Pagan Village News

From the Wiccan Rede to the Charge of the Goddess, from the chants we speak to the rites we perform, poetry is a very basic, and often overlooked, aspect in Paganism today. Poetry is all around us. It's in the words we speak, the laughter we hear, and it the very air we breathe. Poetry can say so many things, teach so many things, and be so many things. The possibilities are endless.

For many, poetry can be a personal expression of thoughts and feelings that they weren't even aware were there. For others, poetry is an invitation to others to explore those thoughts and feelings within themselves. Whatever the reason these poets have decided to put to paper their emotion, we welcome them.

Every month Pagans United members and subscribers will offer you their best poetry to explore, to question, and to enjoy. We welcome poetry on all subjects, but we do ask that you follow some very basic guidelines when submitting poetry.

1. No totally erotic poetry. Pagans United does not have the time to face down a crowd of hysterical parents armed with pitchforks and burning pitch.

2. No poetry advocating self harm or harm to others. Paganism doesn't advocate self harm or harm to others, nor shall Pagans United.

Those are the rules, pretty basic and pretty self explanatory. If you would like to submit your poetry, please email it to me, Fallon, at tennessee_puc@yahoo.com with the subject "Poetry Submission."

Thoughts For Imbolc

Sometimes the most magical, the most enchanting, things in the world are the things we hear, the things we see, touch, feel, believe... and the words they inspire us use. Words themselves can be powerful magick. They can lift us up, bring us down, or take us to any point in between.

I think, however, we all too often forget about those few short lines we have heard that have stuck with us and made us dream. One doesn't have to be rich, powerful, or famous to say something truly inspiring.

With that in mind, I would like to dedicate this month's poetry section to those quotes that inspire us. I hope that as you read these quotes, you find one that you will walk alongside you as you continue your journey.

Inspirational Quotes

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." -Dale Carnegie

"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow." -Dorothy Thompson

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. You can't see the future, yet you know it will come; you can't see the air, yet you continue to breathe." -Claire London

"Fill your life with as many moments and experiences of joy and passion as you humanly can. Start with one experience and build on it." -Marcia Wieder

" The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy." -Henry Ward Beecher

"At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities." -Jean Houston

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." -Henry David Thoreau

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." -Leon J. Suenes

"The power of imagination makes us infinite." -John Muir

"The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live." -Elbert Hubbard

"Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us." -Sir Thomas Brown

"Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude that things can never change. We need to remind ourselves that God can change things...outlook determines outcome. If we see only the problems, we will be defeated; but if we see the possibilities in the problems, we can have victory." -Warren W. Wiersbe

Poetry for Imbolc

"Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence.
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But To-day well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!" -Kalidasa