Maiden, Mother Crone.

Hex wrote an awesome article about the Maiden, Mother, Crone model in Wicca.

I highly suggest you read it here: Maiden, Mother, Crone

Altars

I just got a book about altars and it has reminded me how much I adore altars. I wish I had more space, because I have plans for dozens of altars ranging from ones that cover a desktop to little itty-bitty shelf-sized ones.

At least I can have fun planning them, even if I can't put them up.

Knot Magic

Knot magic is one of the easiest forms of magic. I'm not talking about it directly today. I'm talking about knot magic that we use every day but don't even realize it.

One of my best friends (you know who you are) does knot magic without realizing it. She crochets. She recently made crochet ornaments for everyone in her residence that had a christmas tree. So, when she crochets she thinks about them, how excited they will be, and the like. Thus, she is using a form of knot magic.

I've recently started doing cross stitch. This can also be seen as a type of knot magic, and can explain why I haven't been posting OR working on my personal BoS. Right now, I may only be working on more fan-art stitches (I've done three: two Star Trek, one Re-Animator, and I'm working on my fourth-Ozymandias from Watchmen), but I plan on making religious themed ones too. My fanart ones are fun, I will admit, but I think when I stitch symbols, or deities, that I'm going to find it incredibly meditative.

There is a good article here on knot magic.

Blog Prompt, Part Two!

In a commentary in the Times Online Michael Reiss argued that Darwinian thinking clarifies and deepens religious faith by decentering humanity so that we might better appreciate the Universe and our place it. Do you agree with his thoughts or not? Why? Also: What are your thoughts on the relationship of Science & Religion?
This prompt also comes to us via pagan_prompts on Livejournal.

I know a lot of people of many different faiths take creation stories at face value. Now, I do like creation stories, even ones that aren’t of my religion. They are, indeed, nice stories.

I believe in evolution, and all sorts of the “scientific” or “atheist” answers to how things came into being. Now, saying that, I do believe in religion as well. I do firmly believe in both.

I do think that, as a pagan, a Darwinian approach to things, believing that humans are just other animals and that we share common ancestors with all sorts of animals, I do think that it does make people appreciate the universe as an entity onto itself, instead of a plaything for humans. A lot of religions preach that humans are the most important thing EVER. Now, while to some extent this can be seen as true, but in the grand scheme of things, everything is important from the smallest single-celled organism to the largest animals.

So, to put it simply, yes, I agree that Darwinian thinking de-centers humanity and gives us a more global perspective.

On the relationship of science and religion? I see it as a symbiotic relationship. I think that it is possible to balance them and believe both. The problem is so many fundamentalists, who are so vocal, say that science is wrong, and cannot be right because their religion is the only thing that is right. To quote Bill Maher, “Anyone who tells you that they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know and you do not possess mental powers that I do not.” I firmly believe this. Yes, I can have faith in what I believe, but damned if I know for sure.

The problem lies in blurring the line between faith and fact. It is a pretty much fact that there were early hominids. It is my faith that the Egyptian gods are watching over us. Blurring these lines and spilling my faith into what I know as fact is when things get ugly.

Just a note: Tomorrow’s post might be a bit late, as I will be at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). We’re going to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, and all their new stuff. The ROM recently got a new wing, so it should be fun.
Places we are hitting for sure: the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dinosaurs (my dad wants to see them), Egypt (for me!), Vanity Fair Portraits, “Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific” (I think this is new...I don’t remember it. Hopefully it has some stuff from Meso-America.) I’ll probably schedule a post for the afternoon, and depending on how tired I am, I’ll post about my ROM adventures and pictures!

Two-Parter Blog Prompt: Part One

What is your personal spiritual history? If you have changed religious traditions from the tradition in which you were raised in what prompted this change? Is there anything that you feel would make you consider changing to a different path in the future?
Today’s blog prompt comes to us via pagan_prompts on LiveJournal.

My spiritual history is a bit of a gong show. I don’t know if my parents went to church every Sunday before I was born, but after I was born, we sure did! I was baptized Presbyterian at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Kitchener. I don’t know how connected I really was to it, but I know when the movie Prince of Egypt came out, I was like “to Hell with Jesus! I wanna be Egyptian!” and thus I bought a few of those kids history books about Egypt and learned a little bit about some of the Gods. I firmly believed that the Egyptian Gods were real, because they were way cooler than Jesus. I was eight, what did you expect? (Picture is of my old church)

I still went to church until I was about ten, but by this time I had been exposed to Quetzalcoatl from the Animated Star Trek, and, being about nine at the time, happily included the long-lived space alien in my personal pantheon.

