Your Pagan Haven

[Aconite]

Now before you say under the stars or underneath that old willow... take some thought abotu this, places youve been if only once, twice, 30 times? Some place where you felt soo safe, and connected to the goddess, at such peace you wouldn't have left if you had the choice. Now this may very well be the dock at your grandparents house, underneath a tree, a deserted park bench, or your very own bedroom.

My pagan haven is jadines room... In the mall there is a lady who read tarot cards, and i went there on saturday and when i enetered her room i hoenstly felt myself float away. My earhtly body became obsoliete and my spirit staggered high above the mundane. it was sooo amazing. She had black sheets, or cloth hung from the walls and covering the roof, she has a big table with cards and bowls and incense and candles on it, and another shelf with more incense and candles and a stereo and some old trinkets, a clock, some other little nick nacks i coudlt see. She had a buddha statue, and a few other things.. I left there and i instantly wanted to go back. it was soo.. peacfull..

So tell me, where's your pagan haven?

[alwaysfallingup]

Here in Southern Illinois, there is a wonderful old gentleman who has dedicated to building a shrine to the Goddess on his 160 acres in the Shawnee National forest. There is a shrine space to each element, and a healing circle, and a large Goddess shrine in the center. It is beautiful and peaceful and I feel healed every time I go. I think that's my pagan haven.

~Alisha~

[Aconite]

Wow, that's amazing! I wish i had that in my back yard lol

[Eryck]

My grandparents apple farm in the Sierra foothills of California. Standing in the middle of the apple trees, looking down towards the catfish pond, with the tall pine trees swaying gently in the breeze, and hearing the wind quietly slip through the mountains-I have always felt like I was at one with all of Nature-and still do to this day.

And this thread caught my eye because my last name is Haven. 8O

[TempestDra]

My grandmother lives in a little town in Germany that borders a small forest. About an hour's hike into the forest is an old quarry, abandoned. My mother took me there as a child, and we found the most amazing thing... there was a little hill with a small tunnel - like a mineshaft - through it. It's long enough to get completely dark in the middle(watch your head!) before you make it back out. And... on the other side, you come out into this gorgeous little valley full of undergrowth so verdant and full of ferns and mushrooms that you can barely find a place to put your feet. I loved that forest and spent a lot of my childhood there, but that little glade grabbed me by the heart and took my breath away. It was the first time I -really- felt something. Thinking back still makes me feel at peace.

[Aconite]

Wow, that does sound amazing. I wish i coudl have spent my childhood there...

[ravenscape]

Two places. One from the cusp of childhood and one from adulthood.

When I was young, I lived in the Florida Panhandle. There was a long narrow drive along the beach highway where the Gulf of Mexico was on one side and the Bay was on the other. Although I loved the Gulf side most, there was this sand dune on the bay side that was just incredible.

It was about 20 feet tall, and cone shaped. Pine trees and laurel bushes grew on the sides and the top. The first time I struggled up the steep and deeply sandy slope, I had no idea what I'd find. Underneath the low canopy of trees and sheltered from the harsh summer sunlight, the hill was hollow, like a volcano's caldera. The depressed center of the top was about 10 feet deep, like a giant had planted his thumb in the sand. The trees and bushes filtered out nearly all the sun. The bottom of the hollow was strewn with fallen branches, pinecones and pine-needles, but you could brush the lumpiest bits away, spread your beach towel, and lie down in the bottom of the cone. The noise of the waves and the highway didn't penetrate. All I could hear was the wind in the trees above and the occasional call of a seagull.

It was the best place in the world for daydreaming and meditating.

Many hurricanes later, the dune is no more, except in memory. I think Ivan took care of the last little nub of a mound that was left.

The other place that has been a haven, well, it's not as secluded. There's a manmade lake in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. In the center of the lake is a manmade island built in the very late 1800s. The hill is tree covered, and a trail winds in a spiral from the bridge to the top. This hilltop has a wide and spacious hollow, with a boulder at the east side making a sort of natural altar. Almost every time I hike in Golden Gate Park, I climb to the top of the hill. There's usually an offering of flowers and grains on the rock.

I don't suppose I'm the only person who wonders about the intentions of the person who designed the hill.

