example, let’s say you want to get to know Loki a little bit better. When it comes to Powers – deities, spirits, ancestors, and any other entity – names matter a great deal. You can use their name to get in contact with them. Calling their name with respect and love is the first and greatest magical formula of all. They *will* notice and they’ll respond – when they’re ready.

The very simplest (and arguably best) way to use your beads in this imagined scenario is to repeat Loki’s name on each bead. As you say His name, recall His stories, attributes, titles, and so forth. Hold on to that feeling as you repeat the name. You can repeat His name out loud, under your breath, just by moving your lips, or in your mind. I recommend saying the name softly to yourself, just loud enough to hear. This will help keep you focused.

Simply keep going until you finish the whole round. Then you can stop and do it again later. You can repeat this cycle of prayers multiple times a day if you’re really dedicated or you can aim to do it a few times a week. It really doesn’t take very long. You can do multiple rounds in one sitting, if you like (I personally aim for two).

You can make each name a little more complicated if you like. You can recite His name multiple times on each bead, or recite a group of names (for instance, you might say, “Loki, Lodur, Lopt” on each bead). You could recite a title on each bead along with a name – “Loki, Mother of Witches, Father of Monsters”. You could include a word of praise on each bead – “Loki; hail!”.

A simple prayer is ultimately best when you are just getting started. Using names and phrases already fixed in your heart and memory will prevent forgetfulness and will help you focus on the purpose of your prayers rather than on trying to remember what you wanted to say.

Next time, I’ll talk about some ways that you can apply the recitation of prayers to your practice. Though there are many different ways that you can do this, it always comes back to the same thing: fixing your mind of the thing you care about and then celebrating it with your words.

Loki devotional giveaway reminder (and a necklace giveaway link!)

June 8, 20153 Comments

Just a reminder that I’m currently running a giveaway for one copy of the handmade Loki devotional book available through my Etsy shop. A portion of every sale of this book goes into a fund to make discounted copies available from time to time. The fund was recently filled, so now we can have a giveaway for one copy plus shipping. (We even have a few dollars accumulating towards the next copy! Thank you, everyone!)

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If you would like to enter, please comment on last Friday’s post with your preferred email address. This giveaway is open to international entrants; I’ll cover the additional postage myself.

Since I was asked, I’ll mention that I’m only taking entries on my blog and only on the entry linked above; it’s simply too much work to track entries on multiple sites. If you are hesitant to leave your email address in a public comment, it’s not absolutely necessary that you do so. WordPress makes an email address visible to me on the management side but it is not visible to the public. I will, however, use this address to contact you should you win the giveaway; if this is not your preferred email address I’d suggest keeping an eye on this account.

If a single book isn’t going to sate your appetite for Loki (and how could it??) I suggest taking a look at Beth’s post regarding a current necklace giveaway. A donor is generously sponsoring the gift of an elegant necklace with a large brass key. It’s really nice, so check it out and participate if you’re inclined.

Feel free to reblog and share the June 5th post organizing the giveaway (I suggest not sharing this one because I’m not taking giveaway entries on this post). I’d love to make this accessible to as many people as possible. And remember, there will be other copies of the book given away in the future, so just keep watching. 🙂

Advancing Practice

June 8, 2015June 8, 20152 Comments

Last night at temple services, I was speaking with a woman who I’ve developed a passing acquaintance with. She mentioned that she sometimes feels judged for her lifestyle choices relative to the expectations that (she perceives) other practitioners have for her. I’ve heard this kind of sentiment expressed numerous times. Rightly or wrongly, we feel like we fail to measure up to some standard of practice, some goal of improvement, some quantity of Doing It Right. Expecting ourselves and others to arrive at some standard of practice, especially one that is self-directed and motivated by highly private factors, isn’t reasonable. It’s not fair.

The fear of inadequacy is spread wide and deep in our overculture. It has permeated me personally to a degree that I always find surprising. Surely I don’t believe that I’m a poor devotee, an unqualified priest, a sub-par seidhrworker just because (insert enumerated list here)? But I do.

This fear often manifests as a strong resistance to being told that we could, perhaps, be different – if we wanted to. We interpret lists of practice possibilities as a threat or attack; how dare this author/commentator/dead guy judge the quality of my participation? Can’t I experience the full measure of worship, communion, practice, etc. just by virtue of my enthusiasm?

Well, not quite. But that doesn’t mean we’re being judged. See, practice arrives when you’re ready. You might not even realize that you’re ready.

I think a lot about my favorite childhood toys when I start getting down on myself about my non-advancing practice. If you had told me at 5 that I’d eventually throw over My Little Pony for tree climbing and calligraphy, I would have had a little kid meltdown (I really liked Ponies). If you had told me at 8 that I’d eventually ditch puzzles for Legos or Legos for spy novels or spy novels for esoteric publications, I would have expressed distress, disbelief, or just simply ignored you. I’m quite sure that I would have been very stubborn in my insistence that I’d *never* quit thinking my Hot Wheels were the best thing ever.

