Pneumatised!

You never know what you can achieve until you set out to do it

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

This quiz is for all my Wiccan friends. 🙂

3rd Degree! You scored 95 % Wiccan!

Wow! Let me guess, you are Wiccan, right? Either you are, you are close to someone who is, or you cheated 😛 Congratulations. Blessed Be and May the God and Goddess bless your path. 🙂

MM,

Quiz time again. I did the below “Which Norse deity are you?” test, and I got Freya. Interesting, though not surprising.

Lately, Freya has made herself known in my life through my dreams. For awhile, I was dreaming about cats – lots of them – and not just because I’m a cat lover. One of my dreams was actually about feral cats invading my home, to the displeasure of my three domestic kitties. First, I thought maybe it was Hekate trying to get my attention because at first I dreamed of black cats. Later, it was just any type of cats. After some research, I found out Freya has a chariot drawn by two cats (often depicted as tabbies, but some claim it was black cats). Too cool!

Freya is also the leader of the Valkyries, “choosers of the slain”. The Valkyries fly over a battle field similar to how Morrigan would in her crow shape. Freya is also known to be a little sexual promiscuous (like Morrigan, who slept with Dagda just because), having slept with four dwarves in order to obtain the Brisingamen necklace. Freya is thought by some to be the same as Frigga, though just a different aspect of Frigga. Freya and Frigga together are thought to have been derived from an earlier earth-mother goddess figure just like Morrigan, in her triple aspect (Badb, Maeve, Morrigan or possibly Anu, Badb, Morrigan), is thought to have been derived from an earth-mother goddess figure. Both Freya and Morrigan are depicted as young, beautiful, strong, female warriors not to be toyed with.

The similarities between Freya and Morrigan are many; thus, it is not surprising that I have an affinity with Freya as well.

For some more information on Freya (though not extensive):
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/Norse-goddess-freya.htm
http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/scandanavia/vikings/norse05.htm
http://www.missgien.net/faith/freya.html

“Which Norse deity are you?” quiz results below.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Freya You scored 64 Wisdom, 60 Sexuality, 36 Strength, and 63 Goodliness!

The goddess of magic, love, and sex, you are very wise and know how to get what you want. Half of all of the battle dead belong to you, as does the exquisite necklace the “Brisingamen.” You are still a favorite with many today, especially strong women.

Hm… well, I am more of a Celtic/Norse mythology person. 😉

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

This test tracked 1 variable. How the score compared to the other people’s: Higher than 9% on correct

MM,

I did this quiz and I got Queen Maeve again! See the previous quiz I did. Ah, just can’t escape fate, I guess.

BB,
Cassandrah
Morrigan’s daughter

Maeve Indeed, you are 79% erudite, 70% sensual, 70% martial, and 62% saturnine.

Maeve was once thought of as a historical queen but is now considered part of the Celtic mythology. She is usually depicted as either a winged sprite, a beautiful elf, or a human woman dressed in only the finest robes. She was said to carry two tree-dwelling creatures on either of her shoulders; the squirrel and the raven, resembling her closeness to nature and mysticism. She also frequented the area which was said to hold the entrance to the Otherworld, which is now called the Cave of the Cats. Maeve is known for an insatiable sexual appetite and boasting openly of sleeping with thirty men in one day. Once she meets the hero Fergus Mac Roich, ‘Son of Great Horse’ who himself has a sexual appetite large enough to satisfy her, the tale says that ‘She used to know thirty men every day or go with Fergus once.’ So that�s good for her. :3 She is most famous as a protagonist in the story of the “Cattle Raid of Cooley”, which tells of another dispute between her and her husband, the Connaught chieftain Ailill, with whom she would constantly quarrel. The Fifteen Goddesses These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in � �all or none of the four variables: Neit. � Erudite: Minerva. � Sensual: Aphrodite. � Martial: Artemis. � Saturnine: Persephone. � Erudite & Sensual: Isis. � Erudite & Martial: Sekhmet. � Erudite & Saturnine: Nemesis. � Sensual & Martial: Hera. � Sensual & Saturnine: Bast. � Martial & Saturnine: Ilamatecuhtli. � Erudite, Sensual & Martial: Maeve. � Erudite, Sensual & Saturnine: Freya. � Erudite, Martial & Saturnine: Sedna. � Sensual, Martial & Saturnine: Macha.

