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Author Topic: Resource thread: Time and your practice  (Read 5276 times)

Jenett

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Resource thread: Time and your practice
« on: January 08, 2017, 07:54:55 pm »
This is a special topic thread - please see the guidelines below for details.

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?
Plus any other related questions I haven't put here!

Guidelines:
  • Posts that stray from the topic of the thread will be moved to a new thread.
  • Please include a brief label/description of your current path at the top of your reply. ("Seeker" or "Learning" are fine options if you don't have something more specific yet.)
  • Please take replies to a particular thread in an appropriate forum, to keep this thread focused.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2017, 07:58:43 pm by Jenett »
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Jenett

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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2017, 08:42:28 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

My path: initiatory religious witchcraft.

Currently:
My current practices include a lot of things that take some time periodically, but not much time most of the time they're relevant practices, plus occasional activities / rituals / gatherings, plus a fair bit of reading.

Set up once, use lots:
  • Shrine: set up where I can see it from my computer.
  • Playlists : I have seasonal ones, but also ones for specific goals.
  • Toenails: I've mentioned elsewhere that this is my longest running devotional practice (since sometime in 2002, my toenails have been some shade of deep blue.) My toes are always with me, I don't wear things on my feet at home, so any time I look at my toes, there is the reminder.
  • Jewelry : I don't wear Obviously Pagan Jewelry very often, but I have a number of pieces I wear for specific goals or boosts for a given day or project.
  • Digital stuff : I set passwords related to current religious goals for things like my password at work (which I have to change every couple of months), and set desktop images that remind me of goals. (These are usually not obviously Pagan to other people.)

Reading: Here! Also about 70 Pagan-related RSS feeds from various sources (most of which don't put out new material frequently, but I read whatever's new mostly daily). Books, though my habits for reading print are fairly slow these days and I still get most Pagan titles in print.

Activities :
  • Daily: Chatting with people online about various topics (Pagan and not) in various formats. Basic psychic hygiene stuff - centering, grounding, shielding maintenance, etc.
  • Periodically: Roughly every Sabbat (which we have picked as usefully convenient stretches of time to do a thing - I think I'm actually the only person for whom all of them are relevant to my personal practice) with my ritual group, though life gets in the way sometimes.
  • Yearly: Attending a couple of Pagan-focused events each year (I went to the Eastern Massachusetts Pagan Pride last fall, and will be back at Paganicon this spring.) plus a trad-specific yearly ritual.  
  • Ongoing: Maintaining and writing stuff for the Seeking site. Ditto, occasionally, my more general blog, and other writing projects. (Hoping for more of that this year.)

Past
This is rather less (in terms of specifically committed time) than I've done at other points in my life as a witch, but a bit more than I've done some years.

My busiest years were during training with a group (late 2001 to late 2007), which ran about 8-10 hours of class time a month, about 20-30 minutes most days for assigned work, a full moon ritual a month (3-4 hours on a weeknight), a Sabbat ritual in months with a Sabbat (usually a bit longer, 4-6 hours), plus once I moved higher in degrees, additional time for meeting about making classes and rituals happen, group decisions, etc. Add in travel time (about 20-30 minutes each way for a lot of that time) and it was a large chunk of my life.

There are some things I miss about it (that kind of time invested leads to a *lot* of learning and skill development, quite rapidly, usually) but these days, that'd completely exhaust me, and I'm a lot happier having a more balanced life.

My religious life also used to involve more meditation than I manage these days : medical stuff in 2009-2010 threw a wrench in how a lot of it works for me, and my work and 'dinner needs to happen' scheduling also complicates some of it. That one, I do miss, and I keep poking at alteratives that might be sustainable for me.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2017, 08:43:22 pm by Jenett »
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Jack

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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2017, 09:04:30 pm »
I'm primarily a fictional reconstructionist and heathen.

Quote from: Jenett;201217
What kind of time do you spend on your path?


Most days, between ten and twenty minutes doing obviously religious things like talking to the Powers, making offerings of energy, candles or incense, that kind of thing. Often a chunk of this is during my walk to work.  I also stole Jenett's password idea the last time it was mentioned.

