Category Archives: Religion & Spirituality

May 21 2013

Join PAGAN PRIDE PARADE London (2nd June 2013)

Pagan Pride Parade - London 2013 (2nde June 2013) Gather at 12pm at Red Lion Square

Pagan Pride Parade – London 2013 (2nde June 2013) Gather at 12pm at Red Lion Square

Pagan Pride Parade – is a free street-based public event.. where all the pagans, witches, wizards, druids, new agers and ordinary pagan folks come together …to celebrate their path…with a flamboyant parade. Previously organised by Jeanette Ellis for 13 years as part of Beltane Bash.

Now being organised by The Atlantis Bookshop for the 3rd year. *Police escort provided*

All welcome to the annual `Pagan Pride Parade’ in London.
Sunday 2nd June 2013. Gather outside the entrance of Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London (nearest tube: Holborn – Piccadilly Line). Meet-up 12 noon.

Wear pagan costumes, masks, bring drums & portable musical instruments, bring banners to carry …either about Pagnism or about your own pagan groups..

Procession ends at Russell Square Park..

-Mani

May 15 2013

Maypoles & Motorbike crashes: The Death in Life aspect of the Wheel

Motorbike - devils chariot

Motorbike – devils chariot

Sunday 28th April – my partner and I were in a bus in Enfield, carrying a Maypole with ribbons (from it’ previous outing a week prior to it), and we were on our way to an outdoor Maypole Dance social in Trent Park..   We were on the upper deck of a double-decker London red bus..  literally 5 minutes away from Oakwood tube station.

At some point, I heard a strange sound crunching sound.. It was similar but deeper to what you would hear if you took a drink-can and crushed in with your hands..  or maybe it was similar to the sound of driving a wheelbarrow over a half-dozen small branches in the garden… as they rub and crack in a sequential sound..!

I remember swearing to myself thinking the bus had gone over some branches on the road..

The bus continued for a further 50 years..  and we were beginning to forget it…when it stopped. And then suddenly realisation hit me.. and I looked back through the back window..  Traffic was building up some 50 yards behind..  We got out quick..  and I had a better look ..

Back in the distance was a motobike.. fallen on the road, and a few yards further back was a fully leather-clad face-down helmet-wearing human body.. motionless. People were gathering.

Both my partner and I got that kick in the gut sick feeling..  We didn’t want to stay…so we walked fast forward…about 20 minutes to the next station.. and eventually got to Trent park.

The weather was not brilliant.. (it had been so sunny the day before.. and the day afterwards…but on that day it was wet and cold..

Some friends had already arrived and put up a wind-breaker..  Another friend had brought a 3-piece tall Maypole..

We sat, socialized, made flower crowns, had  few nibbles..  We even practiced playing the Didgeridoo..

There was severe turn of weather..  It actually `rained’ hailstones..  first small ones..  then really large ones!

We retired to the cafe, warmed up with more coffee, and then I bid farewells, and got home with my partner April..

But no Maypole dancing took place.!

What has been going through our minds..  is that the Motorcyclist must have driven between the Bus and a car on the other side…but due to the angle got trapped between the two..and the two large vehicles of steel slowly rubbed, scraped and crushed the motorbike and its passenger.

A micro-moment of risk taking and miscalculating by him had most likely caused him his life..!

Over 2 decades ago, I lost my father to a street accident.. on an ordinary working day on a high street near Elephant & Castle, London, on a normal afternoon..  Drivers of a A bus, a car and a motorcycle were all giving conflicting accounts of how my father had run and fallen to the road. The Coroner’s inquest filed an open `accidental death’ .. So none more that I (and my family) are aware of the devastating effects of a human-road-kill..

It has taken me weeks and I am still not the same.. nor will I ever be.. after hearing that …bone-crunching sounds.. !

At this time of Maypoles and Beltane festivities and pagan frolics, celebrating life and love and sex..  nature reminds us of its opposite point on the Wheel of the Year..  Samhain..  the honouring  of the departed dead, and remembering the lost loved ones..!

But the Wheel will turn..  and Samhain will come..  once more..and then..  as we immerse ourselves i n thoughts of the dead, nature will remind us of the Life that is all around us.. !

