Out of an abundance of caution for the health and well being of our members and friends, all in person meetings and events for White Oak Grove CUUPS have been canceled through the end of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See our facebook group for upcoming online events.
Members of White Oak Grove CUUPS gathered online for our monthly discussion group, and this month we focused on Common Pagan Chants and Songs. During our time together we learned some Pagan songs and chants that folks are likely hear used in rituals, gatherings, or even just as entertainment.
The idea of including chants and songs into our rituals is one that’s been around for awhile. One doesn’t even have to really think that hard to realize that something which can be repeated over and over again in a chant will be quick to catch onto, or that something with a familiar or easy tune. The use of songs and chants in our rituals and gatherings helps to focus and direct the energy of the group, and the ones created for fun help us connect to our heritage and community. So it seems to me that the songs and chants of the pagan community will be around for an even longer time to come.
If you weren’t able to make the session, check out these online resources:
When life is throwing you shade you can fight back with the powerful grounding Smokey Quartz. A stone of pure white light this crystal lets let in all the positivity you need. Tough love made this gem strong and it will help you find your truth. Smoky Quartz is associated with the cron chakra and helps to let go of emotional clutter to find the path towards wisdom.
An excellent crystal for Capricorns, Smokey Quartz help to ground, organize, and protect its owner.
I’m someone who was raised as a Pagan throughout my childhood; The flavor may have changed over the years as my parents experimented and searched for their right path, but all in all, my childhood memories are filled with the rather interesting activities that come with being Pagan.
I was absolutely blessed in the Pagan parents department because my mom and dad both worked hard to make sure my siblings and learned about different parts of Paganism in ways we could understand. They taught us about the holidays and showed us ways to celebrate them, taught us the “rules”, answered our questions, helped us learn from books, but most importantly they included us in rituals and acts of magic. On top of that, everything was done in a way that really made everything normal for the three of us: it wasn’t weird, it just was.
“O! Mighty goddess, in silvery ice,
watching over us as we sleep,
a layer of shining white,
covering the earth each night,
frost on the world and in the soul,
we thank you for visiting us.
Because of you, we seek warmth
in the comfort of our homes and hearths.”
Celebrate the Winter Solstice this year by joining us in this online ritual to bring forth gifts of charity, compassion, and understanding led by Kristen Kirk. If you would like to join in our ritual at home and work the magic with us, set your altar according to your tradition and gather the following tools.
1 Central Ritual Candle (we used yellow beeswax)
Oil infused with herbs for Winter Solstice (we used cedar and juniper)
“It only takes a few minutes in the morning to use gratitude to Have A Magical Day by giving thanks for the events in your day ahead of time, but this one practice alone will change the way your entire day unfolds.”
Welcome one and all to our online ritual for Samhain in the year of 2020. Though we are unable to gather together physically in once place this year, we can still honor our beloved dead together by taking part in this ritual together. This year’s ritual will be led by April Kane.
“Magic is a matter of focusing the disciplined will. But sometimes the will must be abandoned. The secret lies in knowing when to exercise control, and when to let go.”
“As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone