PaganMystics Member Spotlight-Moonsmith

[Lady Anastasia]

1. How would you classify your path?

I don't, really. But if I had to, I suppose I would say that I follow a philosophy rather than a religion, per se. In general I don't believe in religions, because they are codified, which by default lessens the relationship with the divine (IMO) and can allow in a bit of laziness on the human's part...

Whereas a Spirituality is a constantly changing and growing thing and one must stay on one's toes, lest you get bushwacked unexpectedly...

I believe in the Gods like most people believe in the Postman...I know they are there. Why fear them? I never did understand that logic. I've worked with them too many times to have a crisis of 'faith'...

My Path requires that my Spirituality be integrated in a practical way in my day to day life. This is so I can simply get through my life and learn the lessons I need to learn to grow and evolve as a being.

I do not believe that any one system has gotten everything right, my own included. There is no one 'right' way for anyone or anything, excepting that which works for every being. I include in this all beings, not just humans because I do have a strong belief in Evolution, or at least Change. I also believe humans are not the only intelligent beings around and that even the supposedly inanimate, have things to teach us. It all gets very esoteric....(lol)

In summation, my path is one of working with all beings and all energies in an effort to learn the lessons I need to learn and to be of service for all those who approach properly; human or otherwise and to try and hold an ideal of that which is best for all concerned, including myself. So, you see it is hard for me to classify myself under most of the traditionally recognized forms of religion or spirituality.



2. How did you find your path?

It was an evolutionary process. I was raised primarily as a pagan child, first learning some basics under my grandmother. She would by today's standards, most likely be considered a Kitchen witch or possibly a hedge witch. Welsh in lineage, she had learned her ways in turn of the century wilds of Missouri.

My mother wasn't interested in carrying forth the ways and so she saw an opportunity with me and took it. My father, of Scots descent was a closet pagan and a non practicing Presbyterian.

In 1972, I and some older cousins went to the first Rainbow Gathering event in Colorado. There I first experienced a larger group of folks who professed to be Pagan (I didn't have a word for it at the time) and I witnessed some of my first large group ceremonies. I was introduced to Wicca at that time and began to read what I could on the subject, and hanging with some local pagan types down at the local head shop. (This was the early Seventies, after all).

Then a brand new occult shop opened it's doors in Denver and I spent a lot of time there, hanging out, reading and so forth. It also was run by Wicca types. There was another occult shop in town but it seemed dedicated to the eastern religions and really never did much for me at the time.

Later, I moved to California and joined a Wiccan Coven for a time. I left after reaching Second level initiate and after an internal blow up within the group. I decided that Wicca wasn't really for me. I cast around and studied various systems by reading their various books, including Satanism, Zoroastrianism, Ceremonial Magic and what I could find on various Native American belief systems--precious little.

Eventually, I fell in love with Native American perspectives. Because they were very similar to what I had grown up with. Because they were refreshingly honest. Because they called to me. It of course, started as more of an intellectual study. I read voraciously and went to public Pow-Wows and other events and met and befriended some new folks. Some were native and others not. Life went on.

Eventually I found my way via the Sacred Pipe. I found physical teachers who though they were Native American, did not teach from a perspective of any particular tribe. But they had enough of a broad base to be able to teach from a wider perspective and come from a more Spiritual approach and not get hung up on all of the political turmoil at the time and indeed even today regarding natives teaching non-natives.

And so it went. I learned in as traditional a manner as a modern Anglo can, living with my teachers and trailing them in ceremony and learning in private sessions as well as open and private classes. New ways were developed and new ceremony was created by listening to Source (after all, we were not a particular tribe). If anything, we were building something new. Something that has a strong foundation and something that is workable for those who are called to it.

Along the way, I got to meet and work with many native elders of various tribal affiliations, from the East Coast to the West Coast. I was able to attend Sundance once in support of a dancer who was going through his own healing process and I was there as a witness and to be of support to his family as well.

But above all I got to learn about myself and my ways and my strengths and frailties. I learned more about being a pagan studying in this environment than I ever could have in another system (IMO). But that was for me the best thing that could happen.


3. What role do you think the modern Pagan practitioner plays in the world?

The Pagan has a responsibility to the World to not let pagan ways die out. To keep their memory alive. Even if they never do anything with it. Just learning it and being it will help. If for no other reason than to allow the psychic imprint of what they have learned and what they do to persist.

All religion and spirituality ultimately is sourced from a combination and a relationship between the seen and the unseen. When the seen goes away or changes, it can't help but affect the unseen. Yet much of the spark, the energetic inspiration comes from the unseen. When it is neglected too long, that spark withers and we are left with naught but legend and history.

There is after all, a reason they are called The Dark Ages.

Whether they know it or not most Recons, (IMO) approach it from the other way. They follow the trail of history and legend in the hope of reuniting that spark with it's path and thus rekindling the religion back into life.

This may look like a purely intellectual process to the casual outside observer and indeed, it may have started that way. The thing is, once one begins to engage with these energies, even if they are piecemeal at the moment, one is building one's relationship to the divine and this of course will take it out of the pure intellectual and bring it into a more integrated form for the devotee.

Recons are simply very private about their religion, after all it is a religion, and not something to blab about to the four corners of the universe, as some other more trendy systems seem to espouse. One of their main concerns is; are they getting it right? So they are constantly looking for corroboration for what they have so far, looking for new verifiable information, comparing notes with each other, often critically, and defending themselves from those who are pooh-poohing them out of sheer ignorance and jealousy.

Any recon religion is just as valid as any other. They may never get it exactly as it was originally practiced, but neither do any of the other religions. Even Wicca, which was formed from a hodge-podge of earlier practices is often not practiced the way Gardner might have seen it or perhaps wanted it. And Buddhism? And Hinduism....and so on and so on...