-Mani Navasothy

 

Solar Eclipse (graphics) by Mani
May 9 2013
Video

How to do Eclipse Magic- a 10 min video

If you are a magician, Wiccan, Witch, Wizard, Druid or a pagan who practises magical works at full moons or new moons, well..here’s an even more powerful an opportunity to undertake deeper magical works! In the video above,  made last year, I explain  what eclipse magic is, and some immediate `magical works’ anyone can do at this Eclipse..  to tap into the esoteric energies of it…and use it for personal, psychic or magical developments..  (If nothing else, think of it as a new moon in Taurus! )

Just to clarify- We’re about to have a Solar Eclipse within the next 24 hours (just after midnight in UK on Friday ).. where the `new moon’  will be blocking out the Sun..but not fully. The moon is relatively `smaller’ than the Sun this time ..so a ring of fire of the edge of the Sun will be visible.. (not to be seen by naked eye for safety reasons ofcourse).

Although this one (in Taurus) can not be seen by people in some parts of the World, it’s long term influence will be upon everyone..

This by the way is the 2nd of the traditional Eclipse pair – that is to say, we have already had a lunar eclipse 2 weeks ago so here is the Solar Eclipse.

BUT here’s the big think..  we will be having another (Penumbral) Lunar Eclipse in another 2 weeks time.. Penumbral..  but still an Eclipse of the (Sagittarian) full moon..on 25th May..

So You can start some magical works now..(10th May) .and carry it to conclusion on the 25th May..

So go on..  Stellar Engineer your life..   !

Good Luck..

-Mani Navasothy

ps. There is one sting in the tail..   the 3rd wave of that Pluto-Square-Uranus is coming in a week or so..  I’ll write about that later..(It takes place between this solar and the next lunar eclipse..  And the same will happen later in the year between the next Eclipse-pair in October-November 2013).

link

Astrology

Eclipse Magic Workbook (kindle & pdf versions)

Kindle page for `Eclipse Magic Workbook’ 

Apr 26 2013

You are invited: Outdoor Maypole dance & Beltane festivities (27April’13)

Outdoor_Beltane_Celebrations_in_London_27April2013_Trent_Park

Outdoor_Beltane_Celebrations_in_London_27April2013_Trent_Park

Dear Pagans, Magicians, Witches and friends..   Here’s an informal outdoor Beltane event that my friends & I are putting together in north London.. (the idea came to us at last week’s Earth Day picnic event…where we had an advanced May Pole dancing).

 
Outdoor  Maypole & Festive Event:
Saturday 27th April 2013
1pm onwards
Trent Park
 
All welcome to an Outdoor BELTANE Celebration & Picnic in London.  Bring your family & friends.. (even the non-pagans!)
This is just a fun filled Social event.  Maypole dancing, drumming & picnic.  No experience needed. Just turn up and join in.  There is no ritual..  just festive fun..  !
 
Wear your Flower crowns, Ivy crowns and any other festive crowns (diamonds if you have them !)
Bring drums & small musical instruments…
Bring food & drinks..  your own picnic..   some ground sheet to sit on..
..and above all, bring a smile..and the natural spirit of Beltane fun  (and frolics) :-)
 
At Trent Park, North London (5 min walk from tube: Cockfosters  on the Piccadily line). 
Enter Trent Park via `Cockfoster Road’ entrance (on Cockfoster Road). Once inside the park, go past a small pond (on your right) and then – turn right in that area. We’ll be there.  Here#s the Map link: http://goo.gl/maps/LA9R7
Details & embedded Map at website www.PaganFrontiersOfLondon.com

 

Apr 20 2013

Gaian Times Magazine #7 – Out now!

