I can't believe it's September already. My mouth waters just thinking about the apples, concord grapes, and pumpkins getting ready for harvest. Anyone start planning for the Equinox yet?
Wombat - The Parenting Passageway profoundly influences my parenting. I'd love to hear more about what you're doing.
Welcome, September!
Welcome hot cider and doughnuts, chilly evenings cuddled in my sweatshirt, loads of squash coming out of my garden and finding their way into casseroles. SOooooo Excited.
Likely not as excited as Ms. Maia who is probably at the airport right now - sending you thoughts and vibes for VERY SAFE TRAVELS and a wonderful adventure with your M.
revolting - thanks for that site. It's well put together, easy to read, and to the point. I get so aggravated sometimes with parenting sites that are super wordy - don't they know I'm looking at their site because i am a parent and therefore likely have a LO who needs attending to! haha.
Clay - sending you love. I hope things work out as best they can and you come out on the other side with some sanity in tact. You seem so well grounded and positive I'm sure you'll be fine. hugs hugs hugs.
Woohoo! A new month and a new thread! 
I hope to be able to keep up this time!
No plans yet for the Equinox... I'm not even ready for our homeschooling year and I wanted to start this week. 
Looking forward slow-cooked strews and soups as the weather gets crispier (there is already an Autumn feeling in the air early in the morning) and picking apples later this month.
Sending good vibes to everyone! 
Happy September Everyone!! Today is our first day of school and it was fun and also a bit depressing at the same time. J's teacher is AMAZING!!! and his class (while huge at 29 kiddos) seems to be pretty settled to the school thing. A lot of the parents stuck around today to help out in the morning and I'm crossing my fingers they have a para to help out a bit. If not - I sense the parents will start figuring out how to volunteer in the classrooms to help out. 29 is just ALOT of 5 y.o. to manage 
Oooh equinox - haven't thought about it yet 
. I'm still hopeful my pumpkins will appear in my garden and that will do it for me. I just wove some basil flowers in my kitchen alter wreath and it smells heavenly with the lavender I had there too.
Ugh - and now I have to race back to work *le sigh* since I just took the morning off for the first day of school.
Maia - have safe travels & good times with M.
Clay - sending you some "dear universe, please calm down for you & your family" vibes
Hugs to everyone I am missing for call outs - but you are all in my thoughts!! 
Happy September! Just stopping by to sub.
Welcome September!
Maia - hope you have a great time with M!
Clay - sending you peaceful, everything works out beautifully vibes. I get you completely on the not wanting your mom to be the one to watch the kids...my mom and I haven't spoken in over 3 years at this point.
This is a big month for us as DD turns 4 on labour day (September 5th) and she starts junior kindergarden. This is all she has been talking about for a year now! Ecole! Ecole! (French school). We meet her teacher on the 9th, then she has a day with a small group of peers on the 14th, and after all that she starts everyday after the 19th. I figured we would give it a shot - school here isn't mandatory until 6 but she is begging to go.
We will also have our discharge visit with our midwives. I am so sad about that. I miss them already lol (and that is sad since I work as a doula and could in theory see them again). I think I just like being with like-minded people who get me :)
Equinox - oh am I ever behind. I can say that we are planning to go to Pagan Pride day this month - that should be fun!
Work, well that's still busy. I have fun idea that I hope takes off and I am making connections with some new people. The joys of being self-employed...I make my own schedule (but if I stop working, I have to work twice as hard to keep up the marketing, etc). Trade offs.
I have something serious to discuss. Having been faced with possible uterine cancer, I realized that I craved a deeper connection with some sort of spirituality. More than that, I wanted my son to have to comfort of some sort of higher power and 'heaven'/summerland in case I passed away. (which, of course, will happen one day)
I started thinking about whether I believed in a higher power and, if so, what that looked like for me. I yearned to believe in an all knowing, all loving God. I prayed...really prayed... for the first time in years. I'll be honest and say that I want to believe. I want to believe that there's a loving, higher level being that cares about us humans and who can actually change things/make things happen. This so called God isn't male or female to me. It's both and neither at the same time. It's something that humans can't truly comprehend.
All those thoughts occupied my mind (especially at night while ds was sleeping.) I never came to a conclusion or a definitive belief, but I think I want to. I want the comfort of believing something/someone cares and will help in whatever way It can.