When I stopped going to church, I admitted to myself that I was probably agnostic, even if I didn’t know the word for it. Though I did believe fully in the evolution theory and all the science explanations for how the world came into being, I still believed there was a “God” figure. I always stuck pretty close to the Egyptians, but kind of forgot about Quetzalcoatl for the time being. I was a scientific agnostic, I guess

When I was in grade eleven, I met Crazy Pagan Girl, also known now as Lisey, and I longed to talk to her about the large silver Pentacle she wore, but I could never buck up the courage. However, the universe had other plans for us, and thus in the next semester, being the only person she knew, we became friends and I finally could learn about paganism and Wicca the way I had always longed to learn about it.

At the time, we both identified as Wiccans, and together we both grew into the eclectic paths we are on today. I don’t know where either of us would be spiritually without each other.

In summer of 2008, I branched out on my own, and really formed my own religion. Entirely customized from dozens of traditions. And, my religion is always changing. For a time, I thought my patron God was Thoth, and though he does enjoy my company and will gladly assist me, we now know that Quetzalcoatl is indeed my patron. I think that’s what really drew me to paganism: it’s always changing and you can really be your own person and express all sorts of individuality while still being connected to the whole.

Part two comes tomorrow!

"What Does God Need With A Starship?"

If you happen to watch lame sci-fi movies, you might recognise that quote from Star Trek V, The Final Frontier. In it, the Enterprise goes into the center of the galaxy, and discovers “Eden”. On the planet Eden, they discover “God”.
Of course, he’s not actually God, but a super powerful alien who was trapped. If you’ve watched Next Generation, you probably know the Q. Well, this God was probably a trapped Q.

Don’t worry, the rest of this post isn’t about Star Trek.

The reason this post is so late is because I went to see 2012. Okay, it was an alright movie, got your adrenaline pumping and whatnot, but it was totally...bad. I’m not exactly sure what else to call it but “campy”.
Though, everyone is right: the effects are STUNNING.

Onto my point: this movie, in my opinion, pretty much sold the idea that humanity is alone in the universe. No god, no super-advanced aliens, nothing but our governments (and of course they don’t give a damn about you, unless you are filthy rich).

It is not the concept that we are alone in the universe that scares me. It’s the idea that there IS a God who let the world be destroyed by natural means.
I’m going to get this out of the way: if mankind destroys the world, then they kind of had-it-coming.
Okay, back to the rant.

In 2012, the Earth is destroyed by the sun and the core. Cataclysmic tectonic plate movement causes super-volcanic eruptions and 9.8 earthquakes. Most of the world is submerged in water or uninhabitable due to global climate change. These events were not man-made, they were forces of nature.
My question is then, if God (whatever God you want...Isis, Quetzalcoatl, Allah, Saraswati, ect...) exists and watches this happen, then isn’t God a total douche? It almost seems like the ultimate defeat: admitting that your creation is “bad” and destroying them so violently.

I’m probably over-thinking it.

2012 was a fun movie, it was fun to see it on the big screen with all the explosions and the effects were great, but it had too many big questions that were unanswered. There were a couple of cute guys though! With lovely accents.

The Rainstorm and the River are my Brothers

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

I've been listening to this song on a loop for a bit (I'm writing a story about the concept of 'savages'), and all I can think of is how strange this song makes me feel. It really gets me emotionally charged. It's hard to explain. It's like I feel a tugging at my heart, and I get shivers and goosebumps.
Now, I don't really like the outdoors, so to speak, yet this song still speaks to me.
I really think this song has a connection to Pagans and Wiccans everywhere-- be you a technopagan, a traditional Wiccan, or a complete eclectic Witch.
I have (as far as I know) no Native American blood in me, yet I feel a strange connection to certain tribes, including the tribes of South America. Part of that might be due to Quetzalcoatl taking such a liking to me.
This week I have sucked at concluding things.

Getting Back on Track

I'm getting back to my regular schedule this week. The Tylenol threes make me a bit loopy and a slow typer, so tomorrow you might not get an "anything goes" article unless I can think of anything--you'll still get something though, don't worry. As always, you can message me with any ideas you have for an "anything goes" post.

I'm also thinking about writing a series on technopaganism, like doing some research into what the basic beliefs are, how to integrate technology into paganism; things like that. I hope to get started sometime this week when I don't type super-slowly (Probably after the long weekend). I'd like to write a few pillar articles on technopaganism.

Any thoughts?

Sunday Rant

So, my wisdom teeth surgery is on Friday. That’s right, this Friday. That’s also the day of my 98th blog post, if I’m feeling up to blogging after I get my surgery. I think it goes without saying that I’m petrified beyond any doubt. I have yet to consult my tarot cards with my fears, though I doubt even my cards saying that everything will be okay will stop my fears.