[BFD_Zayl]

theres an old graveyard right down the road, i go there during the spring or summer and it is completly peaceful, i can lay on a marble casket and fall right asleep with the gentle breeze swaying the trees overhead and the sun filtering through, if not there then i usually go to a very small secluded coffee shop called espresso milano, its a wonderful place where we can put our feet up, drink chai or coffee, snack on cookies, and talk freely (plus tarot readings)

[Nitefalle]

Mine is Enchanted Rock State Park outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. My parents live only a half hour away and I know that a part of my soul lives there. Everytime I visit home, I make a pilgrimage. It's a set of HUGE dome-shaped rocks that you can see from miles away and they are literally one billion years old, the oldest geological formations in Texas. They got their name, "Enchanted Rock", from the Native Americans that used to inhabit that space, who held the area sacred. It takes you anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes, depending upon your physical ability, to climb to the top, and it's extremely steep at one point. Once you get to the top, there's a constant breeze and you can see for miles in every direction. There's the most beautiful lichens and scrubby trees growing along the tops of the rocks and you can feel the energies surrounding you.

One tiny part of it, in particular, holds a special significance for me. There is a tiny little valley in between two of the domes that is an old dry creek bed and in the very middle of it is a standing stone, shaped naturally. I don't know why it stands by itself, if it was placed there naturally or not, but it is a LIVING stone. I have made offerings to it many times before and the energy of the Place is concentrated in that stone. There are other horizontal flat stones around it, where I have lain and meditated and had wonderful experiences. To me, it is the most beautiful place on Earth.

[Eleisawolf]

The mountains of my home state, Colorado. I have that feeling whenever I'm up there, wandering through with nothing but my two hands and my instincts to carry me.

There is one specific spot that embodies it for me, though. It's an area on the Herman Gulch path--small pond, high cliffs, above treeline. You can sing and your voice comes back to you and the sky stretches above and the water glints like diamonds and the wildflowers wave in the wind... not to mention that it's a physically challenging (though not requiring expert climbing) hike, so by the time you get up there, you feel so alive and connected to your body that it's impossible not to feel the power of it.

Peace

[Kaija]

I have a few, it sort of depends on what I need at the time.. The one where I spend the most time is White Oak cemetary.. It's out in the middle of nowhere, the energy there is amazing.. I think it started off as a paupers cemetary.. some of the graves were marked with little more than sticks originally.. it's in the process of being reopened though.. and the clearing that they are doing has made it a bit... scattered feeling now. I would sleep there when weather permitted. The next one is Lost Lake.. it takes about 45 minutes to hike there, you are in a pretty dense forest, there is a little path that opens out to the lake.. this amazing little spot.. not a place for swimming.. I believe there are leeches, but.. the birds, the bugs, the frogs.. the sounds are so relaxing.. I never want to leave. The next.. Mother Moon.. a little pagan bookstore in Saugatuck Michigan... the incense she uses is seductive.. I could stay there for hours.. I immediately feel at home.. But, when I am really having a hard time.. really need a break, a cleansing.. The beaches of lake michigan.. there is one specifically if you walk awhile you will almost never see anyone else.. this is best in the fall (normally when my life turns into a living hell, so perfect timing), the winds are picking up, you've got the sound of the waves crasing against the rocks, amazing sunsets.. and the tourists are gone, so you are almost always alone.. a few people walk there, but, many times I've run into no one. It almost immediately puts me into a meditative state.. I can't think about anything that's bothering me.. it just sort of .. leaves. when I leave I feel almost reborn.. Sometimes it takes a few trips, because the problems don't just go away, but.. eventually I stop worrying about them completely.

[Nitefalle]

We should make an MW Energy Map of the US :lol: We can plot all of our little "spots" in case any other MW'ers live in our area and are ignorant, or someone is passing through and wants to see.

[Cerulean_damselfly]

We should make an MW Energy Map of the US :lol: We can plot all of our little "spots" in case any other MW'ers live in our area and are ignorant, or someone is passing through and wants to see.

Somebody's beautiful website has gorgeous Golden Gate Park photos:

http://www.imagegoddess.com/imagegoddess/ggpark.html

I admired this site for capturing such lovely segments of this large and scenic park.

Actually for me, I've bicycled and walked by many marshy streams in California where egrets and cranes walk or stalk. There's something otherworldly about them. Sometimes I see swans bowing their head--but they have a more real-world reason to eyeing the passing walker in hopes of tidbets.

So when I happen upon egrets and cranes, they seem poised between something natural and something unusually beautiful for me. Just a personal reflection...

And sometimes when I come across the dragonfly or damselflies patrolling their small spaces or see the flash of a hummingbird, it's the accident and delight that I've happened near their haven.

Once in awhile, a bird may carol warning when I walk by--and if I whistle, they also reply.

I once found a knitting store near my drumming class and the beautiful fibers, lists of classes, even a fire going in one central room made me awed...I lingered and decided sometime in February, maybe will take a color and knit class on a weekend if I had the time...I only wished it had been a store selling tea, books or my usual home joys...

