Ellen Dugan's new release: Practical Prosperity Magic

Just finished reading Ellen Dugan's new release "Practical Prosperity Magic, Creating Success and Abundance", great book, also includes working with BOTH Goddesses Fortuna, for good luck, and Juno Moneta, for the money. According to Ellen, "this book is selling so well that it is already back for a second printing. Two weeks after its release!"

Buy through Temple of the Goddess Fortuna affiliate link for extra " oomph " !!




Just finished reading the book in detail, marking the dates for the workings on my calendar, and have modified Ellen's idea for working with the Goddess Cerridwen to banish poverty, as a working with the Goddess Hecate:
Candle Spell to Banish Poverty with the Goddess Hecate
On a Saturday, or in the time of the black/waning moon, anoint a white taper with lavender and mint essential oils, place near an image of the Goddess Hecate, or Her symbols of the triple goddess or keys. Hold the candle and Open with the spell candle blessing on page 59. Then recite:

"Blessed Hecate, bearer of the torch, Banish poverty from my home and porch! Give me the keys so I may lock the door, Financial lack shall bother me no more. Let Hermeticism enlighten me, Full of cash my accounts and purse shall be! Whether from business or winning a prize, Light the way, and show me before my eyes, Steps I should take and the path to success, That my wealth and happiness will be blessed." Then close the workings with a phrase, modified from the text: "For the Good of all and with harm to none, By Hecate's magic, this spell is done."
For those who already have the book, today is the day of the dark/new moon, tomorrow is Saturday, under the influence of the window of the dark moon.
For those who haven't purchased yet, please consider buying through Temple of the Goddess Fortuna affiliate link for extra " oomph "!

Help Temple of Fortuna Ordain Ministers

Help Temple of Fortuna Ordain Ministers

Founded and incorporated in the State of California, Temple of Fortuna dot com is a NeoPagan Religious Public Charity that offers weekly worship services to an internet congregation as a celebration of international spiritual diversity.

At this time, Temple of Fortuna does not ordain ministers, and its leadership must rely on outside organizations when seeking ordainment. As a religious public charity with her own liturgy of worship services, it just makes sense for Temple of Fortuna to ordain her own ministers. 

Giving and Receiving

Temple of Fortuna needs funding to cover the costs involved in requesting consideration from government decision-makers to legally ordain its ministers. These costs may include texts, training, software, editing, photocopying, postage, and/or submittal fees.

The first step is getting educated on the process; taking classes or training in how to create the ordainment program. The next step is to apply what we've learned and then deal with all the paperwork. The final step is to send out a submittal package to the regulatory agencies for their blessings.

Temple of Fortuna will recognize all the contributors to this minister ordainment campaign on a public post, which will be pinned to the front page of the " The Sanctuary " blog

Contributions may be tax deductible donations.

Additional perks may be edited into this campaign along the way, check back with us often! 

Why is this important?

Paganism is one of the fastest growing and most varied new religions in the world. In comparison, the growth of different types of Pagan organizations that ordain ministers is lagging behind. Pagans who wish to perform weddings and act as ministers have been known to get ordained through a nondenominational organization instead of a Pagan Temple. Your contribution will help make a difference.

What will you get?

Well, in addition to possibly being able to take a tax deduction, your contribution to Temple of Fortuna ordainment funding may be noticed internationally: 

Contributors names will be on a public post pinned to the first page of " The Sanctuary " blog. The website is on the front page of many search engines as simply " Temple of Fortuna ", along with numerous ancient historical sites by the same name. The Temple Sanctuary was recently converted to Wordpress; a platform well known for search engine visibility.

Other things you can do

If you can't contribute, you can still help:

Get the word out, share this campaign on social networking or take out a free ad.
Remember to use the Indiegogo share tools!

Requirements For an Ordained Sunday Morning Pagan Minister

What should the educational and training requirements be for an ordained Pagan minister who competes in the same Sunday morning time slot with ordained Christian ministers?