For a while I was doing monthly-ish work that was more complex, but at the moment I've got a fairly minimal practice. Winter is a quiet time with my primary goddess.

The creative act of writing is also an important spiritual practice for me, but I'm not counting it here because it can vary a lot and is harder to quantify.

I would like to have a somewhat more structured and solid practice than I currently have, but I have not yet developed things to replace the things that came away. That's one of my hopes for this month, though.
Hail Mara, Lady of Good Things!
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2017, 09:19:39 am »
Quote from: Jenett;201217

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?

 
My path:  Norse Fusion Witchcraft

Every morning, I spend about ten minutes with my morning routine.  I go to my back window and greet the day (prayer and observation of the outside), then Yoga/Tai-Chi stretching.  I draw my morning Futhark rune for the day, sit in meditation, honor the day, ground/center, check in with my body and set my personal protections.

Then I sit and plan my day, which includes drawing a WomanRune for the day, tracking personal cycles, setting an intention for the day and checking in with the week's focus and weekly draw (doing a lot of divination this year).

I have two Pagan forums I read/respond to every day, plus several spiritual groups on Facebook that I check at least once a day.

Another new project this year ties into my path through intentional creativity, so I am checking in with that at least once a day.  This one really varies though, it is art journaling, so I may spend just a few minutes adding some thoughts or I may paint for a few hours.  

At night, I spend another 10-15 minutes with my nightly routine.  This includes rebalancing my energy from the day, ground/center, chakra work, affirmations, shielding and prayer.

Then, on a weekly basis, I write a blog post every Wednesday, post prompts (and reply to them) for a magic support group (which consist of weekly goals and progress), on Fridays I do a community building post in my local Pagan group (and post my own reply sometime during the week, as well as try to respond to every other post that is made in that discussion).

I honor the Sabbats in my personal practice, though the time spent on each one may vary.  One of my virtual groups sometimes has collective rituals that are posted (and we do on our own time) so I try to do those and share with the group.  My local Pagan friends also do ritual together, but we are a very loose group, so it isn't regular.  At least once a year we do a bigger ritual, which takes most of the evening (and sometimes we stay over night).

I definitely think the amount of time spent in my practice has varied over the years.  When I was first starting out (during high school and college) it wasn't uncommon for me to spend hours every day learning and copying things and studying.  I still go through phases like that, but not as regular (life/family stuff definitely takes a bigger chunk of my time now).  There were also times where my personal practice was virtually non-existent.  I haven't ever considered myself not practicing, but there was a year or so where I did very little, and almost no big work (mostly just my evening routine).

But in many ways, I think that I am more consistently active in my practice now.  Earlier times where I was busier felt more like I was studying/reading/notetaking more but not practicing as much.  I do tend towards book learning, so it takes real focus for me to bust out of my books/notes and get to actual work!  It helps that I am doing a lot of more work with other people, in groups and what not now.

I wouldn't say there was any part of my practice I would like to be spending less time with.  I am going to be spending more time with divination this year (it's my focus for the year), so that will be a change for me.  I would like to spend more time in more formalized ritual practice....I don't often do formal rituals anymore, and when I do I realize how much I miss it.  With family and other time constraints though (I really prefer to do ritual when I can be undisturbed, so that puts a limit on when I can really do certain things) I don't always get to do things when I might prefer.
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2017, 09:52:00 am »
Quote from: Jenett;201217

What kind of time do you spend on your path?

 

 
My path is still open. Currently seeking a deeper connection with Cernunos and Odin to help guide me on this path.

Daily
    Lighting incense and candles and spend a little time seeking contact. Depending on what's going on in my life at the time this can be a simple 10 seconds 'thank you' or an elaborate rant and request for patience and strength to deal with things.

    Walking the dogs or riding my horse. I feel very connected with the gods when I'm out in nature. I encounter crows daily and deer frequently, often I get a sense of purpose when I do.
     



Periodically:
    Recently something nudged me that the house spirits want to be recognised and I've started putting out cups of milk and bread for them. I have a feeling I should do this more regularly.


