Music for a magickal Summer!

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Summer Magick Music

Nineteen tracks including music by Abbi Spinner McBride, B-52s, and Bat For Lashes.

Just a few of my favorite songs from my witchy play-lists. These are just some of the songs I play while hanging out under the moon on a hot Summer night.

 Hope you enjoy!

Lammas

Lammas in The Living Temple of Diana

During our Lammas celebrations we strive to connect and honor Gaia. We spend the day in contemplation of the greater good, and those within our priesthood spend the day education, volunteering, and/or reaching out to the world around us in healing and love. These are pretty simple concepts but often these are forgotten in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

To think about our wonderful planet, about the element of earth and how it provides structure, support, and strength in our magickal and mundane lives is to look into the very heart of our practices and witness creation taking form. In our creation myth Gea the guardian of Earth springs forth as the great Goddess realizes she has form. Like all things- nothing exists until it is perceived. Those who are in the temple look at our own structure and honor what we do have, then reinforce it with the energies of the earth so it may continue to grow and support us as we grow.

Most in the temple will spend Lammas volunteering at soup kitchens or hospices, they will be out collecting garbage from parks to reclaim nature space, or they will be offering their services to others in need. We believe that giving back to the community is to support the community, and that when you support the community the community will support you.

So as Lammas night approaches we invite you to take a look deep into your own structure be it the three souls, your inner-temple, or the structure of your reality and honor it. Give thanks to those who support you, send blessings to those who got your back, send healing deep into the Earth, and take pride in your beautiful life. In essence we would like you to think about the road you travel and for once stop to smell the roses, maybe even plant one or two.

Gaia, the spirit of our planet is a vast and wondrous thing. She is fertile and ever changing and we who walk upon her are charged with the responsibility to take care of her because she takes care of us. As such, for those who are interested I invite you also to light a candle on Lammas and meditate on Gaia, perhaps even reciting this prayer while in your sacred space of connection.

" Gaia, spirit of this world, I pray unto your highest mountain and unto your deepest cavern that you may know that I know. I pray for your wounds to heal, for your waters to be cleansed, and your air to be purified. I pray for the days when we drank from your teaming waters of life, the days when your forests gave shelter, for the days when man-kind connected to you and searched your mysteries as I do. Mother Gaia, mother of man, I pray for your health, I pray for your wisdom, and I pray for your strength. Do not cry great mother, but be strong and mighty for I have not forgotten you."

Being Poly and why it works for me.

Earlier this week I posted a link to an article written by Jason Pitzl-Waters on The Wild Hunt Blog in which I was quoted about polyamory. I also promised to write more on the topic later this week, and the time has come.

First off, I swore to myself I would never enter a polyamorous relationship. All the poly people I had known had been messed up mentally, were looking for another person to fill a void in their relationship, or were just looking for excuses to get their groove on with multiple partners. It all just seamed a little too out there for me. I grew up in the mid-west and had fully expected to find a partner by the time I was 30, settle down, have 2.5 children, and go on about life like an average American... only gayer. :P

Almost two years ago I completely fell head-over-heals for my two partners. It was unexpected but ultimately I am the typical Sag... romance, love, whispers of sweet nothings.... all the bane of my existence! I am a sucker for taking risks for love. I threw caution to the wind, boarded a plane, and within 6 hours I landed in California. Me, the small town boy gave it all up for the fast paced life in CA and I did it all for the promise of love.

Unlike before I had entered the relationship I was able to solely focus on the concepts of love, how it evolved within me over time, and also the sheer and simple fact that love is different every-time we experience it and not only that but love is simply not a finite resource within us. Truly unlocking it is to challenge our concepts of it and push the envelope as to how it can manifest in our lives.

