“I have made no secret of the fact that I am a pagan and worship Isis, which is but another name for Nature; in saying this, I do not deny the One God, the source of all being, for Nature is God made manifest.” –Dion Fortune, “Moon Magic”

and thanks to Weiser Books for posting this on their Facebook account

Recently I wrote about my thoughts on the Divine. The quote I share today I think sums up my thoughts better than my own.

When I experience a thunderstorm I am experiencing the Divine.
When I catch a glimpse of a rainbow, I catch a glimpse the Divine.
When I hear the wind whispering in the trees I am hearing the voice of the Divine.

Do I worship the rain, or the wind, or the sun and moon in of themselves? No. I celebrate them and acknowledge them as manifestations of the Divine. Much like how various stories, myths, theologies, and pantheons give each of us various means to commune with a Divine force that is for the most part beyond human comprehension, Nature gives us a way to experience the Divine every moment of every day as Nature is all around us, even when we feel that the Gods are very far away.

Just a little reminder for myself.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:god, nature, spirituality

My father still believes that God is a white-haired fellow with blue eyes, almost exactly like himself. My God is more amorphous, more of a universal constant, like gravity or magnetism. This constant doesn’t pick favorites; it simply flows into any opening we make for it. If Hitler had a kindly moment, a moment when, say, he felt like saving a kitten from a flood, I believe that God–barred from Adolf’s mind in so many other moments–would have poured into the kindness of that moment and helped the mass murderer reach the kitty. I believe that the line between good and evil doesn’t separate human beings into different categories; it runs through every one of us, and every moment is a choice: heal or destroy.

~Martha Beck
from her memoir
Leaving the Saints:
How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith

(emphasis mine)

Found this on Dianne Sylvan’s blog Dancing Down the Moon and just had to share it.  As a Wiccan I identify with the Divine as God and Goddess.  I use names that most of the population only use when speaking in terms of mythology or multi-culturalism to call upon It.  But that certainly doesn’t mean that I literally believe a woman with flowers woven in her hair is traipsing on the clouds with her horned lover.

The imagery that I use is merely a tool that allows me to more easily commune with and connect to the Divine.  I am fond of saying that God simply Is, and I am a fan of the Starhawk quote (and I am paraphrasing here) in which she replies “Do you believe in rocks?” to the person who asks if she actually believes in the Goddess.

In my heart I truly believe in a Divine force that supports us, and inspires us, and reaches out to us, and speaks to us.  I believe that it is a guiding force in the Universe and is something that is far beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals.

May the Divine bless you today, no matter what name you use to call upon It.

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:god, religion

The following occurred sometime in the late winter/early spring of 1991.

I met K. in 1988 at college when I, and a couple of friends, attended a Pagan study group he was forming.  He quickly became a good friend and within a few months he and I were a couple and he became my first lover.  As time passed we became engaged, considered ourselves Priest and Priestess, and moved in together.

I will avoid the nitty gritty of how and why, and simply say that early 1991 found me with a broken heart.  Put briefly, K developed romantic feelings for a friend of ours Tr and chose to end our engagement, ask me to move out, and open our relationship to “other people”.  

So K. was dating me and Tr ….. for a long time I was only dating K though eventually I did begin dating another guy as well.  In retrospect I often wondered why we never attempted a polyamorous relationship as Tr and I had toyed with an attraction for each other as well.  Anyway, that’s another story.

I moved in with Lady Rose and her then fiance (now hubby) TeacherMan.  The car I was driving was pretty much a junker …. old, lots of miles, etc. …. that K had given me for my birthday a couple of years prior (it had been his sister’s). 

I was driving to work, speeding down 295 as I was late, and noticing that the steering wheel was vibrating.  I don’t recall my state of mind but I know that I was not eating or sleeping well and was probably still foggy-headed.

Suddenly as clear as if someone was sitting next to me I heard a voice.

“What do you do if your wheel flies off your car?”

I sat in shocked silence. 

“WHAT do you DO if your wheel flies off your car?”

“Ummmmmm ….. stay calm, don’t break, and slowly get into the shoulder?”

“Very good.”

And then suddenly BAM!

My front passenger side slammed down into the highway.  I heard the screech of metal on asphalt and can only imagine the fly of sparks.  Somehow I managed to follow the procedure I had previously laid out and wound up safely in the shoulder.

I was shaking!  I was shocked!  But, I was safe ….  I exited the car walked around and stared in shock at the place where my wheel should be.  Apparently a recent trip for brake repair resulted in loose lugnuts.  As I drove the wheel got looser and looser until suddenly it just came off and went flying.

A couple of men stopped by to lend aid, even walking down into the ravine on the side of the road and crossing the highway in search of my wheel.  They all seemed so shocked to see me standing there uninjured that they tripped over themselves to try and help.  Of course it could’ve also been the skirt I was wearing that day.

Someone called a tow-truck for me and I still remember the conversation with the driver.

OK lady, you got a flat?

No, my wheel flew off my car

Oh you had a blow out?

No my WHEEL flew OFF my CAR

Yeah right

Shaking head and practically chuckling at my “idiocy” he walks around to the side of the car

HEY LADY your wheel is gone

Yes I know.  I tried to tell you that.

All thanks to that little voice in my head which I have always believed was the voice of the Goddess.  Not long after my parents co-signed on a loan for a new car as my near-miss scared them probably more than I and my old car went to its grave.

Eventually I was able to break it off with K, and a love-affair I had thought was written in the stars went the way of my car.

The incident itself though is that moment for me that I return to often.  It is my personal proof of the Divine, of something beyond our mortal coil.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:accident, god, goddess, hallucination