I am going in a million different directions with writing and bringing back the podcast. I’d like to hear from you, dear readers/listeners: what I should focus on more. For the blog, for No Unsacred Place and for the podcast. So, ask me a question (I might answer it) or give me a suggestion. Shameless begging for encouragement and redirection, I know.

If you’ve emailed me or are waiting to hear back from me for some reason, I’m sorry. I am really terrible at never getting back to people. I’ll try to get caught up!

Cheers

Related posts:

1. Keeping Busy
2. Repost: I am Not a Real Witch
3. Wordless Wednesday

If there are any features you’d like to see for the site (better profile or PM-ing), now is the time to make suggestions. I can’t make any promises though.

The forum program has switched from freeware to $80 US a year! So we may be switching to a new forum platform, but don’t worry, we won’t lose any content.

Related posts:

1. Updates
2. Update on the Updates

Anyways, looks like you can even comment on the mini posts, share of Facebook and all, they are just in the sidebar.You just click on the title of the Mini Post to comment.

They are under the Category and Tag Mini Posts BTW

Neat!

No related posts.

“At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman. Do you remember?” – From: When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone, 1931 – 2011

Like many Pagans, Merlin Stone’s book was amongst the first I found. Interestingly, I find that many Pagans my age or younger have, in fact, not read this book; as well as others like it such as “The Wise Wound” for an example. I was not like many of my generation’s young Pagans in that my very first book on Paganism did not come from the hand of Silver Ravenwolf.

This is a blog post I have been considering writing for a little while now. I was also considering reading it for the podcast, but I worry it might be boring to listen to. So, in honour of the memory of such persons as Merlin Stone, here goes …

My first literary foray into Magick, Witchcraft and Paganism came from fairy tales of course; Jack and the Bean Stalk, Disney, Mom reading ‘The Hobbit” to us. Like many children I played witches brew with mud and crud in the back yard, tapped stones with my sparkly cheerleading baton to wake the fairies, pretended I could control the wind and wished I could change into any form I desired in the blink of an eye.

There was also a small amount of traditions and lore passed on from family members and friends of the family as well. Not outright pagan and witchy things, just the sort of things you pick up coming from an immigrant family or coming from farm folk and outdoor enthusiasts. Things are done this way because they’ve always been this way, or because someone’s grandmother did it this way.

This is how you tell which direction you are facing, this kind of moss can be packed into wounds, don’t mess with the well-head you idiots.

The cat likes to sleep in the lavender patch because it’s soothing.

These are moose tracks and those are deer tracks.

The little witch gets hung in the kitchen because she’s always hung in the kitchen.

You can climb the oak tree kids, but not the rowan.

You can eat these berries but not those.

Fill the hollow with compost, then top soil, add some fish guts and transplant the local wild rose on it.

The previous owner must have planted the juniper bushes by the door because they protect the house, but your mother thinks they smell like cat piss and so she’s digging them up for her water garden.

Never wash a teapot with soap, use salt.

Place a miniature house in the garden and don’t let it fill with debris.

Place a miniature well in the garden and you can put pennies in it to make wishes.

Scatter clippings of dog hair and bits of yarn in the yard in the autumn for the birds to use as nesting materials.

Don’t mess with the forsythia hedge, the chickadees live in there.

Rub butter on a cat’s paw so it can always find its way back home.

The kind of random lore, superstitions, rules and customs passed on to a child by an outdoorsman father, by an elderly neighbour or a gardening mother. Stuff that one must do or not do, but the explanation for why may have been lost to time.

I also adored fantasy and sci-fi when I was young. Now-a-days I read maybe two or three works of fiction each year. But when I was a pre-teen and teen I read voraciously. My mother found herself desperately searching for books to give me to read, as I was reading at an adult level and yet there wasn’t much material available to me at the school library. The public library often actually frowned upon some of my book choices, preferring to only allow 12 year old to borrow books from the teen and children’s section. So, Mom let me choose whatever caught my eye in her own substantial library of fantasy, romance and science fiction. Being a permissible mother in some areas, she didn’t bat an eye when I read the Clan of the Cave Bear series as a pre-teen. I remember the first time I opened the hard cover copies of these books and found there the maps in the first pages. Maps that had little drawing of prehistoric artefacts, such as the Willendorf Venus, and little factoids about them. I was entranced, though I knew of Paganism (both ancient an modern) in a vague way somehow those maps brought it to life and made it more real.

I developed a love of myth, legend and (of course) more fairy tale, as well as history and archaeology. I was the only child in my 6th grade class reading introduction to Greek mythology books, or books about the pyramids of Giza, Neolithic cave paintings or Easter Island. I would rush home after school to watch documentaries on TV in these subjects and more. (Remember when channels like A&E, Discovery and so forth were kind of smart and played more shows about history and religion than people with OCD?)

