13 Goals of a Witch, Interpreted

Hey, Readers,

I got a message on YouTube from someone wanting to know exactly what these 13 Goals of Cunningham's mean, in layman's terms. If you Google the subject, you'll find many pages where other people have given their personal interpretations of the goals. So I thought, why not post my answer to my blog, for future reference? My interpretations are not drastically different than anything I already read, which is good. It means we're all on the same track about what we should be doing! But I did find some things in other people's pages that I wouldn't have thought to say, and I also have some quotes and things I like that I haven't seen elsewhere yet. Without further adieu, the 13 Goals of a Witch, interpreted by yours truly.


The 13 Goals of a Witch


1) Know Yourself -- This one comes first for a reason. Have you ever heard the saying, in these or similar words, "For anyone else to love you, you have to love yourself first"? It's the same concept. In order to learn about the rest of the world, in order to make magick happen effectively, in order to create positive change in your life, even in order to have healthy relationships in general, you have to know yourself first. It all starts with YOU. So what does it mean, to know yourself? It means to know who you are, what you believe, what you stand for, what you like and dislike, what you feel deep in your heart about different situations, and most of all it means being HONEST with yourself about who you are. It means knowing your strengths and being proud of them, and also knowing your weaknesses so that you can work on them. In the story of Rumpelstiltskin, he is bested by the character who learns his name, because names hold power. Think of Rumpelstiltskin as one of your negative traits, something you know is part of you that you want to work on. It is much easier to defeat something if you can name it. (Back when exorcisms were still something Christian clergymen did, part of the process was learning the entity's name in order to banish it correctly. I read that recently and I would direct you to the source if I could but remember it, I read so much...) When you recognize your own short-comings and negative attributes, you can better see them coming and work on improving. But don't forget to recognize your positives, too. Give yourself what credit you deserve! This one is all about YOU, knowing who you really are, and being the best you that you can be.

2) Know your Craft -- This one may seem pretty obvious, but it's important to remember. This is about knowing your stuff! Strive to know as much as you can about the Craft in general, but also about your personal favorite ways to do things. Find out different ways to do the same thing, try them all out, and see what works best for you--YOUR craft. If you don't know yet what works best for you, that's a sign to test different ways. Observe or chat with other people to find out how they do things, and try it out. Read about new ideas, even when you have a pretty set way of doing things, just to freshen it up and stay sharp. Your tastes may change, or you may just add it to your growing knowledge of the craft and how people practice it. I think it's very significant that the word "your" is used here. Know the Craft, but also know your Craft.

3) Learn and Grow (sometimes written as just Learn) -- You've heard me say it before, and I will never mind saying it again. We are ALL, ALWAYS learning! Life in general is about learning. This path is one of learning and practice, trial and error, trial and success. It's called a "practice" for a reason. Learn from books, websites, and other people, but also remember that a lot of your learning comes from your own experiences, nature, and if you believe in a deity concept, from Deity, as well. By learning as much as you can, and accepting that there WILL always be more to learn, you ensure that you are constantly growing. Be ever a student, of this and all subjects. Even when we "master" certain things, there are always yet more things to learn along the way.

4) Apply Knowledge with Wisdom -- Okay, you did all that learning and growing and studying and practicing, and now you know a lot of stuff! Good for you! Now comes what may be the harder part: Using that knowledge wisely. Sometimes this can mean applying common sense. Other times, it might mean thinking creatively or outside the box. (You can almost hear your older family member, handing you a few dollars and saying, "Use it wisely...") Essentially, this goal is about remembering that knowledge alone is not always enough to work out there in the real world, whether it be in magick or mundane aspects. The knowledge is necessary, a separate goal in itself, but it's not much good if you don't know how to apply it.

One quote that I love, from the Tao Te Ching: "In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped."

5) Achieve Balance -- This is what it's all about, man! Haha. Wicca especially, is a religion about balance. But even for non-Wiccans, balance is an important goal. On the spiritual side of things, we might be talking about the balance between Yin and Yang energies, masculine and feminine, light and dark, positive and negative, fire and earth or air and water, or between earth, air, fire, and water, or between elements of other cultures and belief systems, like earth, metal, water, wood, and fire. In Yoga, you might try to achieve physical balance, mastering a pose you couldn't do before. Gymnasts, dancers, and other athletes certainly strive for this kind of balance, as well. But it goes beyond even these things. You should strive for a balanced diet, a balanced meal, one of the other links I read mentioned a balanced checkbook! A balance between school and social life, or between work and play. A balance between caring for your family and caring for yourself. There are many, many aspects of our lives where we need balance, and this is why it's a goal. Not only for witches, but for everyone.

6) Keep Your Words in Good Order -- It may be a cliche, but it's for good reason: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That's just one part of this goal, in my mind. Keeping your words in good order means thinking before you speak, absolutely. And when you think about it, the best decision may be not to say anything at all. Cutting over into the Wiccan Rede, "Speak ye little, listen much." Maybe it's better to save your words for now. But another part of this goal is just finding the right words. It's not always appropriate or even helpful to remain silent, so keep your words in good order by thinking about what you're going to say and saying it in the best way possible. Many people speak before they've thought it through and may end up regretting their words, either immediately or later on. Save that trouble by being aware of the words you're using. Know why you use certain words. Use the best words for the purpose. This applies to speaking, writing, spellcraft, any time you use words to communicate.

7) Keep Your Thoughts in Good Order -- One of the other links I read switches this goal with #6, making the point that before we can keep our words in good order, we must first keep our thoughts in good order. Thus, think before you speak. I like to think of it that way, though I maintained this order for the list. Very similar to the previous, this goal is about keeping track of what we're thinking. I do a lot of spellcraft using positive affirmation. I believe that thinking positively affects our lives for the better. And I know for a fact that negative thinking breeds negative results. Without even getting into the psychology of it all, I think many people, witches and non-practitioners, can agree on the fact that the way we think influences our actions, our relationships, the way we interpret things that happen to us, and so on. Keeping your thoughts in check is extremely important, and also extremely difficult for some people, or even for all people at certain times in life. We think things before we even notice it consciously. I will not pretend for a second that I have this goal mastered. Remember, that's why these are goals. Know yourself, and be honest with yourself, enough to keep working on the goals that elude you. It's all a process.

