Happy holidays, one and all!
Friday
Tuesday
December 13th, 2011
It occurred to me this morning that after 3 months of having this blog, I have never once mentioned how I first found the Craft. So, without further ado... I take you back about 3 years ago, to 2008:
I was in the back seat of the car, next to my brothers, reading a book on the supernatural. Fairies, dragons, ghosts, witches. The book said real witches followed Wicca. I asked my mom what that was, and she said to ask my Aunt C, as that is what she practiced herself. I was too shy to ask her anything though, so instead I did a Google search. What came up were websites talking about the Lord and Lady, karma, reincarnation, and more. Words of love and peace filled the screen, and I smiled to myself. It seemed like such a peaceful thing. But I let it go at the time. Then, it was just words. I was Christian, and though Wicca was interesting, I wasn't about to change my religion. Not yet. But somewhere it stuck with me in the back of my mind, just waiting. Waiting for something to change.
A jump to 2009:
Religion had become more difficult for me in this one short year. Questions started building, about God, and why the Bible said terrible things would happen to those who didn't follow it exactly. It made no sense to me for a supposedly loving God to send wonderful people to hell just because they believed in a different deity. In the final days of summer, my mom took my siblings and I to the library. The library had been consolidated to a warehouse, as the main building was being rebuilt and renovated. The warehouse was small, and the bookshelves were tall, with narrow paths between them. The windows along one wall, however, were huge, and beams of light made the shelves glow. Dust floated in the air, and the whole place seemed to hold its breath as quiet libraries often do. A feeling of mystery hung around, and though I could not have put my finger on it at the time, the Goddess was there, guiding me. I walked to a new part of the library, next to the fantasy section. I lived in the fantasy realms of books, and yet something pulled me out of my usual haunt. A book on the shelf caught my eye: Teen Witch, by Silver Ravenwolf. I assumed that it was simply more fantasy, so I stuck it in my bag and continued. When I got home and took it out, I realized it wasn't a fictional novel at all, but a book about Wicca, that mystical thing that I had found the year before. I read the book, cover to cover, and knew I had found something stupendous, something that would change my life forever. I set up a tiny altar in the corner of my room, and sitting there, felt as though I had come home at last.
I was in the back seat of the car, next to my brothers, reading a book on the supernatural. Fairies, dragons, ghosts, witches. The book said real witches followed Wicca. I asked my mom what that was, and she said to ask my Aunt C, as that is what she practiced herself. I was too shy to ask her anything though, so instead I did a Google search. What came up were websites talking about the Lord and Lady, karma, reincarnation, and more. Words of love and peace filled the screen, and I smiled to myself. It seemed like such a peaceful thing. But I let it go at the time. Then, it was just words. I was Christian, and though Wicca was interesting, I wasn't about to change my religion. Not yet. But somewhere it stuck with me in the back of my mind, just waiting. Waiting for something to change.
A jump to 2009:
Religion had become more difficult for me in this one short year. Questions started building, about God, and why the Bible said terrible things would happen to those who didn't follow it exactly. It made no sense to me for a supposedly loving God to send wonderful people to hell just because they believed in a different deity. In the final days of summer, my mom took my siblings and I to the library. The library had been consolidated to a warehouse, as the main building was being rebuilt and renovated. The warehouse was small, and the bookshelves were tall, with narrow paths between them. The windows along one wall, however, were huge, and beams of light made the shelves glow. Dust floated in the air, and the whole place seemed to hold its breath as quiet libraries often do. A feeling of mystery hung around, and though I could not have put my finger on it at the time, the Goddess was there, guiding me. I walked to a new part of the library, next to the fantasy section. I lived in the fantasy realms of books, and yet something pulled me out of my usual haunt. A book on the shelf caught my eye: Teen Witch, by Silver Ravenwolf. I assumed that it was simply more fantasy, so I stuck it in my bag and continued. When I got home and took it out, I realized it wasn't a fictional novel at all, but a book about Wicca, that mystical thing that I had found the year before. I read the book, cover to cover, and knew I had found something stupendous, something that would change my life forever. I set up a tiny altar in the corner of my room, and sitting there, felt as though I had come home at last.
