Aware

Welcome to week 2 of the Pagan Blog Project! So far I haven't managed to keep to the schedule and post on Fridays, but at least I'm only a day late this week!

As promised, this week "A" is for aware. Since I have a degree in English, I often find it useful to start with a definition:

aware

adjective \ə-ˈwer\

: knowing that something (such as a situation, condition, or problem) exists
: feeling, experiencing, or noticing something (such as a sound, sensation, or emotion)

: knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in the world or around you

(from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aware)

I like that this definition mentions feeling and experiencing as well as knowing and understanding. We can be aware of sensations and emotions even if we have difficulty understanding them or expressing them in words. Emotions and experiences are an important part of my spiritual practice.  It's one thing to learn about Pagan beliefs and practices from a book, but truly becoming Pagan involves trying out those practices and discovering which ones help you connect to spirit. Furthermore, I believe spell work is more effective when I feel a connection to what I am doing, instead of just looking up standard correspondences.

Let's see if I can think of an example to illustrate this better... Let's say I want to do a healing spell, and I'm trying to decide what color candle to burn. By doing a quick online search I found a chart listing yellow as a suggested color to use for a healing spell. But I wasn't aware that yellow was associated with healing. Instead I would probably pick green, since I think of green plants as being healthy and vibrant, and I want a color that will help me focus on healing energy. By choosing something that helps shift my awareness I can increase the effectiveness of my spell.

Of course, my associations may be completely different from another Witch's correspondences. I don't think anyone's way is right or wrong, but I do believe it is important to be aware of why you are doing things a certain way. 

Here's another example... When casting a circle at the beginning of a ritual, I generally begin in the East, because I associate the East with new beginnings (this is where the sun rises after all). I have a friend who prefer to being in the North, which she associates with the Earth - where all things begin and end. I could also see beginning in the South or West, if one of these elements was central to the theme of the ritual and you wanted to place extra emphasis on these qualities.

Again, I don't think anyone's way of doing things is better than anyone else's. By being self-aware we can determine which ways of doing things are more effective for us, and develop a truly meaningful spiritual practice. 

Participating in the Pagan Blog Project is a way for me to increase my awareness of my spiritual practice. And I hope reading my ramblings will help you increase awareness of your practice, whether or not you are Pagan.