My original goal of finishing my main books for my USBoS by the end of October might prove a little difficult. I did the math (yes! I did the math!) and I would have to write out 64 pages a day to get finished in 25 days. That’s about 21 pages a book, each day. I’ve changed the goal and am aiming for as soon as possible, but I want to get them done FOR SURE before 2010. When 2010 rolls around, I won’t have the time to really devote a lot of time to hard-core USBoS formation because I’ll be back at school. I will probably have the time to post to my blog, and of course do analyse a tarot card per day (that’s the next phase in this).

The Guilt Trip

This is copied pretty much word-for-word from my personal blog, so I appologise if you've seen this before, as it is posted at my personal blog and my deviantArt.

I had a party on Saturday, and a lot of people came and I had a blast.
However, I think my bf knows that he's now an ex bf.
And I feel so bad, even though I had been planning on dumping him for a while. I mean, we never really talked about it, but he just sort of knew we had fallen apart.

I don't mind, come to think of it, I feel rather free again. I was head-over-heels, but then I slowly began to "grow up" as it were. I mean, in just reading my personal blog you could never tell, but in my actual life I now know the difference from my cheesy teenage 'maturity" to actual maturity. I really think posting in this (my spritual) blog on a daily basis helped out a lot.
Believe it or not, the real keys have been in
1) fanfics. I love writing really romantic fanfics, and my romance scenes, particualrly the more sexual driven ones, we're very cheesy, not very realistic, and never exactly what I wanted. Now, I can write sex scenes and sure they aren't explicit or anything, but they are still obvious enough.
2) Song lyrics. Okay, I admit, I love the Canadian artist Peaches who is known for incredibly explicit lyrics. Now, I could always listen to her music, but I want to try to sing along? Forget it, I burst out laughing. Within the last few weeks specificially, I've been more than okay with it. My problems were mostly the songs Tent in your Pants and Stuff Me Up, but now I'm fine.

I also know when I can act silly and immature, and when I can act more serious.
I just feel closer to my age. I feel like I can set short-term goals and actually work to achieve them, instead of just "hating" goals because you don't want to do them, if that made any sense.

And yet, I still feel terrible, even though I know that I can't wait to really grow up some more. I am thrilled with the person I'm becomming. I have a job goal in mind, I've got a lot of varied hobbies that I enjoy to death, and even when I'm acting silly I know I'm acting; I know it's a temporary thing. It's the same with my dream world. It's a temporary escape from the hustle and bustle of real life. I know it's not real--even when I used to believe that it was hardcore real.

I think part of growing up is going to be learning how to overcome this guilt. Lisey suggested using some magic to help me out, and to more or less keep me on track. I'm going to contemplate this idea, to help me either motivate me, sever ties with BOTH my exes, and Anwar who I somehow bound myself to without really realizing it or figuring out how, or just in general make me feel super proud of the woman I'm becomming.

But, yeah, right now, super guilty. SUPER GUILTY!

Contemplations

I think I’ve hit the “blogging plateau”, where I just wonder what the hell I’m doing. Hello? Is anyone out there actually reading this thing? Am I just rehashing old knowledge that no one really cares about? Am I unique enough?

I guess I don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I wake up, write a quick blog post, and then I’m done all day. I feel like I need to do...more I guess.

I feel as if I have no idea what I’m doing.

This Might be my Least Spiritual Post yet!

So, I’m really sorry for my lack of post yesterday. We found out what was wrong with my computer. You all remember my post “What A Hard Drive Problem Has Taught Me?”, well...heh, funny story.

We got that hard drive fixed and back around August 9th. In fact, the first crashed drive is still sitting on my altar. Anyway, on Thursday, September 10th, my hard drive crashed again! It gave me a fatal error, and on Friday we took it to Staples. They are going to give me ANOTHER new hard drive.
My dad got so fed up with the fact that my HP failed twice within a month, we looked at the “Clearance” laptops.
And there it was. The Toshiba I fell in love with when my first hard drive crashed. On sale.
So, on a whim (and a lot of anger directed at HP) he bought it.
Day later: He goes back and exchanges it for the bigger version at only an extra $100. It’s 3 in the afternoon, and we’re setting this thing up.
Yeah, that failed.
Well, it didn’t fail so much as there was some issues in first starting it up, so we had to set it up twice. So, after ten hours, or 1 am, we finish it.

This puppy is amazing. I love it. It’s got a really cool feature too: If this computer moves to suddenly, the computer automatically protects the hard drive. That’s got to come in handy.

Okay, new computer, new start. I’m going to get a sort of schedule, so my posts are totally random. This isn’t saying that it’s going to be uniform, there is still a degree of random.
So, without further ado! The working schedule!
Monday: Deity of the Day
Tuesday: USBoS page*
Wednesday: Deity of the Day
Thursday: USBoS page
Friday: Pagan Blog Prompt
Saturday: USBoS page
Sunday: Anything Goes
Feel free to let me know what you think. Also, if there is something pagan-related you want me to blog about, let me know and it could be featured on an Anything Goes day. Also, I’m still looking for people to interview, so if you’re interested, please let me know as well.