This was encouraged by my parents who, along with me, dreamed of my growing up to become a historian, anthropologist or archaeologist someday. This was also very much encouraged by my mother’s common-law husband at the time, who was both a high school teacher and Pagan-friendly, having had many Pagan friends in his life (he has passed away now). Before the guy’s mental illness became unbearable to live with, he would photocopy pages out of texts books on mythology for me to read, loan out books from the library that librarian’s did not believe a 13 year old could read and so forth.

We did get dragged by Mom’s partner to a couple of summer solstice celebrations and small gatherings and such. But I remember for the most part being bored, there wasn’t a lot for a teen to do. The kids stuff was too childish and there just really wasn’t a lot of content for teens. My main memories from these events include things like walking in the woods, flirting with one girl I liked and getting bored with chanting very quickly. As well as doing our best to avoid the boys, who riled up by the sexual displays and nudity of the adults, stalked us girls like horny wolves desperate to convince us to let them touch our boobs.

By my mid to late teens Mom had married a new man. A man whose first wife had been a good old fashioned Feminist Witch (she passed away from cancer). He still had most of her library and allowed me to read to my hearts content. Books like “When God Was a Woman” by Merlin Stone, “The Wise Wound” by Penelope Shuttle & Peter Redgrove, “The Language of the Goddess” by Marija Gimbutas& Joseph Campbell, “The Body of the Goddess” by Rachel Pollack, “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf, “Psychic Self Defence” by Dion Forune, “Drawing Down the Moon” by Margot Adler, and the “The Spiral Path” by Starhawk were all just sitting there, waiting to be devoured. Oddly, I didn’t wind up a hardcore feminist or a Dianic Wiccan! Actually, maybe it’s not that odd. At 16-ish there’s a lot of content in these books that went over my head at the time. This is why it’s good to re-read things years later.

The internet was around at this time, but still somewhat new. Many of my friends didn’t have it in their homes yet and were jealous of my (dial-up) connection. So yes, I do in fact remember a time before you could find Witchcraft and Paganism on the internet. I have officially dated myself!

When I was 17 I met a young man in his early twenties who had been practising for a few years long than myself, he introduced me to some of his friends and from there I received all kinds book suggestions and such. I was also told to avoid website son Wicca because they were all terrible! I spent a summer looking over the shoulders of these slightly older Witches and Pagans before it occurred to me that they probably shouldn’t be having such close relationships with minors (such as myself a couple of my same aged friends). This was when I started in on the typical 101 studies, Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland for example. I remember trying to get through “The Necronomicon” (hehehe), “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” and Colin Wilson’s “The Occult” at this time too.

Ronald Hutton’s “Triumph of the Moon” came out when I was 19, I remember reading that and becoming quite interested in the history of modern Paganism. I then read whatever I could find about or by Dion Fortune, Doreen Valiente, Gerald Gardner, Robert Cochrane, and the Farrars. Crowley thwarted me (and disgusted me). “A Witches Bible” by the Farrars had to be read twice in a row, the second time with a notebook, dictionary and thesaurus (I read it again a few years later and was amazed at how I struggled with it, but hey I was 19-20 when I first read it). I made a valiant attempt at the tarot around this time.

In my very early twenties I met up with a teaching coven, Alexandrian based. This was when I came to a couple of realizations:

A) I knew rather a lot more than most 21 year olds.

B) Still, I knew next to nothing.

C) An 18 year old can understand something like (for example) “The Sea Priestess” only so much.

D) Wicca (of any size, shape or flavour) was NOT for me. Full stop.

E) I didn’t really know what was right for me (aw shit)

I went back to my first love: Mythology. Somewhere along the way I realised I knew next to nothing about the mythology of my own heritage. I knew Greek, Roman and Egyptian very well, but somehow Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and such had escaped me. WTF? So I dove in. Finding suggested reading lists on Druidry, Celtic spirituality and Celtic Reconstruction websites and working my way through the books that were recommended by the most of them. One book I tried reading was “The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom” by the Matthews, which for the most part went over my head. I needed to back track and focus just on history, lore and myth.

(This is getting long, so stay tuned for part two in a few days. Also this post is about study, not practice, which is why practice doesn’t get mentioned much. Okay.)

Related posts:

1. The Course of My Studies Part Two
2. Horned God Devotional
3. The Devotional

Please describe briefly your Path:

Please describe briefly how you practice it:

When did you first commit to your Path?

How is your practice different now than it was then?

Is your practice different today than how you thought it would be back then?

Does your Path and core belief system differ now than how it was when you first started?

What is your heritage and how does this inform your Path?

What are your main influences for your Path?

