Spiritual & Personal Awakening

I've heard it said often that more and more people are awakening to a new spiritual beginning. I guess I can sort of see that happening. More and more people are leaving mainstream religions in favor of either agnosticism or some other minority religion. However I think "awakening" is a misleading term. It's more like fed up with what they were raised to believe and what society tells them they should believe in order to fit into the "norm". I see so many people mention daily that they aren't (Insert religion here) anymore because of various bad experiences or they generally just don't agree with or are confused by the faith. As we become more and more comfortable with being ourselves without fear of others ridiculing ourselves and family, then we begin to explore what it really is we believe.

Many years ago my husband was more in tune with his spiritual nature. I was just beginning my Pagan journey. Something he said then has always stuck with me. After his meditation he would often talk about what he had seen. One particular meditation he spoke of natural disasters and a spiritual awakening happening after 2007.  Of course as December 21st nears we are also hearing a lot about the Mayan calendar and end time prophecies.

I think these prophecies are not speaking of physical death of the world, but the death of society as we know it. More and more people are standing up to society's expectations and instead are living their life their way. You can see this in many aspects of life. Anything from religion to sexual orientation make the news frequently. More and more people are saying, "I won't hide behind the norm. I believe in this, and I should be accepted for who and what I am."

Do you believe we are going through a spiritual and personal awakening? Do you believe our world will change or end in December or the near future?

The Bewitching Home

Join me for the Bewitching Home blog party! I haven't done one of these in a long time. Not sure what I'll write about. Any suggestions?

Click to go to The Witch of Howling Creek blog

Smile!

I think everyone that has a naturally beautiful smile takes for granted how pivotal to society it is to be able to smile without fear. I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Blame it on genetics, growing up poor, or just plain bad habits. In my case, it's a combination of all three. By the time I was 7 I already had learned not to smile. Of course childhood teasing started early and really lead to low self esteem and just not caring in my teen years.

People have considered me stuck up because I don't smile or look cheerful. I was even fired for a job for "not being cheerful enough." I tried a little half smile, but I'm afraid it just came off as a grimace rather than a friendly gesture. Today, I can fully smile and be proud! I finally got my dentures. It's been almost a year since I started this transformation. I'm sure there is going to be an adjustment period. But I can already feel my outlook on life changing. There's no more need to hide!

Smile, and be happy. :) 

Wyatt shows us he has a great smile too!

Positive Thoughts Equals Positive Action

Image Source

So looking around my normal haunts on the net, I've come to the conclusion that everyone likes to complain way too much! Where is the good? It's not seen enough. So here are some quotes on being positive. I hope they help brighten your day.

Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.
Joel Osteen

When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.
Albert Einstein

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
Zig Ziglar

Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success.
Bo Bennett

A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.
Wade Boggs

Read more at www.brainyquote.com

PBP: Old or New Path?

Prompt: Old Ways or Modern Path?

As I was skimming through a friend's blog, something she said sparked a good question in my mind.
The path that you follow - is it purely the Old Ways? Is it more 'modern Wicca'? Or somewhere in between?

There are lots of sources for information on the age of what we call Wicca or Paganism in the modern day, and most of them agree that the alternative paths of today are actually quite different than 'normal life' of ancient history.

So I wonder, what parts of your path are based on ancient methods and teachings? What aspects of modern spirituality do you employ? Why the difference?

This week's prompt is definitely all about you, your mind, your self, and what you think and feel. I completely understand if this is too deep of a subject for you to comfortably share, and take no offense if you don't post your link. First and foremost, these prompts are to help you explore yourself. Meeting others of like-mind is only a side bonus.

__________________________

Because my path is a hodge-podge of various beliefs, my faith is mostly modern with and old world twist. Honestly, I can't separate the old from the new. I don't think most other Pagans can either. I don't get caught up in labels. It doesn't matter to me one bit if something is new. The oldest religions were at one time new. It doesn't make them any less valid IMO. When someone brings it up I just listen politely and change the subject. Not to be mean, but when someone is caught up in the "I practice the old ways", I wonder if they truly believe in Paganism, or if they are in it for the "status". I get that a lot of Pagans feel like they don't fit into society so are looking for something that speaks to them. I've felt that way too over the years. But you won't find what is truly right for you if all you're worried about is status within the community. 