*This means that I’ll be starting to post pages from my own Book of Shadows (and since it used to be saved on a USB drive, I called the folder I keep everything in my USBoS, or USB BoS).

Separation of Church and State

This week’s pagan blog prompt got me thinking, but not about the prompt. This week’s topic was about how your spirituality affects your opinion on abortion.
There was a huge red-flag in my mind there.

On a personal level, I suppose that your religion can influence your opinion on a lot of things, and that is your prerogative. I have no issue with you personally being for or against something, as long as it doesn’t impede on my right to be personally for or against something. Yes, I know this is confusing as hell. I can try to explain.
I know people in my own extended family who don’t agree with gay marriage in Canada. Before we stopped seeing them, we would have to listen to them bitch about it endlessly. However, this was bitching in their private home, and not against the government. They understood that it was their right, according to the government, that gay people should be able to get married. If they didn’t like it, too bad, as it was fair in the grand scheme of things. If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get one.

The government should not use any religious reasons for the creation and passing of laws. My reasons for supporting things like gay marriage, abortion, and even assisted suicide have nothing to do with my religion. Even if Quetzalcoatl came and told me outright that gay marriage is wrong, I would still support it, I just wouldn’t get one.

I firmly believe in the separation of church and state. My religion has no place in the government, and the government has no place in my religion.

Names

I hate my name. Actually, let’s be honest: I hate names in general. I don’t know why, but when people call me “Lea”, I cringe. When I have to speak about someone, I try not to use their names, because I physically cringe. I’ve always been like this.
Oddly enough, when people say “Lea Elisabeth”, I am okay.
Anyway: in Paganism and Wicca, people usually take “craft” names. These are names they use in covens, or for ritual use. I’ve gone through many names. I use them not only as craft names, but also screen names on the internet. As a Technopagan, I feel the internet is not a system of wires and information, but as an actual entity, but that’s not what this is about.
Currently, my username is Hetshepsit, after the first, and only, Egyptian pharaoh who was female. I don’t want to steal her name in an attempt to copy her, but rather to gain her confidence, which is something I lack.
Not every pagan has a craft name. Some will never choose one.
Some have many, and choose a different one as often as a full moon it seems.

Sometimes, I wish that everyone picked their own names. I wish with, like, government documents like birth certificates, we were given numbers, like a barcode, for a “legal name”.
It could just be a tic I have. I don’t like calling other people’s names, and I never have.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be? I’ve heard a couple theories about “stealing power”, but that’s about it.
Am I just weird?

Human Drama

“I am tired of the Earth, its people. I'm tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.”
--Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen)

It is 2:25pm. I am sitting on my couch in uncomfortable jeans, a collared shirt, and neon purple lipstick. I am about to get my purse ready, and put on my bright purple shoes. I have only been awake for two and a half hours, and already I wish I was back in bed.
Human drama.
I am leaving the country in a few days, and even though I do not want to go, right now I would give anything to be either driving to Toronto, or in our hotel room, or even on the plane to Florida, or perhaps even there. Even though I don’t want to go, there is no drama there. It is all planned out. We know what we are doing. We are relaxed and calm.
I leave for a movie with my boyfriend soon. I am going very early so I can wait alone. Terrible, guilty thoughts are running through my head. I cannot stop them.
I want to be alone, like Dr. Manhattan going away to Mars. I am tired of the tangle of my life.

I can hear you all asking, why is this in my Book of Shadows?
This energy, this guilt and shame and fear is affecting me on a spiritual level. My third eye chakra is blocked today, as it was yesterday. I had a hard time doing a simple tarot reading for a friend, all because I want to be alone. This...negativity is making me crazy. This is real negativity, not the playful negativity I have when expressing me disinterest in going to Disney, for example. This is genuine, “I’m feeling depressed, leave me alone” negativity that affects you in everything.
I know that everything will be fine. In fact, I enjoy spending time with my boyfriend. I know that when we hang out, I’ll be laughing and happy, but until then, I feel so negative. So blocked off from the world around me.
It is like I am going through the motions with no real feeling.

I am entirely apathetic.

It is now 2:38pm. I am on the verge of tears, but the makeup I am wearing is helping me remember I cannot cry. Half of me wishes I had cancelled this date. The other half wishes I felt more excited that I do.
I am confused.

It is moments like this when I am happy to have an escape: a dream world in which things go my way, and everyone knows how I feel. I am half inside that world today; and not afraid to admit it. I am glad to have figments of my imagination to talk to, to distract me.
It makes me feel crazy, and yet, when I go without it, I feel just as crazy.
I think I need this escape sometimes.

