The May Meet from Cauldron FM - The Sound Of Magick

Merrie Meet.

Merlin presents the latest show from Cauldron FM featuring some great music plus the May Meet presented by Emms of Saltwater Gaia.

Click Here To Listen

PS. We are always on the lookout for new material and artists to add to our shows, so if you are in a  band that plays music with a Pagan feel, or you know of a band that does, then please make contact. Drop us an email and we will answer you back as soon as we can.

Blessed Be!

Merlin

ooooOOOOoooo

So now as we come to the end of this post it is time for me to take my leave of you but not before I say that if you have liked this and the other posts on this blog, please click the link to follow us. 

We have both a page and a group on Facebook that are CauldronFM and CauldronFM – the sound of magick respectively.

If this post has raised any questions please drop an email to cauldronfm@mail.com

Follow this link to view the video "Tor" with yours truly reading a poem of my creation

https://vimeo.com/258142887

So now I will wish you the best things that life can give and say

Love, Light and Blessed Be!

Merlin.

Image copyright to Delphine Bowden
(Reproduced with kind permission)

                                             

What Does It Mean To Walk With The Goddess?

Merrie Meet

So what does it mean to walk with The Goddess?

Recently I realised that despite being a fully functioning member of the pagan faith I have never taken the time to sit and clearly identify (or put into words) exactly what that means to me!

That being said, I feel that today is an ideal time to spend some in quiet contemplation of this aspect of myself.

After spending many years as a committed agnostic I decided that there had to be a higher force guiding me through this life, and yes, although I teach people (through my work as a coach) that they are responsible for their own actions, I feel that there still has to be someone, some presence, looking after all the other things that I experience. These things range through the seasons, the rivers, the trees so why should that not be the Great Mother?

I have no wish to upset anyone who happens to have chosen Christianity as their way, but having had some bad experiences with “The Church” I know that is not the way for me.

So, as a preparation for this post I decided to do the following exercise and once you have read it, maybe you could do it for yourself!

First of all ask what makes me happy?

My answer is - many things! For example, being alive, being healthy, my wife, my friends, my children, the cats, walking along a cliff looking at the sea, Listening to music, working on my various radio shows, driving, eating in nice restaurants, coffee, children, teaching and playing guitar and keyboards, walking by a stream or through a wood, taking photographs and being creative.

What makes me content?

Being surrounded by family and friends, when I am helping other people, listening to the sea, being quiet, seeing my family enjoying themselves, having a good home, food on the table, being in the sunshine.

What is being content?

What does it mean, it means that at specific times because there is really no other time at all everything in my world is as it should be, it is all going well, I have everything I need right here, I am complete in this very moment.

What is contentment?

This is probably different for every person but since I am doing this for me in this very public manner I will concentrate on what contentment actually means to me.

Contentment is a state of being, it is a peaceful state, it is a state of calm, sometimes stillness, often involving clarity of thought.

It can be a time when I am truly at my creative best, it can be euphoric. Conversely I can be content having just completed a cycle ride or sitting with a pint of beer. So to truly define contentment is not a simple one or two word answer. It can come with the satisfaction of a job well done, thanks have a client.

What are my priorities right now?

High on my list of priorities are:-

seeing my radio channels becoming successful
seeing my video channels working correctly and broadcasting live and pre-recorded content.
generating sufficient revenue via Moonshadow Media to enable all the presenters to be paid a salary or a show fee.

What are my hopes?

That the end of the destruction of the rain forests will come
That the wars between civilised countries come to an end
That the Earth is given a chance to regenerate itself
That the human race decides it is time we began to seriously look at (and do something about) the damage we are causing to our planet
That an affordable solution to mass transport is found and put into effect as soon as possible
That my health continues to be good

What are my dreams?

Number one on my list has to be World Peace!
An end to poverty
An end to violence and war
That people begin to realise that life is precious and not something to be taken lightly
That a cure for cancer is found in my lifetime
That society accepts paganism as a trim and acceptable alternative to Christianity and recognises that the people who practice Wicca, Judaism, Hindi all have the same rights to religious freedoms and beliefs

What is my relationship with the Divine Feminine?

My first answer to this has to be a question because before I can begin to answer what my relationship is I have to be clear about what the Divine feminine actually is!

The Divine Feminine is many things, it is all things that are female, it is nurture, it is creativity, it is Love.

It is intuition and it is the intimate.

It is a known fact that all women are at their most powerful, their most intuitive during the time of their menstrual bleeding. Research and historical fact has shown that groups of women who are living / working in close proximity will find that their natural cycles will, over time, become aligned. This is no accident, women are designed to be this way!

It has been suggested that PMS is the result of women moving away from their natural, taking time out to celebrate this special gift. Linked with the lunar cycles many mature Indian people called the time of the female cycle “moon time“ and it was accepted practice for all women to celebrate this time together. 

