Posts Tagged ‘religion’

Celtic Weddings

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Celtic wedding are an ideal way of showing your being a Celt. It is also a way of incorporating traditional values, symbols, themes and customs into major events in your life. However, Celtic wedding are hugely popular not only among people with a Celtic tradition, but among other couples who are taken by the ancient Celtic culture.

Celtic wedding have traditional symbolic motifs, often based on the Celtic knot. Welsh, Irish and Scottish families will sometimes marry in ancient buildings like castles or old manors, but that is not the standard. A traditional Celtic wedding is not significantly different from a normal British wedding in many ways.

However, the number of similarities between Celtic wedding ceremony traditions and normal British-style weddings goes a lot further than that. If you want a traditional British style wedding, you will be going unwittingly for a Celtic wedding. But you can beef up the Celtic element of the wedding ritual even further without sinking into silly theatrics.

This is a traditional Celtic poem about when to marry:

Marry when the year is new, Always loving, kind and true.

When February birds do mate, You may wed, nor dread your fate.

If you wed when March winds blow, Joy and sorrow both you’ll know.

Marry in April when you can, Joy for maiden and for man.

Marry in the month of May, You will surely rue the day.

Marry when June roses blow, Over land and sea you’ll go.

They who in July do wed, Must labour always for their bread.

Whoever wed in August be, Many a change are sure to see.

Marry in September’s shine, Your living will be rich and fine.

If in October you do marry, Love will come but riches tarry.

If you wed in bleak November, Only joy will come, remember.

When December’s showers fall fast, Marry and true love will last.

Here are a few other traditions:

Loving Cup: The traditional cup is a two-handled bowl with Celtic designs etched onto it. The idea of the Loving Cup ceremony is for the bride and groom to share their first drink together as husband and wife and to demonstrate the coming together of their two families.

The Bell of Truce: A bell is blessed and then presented to the bride and groom. The couple is required to ring the bell, while thinking tender thoughts of each other. The bell is then kept at home as a token of the wedding day. If an argument arises, the bell can be rung by either the husband or wife to call a truce. The tinkling sound is meant to remind the couple of their wedding vows and to help them recall happy memories from their wedding day.

Handfasting: Early Celts used to ?tie the knot?. It originates from a pre-Christian custom of literally tying a couple’s wrists together in a form of probationary marriage lasting a year and a day, at the end of which a new agreement was made or the couple parted ways.

Bride’s Bouquet: In Celtic wedding traditions brides carried herbs beneath their veils to symbolize fidelity, and spices to ward off evil spirits.

Ring finger: Ancient Celts thought that there was a vein in the third finger of the left hand that ran straight to the heart, so ring placed on that finger denoted a strong love and commitment to the other.

Wedding cake: A thin loaf was broken over the bride’s head at the end of the ceremony to symbolize fertility. The wheat from which it was made symbolized fertility and the guests enthusiastically picked up the pieces as good luck charms.

It was also common for the Celtic groom to throw a handful of coins into the crowd after the wedding, in the hope that this would bring them luck in the years ahead.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with theCeltic Knot wedding ring. If you have an interest in wedding rings too, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

Catholic Rosaries

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

If you are not a Catholic, you might not understand the importance of a string of Catholic rosary beads. This is because a Catholic’s rosary beads are an aid to prayer and penance. It is because of this that Catholic rosary beads have the same number of beads all around the world. The beads are counted off as the prayers are said.

Rosary beads are gifted to young Catholics and frequently a set of beads will be handed down through generations as heirlooms. It is considered an honour to get given a set of rosary beads that are decades or more old, just as it would be if a relative left you anything else old and valuable. Old rosary beads can become very valuable, depending on what the beads are made of, their age and the type of metal used to string them together.

The Catholic Rosary is used to matter off the number of prayers said in repetitions in the same way that an abacus is used for counting money. Rosaries have ten small beads followed by a substantial one to indicate that the repetition should be started again.

It is an old style of prayer harking back to when people were less schooled. However, beads aid the person praying concentrate on the prayer and not on the counting too.

Most Catholic rosary bead chains have enough beads for five cycles of prayers. This makes it easier for followers of the Catholic Church to say their prayers and do the penances metred out to them by their priest for ‘committing sins’.

In fact, the Catholic Church is losing ground very rapidly in Europe especially in such traditional strongholds as Eire (Southern Ireland) and the southern provinces of the Netherlands. They are also losing ground in Spain, Portugal and America, usually due to the sex scandals involving priests.

Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, the pope and the Catholic clergy, rosary beads are a feature of the history of mankind’s development in the West during the last 2,000 years. Whether you see Catholic rosary beads as a symbol of devotion to God or as a symbol of the Catholic Church’s tyranny over scared people, the rosary in itself is an interesting phenomenon.

Some people make a hobby out of collecting rosaries because they are broadly traded and can be quite valuable. It is not unusual for a set of Victorian rosary beads manufactured of a semi-precious stone on a gold chain to go for thousands of dollars at auction.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with religious beliefs in China. If you would like to know more go to What is Religious Belief?

What Takes Place When You Get Your Tattoo?

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

Despite the number of tattoos that one sees each day, most people have no notion what goes on in a tattoo salon. Many people think tattoos scary or exotic and painful.

However, social attitudes in Britain and America have changed more in favour of tattoos that it used to be. Some countries view tattoos much more favourably, whereas others even revile them.

Some people with a tattoo are completely unprepared for other people’s reactions to their tattoos. In fact, some individuals become quite upset because of other people’s reactions.

Others expect a little negativity and so have their tattoo put somewhere where they can conceal or reveal it as desired.

The upper arm, the lower leg, the chest and the back are common places for men, whereas women tend to have smaller tattoos on their shoulder, upper thigh or lower back.

Tattoos that are done in a salon are made with needles that pump or insert coloured ink below the skin where it will permanently dye the skin. Before the needle gun that is used nowadays, people may tattoo themselves or clients with a pin, a sewing needle, a sharp stick or a quill pen.

In those days – merely a few decades ago – tattoos were usually either blue or black, because tattooists used writers’ ink.

There was a higher chance of disease then, but tattoo artists are a lot better trained in health and safety nowadays and awareness of infection and disease in general is much higher too. Even many doctors and nurses did not completely understand how vital cleanliness was a hundred years ago.

If health care professionals did not understand hygiene, you can imagine what dockside tattoo studios were like. Some were so bad that local authorities and even countries banned tattooing altogether. In some parts of the world, cleanliness is still an issue, so a would-be tattooee should look for signs of hygiene or otherwise before consenting to the tattoo.

Numerous people take a design that they like to a tattoo artist, but others just choose one out of a catalogue in the tattoo salon. If you take your own design, look for one comparable to it in the catalogue to get an idea of cost.

Then show it to the tattooer for a valuation. The cost will depend on the colours used and how long it takes, Find out the tattooer’s hourly rate. it may even be written on a list on the wall.

When agreed, the tattooer will transfer the design to your skin whether by stencil or freehand. At that point, you can get an idea of what the tattoo will look like. This is your last opportunity to change your mind. A small tattoo of one or two colours may take 45-60 minutes.

Once it is complete you will be given tips for after care. You need to follow this advice or you might have problems that could put you in a GP’s surgery. Do not take too lightly this final phase.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on lots of topics, but is at present involved with tatooed eyebrows. If you would like to know more go to our website at White Ink Tatoo.

Things To Know Concerning Tattoos

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Tattoos are a sort of man-made scar, that ma be coloured at will. Ink is injected under the skin with a needle where it changes the natural pigmentation of the skin. In olden days, this might have been done with a sharpened feather or a splinter of wood; later, pins and needles were used. These days a tattoo artist makes use of something that is comparable to a road drill, but in miniature.

This tattoo gun has interchangeable needles (one per customer) and can inject ink at the rate of 2,000 pin pricks a minute. It makes a sound like a dentist’s drill. The needle punctures the skin to the required depth and leaves a small volume of ink.

The movement of the needle can be regulated by a small electric motor or it may come from a cord going around a pulley like an old Singer sewing machine, again, just like most dentists’ drills. Which type of machine the tattoo artist uses relies very far on his personal preferences or the device that he learned his trade with.

Disease and infection have always been the biggest problems when having a tattoo done and that was thousands of years before HIV-AIDS was ever heard of. Even a hundred years ago, an infection in a tattoo on the bicep might mean losing an arm which would have been disasterous for the prosperity of that man and all the members of his family. Being tattooed has always been very hazardous.

However, even with HIV-AIDS, being tattooed is almost certainly less risky now than it ever has been in history. This is for several factors:

1] tattoo artists and customers are a lot more aware of the dangers these days

2] tattoo artists require qualifications which means that they have been trained in health and safety awareness

3] tattooing is governed by the local government’s environmental health department in most countries

Therefore, if the client just carries out a few checks before using a tattoo studio, the risks of serious consequences are quite minimal. The first thought for most people is the quality of the tattoo and that is obviously very important, but the first consideration should be health and safety. Is the studio clean and is a new needle used for each customer and then thrown away?

