Pagan Blog Project 2012 -Wk 5 ~ CRAFT NAME

Merry Meet,

Week 5 greets us not only with the energy of a wonderfully blessed Imbolc but of the Pagan Blog Project – C part 1.

I had initially thought of blogging about the Magickal circle we Pagan folk use when conducting a ritual and spell casting, but the Goddess came to me late last night just as I was about to drift off to Fairyland for a meeting with Queen Mab, and told me to write about the Magickal Names we sometimes chose or have given to us as we walk a moonlit pathway of the Goddess. So I will honour the goddesses’ guidance and write about “CRAFT NAMES”.

When I first read about the art of having a craft name I must have been about 14 years old when I read it in Silver RavenWolf’s book (Love or loathe her – I appreciate her writing style).  I felt excited at the prospect of having a name that I chose all for myself. I had always fancied myself as a Crystal MirrorWind or Amethyst RavenMoon, but however lovely those names sounded, it wasn’t for me. I began to think about things and aspects of myself that were true to me. A long soul search later I was dedicated to the Lord and Lady as; Opal AutumnWynd. Let me explain;

Opal ~ my birthstone, Autumn ~ my favourite time of year along with also being the Season of my Birth, and Wynd ~ A spin off of ‘wind’  the element I belong to being of the Sylphs and being a Libran.

However as I grew in both age and craft knowledge I received a visit from the Moon Goddess Artemis one night as we experienced a Waxing moon and she told me that my new craft name was *Aurora MoonMaiden*. She explained the reasoning behind this and it resonated within me. So I have transitioned from Opal AutumnWynd to Aurora MoonMaiden.

I use my craft name sometimes when signing articles or writing blog entries, or emails/letters to fellow Craft friends but mainly use them when speaking with the Goddess or performing a ritual.

I do have a secret craft name that only the Goddess, God and I know, and I like it that way. Sometimes it really is nice to have that little corner of sanctuary in your own life where only you and the Gods know. I know I value the secret of my Craft name and I assume many more of us out there also value it for perhaps the same reasons, or perhaps a more varied reasoning applies. That’s fine.

If there is one thing that I have learnt on my pagan pathway, it is that you absolutely follow your heart in all you do. You do what feels right to you and you honour the God & Goddess within, by doing so, you truly are being the Witch Inside.

Blessed Be,
Aurora MoonMaiden  

All written content on this blog is the work of © Aurora Brierley, The Faerie Whisperer & The Witch Inside. No written contents of this blog may be reproduced in any way (in part or in entirety) without the express written permission of the author, © Aurora Brierley, The Faerie Whisperer & The Witch Inside.

Pagan Blog Prompt 2012 ~ Week 2 ~ Goddess Aurora

merry meet,

It's that time of the week again when I take part in the Pagan Blog Prompt 2012 for week 2. This week concludes our blogs on the letter *A* and I have chosen to write about a Goddess that is lesser known than some of the others. I haven't made this blog post too philosophical rather I've allowed my inner child to come through as I sit in awe and admiration of a wonderful Goddess.

The Goddess Aurora


It may seem obvious to why I've chosen to write about Aurora seeing as I am named after her. My Mum always told me from when I was very young that although she intended to name me Felicity Faye Amanda Pearl, when the nurses asked her what she was going to call me, she simply said, "Aurora". She never understood why for a long time until both her and I began to look into the meaning of the name Aurora. We knew there was a disney film, Sleeping Beauty where the princess was called Aurora (which I love!) and I happen to enjoy sleeping...alot :) Which coninsides with the fact that my actual nick-name given to me by my father was "Snow White" as I have 'Hair as black as ebony, skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood'.
We obviously knew that it meant "of the dawn", meaning "of the morning", and that when you awake early enough you can see the sunrise and also the dew left on the grass which are said to show the faeries have been there. That obviously makes sense as I work with the faeries and am known as *The Faerie Whisperer*. Yet interestingly mythology states that the dew drops of Aurora's tears that she sheds daily for the loss of her son as she flies across the skies to open the heavens gates to allow the Sun to light up the skies.