I know that it doesn't take the form of the Christian God for me. Nor is it a pagan god/goddess.
So... What does this make me?
Anyone else think about this sort of thing?
(I'm also going to post this on a more private spot for those who are hesitant to post here.)
Mmm, September, aka the Month of Birthdays... Does everyone I know have to be a Virgo? 
I get to scrimp and save for the next event, Mystic Fest Fall. This year has been so hard on us financially, I'm beginning to regret all of this stuff I've gotten myself into. But I feel like if I give this up, I'll never get it started again. I need a destress day... I'm an introvert, after all, and I spend all my time around people... gah!
Anyways, work is taking a turn for the interesting. My boss has turned into such a negative force that other departments are getting involved. And apparently, my objective, "ce la vie" attitude has gotten some positive attention, as I am officially the only one in my department that hasn't gotten drug into the drama. 
Yay! I'm also apparently way cool, says the one who my boss hates and can't talk to without getting into a week-long argument with her. So I get to play mediator, which sounds really not the place to be, but actually, it is the place to be, as all the company info would go through me in some way, shape or form... Wait, a minute... 
I need to find a new artist for my books. 
The one I had asked wants more money... the one thing I don't have. But I will maintain optimism about this... It's either that or go insane... er!
Happy upcoming equinox, everyone! I need to start planning!
I have something serious to discuss. Having been faced with possible uterine cancer, I realized that I craved a deeper connection with some sort of spirituality. More than that, I wanted my son to have to comfort of some sort of higher power and 'heaven'/summerland in case I passed away. (which, of course, will happen one day)
I started thinking about whether I believed in a higher power and, if so, what that looked like for me. I yearned to believe in an all knowing, all loving God. I prayed...really prayed... for the first time in years. I'll be honest and say that I want to believe. I want to believe that there's a loving, higher level being that cares about us humans and who can actually change things/make things happen. This so called God isn't male or female to me. It's both and neither at the same time. It's something that humans can't truly comprehend.
All those thoughts occupied my mind (especially at night while ds was sleeping.) I never came to a conclusion or a definitive belief, but I think I want to. I want the comfort of believing something/someone cares and will help in whatever way It can.
I know that it doesn't take the form of the Christian God for me. Nor is it a pagan god/goddess.
So... What does this make me?
Anyone else think about this sort of thing?
(I'm also going to post this on a more private spot for those who are hesitant to post here.)
I decided to respond to this seperately.
Sounds a lot like me. I "assigned" the name and a bit of the attitude of Kali to the Great Cosmic Being (who I like to call the Great Cosmic Being), but my whole belief is pretty much this:
GCB is all gods/goddesses, at the same time... but we humans have a hard time comprehending that, so we split the GCB up to keep our brains from exploding
GCB is all people, too. We all have some of that special Great Cosmic Being-ness. We just can't usually get to it, but we get closer as we grow spiritually. Sort of like Collective Unconscious, but more collective, more unconscious and more spiritual than we can even understand.
GCB guides us and gives us hints and opportunities. GCB also doles out karma, which is not to punish but to give us the experiences that allow us to understand what we have done to others, and thus grow.
GCB has a wicked sense of humor... have you ever seen the platypus? That's just GCB being all messin' wi' der heads and stuff....
*nods sagely* Oh, and GCB is always changing and growing, and so will be difference in 5... 4... 3... 2...
In all seriousness, though, I don't think anyone can truly know their own God/gods/goddesses/Great Cosmic Being (who I like to call the Great Cosmic Being) in total... it is a mystery that we strive towards. And it's the striving that counts. "It is the journey, not the destination." - (I forget who...)
Hi all,
I lost track of August here. I tried to read and catch up, and...then never really posted.
So hello September! DH never did get a full time job, just one small class that may or may not run, depending on how many kids sign up. So we'll see. He's pretty much okay with the role of stay-at-home dad, which is good because we've signed DD up for a few things. She's going to a Waldkindergarten 2 days a week, her regular daycare 2 days (to see her friends, and we may drop this to one day) and gym class on Fridays. Busy busy girl. She's more social than we ever were, and she's only 3. DH is also going to start taking classes toward his Masters in Art Ed. And maybe, if he's making progress toward it, employers will look at him again.