Not only the needles have to be sterile and for one use only though. Anything that that needle touches after it has been below someone’s skin ought to be similarly sterile or infection might be passed through secondary equipment.

Pain is of secondary importance to most people who go for tattoos. Indeed, some say that it hurts like the devil and some claim that it does not hurt at all. The site of the tattoo and the customer’s personal pain limit play roles here.

However, one thing is sure, a tattoo is an open wound until it heals, so infection can take place after leaving the tattoo parlour as well. That is why it is vital to follow the health and safety advice of the tattooist after you leave his studio.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on lots of subjects, but is currently concerned with the Barcode Tatoo. If you would like to know more go to our web site at White Ink Tatoo.

Finding Inner Peace Much in a Grain Of Sand

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

Heading off where you feel drawn find a sense of inner peace and once being with the sensations along your skin. Usually, the slower you walk on your sensation walk the more noticeably you will feel. Almost becoming like the delicate bill of a platypus. Moving gradually within the wilderness much the way in which a sloth moves slowly through the jungle. Sensing yourself what there’s to really feel against your skin. Being at one with your sensations on your body. Heightening the awareness of your tactile sensation. Exploring with your organic forms around you.

After you have been on your sensation walk, the final part to heighten your sense of feeling would be to start to be conscious of the inner sensations going on inside your system. The first place to start is with your physical sensations within your system.

This sense of inner peace is comparable with your tactile feeling exercises we’ve just done. For instance, again scan within either your body and thoughts and become aware of any stress stored within your body. Then similar to letting a stone drop to the ground, allow the tension inside either your system and thoughts drop to the ground. This dropping of stress permits you to feel noticeably more inside.

Then put your consciousness and attention on the inner sensations you really feel. Perhaps you can begin to start to be aware of the way it feels to run the top of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Or maybe to note the way it feels along your throat to swallow a small part of saliva. Or how it feels within your lungs while you breathe in air. Simply placing your consciousness on your throat as you swallow or your focus on your inside of your lungs while you breathe in.

Once more, the slower you do these the noticeably more you’ll really feel inside. Additionally, it will help to close your eyes as you do that since you will then possess a lot more focus and awareness to feel the inner sensations. Take your time and notice the unique textures within your system. Feeling the different textures on the inside of your system.

Similarly if you are much in a state of rest and no mind you can also put your attention on your physical heart and notice how it feels to beat. How every heart beat feels. Noticing and sensing within yourself the small nuances of one’s own heart beat.

While you go further into your inner sensations and tap into them additionally, you will realize that a single part will probably be calling for your attention noticeably than the the others. Merely go to this place inside and become conscious of all the different textures of all the feeling. Start to be aware of all the sensations in every moment happening to this part of your inner self.

Discover how you can loosen up and encounter a level of inner peace within your system.

When You Go On A Profound Rite Of Passage Allows you to Drop Into Insights Inside The wilderness

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

So the initial stage of a rite of passage would be to be aware of your voice inside your head. Merely close your eyes and become aware of the little voice within your head. Just now it might be saying ‘Little voice? What little voice? I do not possess a small voice!’ Well, that’s the small voice.

While you start to be aware of the constant chatter it tends to make, also become aware of the tempo it talks at. Start to be conscious in the tempo, the tone and the volume it speaks at. Along with the words it uses. Merely start to be aware in the small voice within your mind.

Personally I have labelled as my little voice ‘Ralph’. The reason is because it’s like one of those small yappy canines that runs about in circles barking ‘ralph’, ‘ralph’, ‘ralph’. Perhaps you can relate?

Nevertheless once you become conscious of your small voice inside your mind during your rite of passage, rather than making yourself locked into what it is stating, just treat it like a little kid. As you separate yourself from what the voice within your head is stating by treating it like a small kid, simply say to it ‘Thank you for sharing’.

As you say ‘thank you for sharing’ you will probably notice there is a little gap within the thoughts. That there is a small space in your mind. A gap.

Then this gap will most likely be stuffed by another thought form. So once more, rather than getting locked into the concept, merely say ‘Thank you for sharing’ and notice the space within your thinking.

While you apply saying ‘Thank you for sharing’ you’ll notice a space of ‘no thinking’ within your thoughts. It feels as though there is absolutely nothing going on within your thoughts. That it’s empty. Now you are able to choose to locate your attention, your consciousness around the space within your mind. Choosing to put your focus on the gap of no thoughts. If an additional thought arrives, on the other hand say ‘thank you for sharing’ and once more relax in the space of no mind. Placing your focus around the space inside your thoughts. Allowing the space between thoughts to be spaced out. Placing your attention around the gap of no thoughts. Being in no thoughts.

