BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Wicca Wednesday Writing Prompt!

This forum post connects to my article Starting Your Book of Mirrors. Your Book of Mirrors is your spiritual journal where you record your reactions to the things you learn about your religion to clarify what does and does not resonate for you. You must know these things to build your spiritual practice.

I'm including each Wednesday's writing prompt on this thread and my own brief response just to show you one possible reaction -- but not to argue with you or attempt to convert you. Often you might read someone's reaction like mine and that clarifies even more for you about your own views as you silently agree or disagree.

Feel free to post your own responses, if you wish. (You will have to register to do this, but it's quick, easy, and private. You will never be spammed and you can delete your forum account at any time. Register here.) If you do post, please be non-confrontational and respectful of everybody's inevitable differences of opinion. Belligerent posts will be deleted.

Wednesday 7/23 Writing Prompt - Most of us came to Wicca rather than being born into it. Think back to the religion or non-religion of your childhood. What aspects of it, if any, do you still find most valuable? What aspects do you dislike most?

My answer: I was raised by atheist parents to be an atheist like them. I found one aspect of this to be valuable: I learned to question everything that didn't feel right or make sense. What I disliked was my parents' insistence that anything yet unprovable by science did not exist, which I find to be too limiting.

Just starting my journey, still trying to find my path. Exposed to the Disciples of Christ church as a child but never baptized as my parents believed it was my decision. Loved the people but no pull on the spiritual side of things. I questioned the bible since it was written by man and too many people distorted the message. Celtic ancestry with knowledge of things when they happen. Nature has always called to me, cats are my need, so I'm here. Learning as much as I can to focus my path. So glad to have found this site.

Titianfire, thank you so much for posting! I appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad to hear that you had a good childhood experience with religion even if it didn't end up being the right fit for you. I wish you the very best in finding the right nature-centric spiritual path for you. Your summation of the Bible is exactly I feel. There is great wisdom there, but also distortion by human error, translations, and time.

And I love cats, too, so I can relate.

Wednesday Writing Prompt for 7/30:

What is your favorite and second favorite sabbats and why? I don't want to just ask about your favorite because a huge number of us will choose Samhain for obvious reasons. But having to choose a second-favorite and analyze why can give you some interesting insights about yourself.

My answer: Along with what I'm guessing is most pagans and Wiccans, my favorite sabbat is Samhain because of the grandeur, the pageantry, and the connections with Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos. My second favorite sabbat is Imbolc for opposite reasons. I like the simplicity of it, the thought of clearing the slate for a fresh start, and the chance to have a small celebration in the dead of winter when everything can seem so bleak.

So, how about you? Write your answer in your Book of Mirrors, and feel free to share it here in the forum.

Wednesday Writing Prompt for 8/6: What is your least favorite sabbat and why?

My answer: My least favorite sabbat is Ostara, but not because I have negative associations with Christianity and Easter. (Raised by atheists, remember?) I'm not sure what it is with Ostara. I feel like I connect with it less than with any other sabbat. It is the sabbat that makes me draw a blank when I try to think of how to celebrate it. Plus, it happens during what always seems to be a busy, raw, tumultuous time of the year -- March -- when the weather and everything else is unpredictable. I almost always feel put upon, trying to force myself to make time to celebrate the Ostara sabbat whereas all the other sabbats seem to fall into place when their time in Wheel of the Year rolls around.

This week's Wednesday Writing Prompt:

Turn your thoughts to the Triple Goddess or Triple God: Maiden/Youth, Mother/Father, Crone/Elder. With which aspect of the Goddess/God do you feel closest nowadays? Your own age doesn't matter. You can be a teenager who seeks a wise mentor such as the Crone/Elder, who is old enough to have the emotional detachment from you that your own parents lack. Or you could be a senior who has reasons to work with the energy and viewpoint of the Mother/Father or Maiden/Youth. Or any other combination.

My answer:

Well, at first I thought I might be connecting most with the Crone over some intellectual and spiritual work I've been doing. But that didn't feel accurate. Giving it more thought, I realize it is really the Mother and has been for a while. I feel closest to her right now. I think it is because I am trying to bring forth several creative projects at the same time that I'm trying to improve, of all things, my domestic skills -- yes, learning to cook and make our shared home more inviting for my husband and me because we both work hard and need a nurturing place to rejuvenate when the work is done.