Helpful Hint: You know how people knock on wood after saying or thinking something that might "jinx" a situation? I definitely do that. Always three times! This comes from knocking on trees to ask the spirits of the trees, or creatures living inside, for help. You can knock on wood as a reminder to yourself not to think a certain way. Or, you can do what my mother, Rev. Rose does! When she thinks or says something that she realizes is not the best order for her thoughts or words to be in, she looks up to the sky, sometimes points or gestures, and emphatically says, "Cancel that!"

A theatrical trick: Just then, I said "not to think a certain way." This is not the best order for my words! In the theatre, actors are given motivation for their character. As a director, one of the least helpful things is to tell an actor what NOT to do. Think about it, when someone tells you "Whatever you do, do not look at that lamp," it's going to be really hard not to look there! "Don't think about polar bears." Same! It's much easier to give an actor a positive motivation, such as "Look at the door," or "Think about water buffalo." So take a stage hint, and give yourself a POSITIVE motivation. That is, give yourself something TO DO, instead of trying hard not to do something. One of my old roommates had the personal mantra, "DON'T PANIC." I used to replace her notes to herself which said that, with the positive mantra, "BE CALM."

8) Celebrate Life -- Yay, Life! Spiritually speaking, we revere life. We revere the cycle of nature, which is the circle of life (cue The Lion King). Birth, life, death, rebirth. There are many different cycles, not all of which I can name in a short paragraph. This goal is just about that. Celebrate Life in all its forms. Celebrate your life, the life of others, the life of non-human animate beings, and even the life and existence of inanimate beings. Celebrate life rather than mourning death. Honor the Life of all things, all peoples, all places. Sometimes, when a baby cries and screams in a public place and other people are getting annoyed with the child and its parents, I tend to smile to myself remembering this goal. I have to smile, because yes that baby is crying right now and that may be distracting and sad, but that baby is ALIVE and doing what babies DO! And that's awesome! People in general can get really annoying and make you sad or angry or any number of negative emotions. Some people just really are not worth our time to worry about. But hey, that's just another part of life, too. Adversity. Experience. Life. Life is worth celebrating.

9) Attune with the Cycles of the Earth -- Okay, I just talked about cycles. But this goal is specifically about tuning into that cycle of nature I just mentioned, being on the same frequency, riding the same waves. Maybe even literally! Many pagan paths are nature-based. And even if not, our own lives follow the basic cycles we can observe in nature. So however you have to view it in your own mind, in order to make it fit your path and your way of seeing the world, attuning to nature is a great goal to have. You learn so much more about things when you focus on them, and really find them interesting. The Earth continues in its revolutions and orbit no matter what we're focusing on, but when you tap into that energy yourself, and become an active part in the cycle, that is so much more. Don't let the world just go by without you, under the radar, doing its own thing. Make it part of your thing, happening with you, not to you or despite you. You are a part of Nature, and you live on the Earth (presumably?). You're a part of this. Be an active participant.

10) Breathe and Eat Correctly -- If you follow the Wiccan Rede (I say if because I do hope that non-Wiccans read this, and I truly believe most of these goals apply to many more types of pagans/witches, and even to completely non-magickal people, and all the goals apply if you think of them in your own context), then you may see this goal as being an essential part of following that advice to Harm None. Harming None starts with the Self. This goal is so simply stated, but so hard to do for a lot of people. It is just about taking care of yourself, for you are your greatest asset, your most prized possession. Staying healthy and working toward that actively is a necessary goal for anyone, but on a pagan path it extends to our non-physical body, and affects our practice. It may also mirror our belief. If you believe in taking care of Nature, you are part of Nature and should therefore take good care of yourself, too. If you like meditation (more on that soon), then breathing correctly is important for your health but also for your focus, intention, and relaxation. Whatever your reason is, this goal is about caring for yourself, and is a very important goal.

11) Exercise the Body -- Remember all that stuff earlier about reading, learning, studying...? That's a lot of exercising for your brain! But unless you run back and forth to the library, that stuff doesn't necessarily take care of the rest of you, namely, your physical body. For some people this is very difficult, and personal conditions always vary. But quite simply, that's the point of this goal: Remember that working out your brain is great, but you cannot neglect your body. Your physical being is still YOU. A part of you. Your vessel in this realm, if you like to think of it that way. Your physical body is just as important as your mind and spirit, which is why we frequently talk about the three together.

12) Meditate -- There are so many ways to meditate, and so many purposes for meditation. You might meditate to relax or to clear your mind, or you can also meditate to focus and work out a problem. Meditation involves practice in correct breathing, posture, focus and concentration, maybe also visualization, practice in receiving messages auditorily or in other ways... Basically, since there are so many ways and reasons to meditate, everyone can do it. You just have to find the way that's right for you. Some people meditate while walking or driving, often subconsciously. We get focused on a single task and part of our mind wanders and goes through different streams even while our conscious mind remains completely alert to the task at hand. This is why I have often found myself snapping back from a meditative state while driving, even knowing full well that I was at no point ever unaware of the road or unfocused on driving safely. When I was in high school concert band, we played the same songs so many times that during class and even in concerts, I would find myself ending a piece, not remembering having played ANY of it because my mind was in a meditative state, yet knowing that I had played the entire piece accurately and with complete attention from a different part of my brain. My point being, anyone can meditate, and most people probably DO meditate without even knowing it. Meditation doesn't always have to be sitting in the lotus position with zither music playing in the background, or with incense burning and someone gently intoning the instructions for what you should be seeing right now. I think many people shy away from meditation thinking it's not something they would like, or would want to do. But I posit that there is a way for everyone, and the benefits of meditation are multiple and varied, so it's a good goal to strive toward.

