My Law

From Fingal of Pagan Heart

Maori Poem 'My Law' Attributed to Tieme Ranapiri

The sun may be clouded, yet ever the sun
Will sweep on its course till the Cycle
is run. And when into chaos the system is hurled
Again shall the Builder reshape a new world.

Your path may be clouded, uncertain your goal:
Move on for your orbit is fixed to your soul.
And though it may lead into darkness of night
The torch of the Builder shall give it new light.

You were. You will be! Know this while you are:
Your spirit has travelled both long and afar.
It came from the Source, to the Source it returns
The Spark which was lighted eternally burns.

It slept in a jewel. It leapt in a wave.
It roamed in the forest. It rose from the grave.
It took on strange garbs for long aeons of years
And now in the soul of yourself It appears.

From body to body your spirit speeds on
It seeks a new form when the old one has gone
And the form that it finds is the fabric you wrought
On the loom of the Mind from the fibre of Thought.

As dew is drawn upwards, in rain to descend
Your thoughts drift away and in Destiny blend.
You cannot escape them, for petty or great,
Or evil or noble, they fashion your Fate.

Somewhere on some planet, sometime and somehow
Your life will reflect your thoughts of your Now.
My Law is unerring, no blood can atone
The structure you built you will live in alone.

From cycle to cycle, through time and through space
Your lives with your longings will ever keep pace
And all that you ask for, and all you desire
Must come at your bidding, as flame out of fire.

Once list’ to that Voice and all tumult is done
Your life is the Life of the Infinite One.
In the hurrying race you are conscious of pause
With love for the purpose, and love for the Cause.

You are your own Devil, you are your own God
You fashioned the paths your footsteps have trod.
And no one can save you from Error or Sin
Until you have hark’d to the Spirit within.

Question: Do you believe in God?..

Post by Jehra - Pagan Heart


...I don't ask the question lightly and I am not asking if you believe what 'mankind' has written about God. I have come to accept that many people will question a holy book, a series of commandments and their meanings...but that is not my question. Simply do YOU believe in God.

When you see someone triumph against all the known odds, when you look at the world for a moment of time and sense its splendour, its beauty. When you lay in bed looking out of a window at a starlit sky. Do you sense the divine?

Do you feel a special connection with a strength of purpose other than your own?

Can you truly look around you and feel this is all the work of man and not believe in the divine?

Have you held a hope so dear in your heart, so special and had it answered against all expectation?

Have you experienced a miracle of your very own?

Have you ever watched a child overcome great odds? Watched in awe a human being with disabilities triumph over them to achieve their own goals and cried for joy for them, with them. Recognising the strength of the human spirit and wondering on what energy it has been drawn from?

Sharing the joys of life, mourning the hurts and the travesties of justice. Singing out loud because your self is filled with happiness. Expressing your gratitude to an unseen being you can feel is around you even though you have never touched it?

In your own world, has there been a single moment when you felt Divine strength, inspiration, love?

Just one fleeting second is all it takes to prove to you...you are not alone? Not constant, not eternal, just a single second that simply cannot be explained by normal means?

Any of the above, and no doubt other aspects, will spring to mind for many of us; but if only one single part of the above is true for you, then you have believed in the divine.

Being true to your faith, true to your self is a matter of the self and not the jurisdiction of books and words, myths and legends. Your connection with the divine is your own personal link, your hot-line to God by whatever name, by whatever aspect it is your own special link.

No one else will have that connection in exactly the same way, it is your unique 'fingerprint' by which the divine may recognise you. All the hurts and hopes, the fears and failures that caused you to falter, and all the challenges and fights, the reassessments and thoughts that stabilised you and all the moments you had a moment of 'Wow!' and realised that for you...the purpose and will, the design and the signature were created by a something so powerful, so spiritual, so strong as to be recognised as God, in all names and in all glories; God as YOU know God.

