The Goddess Kuan Yin

Kuan Yin is believed to have been the daughter of a wealthy, cruel man who desired her to marry for status. Gentle Kuan Yin, in hopes of gaining spiritual enlightenment, disobeyed her father and entered a temple. There, she quickly became known for her kind deeds and compassion. But her father was so angered by her act that he had the girl killed. For her good works while alive, Kuan Yin was brought to heaven where she could enjoy an eternity of bliss.
But as she searched for heaven's gates, Kuan Yin heard a cry from below. It was someone suffering upon the earth, someone in need of her help. Then and there she vowed never to leave humanity until every last person was free from woe. For this vow, Kuan Yin was transformed into a Goddess.
Today the goddess Kuan Yin is widely worshipped. She is believed to heal those sick of heart and body, mothers and children in distress, and even seafarers in storms.
To often in life we are overwhelmed by troubles. Sorrow encompasses us-and there is only so much we can do. For those beset by worries or illness, the merciful goddess Kuan Yin is a wonderful goddess to invoke.
Many believe that the magickal act of saying Kuan Yin's name helps the troubled gain comfort. Others choose to go on pilgrimages to the goddess's temple on the mountain of Miao Feng Shan; to win her notice, they shake rattles and other noisemakers as they pray.
The next time you feel overwhelmed with worries, spend some time in nature. Choose a place that is beautiful and serene; even if you live in a city, a quiet glade of trees is often only a train ride away. Bring with you a small offering of fruit or a flower for Kuan Yin.
When you reach your destination, take some time to walk around. The act of walking suggests the passage of time: Time will pass and so will your problems, as difficult as that may be to believe.
When you find a quiet spot where is in unlikely you will be disturbed, sit and unburden yourself to Kuan Yin. State aloud what is bothering you and why. She will understand, compassionate goddess that she is. Take your time. Remember, the act of saying Kuan Yin's name aloud is believed to bring peace to even the most troubled of hearts.
When you have finished, leave the goddess your offering - and thank Kuan Yin for her help.

This information about the goddess Kuan Yin came from my enchanting book:
Embracing the Goddess Within by Kris Waldherr.
This is a lovely book and has been a wonderful addition to my collection of pagan books. You all know what a shameless book whore I am...:)
Brightest Blessings,
The Celtic Witch
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A Brief Introduction to the Beliefs of Buddhism

I want to apologize for this post taking so long to appear! To my defense I have been busy with my shop and I recently wrote a new article for Ye Olde Witches Brew. I now have my own blog there as well as starting a column where I take pagan themed questions from readers and post their letter and my answer on the column. If any of my readers here have anything they would like to see addressed on that column feel free to contact me through this blog or through the online publication!
With all that said, today's post is about Buddhism. I recently purchased a book on Zen and am greatly enjoying my read. I decided to share some of this with you.

The Enlightenment of the Buddha is central to Buddhism. The word "Buddha" means "enlightened" or "awakened". It refers to a fully enlightened being who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance or who is enlightened about both his or her own nature as well the nature of the world. Historically, the word Buddha is most often used to refer to Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Shakya clan in ancient India (sixth century BC) who, after a long spiritual struggle, had a great spiritual awakening and became the Buddha, the Enlightened One. As the enlightened sage (muni) of the Shakya clan, he also came to be known as Shakyamuni Buddha.
In his enlightened experience, the Buddha gained insight into the suffering or pain that pervades our existence. He discovered a new mode of awareness and way of living driven neither by the grasping of desire nor by the aversion of hatred. This enlightened awareness is free of the ignorance and delusion that is characteristic of our normal consciousness. It finds expression in a host of positive qualities, most importantly, great wisdom and great compassion. These are exemplified in the life of the Buddha.
The Buddha embarked on a long life as a teacher in Northern India in order to communicate this experience, with its liberating knowledge, to others. He founded a community of followers establishing the basic patterns of institutional life, meditative practice, and philosophical and religious thinking known as Buddhism.
The teachings of the Buddha are preserved in the Buddhist scriptures (sutras).

Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels:
The Buddha, who has realized enlightenment
The Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha
The Sangha, the community of Buddhist practitioners.

