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All content (c) Sitara Haye, 2008-2009.
All rights reserved.
 

[BREW] Daily Devotions

August/11/2009

brew-purpleWe all have our morning routine.  Mine includes talking myself out of hitting the snooze button one more time, a pee run (sometimes a pee stumble if I’m not quite awake), and tossing the business casual work clothes in the dryer for a fluff-up.  After that, it’s a cup of something warm and a couple of slices of hearty whole-grain goodness slathered with blueberry preserves while I sit in the open doorway of my ritual room and listen to the birds sing.  I’m fortunate that my deck and ritual room face East… I love the colors of the sky first thing in the morning.  Seeing the flash of rose and gold in the sky never fails to put a cheery smile on my face — just the thing for waking up one night-owl child for school!

I learned a couple of weekends ago about a Cherokee ceremony called Going To Water.  The Cherokee Bottling Company featured this tradition in one of their ads for their product in the Visitors Guide by saying:  “When the Cherokee go to water, they wash themselves clean of anything that separates them from the Creator”. It is traditionally performed at sunrise.  To me, this seems right.

I’m interested in what you personally do at the beginning of your day that aligns you with Creator.  Do you have a devotional practice?  Would you like one?  If you have one already in place, what does it give you?  If you don’t have one in place, perhaps you can find some guidance in the practices of others.

I challenge you to create a devotional practice for yourself and try it for a full moon cycle.  Keep a little journal of what you feel and experience.  Adjust it as needed until you get the right flow.  It might be as simple as listening to some good music as you feed your elemental levels (Bathe: Water, Eat: Earth, Meditate: Air, Exercise: Fire).  It might be as complex as the LBRP or a daily Tarot reading to start your day.

But do something for one month.  I promise you will notice the difference.  If you have questions, this is the place to discuss it!  We can help you.  Remember that this path is a FAITH first and foremost.  If you aren’t taking the time to commune daily with your Gods and the natural world, you aren’t connected consciously.

Categories: Author's Blog, Daily Brew-HaHa!

12 Comments

  • Skyhawk | Reply

    Tuesday, 11th August 2009 at 12:30 PM
     

    For me, I enjoy every morning getting up while the sun is still rising to go and feed our horses. During this time I walk among the quiet stillness that is dawn, and enjoy the morning birdsong as it begins to sing up the Sun. Its nice to sit and relax while the ladies (it seems like all we ever have are mares around here) are munching on their grain, and to just ground myself and get ready for my day :)

     

  • Millie Fee | Reply

    Tuesday, 11th August 2009 at 6:36 PM
     

    All I have to do is just look out my front door, my office or bedroom window this is my view;
    I have one of the most magickal mountains in the world to live at the base of. And that is Mt Shasta. Sometimes the energy is really heady, so I have to be aware and ground myself a lot. You cannot ignore her presence because she commands your attention, being as tall as she is from the valley floor. So most mornings, I sit on the front porch and gaze out at Mt Shasta and pinch myself to remind myself it’s really true-then I ground myself.

     

  • EileenDalla | Reply

    Tuesday, 11th August 2009 at 7:04 PM
     

    Early mornings are my most favorite time of the day.
    Here in Arizona with nothing to block the view of the sun as it rises, mornings are not only beautiful, but magickal.
    A few days ago I watched as the sun made His appearance over the far mountain with breathtaking beauty. It started with a small sliver of fire peeking over the crest of the mountain and as I watched, it rise, it turned into a powerful red ball of fire that bathed the entire desert in bright rose, pink and orange light. Even the horses seemed to be watching this beautiful sight.
    Mornings like this one remind me of why I love this wonderful path so much.
    When the Goddess and her God are all but sitting in your lap every morning, how can you not love what They have to offer us.