13) Honor the Goddess and God -- Obviously, the way this goal is written makes it the most belief-specific. In a Wiccan context, it's pretty self-explanatory. Honor the Goddess and God in your own way, respect them, and respect them by respecting yourself, for you are their child, their sibling, their lover, their friend. Give them a place in your rites, in your heart, in your mind, and in your life. Thank them for what they have given you, what they've done for you. Thank them and know that they are (t)here. If you're not Wiccan, but are some other sort of Theist, this goal can easily be thought of as honoring whatever Force or Form you do honor and revere. For my mother, this goal might be simply "Honor God." For other polytheists, maybe "Honor the Gods." For even me, beyond God and Goddess I usually refer to what I feel is the ultimate connective power, that which the Goddess and God represent to me, which the energy of the Universe itself, Universal Energy. I may choose to instead think, "Honor the Universe," or even "Honor Your Connection with the Universe" which would mean my relations with other people and things on this earth as well as the over-arching concepts of the Universe at large. The final principle of Unitarian Universalism is "respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." That could easily be thought of as this last goal. And if you're a non-theist, atheist, agnostic, or some other such term, think of this goal as being about whatever it is that you do believe in and hold dear. Maybe you believe, above all, in Truth. Honesty. Friendship. Loyalty. Maybe you want to Honor Honor. Maybe it's Family. Love. Humanity. Not everyone has religious faith, or even a spirituality, but people still generally hold something very close to their hearts. Something personal, a code they choose to follow. That's what this goal is about.


Thank you all for reading, and I do hope it helps not only this questioner, but those who have wondered about these goals in the past, and also those who will find it in the future. Do read other people's interpretations of the same goals to get a different feel, and try writing out what the goals mean to you. I will put some links at the bottom, to the two other pages I read (which I mentioned here), and there are many more online for you to find.

I wish you luck and light on your journey.
Blessings~
-C-


Here are some other people's interpretations:
--http://www.thewiccanway.org/13goals.html
--http://www.angelfire.com/ma/cyrannahome/goals.html

Forgiveness & Doing Good

Hey, Readers,

The Universe has a funny way of always knowing what I need to hear. Sometimes this can be summed up with "Ask and you shall receive." Other times, I didn't ask, the Universe just knows better than I do! Haha. In this case, it's the latter.

I was originally coming on here to blog about deity worship, which I will get to in another post, but this must come first. I got on here to write about that, but decided to catch up on the only blog I follow on here, My Hellenic Life, written by PriestChristopher, as he was known on YouTube. I'm very glad that he linked me his blog before he decided to stop using YouTube, because that way I am now able to keep in touch with his writings.

While I was catching up on his past posts, which range in subject matter from politics to statuary to visiting Circle Sanctuary, my mother and I learned that someone we know got ordained as a ULC minister, which my mother is. And this posed a strange question with us, because the person in question is a pagan, so my mother is unsure of why they want to be a minister through a Christian-based (albeit Universal) church, and they also aren't very knowledgeable about paganism, so I'm concerned about whether they're going to go around claiming to be a pagan minister.

So You're New to the Craft...

Hey, Readers,

This is my script to this week's video on The Pagan Perspective. It covers three questions: one for general advice for new pagans, and two from a new pagan about how to be a pagan and about the number of gods.

The questions:

from CulainRuledByVenus
--I just uploaded a video directed at people new to Paganism, and now am wondering how you too would address them. Considering the broad spectrum of all that it is, implies, entails, and even all that it is made out to be by those who misunderstand and misrepresent it, I'm asking for your thoughts on this in the spirit of general advice and suggestions. I had suggested that newcomers should gather many perspectives about it, and thought "What better accommodation than the Pagan Perspective?"
Thank for reading,
Culain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sKs9Ra6t1c 

from mikilee2290
--i need help being a pure pagan. i been raised in a christian family, and im only 12, and i wanna be pagan, but was never taught how. can you help me?
--how many gods are there

VIDEOS: Lily Dale Assembly

Hey, Readers,

For those of you who also like to be viewers, here are the two videos posted on my channel from my trip to Lily Dale, New York! We went on 18 August, 2012 and I posted the videos later, but didn't link them here until now.

~

Me, outside the Healing Temple in Lily Dale.

Part One: Healing, Inspiration, & Spirituality

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Me, at the beach in Lily Dale.

Part Two: Bargains, Buckland, & the Beach

~

Oh, and here's a bonus picture of me with Raymond Buckland's Corvette. =)

Buckland's Corvette and me in Lily Dale. <3

I've said I would possibly blog more about the trip later on, but I haven't yet. Perhaps in the future! Until then, please enjoy the videos.

Blessings~

-C-

No-Show Witchcraft

Hey, Readers!

Some people like to wear no-show socks. Some people like no-show deodorant. Me? Well, I enjoy those things, too, but something else I don't tend to show much of is my spellcrafting or much of my practice.

This post is both an update to the last post about my "blue moon" ritual plans being cancelled, and an attempt to address something that a viewer pointed out which has also been an ongoing struggle of my own. I refer to the practice of sharing our personal practice online, and the connected suspicion that if we don't show it, maybe we're not really doing it at all.

Uncommon Species
Of the almost 300 videos on my YouTube channel so far, I have 54 in my "Religion-related videos" playlist at the time of this blog post, and some others are probably also related to my spirituality but not enough that I put them in the playlist. Of these 54 videos, I can count FOUR demonstrations and TWO celebrations--videos where I show an event I'm attending (a drum circle in 2008, and Pagan Pride in August 2012). There are also several videos where I explain, in words, something I have done previously or the way I normally do something (like grounding/centering) without actually showing me doing these things. Of these videos, I can count somewhere around FIVE. I know that on paganperspective I have done at least two demonstrations, one showing how I would do a "love spell" to draw love to me, and the other was some energy work that I have an extra video from on my channel. So as you can see, showing myself doing spellcraft is not common, but I have shown some things, and other things I am alright with explaining in words.

The rest of my practice--the other drum circles I've attended or held in my backyard or living room with family and friends, the first group practices I did way back in 2004-2008 when I was starting to study Wicca, each time I cleanse crystals by the full moon and the sun, walking meditations, dreams, shadow work circles, elemental meditation circles, my Litha ritual this year, little spells here and there for energy or healing or protection and so on, or the simple offerings and crystal cleansing I did for the "blue moon" this past week--is not shown. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, of course. It only means that I don't show it to the whole world. Many of my rituals are done outside in the middle of the night, so recording wouldn't even be practical if I wanted to record them. I think everyone understands that not every moment of any YouTuber's life is shown in videos. Even the Shaytards, who have posted a video every day for years now, leave out some moments. So I think people know that just because I'm not showing my craft does not mean it doesn't exist, especially when I do talk about a lot of things afterwards.