Gaian Times e-Magazine #7 …fresh off the Press…so to speak!  :-)

Gaian Times Magazine 7-cover- April2013

Gaian Times Magazine 7-cover- April2013

 

In this Magazine

  • Editorial & Contactl & Cover
  • The Fool’s Journey
  • Paganism in the 25th Century
  • Comet ISON – Hammer of the Gods?
  • Earth Day Events in London (Family picnic & Earth Walk)
  • Ruby Summer – then and now
  • My Elemental animals
  • Elephantom Origins: Birth of a cartoon Hero
  • Socially mean in a Social media obsessed world..
  • Margaret Thatcher & Princess Diana: 2 women and their rites of Passages
  • Day of the Witch?
  • Science vs Magic
  • Become a Lord or Lady of Scotland (and save some land)
  • Earth Healing rituals & Activities
  • Does the Earth need saving?
  • Sanctuary of the Goddess
  • Aphrodite’s birth place (Photo-journal)
  • Go wild about Wildflower Gardening
  • 7 transforming waves to change the world in 4 years.. (astrology feature)
  • A snowy Spring Equinox in London..
  • As the Blue Bells played.. (poem)
  • Major Festivals & esoteric events in London (Events listing)
  • Eco-Campaigns & Gallery
  • Book reviews & Promotions

Contributors to this issue:

Beth Murray, Vathani Navasothy, Wendy stokes, Rose Dixon, , Mani Navasothy.

To access the eMagazine,

you’ll have to become a (FREE) Subscribed member. It’s easy, just visit Gaian Times website and enter your name and a reliable e-mail, where we send the link to the latest magazine :-)

Editor’s Letter:

There’s just 1 day to go before the annual International Earth Day’.. and we have pulled together a variety of useful features to mark this event. And we are organising one or two of our own Gaian Times Earth Day Events – a Family picnic with focus on activities for young children, and then a meditative walk in Richmond park (the following day) – anyone wanting quiet time to tune into the energies of the Earth.

So how do you think of Earth day, and mark it? Those serious about caring for our Earth and Environment will tell you.. every day should be Earth Day. But on Earth Day, we can make a big song and dance about it and promote Earth & Eco-Awareness to the others who don’t think so much about the Earth.

To me personally, at least now, the focus for Earth Day shifts …more towards the Earth i self. I believe in the Gaia deity of the Earth, and I do what I can through out the year – so for Earth Day nowadays, I think of it as `my mother Earth’s Birthday’! We don’t quite know when it was formed all those billions of years ago, but it does us and Earth well to give her a birthday and celebrate it.

On to the other contents of this magazine then-

Few weeks ago, Margaret Thatcher – first female Prime Minister of UK (3 decades ago now) passed away, and her funeral was a few days ago. There has been much supportive and highly aggressive reactions to her death – from people. My own feelings have been that anyone who is dead now deserves their peace and to be left alone. The protestors have had almost 2 decades to make their feelings known (while she was alive) so now seems a rather distasteful time to start organising street parties in London to mark her death.

Rose Dixon has written a wonderful analytical feature article comparing the intense rites of Passages that both Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana have gone through in their living years.

I finally get to address my concerns and thoughts about the Future of Paganism (nature worshiping religions) in `Paganism in the 25th Century’ part 1).

Vathani looks into the ant-social behaviour of people that is on the increase in our London public trains and buses – and asks how this can be in a world that is becoming more focused on `Social Media’ and `connecting and sharing’ with one another (almost 1 Billion people out of the 8 Billion of world population is on one Social Media site!)

This year, we are publishing 3 Gaian Times magazines.. simply because all our workloads in other writing and publishing projects are getting rather too much.

But we will be focusing more on the various Gaian Times Enterprises & Social Initiatives! You can read about these in our main pages (www.GaianTimes.com) Free websites for start-up pagan entrepreneurs, ePublishing, some Fundraising, and even a new initiative about sharing the wisdom of Elderly People are all going to get much mote focus..

As for reading.. you now have to subscribe to get full access to the Magazine. Well, it gives you – amongst other things- a real sense of exclusivity. And for us, it makes it easier to start making better connections with our loyal readers…and give more !

So enjoy reading Issue #7, and we’ll see each other in our various events or social media platforms..www.GaianTimes.com

-Mani Navasothy

 

Apr 18 2013

Earth Day Family Event in South London (Sunday 21st April’13)

Earth Day Picnic 2013 -sm

Families are very much Gaia’s sacred womb ..so what better way than to celebrate the EARTH DAY 2013 with wonderful love units, play, enchantments, magic, merry making, and divine connections to our Mother Earth her self on this day!