More connections came through when we searched deeply into the significance and meaning of the actual Goddess Aurora. Aurora is a Roman Goddess that is linked to the Greek Goddess Eos. She is also the patron goddess of the wind/air element of the North, East, South and West. Being a libran I found this fascinating as Libra is an astrological air sign. As you can see from the picture above of Aurora she is depicted as having wings that look a lot like angel wings. The more I discovered about her the more I realised that in fact we do have a lot in common, as I work with the angels both personally and professionally. Aurora renews herself every morning and flies across the sky to announce the arrival of the Sun. She also has two siblings, Luna (moon) and Sol (Sun) ...(I think we all are aware of how much I love the Moon energies and the warmth and energy of the Sun).

I found a beautiful quote which to me portrays just how powerful being awake and up to bask in Aurora's energies can be. In Chapter 2 of Walden, Where I Lived and What I Lived for, Henry David Thoreau states:

"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself. I have been as sincere a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks. I got up early and bathed in the pond; that was a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did."

I love this especially as in the spring and summer especially I love getting up around 4:30am-5am to sit in the Auroric energies and welcome the day ahead.

Aurora was also mentioned in the famous Shakespeare play *Romeo and Juliet* and being the romantic that I am, I oohed and aahhed over it.

"But all so soon as the all-cheering sun Should in the furthest east begin to draw The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, Away from the light steals home my heavy son..."

of course there are many interpretations of this quote from Shakespeare, and i'm no Shakespeare expert, so my own interpretation blends in with the belief that Aurora was a very loving goddess in that she fell in love many times and had many lovers (unlike me) and as Romeo was falling in love with Juliet, it was likened to the Goddess Aurora and her love of loving others.


There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful descriptions in the poets.

Goddess Aurora is particularly good to call upon with issues concerned with passion and rebirth/renewal.

I personally love this Goddess and have learnt that something as simple as getting out of bed on a morning can be so so magickal in that if we take the chance to glance out of the window and bid her Good Morning and give her a blessing for the day ahead and thank her for the blessings she has given us daily, we can set ourselves up for a magickal day ahead.

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this blog post as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

From the Goddess Aurora, and Myself (Aurora),
we offer you many Goddess Blessings for your days ahead. xxxxx

My Journey in Kabbalah & Life

Well I had better tell you what's been happening in my life in the past month. Writing it down might help me process it.

I've been on a rollercoaster journey in my relationship with my man. It was a nightmare. Not his fault, all mine. I accept full responsibility for everything that happened. Im not going to go into depth about it, it's far too personal. Needless to say, the past week or so has called me to really look at my life.

As you will be aware I have hardly blogged this year, in all honesty I haven't had the time to blog which breaks my heart. I have had less time to practice Wicca and something I am quite fond of is Moon Magick and Candle Magick. They too have been neglected. Actually the only part of my life that hasn't been neglected has been my work at the school, which has of course caused *imbalanced* areas in my life. :( This makes me sad!

Well, over the weekend My man & I went shopping for Yule/Christmas and I came across some books in a bookstore. He knows me well enough to not let me pass one by without browsing. He purchased a book on crystals for me that I haven't got which now lives at the side of the bed at his place, for when Im there. The other book that caught my eye was called "Total Kabbalah" by Maggy Whitehouse.

Now Kabbalah is a topic that I've heard about, witnessed in the media with the likes of The Beckhams and Madonna, but I've never actually read about it other than a quick read of a website page where I was introduced to the *Power of Money*. It encouraged us to actively question "Who or what gives *money* power over us?" After all it is merely paper and metal.... what if I gave you a blank piece of paper or even drew on it that it was a million pound/dollar note... would you believe me? Why or Why not? Its still paper.... !!! I loved this terminolgy and viewpoint.

