A few questions

[Piprika]

So I got a few questions! One has to do with dreams, (Wasn't sure where to post this, since these questions kinda cover them all?)

So about dreams, I was wondering if you could project yourself into another persons dream so they see you? I dunno if that was a real thing or not within paganism? My step mother who is a witch seemed to believe it was real.

Now what about mediation? I've been trying this, and I'm not really getting the hang of it, I Feel I'm not doing it right. I know you're supposed to relax and clear your head, can odd things happen during this as well?

Last few questions! Rituals! How is a good way to cleanse a area before starting? How long should a offering be left? What's a good offering? How would you get rid of them that's not disrespectful? What's the best way to end the ritual?

[B. de Corbin]

Re: A few questions

Can you project into another person's dreams?

Yes.

Why do you want to?

#2 as I use it, the purpose of meditation is to explore where one's consciousness comes from, and to reprogram one's habitual mode of thinking to a more effective mode. The main question I would ask is : What is it that you intend to accomplish via meditation?

Question #3 is better answered by someone else. I'm atheist. I'd just fart, and expect the bad nasties to leave on that account....

[Gleb]

Re: A few questions

Can your project into another person's dreams?
To be honest, I have no idea.

#2
It's purpose is to make you relax, sort of. Strange things might happen, there is no doubt. What you want to accomplish by doing meditation, is important. And I second Corbin's answer here.

#3
Cleansing an area before a ritual is pretty much important, because whether you do it in front of your deities, or by yourself, you need to do it without any possible interferences.
What is a good offering? This question does not have one specific answer. It depends on the deities you work with. How long should an offering be left? Huh, good question. Again, depends on what you brings as an offering. If you bring food that might spoil soon, like milk, then it's 30 minutes. Otherwise, I guess an hour or 2 hours.
What's the best way to get rid of anything disrespectful? Cleaning the place you do the ritual, and yourself too.
In my opinion, the best way to end up a ritual is to express my thanks to the gods, and step back from the shrine.

[LunarHarvest]

Re: A few questions

Hello! I'm no expert on these topics, but I will do my best.
I will answer this from a Shinto perspective, and try to adequately address the issues more generally as well, but be aware that these things do differ greatly between different Pagan faiths on just about every issue.

1. Paganism really doesn't have a singular united opinion on this topic, as a general rule, but I do know of quite of few Pagans who do believe that it is something that can be done. This is particularly true with witchcraft, if I recall correctly. As for my personal beliefs, I don't believe in such a thing.Assuming it were possible, I would imagine a myriad of factors would make it very difficult. From things like their REM state, subconscious activity, distance, if they are already immersed in a different dream, etcetera, but as I stated I have not done proper research on the topic, so I cannot properly answer this from experience or practice.

2. Meditation is usually about looking into oneself to grow your understanding of yourself and to grow your spirit. That being said, the most important aspect of meditation is that you are able to connect spiritually through it. So there really isn't a singular right way to meditate in my opinion. For me meditation revolves around the meditation of the nature of Kami. Understanding how the life and the world around us is inherently spiritual as well as physical, and how Kami act within this reality. I personally focus on my breathing. For me the breathing helps me become immersed and not get distracted from my mind wandering.

Odd things can happen in any ritual, and meditation is no exception. It really just comes down to what you think and define as odd.

3. Cleansing oneself is of impurity, in my personal opinion, the most important factor, as it keeps you from bring impurity to the shrine, or area of worship. Bathing, or a water purification ritual like Temizu - ritual involving the rinsing of one's hands and mouth - will generally suffice. Offerings can often be food offerings. Offerings should generally be left for about a day, and may, in the case of food offerings, be consumed after the day's end. I'm unsure on the proper disposal of other offerings, but I would imagine a respectful way to do so is to dispose of them in a manner which does not destroy them immediately or directly, as that would be disrespectful to the offering itself and to the spirit/deity/etcetera receiving the offering.


Woah....that turned into a wall of text...sorry about that...
I am by no means on any of these topics, to be quite honest, but those are my thoughts on the questions. ^_^;
Hope I provided some insight into your questions. :3

[Piprika]

Re: A few questions

Whoa! Answers! Yay!!!

To answer Corbin, dreams have always been something special too me. It's where I feel I can sense things better, if that makes sense. So I was too try and study it if it was possible.

Thanks guys for all the different answers! Opening my mind up and helping me a lot!

[B. de Corbin]

Re: A few questions

The reason I ask is this: The reason, IMHO, to use juju is to achieve a quick, effective, solution to a problem.

If one is not sure of what one wants to accomplish, the best way to achieve one's ends are indeterminate.

[Rae'ya]

Re: A few questions

So about dreams, I was wondering if you could project yourself into another persons dream so they see you? I dunno if that was a real thing or not within paganism? My step mother who is a witch seemed to believe it was real.

I don't know that much about Dream work but I know that some people believe in a sort of 'astral plane' of dreams, called the Dreamworlds. I have head that it is possible to visit other people's dreams via traveling within the Dreamworlds.

However, I echo Corbin's statement of why would you want to? Now this is a rhetorical question. I don't mean to ask YOU why YOU want to, but to stimulate a thought process about the why of it. Just because something CAN be done, doesn't mean you should do it. What are the purposes of visiting someone else's dream? What would you hope to achieve by that? What is the goal? What is the benefit to you? What is the benefit to them? What would the impact to them be? What gives you the right to go traipsing around in someone else's personal dreamscape?

