Toward Ecosophy

1) Thank you for this; it helps me hone in on my problem. From the start, I've offered blessings with the intent that they can be turned down, "may you be blessed if you so choose) being the primary form it takes in my mind though the words often simplify to may you be blessed. My hangup at this point is that my mind gets hung up on even that simple phrasing - what is it that I even mean by blessing? How do I form a positive intention if I don't perceive or fully understand a being or situation? I may also have slipped into that space where you say and ponder something so many times that it loses meaning. Like writing a word the hundredth time and forgetting how it's spelled.

As I type this, I'm thinking about your post on Schopenhauer, and wondering if perhaps a way out of the quandry is to view blessing as just a moment of aligning my will with what I feel is powerful and beneficial and then focusing toward another in hopes that they benefit...

2) That makes sense, practically and helpfully. Thanks again.

I'm raising multiple curious kids and navigating these issues on a regular basis. No prescriptive advice, just what is working for us right now:

1. My two youngest are very interested in my daily rituals, though I normally do them before they wake. When I do them later, even in a secluded spot, one of them often finds me and wants to be near - similar to our cats who also seem drawn by the Sphere of Protection. I generally discourage my kids from hanging around my ritual work, though one in particular is very drawn to it, and is also quite energetically sensitive. He has asked to be taught the SOP but is still too young. I've opted for teaching him prayer, and visualizing light, essentially teaching some basic Modern Order of Essenes style clearing. All my kids are over 7 and they still struggle with sitting meditation, though we still try. I find that labyrinth walking works better, and better still is observational meditation. We have successfully worked with the nature observation practices from the Druidry handbook (like picking a square foot of ground and observing multiple times.)

2. Myself and other occult friends have recently been lamenting that we erred too far on the side of not indoctrinating our kids into our beliefs, discussing our beliefs and practices too little where it would have been better to discuss them as often as they were pertinent and on our own minds. I think this plays into the objects in the home. I have been working this past year on owning my spaces and pulling my sacred objects out of hiding. I increasingly believe in fully living my own beliefs, and offering my children the regular reminder that they are free to question, challenge, explore, and believe differently.

3. Multiple times, I was able to soothe a screaming baby in the backseat by visualizing them bathed in light, warmth, and love. I have also had success relieving nightmares with prayers to ancestors, guardian angels (whom I work with even without being a Christian,) and in extreme cases doing banishings in the bedrooms of the afflicted. We've also had success with dreamcatchers. For my family the spiritual protection works similar to the physical protection - we try to stay clean and balanced as parents and pay attention, when the kids talk or have fears, we listen and take them seriously.

Wishing you well!