A Personal Choice
Despite this probable understanding, I do struggle with what to show and what not to. From the beginning, I did not feel it was right to record myself performing a ritual. Something like that is personal, and having it recorded feels to me like I'm only doing the ritual to show it to others, which is not the case when I'm working. I don't even show my altar set-ups, because whenever I go to take a picture, I have this feeling of "So you set this up just to show other people?" I enjoy looking at pictures of other people's altars, and people have asked to see mine, yet so far I have not desired to show my personal practices. I talk about them pretty openly, but SHOWING them is different for me. I did, however, take a few photos with my cell phone of what I did for my Litha ritual this year, planning on sharing it later on down the line, or maybe even next year. I need a buffer zone for sharing things, to a point where I feel it's been long enough that it won't affect my feelings about what I've done. I need and want that personal time with it. It's for me and my connection to the Universe. Yet, I enjoy connecting to other people. So I do have some pictures stored away that I may share at some point, and I do plan on showing my "Craft Room" at some point in a video.

Examples
Like I said, there are some videos that do show or explain bits of my practice, though perhaps they are too rare for people to take note. Even when I've done demonstrations of spells in video, the one on paganperspective was for demonstration only, going through the motions. I did it again afterwards with my energy actually into it. I didn't feel comfortable actually performing it on camera, but I wanted to show my process to show people how I do it. In my flower affirmation video, I was actually collecting the flowers I wanted and then releasing them, so that was as close to showing real work as I got with video, though to me it was much more informal and therefore did not bother me as much to show it. And with my Doorknob Spell, I would show that, but it was just a story about what happened years ago! If I still had the dry erase doorknob hanger, I would gladly demonstrate, but I think that one's pretty self-explanatory as a story. In my Samhain Ritual video, I talk about what I did with the UU club. It wasn't appropriate to record the actual event, but I didn't mind at all telling my viewers the specifics, and I do plan to share the notes of the ritual at some point so that others may use it if they like.

Finally, I come to the most recent, my Pagan Pride 2012 video which was recorded at Cleveland Area (Ohio) Pagan Pride on 25 August. We got there just in time for a public ritual of sorts, and when it began I gave the camera to my friend so that he could record some things while my other friend and I participated in the ritual. It mostly consisted of dancing, and the video shows just a little of us greeting the elements while the leaders of the ritual did the actual calling. I thought since it was public anyway, sharing a bit would be a good opportunity for others to see. Several people commented on the fact that they don't usually see me participating in ritual or actually doing any working, so it was nice to see. And one person voiced my thoughts that I have long since ceased worrying about--whether anyone else had been wondering if I was "all talk."

I don't blame anyone for wondering it, necessarily. I have sometimes wondered if people thought that about me. But as I responded to the comment, my personal feelings are still more important. I do show some things, and I share a lot of things in the form of stories and explanations. I do not feel as though I am in any way coming off as fake. But I have wondered if some people think so, because there are quite a lot of pagans on YouTube who show themselves doing various things pretty frequently. Perhaps I am a minority, but I don't mind it.

More of the Same
While I do not personally feel that I am doing myself a disservice, I do think maybe it's important to share the videos I have done that show or demonstrate things, and to share why I don't show more. I really appreciate people's videos that show me how to do things, like make offering stones or black salt, or when Dancing Rabbit demonstrated Starhawk's salt water cleansing. So why don't I do more of that, showing things that I do? People have asked me to show how I cleanse stones, and I keep meaning to and just haven't yet. People ask to see my altars, and again, when I get to showing my witchy room, I will show my general, simple set-ups. But generally I don't show more because 1) I don't feel like I know enough or know something better than anyone else, that I should make a video about it, or 2) it feels too personal and I don't want to betray that, or 3) I feel that it suffices to point you to someone else, because that's where I got it anyway, so why should I redo it? I hold no specific authority just because it's me doing the video.

I'm going to continue only showing what I feel is appropriate (by my own standards) to show, and I am going to continue enjoying what others feel like sharing. Nothing will change, but maybe it does good to explain.

Blessings~
-C-

"Blue" Moon Cancelled Plans

Hey, Readers,

One of the most difficult things about being a solitary practitioner is really sticking to a schedule and making sure you get things done. Especially when life is so busy, it's hard to plan something and actually do it. Distractions happen, things come up, things get in the way, and it's easy to just give up because you're not answering to anyone else. This month, I had the opportunity to dodge that issue because my Wiccan friend from church invited me to her house for a "blue moon" ritual. (Of course, this is not a real blue moon--it's what people popularly call a blue moon, the second full moon in a month. A blue moon is actually the fourth full moon in a given season of the year; there are normally three per season. The next actual blue moon takes place next year, in 2013.) We've been talking about this for weeks, and I was excited to get to experience a small group ritual with people who identify as the same religion as I do. I've done simple things with folks of other pagan paths or other spiritual paths, but this friend and her children identify as Wiccan.

This past weekend, I went to Pagan Pride with one of my friends and we met up with this Wiccan friend of mine and her kids to hang out for the day. One of her daughters got a new wand, which was going to be charged tonight along with whatever else we were going to do. I really had no idea what was being planned, just that something little would take place and probably a bonfire. Anyway, as you can tell from the title of this post, our ritual didn't happen at all. I texted my friend today to see what was going on, and she said we'd probably do something around 8pm. A little later she texted me that another person she invited couldn't make it so it might just be us. I was at work so I didn't respond until an hour later, when my shift ended, and then I didn't hear back from her for hours. While I waited, I did finally make myself a pair of ear cuffs to get me started on making some for my Etsy, so that was good. Then, past the time that I would have had to leave to get to her house by 8pm, she finally responded because she had just gotten my texts, letting me know that an illness she's been dealing with on and off came back and she doesn't feel well tonight, so we'll plan something for next month. The good thing about working every other weekend means that, at least for a couple cycles, the new and full moons line up with my weekends off of work! She said she still has to charge her daughter's wand, though, or they wouldn't hear the end of it. =) I told her to charge it up and get some aura healing going so she can feel better quickly and see me at church on Sunday.