Think about your situation and write your answer down in your Book of Mirrors. Feel free to post here as well, if you wish to share.

This week's Wednesday Writing Prompt:

What part of the 24-hour day do you like the best and why? Write it down in your Book of Mirrors. Your answer could depend on your circadian rhythms or it might be more of an emotional thing such as that you find the early morning to be peaceful. Your answer may also reveal what aspects of the God or Goddess you feel closest to right now.

My answer:

For the last few years, I have been at my best during the time of the Maiden (sunset to early night before midnight), probably because I've been doing a lot of intellectually creative work. This is a big change from most of my life when I preferred the early morning, which is ruled by the exuberant physical energy of the Youth. What about you?

See also my article Deity in the Twenty-Four Hour Day for more information on which God-energies and which Goddess-energies correspond with certain times of the day.

This week's Wednesday Writing Prompt:

What part of the 24-hour day do you like the least and why? Write it down in your Book of Mirrors. Your answer could depend on your circadian rhythms or it might be more of an emotional thing. Everybody has their energetic low point in the 24 hour cycle. Your answer may also reveal what aspects of the God or Goddess that you feel most distant from right now.

My answer:

I like all parts of the 24-hour day, but probably my least favorite is the late afternoon from, say, 3 PM to 6 PM, which would indicate that I'm less inclined to want to connect with the God in his aspect as Elder. It's always been this way for me. I tend to get sluggish and not want to start new projects at this point in the day so it is probably the least auspicious time for me to practice witchcraft. What about you?

See also my article Deity in the Twenty-Four Hour Day for more information on which God-energies and which Goddess-energies correspond with certain times of the day.

This week's writing prompt:

The Wiccan Rule of Three states that whatever negative or positive energy you put into the universe through your actions will return to you threefold.

(1) Do you believe this?
(2) Do you interpret this as receiving the consequences of your actions three times or only once but three times as strong as the original action?
(3) Can you think of any examples in which the Wiccan Rule of Three came true in your life or the life of someone close to you?
(4) If you don't believe in the Wiccan Rule of Three, do you have another belief that guides your actions? What is it?

My answer:

(1) I don't believe in the Rule of Three. I apologize in advance to those who do. We must each choose the elements of our faith that resonate with us and leave behind the things that don't, so just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't valid and true for someone else. I don't mean to offend anyone who does believe in the Rule of Three, but I must be truthful here because only the truth goes in the Book of Mirrors. To me, the Rule of Three feels like something empty and simplistic that Gerald Gardner made up. (See my articles Wiccan Threefold Law and The Wiccan Threefold Law is Overrated.)

(2) I don't know if the "threefold" part of the Rule is interpreted as three separate times or only once but three times as strong. My guess is that most people interpret it as three separate times. But to me that's further evidence of bad writing and muddled thinking. If the Rule of Three was seriously meant to be a religious tenet, it should have clarified by Gerald Gardner or whichever source it came from.

(3) When I think of reciprocity in my own life and those of others, it seems random. Some of the worst people go on thriving. Others do good works and get slammed with one misfortune after another. I get the feeling that we are only seeing a part of the huge "big picture" that is karma, which is far too vast a concept for the Rule of Three to encompass. See my articles on the subject for more.

(4) Instead of the Rule of Three, I believe that I should always choose the honorable action with no avarice over what reward I might get and no cowering over what punishment I hope to avoid. We are each of us responsible for developing our character and we do this through our actions. There is a Taoist quote that I can paraphrase something like this: our thoughts become our words which become our actions which become our character which becomes our destiny.

To act with honor and great kindness towards others takes great strength. Here is another quote by Samuel Johnson that I love: "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." To treat someone as you would want to be treated develops empathy. The more you practice kindness, honor, and empathy, the easier it gets and the stronger you become. Maybe it is the Asatruar in me coming out, but I try to guide my actions by these beliefs and not the Wiccan Rule of Three.