Just learn, grow as a spiritual person and eventually that feeling of belonging will come to you.

Kota Blue Storm

Magaly over on Pagan Culture has invited us to share our fur-kids. My mother takes care of mine since I moved and cannot have a pet right now. There isn't a day goes by that I don't think about Kota and wish I could bury my nose in her fur and give her a big kiss on her wet nose.

I suppose I'll answer the same questions as Magaly.

1. Do all Witches keep familiars? Like Magaly, I think of my furry children as family, not tools. I did have a black cat once that loved to sit with me at my altar though. ;)

2. Has Kota ever assisted during a magic ritual? No not that I remember. But she has helped with Halloween, much to her dismay.

"I don't like you right now mommy, so I stick my tongue out at you and refuse to look at the camera!"

3. Most Witches prefer cats. Is Kota a kitty in disguise? I'm not quite sure Kota realizes she is not a human. We've treated her as part of our family so well that she automatically expects full family privileges. Such as stealing my bed. 

"What? This isn't my sleeping spot?"

4. Does Kota have her own broomstick? Who needs a broomstick when you can do zoomies instead?

5. What’s Kota favorite color for witchy robes? Robes are not quite her style, but tiara's are not out of the question. 

6. Kota is a collie. Has she ever considered joining the fierce and elitist children of Thor?  When most people think of rough collies they think of the lovable and smart Lassie - a great family pet. Well I won't argue on the family part, but Kota has her tough side too. Just look how she defends herself against the evil villain, daddy's hand! Don't be fooled by it's normal appearance, it's pure evil! (No human flesh was consumed in the making of this picture)

7. So… is Kota part of any coven? If you consider coven family [I do] then yes, totally apart of this coven. :) 

This is how it all started. 

Baby Kota (left) with her sister Kayla (right).

Pagan Home School Project

For the past couple of months I have been home schooling my daughter through the K12 program. Technically it's public school at home, but that's besides the point.

The point is that I am her "learning coach", and I've made it a priority to teach her more about different subjects K12 doesn't cover. One of those subjects is Paganism.

When searching online for Pagan home school worksheets I realized there really isn't a lot offered out there. So I decided I would make it my new mission to create my own printable work sheets.

Now this is a very new project and in its infancy. I would really like some help with this, so if anyone out there thinks they'd like to join me in creating work sheets please email me!

The website for this project is: paganhomeschooling.webs.com

There is one available document I put together yesterday. It's about Sabbats. My next project will be about Yule since it's coming up.

Bloggers, there is a forum there that you are more than welcome to post content or links on as long as it's useful to help teach students. You will need to join the site to post the content.

I hope this site will become a large resource for Pagan parents. Share with your friends!

Blessings, Love and Light.

SWC

PBP: Buy or Make Tools?

Prompt: Who Makes Your Tools?

credit: daillywicca.com

A lot of Pagans perform rituals. Even those who do not, still have at least one tool that belongs to their practice, whether it be a Book of Shadows or a candle....

When it come to the tools of your practice, does it matter who made them or where they come from?
Does something you made yourself have more power? Or can you simply purchase what you need, then cleanse and charge it for your use?

Remember, what works best for you may not be for everyone, so please don't get too 'preachy' on this subject...

~Magickal Graphics~  

I definitely believe the more energy you put into the tool the better that tool will work for you. That doesn't mean you have to craft every single tool you use. It can be as simple as buying a statue that isn't painted, and doing the painting yourself. It doesn't need to be perfectly painted! As a matter of fact, imperfect art is absolutely perfect for my craft. Which is why I set out to make clay art to sell. I've been a bit lax in making more art. That's because I'm a busy homeschooling momma with a toddler. You can see my imperfect art in my Pagan Creation Etsy store. The Isis statue you see in my store is a apart of my current altar. I also have a Cernunnos statue I use on my altar that I made.

My Cernunnos statue. Pic taken while he was still in the mold and drying.

There are some things that you may not be able to craft or just feel like you don't have the talent to do. That's OK too! That's what cleansing and charging is for.

My Book of Shadows is just a simple notebook. Your tools do not have to be fancy or expensive. We are the craft of the wise. It's not wise to spend all your money on an expensive item when it's not necessary. Often the most simplest of tools is what you feel most connected with.

Finally it's over!

