I know it's been awhile..

Hey everyone, sorry about the lapse in blog posts. I've been going through somethings, and I thought it best to take time for myself for a while. I'm going to try and write at least every other day from now on. (feel free to spam me with reminders and topics of interest!)

On a serious note, I thought I'd bring something to attention for those of us in interfaith relationships. When you love someone, you can make anything work. But you need to pay attention to a few things. You shouldn't feel like you're silly or ridiculous for what you believe in. For instance, I was with an atheist for five years, and everytime he saw me practicing or gathering herbs and such, he'd laugh at me. To him, it was no big deal that he found me amusing, but to me it was a little hurtful. I didn't say anything because I knew he didn't mean anything by it, but I should have. You should show respect for what your partner believes, whether or not you think it's silly.

Regardless of what you believe, you should never feel belittled because of it, by anyone. And I think sometimes we forget that, and make excuses for the people we love when they do it.

Meditation, Now Who Has Time For That?

Now, I'm not even the busiest of people, though my life is kind of a rollercoaster of what-the-heck-is-going-on-right-now. Meditation is a recommended thing in being pagan, and honestly I'd recommend it to anyone, pagan or not. It's relaxing, calming, and helps you feel a little more ready to face the crazyiness we call the everyday.

But the thing is, who has time for it?

Honestly, everyone days, and oddly enough, for something that's so easy, my biggest problem is often I find myself being to lazy to do it. Yeah, that's right. I'm too lazy to sit still for ten minutes. No, it really doesn't make sense, but bear with me.

I've decided what will make it easiest, is if I wait for a moment when I just stop; you know, when you go and go, and then all of a sudden you're thrown off, because, hold up, you just stumbled into five free moments.

Just stop. Don't look for something to do. Just sit down, settle yourself, close your eyes, and breathe. It's that simple. Don't think. Just sit, breathe, and focus. Five minutes, ten minutes, however long your minutes of free time is. I promise it'll make your day just a little easier to handle. (and I hear that it helps open you to your inner psychic, if you do it right, but that's another time!)

True Blood;;

So. I don't watch much t.v. (it's kinda hard when you don't have cable), but I DO watch a lot of True Blood. One of my friends lets me creep up on her couch every sunday night, and I get my fix of sexy men with fangs, bloodshed, werewolves, shifters, blah di blah magick and what not.

Now this season, I was rather intrigued (spoilers if you haven't watched it yet!) to find that the "bad guy" is actually a Wiccan. BUT. Not in the sense that she's a crazy old hag out to hex everyone. Marne is actually a sweet, if slightly deluded, older lady with the best of intentions. Problem is, she is a powerful conduit/medium, and her new "buddy" isn't as benevolent as Marne would like to believe (hence, slightly delusional).

On a side note, I want a Merlott's Tshirt more than I want to breathe. Our other friend who watches with us always dresses as one of the waitresses from the show, and suffice to say, I'm kinda jealous. I wanna be cool too! Or, as cool as a fangirl glued to the t.v. can be, anyways.

Stereotypical Job? Could be. :]

So I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and I've stumbled upon the idea that I should be an anthropologist. For those of you who don't know, this consists of just about everything. It's the study of man, literally. I would be learning languages, cultures, about food and music, traditions, archaeology (history) and all kinds of cool stuff. Also for those of you who don't know, I'm decision-making challenged, so this is a pretty big deal. (I'm one of those, "I don't care, you're the driver, you pick" types.)

You would think being the super geek that I am, that I would've figured this out a long time ago. Say, when I first got into college. But no. It took several attempts and failures at being a music major to figure it out. (Plus stumbleupon.com has thrown a quite a few cool websites at me recently; it helps)

Now, I love music. And I can do the long hours and hard work, but I'm just not cut out for the super crazy, *I'm-better-than-you-but-I-don't-really-care* (insert snide look here) bullcrap. Plus I have horrible stage fright, and I can't stand people who don't care about the subject I love, so I don't think I'm out to be a music teacher. Since I'm not amazing at any instrument, it doesn't exactly leave me with a lot of options, now does it?

So bear (sp?) with me, as I geek my way through some anthropology classes and such, (to be started in a few months). I can't wait!

Okay, I know it's been a while, but this is really awesome.

I swear, StumbleUpon.com knows me oh too well. It sent me a link today on history. World history. And the article goes a little something like this:

Apparantly there's evidence that there use to be (10- 12, 000 years ago or more) a GLOBAL civilization. Can you even imagine what that means?!  There was a global language (so we read) and monuments etc. and so on, and that's really only the beginning. Forgive me geeking out all over the place, but how can you not be amazed at hearing about all this?