Other than that, walking into some bookstores and stores that sell tea products or serve tea will smell so heavenly after walking in the brisk and bitter wind...sometimes having a teapot steaming, with a nice book or DVD or notebook and my tarot cards nearby after my own walk or cycling makes me believe in a 'haven on earth!'

Running to my teapot...and a cuppa darjeeling

Cerulean_Damselfly

[cheddarsox]

Nearly any rock outcrop, especially with huge boulders or exposed faces of rock I can climb and lay on. I get electrified and transported to a totally different state of mind, it feels timeless, when I am there.

Waterfalls.

The Grand Canyon.

I have a small outcrop in the backyard. Pretty plush.

cheddar

[Glory]

I went on a drama camp for a week in rural New Zealand. I had a shared room with a friend in a little lodge, and the kitchen (huge kitchen to accommodate regular classes of campers) was big and open and ramped out naturally into the grass outdoors. All the buildings were very open, the doors hardly ever shut, and it was easy to wander further into the bush so that you couldn't see any buildings at all. It was absolutely lovely, I hadn't felt that good in a long time, and only have again once.

And come to think of it, that second time was also outback New Zealand. I got to stay in a Marae, a sacred building of the Maori culture - you can't enter with shoes, no food, no drinking, no cigarettes. It's just one big open space with carvings all over. It was an awesome atmosphere. The other buildings were big open dining halls and kitchens, and outside was all rural farmland.

I need to marry rich so I can live in rural NZ forever. :)

[Searching_Soul2586]

for me, it was standing atop the mountain Chimmney Top in the Smokies National Park in tennessee; I've never felt so at peace or connect with nature than I was then; I'm currently making plans of going back!

[Astara Seague]

the first one I had was a place called Bridal Veil Falls here in Utah, just up Provo canyon, it was a hike to get up there but there was nothing nicer then sitting under those falls especilly with a nice breeze blowing


Now adays when its not my own yard, which I have worked very hard to make it into a Haven, its up soapstone canyon not far from Duschane Utah I climb to the very top and it flattenes I always get a special feeling like I belong there, I can over look the valley, I can actually invision what it looked like once indian teepees and all, I think it may be a past life thing - we also find tons of petrified wood, crystals, agate, flint and so forth there

[Willow Rosette]

Does Starbucks count? Im never more at peace than having a cup of coffee in my hand. :lol: j/k

I have two places. My first is Mt. Shasta. Growing up I lived on stories from my Grandpa about the little people that live there. I havent been in years but seeing pictures or when Im close enough to actually see her it just makes my heart stop.

My other place is Crater Lake. I have only been there once but it felt so alive and full of energy. The story of Crater Lake just fills me with wonder.

"Local Native Americans witnessed the collapse of Mount Mazama and kept the event alive in their legends. One ancient legend of the Klamath people closely parallels the geologic story which emerges from today's scientific research. The legend tells of two Chiefs, Llao of the Below World and Skell of the Above World, pitted in a battle which ended up in the destruction of Llao's home, Mt. Mazama. The battle was witnessed in the eruption of Mt. Mazama and the creation of Crater Lake."

From here (http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/crlacr.htm)

[DracoIII]

There's a park by my house called Maple Woods Park. It's woods with a walking trail. There's a clearing there I like to just go and meditate at. I feel closer to my Gods there than anywhere.

[Adalai]

Way to revive a great thread!

Mine is from my childhood. I would put on a sweatshirt with a hoodie, and lay on the perfect green grass in the dead of winter in Okinawa, Japan.. on a hill behind my apartment building. Time and space was lost and often my parents would have to come find me just staring off into the perfect clear skies and green hillsides with tombs and Japanese shacks built into them. I knew right then I was extremely lucky to be there and I soaked up every minute of it.

When I think of peace and meditative states, I always remember that.

[rawrTigress]

My current pagan haven is when I meditate .... other then that I would have to say the beach. <3

[ainecrea]

My husband and I just got back from Salem, MA a few weeks ago. While we were lured in by the stops, the energy there was more than anyone has ever been able to explain. There really is a different level of something there that really attracted us to this little city. I think from now on, when I need to be in that pagan place, I will be imagining I'm back in Salem.

[notluad666]

I would have to say my astral temple because there I am with the Gods and there love and a perfect state of mind.

[Kallisto]

My special place is a semi permanent outdoor circle my coven created in a nature reserve on the banks of the Hudson river here in New York.. Our High Priestess found a fantastic little secluded spot at the end of meadow out of the way of walking tracks and passes by where we've marked out a circle with logs on the ground... We even have a lovely flat alter stone up there that we hide away after rituals... This way if someone was to stumble across it, it wouldn't look too out of the ordinary...