It is 2:40. My negative energy is beginning to affect everything. Every living thing in the house is just as unresponsive as I am.
Tonight, I think I will do a smudging. Bathe myself in the smoke of sage, listening to Ninna Nanna, and trying to feel better than I do.
In retrospect, I should have done that last night.

It is 2:42. My shoes are on. I’m about to leave.
I feel terrible.


Edit:
It is 8:40pm. I am still apathetic. I had a good time, but still want to be alone. My boyfriend is here, but he will be leaving soon, because I need to be alone. I need to take care of myself. Right now, what I need is to meditate, and I need to do it alone.

Blind Faith

Blind faith is scary, for any religion. Religion is a powerful tool; as Marx said, it is the opium of the people.
I own a book by D.J. Conway, who in the pagan community is one step above "complete lunatic". The book, entitled, "Wicca, the Complete Craft", isn't the most well-written book, but it has some nice lists, so I do reference it for when I choose candle colours, or wish to use a set of runes in candles or on paper.
The book begins with some good concepts. "Keep religion at home because most regions still have anti-witch laws", "Wicca isn't about rebelling against your parents", and the like. These are good tips for anyone interested in Wicca or paganism. If you're just looking for a way to rebel against your traditional upbringing, you'll be sorely disappointed. Likewise, if you are truly passionate about it, you may want to share everything you know from the top of the highest building you can find, but people still have common misconceptions about paganism and Wicca, like it's devil worship.
Conway then goes on to say that Christianity and other "orthodox" religions are too opposed to being open minded. While I agree that in the past and the fundamentalists of today were very opposed to being open minded and were very male-dominated, you can't point the finger at "orthodox" religion in general. Pagans were not the peace-loving people they are today...we had our share of violence in the past. Romans murdered Jews for being Jews; Egyptian's conquered most of northern Africa. We all have violence deep rooted in our systems, and human beings are capable of unbelievable things. We are a psychotic animal.
Conway also cautions about being a teenage Wiccan, stating that once something goes wrong, young people will form negative views of Wicca. Though I can understand that some teenagers may only use Wicca to piss off their parents, if someone is really devoted to it, being a teenager or not, if something goes wrong they are not going to blame the whole religion. I was eight when I began to convert, albeit slowly. Even when I was still attending church, the image of the traditional Christian god just never appealed to me. I couldn't change it, even when things went badly. I had a demon make its home in a little corner of my room, but I was not about to blame the religion. There are forces in this world that cannot be explained, and though some people may believe this was a figment of my mind, I know what I saw and felt. It was not the fault of the religion. That argument doesn't even make sense.
Conway also speaks out against fence-sitters. Though I am no doubt devoted in my faith, I will admit I am not a fundamentalist, and I do have a very logical side. This logical side may be one of the reasons I am so drawn to the Egyptian pantheon, their deities are concerned with larger concepts like justice, wisdom, cosmic order, instead of a Greek or Roman god of Thunder which is an explainable weather phenomenon, unlike cosmic order which-though there are theories on how the universe is held together-it is still largely unknown. With this in mind, yes, I can be called a fence sitter. Do the Egyptian gods exist? I don't know. I can only speak from my own experience. Does it really matter if they are physical beings if they give me comfort, bravery, and support? Isn't that the point of religion in the first place? Being a fundamentalist Pagan is just as bad as being a fundamentalist Christian or Muslim.
Conway them talks about Goddess worship. While most pagans recognize a central goddess figure, they realize that her male counterpart is just as important as she is. The world cannot function with a single power in control. So, what does this mean in terms of religion?
I fell out of the male-god oriented religions because there was too much emphasis on the male. Men have a role in creation, of course, but men cannot create without the female. When there are Wiccans that put the Goddess above the God, these people are no better than the male-dominated religions, just with a woman in power instead of a man. There is no "higher" deity between the God and the Goddess, because both require the other.

I guess what I'm saying is that no one, no matter their religion or belief system or thought pattern should just accept things blindly. Do your own research. After the sermon on Sunday, read the bible verses for yourself and get your own interpretation; just because the priest or minister has a position of power, his or her interpretation may be different that yours, and how can you understand your spirituality if you can't read the passages yourself and understand them on a more personal level?

Separate Ceremonies

Taken from Pagan Blog Prompts:
If you were to plan your own Wedding or Funeral ceremony, would you create two separate ceremonies for pagan and non-pagan folk, or would you just plan a ceremony around your own personal beliefs? How would you feel if any non-pagan friends or family did not wish to attend such a ceremony?

My cousin got married on August first, which is also the day I’m writing this. Her husband’s parents are both Christian ministers, and thus the ceremony was obviously Christian.
The church, funny enough, was the same church my parents got married in. It is a nice enough church, but very old fashioned. On the main altar, there was the triple moon symbol, which made me laugh, because it’s a symbol of the Triple Goddess. What really freaked me out was the “Flag of a Christian Nation” they had right beside the Canadian flag. I didn’t expect it.