Heh.

I remind myself that each thing was set aside and taken up in a very natural way. No one forced me to play with one toy instead another. I wasn’t encouraged to read one sort of book over another (for the most part). No one ever tapped their foot with impatience and said that I really ought to be done with making worry dolls (I made so many, many, many worry dolls).

Why then do I insist on telling myself that I *should* be ready to give up one habit and adopt another? Why then do I judge my progress on how many disciplines I have taken up – or not? Because I fear inadequacy. I fear not being good enough.

This fear is real in the sense that it has real consequences, that it has a marked influence on the choices I make and the reactions I have, but it is a fear that I have, in many ways, allowed to flourish. Practice advances naturally. Practice arrives when you are ready.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t set goals and attempt new things. This is a great way to learn – but it’s also a spectacular way to set yourself up for failure. I try things, fail, then get mad that I can’t possibly give up the Hot Wheels habit and dammit, why are you judging me??

No one’s judging. No one’s telling me that I need to quit playing with Hot Wheels. Someone’s just pointing out that at some point I might wish to play with something else.

Though making the attempt is valuable, I have to remember that my practice arrives when I’m ready. The path teaches me at every step. I have to trust that it will rise to meet my step at each new stage. There are quiet periods and periods of stagnation. There are growth spurts when I feel like I can barely keep a handle on all the new information coming in. Patience is required, and perspective.

I’m approaching a new facet of practice that is quite simple and small; it’s diet related. It’s a matter of diet I’ve struggled with for a very, very long time. It’s one of the final of what I imagine my preliminary dietary changes encompass. I’ve known it was coming for a while and just thinking about it made me nervous and resistant. I didn’t want to change. It wasn’t a change that was important. I didn’t need to change. Then one day, I was ready. This is the way that practice advances. Expecting it to be any other way is to expect a radical shift in the way every other advancement in my life has taken place. Expecting this isn’t reasonable, so checking it every time it comes up is valuable.

Handmade Loki Devotional Give-Away!

June 5, 2015June 5, 201514 Comments

I have some great news to share! Thanks to the generosity of donors, the fund fed by sales of the Loki devotional has reached capacity. It’s time for a giveaway!

This giveaway is for one copy of the handmade Loki devotionals that I have for sale on Etsy. These books are hand bound, so each one of them is entirely unique. Lush red paper with black and metallic gold marbling decorates the cover; this paper is handmade and gives each volume an even greater distinctive character.

The winner will receive one copy of the book and complementary shipping. This contest is open to international entrants; any additional shipping charges will be covered by me. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are already $9 towards the next giveaway.

To enter, all you need to do is comment on this post and say you wish to participate; please include your preferred email address, as well.

Entries will be received until 11:59 PM on Saturday, June 13. Everyone is welcome to reblog and share this post so as to spread the word as much as possible. Thank you everyone for you continued support of this devotional project.

Using Prayer Beads – Part 1: What Are Prayer Beads , Anyway?

June 5, 2015June 10, 20152 Comments

As I’ve made strings of prayer beads for my Etsy shop, I kept coming across pagans and polytheists wanting to use these items in their personal practice, but not knowing how to actually get started. To address this, I wrote a pamphlet that is included with each order of beads through my shop but I have much more to say on the subject than can fit in a few columns of text. Since I don’t think you should have to buy prayer beads in order to learn how they can be used to enrich your personal spiritual practice, I decided to dedicate a blog entry or two (or three!) to the topic. First, it’s helpful to say outright that prayer beads, worry beads, and other beads-on-a-string have been used by many different faith traditions and cultural groups. This is quite possibly because beads themselves are very, very old. They are one of the first artificially crafted adornment used by human beings. Beads have been found in graves and burial sites from long before recorded history. The beads we find today dating from that period are generally stone or shell since these are the materials that endure being buried for thousands of years. In addition to stone and shell, today we use metal, wood, glass, plastic, ceramic, and composite beads most frequently; coral, pearl, fabric, and paper are also used for bead creation. Other items, such as tightly closed flower buds can also be strung on a string in the same manner as a bead. Popcorn and cranberries are still sometimes strung as part of a family’s Christmas decorations in the United States (and no doubt elsewhere). Today we generally associate prayer bead use with Catholic, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions; however, Muslims, Sikhs, and members of the Baha’i faith also use them. There is also growing interest among Protestant Christians in the use of prayer beads; other Christian traditions also make use of different types of counters to keep track of prayers. People who have no particular faith affiliation use them as a tactile focus during times of stress or when focusing on a particular dedicated course of action (such as sobriety). I personally think that prayer beads would be especially helpful to people who do distance healing on behalf of others or who frequently send energy towards a particular purpose. Prayer beads can be approached from a faith-oriented perspective or not. It’s not necessary to identify with a particular religion in order to use a string of prayer beads, especially if you are using a string not designed in adherence with any particular tradition. The beads I make, for instance, do not contain 108/54/27 beads like malas do nor are they organized in decades like a rosary – though I could certainly make some that do. I chose not to adhere to a traditional number or arrangement because the prayer beads I make aren’t specific to any tradition; each user can choose for themselves how to arrange their prayers. MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA Prayers, of course, are primarily what prayer beads are used for. Each bead is a moment of focus where the user’s attention is given specifically to the name of a particular Power, their titles and celebratory greetings, a sacred formula, or a phrase created to affirm a specific purpose or goal. Prayer beads are very helpful when trying to focus the mind on a particular magickal or spiritual outcome. The repetition of, say, the intention of directing healing energy towards someone who has requested it, helps ensure that a full measure of energy is clearly sent. It’s one thing to simply say, “Yes, I’m sending energy now”; it’s quite another to sit down and say that for five or ten minutes. Prayer beads are excellent aids for meditation, too. A neutral, affirmative mantra or phrase helps focus the attention; this focus is further emphasized by the physical act of holding the beads between your fingers. A string of prayer beads also lets you celebrate the name or titles of a beloved Power. Saying a sacred name over and over again firmly establishes Them in your mind and heart. Calling on a Power you wish to become acquainted with is also possible. Powers are quite sensitive to their names being called and will certainly respond sooner or later (though of course they might simply say, “Enough already; we’re not a compatible match.”). So that’s all for the first part of prayer bead basics. Next time I’ll talk about how to create your own prayers and spiritual formulas for use on a string of prayer beads.

