Moving Forward

At last! I can finally say we are moving forward. It's been a long hard road, but we are finally going to move out of my MIL's home. We just signed the lease today. We'll have to wait till DH's day off this Saturday to move. But I've been doing all of the paperwork and getting utilities in our name. We stayed and walked around the apartment for a bit and Sierra is in love with her room.

The bad news is that we have very little household items in our name. DH's aunt is giving us two love seats, one of them is a sleeper sofa. We have a table that Dh's PC can go on. Other than that, we don't have a lot and not a lot of money to buy things either. I've posted on Freecycle asking for some essentials. We also won't have Internet for a few weeks, so I'm sorry to say I won't be able to write on my own blog or indulge myself in reading your lovely blog posts. It's just a temporary hiatus though so I'll be back with fresh content and much happier for having my own space!

I'll leave you with this. It's my latest clay creation. They are Elder Futhark Runes. They are carved on both sides. I also will be working on a clay box for these to go in. Once I'm finished they will be going in my new Etsy store, Pagan Creation. I may also do a little something for a giveaway in October. So stay tuned for that!

So until next time, Blessings, love, and light to all.

SWC

Pray For a Miracle

Today I came across this story about a couple who relied on faith to heal their 17 year old son. First I'd like to say there is nothing wrong with seeking healing from the Divine. Matter of fact I encourage it! But only relying on the Divine to intercede to solve a problem is (IMO) foolish. Especially when that problem can be solved easily by modern medicine. If Faith is all the hope you have left, by all means pray harder than you ever have before. But it shouldn't be your only course of action.

The Divine asks us to do the "work". (IE Take action to bring about the desired result). That would mean, GO TO THE DOCTOR. The Divine and Modern medicine can and often do work together.


Years ago I was searching for a car in my price range. We stopped at a place that had 10 or so used cars. Obviously it was a mom and pop kind of business. We gave them our price range (Which was really low) and they said they couldn't help us. Their advice, go to church and pray for a car.

What, was God going to throw down a car in our driveway if we prayed hard enough? After a few laughs and explaining that we are Pagan and don't believe God will just solve all our problems, we left and eventually found the car we could afford. But it took WORK. When it was meant to be, I picked up a newspaper a coworker had left sitting in the cafeteria. In it I found the perfect car for a great price. It was actually a little cheaper than we were looking for.

*Do you believe those who solely rely on faith to heal and never seek help from a medical    professional should be prosecuted, as in this story's case?

*Do you believe you can pray and things will just be handed to you?

Eclectic Belief Diversity

Star Foster over on Pantheon asks:

"So think about this for a moment: is your religious practice reflective of what you truly believe? Must you practice the way you do because it is what you believe? Based on what you truly believe, can you change your practice?

In some way, the idea that practice is formed in accordance with belief makes sense. Druids do X because they believe Y. But then there are the eclectics, and this is where I get confused. Do eclectics practice in such diverse and idiosyncratic ways because it fits their beliefs? Or, and yes I know this is a touchy idea, does a lack of consistency in practice perhaps denote a lack of belief?"

As an Eclectic Wiccan, I'll say that it's because I believe in diversity. When I first began my journey toward Wicca I found a lot of different opinions of course. But what I found to be true is that I don't need to fit in anyone elses box but my own.  If I believe that my technique works, it will. "As I will it, so mode it be!".

When trying to follow someone elses "instructions" I was constantly worrying that I was doing it wrong and completely missing the point. I couldn't connect to the divine when I wasn't comfortable with the practice. The rite wasn't mine, so therefore it never worked for me. Once I made it mine by customizing what I did in ritual then everything clicked and I felt the wonderful presence of the Divine.

There is no right way for everyone. There is a right way for each one. Diversity is a great thing, and I encourage everyone to embrace it. If a traditional approach works for you, great. But not everyone can feel comfortable in that setting which is why so many people try Paganism and end up leaving it.

How do your close ones feel about your witchy path? Do they know? Why or why not?

For the most part they are pretty open to my path. DH is spiritual. He doesn't claim any religion but he's studied many. He marches to his own tune so to speak. He's most close to Native American Shamanism. He's taught me a lot over the years and without him I'm sure I wouldn't be the same me today.

My mother "claims" to be Christian, but honestly I have never saw her to step foot in a church. She does believe that you don't need a church to be a good Christian, nor do you need to dress in your "Sunday" best. She doesn't know a lot about Wicca, but once in awhile she gets curious and asks. Other than that, she doesn't really live her beliefs.