As for me, I'm going to have three jobs, if my interview this morning works out. I already teach 3 classes in Boston, so now I hope to add another one closer by me, and do online tutoring. I feel like I'm adding too much to my schedule, but we need the income.
Spiritually speaking, I feel a bit closed off. My friend's shop moved SO far away, and while it's great for many others, it's pretty darn awful for us. So we're going to try to get there often, but it's hard, particularly with this new schedule we will have.
I'm still struggling with my mom's death... mourning is a complicated process for me...
I'm not sure I have the answers... I view death as a transformation, not the end of life... but then I'm still feeling the loss of my mother and I'm still wondering what is after...
9 months later and I still haven't go to the cemetary... I just can't, it hurt too much.
And last week, a young woman was murdered... DD2 came and asked me to do her nails right at the time of her funerals...
This young woman was the one who sold us this Piggy Paint! It felt strange, but also comforting, to hold that bottle and pamper my little girl as so many people were saying Good Bye a last time to her.
Sorry... rambling... this is the state my mind is... little bits of ideas, jumping from one point to another, disorganized and foggy.
DOK - my first reaction to when you asked - So what am I? I wanted to say human since I'm beginning to believe these labels are just barriers to keep people who have faith apart. In general my idea is very much like Wolfcat with the GCB and the interconnectiveness of people and thinking all of this without our heads going *boom*.
The idea which was running around in my head was all god/goddess are one and we can choose to see and recognize the various aspects individually or the entire enchilada sometimes. I was watching a special on PBS last night about the greek pathenon and it was interesting how the Greeks seemed to humanize the gods & goddess making them more accessible to people vs. stand-offish as in other earlier cultures. But in the end it came down to Gaia - the ultimate mother born out of chaos to embrace all.
As for death - I think it is just a part of the wheel, and we will be part of another life with either lessons to learn or to move to be "helpers" to get people to where they need to be spirtually. I believe that we (as spirits) pick where we will land as a part of the lessons we must learn as a spirit/energy and all the lessons of life can not be learned or experienced in just 1 lifetime. Otherwise I don't know how to cope with the sheer cruelty and evil which exists in the world in which little ones suffer or die unnecessarily in comparison to those to have it all. It provides hope that the next life will be different, lesson will have been learned by our spirits to let us move forward.
I think in the end - believing and having trust/faith in that belief is the more important part vs having a definitive belief in a specific construct (such as a specific god or God, heaven/summerland or whatever).
Hi all, and happy September! There's always a day each summer where I feel the shift in a very concrete way... the shift to fall. It was Tuesday this year. I can smell it, and feel it in the air and the ground. It's just, different. Lovely time of year. I know every season has it's magic, but fall's is super strong to me.
Our pumpkins succumbed to some fungus but our tomatozilla plants are awesome. Apples are coming too!
For me, the Sacred is like a ribbon that runs through every single thing. It is HUGE and miniscule, male and female AND more than gender all at the same time. It is the earth and more than it. To make it personal I relate to it in a personal way, with name. Multifaceted jewel with many surfaces that all add up.
Equinox! I forsee apple cobbler, bread, and stew in the slow cooker.
I need to find a new artist for my books. The one I had asked wants more money... the one thing I don't have. But I will maintain optimism about this... It's either that or go insane... er!
What style are you looking for? Send me a pm.
Val - *gentle hugs* grief can be a long process. You say you still feel like you lost her even though you see it as a transformative time. Have you meditated to see if it is something in particular? Then you could address that? Either way, there is no rush in the process. It is a journey and just as transformative for you too. Be gentle with yourself hun.
DOK - my views are similar to those who have posted already. Everything around me is a representation of god(s)/goddess(es) (who I also believe to be one, yet seperate so our little human brains can relate). I think I relate to different aspects depending on what my spirit needs at the time. I also notice things around me when I need a new lesson, it is like the world around me speaks to me in a language my spirit/soul/unconscious can understand. I guess this isn't the easiest to explain. In the case of my littles, I think I would encourage them to find that connection in a way that is meaningful to them and support that. I would also acknowledge that it may change - even the whole title they give to their faith. What is he being called to?
