Happy Holiday Season, Dear Readers! The Great Wheel has turned again at Samhain, and we find ourselves in the season of late harvest, home warming, and preservation. That which does not serve is culled or threshed out. Selecting, severing, saving, and securing become daily chores as we prepare for the winter scythe to swing across the land.
Precious Familiar
This year, I had a terrible scare. My precious pibble guardian, Grendelynne, ate a paper towel, and it blocked her small intestine. She suffered for two weeks while my Lady Sanci and I were on tour until we could finally find a vet in Ohio that could operate and save her life.
Were it not for those of you who could throw supporting funds my way, I would not have been able to afford the 7K bill, and the hole in my heart would have been irreparable.
For those of you who can have fur-children in your lives, you know that our animal friends and familiars are irreplaceable.
Familiar’s Promise
They are one of the best judges of safe company, smart choices, and the truest form of unconditional love that this world has to offer.
It is one of our most basic practices as Pagans to show respect and honour to the flora and fauna of Nature.
At this time of year, Nature announces her design to create one last condition to return the Wheel’s Cycle to its beginning — the one that brings an ending and reset to all other creations: Winter.
We bow our heads and step forward into Her seasonal summoning. All creatures, including humans, are encouraged to hunker down, come together, conserve resources, and support each other to sustain themselves during this dangerous time.
Knowing yourself and your needs is paramount to surviving this turn of the Wheel. Knowing where your friends are and how you can mutually serve each other is also imperative. Going rogue in dangerous times is not as doable as it was before Mankind created laws and social obstacles, then sowing the seeds of fear and mistrust amongst the people of these lands.
We must find our herds, tribes, and extended families to hole up with and support so that we all survive until the spring. Again, knowing your true self will ensure that you join the right herd.
Animals All the Same
I have been incredibly blessed to have found a tribe of my own kind to bond with and be accepted by. This would be all of you and those who support my music and creations.
We are a surprisingly large and resourceful group of creatures. While we occupy a wide range of diversity, we are united by a fundamental appreciation for all things Natural.
We revel in the dirt under our feet, the wind in our hair, and the rain on our shoulders. We celebrate the movement of the stars, the tides of the sea, the light of the sun, and the cycles of the moon.
We give the most basic of creatures the honour of the Divine, and we can connect with them deep enough that we seem of one mind.
Fanfare for the Common Dog
Holding love, honour, and gratitude in our hearts for all the wonders of Nature makes life easier to navigate. Once Gratitude fills us, we can then see how much commonality is shared between us and all those around us, living or inanimate. We can empathize, appreciate, and thus move with the forces around us in unity, rather than fight to “hold our own against the tide”.
That which is different ceases to be a threat or an obstruction. We can understand and resonate with the source of another person’s thoughts and behaviors. Once that happens, we can make better choices about how to connect with, or sometimes how best to disconnect from, situations that would otherwise become harmful to both parties if continued under the guise of prejudice and misconception.
The biggest war we have to fight as humans is the battle between our own animalistic nature and our higher selves. The animal in us is NOT the villain. It is our creational base. The higher self is a state that we have dreamed up for ourselves beyond the basic influence of Nature.
We must honour and love our inner animal unconditionally as taught by our familiars and fur family members. Then, out of that love and honour, we teach and guide it to grow and develop into a higher functioning creature, capable of seeing itself in others as opposed to only seeing an enemy in someone different.
As our inner animal grows, we watch over it with objectivity, allowing it to constantly express itself while observing and respecting the space it occupies and all those who share in it.
Navigating Perfect Truth and Love
Again, gratitude and the acknowledgment of other energies around our animal will only help us connect better in Perfect Truth and Perfect Love.
Every night as the Light fades from the sky and the Dark cloaks all in its power, I use Gratitude and Perfect Truth to remind me of what animal I am, where my pack is, and who I can rely on and return assistance to.
I know that even as the Light diminishes daily now, my pack is with me and I am there for them.
We all give what we can and accept what we need from each other in the Perfect Truth of knowing ourselves completely: Shadow and Light.
It is a dance that will never end. Even as we shed our Mortal Coils, our energy moves through this Realm and the Others, connecting with the same empathy and Perfect Love that we carry currently in our mortal bodies, and will be met equally by others that we connect with.
Blessings In This Holiday Season
I wish you all, Dear Readers, a safe and secure holiday season.
I am thankful for each and every one of you.
We are Pack, We are Legion, We are One.
Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again.
Blood and Flesh and Bone, Water, Earth, and Stone,
Hand upon the Land, We Are as One-
The Dance Within the Circle has Begun!
Lyrics from “Move in Unity” by Alexander James Adams
The featured artwork is by Alexander James Adams.
For more information about Alexander James Adams, including his collected articles here on Pagan Song, his bio, and links to Alec’s sites on the web, check out Alexander James Adams’ page on Pagan Song.
For more Pagan Song articles on connecting with and learning from the familiars in our lives, check out our posts on Animal Magic.
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That was a lovely thought-song to wake up to on a gray and rainy day (unusual and always delightful here in New Mexico!). Thank you!