The place has the most wonderful light in mid-afternoon. With the sun coming through the leaves its completely breathtaking....

I've also read, and though my experiences I would agree with this, that a permanent ritual space such as an outdoor circle builds up a great reservoir of energy over time. Just stepping into the circle you can feel the energy shift - it's magnificent.

[PandoraHealer]

the first one I had was a place called Bridal Veil Falls here in Utah, just up Provo canyon, it was a hike to get up there but there was nothing nicer then sitting under those falls especilly with a nice breeze blowing


I completely agree!!! It is one of the BEST places to hike... Loads of wildlife and flowers and plants and... oh it's just perfect there....

Another place I love is Sedona... Not only for the vortexes that are there... but the general scenery is superb!!

A place closer to home that I enjoy is many of our state parks... Red Rock state park has always been a favorite... as well as Roman Nose state park....I just returned from Roman Nose and felt GREAT.... till I got home of course... (but that's a different story)

There are a few other areas... I really like my front yard when the moon is directly above, and everyone is asleep... it's great to just sit on the porch or lay in the grass... (would be better if any of the rocks I throw at the street light would hit the target.... :idea2: )

~PH

[herbal_legends]

My university has a lot of very old/ancient trees scattered throughout campus. There's one that draws me too it and I call it the wise tree....when it is nice out I like to sit on the bench by it or go over and say hi (touch) it. Makes me feel at peace.

When I was younger, my grandmother's garden was my haven.

[Lilac Moon]

I have a dear friend and mentor.. Janie is in her late 60's, she is a Buddhist, nautropath, and herbalist.. She has refurbished an old log cabin on the edge of a clearing.. her home is so peaceful and serene.. she has gardens everywhere and hidden platforms for meditation.. she has this crazy wild white hair and ice blue eyes, her voice is strong but soft.. she is the wisest person I know.... being there with her, even if it is pulling weeds makes me so calm and content... another thing.. she always knows when I am going to visit.. she has my favorite tea made and the door is wide open....

[Lymphaticus]

My pagan haven is my stone circle. It is not much, it is small and has a large stone in the middle for libations. I have hallowed it so many times it is energetic to step into. And I live in the desert, but normal forest trees grow in my backyard and I have found a nice thicket where it is. It is wonderful to meditate and think in that small place where I have invited many Gods.

[turningtides]

My childhood home has a green belt and park just behind it. As a kid I would wander into the 'light' parts of the park (the playground and walking paths). There is a single, majestic tree that grows just off the paved path. I often think of it as a guardian of the park. Sometimes I find beer bottles there, but it's not as littered as I would have thought.

Then there is the 'dark' part of the forest. The city uses them as orienteering terrain, so the trees were left to grow as they saw fit, and the trails are indistinguishable from the regular soil. I used to walk around there and feel how quiet it was, picture how the land was before humans moved in. There is also a small hill that crests onto a small plateau FULL of ferns. I could picture myself alone, and would watch the trees and insects as they made shadows against the thin streams of light.

Nowadays, I can't walk into that dark, or even the light, portions of that forest. More housing developments have destroyed the quiet shadows, and the ones that are left have been used by the homeless to set up tents. I can't begrudge someone who doesn't even have a home...but I miss those silent yet full afternoons, like walking in and out of time.

[Romani Vixen]

When I first discovered Paganism, I was living in the mountains of NE Washington state. There was a small state park at the edge of town. I had one spot where I'd walk to, do rituals, or just read books. It was magnificent. I moved away, and I hadn't been back for 14 years. I returned about a year ago. It was horribly changed. There was trash all over, most of the trees were gone, there was even a carcass of a buck someone had shot and sawed the rack off of and left on the trail. The energy was... sick.

Another place I have only been to once. In the Snake River National Park in Utah, there is a large aspen stand. When I went there, it was amazing. Truly enchanted. I later learned that aspens grow by spreading the root system, and that basically that aspen stand was a single living entity... 20,000 years old. It makes me truly grateful for our national park system, and all those who work to preserve the magical and beautiful places.

[SicilianRose]

In the past I would have to say anywhere there is abeach. I just love the sound of the waves crashing and the smell of the ocean in the air. Currently though I live far from the beach due to a situation that is beyond my control and miss it but I understand thati t is only temporary. We live in the woods and I have found peace in our back yard and the woods behind us. When I was a child my haven was my mother'sgarden and being at the beach or near the water.