Here's the link www.projectavalon.net/lang/en/klaus_dona_2_interview_transcript_en.html

Take a look yourself. Geek out with me a little! :]

Summer Solstice

Well, in a perfect world my Summer solstice would've been spent at a bonfire with friends, enjoying the longest day of the year, and doing all sorts of fun stuff. Howver, my new job is taking up all my schedule, so that didn't happen.

June 21- Midsummer

Summer solstice is a time for celebrating the sun, the God, fertility, and other such things. It's also the time when the Holly King takes over so to say, until the Winter solstice. It's usually spent with bonfires, dancing, and as it's a time of fertility, it's also spent with your signifigant other.

I hope everyone had a great solstice, or at least got to enjoy the sun! (unless you were in the southern hemisphere, in which case, merry yuletide!)

I'm Grateful for Mistakes.

Today I realized almost everything in life can be considered a mistake, a moment of weakness or passion, a moment where someone didn't think. I was one of those moments. I wasn't planned. But I'm thankful that I was given a chance to make mistakes of my own, to get lost in the moment, to not think; to have passions and weaknesses. I am thankful to be alive.

There are a lot of times where I let it hurt, that I was considered a mistake. A lot of times when I get angry at people for being human, for being too involved in other things, or not involved enough for others. I forget how human I am. How every little thing is a trick of fate, a maybe slightly planned, but still kind of accident happening. I forget that sometimes, accidents are the best parts of life.

And then somedays, I remember. I look at my nieces and nephews, my siblings, the man I love, and realize that they were never really planned. That at some point, someone might've considered them a mistake, or a failed judgement. And I'm so grateful for them, and the other mistakes in my life that have led me to who I am;

I'm a 19 year old girl with a passion for reading that came from so much time feeling alone, but a passion that gave me a belief in second chances, and led to the renewal of a relationship with my father and my brothers and sisters.

I'm a writer and a musician, because I failed a computer class and stumbled into a passion that lifts my heart and keeps me alive when I was put into a choir. A choir that gave me the family I didn't feel like I had, and gave me motivation and pride in myself, my abilities, and a love for travel and culture.

I'm a pagan, because I felt like I didn't fit in with other religion, and it's opened doors to me and opened me up to new friends and new expiriences.

I forget sometimes that mistakes gave me the best parts of my life. And today, I remember to be grateful. Because if it wasn't for lapses in judgement, I wouldn't know the love of my life, and I would never have met him, because I wouldn't exist. Today, I'm grateful for love.

Planned Parenthood; Take a Stand

I like to think I'm a "cause" person; if someone's in trouble, I help best as I can, and if someone or something needs money or other things, I donate what I can. I don't go out and search for things to advocate, necessarily, but I like to hope I do a little bit of good.

So I'm spreading the word about this, because as a woman, it's hard to see it and not raise up a cry at the thought of the consequences of these actions.

Planned Parenthood; the Battle gets Uglier

The above link will take you to a page that explains how Republicans are trying to take down Planned Parenthood, making it nearly impossible for women of lower income to get the help they need there. I realize that there are a lot of people who don't want abortion to happen. But if things continue as they are, STI's and pregnancy will skyrocket, and the children born won't have the funds and help they need to survive, essentially. Not every woman has the money for insurance or doctors, so Planned Parenthood is the only way they can get contreceptives, screenings, mamograms, etc. And if things continue, even that will be taken from them because they will have to start paying for these services, which they obviously don't have the money for to begin with.  I don't want to start an ugly conversation about ethics and sin, partly because I don't think it's up to humans to judge, and partly because it's not always as black and white as people would like it to be.

My main message is that these women are having the only help they get torn away from them by people who aren't taking the time to understand that it's not all about abortions. It's about the women themselves getting the help they need.

Witchy Fiction

Alright, let me throw you another good series, one that I feel is especially good for younger or newer pagans. The series title is "Sweep", written by Cate Tiernan. The first book is called "Book of Shadows". It follows the tale of a young woman named Morgan who discovers she's a 'blood witch', and the craziness that surely ensues. The magic and practices use all follow closely with wiccan and pagan practices, so it's relateable to those who are a little more advanced, and it's helpful to those who are newer. It shows you what to look for and how things are done, though you should take everything with a grain of salt.

Keeping it Close to the Heart

I wanted to clarify a few things to my friends, and maybe some others as well. As a pagan, yes, I believe in magic and spells and the fae, etc. and so on. And I know that that sounds silly to someone who doesn't believe in that kind thing, but I'd like to put some comparisons out there.

vs.    


Many people believe in Angels, or spirits, that do good things, bad things, mundane things. People give them personalities, and treat them with a certain respect... And for those who believe in the fae instead, it's not much different. Different fae (angels/spirits) do different things, act different ways. You can ask (pray to) them for something, and you may or may not get what you ask for, and once you have it, you may or may not want it.

