NPM - Nobody Knows What the Soul Is

[This poem was read at church today.]

It comes and goes like the wind over water.

But just as we can name the functions of the wind, so we can name some of the
functions of the soul without presuming to penetrate its mystery.

The soul wants to keep us rooted in the ground of our own being, resisting the
tendency of other faculties, like the intellect and ego, to uproot us from who we are.

The soul wants to keep us connected to the community in which we find life, for it
understands that relationships are necessary if we are to thrive.

The soul wants to tell us the truth about ourselves, our world, and the relation
between the two, whether that truth is easy or hard to hear.

The soul wants to give us life and wants us to pass that gift along, to become lifegivers in a world that deals too much.

~Mary Oliver

NPM - Mary Jane

~Rick James

Pagan Blog Project - H is for Holy Water

When one thinks of holy water, what comes to mind is water that has been blessed by a priest in a church. This water is then used for baptism, blessing others, healing, and exorcising demons. So why would a witch need holy water? Contrary to popular belief, Christians do not have a monopoly on holy water. Witches use it to bless their tools and altars, cast circles, bath, and other things. Some witches and Pagans avoid the term holy water because it's associated with the church.

How does one make Pagan holy water? Since all Pagans are priestesses or priests, they can bless the water themselves. Several different ways are documented online. Just pick one and go from there. I like using incorporating all elements into creating sacred water.

Sacred (Holy) Water
-water (filtered from tap, collected from a stream, rainwater, etc.)
-sea salt
-incense
-bottle

Mix a pinch or two of sea salt (earth) in the water (water). Pass your favorite burning incense (fire / air) over the uncovered bottle water. Say (air / spirit) your blessing of choice either in or out of a formal ritual. If possible set covered bottle outside during the night of the full moon (spirit). To harness extra power in your sacred water, set outside during a lunar eclipse.

NPM - Up Against the Wind

OK, I know I'm cheating a bit but a song is a poem set to music.

Day after Day seems like I push against the clouds
They just keep blocking out the sun
It seems since I was born
I've wakened every blessed morning
Down on my luck and up against the wind

Don't you stop, don't you run, don't you cry
You'll do fine, you'll be good, you'll get by

Night after night seems like I rage against the moon
But it don't ever light the dark
I curse the fowling rain
But it won't stop for my complaining 
Down on my luck and up against the wind

Don't you stop, don't you run, don't you cry
You'll do fine, you'll be good, you'll get by

~Lori Perry

NPM - And Then She Was Gone

She chose to walk alone
Though others wondered why
Refused to look before her,
Kept eyes cast upwards,
Towards the sky.

She didn't have companions
No need for earthly things.
Only wanted freedom,
From what she felt were
Puppet strings.

She longed to be a bird. That she might fly away.
She pitied every blade of grass
For planted they would stay.

She longed to be a flame,
That brightly danced alone.
Felt jealous of the steam
That made the air its only home.

Some say she wished too hard.
Some say she wished too long.
But we awoke one autumn day
To find that she was gone.

Some say she wished too hard.
Some say she wished too long.
But we awoke one autumn day
To find that she was gone.

The trees, they say stood witness.
The sky refused to tell.
But someone who had seen it said
The story played out well.

She spread her arms out wide.
Breathed in the break of dawn.
She just let go of all she held...

And then she was gone.

~Ginger Foultley, As Told by Ginger

NPM - Pantoum

Pantoum is a form of poetry where the 2nd & 4th lines of a stanza repeats as the 1st & 3rd lines of the next. The last and first lines of the poem are the same or very similiar.

Parent's Pantoum by Carolyn Kizer

NPM - The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

~T.S. Eliot

NPM - Haiku

April is National Poetry Month. The following is a haiku by me:

Trinity of pets
Samus, Ishizu, Nissa 
Rescue is best breed

Haiku is a form of poetry where the number of syllables in the 3-lined poem are 5-7-5. Originally, the subject is supposed to be about nature but modern haikus are written about anything. Haiku in Japanese are not the same as written in English as the Japanese form does not measure syllables.