It is Okay to not have thoughts going through your mind.

As you open up your eyes, begin to become conscious of your environment. Once more, if thoughts come up around what you’re seeing merely say ‘thank you for sharing’ and again go into no thoughts. Putting your focus around the gap, around the gap within your mind.

On the rite of passage you will discover exactly how to discover your authentic nature.

Meditation Is always the Key To Forming A Spiritual Link With your Land

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Utilizing this inner voice and having a spiritual experience you may also use it to ask questions of your heart. I find easy questions beginning with ‘What…’ have a tendency to work the best. For example you are able to inquire of your heart the subsequent questions:

‘What is it you want me to know at this time?’ ‘What would you like me to do?’ ‘What are you seeking to inform me?’

Sometimes merely asking ‘What?’ of one’s heart is all you should aim to find out. It is more about establishing the intention of seeking to tap in with your heart and what it wants to tell with you.

Then it is just a point of listening to your heart. When talking with your heart it’s a great deal more about listening rather than talking. Much like being with a shy kid. If you are quiet and mild and allow them time and space then they will begin to normally interact with you.

Similar with listening with your heart, be gentle and listen.

The voice in the heart is soft. The voice of the heart is gentle. The voice in the heart speaks a couple of words at a time. The voice in the heart uses easy words. It has a slower rhythm. An unending knowledge.

So when wanting to speak with your heart, firstly place your attention on your heart center. I usually find touching the middle of my breast bone helps. Then set your intention to connect deeper with your heart and ask a ‘What’ question with your internal voice. Then just listen to the answers from your heart. Through your imagination. The language within your soul. Imagining what your heart says to you. For your imagination is real once the voice of one’s heart rings accurately.

After you have listened to your heart, always thank it for it’s knowledge. Thank it for talking with you. I discover it is good to also inquire if it too has any concerns of me. If there’s anything it desires to know. Let your heart to know that you’ll carry on to keep asking it for advice. For regardless of what occurs your heart will always win.

Once you have listened with your heart, it is critical to adhere to it’s advice. Despite what your thoughts thinks about the messages that come from your heart, follow it’s guidance. For your heart has it’s reasons of which reason understands absolutely nothing. Mere logic mostly can’t make use of. I discover it is usually in retrospect the mind starts to see the knowledge in the advice from the heart long after the choice has been made.

Meditation is always the key to forming a spiritual relationship with your land.

Spiritual Enlightenment: Letting go of Stress Is the Straight Method to Access It

Friday, January 20th, 2012

If you are inside a state of spiritual no-mind you will probably discover you are more aware, much more current towards the existing moment. To what is around you. Being with what you are being with. Inside a state of no-mind. Like the present second gets to be lengthier. Like your preception of present reality is slowed down.

I prefer to label this way of being as living in ‘innocence’. The reason is simply because this really is how infants and youthful toddlers see the planet. There is not much going through their thoughts. They are in a state of innocence and are merely becoming with what it is they are being with. In a being relationship with their surrounding environment.

And also you can tap into this state of innocence at any time, merely by putting your consciousness, your attention on the gap between your ideas. It is in this space exactly where the magic happens. In the state of innocence. No matter what is going on in life around you, this gap of no-mind is always present. It is only a matter of shifting your concentration from reasoning instead onto no-mind. This may usually make you drop more in to the current moment.

The other way the thoughts takes us aside from being with what is is via labels. For instance, if you glance at a tree, the labels you give to parts in the tree will be ‘tree’, ‘leaves’, ‘bark’, ‘roots’, ‘brown’, ‘sap’, ‘branches’, ‘flowers’, ‘seeds’, ‘trunk’ and so on

However, if you close your eyes, enter the state of no-mind by putting your attention around the gap after which consciously let go of labels a rare factor starts to happen. By letting go of labels you are able to merely be with what’s there to be with.

For example, in the event you grasp a stick in your hand and glance into the stick you then would usually be using the labels of the stick such as ‘brown’, ‘hard’, ‘light’, stick’, ‘wood’, ‘flexible’ and so on. However if you let go of these labels inside a state of no thoughts then you can experience what it’s like to simply be at one with the stick.

When you let go of labels you’ll likely notice and see a lot more detail within the components of nature in front of you. You’ll likely pick up a great deal more of the small particulars. Perhaps that it feels like you’re seeing these elements for your first time. And you can spend a lot of time merely being with your element within your hands.