Either way, I think that this would be an advanced technique and should not be attempted until one is experienced and skilled at working with ones OWN dreams. Usually it's recommended that the first place you start with Dreamwork is Lucid Dreaming.

Now what about mediation? I've been trying this, and I'm not really getting the hang of it, I Feel I'm not doing it right. I know you're supposed to relax and clear your head, can odd things happen during this as well?

Meditation is a complex topic, and there's a lot of misunderstanding about it out there. The classical 'clear your mind' thing can take years to learn and is actually really, really difficult for most people to do. It's unlikely that you are going to learn to do it overnight. Usually it takes daily practice and you have to keep it up daily in order to maintain the skill.

Now the problem with the classic 'clear your mind' thing is not just that it's difficult, but that it sets up unrealistic expectations for people. Eastern traditions were the pioneers of the 'clear your mind' concept, but they don't do it for no reason. It's in an effort to reach transcendental states and is steeped in the cultural context of the path that it's a part of. It's not a separate practice, but a key element of their path. That actually doesn't translate so well into most Western pagan traditions.

What's more useful for people in Western pagan traditions is not the 'clear your mind' meditations, but meditations that have a focus or a purpose. Focusing on breathing, a lighted candle or a mandala can make the whole process much easier for people. Moving meditations or repetitive meditative actions are actually easier for most people that 'sit quietly and clear your mind'. Relaxation meditations are almost always useful. And guided meditations can help you to actually DO something with your meditative state.

The question here is what do you actually hope to achieve with meditation? This is where a lot of authors fail their readers... they mention meditation and that you should learn it, but they are not telling you how or why. Why meditate? There are lots of different reasons. Relaxation, stress relief, self control, reaching an altered state of consciousness, traveling within inner landscapes, self knowledge, healing... the list goes on.

We have a Meditation and Journeying board here at PaganForum. It's in the Practices and Techniques section. It's worth reading what's in there, then posting up your questions there. It's a relatively new board, so it would be great for you to make some threads asking people about how and why they meditate.

Last few questions! Rituals! How is a good way to cleanse a area before starting?

There are lots of different ways to cleanse an area. Generally, the first thing is to clean it physically... vacuum, tidy, dust etc. After that you can walk around the space with a lighted candle; you can smudge the area with Sage or Mugwort; you can 'smudge' it with certain types of incense; you can sprinkle the area with blessed water or with salted water; you can ring a special bell in the corners of the room; you can play a Tibetan singing bowl in the room; you can energetically 'sweep' it with a witch's broom (known as a besom in neo Wicca); you can use a ritual like the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram; if you are skilled with energy work you can use your own skills to cleanse it.

What's the best way? There isn't a best way. Different people use different methods and find them effective. Part of it is the method itself, but part of it is how the method resonates with your own energy and practice. So I usually recommend that people start with a method that is mentioned and recommended in their own tradition, then go from there. It's also easier for newbies to start with methods that are 'external' to themselves (sound, smudging, incense, candles) and get their confidence in the basics before trying things like ritual or energy work to cleanse a space. Some people like to use a combination of methods, particularly those who feel a calling to balance elements.

Personally, I smudge with a Mugwort smudge stick and cleanse energetically.

What's the best way to end the ritual?

This depends on the ritual. Usually, if you're using a ritual from a book it will tell you how to end it. Usually it's just a reversal of whatever you did at the start... in neo-Wicca and it's derivatives that generally means make a verbal or mental statement that the ritual is now over, invite your deity to leave if they wish, close the Quarters if you did that, take down your Circle if you made one, Ground, Centre, snuff your candles and put your things away, eat something or do some mundane chore in order to help mentally return to a normal state of being.

How long should a offering be left? What's a good offering? How would you get rid of them that's not disrespectful?

This depends on two things. Firstly the offering itself, and secondly the deity you offered it to. Different deities will have different preferences, and I'm one of those people who believes that you should try your best to give the deity what it wants, in the manner that it wants it (obviously there is a need for negotiation sometimes!). Some offerings will last about an hour on the altar, some are permanent.

The absolute best offering is usually your own time and devotion, and the energy you spend on your spiritual studies and work. Most deities would prefer this over any physical thing you can give them. Sometimes I think the reason they ask for certain things is so that you can prove that you are devoted enough to get it for them. It is also nice to show them that you care enough to research what they like and make them a thoughtful gift. But what they get out of it is the energy. So my advice is either ask, or research what they might like. Then make sure you have a regular spiritual practice and that you keep your spirituality at the forefront of your mind.

Personally my offerings are usually blood, tears, artwork and devoting the energy from spinning and stitching. When I do offer something else, I remove it when it looks like it's had the energy sucked out of it. That's the best I can explain... either food will look dry and 'empty' (usually well before it SHOULD look stale), flowers will wilt, alcoholic spirits will kind of congeal... usually it's all well before you would normally expect it to do those things. I don't usually offer food or drink, and I find that when I do, it only lasts a few hours.

As far as disposing it... well I just throw it in the bin like I would any scraps. The deity is done with it by the time I'm disposing of it and I find that they don't seem to care what happens to the remains.

But some people feel that it should be disposed of in certain ways. Usually that involves burning or burying. If that's what your deity wants you to do then that's what you should do. But my experience is that once it's been accepted, it doesn't matter what you do with the physical bits left over.

One offering that I actively dislike is when people leave food and water outdoors 'for wildlife'. There are a number of issues with this from an ecological point of view. There are appropriate ways to make outdoor offerings, and there are harmful ways to make them... so if you are going to do it, make sure you research and ensure that you are doing it appropriately.