My Yule Celebration

I'm still not very versed in holiday ritual; so for this Yule I simply made a turkey dinner and had my neighbors over.  Spent some time with good company and after that was done spent some time planning for the coming year and meditating.  

I was unable to find a Yule Log in time; so this was my stand-in this year.  A pine candle surrounded by live seasonal plants. Next year I will know to start much earlier in my search for a log; but I am still happy with the way this turned out anyway.  Also I have no fireplace to burn it in so that was another hindrance.

Recently I have been adrift in a sea of random information and haven't properly focused myself; so I will be attempting to create a schedule for myself to help focus myself and my learning. 

Adventures in Confusion

I am working on getting back into reading and meditation; I feel I have let some of the basics slip in the upheaval of the past few months.  So I am working on adjusting my personal/mental label and considering myself to be a person who lives in a pagan state of mind as opposed to trying at the moment to define every aspect of my beliefs all on one word.  I’m not trying to sound pretentious, and I really hope that I don’t.  I’m just loosening my grip a tiny bit; which I think is a good thing.  I feel this will free me up to relax and let myself feel how much I believe or don’t believe.   I love my esbbat rituals, fall a little more hit and miss on the sabbats, and generally find myself slacking when it comes to meditations.   This year I plan to set the goal of following each possible sabbat starting with Yule and we will see how it goes.  

Since I have been a tad over-stressed I want to balance between taking a slower and more relaxed approach (as opposed to the excited mad dash I was in) and keeping myself on a steady track practice-wise.  

To be honest, I was so excited about everything that I allowed myself to stress out about things like “who needs to know”, “how out do I need to be”, “am I doing this right or wrong” and in general that I need to have all my personal answers now.  I became defensive from time to time (though I think I did a fairly good job of keeping it in check) and overly worried about what the world would think of me, feeling I needed to hide anything about myself that might tip people off. 

People will have problems with me; that is inevitable, and the sad thing is it’s mostly going to be problems of semantics.  “I meditate…you pray…it’s magik…it’s a miracle…the divine…God…” and so it goes on.  I could be content to boil it all down to yes I do believe there is a power/energy/divinity (what have you) in this world that is bigger than myself and I feel a connection to it in my own way.   I think that’s a pretty good starting place and how I choose to envision/communicate/honor that divinity is personal to me.   This isn’t groundbreaking stuff really…but I think it might have been something I let myself overlook for a little while and that began to drive me crazy.   That’s my fault;  I’m new at this and figure I’m a little entitled to step in a few puddles while I make my way down the path. LOL 

Basically, this shouldn’t be something that stresses me out; it’s what makes me happy, so if it is stressing me out then I am looking at it wrong.  It’s not easy to admit that I got confused and lost sight of a lot of things for a while but I put this blog up to reach out and get answers and share my experience – and that was part of it. 

New Page & More Than One Way To Learn From Tarot

I have added the Minor Arcana quick reference, I hope you find it helpful.  
 
Aside from question/answer and future planning.  Over time tarot can teach you things about yourself (either your good qualities or traits that slow you down).  If you notice a card or cards that seem to pop up in your personal readings frequently can show you these qualities or vices. 

For instance the Eight of Swords makes a regular appearance for me.  I have long sense been aware that I tend to over think things, and agonize over decisions; but it wasn't until this card began showing up in ever personal reading that I became more aware of how this trait (even though sometimes useful) hinders me on a regular basis.  
 

More on the side of qualities, the Empress card is a regular for me as well. 

So pay attention over time and watch for cards that come up consistently, and especially if they tend to come up in the same places in spreads.  Just don't over think every little thing, and let yourself get to the point where you expect that card or it will begin to throw you off.  It's important to clear your mind of expectations when focusing for a reading.

Greater Than? Or Equal To?