Let no words, let no actions and let no other stand between YOU and YOUR God because that is the single most precious gift you have to offer the Divine and in return the Divine offers you...

...recognition

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More interesting articles and forum discussions at the Pagan Heart website and forum

The forest, Pan, and the Goddess

By Andreea Nicolae

"The Forest and Pan"



"Ode to the Goddess"  

Sour cream between my lips
Kiss the down, and breathe the mist
You will find the final end
Chilli hot and apple's red
Bitter-sweet between my lips
Kiss the land, and breathe the heat
Salt and flower of the moon
Listen to my heart beats
Listen to the high...sound of lullaby
Kiss my hands and pray
My Goddess obey...

by Andreea Nicolae

'The Goddess'

The Leaf and the Wind

Posted by Lazuli of Pagan Heart

I just loved this story, one for kids of all ages (even grown-up ones!) although, I shudder a little at the tree being mean, because, well...trees aren't mean!

The Leaf and the Wind

From the book "Tell Me Another Story," by Lisa Suhay

Leaf looked out across the broad, dawn-pink sky and down over the beautiful spring garden. The dewy breeze grazed it and left it shimmering, fluttering.

As it moved, Leaf saw all the corners of the garden with its flowers, bushes, trees and animals. Leaf stretched to catch every sight and sound. It was a new leaf at the top of a very old tree.

Leaf adored all the elements - wind, sun and rain. But it was in love with the wind.
Wind gave it the freedom of motion. Without the breeze it would never have seen the world below or from side to side. Wind rocked Leaf to sleep and shook it awake. Wind made Leaf dance.

Wind whistled haunting tunes through the branches, it whispered and sometimes it even sang.

On many days, Wind told Leaf of the places it had been. "All across the Rivers and down to the sea have I been," whispered Wind. On that day, Leaf could even smell the scent of the water and salty places of which Wind spoke.

"High up the mountain to the very door of Heaven today," Wind told, as the fresh clean smells settled down upon Leaf. "I have seen where the Blue-sky ends and birds cease to wing. I have heard the voice of Life itself and it is so beautiful."

Leaf shuddered with the thought of having Life speak to it as it did to Wind. "When will life speak to me?" Leaf asked Wind.

The breeze warmed as it blew over Leaf and Wind said softly, "You can Hear Life's voice in me."

Whenever it blew past, be it a breeze or gale, the little green leaf waved a joyful greeting to Wind - like the hand of a happy child to a loved one.

"I will love you for all time," Leaf whispered to the moving air around it. "I could not be happier."

Hearing this promise Tree itself shook and emitted a deep chuckle. "I am glad you are happy now," the tree said. "Enjoy your youth and beauty while you can, for soon enough you will be withered and brown, dry as dust and blown away with by the same breeze that stirs your heart today."

Leaf stiffened at these words. The other leaves said nothing. One or two fell like tears before their time, so stricken were they by the sadness.

"That is not so!" Leaf cried.

Tree shook again and said, "Oh but it is true. I have seen many, many leaves from many trees fall and crumble. Your time will come to curse the wind and the way of things. Wind is old and you are young. Ask Wind sometime."

The tree said no more. Leaf tried not to think about what Tree had said. Of course it had heard the stories of how leaves grow old and die, but still it would never be hateful.
That very day, Leaf made a decision. It shouted to the world, "I will Never hate Wind. I will not give in to fear or unhappiness."

Still, the next time Wind came to call, Leaf could not help but ask. "When I become old, dry and brittle will you destroy me as Tree says," Leaf asked.

Wind was silent for a long moment. "I will not destroy you my dear one," Wind said. "All Earthly things grow old and dry. That is not my doing."

Leaf was shaking and Wind could see the fear beginning to overtake Leaf. Wind added, "Keep your promise not to give in to hate and sorrow and when the time comes for you to fall, I will be there to catch you. It will be a beginning and not and end for you."