I am watching the videos for a Coursera-Yale offering called " constitutional law " and wondering how it applies to running a 501(c)(3) organization for a specific, minority religious interest here in So Cal. This, in light of recent ( closed ) conversations with a separate yet similar organization, and considering the responses thereof.

For many years, prior to the internet, and certainly this continues to be the case, So Cal has had a reputation of being a bit on the edge of innovation; sometimes what we innovate is ingenious, and more often than not, laughable and ridiculous. But, it's our nature to try something new, and risk being the object of unintentional, international comedy of " life in Cali ".

Now, we are onto the subject of Ordination for a Pagan organization which honors the ancient Goddess religions ( mainly, yet not limited to honoring the Goddess Fortuna ) and is Unitarian in nature; embracing mainstream Paganism, reconstructionism as equally as it does Wicca and offering Sunday worship during the same time slot as Christian church worship.

There is a huge gap between the requirements for ordained ministers of Christian worship and those of Pagan worship. Let's begin with the idea that a Doctorate in Divinity is often required for Christian ordination. Conversely, many Pagan organizations have no formal educational requirements whatsoever, and look solely to the organization for training.

Let's also take a look at the concept that " preaching the gospel " to a congregation does not require ordainment; it's simply an expression of freedom of speech. Ordainment comes into play when legal documents are handled by clergy; the documents I've most often come into contact with, in my private practice, are marriage licenses which require an authorized clergy person's signature.

To be honest, although I hold more than one professional license to practice here in California, I've no more than a bachelor of science and, if Temple of Fortuna dot com chooses for its ministers to be able to compete, degree-for-degree with the Sunday time slot, it's possible that I would not qualify for my own organization's ordainment without additional degrees. Frankly, I don't have a doctorate in divinity and I don't know any Pagan minister who does. The question is: should we?

Cherry Hill Seminary has noticed this gap, and taken steps to try and market a hodge-podge of classes aiming toward a Wiccan-inspired upper level education. On a glance, I believe it's an admirable venture, yet does the curriculum, faculty and organization really compare to an accredited Christian seminary Doctorate of Divinity? Maybe it will someday, yet I feel that inviting in mainstream Christian ministers to compare programs may help more than just hoping, trying, dreaming.

Bringing Pagan worship to Sunday mornings may invite scrutiny of the educational and training path of our ministers. Will it hold up in comparison to Christian ministers, or will this adventure of Sunday morning Pagan worship become just one more laughable idea that came from So Cal?

Should we require more education from our Pagan ministers?

Can We Have the Beauty without the Sunday Horror Show Please?

"The Sorceress" by John William Waterhouse

Years ago, when I discovered the Goddess Movement, I was reminded of a time, even more years ago when I was in elementary school, and I found the ancient Greek and Roman mythology, sculpture and architecture delighting and absolutely enchanting.

Recently, I am reminded of the fact that that the education I acquired in elementary school was Edited For Children. Yes, that delight and enchantment which I had compared favorably to those well-named grim fairy tales we were subjected to as kids ( you know the tales in which every story has an evil witch ) was actually a watered-down version of mythology for the younger generation. There was nothing in those mythology books about how the ancients actually worshiped the ancient deities. No grim, horrible details.

Compared to the visual icon of most Sunday worship ( the Christian cross ) those beautiful tales and images from the ancients took on an immaculate quality of their own. At the time, I realized that people didn't actually worship Pagan deities and, until about a decade ago I never believed I would meet anyone who did. When I walked into a Goddess Temple, those memories of childhood came back to me in a huge rush of amazement, and I embraced the spirituality as something much more beautiful and precious than anything any church had to offer.

Unfortunately, when we go back in time to the Pagan Era, we are tasked with a huge job of editing. History does not provide those made-for-children mythology books. When we research how those beautiful deities were " honored " in ancient times, the imagery in the Church pales in comparison. In real life, the rituals and offerings of many Pagan religions were ugly, dirty and filthy. What has survived from that era, what was sculpted in stone to last; this is the legacy that we have fallen in love with. Not their reality. 

