Shopping Tips and Guidance by Mandy Claire

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" Are you looking for a deity to praise and worship? Our Gods and Goddesses must pass rigorous, continuous, and unscheduled evaluations in which we measure disciple satisfaction and engagement with all sacred practice...

Wait a minute. Scratch that. Sounds like a textbook for teacher training. You need a deity? We'll serve you. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Yesterday the Shrine of the Mists partly emerged from its thick mantle of snow. This evening I re-lit the candle to Cernunnos, the Horned One, guardian of the forests. As luck would have it, the thrift store had one each red, blue, green, and white candle -- it's been too snowy to get to Woodstock Trading Company for Quarters candles. But now I have some, and they are kindled to the Quarters and dedicated to Queen Brighid the Bright, Goddess of the home and hearth.

I also pray peace from the Quarters. Perhaps you've noticed this: Without peace, nothing gets done.

My practice, as I have said before, is very simple. I light candles, I salute the Quarters, I honor Danu and Bile, Brighid and Cernunnos. My only prayer is for peace throughout the world.


I've never accepted the notion that someone -- human or divine -- died to take my sins away. My sins are my own. They are my responsibility. I must work to make myself better and more pleasing to my deities. Just a little "I'm sorry" is not enough.

There's no solid rock under my feet, because even rock crumbles. Sand is nothing but tiny bits of rock. So I move with life and try to do my best not to harm anyone. I don't think that eating a little piece of blessed bread and drinking a little cup of blessed wine is going to cleanse me. For that cleansing I'll need my own scrub brush and a mirror, so I can see what needs to be washed away.

As I light my dusk candles and pray for peace, I'm including in my prayers the inner peace we all need to do our work. Without peace, nothing gets done.

Off I go into another week of my life. I'm led by deities that ask me to consider the value of knowledge, justice, and the love of divine and all goodness.

Goodness! It's my responsibility.What a daunting task! But it must be done. With peace first, so the doing is possible.

My friends, may your deities be lights in your lives. May you be a light to Them, easing Their boredom and giving them cause to rejoice. So might it be.