Again Leaf felt strong. "Tell me of your travels," Leaf said. Wind spoke well into the night.
Time passed. Leaf grew and changed. At first it became very big and strong. Then, as the air grew chill, Leaf began to take on the most magnificent colors. First a yellow cast and then little patches of red and gold began to creep across it.

"You are most beautiful today," whispered Wind. "I do not think that of all the leaves in the world there is one to match you."

Leaf shook a bit, knowing full well that many of the others had also begun to change and take on different hues. Still, the words brought joy.

"It is the beginning of the end for you and all your kind," Tree said. "Soon now, oh so soon, you will be nothing but a speck in the dirt."

All the other leaves began to droop and some even tumbled from their homes early as the weight of that unhappy thought dragged them down to Earth.

Not Leaf. "Words, words, words," Leaf laughed. "You cannot harm me with words. I choose to be happy with my fate. Others choose to be sad. The only one who will be sad when I am gone is you old tree for then who will you talk to?"

Tree shook with frustration and anger. "You will see," Tree bellowed. "You will be dirt!"
As days passed Leaf began to feel thin and tired. The bright colors that covered Leaf darkened to brown and Leaf knew its time grew short. Still it would not be sad because each day now Wind told Leaf of the wonderful adventures that were to come.

Just seeing Leaf cling to happiness while all those around it fell made Tree angry. One day it could stand it no more and when Wind came to call, Tree shook for all it was worth and Leaf snapped away from its branch and began to fall.

Tree watched and waited for Leaf to scream and cry, to realize what horror had just befallen it. Instead Tree heard the sound of laughter.

One moment Leaf was held fast to Tree and the next it was falling, flipping end over end. "I am flying!" Leaf laughed in pure joy.

"You are falling! Plunging," shouted Tree.

"I am soaring like a little bird," Leaf sang out. "See how I go!"

Leaf felt something lift it up. It was Wind come to keep its promise. "I cannot take you far right now, just to rest on the ground. No matter what happens, do not be afraid. I will return for you."

Wind carried Leaf ever so gently to the ground and allowed it to rest there. Leaf could feel the rumble of the roots from Tree as it laughed and said," You see? Now you are ready to become like all the others. It is all just as I said. Just give up now."

Leaf was not stirred to sadness by Tree's words. It did not answer, but lay quietly looking up at the world. It all looked so different now. After a time, Leaf nodded off to sleep and a long time passed before it woke.

Instead of feeling old, stiff and papery, Leaf felt suddenly free to move about. It could hear wind singing softly through the trees and felt itself being lifted and spun higher and higher.
"Did I not promise all would be well," crooned Wind. "You have become the dust of the Earth, so light and so fine that I can carry you anywhere with me."

And so Wind did carry the dust of Leaf and scattered it over fields, onto the backs of birds that flew to mountains and into streams that led to oceans. Finally Wind seeded the clouds with the last few tiny grains that were once Leaf and Leaf came back to Earth with rains and snows.

Everywhere it fell the remains of Leaf brought a grain of pure joy, a drop Of hope and touch of love for wind and life.

One day in springtime Wind rustled past Tree and heard Tree telling all the young leaves about the Leaf that had loved the Wind and perished in the dirt.

Wind came back through Tree singing a breezy tune, "Listen my children, but not to those who tell you that your fate is in the dirt. Listen to me instead. I will tell the tale of how you will become Heaven's Dust. Believe and you will never dread."

If ever you wonder which leaves listen to Wind and not Tree, look up on a stormy day and see, which ones wave, a joyous greeting and which fall down in sorrow.

Ritual

By Jehra from Pagan Heart

Some of the rituals I have attended have been great-orchestrated moments, where a television crew or a film camera would have recorded something worthy of an audience.

Mountains wreathed in mist, a glowing moon; many, many people. A multitude of bass, tenor and mezzo tones, coupled with the high sopranos of trained voices streaming in the wind and across valleys to bounce against mountain walls and back to the crowning circle. A never ending circle of sounds that bring a lump to the throat, tears to the eyes and a sense of ‘being there’.

