A Journey Begins With One Small Step

I’m well known for starting blogs and never continuing them, except for my first one on LiveJournal. I use that one often, talking about my personal life, fanfiction, obsessions, and whatnot. I like it. It’s a mundane blog for mundane subjects.
My friend, a fellow pagan, recently started a blog to write about her life when traveling to Germany, and really becoming an adult. Comparing her blog to my blog is a pretty large dissidence. Her blog has all sorts of philosophical and religious talks. Mine has more fan-girl rants and fantasies.
I must confess, I do enjoy writing about mundane things and cute boys.

But, I can write a more serious blog, a more themed blog. I have thoughts!

So, what is this blog?
I suppose in simplest terms this blog is a chart of my spiritual growth. I am still a student, and I expect to be a student for my entire life, but there is a difference from learning the material and showcasing the material. Sharing knowledge is, ultimately, the goal of everyone on earth either through actual teaching, raising children, becoming a religious leader, or just sharing information via a blog.
Like the title suggests, I want this blog to become my virtual Book of Shadows. I had tried to write one by hand, but I went crazy and gave up. So, I started typing up my Book of Shadows, which was
a) Quicker
b) Easier to read
and c) Easily organized and edited
So, sitting on my computer now is a folder called “USBoS”, a pun on “USB” as in a USB drive and BoS, or Book of Shadows. Soon, actually, I will invest in an actual USB drive and put just my USBoS folder on the drive and put it on my altar. Since I always have my computer with me, if I need to look anything up, I can just plug in the drive! It’s clearly the technopagan’s dream.
This blog is also a place to jot down any spiritual experiences I’ve had, rant about thinks that are on my mind about the religion, and to really get a good timeline of my own religious path.

Well, if that covers what this blog is, what about me? Who am I?
I guess to tell you who I am today, I have to go back and tell you about my life.
Young Life-Pre conversion
I was born on November 8th, 1990, in a rather average sized Ontario town. Even as a newborn, I was curious.
My father had been raised Catholic, but had no connection to the religion. My mother was Presbyterian. I was baptized Presbyterian, and enjoyed going to church because I could wear pretty dresses and all the little old ladies would comment on how sweet and good I was.
This continued until I was eight or nine.

1998 to 2001-conversion
One of our Sunday School teachers liked history. We were talking about Moses, and she told us about the Egyptian gods. She called them gods, too, and said that it was a religion ancient people would follow, and told us about the polytheistic nature of the religion. She named a few of the gods; namely Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Ra, and Horus. I was fixated.
The fascination continued with the animated film Prince of Egypt, which to this day remains one of my favourite films. We were supposed to feel bad for the Jews. I felt bad for the Egyptians. I never really thought about bible stories before then, how evil they were, how mean god was with the plagues, trying to kill a whole race of people for being a superior power. Though slavery is wrong on so many levels, at this time of history it was a common thing.
In 2000, we moved, and my mom stopped going to church. I would occasionally go, but for the most part, I stayed home with her. By 2001, both of us considered ourselves agnostic.

2007-Introduction to Wicca
There was a girl in my World Religion class. She was stick-thin, with long black hair, and lots of sweaters. She wore a large silver pentagram. I dubbed her Crazy Pagan Girl. We never really got close, despite the multitude of questions I had for her. That 5-pointed star had always held fascination for me.
The following semester, she was in my Ancient Civilization class. We became friends, because I was the only one she knew in the class. I asked her to teach me about Wicca. A while before, I had purchased a notebook that had a large pentagram on it. I asked her to write about Wicca in it. Slowly, I researched Wicca. The ancient spark from my childhood grew into a fire.
However, some things I just couldn’t come to terms with. My mother learned traditional Celtic Wicca, and has never been happier. I could not follow her tradition. I could not bring myself to believe in “blanket” deities-the God and Goddess. I needed a pantheon.

Bringing in the Gods
In the summer of 2008, I felt as if I had a firm grasp on the basic ideals of Wicca. I delved into the Pantheon of Egypt, like I had done when I was a child. I gave my Wiccan knowledge an Egyptian flavour. I never could follow a set of rules, so I made my own eclectic path.

Technopagansim
I have a friend who is a big fan of Buffy. She told me about technopaganism. I googled it, and mostly came up with Buffy fan-sites. However, I did learn a few things.
Many pagans believe that pagans cannot form a close bond with technology or machines, and MUST enjoy just sitting in a field with the sounds of nature. I could not do this, ever. I could never handle much time outdoors; the sun is too hot, too bright, and I have a deathly fear of bugs. Though I appreciate nature, and realize it is what keeps everything alive, I appreciate it from afar.
Thus, I had a name for the type of pagan I was. Technopagan. Instead of a handwritten Book of Shadows, I began typing the information, and the like.
There is little literature on technopaganism. From what I can tell and feel, technopaganism, where we use technology to aid us, instead of doing everything in the Old Way. Though we still use candles, incense, gems, and other things that relate us to the old ways, we are not afraid of change and embrace technology, regularly using it in ritual. Some technopagans have laser pointers instead of wands, or other like things.
This trend can, I suppose, be associated with the cyberpunk scene. A scene I love.
If the Gods did not wish for us to have technology, they would not have let us make it. So far, the Gods and Goddesses I work with routinely don’t seem to mind the hum of a fan or the glow from a computer screen. Unless they object, I plan on continuing this process.

That’s really about it when it comes to me and this blog.