The modern Pagan practitioner knows only a fraction of what has come before. Too much has been lost to the avarice, fear and greed of our fellow man in the name of one religion or another. I say, let all religions stand and let each being choose their own. It is after all about one's relationship to the divine more than anything else…or at least it should be in my opinion.

Once you start trading religion for politics and politics for religion, the next thing you know, you have an organization like the Taliban and then your country and perhaps your world gets plunged into another Dark Ages and who knows how much or even if anything will survive.

The loss of the Library at Alexandria, the burning of books in the Dark Ages and the related demonizing of original works during the Inquisition years should all be a clue as to what can be lost when people lose themselves over their own particular concept of the 'right', the 'one and only' religion.


4. What are three things you could not live without?

Beyond, food, water, clothing, shelter - all the basics, hmmm, lemme see........

Some connection to nature. I've got to have some connection to the natural world, preferably a physical connection. Fresh air, sunlight, moonlight, a breeze, the sound of critters, the green, green Earth, the trickling of a brook....all these things I place as needs. When I lose them, I tend to get claustrophobic and it jangles my sensibilities.

Creativity. I need some way to be creative. My spirit is essentially a creative one and it oft translates into my physical surroundings. The method is less important so long as I have some way to express myself.

A connection with other. A connection with some being on the physical plane besides myself. It helps me stay sane. I do better if I have my dog than if I do not. I do better for having human contact, at least occasionally, than not. Yes, I have issues with humans....they're so monkey-like....lol. But then I must realize I too am one, with all of our strengths and weaknesses....

As humans, we want to think of ourselves as 'other', as apart from the rest of the animal world, but we aren't. We aren't really much different than many animal groups, which science is beginning to show us through more dedicated and detailed study of other critters. We are but another critter in an endlessly expanding Universe, though we'd like to think we are more special than all the rest...

The Secret, you see is that All beings are Special.....and the Universe does not play favorites...



5. How do you evaluate a "good day"?

Generally by waking up. If I get that far, it's the start of a beautiful day.

Generally I have to take each day one at a time, as they come. And I'm grateful for each and every one. I learn something new everyday. Something about me, about my relations and about the world around me. Sometimes these are profound, others are simple adjustments. Yet they all play a role in helping me live my life.

As one who has been shown just how mortal he is, I treasure every day. Of course, they are not all good. When I struggle, when I am overwhelmed and frustrated, when people ask of me that which I can not give, the day usually ends up being considered bad....but then....

There is the time I have with my dog, if I make it home. There is the time I can carve out to work with the Universe and to question my gods, my mentors. To gain clarity over what has transpired. To gain wisdom on what might be coming. So, to me, every bad day carries the seeds for the next good day. And vice versa, of course.

I am in this life because I chose to be in it. My life's current condition is the result of primarily my own doing. My choices, My perceptions. What I can accept, and what I cannot. I have to take full responsibility for my condition, the weak and the strong. If I am a victim of circumstance, it is because I failed to make a choice earlier and so I was left with only one in the end. I am responsible for my victories and my failures. But throughout it all I learn. I learn what works and what does not. I learn what to do and what not to do. Up until the day I do not survive the experience, I will always be learning...

....and even after, my spirit will continue to learn.....

[Coyote]

Blackbird said:

You can tell how much I have been keeping up with things. He is doing great. 10 weeks now and the doc says he is ahead of the normal development timeframe - he is already sitting up with help and he keeps trying to do it on his own. My son is a genius! But of course, all parents believe that soooo.... :)



Moonsmith said:

By the way...how be the baby?

So cute, proud momma! Our lil Blackbirds all grown up now...*sniffle* Sounds like you're gonna have a lil Irish fighter on your hands some of these days though. ;) It's a proud day. >:)

[Donna]

Ahhh, my Moon. Ich liebe dich.

[Moonsmith]

Danke, meine schatze'......

Donna said:

Ahhh, my Moon. Ich liebe dich.

[Coyote]

Caoimhin Miller said:

Thank you, Moonsmith. You have given me much to consider. I am at the beginning of my own particular path and I keep worrying over whether I'm doing it right or if I'm doing something wrong. Those worries are still there, though you have allayed them to some extent. At least I know that I'm headed in the right direction as long as I continued to learn. I hope you have a good life and a blessed afterlife.

Know yourself first, then you will know your path.

[Moonsmith]

How's the old Focus on Thee and Thine, going for ya these days, Coyote?

Coyote said:

Caoimhin Miller said:

Thank you, Moonsmith. You have given me much to consider. I am at the beginning of my own particular path and I keep worrying over whether I'm doing it right or if I'm doing something wrong. Those worries are still there, though you have allayed them to some extent. At least I know that I'm headed in the right direction as long as I continued to learn. I hope you have a good life and a blessed afterlife.

Know yourself first, then you will know your path.

[ShaamAnsu]

I think we need another spotlight for some lucky member. Been quite awhile

[Lady Anastasia]

lmao... ummm... yeah..who should we pester?

ShaamAnsu said:

I think we need another spotlight for some lucky member. Been quite awhile

[Moonsmith]

I got used to seeing my name up in lights....lol! Howz a bout some of the lurkers out there?

Or How about Gorm?

[Lady Anastasia]

haha.. Mr Fox sounds like a good candidate

Moonsmith said:

I got used to seeing my name up in lights....lol! Howz a bout some of the lurkers out there?

Or How about Gorm?

[ShaamAnsu]

Great information, and I am honored to know you.

Your words are filled with wisdom.