Some rites have been simple and honest tokens of worship from a few stalwart souls on a cold night in the middle of winter. Faith overcoming chill winds and frosted toes, to sit on damp stones with a heart full of peace and eyes filled with crisp frosted trees, and crystal white clouds scurrying across a wind filled sky. Snuggled into a hurriedly sanctified winter coat and a shawl dragged over freezing ears and eyes smarting with the wind.

Some rites have been in a peaceful valley, beneath a tree on a lazy hot afternoon. With one eye on the leaf strewn path in the hopes no one would disturb me. A lazy humming bee gently zizzing his message across the glade as water gurgled by my feet. Alone and at peace as my deity sparkled in my mind in wonder of the joyful day.

Some rites have been in the chill of the night, wet and miserable weather cascading onto my suffering head, tears streaming from my eyes as I say goodbye in this life to a loved one, alone and miserable and all too human. Screaming "Why?" at an empty sky with no moon or stars to comfort me, just clouds and more clouds and I have wept.

My only comfort my deity watching, loving, caring that I hurt because I am human.

All the rites I have attended, been part of, have filled me with wonder and love. I have sat in many temples and churches, for many religions; not once have I failed to feel the presence of my deity.

Yet I have also been where the truth was not sought. Where self-grandeur and a ‘starring role’ were more important to the human beings attending. I have felt the emptiness of the rite, as the deity is not contacted, just empty minded people with empty minded devotions that are a lie and a cheat to themselves.

Some of us will be able to share, some may choose to be private and alone, and some have yet to experience part or maybe even all of the above situations.

In sharing this series of memories, I hope it will bring others here to share or to comment and for those yet to take part in a structured ritual or to be part of a group; an insight to some of what can be experienced along our journey.

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Faith, Freedom, To Thine Own Self Be True

By DarkMere of Pagan Heart

I was once a Christian. From as young as I can remember I held on to my faith, it was rock solid, at one time unshakeable. It held firm no matter what environment I was placed into, no matter how out numbered I was. I was never one to try and force my opinions onto others, could not understand people trying to force their opinions upon me. I was firm in what I believed, but never thought my truth was the one and only truth, or the only correct one, but it was mine.

 

In truth most of my outlooks still hold true for me today, as they did when I was a Christian, only now I look at things from a Pagan point of view. I still respect everyone else’s outlooks. Still accept that I understand so little, but I also understand that everyone else understands so little too, and that statement goes for everyone; the Pope, the head of any church you wish to mention. They, like me must be true to themselves. How I wish they could all accept differing faiths. Yes there has to be a certain limit to what we can all tolerate as acceptable, any belief system that allows or wishes harm onto anyone I have no time for. And if it harm none, then so be it.

When I was a Christian, I bent the faith all out of shape to fit my changing views, then I came to understand that Paganism fitted my views like a glove, no bending required; but it was still hard to walk away from my Christian faith.

 

I went through many of the torments that committed Christians go through when they abandon their faith; you know this kind of logic..."Am I losing my soul?", "Will I be forever condemned?"...But, I realised, if I no longer believe in Father, Son and Holy Ghost then none of those fears are real anyway, so there is nothing to fear.

 

But, what if I am wrong?

 

Will my soul burn?

 

Hmm...maybe I should cling onto my faith no matter what? But then I lie to myself. So what? Lie...it's better than burning! But if God sees everything, he knows I am lying...so do I burn anyway? There can only be one course of action:

 

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE!

 

I am not a Christian. Now I am content to say that, I am not afraid to say that. I am Pagan, in love with nature and the world around me, in love with my creator, peaceful and content.

So there we have my short story on faith, freedom and being true to oneself. Let me leave you with this thought:

 

I am not afraid of you or your faith, nor would I ever want to try and change you.

 

Real freedom is not afraid to let others be free too

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