So, this begs the question, what would I do for my wedding?
I actually have a couple of scenarios.

Let’s say I marry someone with a very open mind, and is willing to have a pagan ceremony. First off, I’d work on finding a pagan priest or priestess who was legally recognized by the province of Ontario. I know there are some, probably in Toronto. If I was unable to find a priest or priestess who is officially licensed by the country, I would have a small civil ceremony at a courthouse with the immediate family, and the witnesses (if they weren’t a sibling), and have a religious ceremony after the fact.
I would like to get married in the early fall, dead winter, or late spring, so mid-October, January, or the end of March. For the legal pagan ceremony, I would opt for late spring or early fall, so we can have the wedding outdoors.
I would rent a good hall (I’ll let my mom handle that one!), and make sure it would have a nice set of grounds attached or right near there, so we would have the actual ceremony outside. Then, we would have some photography there, or some at a studio. Dinner would then be served in the hall which would be decorated in Egyptian fashion using Egyptian colours like gold and lapis blue. We would have good food (Italian if we can get it). On the table, there would be plates as centerpieces with little glass votive holders for lit candles, and instead of a mirror, or glass beads, I would have Jordan almonds as decoration around the candles for people to munch on throughout the night. As a take-away, I would give everyone a votive candle in one of my “colours”. Wrapped around each candle would be a piece of paper with a general wellness candle spell. If people don’t want the spell, they can just toss the paper and keep the candle.
I wouldn’t have traditional “pagan” music, because I don’t like that sort of thing, but I would probably have Egyptian/Arabic belly dance music because I love it!
Also, instead of clinking glasses or something like that to get us to kiss, I would suggest naming a deity from the Egyptian pantheon. People know the main ones, and if people know ahead of time, they can just Google “Egyptian pantheon” and write a few down.
I would probably be a little disappointed if my non-pagan family chose not to come to my wedding, because they are my family and I have respected their beliefs for ceremonies like weddings and funerals, no matter how insulting I find them. So, if I respect them, I would hope that for my wedding, they would respect me.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m very lucky in the fact that my family is generally open minded, and for something like this they would let me have 100 percent say because it’s my wedding, and I could have a pirate, or a superhero wedding, and they would respect it.
My mother has mentioned before: as long as my marriage is legal, either through the religious ceremony, or a small legal “signing of documents” in the courthouse, it doesn’t matter what I do. As long as it’s legal.

Of course, knowing my luck, I’ll marry someone with
A) Religious parents
B) Is rather religious himself
C) A combination of both
Okay, so, I don’t mind that much. In this case, I would do one of two things.
In the first case, we still have the more Egyptian pagan reception, and I would agree to be married in the religious ceremony of my future husband. I would make the request to change “God” to “Spirit”, and maybe ask if they could say “in the name of the Father, Son, and Sage or Spirit” instead of “Holy Ghost”, if the religious leader would agree to that. I know that my childhood ministers would agree to adapt a marriage ceremony to fit my needs, so I would hope that the groom’s religious leaders would be willing to have a more blended ceremony. I would still be okay if they did not want to d a blended ceremony. I would, however, request something along these lines, with just a rough guide for times
1pm-groom’s religious ceremony, probably the “legal” ceremony as well.
2pm-pagan ceremony
6pm-dinner and reception
In this case, if non-pagans did not want to go to the pagan ceremony, or non-(insert groom’s religion) did not want to go to that ceremony, I don’t think I would be as upset, because they would at least go to one wedding, and of course to the reception which would be Egypt themed, not really pagan themed (except the candle take-away).

In the best case, I would assume and hope that my fiancée and his family would at least respect my wishes to have my religious beliefs at least honoured in a wedding ceremony, either by combining beliefs, or having two ceremonies.

I suppose we’ll deal with that hurdle when we get there.

Pagan Blog Prompt: Creativity

Taken from Pagan Blog Prompts:
“How does your creativity level relate to your spiritual path? Have you gotten more in touch with your creative side because of your journey (perhaps out of necessity for ritual items)?
Or, if you've always been the creative type, has your 'portfolio' of creations changed a lot since you started your pagan journey?”

I have never been the most creative. I enjoy writing, and I would always mindlessly doodle on paper during classes, but when it comes to real arts and crafts, I downright failed. Literally.
I would always try though, and be dismally disappointed.
Luckily, in the digital age, I’ve managed to learn a couple of things on my favourite medium: Photoshop

My graphic designs are fairly basic and fan-oriented and are in fact gathered in a folder called “The Boy Collection”.