What You Can Look forward to on this FREE Day of Fun :

* Small Earthy Ritual (Pagan style!)
* Communing with the Earth (Seed Magic)
* Magical Crafting (Hands on – we’ll provide the materials)
* Story Telling
* Face Painting (optional)
* Singing, Dancing & light drumming -please bring an instrument or 2!
* Merry making over games & fun
* Sharing of food & wine over the picnic
* Lets not forget the Maypole Dancing !!! ……After all Beltane is only around the corner :-)

Young people, Children and adults are encouraged to dress up in any Earthy Costumes, Fairies  Witches, Bees, Flowers, Warlock, or Animals of our planet.

Please dress warmly and in many layers. Bring waterproofs for you and your young ones! Communal food sharing may not suit everyone, especially with those needing special diets.. so please bring what you & your loved ones can eat safely.

Facilities

  • Toilets & changing facilities : 2 mins;
  • Playgound for Children,
  • Food & Drinks can be purchased from the Cafe in the park,
  • Ground sheets – ideal to sit on. (we’ll have a large sheet. Please bring your own as back-up)
  • Bring old bread – to feed the ducks, swans in the lake if you wish
  • Family Boating – if weather permits

Trains: Hackbridge – Zone 4. Trains run every 14mins in to London Victoria & Thames Link services. Buses : 127, 151 , 410, 407. For more detailed travel or facilities info click below : https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3869

Looking forward to celebrating with you ! Young or old… all are welcome for this Earth Day Extrgavanza ! With bright blessings

~Vathani & Gaian Times Team

 

Note:  This is a post from my sister, promoted here.. And I’ll be there of course at this family event..  I think I am organising the Maypole & ribbbons! :-)  - Mani

 

Links

Earth Day meditative walk (Richmond park)

Rituals & Affirmations YOU can do for Earth Day

Remembering Earth Days past 

 

 

Apr 11 2013

Ganapathy in the Garden (eco-spiritual sculpture)

Ganapathy in the Garden - taking shape (c)ManiN

Ganapathy in the Garden – taking shape (c)ManiN

A spiritual offering to you all..   first look at this Willow twig/branch sculpture I have been making from all the pruned pieces…since September 2012.. It is Ganapathy (Ganesh) the elephant-headed Hindu God of course. :-)

It started with some difficult issues with neighbours..and I had to do a drastic prunning/ cutting of branches of my much loved Willow tree. But I promised that every piece will be used for a good reason..and this is one of them :-)  (The other is a small one-person meditation hut by the tree, with branches covering parts of the sides (picture another time).

So I guess you could call it Eco-art.

Last week I created `tusks’ and repaired the wear & tear of the previous winter months..  and more work needed..  But now..there is another danger..  those birds are hunting for twigs…to make their nests :-)

But hey, am sure Lord Ganesh won’t mind..  and neither do I :-)

Love n Light to you all.

`Om Ganapathy Namaha’

-Mani Navasothy

Apr 10 2013

Dark World of Pagans, Wiccans and Wizards… (words of wisdom for new commers)

darkLight- art~Mani NAlmost 2 decades ago, when I ventured slowly into the world of western pagans, Witches, wiccans and wizards..  little did I know that they are as human and fallible ..as I am.

Having come from a Hindu religious background, and then lost my faith a little (after the sudden and accidental  death of my father), I was drifting in life..  failing university exams, becoming a recluse with very few real friends..

I had always been interested in mind powers and psychic matters (dabbling with self-hypnosis, biorhythm, reading about telepathy, and telekinesis). So much so, that in A/Level, when I did so well in my Physics, I got a book voucher and the book I bought (handed to me officially in School assembly) was on Mind powers. I remember the Head Teacher startled and doing a double-take on the book before shaking my hand and handing it to me.

So after my father’s death, through some coincidences with friends and pen pals (in America..  they were the early pre-www world if telnetting and writing real letters!), I came across Runes, book in the garage in Egyptian mummifications..and into the `Body, Mind, Spirit’ world in London.

Those early conventions gave me a different impression.  That everyone in it was so full of love, and unconditional friendship, trust etc. Then over time, I came into the Pagan world… And there too, I held the same beliefs..  because everyone in it talked about `coming home’ and how we are all the same, and magical..