Anyway, I spent a few sessions reading this kabbalah book and what ive read so far (which is minimal!) has really struck a chord with me. It's offering me a way to address, focus and find the areas in my life that are stuck and *fix* them. Now I know I don't need the permission from *kabbalah* or any other belief/life system to sort out my life, but at the minute with how *low* I am feeling, Kabbalah is giving me the strength to move forward. I have a new awareness and fresh perspective on life. I've ordered me some additional books on Kabbalah too, so Im looking forward to those arriving, and having a read. Im particularly looking forward to *God Wears Lipstick*.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't read a few paragraphs and suddenly life is perfect, far from it! I Have lots of issues that still need to be worked on, ones you'd probably not expect me to have, but Kabbalah has given me *HOPE*. So much so I have already sent off for my *Red String*. I don't necessarily belief a piece of red string is going to protect me from harm or the evil eye, but what I do believe is that it will help me focus on my life and creating a better life for me, and my future.

I know that as I walk into 2012, the Chinese year of the Dragon, the year I was born in, I know things will change, like never before. They have to because I will be in the driving seat. And Im not interested in driving down the highway at 80MPH, but Im happy to take the country roads at 20-30MPH for a change. I am NO longer the person I was when I first started this blog, for better or for worse, but I am who I am! People grow, people change. Its only natural. People come into your life for a reason, but sometimes they don't stay. They might out of a feeling of pity or because they feel they have to. But they/you/I shouldn't feel like that, there really is no need. So I am cutting strings. I have to. I can't grow otherwise. I thank those connections for what they have shown me, taught me, given me, shared with me, I bless and release us both!

My pathway with Wicca has changed. I'm not ready to let it go completely, but I will have to try again with it. I will have to take a day at a time and try to organise my life. I also need to allow myself to attract new friends into my life. I really do have hardly any. I have spent so much of my life holding back from trusting people that many have become people I speak to. I can't say that there is one person right now who truly knows me as a friend. Life happened and we drift apart, but the only reason we have drifted is because neither of us (multiple friendships im talking about here!) have taken the time and care to stay in each others lives. Not really. It's a case of being civil and polite, but the magick is no longer there, no freiendship chemistry... this happens in life, it's happened to me before, it'll happen again. it's a sign that we're growing as spiritual beings.

So maybe my next blog will inform you of more Kabbalah updates, and perhaps some Wiccan ones too.

Love & Blessings
Aurora x

Ebb and Flow

Merry Meet,

I havn't blogged for a few days because I've basically been on a downer. I woke up Wednesday morning just feeling rather sombre and subdued. I had no idea why I was feeling like this. It was only Tuesday night as I went to bed I spoke to the Goddess and told her of how happy I am, how Life is truly good and I thanked her for bestowing the many blessings upon me. I was smiling like a cheshire cat. Life was going so well for me, I felt happy, empowered, energised, full of life and confident.
Yet it all seemed to dissappear quite literally overnight. So how did I find out what was making me feel this way?
Well I began by thinking I had some sort of psychic attachment, or even a psychic attack....but I refused to accept that and it also didn't feel right. So I began reading my blog right back to when I was talking about there being a lack of energy in my life....but none of those reasons rang true to me anymore. I've grown since then, I've moved forward and conquered those. I now have new problems LOL. I then realised that at the time I blogged about feeling so happy, it was in fact a New Moon. Well at the present time and at the time I began to feel down, it is in fact now a Waxing Gibbous Moon. And when I googled this and read the description it rang true to how I'm feeling. I feel like I'm stuck, there's no way out. It's like my happiness is on pause.... so I have come to the conclusion which feels much better and I feel at ease with, I am in fact very sensitive to the moon's energies. I need to now put my learning of both Wicca and Cosmic Ordering into action and prepare myself for the Full Moon energy.

So hopefully soon, you shall have your happy witchette back. It just happens to be the ebb and flo of the moon energies affecting me.


Blessed Be
Aurora xxxxx