However, I enjoy photo-manipulation; cutting and pasting of various elements of stock photos to create a new image. I work primarily with fantasy images, in a gothic/romantic setting. So, think pretty princesses mournfully locked in towers overlooking dark waters with nebulae hanging in the sky.
Okay, so, my early pieces were terrible; this isn’t even an understatement. They were so bad...
I gave up on them for a while, but got into them again recently. My newer works were simplistic in nature; copying from “The Masters” on deviantArt.
Recently, I’ve started considering works of art based on different things in my USBoS folder, from Gods and Goddesses, to Gemstones.
Though I’m not sure if this idea will ever come to fruition, they are still a source of ever growing and continuing inspiration.

The best artwork is layered with symbolism. Now that I study symbols, including meanings behind planets, metals and colours, I’ve learned how to incorporate all this into my art. This gives more layers to the pieces. You not only have your basic image, for example a princess in a tower dreaming of her prince, but you can incorporate bright oranges into the nebula, as a promise of hope, or digitally carve ankhs into the castle walls to show life. These little details will bring the image from a standard photo-manipulation to something that makes the viewer say “wow”.

I guess you can say that all this learning has helped me immensely in my art work. Because every say I learn something new, each lesson is a new photo-manip waiting to come out. Not only am I learning about my spiritual path, I can share these feelings with the world through art. Though I may not be the best at photo-manipulation (yet), the wanting to honour the gemstone I turn into a beautiful woman, I’ll strive and push myself to the very limits of what I can do, and try new things, because I will want the spirits to be proud of me, and I want them to love the piece as much as I do.

I hope this made sense!

PS: I finished my dream catcher; I'll let you know how it works sometime next week!

How to Deal with Common Misconceptions After you’re out of the Broom Closet

There are many misconceptions and questions you will probably be asked when you come out of the broom closet.
This is just a selection of more common ones, from the same questions as the link below, but with my personal experience for answers. For the answers that came with the questions originally, please check out the link!

1. Are you a witch?
The word “witch” brings to mind images of evil Disney step-mothers, or the “bad guy” who casts spells on the hero. Witches are not the weak-looking old women, or the spell casters in Harry Potter, but were people who were shamans, healers, herbalists, and probably the first aroma-therapists. Also, witches were people who were generally very in-tune with the world around them, people who claimed to have psychic powers, and who passed all this knowledge down orally.
Though pagans can associate themselves as “witches”, being a pagan does not mean you are a witch, and being a witch does not mean you are pagan. People opposed to Christianity just to rebel may call themselves witches. Pagans are not associated with them. Some people into the Gothic subculture call themselves witches. These people may also be pagan.
Now, to answer the question no one will ask: are witches evil? No, they are (mostly) harmless people who are in-tune with nature. They do not cast spells like in Harry Potter, or other fantasy works. They are people who believe that energy can be manipulated and directed to achieve their desires. They use magic, but not in the sense of Hollywood magic.
The majority of witches are “white” witches, and will not do magic against living things, and only do magic to aid themselves and others, if other’s ask it of them.
Yes, there are some “black” witches, who can curse people, but they are few and far between, and mostly end up hurting themselves more often.

2. Are you a devil-worshipper?
Simply put: no. The devil is a Christian story, and would not apply to a pagan. To truly be a devil worshipper, you have to believe in Christianity, because Satan is only in Christian scriptures. To be a Satanist is, basically, to oppose the Christian concept of God.

3. What do Neopagans believe about God?
This answer can vary. Ask a traditional Wiccan (like my mother), and she will tell you that God is the counterpart and equal to the Goddess, and both deities are required to keep the universe in balance. According to her, every deity in other pantheons are simply aspects of these two greater deities.
Ask an Egyptian pagan like me, and we believe that one singular god and goddess cannot look after everything, so there are many different gods to represent different things. This is similar to saints.

4. Do Neopagans have a bible?
We do not have a set of specific holy texts. Though much of the information is the same, such as the importance of the elements for example, are common to almost all of Neopagan beliefs, we do not all own the same book that we regard as the singular source.
We do, however, have a Book of Shadows. This is a book that contains everything pertaining to our craft. This has lists of herbal uses, pages of candle magic, and even dreams we’ve written down, or meditation guides. Some BoS’ are hand-copied from older books, or books from their teachers. Some are compilations of things they have found.
This blog you are reading is my Book of Shadows.

5. Did you say magic? Do Neopagans believe in the occult?
It depends on how you define magic and the occult. Magic is energy work, according to us. We direct our energy, much like how one can direct a prayer. The occult— or the paranormal – is a blanket term to describe the unknown like psychic phenomenon, EVP, ghosts, and even aliens. Though believing the in occult is not necessary to be a pagan, many do believe in these things.

6. But I thought that you said that you weren't a demon-worshipper?
Magic has little to do with demons. Magic is about intent. In a Christian setting, when you pray, you focus your intent on giving the prayer to God. Magic is the same idea. Demons are about evil energies that disrupt your good intent. We would not give energy to these evil things.