Progress Towards a Loki Devotional Giveaway

June 4, 2015June 4, 20158 Comments

If you were following my blog when I announced the release of the first of my handmade devotional books, the one for Loki, you might recall a mention of a fund set aside to make discounted copies of the books available. Writing about the giveaway that Beth and Columbine have organized for new lovers and beloveds of Apollon reminded me of why I began this fund in the first place. I want to give something back to the devotees that have collectively given me so much. I’m happy to say that $12 is now in the Loki book fund.

I’d like to set aside enough to arrange a free giveaway for a book and to cover its shipping costs so as to make it a really magical experience for the recipient. That means we’re just over one-third of the way there. If you would like to help make this giveaway possible, consider sharing my Etsy shop or the listing for the Loki devotional. Once some more money has been added to this fund I’ll update everyone on the total so we can celebrate together. 🙂

Update! The fund now contains $21; we’re now approximately two-thirds of the way to a give-away. Thank you!

Last Chance Giveaway!

June 4, 20152 Comments

Though the purpose of this post is to reblog an important message for lovers and beloveds of Apollon, I really want to express a few things along the way.

Something that most appeals to me about the Buddhist tradition(s) is that adherents are encouraged to take refuge in community. Of the three jewels that one is supposed to take refuge in, the third, sangha, is relevant here. Sangha translates (roughly) to community. In the materials I’ve encountered this community might be fellow renunciants specifically or fellow seekers more generally. There is a protective, nurturing, and stabilizing quality to sharing space with (in our parlance) co-religionists.

Bhakti too has a strong emphasis on the community of believers. In fact, one of the highest – if not the highest – form of worship and divine communion takes place in the company of devotees. In this company you see the private, intangible love you have for the Divine reflected back to you from every person you encounter.

Community is an important aspect in many polytheist traditions, too. In fact, some have gone so far as to say that one cannot be a member of a tradition unless one is a member of an actual, physical community. (This is, of course, almost so ridiculous as to be dismissible; however, it’s a rather pernicious fallacy. Not everyone happens to live in major urban centers, possesses access to reliable and appropriate transportation, speaks the local language, is physical able to access the regular meeting place, chooses to avoid establishments that serve alcohol, and so forth. There are innumerable barriers to joining a community of living, breathing human beings – including the possibility that you’ve already met the local community and found them to be raving racists or some other subspecies of asshole.)

Many of us make our own communities through alliance with spirits, Powers, and other entities, as well as whatever other likeminded individuals we happen to encounter along the way. That’s certainly what I’ve done. But even as I’ve grown increasingly closer to the corporally-challenged, I’ve received this push to engage with the human community. If I feel aligned with any community, it is the collective of devotees. I love and serve and care about other people who share a particular sort of religious predilection. You – you – are my refuge. You – you – help keep my aligned with my priorities. Even when I withdraw into other endeavors, my thoughts are with the devotees.

So that’s why I’m sharing this post. I want to help someone connect with a special gift that has been chosen especially for them. Two people came together to make this possible; I, along with other signal boosters, are also helping.

If this signal finds you – you! – please let Beth know. She does lovely work. You’ll be very pleased. And we will also be pleased because we’ll all be served by the efforts of individuals.

This special collection of items is intended for someone “newly spoused to Apollon (Apollo), having been romantically involved with Him for no longer than six months, total.” Shipping has already been paid.