When we acquire a fascination with those ancient deities, our fascination is clothed in a luxurious, contemporary ability to worship as we wish. It's important to remember that this gift of religious freedom has been handed down to us since the abolition of Paganism. With freedom comes responsibility. One of those responsibilities is to realize that there were very good reasons for abolishing the brutal rituals of ancient spiritualities. What is really appropriate to bring back and what is best left in the past? What, in fact, did the ancient divine actually reject and continue to reject for the last two thousand years?

We may take our clue from what has survived since ancient times, and go back to those created-for-children mythological tales which our grandparents, great grandparents, and similar recent ancestral generations had already taken the time and care to edit for us, so that we could discover with delight and awe when we were young. The wonder of innocence is what we wish to reconnect with when we worship on a Sunday morning. Those beautiful tales of why a certain herb grew and was named " Mint ", what is the symbolism of the daffodil and the anemone? Was there a love affair between the earth and the sky?

There is great beauty in how the ancients understood their world, and how they honored, celebrated and worshiped the stars, the earth, the sun, the heavens and all the creatures and phenomena of our precious life on this planet. That is the beauty and preciousness which I had hoped to embrace within the Goddess Spirituality. And, yes, there is plenty of this available.

However, there is also a school of thought that comes from an " equal reaction " state of mind; the classic chiaroscuro mindset exemplified by the expression and symbolism some people refer to as " yin-yang ". This domestic and international school for " adults " advises us that for every joy there is sorrow, for every beauty there is ugliness, for every act of kindness there are unspeakable horrors. This school is alive and well and teaching within the Goddess Spirituality. From this school we receive " empowerment of the dark Goddesses "; a mythology of female horror stories that rival the masculine church icon of horror.

For those of us who come to the Goddess Spirituality, based on an education gleaned from elementary school mythologies, these tales of empowerment based on horror come as an unwelcome shock. This is a very similar feeling to hearing the stories of Jesus as a great leader, and then being confronted with the Church's standard icon of worship. This ugliness and horror is what cause people like me to avoid standard Sunday worship and to seek the attraction of joy and beauty instead. 

However, in an alternative Sunday worship which provides the beauty of Pagan Goddesses as a magnetic and majestic form of divine feminine attraction, it's possible to also come away from Goddess worship feeling a little jaded and wondering what is the difference between these " empowering Goddesses " and any other evil witch from those grim fairy tales. We are left with the same hollow feeling that comes from viewing the grim icon of Christian spirituality's cross. Those of us who are sensitive feel the tears and sadness of what's been taught every Sunday morning, and wonder who finds such worship uplifting?

Let's be honest with ourselves. Following a Pagan spirituality on a Sunday morning puts us in a different congregation from the churchgoers who comprise the lion's share of Sunday worship in the USA, and in many parts of the world. It's not an easy path and, for many of us, it hasn't been actually lucrative. Most of my Pagan clients are not wealthy people; most are on a very tight budget. Paganism has not become equated with great financial success; at least not in my experience. If our wealthiest clients are in church, we begin to wonder ... If not for beauty and love, is being Pagan worth it?

I would suggest that, if the only thing the Goddess Spirituality has to offer is a feminine version of the light-dark semi-horror story of the church, that maybe the Goddess Spirituality as it is presently practiced isn't offering enough to keep its followers for the long-term, unless it's purely being presented as feminine empowerment and not an actual religion.

With the luxury of being allowed to worship as we choose comes responsibility. With responsibility comes choice; a choice that is easy to make when deciding between existing options presented " as is ". However; choice can be the decision to get involved, to evolve and to help our communities evolve. As Pagans; spiritual heirs of ancient mythology, we're actually lucky that we don't have a " sacred book " that has been handed down through the centuries; a book which would be sacrilegious to edit. We imagine, create and edit every time we birth a ritual, because there is not any traditional standard. 