I must admit I get nudged quite often. The other day I was cleaning my kitchen and I had this urge to go and pour my cooking sherry out over my outdoor shrine. Most of my practices are a bit on the go.
You're only given a little spark of madness, you mustn't lose it.

ehbowen

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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2017, 11:35:50 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
What kind of time do you spend on your path?


Path: While my personal beliefs might draw some raised eyebrows, my practice is very mainstream Southern Baptist.

In answer to the topic question: Not nearly as much time as I might have led some to think. I do believe in prayer, but I don't spend a whole lot of time "on my knees." Instead, I kind of keep up a running conversation with my God as I go through daily activities. I don't hear voices in reply or anything like that, but once in a while I'll be struck by a series of thoughts which give me a new insight. One of the more memorable recent ones came as I was fixing a panic bar on an exit door and was gradually led to a whole new way to look at the end of the Revelation.

I do spend time in specific, focused prayer when I am aware of a particular need, from church or elsewhere. While I'm sure that God hears and takes into account all prayers, I have noticed that there does seem to be an impact the closer your connection to a particular situation. It's not something you could quantify with a formula, but it looks like it does make a difference.

I do participate in group prayer meetings with my church on a regular basis. Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening for the longest time, but then the situation can change quickly. I remember one specific time about 25 years back when we had a "prayer chain" organized for an urgent medical need. I was supposed to pray from 2 am to 3 am, but I forgot to set my alarm. I sprung wide awake for no apparent reason at 1:58 am. The next night I was supposed to pray again, but slept right through it. I felt guilty about that...until I found out the next morning that the situation had been resolved just a few hours before I was scheduled to pray.

One thing which I do sometimes do when one of those ideas hit me from left field is to sit down at the computer and try to "flesh it out" in greater detail. I've come to believe that no idea is too "off-the-wall" for my God to sit down and give it serious consideration as to how at least part of it can be put into action.

As far as study and such: Bible study is a big thing in my denomination, but I have to admit that I draw only a C+ at best in that area. I have read the Bible through more than once, and I do retain a lot of what I read, but rather than study verb tenses and Greek definitions and the like I use it more to try to get a sense of what my God's heart is in various situations. I do have a couple of good study Bibles, both print and electronic, and I know how to use the references and search tools when a specific question comes up.

Finally, as regards practice: My church meets regularly on Sunday mornings for Sunday School and the worship service, and I normally am there unless I have a commitment at work that I can't shake or unless I am volunteering that weekend at the railroad museum in Galveston. I try to make at least a part of the Wednesday evening prayer meetings depending on work demands and Houston traffic. I do contribute financially to my church on a regular basis; it's not a Regulation Baptist Ten Percent Tithe and I don't always get it in on the First Day of the Week After Payday...but it's fairly close to 10% of my take-home pay, and I usually get it in within a week or two.
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Chatelaine

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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2017, 05:46:34 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?


Path: Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The time I spend varies very widely. Not only there are times of the year that are significantly more worship-intensive, but also Orthodoxy has a maximalist attitude towards devotion. If you can do more, do it!

I maintain a prayer corner, essentially a home shrine, with icons, candles, incense and other little devotional items; I check every weekend to make sure it's clean, dust- and ash-free, and its cloth free of wax stains (it's the one bit of cloth I own that gets occasionally ironed).

The time I spend in prayer is usually about 10-15 minutes, morning and night. There are seasonal devotions that can take considerably longer, though - reading through the Vigil service for the eve of a Great Feast, even in its reader's version, takes nearly two hours!

I attend church services at least once a week, ideally twice (Saturday Vespers and Sunday Liturgy). There are extended periods of time, though, like Great Lent and Advent, that are a lot more service-intensive. With one thing seguing into another, the entire season of spring is pretty busy like that.

Fasting is a requirement for all Orthodox, but it can be tailored to each one's needs and strengths by their spiritual father. When I first got on the bandwagon, I was simply instructed not to eat meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. Now I abstain from all animal food except dairy through all the extended fasting periods.

I go to Confession on average every couple of months and take Communion for most Great Feasts, as well as my name day. I also try to read a bit of Scripture and/or Church Fathers most days, at least when my mind is not completely mushed.
'You created us restless, O Lord, and we find no rest until we rest in You.'
~St Augustine~
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2017, 07:04:01 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?