The young prince Siddhartha Gautama is depicted as having everything one could desire-wealth, bodily beauty, intelligence, a beautiful wife and child, abundant leisure time and so on-yet something was lacking in his life. Despite all that surrounded him, he was still troubled by the fact of death and by the fundamental questions of existence. Awareness of his own and others pain provided the starting point for Siddhartha's spiritual quest. A long search culminated in his becoming the Buddha, the Enlightened One.
It is said that when the Buddha had his awakening, his great enlightenment experience, he doubted whether he could communicate something so profound to others.
After some hesitation, he set out on his quest to teach the knowledge he had gained.
Rather then talk about his great experience, even though it is what made him the Enlightened One, Shakyamuni made the fact of suffering and pain the starting point of his teaching. Acknowledgement of pain is the entry point into a deeper investigation of reality, an opportunity to begin to know things as they are rather then as we might imagine them or wish them to be.
The truth of suffering is the first of the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths:
The truth of suffering, dunkhaThe truth of the arising of suffering
The truth of the cessation of suffering
The truth of the path to the end of suffering

According to the Buddha, the cause of the angst in our lives is to be found in the patterns of clinging and aversion that dominate our minds and govern our actions. From moment to moment, we are driven by the desire to get rid of or avoid pain. So enmeshed have we become in patters of desire and avoidance that these patterns have assumed lives of their own and come to control our lives. We do not act in clear awareness, but under the control of often unconscious drives and emotions. Our actions, rather than satisfying our desires, often result in further frustration and antagonism.

That is a brief introduction to Buddhism. It is so much more then what I have provided here and I have found what I have read so far to be completely enlightening!
I hope you enjoyed the read and that it has inspired you to look further into this enlightening way of looking at life on your own. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!
Don't forget to let me know if you would like to be the first reader featured on my new column at Ye Olde Witches Brew. Send in your questions or what nots!
Brightest Blessings,
Kathy

Winner of Past Life Reading Picked!

I picked the winner of my past life reading giveaway!
The winner is Gwenevier! Congrats to Gwenevier on winning this giveaway.
I look forward to reading for you.
I will start a new giveaway soon.
Brightest Blessings to all!

Quick Reminder, Last Chance to Enter into Past Life Reading Giveaway!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be picking a winner for the Past Life Reading Giveaway by this weekend. You only have another day to leave your comments in the post for that giveaway. I know I said I would have picked a winner by now but life has been busy these last few weeks so I am sorry about that.
With that said, time is short people, a winner will be picked soon!!! I am very excited to be doing this reading and I cant wait to see who the winner will be.
Winners are picked randomly, literally, lol. Everyones name is put into a bowl and my youngest daughter picks the name out. So hurry up and leave your comments so that I can add your name to the bowl! You have to be a follower of the blog AND leave a comment in the giveaway post to be eligible to win.
Also, please leave me your email if you dont mind, it makes it so much easier for me to contact you when you win.
Best of luck,
The Celtic Witch
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Past Life Reading Giveaway

Here is my next giveaway, a past life reading through the Tarot. This is something that I am going to start offering in my etsy shop so I figured it would be the perfect item to offer here first.
Reincarnation has long been one of the esoteric tarot's hidden teachings and is the perfect tool to aid with recalling past lives.
In 2005, ABC did a story on a 6 yr. old boy named James Leininger. His family believed he was the reincarnation of James M. Huston, Jr. a world war 2 fighter pilot. A number of people, including Huston's own sister have been convinced by the vivid details the boy recalls from his life and death.
Some people believe that stories like these are proof of the reality of reincarnation, others claim these memories are nothing more then dreams or vivid fanatasies. What do you believe?
I do believe in past lives and have had glimpses of what I can only assume are my own past life through meditation and astral travel.
If you are interested in exploring your past life then comment on this post and let me know why you would like to have this reading done.
I will be picking a winner for this one within the next week or so, I know I usually give more time then that but I am looking forward to performing this reading...:)
I will include a picture of your layout along with your layout explanation. These will be sent to you via email. I will need your full name (given at birth) and your date of birth.
I look forward to hearing from you all.
Brightest Blessings,
Kathy

Spending Time With Faeries

With Spring in mind I thought an entry about the faeries would be appropriate.



Faeries love nature as much as Witches and will occasionally manifest in it, although their ability to stay there is as limited as our ability to remain long in the astral. And because of the deep archetypal association of faeries and nature, many witches new at faery contact find that a natural setting better facilitates faery sightings and contact whether in a shifted or normal waking state of consciousness.



