St. Brigid's Day

Today is St. Brigid’s Day. Elebrate by lighting a fire in her name whether it’s a small candle or a bonfire. Drink to the maiden and ask for her blessings.

The almanac says the day’s color is white and the incense is alder

Q is for Queen

Queen
Queen of Heaven
Queen of Hearts
Queen of Wands...Swords...Cups...Coins
Witch Queen
So many terms and titles come to mind when I think of Queen.

A Queen is a strong feminine figure in the minds of many. She can hold all the faces of the Goddess from the Virgin Queen Elizabeth to the Motherly Princess Diana (not a Queen but...you get my point) to the Dark Blood Queen Mary to the elderly Queen Elizabeth II of modern England (and that's just encompassing England in the fairly recent history).

There is also the Goddess herself. The Queen of Heaven.
When I was young I felt like the Queen of Heaven or Bride of Christ was a feature character of the Bible and was at the same time Eve, Mary, Mary Magdalene, The Harlot and the Woman clothed in the sun and crowned by the stars. I thought this as a child probably due to the idea that a book had the same character throughout. Now that I am older, this idea still rings true in a different way.
All women hold that Goddess spark that is the Queen of Heaven.
In some mythos the Queen of Heaven in Asia is actually the mother of King Solomon, Bathsheba, who traveled out of Israel to China and carried with her Solomon's wisdom.
In other beliefs, this is simply another name for the goddesses Isis, Inanna, Artemis, Juno, etc.

The Witch Queen is a term for a High Priestess whose coven has spawned at least 2 other covens. She is the head priestess to which other high priestesses defer. Her symbol is a tri-moon crown or a necklace of amber winged by jet.

And then there is the Queen of Wands. This is my tarot card. This has come up again and again as my significator. I've even heard of other people receiving readings and the Queen of Wands will come up and the reader will say "this is a person in your life" and they respond either aloud or silently that this was me - they simply felt it.
She has spoken to me often in her familial strength, her grounded nature. She has so many attributes that I look forward to building and nurturing in my own life and have taken her on as a totem.

G is for Ganesh

I'm 5 days early as far as the Pagan Blog Project prompting is concerned but I'm in the middle of a big move so I'd rather be early than super late...

Ganesh (aka Ganesha or Ganesa, Ganapati, Vinayaka, Pillaiyar) is one of my Patron deities and is one I go to whenever I have a goal I want to achieve of a change that I desire in my life. He is known as the Lord of Beginnings or Lord of Obstacles.

Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He is depicted as having the head of an elephant, which sets him apart from the other Hindu gods. How he obtained the elephant head is up for debate as it seems each story of his conception has a different way of explaining it. Some say he was born with it, some say he was born with a human head that disintegrated due to the evil eye or was cut off. Some stories and depictions even show him with multiple elephant heads. Either way, he obtained the elephant head and it, along with his big belly are very distinctive.
Ganesh is shown in many poses. Sometimes he is with his family, other times alone. He is shown standing, dancing, fighting demons, reclining, playing, sitting, elevated, holding a number of objects to show his many aspects, etc. So many depictions and views reflect the fact that Ganesh is one of the most recognizable and widely worshiped deities in the world.

I was first introduced to Ganesh by my dear friend Edward. He suggested I do a mantra to Ganesh 108 times a day for 108 days with a specific goal in mind. I did so and counted the days. To aid my mantra I used a string of rose beads I had bought at an antique store months before that had 110 beads exactly on it. These became my prayer beads.
108 days later of continuous mantras - my goal came through. Not only did it work automatically, Ganesh became an important symbol and figure in my life and I now go to him for any goal and new path I want to take.


I later had a dream of Ganesh. He was truly so large I could not comprehend him. His size was not all that was large about him, his very presence would bowl you over. It was one of the most intense and realistic dreams I ever had. He was golden in color and such a happy, mellow vibe came off of him. I'll remember the dream for as long as I live.


Ganesh Mantra Videos

Traditional Ganesh mantra with beautiful video by Sonu Nigam


Techno mantra (my favorite)