     

    • Sitara Haye (sitarahaye.com) | Reply

      Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 9:11 PM
       

      Precisely! That’s the thing I wonder how people miss — the awe and beauty of the world. That’s why the Craft isn’t in a book. A book has no sunset colors, no hoppity-frogs to make you laugh, no twirling autumn leaves pirouetting to the ground in a too-blue-to-be-real sky. But THAT… That is my path. That is my holy book of scripture. :-)

       

  • Katie Bond (hathorsdawn.wordpress.com) | Reply

    Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 2:52 AM
     

    I don’t have a daily devotion, really. I’m not a morning person, and I currently go to bed at around 7am, and have for the summer. By the time I get up, there are no breathtaking views, beautiful colors, or whatnot to see in the morning, so that’s totally out. I’m not a morning person anyway. I have problems setting up routines, and constantly run late. I’d love to have some kind of daily devotion set up, or time to appreciate everything around me. But for me personally, it’s a lot harder to find. Once I’m in school again, I’ll be running to class. Everyone tells me that two minutes is easy to find, it’s nothing, and apparently it’s tough for me to do in the mornings. So… yeah. I wish.

     

    • Sitara Haye (sitarahaye.com) | Reply

      Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 9:19 PM
       

      It doesn’t have to be in the morning! Remember the Celts started reckoning their day beginning at twilight! You could make a point to stop at sunset, as one day passes into the next, and give your thanks and honor your Gods then. The point is to include it in your daily round. (And because you might be wondering why the Celts started their day at the night before, I’ll point out the interesting correlation that we, too, as humans begin our lives in the darkness of our mothers’ wombs).

       

  • Gregory Murray | Reply

    Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 4:59 AM
     

    My situation is closer to Katie’s…the lack of a consistent pattern. I work nights, wake up in the afternoon/evening, my first mission being to get a cup of black coffee in hand, if at all possible, before the children pile into my room to tell me about their day. But my difficulty is as much finding psychological space, I think, as physical space. I agree that a daily devotion is important, and think I should find a way to do it. I’ll give some thought about how best to take up your challenge…and, of course, will keep my eyes open to further posts on this topic.

     

    • Sitara Haye (sitarahaye.com) | Reply

      Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 9:19 PM
       

      As I mentioned to Katie, try a different time of day. The point is to “pull a Nike”: Just Do It. :-)

       

      • Gregory Murray | Reply

        Friday, 14th August 2009 at 4:04 AM
         

        Okay, I have decided what to do. It may not sound like much, but it is a start.

        For the next complete moon cycle (I started yesterday, the 13th), I will do a grounding meditation that I found on pp. 117-118 of A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca & Magick, which appeals to me.

        The meditation is very simple. I think of myself as a tree. As I breathe out, I picture my branches drawing energy from the Sun (the God), and my roots pushing deep into the Earth. As I inhale, I picture my roots drawing nutrients & water from the Earth (the Goddess), and my branches growing upwards, sprouting leaves, etc. I imagine this as the eternal “ying-yang” motion of the Cosmos…drawing energy from one side of the ALL to grow into the other side, and vice versa.

        I will do this at least 10 minutes a day (told you it wasn’t much!), everyday, and write my thoughts on it. Yesterday I also began my Book of Shadows, to keep notes.

        Additionally, I also will TRY to do a Tarot reading a day (it’s something I want to do), but I can’t commit to doing it everyday without fail.

        Because my schedule is irregular, I won’t commit to a specific time of day for my meditation, only I will write my times down & see if a pattern emerges.

        Does this sound like an okay exercise to start with, or might I modify it for better effect?

         

  • Avren | Reply

    Wednesday, 12th August 2009 at 2:42 PM
     

    It sounds silly but usually on the 25 minute commute about 20 mins is a strait eastern hwy. I love to soak up the morning, drinking my home brewed coffee and meditating on the gift of the new day and whatever project I might tackle at work that day. Now on the weekends I wake before everyone get my cuppa and sit on my deck among my flowers and animals. This is the best day of the week for me. I feel Them all around me.

     

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