Well like most Americans I am happy that the election is over so we can get back to our daily lives without the political debates and attack ads airing every 5 minutes.

I voted for Obama. I can't remember any other election where I felt trepidation while waiting for the results.

In 2008 I almost voted Republican. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to take the chance with Obama's health care bill. I'm still not quite sure about it. I am afraid, like a lot of Americans against the health care bill, that the government will legislate the crap out of it and make visiting a doctor or hospital one of the worst experiences we all must suffer through. I definitely like the law in other ways though. My husband is Bipolar, so pre-existing conditions made it difficult when we needed to buy private insurance. He went a year without any insurance at all because it was just impossible to find health care that would even cover him let alone be affordable. In the end doing some research, and listening to family and friends swayed me to vote for Obama in 2008. I'm glad I did. One of the best things he did was save the car industry and prevent another recession. I was happy to vote for him again this year and overjoyed that he won.

I'll leave you with this quote from my daughter last night.

"I don't care if Obama wins as long as Romney doesn't."

I think that's exactly what some Americans felt like when voting yesterday.

Change in Comment System

I'm having a bit of trouble with the comment system. I've liked Disqus and used it for a long time but it seems to have stopped working on me. So I've added the Facebook social plug in. This should connect directly to my Facebook Page. If you haven't already liked the page, please do.

Please give me a shout out below and let me know this is working for you.

Happy Birthaversary to me!

 I'm bringing last year's post back to just update. Today is once again my 33rd birthday and our anniversary. 15 years now! We lovingly call it my Birthaversary. How the hell did I put up with him for so long? lol

 We're spending the day with Lance in bed because he's sick, and I'm irritated because I was given a table on Freecycle and he won't go get it. Such is life right? But I still love him, even though he's a big baby when he's sick.

No presents, no cake. All the usual bit. We wake up, he says Happy Birthaversary. I say thank you and happy Anniversary. Then we're back to our daily lives. Perfect marriage right? lol 

Wyatt fell asleep like this last night. lol

           I couldn't resist adding a picture of my little man. I think I've neglected to mention on here that we are now cloth diapering. A friend and I made a trade. My breast pump for 10 cloth diapers yesterday. This blue jeans one was apart of that trade. Isn't he adorable in it?!

We've been cloth diapering for about a month now. Because my apartment has no washer/dryer hookup I wash by hand. It's going well though and I see no reason I can't continue cloth diapering up till he's potty trained. :)










~Magickal Graphics~



Posted: November 4th, 2011

Lance, the Kiss freak

This man, right to the left there, is the goofiest man alive! And he's all mine. :) November 4th marks 14 happily married years of putting up with silly antics from the man of my dreams. We have a 10 yr difference in our ages, and I can remember from a small girl I was infatuated with him!
Our relationship is kinda , well , weird. Without going into all the details, he's always been in my life. We saw each other occasionally. I was a little girl in pig tails who followed him around constantly. Then we moved away and I didn't see him for a long time. When I was 14 he moved to KY and lived with us for awhile. I still remember that day vividly. When we came home he was sitting in a chair by our front door. He had long hair and a gray t-shirt and jeans on. He looked like the bad tattoo man. You know the one you wouldn't want your daughter to go out with. Instant puppy love I tell you!
Over the next couple of years I'd have to see him date other women and it was torture for me! I knew they were not good enough, but I didn't let my feelings get in between us or stop me from dating others. We both went our separate ways as far as relationships.

Lance before we were together

Over the years his antics would make me laugh, cry, and shake my head in disbelief a few times!

2008

So what is a Birthaversary? Well it is my Anniversary and My Birthday! Today marks my 32 days young birthday.

Since money is an issue we've never really been able to do much for our anniversary. This year DH bought me a crochet hook and yarn so I get to finally start learning a new craft!  I've been wanting to do this for some time now. I spent 4 hours doing a simple chain over and over again. I think I unraveled it 2 or 3 times. But anything worth doing takes practice!

So here is what I finally accomplished.

My first attempt before I unraveled it. See I wasn't counting my rows and was getting lost a bit at the ends.

My finished product!

Now I'm going to spend some time on crochet websites learning more and then I'm going to attempt a baby blanket for Wyatt. I may also try a little hoodie or booties too. :) I simply love being a crafty little witch.

Blessings Love and Light my darlings.