The Abbreviated Priestess

The short form thoughts of a mystic, priestess, & housewife

[ladybrythwensinclair]

hoo boy.

I'm as nervous as a long tailed cat in a rocking chair factory right now. My eldest son is having oral surgery today. It's all very routine, he's getting a baby tooth removed so the adult tooth coming in can be nudged into place. Still, it is surgery and I am low key freaking out. Beloved is there with him while I wait for my youngest to get home from school. (He has half days right now because of a scheduling fubar that happened. He's bored and grumpy with that, and irritated that I keep making him do chores.) Cuddle Bear, my eldest, is terrified but doing his best to keep a brave face. Snuggle Bug, my youngest, didn't know it was happening today so that he could get through school with out a meltdown of anxiety over his brother.

On the good side of the ledger, Cuddle Bear is at the best hospital in the area for this surgery. Also, my mother-in-law is doing really well after having completed her treatment for cancer. She's not at 100% yet because the side effects of chemo and radiation are still wearing off (she had her last chemo treatment last Friday). But things are looking good.

Now the biggest challenge for me is to get a handle on my anxiety. But that's been what has been keeping me from posting. (As well as giving Cuddle Bear driving lessons. That's been an adventure.) I'll try to get back to daily posting soon. Right now, I'm treading water and watching out for any alligators that I need to turn into handbags before they eat me.

[ladybrythwensinclair]

God vs. Goddess: A Question of Language

There are some in the Filianic community that have taken offense to my inclusion of masculine gods in my practice. This is their prerogative and I hold no grudge or malice towards them for it. Opinions are everywhere and I try not to be troubled by them. There is a question of linguistics, however, that needs to be addressed.

I do not and never shall hold the term god over goddess because it makes no linguistic sense. Looking at the origin of the term god/gods/goddess, we find that it describes a race of spiritual beings just as the term giant does. Upon close inspection, it is revealed that god is the generic term for a being within that race, gods is a plural generic term, and goddess is a compound word for a specific class of these beings.

Goddess is comprised of the word god and the word dis. It is the word dis that is of particular interest. Disir is the proper spelling of a group of dis, which approximately translates to Lady. The Disir are a special class of feminine oriented spiritual beings who are protectors of the clan, the family, and the luck of the ones who fall under their auspices. They are spiritually powerful, some say powerful enough to alter one's wyrd (fate) if called upon to do so.

The disir of the gods are elevated above the other gods to function in this capacity for the different tribes of gods they watch over. This can be seen in Freyja's title Vanadis - the dis of the Vanir. Much of the knowledge about the disir has been lost due to the influence of the passage of time, language shift, and the cultural shifts that moved the peoples of Northern Europe away from their ancestral beliefs to a conversion to Christianity. All existent sources of information is written from a Christian perspective and viewed through that lens. Because of this, the role of the disir has been largely overlooked, the term god was elevated over goddess, and the false dichotomy imposed. It is the false dichotomy that argues goddess is a derivitive term and that the term god was always masculine gendered. The foremothers of Filianism and Déanism were working from this linguistic dichotomy as they were coming from a background steeped in Christian overculture. Their effort to reclaim the term god was well intentioned but goddess fills that need. They were simply unaware of that. Hopefully, this post clarifies a few things about how I use the terms, god, gods, and goddess.

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Odin

Hail to the Wanderer Hail to the Gallows' God Hail to the Tree of Victory Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sai Mati

Hail to the Scholar's Friend Hail to the Seeker's Guide Hail to the Guardian of the Path of Light Bless and guide us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Question

Anybody else see the Progressive car insurance ads with Mayhem and think 'hello there Loki'? I honestly believe that entire ad campaign was inspired by Flame-hair. The gecko was cute but Mayhem is *hilarious*. UPG? or coincidence? Why not both? LOL

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sunna

Hail to the fair haired daughter of Mundilfari Hail to the beautiful sister of Mani Hail to the charioteer of the daystar's wain Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sai Raya

Hail to the Golden Janya Hail to the Giver of Good Things Hail to the Keeper of the Sun Bless and guide us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

You seem like someone who could keep a secret, am I right?

I am an information black hole given the right circumstances. If no one is put in danger or put into a situation that can lead to ... problematic results for all involved, I hold my piece and watch to see how things unfold given the information I've been entrusted with.

[ladybrythwensinclair]

I was dumb.