I have recently (past month or no updates) had a couple experiences at work.  Mostly with one co-worker in particular.  James is an older man who after a life of self-described wild ramblings and cuttings-up, has found his answers in the bible.  Which is fine and wonderful for him, it seems to have brought him a lot of peace and stability to his life.  In general he is a friendly, good-hearted guy, and we've always (and still do) get along.  

In the past month he seems to have taken a specific interest in who believes what.  Which led him to me.  It started with him asking out of the blue one day, "Are you a religious person? Because I can tell by the way you behave and the way you treat people that you probably are or at least were raised in it."  

I told him I was religious 'in a way' but I don't go to church anymore.  I told him a few things about the way I was raised, but made sure to add that I know plenty of people that weren't raised in church that are good and I didn't believe you had to read the bible in order to have morals.  

Ever since then, he has taken to suddenly not knowing what certain words in his bible are or what they mean; which leads him to ask me "what's this word here?" and pass me the bible.  Which, I'm not complaining, I don't mind and who knows maybe he doesn't know the word (there are a lot of complicated/rarely used words in the kj version).  But come on, I know what's really going on there.  And again, I don't really mind it, it's just something I have noticed.  

 So the real point of this is, it's obvious this man cares about me (and my soul) in a platonic "hey you're a good pal and I'd hate to see you burn in hell" kind of way.  As I said he is a nice guy with the best of intentions; but I have heard him speak at length about "people who take and do the wrong thing"  and there is quite a list of these people...

I am one of those people (on more counts that just wicca) and I can't help but wonder how quickly this friendly little game of getting me to read the bible would change if I just up and said, "so when I said I was sort of religious, I am actually very religious, I'm just not in the same religion as you."  It's not something I am likely to find out anytime soon.  It's just something I can't help but think about.  

Also, one of the girls at work lost her bible, and it occurred to me "well duh, how many of those do I have at home" which lead me to remember, "oh yeah, one, I left all the others at my parents house..."  So I brought her my bible so she wouldn't have to shell out who-knows how much the bookstores charge for one these days.  So I am pretty sure this random act of kindness/recycling has single-handedly assured everyone at work that James has me well on the path back to church...

 So no, it wasn't my intention to fool him into leaving me alone (in fact I think this will probably lead to even more "bible time") I just wanted to do something nice for someone at work who's had a lot happen to her in the past few months.

A Thanks To An Internet Traveler

I wanted to give a thank you to someone who gave me a nice little tip after they stumbled onto my blog by accident.  And also to share the tip with others.  

 

Yes, I live in the age of technology, currently running a blog... and did not consider the potential usefulness of a Kindle...I don't own one right now, but it seems like a very good idea and I might have to look into getting one after all.  (Yes you heard me Luna, after all the talk of "books should be books, and smell like books and feel like books..." I get it, super useful, you're right. LOL)

Well that's all for now.  Thanks again Kat. 

It's July: Mama K Visit

So I have been procrastinating and not posted anything in a long while.  So I need to get back to it. 

My mother-in-law came down for a visit, which is always good, except I really hadn't heard from her since I told her about being wiccan.  After no replies to texts or e-mails I was worried maybe she didn't want to speak to me.  So I ended up feeling stupid when she arrived and I found out their internet had been down and her cell had some wacky card corruption.  

In my mommy-by-marriage's own words, "Why wouldn't I want to talk to you? I don't care what you believe in I love you and want to talk to you... Actually if you killed someone I would still want to talk to you..."  

So a great load off my mind.  I did three tarot readings for her before she left, and she told me I could do readings on my sister in law (15) while she stays over with us.  

Anyway, that's about it for now, I am going to do my best to get off my bottom and make more posts and update more often.  

The Little Post About Little Things

I find myself getting easily frustrated over the little things.  Tiny stuff like the fact that I can't take my books to work with me and read them on my breaks; and yet 3 people at my job pull out there bibles every break to compare notes or point out something they found interesting in their reading (like do dragon's exist? they are mentioned in the bible).  I don't begrudge them that, I even enjoy listening to them debate...sometimes...  It's just the simple fact that I in turn cannot sit quietly in a corner and read a book about wicca.  Technically I can; but logically I can't because I need my job.  Small issues like feeling like I have to watch everything I say so carefully or I might just sound like the person I am becoming. 