*   It's okay to edit out any and all ugliness of ritual from our worship.   *

*   It's okay to edit out negative aspects of spirituality from our worship.   *

*   It's okay to edit how we teach history, especially when children are present.   *

In their wisdom, our elders and recent ancestors took their time and energy to to edit ancient mythology for the children's section of our public libraries, so that the stories would share only love, light and beauty with their younger generations; us. Honoring ourselves, our younger generations, and honoring our own elders and ancestors is also honoring their wisdom and their knowledge. Knowledge is power. Knowing when to edit knowledge for the benefit of our shared Sunday worship is not about being a " fluffy bunny ". It may be a path back to love, light and that enchantment we had in our first blush of Pagan mythology.

Five Dollar New Member Bonus for Temple of Fortuna dot com

Make the holidays even more special for Temple of Fortuna dot com

Even people who don't shop often shop this time of year. And they love to help. If they're like me, they want to make sure Shopping = Giving. A $5 bonus makes it even sweeter. It's up to you to let them know they can easily help. It's as simple as forwarding this post. As always, iGive is completely free, all costs are paid for by the stores. Over 1,000 of the greatest online stores participate, like Amazon, Macys, jcpenney, Dell, HSN, Nordstrom, and lots, lots more. On behalf of Temple of Fortuna dot com, I've posted this because you've got the easy ability to help the group. iGive has already informed its members of this special offer, but it means so much more coming from you. Share now by forwarding this post, sharing it on your Facebook page (this is possibly the single best thing you could do all year), posting on your website or blog, or even tweeting. Here's the special link: http://iGive.com/welcome/warmwelcome.cfm?c=59696

Now is the moment for maximum help for Temple of Fortuna dot com. That's why iGive is giving an extra $5 for every new member that tries the iGive Button, even if they don't end up shopping.

The iGive Button makes it really, really simple

It automatically makes sure that a portion of purchases at over 1,000 stores means a free donation to Temple of Fortuna dot com. Shopping = Giving year 'round. The Button makes sure every purchase counts, even if you forget.

P.S. Watch Small Turn into Big

The average iGive Shopper raises $30 - $60 a year for their cause. Some members raise much, much more.

Websites ... including A New Website for Magical Ads and Psychics

Since working on the Temple of Fortuna site, which is presently being used by the Temple of Fortuna dot com organization as an outreach tool, I have acquired a number of domain names and started working on new websites and webpages as time and funding allow. Here are the mythology inspired domain names I have acquired inexpensively and am developing as one-to-five page sites, based on the package included with the domain. These are in addition to Temple of Fortuna & Mama Fortuna which have complete content, monetization and regular hosting. These other domains are all in various stages of development:

Temple of Venus

Temple of Juno

Temple of Hecate

Temple of Isis

Temple of Mercury

Temple of Seshat

Temple of Earth Creation

My only question was, how can I afford to keep these domains, which although reasonably priced, certainly aren't free. How do I make enough money from these mini-sites to pay for themselves, or even better, add to my own income? Although I've been blessed in bringing my private tarot reading to a very accepting and appreciative public, I've been unemployed since 2009, and the only money I've made in the last year has been from self-employment as an Intuitive Consultant and part-time piano teacher. What happens if a particular deity deserves more than a short description ( as did the Goddess Fortuna ) ?

Most devotional sites have donate buttons or links to affiliate programs or book stores, which is great when lots of people purchase products or make donations. What I've found, though, is that most people who contact me through my website want to work with me personally, not a huge corporate company selling stuff. My clients value my experience and education. They want consultations, not products they can buy at Amazon or eBay. This is why I decided to put buttons for my live chat and phone consultations on the contact pages, instead of an email address, just like the buttons on this blog page.

Since I am studying the Goddess Hecate under the direction of High Priestess Brandi Auset, Temple of Hecate is much closer to completion than the others. And, it is the first spiritual site I have included my buttons on ... as recently as this afternoon. I will not know whether more work will be done on that site until Spring of 2014; my expected completion date of the Hecateian chapter. My vision is to remove all the excess negativity from Her worship and help return to Her roots. All with large text, and as much simplicity as possible, to avoid the kind of information overload that online research can generate.