In those early days, my High Priestess Laura and I had many a discussions..  on what it is to have perfect love, perfect trust …in Wiccan circles.  And it is there that she broke my innocent bubble one day and told me that Pagans are people too.. and have their own flaws and prejudices.

I think ..though I heard her, and knew it intellectually, I did not understand it emotionally..

But over the years, I have learnt otherwise.

This world of Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, Shamans, Wizards, Dragon-Riders, Fairy-Dusters… and Broom-Flyers..  are just ordinary people..  and sadly, despite the highest ideals of perfect love and perfect trust, and a love for the Earth and Gods and Goddesses,..   there is also much darkness..

Darkness in itself is not a crime..   I am referring to deeper human emotions..  anger, frustrations, jealously, envy, power seeking, colluding, controlling, betraying, scapegoating, ego-driven, holier-than-thou..and all the other `warts’..

No it is not a crime.. but what is…is that so many wounded pagans, wiccans and Wizards ..are unaware of their own flaws and humanity..  and that they are actually acting on those impulses..  Instead some pagans seem to project their own darker sides and qualities (shadow functions) on to others.

I have even witnessed the pack mentality within some wiccan groups, pagan communities & Organisations, and ritual groups, not to mention bullying behaviour.. where small things are taken out of context, and acted upon and reactions snow-balled..  mole hills turning to mountains..and before you know it, hearts are broken, reputations are destroyed, and worse, people who `came home’ are left feeling `homeless..’ and ostracized from the very community they belonged to.  These `rejected’ people can feel abandoned, bereft, extremely depressed, suicidal, and their lives can unravel disastrously. (That happens to anyone in an inclusive `love and light’ society where suddenly that person is excluded! )

As people work magically with powerful forces – elements, gods, goddesses, nature spirits, archangels..and so on.. and work to build communities, organisations, groups.. and memberships.. (such vastly magnificent goals and ideals)..  what they tend to forget ..is that at the heart of it all..  is the human element..  !  It’s akin to driving at 80 mph in the fast motorways (Highways) for hours ..and then struggling to adjust to the 20 mph speed limit in urban streets.  If no care is taken, and same speed is observed, an innocent in the street could get hurt.   And once the harm is done, it can not be undone. Neither human nor the divine ever forgets! Bad karma piles up..

Next blog: How to send Love & Light energy..!

Next blog: How to send Love & Light energy..!

My advise to anyone new venturing into Pagan, Esoteric or magical communities (and I am part of this community..) is to be sensible, careful, and …while keeping to high magical or divine ideals, also keep an open mind..and your feet firmly on the ground.

The Pagan Community is just like any other community..   Completely and utterly…human.!   Remember that, and all will go well..

-Mani Navasothy

Debate this: ps.This may seem like a very negative post – but just as my High Priestess offered me that advise all those years ago, I now offer it to others – having arrived at same wisdom through my own life’s ways.   While many pagans may shy away from such topics, for fear of it showing (our)  pagan community in bad light,  I am happy to debate these matters further f0r the sake of learning, sharing and growth (but please no abusive or bullying comments!)

Link

Pagan Federation blog (8 oct2012): Online conduct of members

 

Apr 10 2013

DarkLighter vs WhiteLighter? Which one are you?

DarkLighter -WhiteLighter (c)ManiN2013

DarkLighter -WhiteLighter (c)ManiN2013

Yes, we’ve watched the old TV show about 3 sisters who are Witches…(Charmed) back in the late 90′s. And no, this is not about all that jazz.. objects flying through air, invisibility, freezing time, and exploding bad-people with a flick of one’s hands! (aw, sorry to disappoint, if that’s what you thought it was about).

Am more interested in the transpersonal (psychology) concepts of Dark and Light…or rather Shadows.. and how you as a Practising Magician, Wizard or Witch deal with your own dark and light aspects… Even more importantly, what’s your normal `mode’ of being?

We are not talking about good or evil here. I am already assuming that you are a `good’ person, one who means well by all others, and that you have the best of intentions at heart.

So what am I talking about? Am talking about your point of view- how you see the World around you, and your positive contributions to it in a magical or esoteric way?  Here’s an example – you know that old phrase – Is the glass half empty..(negative view), or is it half full (positive)..