MM,

This is probably going to be a very boring blog entry, but because this blog is here as a way for people to get to know me better, I thought I should note down what my goals are in relation to this blog and my website, Brigid’s Flame.

First and foremost, as mentioned on the main page, Brigid’s Flame is a healing path. The information and the services provided are to help others heal their lives. This healing path includes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual realms. This leaves the website open to a wide variety of different topics and services, such as spiritual development, martial arts, and healing modalities. Every section on Brigid’s Flame is important to me personally and has its purpose in this healing path. Brigid’s Flame is based on my own personal experience of healing, and consequently, represents the best of me and what I have to offer. What I have to offer comes from deep within my heart with a true desire to help others.

Below is a list of goals that I have for myself and for Brigid’s Flame:

1. To offer a unique program of reiki courses. Reiki, despite how it is currently taught by most reiki teachers in Western society, is a spiritual development system as well as a healing system. (If you cannot heal yourself, how can you heal others?) This is what my reiki program will teach. The program is an attempt to reconstruct what was once taught by Usui and Hayashi. The courses will note what is found in Western versions of reiki and what is thought to be originally Usui and Hayashi versions of reiki. As part of this program, I will be providing my reiki students with comprehensive reiki manuals at each level that explain much that is not being taught by current reiki teachers. As a result, the reiki program and accompanying manuals are unique – to my knowledge not many reiki teachers have attempted to reconstruct the teachings of Usui and Hayashi from a variety of sources. As of today, I have completed the Reiki One Manual, which is exactly 60 pages not including the appendices. The Reiki Two Manual is nearly completed. I expect it will be approximately 60 pages, comparable to the Reiki One Manual. The appendices to the Reiki Two Manual contain some very useful and interesting tables of information. I expect the appendices to be at least 100 pages! I still have to start the Reiki Three Manual beyond just an outline and notes, but I expect it will be comparable to the Reiki One and Two Manuals, but with more appendices. Overall, I expect that this reiki program will have plenty of interesting and relevant information for those seriously thinking of pursuing reiki not just as a healing system, but as a personal spiritual development system. (Yes, I realize it has been taking me some time to get everything started, but sometimes the best things in life are really worth waiting for. Thus, I hope you will be patient with me.)
2. To teach martial arts as a path for spiritual development. Martial arts is a spiritual development system, though unfortunately, it is not often taught as such. Ever since Western society was exposed to Bruce Lee and other great martial artists, there has been a fascination with traditional (Oriental) martial arts. However, this fascination came with almost a blind perspective that martial arts is all about fighting. Everyone wanted to know how to hit harder, hit faster, move faster, be stronger, without understanding that what the saw physically comes from a spiritual awareness. Traditional martial arts like kung fu, karate, and taekwondo come from a rich background of spiritual teachings. Have people forgotten or ignored the fact that monks were also skilled in martial arts? (Reference: Shaolinquan) The spiritual teachings of martial arts should not be lost. Training in a martial art is a deeply rewarding experience, provided you have the right teachers. I was lucky to have some very good teachers, teachers who were not only good at the physical part of martial art, but also in understanding the spiritual basis of it. Frankly, you cannot be a good martial artist without the spiritual awareness (my instructors were good because of the spiritual awareness). Without the spirituality, a martial art diminishes into just a fighting sport (and that part of it is hard on its own). Thus, it is my goal to explore this aspect of martial arts and one day share what I learn with others.
3. To be able to help others learn and grow spiritually. In order to help others develop spiritually, I also need to maintain my spiritual development. Thus, one of my goals has been to learn as much as I can about my chosen spiritual path. For me, this is paganism and Wicca. I have been studying Wicca for just as long as I have been studying martial arts, but I have always had an interest in spirituality since adolescence. (I truly wish I could have studied martial arts as a child, but at least I get to study it now. :D) I have studied astrology off and on for over 15 years and I have studied tarot for just as long. Studying Wicca seemed to be a natural extension of my occult leanings. Since I first became interested in Wicca, I was fortunate to find a great community where I could learn more about Wicca. I am referring to the Wiccan Church of Canada (WCC). It is there that I found many who could teach me. For a while I was not sure about continuing my studies to become a member of Priesthood (I spent some time reviewing my personal reasons for wanting to be part of Priesthood), but it started to become clear to me that it was something that I was being drawn to do, whether I consciously chose to or not. Thus, I have continued with my lessons and studies in this. I should probably state that I do not teach Wicca at this time, as I am not an initiated Priestess of a Wicca tradition. I also do not know if at all I will be accepting Wicca students through my website. While I do know a bit about Wicca, the information I provide on my website is based on my own personal life and experience. Thus, I hope to be able to teach by writing about my own spiritual path.

The above three are my three main goals for myself and my website. These three things have become a part of who I am and therefore, have become a large part of what Brigid’s Flame is about. Finally and most of all, Brigid’s Flame is a journey much like my spiritual path. The journey is there for you and whatever you wish to make of it. I hope Brigid’s Flame will continue to be a part of that.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

You can find the new number on the main page for Brigid’s Flame. Please call if you are interested in reiki treatments (classes will be coming soon) or spiritual (tarot, runes) consultations. For more information, my email is located on every page on the website.

Blessed healing,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Occasionally when I’m writing, I like to listen to some meditative music. Tonight… er, last night since it’s morning now, I was listening to Anuna. Anuna is the famous Irish choir that performs medieval and contemporary chants and songs. One of my favourite chants from them is Media Vita (pronounced “mey-dee-ah vee-tah”).

Media Vita is originally a Latin hymn said to be written by Notker Balbulus (c.840 – c.912). It later came to be used as part of the funeral rites of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. (See Wikipedia article on sequence (poetry).) The full Latin text of Media Vita is given below followed by the English translation.

Media vita in morte suumus
Quem quaerimus ad iutorem nihi site domine
Qui pro peccatis nostris

Chorus:
Sancte Deus, sancte fortis
Sancte misericor salvator
Amare morti ne tradas nos

In te speraverunt patres nostris
Speraverunt et liberasti eos
(Chorus 2x)

Media vita in morte sumus

In the midst of life we are in death
What helper do we seek except you, O Lord
You who for our sins

Chorus:
Holy God, holy and powerful
Oh holy compassionate savior
Do not give us over to the harshness of death

In you, our fathers placed their hopes
They placed their hopes and you freed them
(Chorus 2x)

In the midst of life we are in death

When I listen to this chant performed by Anuna, I can feel the power of it. Perhaps it is because the song is in Latin, and I have always found Latin to be a particularly beautiful languange. Perhaps it is because Anuna performs this chant excellently. Or perhaps there is some meaning in this chant that I find resonates with me. It is strange, but even as a pagan, I find this chant beautiful. Even realizing that it is originally written as a Christian hymn doesn’t faze me. Perhaps it is because this chant was written ages ago back when Christianity was closer to its original pagan elements. Listening to this chant, I get a sense of some of the pagan gods, most notably Jupiter (Zeus in Greek myth). Jupiter was the father god of Roman mythology, just as Zeus was the father god of Greek mythology. Perhaps Jupiter decided to hang around, even though people where intent on displacing him with a nameless, formless, transcendent god. Jupiter’s glory and power is reflected wonderfully in this song, even if the original writer may not have intended this.

Whether you are pagan or Christian or a person of any other faith, this is an amazing song as it reflects much about our relationship to god(s). I recommend giving it a listen sometime.

Media vita in morte sumus
In the midst of life we are in death

Blessings,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

P.S. For those who know their Irish myth, yes, I have noticed that an Irish choir singing this may inadvertently attract the attention of Morrigan, fiercesome goddess of war and death. 😉