Sunday
December 11th, 2011
To the left is a picture of the Goddess at Yule, compliments of the omnipresent Google. I felt like I had a little too much black and white on my blog, so here's some color to liven things up. Anyway, today I have been working on a painting which I may end up giving as a Yule gift; it's going to depend on how it turns out. Pictures will, of course, be posted at its completion. Other than that, today has kind of been a lazy day. My brothers and I have been watching the squirrels, which are very efficiently hiding all the food in the yard, and I hung up those ornaments I made. I think I'm also going to play some Yule carols - at this year, there's nothing like music! :)
Saturday
"Pagan"
So, Hazelnut sent me this picture earlier, and I thought it was just about the coolest thing ever. I may copy it and put it in my BOS. 
December 10th, 2011
Today is Esbat, and I popped out-of-doors a while ago to get a picture of the moon. It's hard of course to take good pictures at night, but eventually I got one that seemed decent:
It's just so pretty... I also made those Yule ornaments I mentioned a while back, and made a video on their construction. The link to said video will be added once it becomes available. I'm going to empower the little guys during my ritual tonight, and then hang them up. :)
It's just so pretty... I also made those Yule ornaments I mentioned a while back, and made a video on their construction. The link to said video will be added once it becomes available. I'm going to empower the little guys during my ritual tonight, and then hang them up. :)
Wednesday
December 7th, 2011
It is definitely December. We've had some snow, but so far it has all melted. Nevertheless, there is a sharp crispness to the frigid air that only comes at this time of year. Right now, I'm sitting at my desk enjoying a slice of German chocolate cake and am snuggled under a fluffy blanket. I'm also working on Yule gifts for friends, but they read my blog, so I can't share their nature until after we exchange gifts. I had a rather magickal moment before school today. A Pagan friend of mine, Raincloud, and I had had something of an emotionally charged conversation about past difficulties with those people who act as though their only purpose is to make life difficult, when I hummed a few bars of "We All Come From the Goddess", and we broke out simultaneously into song in the middle of the school cafeteria at 6:45 in the morning. Time literally felt like it froze for a moment; it was odd. Beautiful, but odd. Everything going on around us just seemed to fade. And then someone interrupted us, and the moment fell apart. I think we both felt better though; I know I did. In that moment, I could really feel the Goddess standing by me. There is no other word to describe it. It was...magick.
Tuesday
The Holly King
The Holly King is a classic Yule icon, adopted into modern culture in a figure everyone - Pagan or not - knows: Santa Clause. Yes, the Holly King was the original Santa, before St. Nicholas and all those other folk he has morphed into over the centuries. The 8 reindeer are representations of the 8 major Sabbats, and his classic depiction of a jolly man with a long beard has outlasted the centuries. In Pagan lore, the Oak and Holly Kings are two archetypes of the God: light and dark. At both solstices, the two do battle. The Oak King (light) wins over the Holly King at Yule, and the light begins once again to grow. At Litha, it is the Holly King who triumphs, and the world once again grows dark.
December 6th, 2011
Well, I meant to post about this on Saturday, but we ended up being really busy, so instead I'm posting today. Huzzah! Last Saturday, we got the house all decked out for Yule/Christmas (Yule in my room, X-mas everywhere else) with trees, snowmen, Santas, and all the other crazy things stuffed into the 13 big tote boxes we dredged from the garage. We also bought our live tree for the living room and decorated it, as per tradition. It is likely I will have pics of that later, but for today, I have some shots of an artificial Yule tree in my room. It doesn't look openly Yule-ish, but it has a Goddess figure on top in place of a star, and mixed in with all my super-shiny, crazy-colored ornaments are 7 little fairy ornaments from Hallmark that I've been collecting.
This, obviously, is the tree.
And this is a close-up of the wee Poinsettia fairy. I have a special ornament idea to share as well, but you'll just have to wait for Esbat for that! ;)
This, obviously, is the tree.
And this is a close-up of the wee Poinsettia fairy. I have a special ornament idea to share as well, but you'll just have to wait for Esbat for that! ;)
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