But today I woke up early enough to see the sun rise, and then I decided to take a walk.  On this walk I came across two fawns.  When things like this happen, when I see something no one else sees, experience something in a way I know is uniquely mine; I don't feel so frustrated by the little things, because I have my own small wonders to enjoy.   It's not even about forgetting the little things and looking at the big picture, it's about recognizing my own tiny privileges. 

This is the situation I am in, and it's not one I will be in forever.  So, as usual, I have to remind myself to be patient. 

Lovely Litha Everyone

(Yes, on my walk I passed a cemetery and that is where I saw them, it wasn't exactly part of the plan.)

Dedication

My self-dedication was set for the night of my birthday.  Then a family member set their wedding for the day before my birthday; no big deal, except they live out of state, so it brought up a situation.  My husband wanted to go very badly, it's his family and he wanted to see them; I felt I was in a situation where neither of us could win without the other one being a jerk.  If we went to the wedding, that would be my husband saying "It's my family and what I want to do, that's more important that your deeply personal ritual that you have been planning for almost a year."  If we stayed it would be like me saying, "No, what I planned is more important than your cousins wedding and what you want."  So it was a very difficult decision to make because neither of us wanted to be the bad guy.

So, the deal we struck was, both, I will be back home befor dark on my birthday.  Yeah, obvious answer was, if neither of us can be happy with one choice then we just have to find a way to do both. 

Which leads me to one of the reasons there are so many posts today and no posts for the past few weeks.  There was just so much going on getting ready for both things.  

So after a record time run out of state and back in a day and a half; today is my birthday and I am dedicated officially onto the wiccan path.  I want to give a special thanks to all my friends who have supported me, and an extra special thanks to my hubby who was nice enough to clear out of our house and invade Nina's kitchen to make me brithday brownies while I did my dedication.  

Telling Mama-K

Since my husbands siblings come down for 2 weeks out of the summer, and because my altar and book collection is growing.  I felt I needed to have a discussion with his mother (who I love very much) about wicca before they come down.   I am not afraid of her knowing, she is pretty open minded, all around great lady; I feel like she should have a choice in how much her kids are exposed to.  I don't mind putting all my supplies inside my alter while they are here, I already keep my books in a closed bookshelf, and I do my rituals and meditation alone.  It's just that since they are teens, I didn't want them running back home talking about it and her to suddenly think that I am trying to teach them how to be wiccan. 

It was important to me to do this in person and not over the phone. So yesterday while we were up visiting, I got a chance to take her aside with my husband and talk about it.  Here is one piece of advice I will give anyone thinking of telling friends and family members that they are now pagan.  Be prepared to here this question for everyone, even the most open minded of people, "huh...why did you decide to do that?"  

That question takes me back every time I hear it, because the obvious answers is, "Because it's what I believe in..."  

For the most part it went very well; she doesn't want the kids to know at all yet, they are both teens, so that is not a problem.  My husband will just have to take them out somewhere while I do ritual if they happen to be here on a sabbat or esbat. 

The only thing she said that really rubbed me the wrong way was, "no no, that's fine, I it's ok if that's what you believe.  But you can't do magik, that just opens you up to bad stuff, so just don't do magik and we are fine."  See, I don't like being limited, or told how much of my religion I can believe in or participate in.   I just don't feel this is an issue I need to argue with her about since to be honest, I'm not very interested in doing any big magik.  Basically what I explained to her was, my personal rule is that I don't do anything magikal that I can't accomplish on my own.   I don't do anything that would require me to ask something else for help, or for a favor of some kind.  I can do divination, I can cleanse items, I can charge items, and there are small magik things I could do; I just won't be asking any deities for something huge. Not that doing magik is something I am even sure I am interested in for sure; sometimes I just feel the need to draw my boundaries before someone else draws them for me.