I did see a few leaves that have changed. Life feels like everything is at a turning point. All these ideas are just flowing right now. My mind has it all but I need to get it on paper in a comprehensive kind of way.
Morning all:)
I was over in the August thread before I realized it was September.
Valerie, (((hugs))).
Clay, wow so much going on in your world. This is a time when you should be relaxed with everything except the excitement of your little one arriving. Sending you and your family positive, loving, peaceful vibes:)
Thank you! 
I've been trying to post since the first... for some reason this thread has got some sort of "hush wombat" spell on it! LOL But I'm feeling certain sure it'll work this time!
Hugs Valerie
Hope you're having fun Maia
Interesting parenting blog... I browsed but need to read more in depth
And thanks all for the well wishes and energy. :) I'm still hoping the babe comes this weekend, but if not... well, this coming week is a total zoo, we have no care giver for the older kiddos on Tues/Wed, so it's probably best if she stays inner child till the planned induction on Friday (much as I hate to say that).
Hugs to those in need and shared joy to those who are overflowing with glee... I know I'm not caught up with the thread!
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I responded on FB, but in terms of belief and comfort in times of crisis:
I sort of think of it as being similar to comfort food. People are exposed to things in infancy and childhood that are built into the foundation of who they are. It may be intentional, or it may just be a factor of the culture they live in, but those foundational elements remain buried in the psyche and soul. So later in life, no matter what path a person may have taken, a crisis or "dark night of the soul" can call up an overwhelming desire for the sort of comfort that was built into the "child's world". Just like a person who became vegetarian as a teen and who has been vegetarian for more years than they weren't might find themselves craving chicken soup or some other meat based dish from their childhood when they don't feel good or are in emotional/physical upheaval. Or a die-hard athiest might find that they really, deeply, NEED to believe in the fluffy clouds and harp holding angels of their childhood when their parent passes away (this happened to a friend of mine). Once the physical illness or emotional turmoil passes, they often find that they are happy with their vegetarian diet or athiest understandings... but during that time of crisis they need the solidity of those long buried foundational supports.
And that's totally fine, and normal, and human as far as I can tell. People need support and comfort, and belief (religious or otherwise) is where they find it. While an adult can make many choices and find a path or practice that fulfills them, if that wasn't the path/practice of their infancy and childhood there is always going to be a certain something lacking. The whole "no athiests in a foxhole" truism.
I spend a lot of time/effort trying to make sure that my own children will have access to spiritual "comfort food" that doesn't also require a high price in terms of self-will and free choice. I know that during my own dark nights I long for the sort of religious certainty the catholic church offered me in my childhood. I WANT that sort of black and white, right and wrong, do this and all will be well sense of security! But I also can't accept the limits and bindings and restrictions and denials that go along with that certainty. I have explored many christian paths and many pagan paths... and none of them offer the same sort of certainty, the same "comfort food" I crave during times of turmoil, because none of them were part of my original exposure/enculturation. But then again, none of them are as "bad for me" as a steady diet of that variety of comfort food would be. I've come to accept that those times of turmoil are a relatively small part of my life, and I'm willing to do without that specific comfort food 5% of the time in exchange for pretty darn good food the other 95% of the time.
So, um, anyway... I think people should be free to pick and choose based on their needs and not feel limited by names. I'm a Heathen who craves Catholic comfort food. I don't think that makes me "less pagan" or "more christian" or anything in particular except just plain old me. I hope that by giving my own kiddos a taste for pagan comfort food they will find that in later life they don't have to choose between comfort and their adult understanding of the world. But I dunno. I do know I ramble however! LOL
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So, um, anyway... I think people should be free to pick and choose based on their needs and not feel limited by names. I'm a Heathen who craves Catholic comfort food. I don't think that makes me "less pagan" or "more christian" or anything in particular except just plain old me. I hope that by giving my own kiddos a taste for pagan comfort food they will find that in later life they don't have to choose between comfort and their adult understanding of the world. But I dunno. I do know I ramble however! LOL
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I agree:)
Morning all:)
Today I am so tired. I hate when you wake up tired! It was so muggy last night I had a hard time falling asleep. It looks like rain today and more muggy, humid and hot temps. We are off to finish our school shopping, we had to split it up this year. Hope everyone has a good day:)
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