Yesterday, in my haste to open up a package, I used a kitchen knife instead of a pair of scissors. The knife slipped and cut my left thumb. It wasn't deep enough to need stitches but it bled pretty good. Now putting pressure on it makes it complain. And I tend to open bottles with my left hand (which is kinda weird because it's my non-dominant hand). I went to open the almond milk this morning to add it to my coffee and my thumb felt very sore as I did that. I suspect that I'm going to discover all kinds of ways I use my thumb today. Moral of the story, use the correct tool for the job at hand and be prompt in your first aid for injuries. The folks at the Urgent Care center in the next town over were impressed by how well I bandaged myself up with one hand. I was just relieved that I didn't cut myself deep enough to require stitches.

Somedays, I am dumb. lol

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Tyr

Hail to the Sky-Father Hail to the joy of Zisa Hail to the god of war Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sai Thamë

Hail to the Choir Mistress of the Celestial realm Hail to the Dance Mistress of the High Queen's court Hail to the Law Speaker of Heaven Bless and guide us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Freyja

Hail to the Hero's sister Hail to the tamer of cats Hail to the beautiful one Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Frigg

Hail to the Cloud-Spinner Hail to the Mother of Baldur the Beautiful Hail to the Joy of the All-Father Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sai Sucri

Hail to the Sweetness of Life Hail to the Bearer of Déa's Love Hail to the Guardian of the Path of Love Bless and guide us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

What do you worship? I'm interested...

First, allow me to apologize for not answering this before now. Between writer's block and my trying to figure out how to put some shapeless concepts into a container, it's been tough to figure out how to phrase this.

I must start this answer with a bit of a preface. In physics there is a theory referred to as the infinite universe theory. According to the infinite universe theory, any and everything is possible. We may not see these possibilities in our universe but a parallel one can manifest them. Each choice we make, there is a universe where an alternate decision was made. (The infinite universe theory also contends that there are infinite timelines that we could potentially transverse but we'd get stuck in them. Hence why time travel to the past is risky and functionally impossible for non-quantum sized things.) Throw the infinite universe theory and all of it ramifications together with Pascal's Wager and you start to get a picture of how I view the Divine. Because there is an infinite number of universes and we don't know which universe we're living in, we can not say for certain what the Divine is like. We can not say that religion A is more accurate in describing the cosmic model of the universe than religion B or C. It isn't a fear of hell that moves me to say that the Divine is real as much as I have personally seen enough weird stuff that I can not deny the evidence. I functionally practice three religions at the same time. I identify as a witch of Wiccan training and background. This has been true since the mid 90's. I also identify as a heathen of family tradition practices. This has been true since my childhood. And I identify as a priestess of Filianism. This has been public knowledge since the late 2010's.

In the late 90's, I had a vision of Déa where I was called to her service. Then I spent the next several decades searching for the source of this vision. It was a quest that required me to carefully consider myself and my place in the world. This included my religious identity. I had multiple crises of faith in this quest and questioned my sanity many times. In the 2010's Filianism continued to cross my path, so I dove into studying it with all the information available at the time. That was when Déa revealed herself to me again and I honestly felt a sense of homecoming. With respect to heathenry, certain deities have always been present in my life. Loki has been present the longest. Second in line is Freyr, who is tied with Odin. The other deities of the heathen pantheons have come in and out of the picture like feral cats, here today gone tomorrow and likely to return again sometime, maybe. The heathen gods have helped me endure and survive deeply traumatizing conditions. I have a deep respect and affection for them.

With respect to Wicca, it is the base foundation of my ritual practices and organization of concepts. Wicca's format is flexible and open to a wide many of theological concepts. It makes it possible to practice a devotional relationship with multiple deities with out placing them into a hierarchy that denigrates any of them. Am I a textbook Filianist? No. I do believe that Déa reveals herself to us in a manner by which we may understand her. As a result of this, a plurality of religions exist that a Filianist can point at and say "here's Déa". Déa is the whole of all divinity and yet also a single aspect of it. When I speak of the Divine, I am speaking of Déa as the whole of divinity. When I speak of gods, I am speaking of individual deities from different pantheons that revealed themselves to believers. I believe that all religions are valid because of the infinite universe theory and the fact that we don't know which universe we're in. This includes religions that I don't like and religions that haven't been invented yet.

I have always been a hard polytheist. All deities are unique and have their own personalities. At the same time, there's enough soft polytheism in my practice that the lines blur between pantheons sometimes. I hope this helps and doesn't leave you more confused than when I started. <3

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Donner

Hail to the Farmer's Friend Hail to the Mighty Defender of Midgard Hail to the God whose laughter shakes the skies Bless and walk with us this day

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Hail Sai Vikhë

Hail to the Victory Bringer Hail to the Bane of the Dark Queen's daughters Hail to the Vigorous One Bless and guide us this day