It is also a time for women to pass on ancient wisdom is and lessons to other younger women.

Women are the givers of life and are seen in various faiths as the embodiment of God.

To return to the original question my involvement and relationship with the Feminine Divine is based in a belief that men and women are two halves of the whole.  However, I believe that it goes much further than that, in every man there is a part that is female and in every woman a part that is male.

Unfortunately, in the modern world we have pushed that part of us into the background and now there is no way that the majority of men would allow themselves to cry in public or, to smell flowers, just for the hell of it!

Women are less affected by this stereo-typing, although many would not be prepared to change a tyre by the roadside or to change the washer in a tap.

However, some of us have accepted that it is fine for men to regain contact with their feminine traits as much as it is equally acceptable for women to follow some traditionally male roles.  

So this puts me firmly in the “I am happy to display my feminine, softer side to anyone! I will cry, I will smell flowers, I will wash dishes et cetera et cetera et cetera.“ group.

I have the greatest of respect for women, I admire their caring, nurturing traits. I respect their strengths and weaknesses, I am completely at my ease in their company and I hope that they find a similar sense of peacefulness during our mutual interactions.

Blessed Be!

ooooOOOOoooo

If this post has raised any questions please drop them into an email addressed to cauldronfm@mail.com

We have both a page and a group on Facebook and they are CauldronFM and CauldronFM – the sound of magick respectively.

Most of the radio shows from Cauldron FM are now located on our podcast host site.  So if you would like to give them a listen please follow this link

https://anchor.fm/cauldron-fm---the-sound-of-magick

So now I will wish you the best things that life can give and say

Love, Light and Blessed Be!

Merlin.

Image © Delphine Bowden
Reproduced with Kind Permission

The March Meet by CauldronFM

Merrie Meet

Coming to you from the North Devon Coast

is

Presented By The Merlin

The March Meet is the latest show from Cauldron FM 

It features, great music from pagan artists around the world plus  The Crystal Of The Month brought to you by new presenter Emms Lowe of Saltwater Gaia.

Click Here To Listen

PS. We are always on the lookout for new material and artists to add to our shows, so if you are in a  band that plays music with a Pagan feel, or you know of a band that does, then please make contact. Drop us an email and we will answer you back as soon as we can.

Blessed Be!

Merlin

ooooOOOOoooo

So now as we come to the end of this post it is time for me to take my leave of you but not before I say that if you have liked this and the other posts on this blog, please click the link to follow us. 

We have both a page and a group on Facebook that are CauldronFM and CauldronFM – the sound of magick respectively.

If this post has raised any questions please drop an email to cauldronfm@mail.com

Follow this link to view the video "Tor" with yours truly reading a poem of my creation

https://vimeo.com/258142887

So now I will wish you the best things that life can give and say

Love, Light and Blessed Be!

Merlin.

Image copyright to Delphine Bowden
Reproduced with kind permission

150121 The January Meet (The Latest Show on Cauldron FM)

The January Meet is the newest show from Cauldron FM and features, great music plus a new section called The Crystal Of The Month with our brand new presenter Emms Lowe of Saltwater Gaia.

Follow this link to listen The January Meet

The Season Of The Witch

Merrie Meet 

After a long break Cauldron FM is making a welcome return to the blog and with that in mind - 

Yule Blessings to each and every one of you

To celebrate the return I have great pleasure in bringing you a podcast by yours truly on Cauldron FM that features the album "The Season Of The Witch" by Jaime Black.

I hope that you like it as much as I do

Click Here To Listen

I hope you enjoy listening and will be back again in January with another new show.

Blessed Be!

Merlin x

The Return of The Merlin

Merrie Meet One and All and Well Come.

Yesterday I had the opportunity of a conversation with a family friend and through that conversation I discovered that she held Pagan beliefs.  It was something of a shock to learn this and to learn of her interest in the Craft is a fantastic situation.  She has, as a result of asking me to become her mentor, also rekindled my waning flame and this post heralds the start of the Phoenix rising.

As the first project in this journey we are most likely going to begin with the creation of her Book of Shadows, as I did when I was first introduced to this way of life.

During the past 12 months things have been particularly difficult (for reasons that I prefer not to discuss on these pages) and as a result of this I found my beliefs were being tested time and again.  However, I believe that I have now worked through a lot of the doubts and questions and, as a result grown as a person for which I thank The Goddess.

So during the coming weeks I will be pulling together some new posts (but not necessarily on a regular weekly basis)  I intend to spend a lot of my time working with my friend and hopefully giving her a solid grounding to enable her to grow into herself and become who she really is.

So all that remains for the moment is to say Merlin is back and 

Blessed Be!