I had hyped myself up too much for the ritual not to do anything--after all, I made new "earrings" for the occasion!--so I decided I would at least charge some crystals or make some offerings or something. But, of course, there is another obstacle for me. I still live in my mother's house, and the people who live here make noise. It's difficult for me to do any kind of ritual in my room with the background noise. I was going to go outside, but I was busy working on some things and then it was too dark and people were still awake and bustling about. I ended up watching videos and answering messages for hours. I was also texting my friends who have recently moved, and my boyfriend who just left for graduate school today, a couple hours away. I couldn't bring myself to end the conversation because I miss him. But I did have him place the rose quartz chunk that I gave him near the window, so when I charged my "matching one" (they're natural, so of course they are not identical, but I got them as a pair and charged them as a pair before giving him one), his would also be charged tonight under the moon. My beautiful, accepting, atheist boyfriend happily complied. I'm so glad he's supportive.

So long story short, it's a quarter to three o'clock in the morning on September 1st, there is a full not-really-blue-but-periwinkle-or-Alice-Blue moon outside in the sky, and I am writing this, still trying to decide what I will do. I should at least charge my stones, but will I clean up my craft room and do it indoors, or go outside in the front yard or field? Is it cold out there? Is it nice enough to bring my yoga mat out to meditate for a while? I wanted to walk to my two trees to make offerings, but it's dark--should I brave it under the moonlight, as an exercise, or wait until morning? Both? What do I want to get out of tonight, and how should I best go about it? I think I shall go outside, but then what shall I carry? I can't bring many things on a walk, but I need salt and water, and those are easy enough. I don't think I'll bother with a smudge stick and lighter. Oh, good golly, Miss Molly, and WHEN am I ever going to finish that car protection charm? Tonight? Perhaps. I probably should, but...

So you see, the big issue here is that I could easily not do anything. I don't have a friend waiting on me to arrive. I don't have a whole group planning what we'll do. It's just me. Me and my Universe, my gods, my trees, my moonlight, my crystals, my path. I like it, but I also dislike how easy it is to walk away. How easy to crawl into bed, and okay, maybe I read Drawing Down the Moon, but that's still not DOING anything for the observance. It is very easy not to hold yourself accountable. Thus, I write about it, so I will feel compelled to tell you later on whether I did something. Though I have always hated feeling like I've done something just for the sake of telling others. My path, after all. Just mine.

Blessings~
-C-

I AM SO PUMPED RIGHT NOW (Lily Dale)

Hey, Readers!

You like that extremely colloquial title to this post? WELL, I AM PSYCHED. LET ME TELL YOU WHY.

My mom and I are going on a day trip tomorrow to Lily Dale, New York, which is a trip we've had planned for about a month for my birthday (my birthday was yesterday, the 16th). We're going with a large group of people, organized by a friend of ours who is a spiritualist and medium and did a lot of work at Lily Dale. We only paid the basic entrance fee, which includes a lot of daily, free things you can do within the area. There are also extra things that you can pay more for, but we're not going to do any of that.

So before you get too excited with me, know that I cannot ATTEND this exact thing that is making me so excited because 1) I don't have an extra $45 to spare and 2) apparently you had to register online way before this and I didn't know it was happening until just now when I looked up Lily Dale to try and see what would be available for us to do for free. So I'm not going to this event, BUT I'M PSYCHED ABOUT IT NONETHELESS, BECAUSE...

Thank You

Just a brief note of thanks to the people who purchase items from my Etsy shop.

Dear Customers,

I know I thank you in multiple ways in and around your order, but before I go to bed tonight I just wanted to say thank you here, in this public arena. You, my customers, mean a lot to me. The viewers of my videos mean a lot to me, too, and many of you are both of those things, so you can imagine how important I find you.

It is true, as many of you have pointed out--I do need the money right now to help me pay back student loans and such. So I cannot thank those of you enough who have stated that a big reason you like supporting me is because I need the money and still don't overcharge. I also have to really thank those of you who bought certain items, because while I don't triple my price like some places do, I still worry that in this economy I am asking too much for my creations. But those of you who purchased some of the items I was worried about have renewed my faith in my ability to rightly judge cost and worth. If one person buys it, I know my work is worth it. If two buy it, I am thrilled! So thank you ever so much for your contributions in that vein.

I also have to thank the few repeat customers I have. There is a unique pleasure in sending more items somewhere that I know my creations already exist. It's like they're going to be together again. And it really helps me to know that you liked my work well enough to order some more. Thank you.

Lastly, I just want to say thank you in general for allowing me to do this and supporting me in it. It is sometimes hard to part with an item you've created so lovingly and with such attention, yet so far I've been more excited to share my work with others than I have been experiencing issues parting with it. I've enjoyed keeping a map of my sales, marking the cities to which my items are sent, so I can see my global influence. My items now range as far west as Utah and as far east as western Australia. I cannot express how wonderful that feeling is. My videos are seen all over (depending on who chooses to watch) and now things that have been in my hands live all over the world. Thanks to you.

Thank you, ever so much, for your support.
Blessings~
-C-

Food-Only Altar

Hey, Readers,

Someone sent me a message on YouTube asking for suggestions for dorm-friendly representations of the elements and God/Goddess. I have a great love for symbolism, and I think I'm quite good at finding meaning in things, and finding connections between things that other people may view as unrelated.

I gave this person some of the usual suggestions for the elements--things I use or things others have used. But I had never really been asked to suggest symbolism for God and Goddess before. Being me, I ended up going from ritual items, natural items, and color suggestions to simple items that could be found anywhere that represent masculine and feminine--something phallic and something womb-like, I said. Thinking of what a college/university student might have, I suggested a butter knife and spoon, or a fork and spoon, or even a straw in a glass. Such things may sound silly, I know, but the symbolism fits if only you personally feel that such items call to you!

Then I thought, perhaps, a food-only altar would be fun to try out sometime. We all know there are masculine and feminine foods. But besides that, foods are also associated with elements, AND they are different colors. So why not create an altar whereupon every representation is a food item?