Anyway, long story not quite short, the talk with her went well.  I was nervous about it, but it turned out good.  And in time, when she has had more chances to ask questions, I think it will be a very good thing. 

Bette: Sports, Spells, And Superstition

Oddly enough, the first person who has asked me to do anything remotely spell-involving, is Bette. I am not at the point of actually practicing magik, I mostly do tarot and other divination. 

She was talking about how she had a shirt that she couldn't wear because when she wears it (or even takes it out of the closet) her sports team looses.  "It's total bad luck, and I am afraid to even give it away because it's bad luck."  So I jokingly said that I could cleanse it.  She got a lot more excited about it than I thought she would.  I also found out why it was bad luck to start with, from the moment she bought it she was already thinking 'this one won't be as good as my old one'. 

So the first cleansing I have ever done for anyone goes to Bette.  To cleanse the negative energies she has put into the shirt by deciding it was bad luck. 

Now the tricky part is, I can cleanse the shirt, bring it to neutral again (because I'm not putting any actual spell on it) but if she takes it back thinking "oh look, my bad luck shirt that isn't as good as my old one" then it won't matter at all.  So before I even put the energy into doing this I have to know that she believes it will be the best most fantastic shirt the world has ever known when she get's it back from me.  Which she has promised to try to do... 

So now I have brought the shirt back to neutral and feel sure that it has no residual negativity left on it.  All there is to do now is get it back to Bette, the rest is up to her.

Luna & Cara: A Very Good Store

About 3 weeks ago Luna came over to ask if I wanted to go with them to an herbal store we had heard about in a town about an hour away.  It went really good and I plan on going back soon.  I don't know what to really say about it, I intend to go back as soon as I get a chance, and while I am there I will need to ask if the owner minds me mentioning it in detail on my blog.  The owner is openly practicing, but still I would like to have their permission first. 

I will say that the experience of finding one good resource in your area is a real boost.  It was just a very good experience and I am so glad that I have a place to go (and it helps that it is out of town) to find things I need, and be in the company of someone who has practiced much more than I have. 

Nina Part 4: A Midnight Walk

Nina and I had a good talk last night.  I got to talk about my worries about what she thinks about me, and she got to ask me more questions.  I think we have a much better understanding on this now.  Mostly she was confused about magik, and what I could or had to do; which gave me a chance to explain a few things to her,  I am not currently practicing magik yet, but even if I was I know she doesn't want it and I would never do anything involving her.  So she knows I have that respect for her.

How to handle this has been a big question for me, normally for a question like this I would do some tarot spreads to get some insight on it.  I didn't feel right doing a tarot reading on this particular situation because I knew she didn't like tarot.  So even though it left me feeling in the dark, I felt I needed to respect that as a boundary.

Simply put, I feel much better about her opinion of me, and she now knows that she can ask me anything she wants to ask me, and that I am not going to be doing anything involving her in my practice.    

Flexibility

As I have said before, I'm starting my second year studying wicca, so I won't claim to be an expert.  I'm definitely not trying to be a guide or teacher, and most definitely not 'preaching the word of paganism'.  I have worried sometimes that maybe this is breaking the speak little listen much, but I think I'm in the clear. Once again I will say that what I put up here are just my experiences and what I learned from them; it's not a gospel of Tempest that anyone should feel the need to follow or take as "this is the way to be wiccan" I don't think there is one way to be wiccan, and I definitely wouldn't want the responsibility of being in charge of what that would be. 

I am going to talk a little here about tool selection, and how that worked out for me.  One thing it took me a while to realize was; relax, be calm, don't stress out over if every tool you get is perfect as long as it feels right and works right.  Example, the broom, I tried very hard with the broom and maybe it's the culture I was raised in or whatever, but I struggled with it because I just couldn't seem to get comfortable with it.  I still want one and am even considering making one (and maybe if I do that then it will feel more natural to me once I put some creative energy into making it) but what I use instead of a broom right now are two fans.  Maybe a lot of wiccans would think that's crazy or inappropriate, so far it's been what feels natural to me.  