 
Path: Kemetic mishmash, kinda reconstructionist

I do daily prayers morning and evening, which take up less than 5 minutes each. I do a longer ritual weekly, which takes about an hour, depending how long I meditate for.
And reading TC of course, on weekday evenings (I try to limit my online time on weekends).

I'm still putting together an annual calendar, but I have 3-4 events throughout the year that I'll spend more time on, special meals or offerings and such. Those usually amount to an hour or two each.

Like Jenett, I do a few things that don't take time per se, but have spiritual meanings: I wear an ankh necklace, and my computer wallpaper at work is related to my path.

I do a couple of things that are situational, like when I sit down at my studio desk I do hand stretches in honor of Sokar, or when I see it's snowing, I say a prayer to Set. These things take a moment or two at most.
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2017, 07:49:03 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

 
I consider my path split between the Dionysian (which includes a reconstructed Ariadne) and the Jewish in complicated ways. It's essentially original to me but heavily rooted in...a lot of things.

The Soup and all that.

For the past nine months, my practice has been consistent in one simple aspect: I commit an hour or so to "ritual" on Friday nights, after lighting candles, drinking some wine, and singing traditional Hebrew blessings. This means I light good-quality resin incense in the bathroom, put on music, make an offering of a small amount of wine and salt, and turn out the lights before spending half an hour to an hour trancing out in the shower. I also get super-stoned on marijuana first, since that's my entheogen of choice and is very helpful for the purpose.

The latter means that I'll be "out" as far as performing useful mundane tasks goes for a while, so even this short weekly core practice tends to eat up more time than it might appear.

Other than that I don't have much in the way of hard blocks of time set aside, but I definitely spend a lot of time working on devotional creative projects, and I light incense and meditate several times a week besides.

So beyond "a few hours on Friday nights" it's hard for me to put clear numbers on it. That said, my practice is still kind of inchoate (nine months! It could be a newborn!).

One time investment I'd like to make in an ideal world is running an initiatory roleplay campaign every two years in midsummer. That would be time-consuming, but I'd love it.
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2017, 03:09:04 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
This is a special topic thread - please see the guidelines below for details.

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?



[/LIST]


I'm a Celtic-leaning Pantheist Pagan witch.

Every morning I say a prayer to the ancestors, Goddess, God, spirits of the land and trees, and the Spirit within all things. I then focus my intent on grounding myself and pray for others as I feel the need. I also say a small prayer with my kiddo to greet the day.

Most days I draw a tarot card and meditate and journal with it. On days where this isn't available, I will often use bibliomancy instead. At this time I will also use elemental prayer beads to ground and center myself.

I try to have at least one visualization weekly, complete with circle casting and calling upon the elements/deities associated with the visualization.

I cast intentions on the New Moon. I feel more drawn to her than the Full Moon.

I usually honor the Wheel of the Year in small rituals. Some are bigger than others. As I'm a devotee of Brighid, Imbolc is very special to me. I also have an affinity for Beltane and Winter Solstice.

Spells tend to happen at random. I go by intuition and need as to when to cast those.

Overall, I'm spending less time on my practice now than I was in the beginning, which I guess is normal. I wish I had more time to actually get out in nature and that I could journal the way I used to. I would like to participate with a group one day.
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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2017, 10:00:06 am »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
This is a special topic thread - please see the guidelines below for details.

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path? ]

 
Path: nature honoring Episcopal Christian with a heavy inclination towards Celtic paganism, druidry, and recently, magic and ritual (in other words, I have no clue, but I'm working on it)

Daily: it depends. I'm a relatively scattered person, so I might say prayers on prayer beads, go for a walk, listen to a theology podcast, meditate, light candles for Cerridwen, Brigid, Lugh, Christ... it depends. One of my goals for this year is to work on devotional and ritual practices. I also cycle through periods where I very devotedly wear a crucifix and don't (I have a mild metal allergy, so it just needs to come off to give my skin a break at times).

Weekly: attend Eucharist. I also sing in the choir, so I attend practice for that at least once a week. I want to add a more lengthy time to focus on ritual at home as well.