Shifted state contacts with faeries are often easier in natural surroundings because this is where both your conscious and subconscious minds have been conditioned to believe you will find them. Remember however that if you are disturbed while in a meditative state, you will probably be unpleasantly jolted back into yourself -a metaphor for a quick return to waking consciousness. This will not cause you any harm, but such interruptions repeated over time can cause your subconscious to become leery of the process, making it harder for you to achieve the state of mind you seek.
Wide awake faery sightings are much harder to achieve even by those skilled in the art, and you will have better success if you use a light, eyes partially opened trance. Remember that the Fae, like woodland animals, have every reason to be distrustful of human motives and are not likely to just walk up to you.



To successfully find faeries in natural outdoor settings, one must first find a quiet and secluded spot to relax and where few other humans are likely to be at that time.
Next, you must find the sort of places where faeries are likely to be found.
Finally, you must offer some sort of inducement for them to manifest in the physical world, such as a bowl of milk or a bit of fresh butter. The first two of these things have a profound effect on how, and how well, your mind is programmed for faery sightings, and the last is just common sense.



Faery mounds are traditionally the homes of faeries throughout much of the world and would be a good place to start your search. The best time to approach a faery mound is mid summer while wearing protective charms. Faeries are very active at this time and are known to revel for days to and just after this Sabbat. To see a faery at midsummer, go to a faery mound and if it is possible, place yourself in a light trance. Tap on the side of the mound lightly three times and request it to open for you in the name of the Goddess. Then stand back and see what happens.
Faery rings, faery trails, and faery islands are popular faery sites, but they are also the ones most fraught with danger. However, a little common sense can untangle many of these murky legends for us.
A faery ring is a dark ring of grass, perfectly round and distinctly deeper in color then the grass which surrounds it. This is another of those freaks of nature which no scientist has ever been adequately able to explain. Pagans have long believed them to be the faeries magick circles, and numerous reports of faery rituals and revels within them have been chronicled.
A faery trail, or path, is like a faery ring except it is a long trail of dark grass rather then a circle. Often the trail goes on for miles, and again, there is no scientific explanation for it. These trails are believed by pagans to be the paths taken by the trooping faeries on their Rades.
If you wish to see faeries in a faery circle or on a faery path, sit at a respectful distance and slow and focus your thoughts. You might even request aloud to be permitted to see the faeries if they are there. Announce yourself as a fellow worshipper of the Old Gods and Goddesses, and as a friend who intends them no harm.




Remember that faeries as a whole cannot be summoned at will, nor controlled by egotistical magicians. They are sentient, living beings who are sensitive, and they deserve our respect.
I hope you have enjoyed this entry and been inspired to seek out the Fae on your own.
Don't forget to check out all my Faery treats at Magickal Enchantments!
Brightest Blessings,
The Celtic Witch

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~Blog Winners~

I picked three winners for my latest giveaway of Magickal Morning Glory Seeds.

I very much appreciate all of my followers and I want you all to know that.

The winners of the latest giveaway are:

~Ava from Handmade By Ava~

Ava has a lovely shop on etsy, stop by and check out her fabulous creations.

Here is a little about Ava:

"I have been creating jewelry for about 4 years and started selling my creations around 2 years ago. I really enjoy creating and use it as a chance to recollect and gain some much needed perspective. I am a mom of three, a full-time student. "

http://handmadebyava.etsy.com/

~Sarah from Cottage Garden Studio~

Sarah has a lovely shop on etsy as well and she offers wonderful items. Take a few moments to check out her enchanting wares at:

http://www.cottagegarden.etsy.com/

Here is a little about Sarah:

"My Etsy shop is Cottage Garden Studio. I offer my whimsical art and my husband’s fine mineral specimens. We are from the beautiful Northwest United States - Idaho to be exact. I've been an artist & teacher most of my life. I offer a variety of subjects including holiday art. I am very fond of Fall and Halloween. I also work in several mediums, acrylics, colored pencil and pen & polymer clay. You will also find some lovely mineral specimens in my shop. They are from the collection of my Dear Half Jim. He digs, collects, trades and sells these amazing pieces. They make wonderful display pieces or to compliment any altar. "

And last but not least Hibiscus Moon...:)

Please check out her blog at:

http://www.hibiscusmoon.blogspot.com/

She has a great blog with lots of great info and a wonderful way with words that will keep you reading.

Thanks to all of my followers and I will be offering another giveaway soon! Of course, if there is something you would like to see offered feel free to drop me a line. I would love to hear what products you would all like to see offered as a product giveaway.

Brightest Blessings to all!

Pictured item in this blog is one of latest additions to my shop.

It is an Herbal Kitchen Witch Charm and you can view this item by following this link:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22495333