Your spiritual connection with your land will show you how to connect with your life more deeply.

Enlightenment: Listening Of the Soft Voice Inside Your Heart

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Nevertheless indigenous people were more heightened of the feeling of enlightenment. Our sense of taste will help us to become conscious of what vegetation not to consume. For example, generally most of the poisonous vegetation taste bitter. Not only did indigenous individuals use their perception of taste to find foods that may be poisonous, additionally they took the time to honor and encounter the delicate flavors inside the food. A heightened perception of taste within each mouthful.

The way to heighten your sense of taste would be to first of all place your consciousness and attention on the subtle flavors currently within your mouth. Maybe you can taste delicate flavors from last night’s supper. Or maybe you are able to taste the remnants of the flavors left over from breakfast. Firstly just put your focus and awareness on your flavors already inside your mouth.

If you can’t detect any subtle flavors within your mouth, find some thing inside the wilderness you are drawn to you know is non-toxic and can not poison you to consume. Maybe this really is some bark, or perhaps a dead leaf or perhaps even to lick a stone. What ever the element is, simply put a small bit of it inside your mouth and start to become conscious of the tastes.

To be able to heighten your sense of enlightenment it first of all will help to close your eyes so that your primary sense, the sense of eyesight is turned off. This allows you to have more attention to put onto your sense of taste.

Next notice how the taste tastes on the left part of your tongue. And the way this tastes different towards the flavour on your right of your tongue. Similarly with the front of one’s tongue. Along with the back part of one’s tongue. Likewise notice how the flavour underneath your tongue tastes different to the tastes on all of the other parts of your tongue.

While you are being using the flavour inside your mouth, you are able to naturally flow in between every part of one’s tongue that you are sensing drawn to tasting. Becoming conscious of how each component of your tongue is tasting the taste inside your mouth. Like a dance, dancing from one component of one’s tongue to the upcoming one. Being with the flavour inside every of these components of your tongue.

Just after you’ve been with the taste, you can then go to yet another part of nature you know is safe and it is drawing you to taste it and do exactly the same exercise. Being with all of the different tastes about your tongue. The little nuances of all the tastes within your mouth.

Enlightenment in the wilderness allows you to drop straight in to the creator.

These Rite Of Passage Methods Allow you to Discover Your Life Objective

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

From what I’ve noticed the primary reason for going on a rite of passage is that we are generally out of alignment from the guiding power. That instead we are listening and giving importance to the thoughts inside our personal minds and usually becoming head-strong about the issues that are triggering us.

For anytime we’re listening to our heads we do not possess the focus and resources to hear our hearts. For our hearts are usually aligned with the guiding power and guides us to exactly where it is we want to be guided to. For your heart is easy. It speaks easy truths. It results in a simple lifestyle. A life devoid of stress. Devoid of stress. Life just works whenever you are in alignment with your heart and also the guiding power.

So how can you drop back again into your heart and hear the gentle guidance from it?

The very first step would be to locate your awareness out of your thoughts and into your heart center. The first step is to close your eyes and hear the small voice inside your thoughts.

It might be saying ‘What little voice? I don’t have a small voice.’ Well… that is the little voice.

Merely locating your awareness and attention on the small voice within your mind and get to know it’s tempo it speaks at. Get to understand it’s loudness. Get to understand the tone. And get to understand what it states to you. Become aware of what the small voice inside your thoughts is stating to you. The almost continuous noise within your thoughts that’s full of chatter, concerns, judgments and assessments.

Then start to treat the small voice within your thoughts like a little kid who’s seeking your attention. Pretend that the voice inside your mind is playing with a toy that it desires you to also play with. Or maybe the child just wants your focus. Rather than getting locked into what it is stating, begin to treat the voice within your mind like a little child.

And whenever you are dealing with it like a small kid that desires your focus then merely say to it ‘Thank you for sharing’.

You’ll likely discover a little pause within your mind. A small space in between the constant thinking. A gap inside the thoughts that are going through your mind.

This gap is what the Buddhists call no-mind. It’s a space within your mind when the continuous chatter isn’t going on. Like there is nothing going on along your mind. An empty mind. And you may instead place your consciousness and focus on this empty gap inside your brain called no-mind. To dwell in no-mind. For it’s ok to give yourself permission not to think. It is important to be this state of no-mind when you are seeking to listen to the soft voice within your heart.

Go on the rite of passage in the wilderness and find your true life purpose.