Growing Magick

In my previous post, I alluded to a subject I would be writing another post about and I haven't gotten to it yet. Before I get to that one, I wanted to share something new from yesterday.


I'm currently assisting with a theatre workshop for 8-13 year olds. They astound me in more ways than one. One of these ways is how open they are about their religion. They are still too young to know that theirs is not the only one, or that others could be offended by their constant referencing of their beliefs. I'm probably the only person involved in the workshop who isn't Christian, though one other person at least has similar tastes for metaphysical things along with her beliefs.

I know the kids are being raised Christian because they wear shirts from their church groups, camps, or other events all the time. (Adults who come through the building sport similar attire.) And when we play games with the kids where they get to make up stories or responses, it always turns to a stream that goes something like someone falls down > they got shot > death > Hell > the devil > Satan > evil. That is an exact train of thoughts that happened when I had them play "I Am the Sun," which should be a very happy and positive game. And the children seem happy while saying these things, of course. I don't mean to say they're miserable and plagued by thoughts of demons. But I think it's even more disturbing that they bring up Hell and Satan and evil as part of game-play, laughing and smiling about it.

So yesterday, I decided to have a little fun of my own and introduce some magick.

Update. Location, Universal, and Study.

Hey, Readers!

There are quite a few messages in my YouTube inbox that I need to address, so I thought I would update this before getting to those in order to track what I've been thinking about before, and then possibly what comes up after, because of people's messages! I've narrowed it to three main things I've been thinking about.

LOCATION:
As traveling to England and Wales recently taught me, there is definitely something great about being at home. You have all your own things, a place to put everything, and you can get any one of your possessions right away if you find that you need it after not using it for a long, long time. Traveling was great, and I think if I lived over there, it would be fine to stay for long periods, but being away from my home was the hard part.

I've also seen this effect on me when I stay at my boyfriend's house for a couple nights. I love being with him, and I love staying at his house. Sometimes I really just need to get away from my home and the people there, and visiting him is the perfect way to do so. But I notice an effect on my practice when I go there, which is that I don't really grow much spiritually while visiting him. This is because there, I am a guest. I don't have my own space at his house, and I don't use my time there for study--I use it to spend time with him. This is fine, of course. I like taking time out from my week to relax on the weekends. It's just something I've noticed. I don't take time there to meditate, or to have circle, or anything. I know that if we end up living together this will be different, because I will have my own space, and he is fine with my practice so there wouldn't be anything keeping me from feeling like I could use my own space for my study. In fact that just means he'd be listening to my ramblings about it even more often than he does now! But I do wonder how people might keep up their practice if they are constantly moving, or if I were to travel for a period of time, how I would seek to ensure that I always have time to practice should I desire it.

UNIVERSAL:
Or, to be specific, what it means to be "too universal." Someone left a comment on one of my YouTube videos a while back, saying that I was being "too universal," and their view was that certain people should be left out. Without getting into that exact context, the concept of being "too universal" has stuck with me, and probably always will. I wondered, how could one be too universal if being universal is about everything and everyone? Why shouldn't I be accepting? And now, after several months at least (I don't remember exactly when the comment was, but I think it was under a year ago), I think I have come up with one example, whether or not it matches what the person originally meant.

I am well aware that my personal beliefs and practices are not Universal. I never felt they should be. Instead, what I attempt to do is to understand or at least acknowledge other viewpoints as I learn about them. Thus, I say things like "I do it such a way, but I know some people do this, and one person I talked to does this, and I think this other group has this opinion but I've really only read about that." I try to show that I do care (and know) that others do things differently, that my way is not the only way, that the person asking me for advice may prefer another way I happen to vaguely know about rather than my personal way. But sometimes I do find myself feeling like I'm not giving my own beliefs their due status by constantly mentioning other people's views. In other words, even though I do think other people's ways of doing something are valid, I sometimes feel it makes me seem unsure about my own beliefs. I say this because people often comment that they got a different feeling from what I said, when I actually fully agree with them as far as my personal practice goes, and I was just offering another perspective about what other people may do. I wonder if I'm not being clear as to what I actually believe.

I still don't want to ever say my way is THE way, or that no one does things differently. That goes against my belief in itself. But I wonder if the way I speak is sometimes "too universal," and perhaps I need to focus on my ways more, so that I no longer feel I am leaving them untied.


STUDY:
Actually, I now cannot remember exactly what I meant by this keyword when I typed it in the subject bar. There may have been a better word! Let's see. I have been thinking a lot about wanting to study more formally. I've always said if a teacher came along I would like one. I've also been thinking about how it's important to study other views as well, which may go along with the "too universal" point. In fact, I think this brings me to a whole other realization. I do think it's important to study all one can, and to learn about other faiths when given the chance, and especially to be able to have a basic working knowledge of something so that when it's brought up you're not left totally in the dark. But seeing as I've only just recently (as of graduation) begun to follow my OWN chosen path more than I have in the past, maybe I should go ahead and stop focusing on other ways, and learning about other people, and really focus on my own stuff for a while. Again, this is tough because I never want to shut out other ideas, and I always want to learn about other ways! It is part of my belief that this betters me, as well. However... maybe it is time to get serious and put off any outside learning just yet.


This is, of course, aside from the fact that next month, I will be taking a trip to Lily Dale, NY, which is a Spiritualist center. Granted, Spiritualism is part of my path, being defined on their website as "one who believes, as the basis of his or her religion, in the continuity of life and in individual responsibility," also stating that "Spiritualists endeavor to find the truth in all things and to live their lives in accordance therewith." The Lily Dale Assembly is concerned with the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of Spiritualism, so I will doubtless find much that fits my path, but it isn't exactly pagan and I am going with a group of others, including my mother, who is Christian-based. Still, for me the trip will be about how it can expand my personal faith.


~

Anyway, just some thoughts before I get into responding to a bunch of messages tomorrow! Thank you for reading.

Blessings~
-C-

Craft Show Saturday

Hey, Readers!