My father isn't in the picture, and the rest of my family I do not have contact with. Overall we are not a very tight nit family. We couldn't be in the same room without knock down fights happening.

DH family doesn't really say much either. They are also not very religious.

A favourite pagan holiday that you celebrate.

Hands down it is Samhain (Oct 31-Nov 1) that is my favorite Pagan holiday. It is the last of the Harvest celebrations and one I'm always looking forward to. It is a time to mark the death of the God and the coming rebirth. Samhain is a time to honor our ancestors. They say this time is the thinnest between the veil of this world and the next. Divination is often done at this time to see what the winter might bring and commune with lost loved ones.

Some of my favorite past experiences at Samhain have been a re birthing ritual. Until I moved, we joined up with Linda Tipton and her coven Circle of the Blue Moon to do a Samhain celebration. We were made to walk along a path lit by tea light candles alone. This walk was very spiritual for everyone. In the end of the path was Ms Linda doing one reading for each person. You could ask one question of her. At the end you were "reborn" to the new year. I loved doing this. And I think it really marked a changing point in my spiritual life. I'll keep what I asked to myself. ;)

But we've had our fun times too. I remember several members drinking a little too much homemade mead. My husband played the designated friend and made sure no one fell into fire pits. He picked up quite a few people passed out in the bushes!

One year, it was so cold at Samhain (We always camped out) that we had to leave. It really isn't smart to camp out at the end of October. That year it was bitter cold. We got to a point where Lance and I could no longer feel our feet even while standing next to the open fire. So we left, found a hotel and came back the next day. I got pregnant that spring, so we never did another camping in October; especially with the baby around. We did visit for the days however. When we returned to work we were laughing at ourselves and quite a few people heard the story. To this day there is a UPS worker who reminds us of camping in October when he sees us.

Samhain is just a great time to celebrate family, the death and rebirth of life, and the changing of the seasons. Its a favorite of many Wiccans and its not hard to see why. We dance, we laugh, we sing and praise the Lord and Lady. And we remember those who have left us this year.

Blessings, Love, and Light

A magical recipe.

What better way to embody magick than in the making of bread. I think this is a lost art and its one I'm trying to get back. I think as early as 100 years ago it would be shameful to not know how to make a simple loaf of bread. How many of us have to look up recipes now? I know I did! So today I decided to make bread. Now let me start off by saying I am in no way a perfect baker. I have my issues with bread. Either it doesn't rise, rises too much, is too gooey in the center or crumbles too much. Today's loaf crumbles too much, but at least I can eat it will a little butter or jam. I didn't get a good color on it though unfortunately. I think it could have used a bit more browning, but it was already very hard on the outer layer and I didn't want it to get too much harder.

One cup warm water (Not hot)

1 package active dry yeast

3 tablespoons sugar

Let yeast proof for 10 minutes.

Proof the yeast

 Mix in all-purpose flour till it has a sticky consistency. Should be able to pinch off a piece of dough easily.

Added my flour

Allow dough to rise

 Allow dough to rise (About 2 hours)

Add 1/2 cup of flour and kneed. Add more flour if too sticky

Finished product. As you can see I couldn't wait till I cut into it! Sorry for not taking a picture before I cut it.

 Allow to rise and bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour. If your like me, you can't wait till you can cut into it. You really should wait till it cools though. And there we have yummy homemade bread! The magick is in the sharing with family. :)

Combining faith in marriage

A lot of Pagans face a difference of opinion between their spouse in regards to religion. Unless you were lucky enough to find your significant other in a Pagan community, your spouse most likely doesn't see completely eye to eye with you. That is fine, we don't have to agree. I got lucky enough to find a man who is somewhat close to what I believe. Matter of fact he helped shape some of my ideals. But we don't believe exactly.

Now for myself, I classify as a Solitary Eclectic Wiccan. My DH however does not like to classify himself at all. He simply calls himself spiritual. At one time he studied most major religions, and a few not so major ones. He wanted to become a Native American Shaman but the Shaman he wanted to study under refused. So while he's learned some things about Shamanism, he is not technically a Shaman.

Combining Wicca & Shamanism isn't all that hard. They both believe in a male and female incarnation of deity. I work mostly with Isis. But I do not have a major draw to any male deity so we use The Great Spirit for when we work with the male aspect of deity.

Do you find it difficult to combine your religion and your So's? How do you reconcile your differences in belief?