Another example would be bowls, I wanted matching bowls, specifically I wanted a bowl and chalice that matched.  That's way easier said than done (would have been easier done if I had access to clay and a kiln but I don't)  but I kept looking and looking until one day I found a bowl and bought it figuring I would just keep working to find a chalice to match.  Then I found a chalice that I really wanted to use and it hit me...does it matter if they match? No. All that looking and waiting, and in the end I didn't care.  I had to let go of the 'everything must match and be perfect and just so-so' because that in itself is a problem I have.  A problem of stalling and stalling and not getting started because I want everything perfect, when I know from experience that imperfect can be a situation to learn something very important.

A good chunk of the tools I'm using I did make myself because I like to do arts and crafty things and that's how I make it personal to me.  But the things I can't make (metal working and carpentry are not talents that I have)  I have to have a 'feeling' about.  I'm working on getting over the 'oooh so shiny' knee jerk reaction to things.  Many of the things I still needed have just come to me at random, from a friend, or even just finding things that I forgot that I had and realizing it's right for the purpose.  It's not to say it works like that all the time, and I don't count on it happening, but it's nice when it does.

Luna's New Blog

My neighbor Luna has started a blog as well, the link is http://the-luna-chronicles.blogspot.com so if you are enjoying this blog go give hers a look as well.  Since we have different takes on some things, and we have slightly different writing styles, there may be things there that you agree closer with, or just find described in a way that makes more sense to you.
Just wanted to welcome her to the blogspot community. Welcome Luna & http://the-luna-chronicles.blogspot.com

Mia: Temptation At Work

There has only been one time so far that I have been tempted to talk about my beliefs at work, and I still wonder if I made the right choice at the time.  For the most part I think I did.  Mia has been a very good friend to me at work.  She is easy to talk to, she is one of those women that put people at ease, you rarely feel judged around her.  One day while working with her we were alone and I was under a lot of stress from old emotional wounds.  I was telling her about where I grew up and the culture shock when I first left.  Like always I was watching what I said about religion (I find that in any professional or somewhat formal setting, religion and politics should just be avoided) and out of nowhere Mia asked, "Do you know anything about wicca or witchcraft?"  luckily we were both busy working so I don't think she noticed the pause while I collected my thoughts.  I told her that I knew what it was, that I had read a book about it because I knew some people who lived out of state that were.  That was all I said on the subject, I think it's the only question she has ever asked me that I didn't flat out give the full truth on.  She said "Yeah, I have some friends who are too. I just didn't know if you had ever heard of it because of how you were raised."  and quickly added, "I don't think there's anything wrong with it, they aren't dangerous or anything."  

The rest of the day, and sometimes even now, I wonder what that little conversation was about and what it meant.  Of course at first all I could think was, I must have said something, or maybe she saw something (like since I don't wear a pentagram/pentacle, but I carry a coin with one in a small coin-purse).   So at first it made me worried.  As time went by I have wondered if it's possible that she was reaching out to me; that maybe she is wiccan and was testing the waters to see if I was.  I wonder if I missed a chance for someone here that has more experience and knowledge about it.  But there is no way to be 100% sure.  Odds are, she had just recently talked to those friends she was talking about and it was fresh in her mind.  At any rate, I still wonder should I have just flat out told her?  Honestly, I don't think she would tell anyone else, especially if I asked her not to.  But at this point in my life, there is this line between my life and my work life, work is so hard to find and I can't afford to loose this job, and rumors fly around so fast you never know who knows what.  I just don't feel comfortable blurring that line just yet.  

