Thursday, January 26, 2012

Time to clear, clean and cleanse

Zeus moved to another altar last night.  No, not on his own.  But wouldn't that have been wild?  No, I just had this feeling that he wasn't happy where he was so I moved him to my "threshold" altar where Hermes resides.  Not literally, of course.  But it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door so I can see why Zeus would be happier there.  I'm knitting a new altar cloth for them because the original one was too small and the bandana I put down is too big.  I'm just knitting a rectangle in a linen stitch, which reminds me so much of woven cloth, which fits in nicely with a Greek/druid altar.

I have read, though, that altars are places where you do "work" and everything else is a shrine.  But as I work everywhere, they are altars to me.

Still wondering what to do about Imbolc.  I've read that Hestia can be substituted for Brighid on Imbolc, but I can't say that I feel right about that.  Hestia isn't a Greek version of Brighid.  They are their own goddesses with different characteristics and responsibilities.  I also read that Imbolc was also called Lupercus but I can't find anything to corroborate that.  February 15 is Lupercalia, which remembers the founding of Rome, but can't find a festival called Lupercus anywhere.  Still, neither of those things represent where I am and what I want to achieve.  I'm pretty sure the ewes aren't birthing this time of year in our neck of the woods, but it's possible, I suppose.

It's a bit of a struggle for me, forging this path, trying to merge the worship of Greek gods with the philosophy of Druidry as most of the festivals in Druidry are geared toward the Celtic/Welsh/Irish/Scots/whatever gods. Not everything can cross over.  Nor should it.  I don't feel locked into the Wheel as much as I thought I would be.  And there are some Greek observances that I do like.  I love Hecate's Deipnon, which is the dark of the moon, a time of cleansing of the house and settling up of your bills (not like that's going to happen anytime soon, but what the heck).  Cleaning out the fridge of old foods, getting rid of clutter and stuff you're not ever going to use so why not throw it out or recycle it, smudging, getting that flow of energy back the way it should be.  Cleansing the house of negativity.  I do love that even if I've only managed to accomplish it once.

There are other things, too, but I haven't managed to do anything with them yet.  Family meals with the gods as guests of honor, hospitality, things of that nature.  Not so much in ritual form, although you could.  More of a labor of love.

But...baby steps.  I get in all kinds of trouble when I try to throw myself into something with all my being.  I burn out hot and quickly.  I need that slow, steady flame.  Hard to change half a century of bad habits though.

So tonight after laundry and supper, I'm going to clean my room because it's gotten cluttered.  I missed Hecate's Deipnon but it's still not too late to do the cleaning, clearing and cleansing.  Never too late for that.  And I always do better when everything is tidy as opposed to chaotic.

And prayer.  My prayers have been short and...short lately because of the fatigue, which I sometimes think is linked to the disorder in my house.  If I can at least get the area around my main altar in order, maybe I can put that found energy toward the rest of the house and build on that.

One can hope, after all.

BB

4 comments:

  1. Maybe it's the moon, maybe it's the time of year, maybe it's something else, but it seems like everyone is getting hit with the "I need to clean this!" energy! Hooray for being united, whether we knew it or not!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I usually get charged to clean on the Dark Moon. Doesn't mean I follow through. LOL I've also been known to tear the house apart on the Full Moon before. :)

      Delete
  2. I got a wild hair up my ass the other night and decided to "organize" about half way through I ran out of gas and being the anal retentive Witch I am had to chug chug through it to finish up. After falling in to bed, I was so happy when I woke up and saw my work. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do love that feeling the next day when you wake up to clean house. No matter how exhausted I am afterward. I think I'm going to have to do it in stages though because of this damned fatigue. Damn it!!

      Delete