Photo Credit Renee Olson

Here I sit on my 51st birthday a changed person.  My life is no where near what it was like 5 years ago. This journey has been amazing.  I have spent the this time reviewing books, managing a business and a Facebook Page.  I have decided that, I've done enough of that. Those things no longer bring me joy. I'll still write or draw but going forward I think I'm going to just limit my time online and try to do things that connect me with the world as opposed to doing things that cause me to hide.

I'm going to be outside more and maybe even start taking photos again. I'm going to make art and enjoy making art. I'm going to love right here and right now. Instead of waiting for the next thing to happen, I'm going to go make it happen.  It's time for a change, and there's no time like the present.

Monday Meditation - Transformation

I'm going to try to write a little something each Monday. Maybe something that I have meditated on or something I feel I need to mediate on.

I was recently reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh called The Art of Living.  Within the pages are some amazing bits of information that really changed my life.  This next passage was one that I really enjoyed:

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, is the French scientist who discovered that “nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, everything is in transformation.” I sometimes wonder if Lavoisier was able to live his daily life in accordance with this truth. Lavoisier lived at the time of the French Revolution, and at the age of fifty he was killed at the guillotine. He had a wonderful wife who loved him very much and became a scientist too. But, I wonder, if Lavoisier, who had this deep insight that nothing can be destroyed, was afraid of dying the day he walked up to the guillotine? The insight and discoveries that Lavoisier made in his lifetime continue to resonate to this day. So Lavoisier has not died. His wisdom is still there. He continues in new forms. When we say that nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, everything transforms, this also applies to your body, your feelings, your perceptions, your mental formations, your consciousness.


Each day we have the opportunity to take what we learn and share it with someone else. Be it an insightful legacy such as Thich Nhat Hanh or Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. We have a legacy that we can pass on to others around us. They may not be our children; as a monk Thich Nhat Hanh has no children yet, he passes his legacy to millions around the world. I am not a monk, I am still a teacher. I share my views daily with those around me. Either by words, action or deed.  Just as you do.  What will be your legacy?  Will it be one of peace and compassion?

I asked myself this over this past year and it led me to the path I am in today. I want to be someone who shares with others. I want to show compassion to every living being on this planet. For years I have been a warrior, a fighter for those who cannot fight. Today I know that those who I was fighting for did not benefit from my fight. In fact my fight only brought about more suffering for all involved. Instead my direction would be better served by showing compassion to those in need. Supporting them. Helping them. Fighting only leads to more fighting and at some point there has to be one person to lay down the sword. I have transformed myself into a new person. I pause before I speak. I wait.  I breath.  With that I am learning to be that person that I really want to be.

Where are you at today?  What do you want your legacy to be? How will you transform your actions?

As part of 2017 I have decided to change my Wednesday posts.  I'll still be sharing my wire work but under a different format.  For Wednesday I've decide to focus on my Witchy nature for the next year.  Exploring what it means to be a witch, what is witchcraft and how does it fit into this modern world.  These posts, while meant to be informative, are not intended to instruct anyone on how to be or not be a witch.  These are simply my observations on the subject.  I'll start by providing an introduction to who I am and where I am coming from.

The Star - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

I was introduced to general paganism by a girlfriend when I was in my early 20's.  She told me she was a druid and liked to dance naked in the rain.  That piqued my interest for obvious reasons. But slowly I began to read more about it.  A friend of mine was taking a course at Old Dominion University which included a text called "Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler.  He suggested that I read the book.  Coming from the south, I was always taught that women were less than.  They did not hold power, they were subservient and they were not to speak.  Yet, there this book opened a world of power to me, a world of confidence and magic. This was the world I wanted to live in.

Fast forward my life 25 years and I still have no real direction of a deity or of any direct link to where my magic originates.  I have a plethora of books on numerous shelves all saying the answers are within their pages yet, the message escapes me.  Discussing my path with a friend he recommends I seek out the Covenant of Hekate (Coh); a world wide organization of devotees to the Goddess Hekate.  Ironically I was reading a book at the same time called "The Witches' Book of the Dead" by Christian Day that referenced working with Hecate as part of ancestor work, which I was deeply committed to. This opened me up to the writings of many great authors on Hekate. Individuals like Sorita d'Este, Tara Sanchez and Sarah Iles Johnston to name just a very few.  I devoured everything I could find regarding Hecate and over the next 3 years committed myself to the CoH, first as a Devotee, then a Torchbearer and finally as a member of their administration team and editor of Noumenia News, the official Newsletter for the organization.

The Mystic of Cups - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

As the world around me changed, so did my experience with this magical world. I found myself embracing, not a religion but more so a practice. I began to learn that the stories told to us by the oracles were myths to help keep us on a path of goodness and not so much godliness.  More of a story about how we need to be, not about beings who actually were, if you will.  This began to resonate with me. At the same time I was developing a gift of divination through aura or photo readings. I knew that I could see what people really were, not just that exterior they put on.  I could see them in person and through photography.  As my path drifted away from the divine, my strength of self increased and I decided now was the time to control my own destiny by again, changing my direction.

The The 3 of Blades - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

I have decided to up the blade and take that next step, leaving behind the trappings of deity worship and fully embracing the power of the Witch. As I take this step I understand that there are many who will not understand this step away from the Goddess.  They will not understand my desire to remove all references to religion from my daily life.  I do believe that for the most part organized religion has caused and is causing more death and destruction on our planet than any other force.  It is a path paved by blood through patriarchy. I choose to embrace my feminine strength by walking the path of magic and opening my life up to the mysteries of the ancient ones.

I hope you will join me on this journey by providing feedback, comments and your own life experiences.  Feel free to challenge me, add your comments, link to your own blog.  I welcome what I hope will be come an enlightened discussion on life, love and magic.

Wishing you a magical 2017,
Sosanna



Note:  The images contained on this blog post are part of the Female Mystique Tarot, a project designed to represent the diverse female body is all her embodiment. This project started as a Kickstarter and more information can be found here.