* * * * * * * * *

So what about everyone else? All my online friends who own stores or do consultations, and want to connect in a way that doesn't waste time and money? I've actually given my online friends, clients and the merchants I personally do business with a lot of thought. This idea came to me, after I found a few souls who were still able to do business on eBay as magical vendors. One of whom, I invited to put an ad on my website, which is on the main and tarot page of Mama Fortuna  website at the time of this writing. 

Well, that brings me to another subject: Other options for how to enjoy earning a living online, while doing what I love. These are arriving with due process of prayer, exercise, nutrition and meditation. My most recent project is inspired by " Times Square " in New York City. I wondered what kind of energy would be generated by a site devoted entirely to advertising beautiful banners and graphics? Well, the website has only been up a short while, and already we have a few lovely banner ads:

 Stalleon.biz

A New Website for Magical Ads and Psychics

Paying hundreds of dollars a month for advertising is out the door. So is having your magical store kicked off of websites. I would rather you keep your store open and spend your money on what you need to live.I am launching a new website especially for magical stores, websites and psychics.

Advertising on Stalleon will be a low, negotiable monthly fee. ( No contracts, you can cancel at any time )

If you sign up now, you can get premium placement for three months for a LOW FEE of only $1
( after that, the monthly fee is negotiable, based on YOUR results :)


store banners chat & phone buttons photo & website links
JOIN MAGICAL PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WITH PREMIUM PLACEMENT AND A WARM WELCOME.
(If you need help creating your ad don't worry I will include that too.)

 Stalleon Lightworkers

Editing back in: Have been blessed with a way to bring in Live Chat and Phone, and offer an opportunity for psychics to make money on the website. I had hoped to start a network with Click4Advisor but their rates were more than I could afford, as a start-up. And then, magically, I found myphonesite which offers similar services without any fees until the advisors make money. I was ecstatic :D Banners and links are through Stalleon.biz home page.

Please Help Stop Animal Sacrifice at Nova Roma

This petition has been closed and sent to Nova Roma Organization for review and action. See petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/996/933/414/stop-animal-sacrifice/#bbtw=711742524

Nova Roma is an international organization devoted to the restoration of classical Roman religion culture and virtues. 

I was offered membership with Nova Roma and won an award with their organization before I became aware of the organization’s policy regarding animal rights. I have since requested cancellation of my membership in protest until the policy is modified to clearly be in support of animal rights at all times. This is a direct affront, not only to animal rights, but to most NeoPagan religious organizations that specifically prohibit animal sacrifices by their members and religious leaders.

The present policy regarding animal rights, as shown at Nova Roma's organization website at http://novaroma.org/nr/Decretum_pontificum_de_sacrificiis_(Nova_Roma), does not clearly state that animal sacrifices are prohibited or even discouraged by members or representatives of Nova Roma during religious reenactment ceremonies which involve animals.

I am familiar with reenactment rituals for ancient Pagan religions. In addition to reading the tarot, officiating weddings, and various other things that I do for a living, I am also the founder of Temple of Fortuna dot com, and I understand that incense and botanical offerings are as historically accurate as animal sacrifice in many ancient rituals, and that some things of the past are best left alone.

In association with Temple of Fortuna dot com, I have produced over 100 audio-visual worship services. Many of the episodes included reenactments of ancient rituals, as modified to be appropriate for contemporary practitioners. At no time during these productions were animals harmed, intimidated or mistreated in any way.

Most contemporary NeoPagans and their associated organizations similarly provide humane ritual offerings. It is not necessary to sacrifice animals to authentically restore the Roman religion. Nova Roma organization must change their policy to clearly be in supports of animal rights at all times by their members and representatives.

I have personally signed many petitions in support of animal rights.

Please urge Nova Roma to specifically prohibit animal sacrifice in their reenactment religious rituals by signing my petition and sharing it around.

The goal is 1000 signatures by November 6th.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/996/933/414/stop-animal-sacrifice/#bbtw=711742524