Review: Moon Tides, Soul Passages

As most readers have probably noticed, I haven't reviewed many books since my marriage to LyricFox. Marriage and the growth of The Cauldron have really cut into my time for reading and reviewing. However, when asked to review a copy of Moon Tides, Soul Passages by Maria Kay Simms, I had to say yes. Simms is a professional astrologer and one of the better eclectic Wiccan authors writing today. Unfortunately, her books are often ignored by eclectic Wiccans because they can seem at first glance to have more to do with astrology than with Wicca.

• Link: Read the Full Review

Being Liminal

Since the beginning of this year I've been in a very liminal situation, neither here nor there in a lot of things. And, unless I'm mistaken, I seem to be getting more...unhinged (no, I'm not going psycho yet, just more eccentric and volatile).

Do you think people in long-term liminal situations/roles suffer any adverse effects, or positive ones? Have you ever had any such experiences?

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

I'm Confused About God(s)!??

I am so confused about all these different Gods and Goddesses. The list is nearly endless. I don't get it! Someone help enlighten me.

I am struggling with the whole thing. I read that God in some religions is all male. Then I read he's all female. Then in another...He's both. A He/She.....like mother and father!??

Where He is father -who overlooks, takes care of, sustainer of all creation and the mother -who is nurturer, teacher, gives birth to life.

O.k I can rap my mind around that. Because I do see (personally) that God is He/She. The great 'I AM'.....kinda thing. And that's coming from a Christian teaching but coming out of it to Pagan. I know...I know confusing... and yes it is. I am an odd one out in the church all together.

But then where do all these other Gods from Greek mythology, the patheon and such come into it?
Are they ment to be just characters of this same God or actual Gods themselves?

A friend of mine said that she believes there must be more than one God because all of creation is far too big to be run by one God. Let alone two.

Or are the other Gods/Goddess ment to be GOD'S children?

Or what?!! I am so confused. I thought that if there are other Gods/Goddess. Then man....some of the traits of these Gods/Goddesses have major personality problems.

There is so much killing and sleeping with others going on that it boggles my mind to how any of us would want to follow them.

And it boggles my mind as to how anyone would follow the Christian God? Me included. That's why I am struggling.

I read this morning that the Wiccan or Witchcraft person or Wythcrafter doesn't go by Gods in general. They go by the earth, moon, elements and stuff. But then I come to a site and they say they are Wiccan and they do go by Gods. And others by Goddess.

One person told me that she's a Wiccan and she worships the Goddess.
And she explained to her. Goddess is both. Father and Mother. God and Dess!!

Please help explain some truths. It's got me intrigued. But confused too.

And how do people relate to one another in a Coven setting, if one relates to Greek Gods/Goddesses and the other doesn't......but they claim to be both Wiccan?

How do they do rituals together or cast spells when they would be evoking or chanting/praying to theirs different?

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

Why Do We Feel the Need for Religion?

I have been raised "hard-core" atheist by my dad, my mom is a little more lenient to the idea there may be a "higher force", and I'm pretty sure there is one.

This is because: So many people look for a religion. So many people believe there are higher powers, and it dates back so far in time, that I believe it has to be there (Tried, tested and true?).

By the way, I did say pretty sure. I have not yet had any contact or obvious sign from a diety.

Any other ideas on why we feel the need for a religion?

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

Bible Stories that Bug You

Even though I'm no longer Christian, I still try to read and be familiar with the Bible. I've found that some of stories bother me...mostly in terms of "Hey, that's not fair!" I think that most people struggle with the story of Job, but what are some other stories that affected you that way?

For the non-Christian members, did this discomfort with the Bible contribute to you moving away from a JCI path? For the Christian members, how do you incorporate this discomfort as part of your faith?

One story that has always bothered me was the story of the prodigal son. It didn't bother me so much that the father accepted the wayward son back into the family. What did bother me was that the other son had stayed and dutifully served the father for all those years and had been promised the remaining birthright. Then, as soon as his slacker brother comes straggling back, the dutiful son loses everything all over again.

Personally, stories like this did not influence my move away from Christianity. It never really bothered me that everything in the Bible did not line up with my personal ethics. But I never saw the Bible as being dictated verbatim by God, either.

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

How Do You Make Offerings?

I'm curious to hear about how different people make offerings to their deities. I've never really done this as a practice, but lately I've been feeling as if I should.

Some people might make an offering of an apple by eating it. Others pour libations. Others bury special objects or toss them into the ocean. I've known people who make daily offerings and others who reserve the act for special rituals.

What kinds of offerings do you give? To whom? And how? How do you know if they're accepted?

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

Money Magic

One of the only two seminars I attended during Heartland this year was Dorothy Morrison's money spell seminar. I liked her work before, but hearing her in person and speaking with her afterwards really settled it that I like her work.

So, I thought I'd share a little of what Dorothy had to say, as well as my own thoughts on the matter.

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

Candle Substitutes?

I know we've had a bazillion threads on this... and I can't seem to find any of them. I had a little candle at my desk at work that I lit during my short noontime prayer (and kept lit for about half an hour just as a sort of... observance, I guess). It has come to my attention that open flame is not allowed in the building, so I need to find something else.

I'm looking for something inconspicuous, as I don't generally discuss religion at work, and something that is doable in a work environment (I half-remember a suggestion about colored ice cubes and letting them melt, but I have no way to do that here). I would prefer to have it be something that has an "off" state and an "on" state, to mimic the candle-lighting/extinguishing, but I'll take what I can get. And of course it needs to be firey without being an actual fire hazard.

So... any ideas?

I'm not actually 100% certain that I won't just drop the candle-lighting bit rather than have to "settle" for a substitute, but I thought it was worth looking into before just discarding it.

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

What Does Honor Mean to You?

What does it mean to you to be honorable, and do you think being honorable is important?

• Message Board: Join in our discussion

Message Board Server Move Planned for June 2nd

Our Server Admin is planning on moving the message board server across town tomorrow (June 2nd) to a different network. The move itself should not take much time, but the server's numeric address will be changing. This means that some time may elapse before your ISP's DNS servers update to the new address.

For many people, it will happen within hours. For most it will take 24 to 72 hours. For some lame ISPs, it might take a week or more. Until your ISP updates their DNS records or all their DNS servers, you will have no way to access the board -- you will be told the address does not exist or the server is down. There is nothing we can do about this.

The Cauldron's main web site (you are on it now ) will not be moving anywhere, so it should remain accessible. Updates, if needed, will be posted here.