Which do you do more: practice or research?

Do you feel that one is more important than the other?

What values and ethics are important on your Path and in your practice?

What sort of cycles do you feel your practice goes through?

What is one of the greatest obstacles or struggles you have had to over come?

How do you see yourself practicing in ten years?

How do you incorporate your practice into your life?

Has walking your Path changed you as a person?

Do you consider yourself to be a priest/ess? How so?

A witch? How so?

A shaman? How so?

Which matters more: getting the vocabulary right or the actual practice of what we are trying to define?

One of the most profound things anyone ever said to you was:

A defining moment on your Path was:

Have you ever taken a “leap of faith”?

Please tell us something stupid, reckless or embarrassing you did once in your practice:

What is the most frustrating thing about your Path?

Have you ever been frightened?

Can you perform ritual without a script?

Have you ever preformed spontaneous magick/spellcraft?

What are you still exploring or experimenting with?

What (or whom) are you the most committed to in your practice and on your Path?

Ritual tools are …

Magickal tools are …

The one thing you can’t do without is:

Seeking personal power is …

Politics and you Path are …

One thing you wish people would understand about your Path and/or practice is:

Do you teach?

What do you feel is the role of clergy in modern Paganism and Heathenism?

When the Veil (or Hedge!) is thin, how does that feel to you?

What entities do you work with most? (ancestors, gods, fae etc)

What is your relationship with the Land?

The most important aspect of ritual is:

The main purpose of ritual is:

What is the purpose of divination/dowsing (or whichever form of augury you use)?

What was the most difficult book you ever read? (Either difficult to understand or hard to face what it said or both)

What book do you recommend the most to others?

What is you favourite podcast (if any) and favourite blog (other than your own)?

If you could impart only one last piece of wisdom or knowledge, or share one experience with the world at large, what would it be?

Is there an additional question you would like to see here? What is it? (please also answer)

Please finish this meme with a picture, image or photograph of some sort:

Related posts:

1. The Course of My Studies Part One
2. Defence Against the Dark Arts (When You are Locked Out of the Circle)
3. Horned God Devotional

I am not very consistent.

I am bad at math.

I am careful in my enunciation but terrible in my pronunciation.

I am an animal lover.

I am a tree hugger.

I am lacking a concept of time.

I am hit and miss.

I am less emotionally volatile than I come across as.

I am in possession of a dark sense of humour.

I am easily confused.

I am good cook but not great.

I am lazy.

I am always busy.

I am a walking contradiction.

I am cute.

I am well meaning.

I am a firebrand.

I am honest to a fault.

I am fiercely loyal.

I am lousy at lying.

I am lucky.

I am eager to help.

I am defiant of authority.

I am eager to please.

I am growing.

I am learning.

I am making do as best I can.

I am not fond of crowds.

I am in love with the Rideau River but I miss the Fraser River.

I am a tambourine player but I’m not very good yet.

I am the gal people some to when they need someone to stick up for them or to tell someone off.

I am a night person.

I am impulsive.

I am daring.

I am particularly bad in oral debates because I simply can’t organize my thoughts fast enough to offer an effective rebuttal in real time.

I think I create more drama just by trying to avoid it.

I think thank you notes should be banned.

I think Christmas cards (and other required mail holiday mail outs) should be banned or at the very least not treated as if you are a terrible person for not sending them.

I think people are way too serious about everything.

I think people take me too seriously.

I think people don’t take me seriously.

I think big box-stores are designed to drive me crazy.

I think they pump stupidity chemicals into the air systems of banks and shopping malls.

I have flat feet and a sore back.

I have a poor memory.

I have a generally cheerful and positive inner disposition but it doesn’t seem to show on the outside.

I have perseverance in abundance.

I have courage.

I have anxiety.

I have difficulties picking up on and interpreting social cues.

I have an easier time adjusting to the cold than the heat (must be Canadian)

I have no issue going to the dentist and often get told I am one of their best clients.

I have a distrust of modern pharmaceuticals.

I have trouble with any situation that requires me to organize and handle multiple things/conversations/whatever at the same time.

I have trouble organizing my thoughts.

I have a hard time keeping track of things, especially names and dates.

I have cultivated a tough exterior to protect my soft interior.

I have a hard time understanding other women.

I like airports.

I like beaches and riversides.

I like silly conversations about nothing.

I like improv comedy.

I like rock n’ roll.

I like to people watch.

I like to shop late at night.

I like to clean late at night.

I like my hair.

I like to ride my bike.

I like mud between my toes.

I like the wind but not when it blows dirt into my eyes.

I like sleeping in.

I like me.

Related posts:

1. Now You Do It! *poke*
2. Little Random Things
3. Wordless Wednesday: Haters, They’re Gonna Hate