This will be the first time I'm using this blog for its intended purpose, which is to accompany videos by containing more information to go along with what you see! I'm uploading the video from this past Saturday's craft show right now. It was actually a small festival hosted by a diner, and there was food, music, a dunk tank, a bouncy race game, and just three stands of vendors. It was such a small festival that not many people even came by for the first three hours. But once evening hit, my mom (Rev. Rose) made a few sales. I ended up selling one pair of earrings, because mom convinced someone she knew to buy a pair for their girlfriend. But more than selling any of my items, the conversations our handiwork sparks are ever-intriguing.

There is a lot about this that is hard to explain because you all don't actually know me, and you're not in my everyday life, so I can't trust that you'll know my exact feelings on things I want to say and I don't want to seem harsh or overly-cautious because I'm talking to strangers. So I'm just going to have to say whatever I want to say, and trust that you'll remember that since I'm not telling you and you haven't been here, in my daily life, you don't know the whole story. Please do not assume that you do.

THAT SAID:

There is something to be said for both flaunting your spirituality, and for keeping it toned down. On the one hand, remaining proud and showcasing your faith through jewelry or dress but in a small way can allow you to be noticed by like-minded folk while not frightening away anyone who might otherwise come to your stand and buy things from you. This is the route I chose, figuring that my handmade items would give it away anyway, since I make a lot of things with pentacles and other symbols, and even the words "Goddess" and "Witch." On the other hand, one may choose to broadcast the tenor of their stand by hanging up large pentacle items for all to see. This is the route my friends chose for their stand right next to us. This may frighten away potential buyers who may be interested in your other wares, but as it proved, would also serve to draw any other pagans immediately to you. This is what ended up happening.

Cornucopia of Thoughts

Hey, Readers!

It's strange to write that greeting now, knowing that there actually are people following this blog. Hello! I am honored by your presence. But don't worry! I won't allow your being here to make me worried about how much I'm (not) posting. This blog is still, largely, for me. Just the things I am willing to share with the world.

I've done a lot of journaling lately, and some of the things I wrote about ARE things I will write or make videos about at a later date. But for now, I kind of feel like they're in flux, and should therefore wait until some time has passed for me to write on them.

Interjection: It's 2am here and my friend just texted me a quote from Frost. I love my life. =)

Anyway, instead of writing fully on individual topics right now, I will jot down a bunch of spirituality-related thoughts and connections I've been mulling over in one of my favorite forms: the bulleted list.

• I made a video on magick and coincidence (oh, that reminds me, I'm behind on linking videos here, too) in response to a question that an atheist asked me, which lead to conversations with two other atheists, one of whom I've commented back and forth with before.
• The new one lead me to thoughts about questioning, proof, and mostly, Nature. The crux of my little discovery through this discussion, which I have told no one but my journal yet but will elaborate upon at a late time, is "Nature is Diverse." Sounds obvious, doesn't it? It should.
• The one I talked to before lead me through this new discussion to one main lesson learned: When we way that our paths are about taking responsibility for yourself, your actions, and your beliefs, we mean it. It is not my duty to convince someone of anything. If someone wants to believe, of course they can get help from others, but ultimately it's up to them. No one can expect us to make them believe. Even if I could, I wouldn't do it. It's a personal journey. It's your responsibility.
• I love when the backwards tab actually takes me back to the main bullet. I really like bulleted lists, though I know that normally none of the bullets should be this long. They'll get shorter.
• My friend is still reciting poetry at me via technology and it's wonderful.
• I definitely want to do a video about sharing our rituals/altars. I have this weird back and forth going on in my head where I like seeing other people's altars, but I feel strange stopping in the middle of getting ready to do ritual to take pictures. It feels showy to me, even though I don't think that about other people when I look at theirs. Anyway, video on that sometime later.
• Speaking of, Midsummer was nice. I didn't get up at dawn like I wanted, and I couldn't have a fire and no one would come over if I invited them anyway, so I did a small thing on my own at the lake which I think was rather lovely. And I DID take some pictures, just in case.
• Many of us "modern pagans" view sacrifice as giving of ourselves. A layer of my skin has just been sacrificed to the sun, literally, so why not make it concrete and actually offer that? Out with the old, in with the new. I just wish it all came off in bigger pieces, like when my gecko, Kitty Lizard, sheds.
• I met a couple pagans at the craft sale we did last weekend!
• I was selling my jewelry and a girl wanted a pair of earrings I had made with pentacle charms. She was with her aunt, who said, "I would love to get them for you but I know your mom will have a fit." The aunt then told me that she and her husband had a pagan wedding and it was hard to get the family there, let alone buying the girl pentacles. The girl asked me what they were--she didn't know they were a symbol of anything. Just stars to her at that point. I told the aunt to send me a message on Etsy & I'll make the girl the same pair of earrings with another charm. I hope she does.
• But also, that means there are other pagans somewhere nearby!
• The pagans I know IRL can't celebrate with me, and that makes me sad. My cousin lives across the country and I'm not sure she practices regularly. My friend G lives a ways away and is hard to get hold of. And my ex-boyfriend and his fiancee say they're pagan and make a big deal of talking about it but I'm not even sure they actually practice. Last I knew, my ex wanted to be pagan but knew nothing about it and I was supposed to teach him but at the time the breakup was recent so I didn't want to, and now his fiancee doesn't let him near me, so of course they can't come over to celebrate.
• After reading The Spiral Dance I really desire more personal community, face-to-face. I'm not going to run and jump into the first coven I meet, of course. But it would at least be nice to have a small group of people I could celebrate sabbats with. Those feel like community times to me. Family times.
• Anni is leaving YouTube/PaganPerspective and I'm going to miss her because she is one of the best things ever.
• I want to travel and meet all my YouTube people. Everyone from PaganPerspective (Anni, Charlie, Bren, Cole, Rich, DR & Feather, Eric, Erriender, Waide, Liz, Yucca, Pat... so many current and past!), Tya, Sayge, James, Jody, Amanda!, and the list just goes on. I need time and money, please.
• I need to spend at least one year of my life living in the southern hemisphere. I am continually embarrassed at how much I don't know is opposite down there. I knew the seasons/sabbats were, but someone recently mentioned that the moon phases are, too, and I just never knew that. I think living a turn of the wheel essentially on my head would be a good experience. Again with the time and money, please.
• I would love to teach. I feel too young, but at the same time I know that the little bit I have learned in the past eight years can help others. Besides, we can learn together.
• I need to make my witchy t-shirts! I didn't get approved to sell them on the site, so I want to make my own, by hand, and sell them directly through my Etsy along with my other stuff.
• I want to make stencils first, so I can just trace & decorate each shirt and they'll all be unique but more uniform than if I free-handed each one over and over. It will save time and sanity.
• Ideas for shirts have been to make ones with my face (which I will not attempt by hand, thank you), ones with phrases about "cute witch" (I thought "PROUD TO BE A CUTE WITCH" or "I'm a CUTE WITCH"), my quote about balance, "YOU DON'T GET IT," quotes from my Shit People Say video, etc.
• I bought magnet sheets so I could make magnets with my artwork, but I haven't done that yet because I don't know what to put on them. I also haven't told anyone or asked for suggestions.
• If I cleansed a space with my besom the way I swept the barn today, it would take a lot longer.

