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.

[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