 

I still enjoy talking to her, I still seek her out for advise on other things in my life.  It's just one of those things, a lot can be said in so few words, a lot can be said in actions.  At that moment I didn't know the best thing to do so I went for the safest, and in the end I think when it doubt that is the best choice. 

Friends & Tarot

I've done readings on many of my friends.  Adrian has been my tarot test subject, especially when I first started out, he has a friend (who I haven't met) that is very good with tarot and knows it is important to practice, practice, practice.  He was also able to pass on advice from his friend to help me as I got started.   Other than Adrain, I have done a few readings for my husband (though I was worried about doing readings on him because it can be difficult to get a reading on anyone your life is so tied up with) and last New Years I offered anyone who wanted a "year-ahead" reading if they wanted it.  Bette was the first to volunteer and a few others at her party got one as well.  It was really good to get some experience reading on people I don't see all the time or know as well.  I also have tried some 'distance' readings, on some of my friends who live farther away (but I always ask them before I attempt a reading on them, I feel that's only fair, I don't want to do anything they would not be comfortable with).  

Once I got comfortable with tarot, I'm ashamed to say I slacked off on it a little.  So now I am trying to do readings at least 2 to 3 times per week to continue to sharpen my grasp on it. 

Nina Part 2: Magic is not Magik

My husband plays

 

(I play a little too but it's really not my favorite of games.)   Nina's husband Saul was looking for a game to get into and a new store has opened in our town that sells Magic cards.  So my husband was teaching him how to play. 

Saul went home a few nights ago and told Nina that my husband was showing him Magic and she freaked out a little.  My husband explained what it is to her, pretty much like playing a video game with cards.   

A few days later we were hanging out at Nina and Saul's and they decided to play.  Nina began to have a lot of questions again, but she kept directing the questions at me (I wasn't playing).  So again I kept saying "no it's a card game, it's just a game, no it has nothing to do with real magik".  She would smile and say ok. And then a few minutes latter would have a new question.

"You know how Ouija boards are just games, is it something like that?" or "so for real it's not anything but a game?" and so on. Or "Is it like those cards you use to tell the future?"

It really kind of hurt me, I stayed as patient as I could, but I was really close to asking them for a hand full of cards so she could see how ridiculous it was to think these creatures were being summoned from another plane of existence.  She didn't want to get close to the table they were playing at so I wasn't sure if she would even let me show her what the cards were.  

A few days latter and we are still clearing it up and explaining it to her.  It really strikes me that, if Saul was learning the game from anyone else who wasn't associated with me, or if my hubby had started showing him the game a year or two ago she wouldn't have a question in the world about it.  She keeps making a point to say "I think it's so great that we can love and trust each other even though we don't have the same faith" but that's not the way she is making me feel.  I am trying to keep a sense of humor about it; hence this post.

To be clear. Nina's opinion wouldn't matter to me if I didn't think she was sweet, wonderful, kind, and smart woman. So that's not what this post is about; it's not about 'oh look how silly this person is, she must be really dumb' that's not what I'm saying. She is just having a harder time than most letting go of fears that, let's face it, are pretty much supported by society in general (at least here in the bible belt).  I laugh and poke fun at it because that helps me deal with the situation beyond 'wow it really hurts me that she would think these things'.  

Back to business, with the whole Magic misunderstanding on it's way to being cleared up and put aside. I must find a way to introduce Nina & Saul to the mystical, diabolical game...of Uno.

Adrian: I Can't Think Of A Catchy Title For This One

Not long after I started reading about wicca, I started spending more time talking to Adrian, before we had hung out a lot but not really talked as much.  I had just started trying meditation (something I am still not great at) and I remembered him saying something about his meditation.  So I asked him if he had any tips.  That's when I found out that he had studied wicca before but wasn't anymore, he still remembered some things from it.  He has become one of my friends that I can openly talk about what I'm struggling with or where I am at religion-wise.   