In the same way, spells and working with magic is just another form of prayer, I guess you could say. You're wishing, asking, and hoping for something to happen. You send that out to who, or what, ever is listening, in the hopes that you'll be answered. And for people who believe in hexes or curses, I say it's the same as wishing bad luck on someone or something. And I think we're all guilty of that at some point or another.

As I've mentioned before, we're all really not so different, when we think about it. And honestly, there's probably a small bit of truth to every religion, or they wouldn't exist to begin with, don't you think?

Paganism vs. Christianity

Some of my friends asked me to do a comparison, and to explain paganism for *me* so they could get a grasp on what it is. I realize paganism isn't going to be the same for every person, but then, Christianity isn't going to be the same to every christian either, now is it?

Christianity~ It follows the belief that there is one God, from the teachings of the Bible, who gave his only son Jesus to save humanity from its sins. Now, paganism predates Christianity. Over 25,000 years ago there is evidence of paganism and the worship of women as givers of life. I.e.- Gaia, Haumea, The Goddess, etc. One of the prominant parts of paganism is the belief in the Goddess (triple goddess), and the Horned God. The story of them is similar to that of Mary and Jesus, in that the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, the virgin, and the Horned God as her consort consumate their love and he becomes the life in her womb, and she gives birth to him as her son, the bringer of life. Much like God gives his son to Mary, the virgin, and she gives birth to him, the giver of life.

During an uglier time for paganism and christianity, the church did what it could to stamp out or assimilate pagan worshipers. They turned the Horned God into Lucifer, the horned devil, and added many of the pagan holidays to their own. Yule, the Winter Solstice, became Christmas, the much disputed birth of Christ. Easter, the holiday celebrating his rebirth, was originally a holiday celebrating spring and renewal of life (Ostara), and the Goddess Eostre, who was being courted by Boga, who turned into a hare and laid a beautiful egg to win her over. Eggs and rabbits... Sound familiar? I'm sure I'm not the only one to wonder where the Easter bunny and Easter eggs fit in with Jesus.

Halloween is also a pagan holiday, coming from Samhain, or All Hallow's Eve. As you might surmise, many of the traditions of said holidays are from the pagan traditions as well. To be short, Christianity is a later but similar religion to paganism, only a lot more strict, I think.

There are a lot of people who should take some time to think about that, I believe. It turns out we're all not so different, are we? And imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, wouldn't you say? ;]

Something We Can All Get Into ^_^

So on circleofmoms.com, I've been following the 25 Blogs of Faith, written by mothers (http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/faith), where a lot of ladies are nominated to win by vote. There are faiths of all kinds, including Jewish, Pagan, Christian, Catholic, etc. I've voted almost everyday this week, both for blogs like Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom, The Pagan Mom Blog, and Woman Living Well (which is actually a Christian blog, but I like her very much, she's very nice.)

It's obviously aimed at mothers or parents, but they still have a lot of good things to say, teach, and they keep you up to date on what's going on in the world that they live in. So if you like blogs, and faith, or just ladies who are interesting and have a lot to share, look it up, and cast a vote. :] You can vote for as many as you like, but only on vote per blog every 24 hours.

Keep in mind that even if you don't agree with someone's faith, it doesn't mean you can treat them badly. Keep your comments kind, and see what you can learn. Personally, I think competitions like this open a path to open minds. These ladies are pretty cool, so go vote! ^_^

Books, Books, Books.

I'd say this is a relatively normal topic. Let me just say, though I do enjoy the Twilight series (the books, not the movies!), here are some other books along the same lines that I think are quite the catch.

Vampire Academy; Richelle Mead-  I know it *sounds* cheesy, but it's actually a really good read. The books are long enough to enjoy, and the last one came out in August, I believe. The main character is Rose, who's a hotblooded, kickass, righteous damphir. You'll have to read the books to know more, but it's got action, adventure, love, angst, and a whole lot more.

Blue Bloods; Melissa de la Cruz- This is a softer toned series; but don't think that means it's not interesting. There's a lot of travelling, vampire-angel relations, love, hate, mystery.. And it goes on. The main character is Schyuler Van Allen, to begin with; A half vampire, half human that supposedly shouldn't exist, and the daughter of Gabriel and a human. Pick it up to learn the ins and outs!

The Vampire Huntress Legend; L.A. Banks- I actually love her series, and some of the others she writes. She's one of the most creative authors I've read. This particular series is about a girl named Damali, and though it follows a more Christian view in religion, it puts a pretty intresting twist on everything. I couldn't put it down once I started. Check it out!