7. How do you become a Neopagan?
This question can be answered in many ways. Some people believe that you are born with the intuition to eventually become a pagan. Some people just enjoy mythology and paganism is a great way to really study mythology. Most people who eventually become pagans already know a bit about it, and will research it themselves.
To copy-paste: “"Becoming" a pagan is never a conversion”.
8. I've heard about witches holding orgies and such. Do you? Defiantly not. Many pagans hold fertility and sex in an almost Holy regard, for without it, we would not be here. Because of its cosmic aspect, we do not have sex “willy-nilly”, but reserve it for people we truly care about. A huge orgy would go against this concept. 9. I saw on the news that Neopagans use a star in a circle as their emblem. Isn't that a Satanic symbol?
I believe you are talking about a pentagram. The pentagram is a symbol that unites all the elements, in the form of a star. This is a very old symbol, much older than Satanism. In paganism, it is a symbol of unity and a symbol of the earth. In Satanism, it is often shown point down to represent chaos.
The pentagram being a symbol is only a symbol of Satan is like saying the Swastika is only a symbol of Nazis. Before the Nazi’s took over the symbol—and in some parts of the world still—the swastika, or “bent cross” is a symbol of good luck.

10. Are Neopagans opposed to Christianity?
Most pagans respect the views of other religions. Many of us came out of Christianity. We are, however, untrusting of the higher powers within the Church who are out for power and control. Millions of pagans were slaughtered in the name of Jesus Christ, and we still fear persecution in many parts of the world. We are opposed to the fundamentalists of any religion.
I have many Christian friends, who ask me loads of questions about my faith and are genuinely interested, not to convert but because the more understanding between the faiths, the easier it will be to work together.

Well, I hoped this three-part series helped you understand coming out of the broom closet, and helped you either plan for your own coming out, or to understand the risks with coming out.

Source/more information
http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/lessons/less-misunderstanding.txt

So, You’ve Decided to Come out of the Broom Closet

In yesterdays “Coming out of the Broom Closet”, I talked about some of the outcomes of coming out as a pagan, and how there are different ways of being “out”. Today I’d like to address the actual coming out.
Paganism is about trust in yourself and the world around you. You have to trust in what you do in rituals for it to work, for example. Therefore, the basis for coming out of the broom closet, even just in going to a bookstore to purchase a book instead of ordering online, is trust
So, if you want your family to trust in after or during your coming out, you have to make sure you’re doing trustworthy things. Don’t hide the fact you collect oils or incense; tell your family you are looking into aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is used in spas, so it is less suspicious than hiding about it, or arguing, or straight out lying. Saying you’re using aromatherapy is, at least, somewhat truthful. Though you could argue it is lying by omitting, it’s still a lot less risky. Think of it along the same lines as the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell”.
Safety is the next consideration. Is it safe for you to come out? If you think it is unsafe, then don’t come out, at least not yet. Safety includes protection from physical abuse, but can also include having somewhere to live, or the emotional worry of having people harass you or even attempt to convert you.
The next step is then to try to predict how who you wish to tell will react. Start with one group, like your parents. Will they be understanding? Curious? Supportive? Angry? I do suggest starting with people you live with, because you can predict their behaviour best. Make note of how they act talking about religion in general. This stage might take only a few days to have a general idea of how they will react. It might take several weeks. Be patient, and keep your eyes and ears open.
You may be lucky. Your family may not need your choice explained to them, and they will support you no matter what.
But, if I have learned anything, it’s that never trust luck. Always have an explanation. Make a list of what you like about paganism. Write a little paragraph or two explaining why you converted or are not impressed with more mainstream religions. Also, be sure to plan to explain some of the common misconceptions about paganism.
The trick will be to remain calm. Are you prone to anger very quickly? You’ll have to work on that before even considering coming out. Calmness is key. If you speak calmly and explain your points in a level voice, they will be more prone to listening. To help remain calm, you can really benefit from preparing beforehand. Plan for EVERYTHING you can think of, because it can give you something to refer to, and it will help you keep your thoughts in order.
In many cases, what is known about paganism by the general public (people who haven’t studied it) are the misconceptions and rumours spread by Hollywood and religious bigots. Remember, your parents and friends love you, and want what’s best for you and want to keep you from getting hurt. Reassure them that paganism is not a cult, and that you are educating yourself on all aspects of the religion.
Please be patient with them; it may take them some time and some research of their own to fully accept your actions. Also, use common sense. If they are in a bad mood, don’t bring this up, you can wait until they are in a good and talkative mood.
Who knows, maybe you’ll really pique someone’s interest and aid them on their own spiritual journey.

Tomorrow, part three, How to Deal with Common Misconceptions After you’re out of the Broom Closet.

Source/More information
http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/lessons/how-to-tell-family-friends.txt