Adrian is the one that gave me a lot of help (and by that, I mean listened to me stress out incessantly) with the issue of how much if any, to tell my parents.  When I first asked him what he thought, he said, "family is everything, do what you think is best for them".  And while that didn't answer my question right away, it did get me thinking on the pro's and con's of this decision.  I'm not worried about them disowning me, I know they love me, I'm just not sure they like me.  I had to decided if the pro's to telling them were going to benefit them or just me.  Likewise I had to think about if the con's were just something I was hiding behind to avoid conflict. 

He listened to me agonize over this decision for a good 4 months.  (That's not to downplay other people's help and support, but you have to give credit where credit is due.)  In the end, my decision came from a compilation of his advice to do what would be best for them; and others advice that it was up to me, it was my business what I believe, and it all depends on how much them knowing/not knowing meant to me.  He was also the one that reminded me that, if I decided not to tell them just yet it didn't mean I could never tell them if the time felt right.

Aside from that specific situational, he has also shared with me what he remembers from when he studied, some of his experiences from that time, and keeps an eye out for resources I might find useful. 

My Brother & The Book

My brother got me the The Wicca Cook Book last christmas.  Even though Luna had given me wicca stuff, and my husband had bought me my first set of tarot cards; this gift affected me in a different way.  Mostly because, my brother, doesn't seem to have an opinion one way or the other about what I believe.  He studied lots of religions, trying many of them out, until he decided that organized religion doesn't work for him.  This includes wicca, though he never practiced it, I'm not even sure if it's one that he even read about.  I had pretty much assumed that he probably thought I was silly, and waiting for me to say "well you're right, atheism it is then".  Until he gave me this gift.  It came out of the blue, and even though he and I don't talk about religion, it really made me realize that he sees what I am doing as serious to me. 

He confessed later that he saw it in a bookstore and thought maybe it was a beginners spell book of some kind, and before wrapping it realized it was an actual cookbook.  He said, "At first I was thought, I wanted to get her more than just a cookbook, but then I thought...ehe she eats food and stuff."  


The Wicca Cookbook: Recipes, Ritual, and Lore by Jamie Martinez Wood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I enjoy this book, in addition to recipes it has information about the Sabbats.  What makes it more than just a cookbook is the additional information that goes with the recipes; instead of being set up like most cookbooks(appetizers, deserts, etc...)it is set up in order of the Sabbat the recipe is associated with. Most of the recipes seem simple to make.  It's an enjoyable cookbook.

A similar experience came at New Years when my friend Bette gave me a book she happened to see in a store. It's a coffee table book, a compilation of witch lore and history pieced together in an artistic manner.
Witches: A Book of Magic and Wisdom by Lori Eisenkraft-Palazzola

These experiences were important to me because they both came from people who accept me as a wiccan, don't really show an interest in it, and I imagined thought I was being naive in my studies and beliefs.   These experiences showed me never to underestimate the power in small gestures; to them it was a small act, they saw a book they thought I might like and got it for me.  Those small acts, gave me the feeling of being not only accepted, but taken seriously.  

Hubby's Totally Righteous Rant

When I told my husband I was starting this blog he wanted to know why I needed to change everyone's names.  I told him, "to protect myself and others".  I told him things I have heard from people at work and some of the initial responses I have gotten from friends before I explained to them the 'rules' of my faith.   This is an approximate retelling of the rant that followed.


Hubby:  When someone used to ask what I believed, I would say "I'm a Christian".  Then after I met more people of my faith and other faiths I would answer with "I follow the bible".  The more I find out about fanatical christian movements, and the more I hear christians throw hate around, and the more I see people using their faith to push people around, at this point I am almost ashamed to say I'm a christian.  NOT because I am ashamed of my faith or my god; but because I am sick of being lumped in with crazy, uneducated sounding, hate mongers.

My response was:  We are a great couple, neither of us want the neighbors to know what we believe.

That sounds depressing, but honestly, that cheered me up because it reminded me that every group, every faith, has stereotypes to overcome.