Now I'm getting away from the thoughts I already had and reminding myself of other things, so I'll stop there. I'm glad I remembered to add the broom one, because I did have a long conversation with myself about that earlier. Even mundane tasks become magical explorations for me.

Enough. I'm going to watch some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic now. Oh, that reminds me, after making one of those connections with the atheist conversation, I watched an episode wherein Twilight Sparkle, the resident magician unicorn of the group, tries to find scientific evidence for Pinkie Pie's intuition. The practitioner of unicorn magic is a scientific skeptic. Take that, expectations and stereotypes!

Good night, thanks for reading, and Blessings~

-C-

Candle Gazing

I started reading Starhawk's The Spiral Dance after I got it a short while ago. I haven't read every day, but I try to read whole chapters at a time, plus her notes from the ten- and twenty-year anniversaries, so I get the updates right after reading the chapter, to better remember.

Today, I read chapter seven, and I might begin chapter eight before I go to bed. But I decided that instead of diving right into chapter eight immediately, I would stop and do one of her easy little suggested activities. The simplest one I can think of, besides grounding and centering which I've done for years (and her definition of centering differs from mine), is candle gazing.

The goal of candle gazing is to increase your focus and concentration by gazing at a candle flame for five to ten minutes without letting your gaze un-focus, or go blurry, crossed, fuzzy, or double-visioned. So I lit a candle, sat comfortably on my futon, and settled the candle in front of me.

At first, I thought it might be difficult. Thirty seconds seemed to take forever and I thought "I'm going to do this for five minutes?!" But it's really not difficult. You just have to LOOK. After a while, it was tempting to shift my focus and scry in the flame--it kept moving in such interesting ways I had never consciously noted a flame moving in before, and I watch flames quite a bit. But after a while, I was sure it had been five minutes, and my gaze hadn't lost focus. I determined that this was probably not a necessary skill-builder for me, and I know I have pretty good concentration, but I still think it's good to test those basic skills every now and again.

I tried doing some other focus exercises with it, then, focusing on a specific size of flame or quickness, playing with wax and heat, and dropping an energy ball onto it. There were varying degrees of success. I doubt myself, suddenly ask myself "What on Earth am I doing?" Even after eight years and several obvious successes, I still occasionally doubt my ability to repeat a feat. Still, the next thing I knew, half an hour had passed.

Get a candle and a comfy spot and try candle gazing for yourself. You don't have to do it a lot if your concentration is already good, but it's worth flexing those muscles and maybe developing some more.

Blessings~
-C-

What's SO wrong with it?

Depending on who you are and how long you've known me (read my posts or watched my videos, even), you may or may not know that I have always been the type of person who will say what everyone else is thinking just to get it said. In elementary and high school I wasn't always like this; I didn't want to be that person. But toward the end of high school and definitely upon beginning undergraduate school, I quickly learned that it was better just to ASK, or SAY something, than sit there silently and wonder.

Sometimes, I do this even though it will probably receive a backlash. I do it because I know I'm not the only one who wants to say something. I'm not the only one wondering. Chances are we are never the ONLY one in the world thinking anything--if we were, it would be a very lonely world. So why am I bringing this up now?

This is an image that showed up on my tumblr dashboard, and a bunch of people who had previously reblogged it showed negative reactions to it. One said "This is wrong. All wrong." Another said "NO." emphatically, and then "*throws things*"

My question is this: What is SO WRONG with these ideas that people would virtually throw things in response?

Not every witch follows the Rede, so that one is an obvious place for disagreement. Knowing the ways of the old can be arguable... I personally concentrate more on what it's like NOW than on trying to live the way they did then, which may no longer be applicable today. So maybe people are upset with that one? Not all witches follow the moon! Maybe that's it. But I just can't see why else the rest of this would be SO wrong. It's certainly not a detailed list of what being a witch is. This is a basic look at it, for sure. Maybe that's why it's wrong. But I can't imagine that loving, seeing further, being one with whatever deity you believe in (not all witches believe in any deity, so maybe that's their beef, too, actually), studying and learning, acknowledging Truth and so on could be so dreadfully "wrong."

Now, maybe that's because I AM a solitary witch. It's also because, frankly, I am not these people. To these people, commenting thus, these things are wrong. Clearly they are not wrong for ME and my life, but maybe they are wrong for them. This is a point their comments leave out. They think it's wrong, but not all of us do. And I think that's okay.

So why did I bother reblogging it, sharing my opinion and confusion, even though I recognized one of the usernames as someone who has insulted me and my beliefs before? Why risk the conflict?

Because I think it is valuable to remind people that their way is not the only one, not the only correct one, even. And I think it is valuable because if there are other people out there thinking "Hey, wait... What is so wrong with this?" then it is beneficial for them to know that they are not the only one confused. It's hell to feel alone on something as personal as your beliefs. When other people are telling you flat out that you're "wrong," it's good to know at least one other person does not think so.

Never be afraid to believe what you believe.

Blessings~
-C-

On Crystals (video)

On January 25, I posted this video about crystals in response to something that happened with my mother's business. Basically, this is me talking about how crystals work and why you should spend time with them, and not be discouraged when you don't get results immediately.

VIDEO: cutewitch772 - On Crystals

Thanks for reading!
-C-