If this post has raised any questions please drop me an email to cauldronfm@mail.com

So now as we come to the end of this post it is time for me to take my leave of you but not before I say that if you have liked this and the other posts on this blog, please click the link to “follow us” 

We have both a page and a group on Facebook and they are

CauldronFM

CauldronFM – the sound of magick

We have been adding the Cauldron FM radio broadcasts onto our podcast site.  To listen please follow the link

https://anchor.fm/cauldron-fm---the-sound-of-magick

So now I will wish you the best things that life can give and say

Love, Light and Blessed Be!

Merlin.

© Delphine Bowden

reproduced with kind permission of the artist

FREE YOUR MIND!

I have written this for those of my friends and family and anyone else who does not know exactly what a Pagan is, or who may have grown up with some misconceptions about who or what we are.

Pagans and the rest of the world aren't all that different.

We do not eat children!

We do not fly on broom sticks (although it would save us a fortune on fuel prices!)

We do not worship a devil nor do we believe or acknowledge a Satan (that is a Christian ideology).

Catholics light a candle and pray. So do Pagans. Catholics also have celebratory feasts on marked religious days. So do Pagans. We have 4 main Sabbats and we celebrate the full moon cycle, which we call Esbats. It is at these times that we celebrate the marked change of the seasons, the cycle of life and death (which we call The Wheel of the Year) and "Pray" for the things we wish to have enter our lives, we honour those who have passed on before us, and those with whom we know going through struggle.

Some Christians dance and sing at church during prayer. So do Pagans!

We enjoy a vast richness of artwork that denotes our history through the ages.

We make beautiful crafts. Create beautiful music, and we enjoy and learn from the diversity and practices of other cultures and pantheons.

Pagans honour the sun that breathes energy into all living things, and the rain that nourishes them. We acknowledge the gentle summer breeze, and use the natural resources around us to heal feed ourselves and our families. Many of today's religions and their rituals came from Paganism.

The five-star encircled Pentacle means as much to us as your crucifix does to Christian believers.  It has always been counted as very protective.

In medieval times a Pentacle was used as a protection against demons, and it is worn, visualized or placed around the house by modern-day Wiccans to protect. It is a portrayal of the 4 magickal elements under Spirit:

EARTH: (lower left hand corner) represents stability and physical endurance.

FIRE: (lower right hand corner) represents courage and daring.

WATER: (upper left hand corner) represents emotions and intuition.

AIR: (upper right hand corner) represents intelligence and the arts.

SPIRIT: (at the topmost point) represents the ONE and the Divine.

This, while encircled, is a magickal "diagram" of the Universe; the circle symbolizes completeness, or the All, and the 5 points are the components of this. All are equal and in balance. "As above, so below"- as with the universe so with people. The whole person, made up (ideally) of all components in balance. You can see it makes the shape of a person, reinforcing the idea of both this balance inside ourselves AND the Law "as above so below";

Magick to us is what miracles are to others. Christians pray to a God, who was once a living man on earth. Pagans pray to a Goddess, who many of you also call "Mother Nature"

Christians offer fellowship. So do Pagans, and not only to those who have the same religious practices and beliefs as we have. We believe that "God" has no religion and that we are ALL children of the Universe.  We also believe that we should treat others with the utmost love, kindness and compassion.

So please, before making any negative connotations about Witches, and before passing judgement, know what a witch is first, and know the person second before you judge.

We are not always pot-smoking hippies who light candles and dance naked under the light of the full moon (although some of us may be!). We are Nurses, we are midwives, we are lawyers, teachers, doctors, musicians, archeologists, law enforcement officers, military personnel, bankers, estate and insurance agents, we are someone's brother or sister, someone's child or parent. Someone's best friend!

Most of my friends know what I am and that I have always been, and just quietly sweep my posts or comments under the rug.

Thank you for your acceptance.

Thank you for not trying to stuff your beliefs down my throat.

Thank you for not following the flock that says "You're going to Hell".... after all it is MY salvation, and I have found it in my own spiritual path, just as you have with yours.

Thank you for taking the time to read this in order to understand what Pagans really are. And thank you for loving me even though I do not attend your Mass, pray your Prayers or Obey your God. Spirituality is universal, and the Universe knows what each of us hold in our hearts

(Based on an original article first published by Krystal Garcia – with thanks.)

If this post has raised any questions please drop me an email to cauldronfm@mail.com

So now as we come to the end of this post it is time for me to take my leave of you but not before I say that if you have liked this and the other posts on this blog, please click the link to “follow us” 

We have both a page and a group on Facebook and they are

CauldronFM

CauldronFM – the sound of magick

We have been adding the Cauldron FM radio broadcasts onto our podcast site.  To listen please follow the link

https://anchor.fm/cauldron-fm---the-sound-of-magick

So now I will wish you the best things that life can give and say

Love, Light and Blessed Be!

Merlin.

Image reproduced courtesy of
Delphine Bowden

Blessed Be!