This is a bit like that.

There are two types of `Lighters’ – that is, people who bring positivity into the world.  For better or worse, I will refer to them as White-Lighter, and Dark-Lighter.  In Transpersonal psychology debates in our old Coven, our High Priestess.. the late  Maureen Brown referred to this matter as `coming from the Dark’ or coming from the light’..  when doing magic.

Still unclear? Here it is..

Do you live in a world of darkness and deeper emotions, observe all the negative things in the world around you, think about those matters – and at times perhaps even empathise so much that it penetrates your psyche more than it should, and you lose perspective and even your self to it..  but eventually pull your self out (because of inherent Will and strength) .. and then share your wisdom or knowledge gained, or help others?   Then you are what I would call a `Dark Lighter’.   You swim in the unknown waters.. and keep your self buried within the troubles and despairs of humanity.. A fine line you walk..

Or..

Do you live in a positive state of mind.. and think everything is wonderful.. and can only see the beauty and love in everything.. You avoid thinking deeply about the despairs, troubles of others…or avoid getting involved – because you are quite sensitive to those energies, which can bring you to flood of tears or other emotions..  which simply is too much to handle..  You live in a cloud of positivity and affirmations..  want to help people.. and send love and light at the drop of a hat..?  Although you are intellectually aware of humanity’s issues, and will have experienced your own difficulties, you don’t jump to empathic links with people in really negative or harsh mind-sets.. ?  You are what I would call a `White Lighter’. You are like an angelic being that stays above the ground..  wings in the clouds..  in touch with that energy..  and are able to channel it down to the people..  but landing on the ground will debilitate you..

Next : How to send Love & Light energy..!

Next : How to send Love & Light energy..!

It is my view that both types of `Light workers’ are necessary for the well-being of people in our World.  We need some to dive in to darkness and see what is going on..  even become polluted or infected by the harder harsher energies..  but by turning that into light..(personal transmutation), they change that energy..  And we need others to be higher, exist in a pure state of unconditional love and positivity..  and be able to send that to all objectively.

So..which one are you?

-Mani Navasothy

Apr 8 2013

Sanctuary of the Goddess (Visionary art & ideals)

Sanctuary of the Goddess…  What and where is the Sanctuary of the Goddess?  It’s global and yet within us. A true belief..and an ideal.. for each and every pagan, magician, spiritualist.. seeking the comfort, solace, beauty and nurturing arms of the Great Mother Goddess…who is known by many names..Gaia, Isis, Aphrodite, Artemis, Shakthi, Freya, Tara.. and more..

I was inspired to spontaneously create this open facebook group a month ago..   I guess I am just following an idea, an ideal..? a thought..or even a feeling .That’s all I know…  The name has come to be, so now…where it may go is up to all those who join and contribute..

Arc of Isis - Sanctuary of the Goddess

Arc of Isis – Sanctuary of the Goddess

The art work for it began with the `Arc of Isis../ Dark Isis ‘ (link is here if you want to see that).  . But now I’ve had some more inspiration to do more art.. and what I have used are photos I had personally taken..of places in London, Croydon (Coombe woods), Hasting, Avebury, Scotland, and of course the cave from Cornwall. .

Sanctuary of the Goddess - facebook group (click to visit)

Sanctuary of the Goddess – facebook group (click to visit)

Feel free to praise, promote and honor the Goddess in any of her forms.. Art, creative expressions, poetry are welcome.. as are open honest deep explorations and discussions. Conflicts are okay as long as those involved are brave enough to stay and go deep.. rather than mud-sling and run. Provocations and antagonism are discouraged..if it is aimed at people. Harmony is much valued.

Imagine your place of tranquility.. Express your creativity.. and share your beauty within.

And here is the second art work..  which is a variation on the theme..  Enjoy.. and let your mind wander to these peaceful realms..  It’s out there in the astral already..

-Mani Navasothy

ps. Am happy for these art works to be shared…(but it will be nice if I am credited for it).  :-)

Mountain Sanctuary - art (c) Mani Navasothy2013

Mountain Sanctuary – art (c) Mani Navasothy 2013