Devotions, Mumming and other Links of Spiritual Interest

I keep finding more and more nifty resources and ideas on other blogs to further my spiritual interests. A series of posts by Mystik Nomad on developing a devotional practice (link is for the last post, but it has links to all the previous ones)

More from the same blog on designing/making/using prayer beads  Additionally, here’s a website that’s been around a long time: Karen’s Prayer Beads– she has prayer bead examples from many different religions.

I love collecting beads, beading and have been meaning to make my own prayer beads forever, but the procrastinator and perfectionist in me have gotten in the way. Newsflash Caelesti- you can always take them apart if you change your mind!

Ariel, the Practical Polytheist lays out instructions for making your own Prayer Book: Intro,  Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, Step 5, Steps 6,7,8,9

All of these are relevant and helpful to anyone who honors multiple gods/spirits (regardless of exact theology) Makes things a lot less intimidating when they are broken down into pieces.

Dver, Hellenic polytheist and spiritworker, also has an interest in masks and mummery– the old European (and New World versions) folk traditions of dance, processions and other customs that take place at transitional seasons. Like me, she is interested in them regardless of how truly “pagan” they are in origin.  I think if more of us were to take this perspective, these are the sort of customs that could bring Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, assorted pagans and polytheists, and yes Christians and spiritually-minded atheists and agnostics together.

The first issue of Air n-Aisthesc is out– a peer-reviewed scholarly magazine on Celtic polytheism. Available both in print & digital! Will add this to Celtic polytheism resource page.

A good follow-up to my rather thrown together post on Diplomacy, here’s a good review on those handy qualifying words: Some, Many and Most.  I know for posts I’ve written that have gotten me in trouble, going back and editing with those words  (sometimes) helps calm people down.

Just for fun: Tattuinardola Saga– Star Wars- if it was written as an Icelandic saga. (In English just in the style of a saga) Maybe a way to bring the Tolkien & Star Wars geeks together?

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Who Are My Followers?

I get a notice every time someone chooses to follow my blog, or likes a post, then I usually check out theirs. Since I write about a wide variety of topics, I seem to attract an interesting range of people. So I thought I would reciprocate and highlight what they’re writing about.

Aine Orga calls herself a pantheistic, naturalistic pagan. She has some insightful posts about her developing path of spiritual connection to the earth. I can certainly identify with her desire to remain spiritual while questioning the existence or nature of the Divine. Her post- Choosing Metaphors: Theistic Language in Non-Theistic Ritual would be quite useful to my fellow Unitarians. as well.

I recently noticed a link to my Mental Illness post from Ehsha Apple’s essay, “Pagan Psychopath?” Excellent research and explanation of important issues! I myself have encountered sociopathic behavior among Pagans, it is definitely something we should all educate ourselves about. She is an eclectic Witch who draws on a variety of American folk traditions, which I am intrigued by. Along these lines, also check out Ozark Pagan Mama, she has a lot of neat ritual ideas.

Moving over from the Ozarks to the Appalachians, here’s a witch- BlueStar Black Snake (connection to the Blue Star Tradition of Wicca?) I was amused by the spiritual theory about Sasquatch but hey you never know- if you can accept the existence of spirits, why not Sasquatch? and speaking of wild creatures that live in the woods.. Anne over here honors the Spirit of the Bear Mother- totemic kinda thing. I myself have felt drawn towards arctolatry- bear worship.

Heather Roberts is a writer of short stories, poetry and essays. Check out her take on existentialism, a topic I’ve trouble wrapping my mind around, but she explains pretty well!

There’s a lot more people/blogs I could review here, but that’s all for now!