Unconditional love? Hmm, well how can love be unconditional if we chain it to someone else's values? When I entered this relationship I was still banged and bruised from love gone wrong in the past, I was not vulnerable, but jaded. Contrary to the popular belief at the time of me entering this relationship, there was no brain-washing, there was no convincing, the guys if anything took everything I would have to do to make the switch into consideration and asked me every day if this was what I wanted. At times it felt like they were trying to talk me out of it for fear that I would loose too much. But I am bull-headed and stubborn, and c'mon have you seen my guys? HOT!

The truth of the matter is that we are dealing with love here. Love that is free to express its self in what ever way it chooses too. Of all the relationships I have been in this relationship has been the healthiest, the most challenging, and the most inspiring.

What makes the Dynamics of poly different than other relationships? That is easy! Very little. We value the power of the individual and are also aware that we equal more than the sum of our individual parts. Being poly allows for each individual to be independent. We each have our own relationships with the other, and then we have our over-all relationship. As long as we honor each-others needs and desires and do so from a place of understanding and compassion than we can do anything!

I wish I had some other great droplet of wisdom but to tell you the truth, what it takes to make any relationship successful is communication. Adding another person to the mix places a challenge on that but if you know that communication is the corner-stone of any relationship than you must not allow it to become what lacks. I don't just have boyfriends or partners, I have companions. Together we collectively make for a team of empowered and respectful individuals who are willing to test the boundaries of love.

People almost instantly jump to the conclusion that people become poly because of the sex- which I am sure does play a part in it for some, but ultimately that is not the point..... but a perk. I will choose to avoid getting into my sex life, because it is MY sex life and is no ones business. I think if we move away from everything being about sex all the time we can see what lies within the belly of the unknown.

Having multiple partners also means that you have more support. I know no matter what I have a loving, caring, and genuinely interested person within reach at all times. If I need a pick me up or a little inspiration all I need to do is pick up the phone or look over my shoulder. If something were to happen to one of us (Gods forbid) there are two people to help take care of the other. If one of us looses our job, there are two other sources of income. See the tripod brings stability and security.

I don't really see a big difference in my relationship compared to yours. I come home from work, am greeted with not one but two loving smiles, I sleep in the same bed as my partners, and I wake-up feeling that everything is OK. If one day I wake up and have the awareness that I am no longer in a relationship that served me, I at the very least have learned what I deserve from love, which is the most valuable lesson I have learned yet. 

Being Poly works for me because you can not hide from your emotions, you can not act like it is all OK, because in a poly relationship you are guaranteed to have someone seeing what is really going on. It works because we are a family, not just three guys who sleep together. It works for me because there is real and genuine love. It works for me because it is empowering. 

Quoted on The Wild Hunt this morning!

For those of you who do not know I am in a very happy Polyamorous relationship with two amazing men. I credit these men with being the loves of my life but most importantly as being two healthy individuals who showed me how a relationship should work.

Had I ever planned on being poly? NO! In-fact I spent a lot of time writing it off as something that wasn't for me, until I found myself in a swirl of romance and before I knew it- there I was in-love with two guys, lucky for me they were already married! In September we will be together for two years and I simply couldn't imagine my life without them.

When I was asked to comment for an article by Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt Blog I couldn't help but voice my opinion on this incredibly important matter. Marriage between two people of any gender is a wonderful thing, provided the parties can keep up their end of the bargain, but marriage between multiple partners?  In this article by Mr.Pitzl-Waters we see a rising interest in plural marriage rights in Canada but also in the U.S. I have no issue with marriage in any-form, but I do question why the rights of a minority are in the hands of the majority? As a gay man I have struggled with this, but then I add two men to it and BOOM! It gets a whole lot more difficult. I am not saying I see marriage in my future with my men, but I am questioning why I do not have the option if all parties are in consent?

Marriage rights are the bane of my political consciousness. I have seen first hand children who are raised within a poly relationship and I have seen these children flourish! I will continue to write about polyamorous relationships later this week, but untill then check out this inciteful article by Jason Pitzl-Waters from The Wild Hunt!

The Wild Hunt Blog