Less frequently: journaling, intense study, theological discussion, prayer, etc.

In the past: I've gone through periods where I did nothing or very little, and periods where I was super consistent with, say, reading scripture or praying. The pagan aspects are new, so there's not much to comment on.

In the future: I'd like to add more devotional/study time and more consistent ritual. I'm also very curious about candle magic, particularly in a Christian context.


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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2017, 10:38:47 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?


Okay, three categories of what I do: Kemetic recon work; Craft training; miscellaneous bibs and bobs of other stuff.  Plus I attend a UU church, which is/is not another category depending on perspective.

Quote
Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?


Gods, "I have different answers depending on the phase of the fucking moon" is not a useful rhetorical rantyspace in a pagan context, is it? :P  I'm parent-on-duty, which means that I'm either completely swamped by tiny adorable monkeys and drowning in minutiae or engaged in constant devotional work to one or another mother-type goddesses, take your pick of angle of reference.

I think that's the thing, though: angle of reference matters a lot for this stuff.  A lot of people think of their religious stuff as sealed away from the ordinary parts of life, and it doesn't really work that way for me.  The gods I deal with are the gods I deal with because of my life, in many ways, and dealing with my life appropriately in Their departments is a form of veneration.

Anyways.

My Kemetic stuff has a lot of reading and some writing in it.  Occasionally there are festivals!  Occasionally I even do things about the festivals!  Mostly I am swamped and discouraged and tired and I don't want to do this work, I want the work to have been done, and that is really a not pleasant place to be a lot of the time.  I should clean my shrines at least.

My Craft stuff has some daily cleansings that take under five minutes total, some regular energy work that I generally do in the shower, and generally I drink more water.  There is also a whole bunch of stuff that's... because I am doing this thing I do a whole bunch of other stuff, but it's really damn hard to explain that in coherent terms.  Like, I bought an art journal?  I've done a couple of sketches in it, by which I mean 'planning for a piece of art I'm not doing', 'a bit of dream journalling', 'sketching an RPG map', and 'began planning out some underlying structure for a computer game', all of which is... relevant but the explanation of how it's relevant is hard.

You see what I mean about angles of observation?

I need to bake more bread.  I've been really slacking off on that.

I'm pretty good about getting to church each week though.  :P

Um, a less flaily breakdown:

Daily: cleansing, drink water, wrangle circus full of monkeys.

Weekly:  Church service and lunch with my big girls.

Monthly:  Outdoor offering on the full moon.  I should be doing sixth-day rituals (that's Kemetic ancestor shrine stuff) but I ... mostly don't.

Sabbat cycle: ritual group meets, nominally, though none of us have our poop in a group about it most of the time.  We're slowly building up a general corpus of village ritual, though.

Festival time:  sometimes I mark them.  Sometimes I remind other people when theirs are.  (I am often better at tracking Jewish holidays than the Jewish household member.)

Constantly: complex creative process seethingly pulling in every direction, and any bit of progress on that is something.
as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars    - Covenant, "Bullet"

Shewhoseeks

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Re: Resource thread: Time and your practice
« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2017, 03:50:57 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;201217
This is a special topic thread - please see the guidelines below for details.

Topic:
What kind of time do you spend on your path?

Things you might like to discuss include:
  • Do you have different answers if we're talking about daily, weekly, or monthly?
  • Are there specific cycles that are relevant to your practice? (i.e. more ritual or more complex activities at some times of year?)
  • Has the amount of time changed noticeably for you at different points in your current path?
  • How do you feel about time and your practice right now?
  • Are there parts of your practice or path you'd like to spend less time on, or more time on?
[/LIST]

 
Kemeticism (in transition to it)

I am currently still easing into it. Maybe I am a tad slow, but I want to avoid overstretching things, especially because of having to keep it apart from everybody else I know where I live.

Offerings and prayers and/or conversation in the morning and in the late evenings. Djehuty is also patron of my profession so I also offer on a dayly basis the first ink when arriving at work.

Reading a lot on Him, on Kemet and the Netjeru.

At the moment the moon cycle is most relevant to me.

I wish I could spend more time on ritual. And I know I will grow further into it. All it needs is time and perseverance :)

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