Snow Globe

It is Noon on a Saturday.

Everything is quiet. The cat sleeps soundly. The plants stretch toward the window glass. Blankets drape effortlessly. Pillows hunch together for warmth. The light, diffused, soft, comforting.

You'd never know the world was falling apart.
In our heads, in our hearts.

The snow that silently fell outside this morning gave everything the feeling of living inside a snow globe. Only the snow is outside. We live in the dollhouse within the glass bubble, crafted by the hand of an unseen artisan. And that's no metaphor for Creation. Do not be confused.

The world outside is tilted.
Is it the bubble, knocked off its base on the mantle of the gods, that skews the outside? Or is it the outside world itself that leans and veers off somewhere we can't see from here, whence the wind comes?

The snow has already gone. Melted. The Sun, though weak today, is still the Sun.
The quiet is broken. People stomp overhead. Who are our neighbors in this Doll's House?

Who will be the first to walk out, and slam the door?


-C-

Spells of the Broken

As a person who has a problem with attachment to things, I typically get very upset when things break.

Very. Upset.

However. I am also a Witch, and one who believes in magick, signs, and messages. So when I opened my glasses case and one of the clay talismans I made this year at Pagan Pride--which was put in a glasses case for protection from breaking--was BROKEN... I was initially very upset. This one came out the best, and I was very proud of it. But when I realized that the only one that had broken was the one that had actually been made with an intention, I started to think its breaking was perhaps the completion of its purpose.

Odd, I thought, since I hadn't even had time to sit with it and "do" anything.

Its creation was its onset, though. It's been a couple of months. So here's what we have. Now I'm just working out what it is that's come to pass...

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Blessings~
-C-

Purpose

Hey, Readers,

It's been a minute.

If you haven't been keeping up with my YouTube channel, you may not know what's been going on with me. And if you have, you haven't heard the latest things, because I haven't shared any of that yet. But it will come.

Things are different. There are good days and bad days, good weeks and not as good weeks, as always.

I think I know what I'm meant to be doing next.

But it's terrifying. As all these shifts are, and have been, and will be.

That's how I know it's right.

It's hard work. It's deep work. But it's important work, to me. To others. To the world.

I'm not sure how much I can say about it right now, other than that I'm excited, and scared, and anxious, and doubtful, and confident, and I just sincerely hope that when I am ready to begin and put it out there, that my work will be met with enthusiasm and support.

You have all been so delightfully good to me over the years. This is something that will give back... if only I can remove the blockage of monstrosity and step forward, despite fear.


Blessings upon you, may the Spirits be fair.
-C-

Goddess Worship, Archaeology edition

When people confuse matriarchy with misandry, archaeology edition...

Hey, Readers,

I'm rereading The Spiral Dance by Starhawk and got to the part where she discusses that people say Goddess worship always included human sacrifice in a literal sense (as opposed to the symbolic sacrifice of burning poppets, etc), but archaeological evidence does not support this. She lists several sites determined to be home to matrilineal cultures where Goddess imagery was common, yet no evidence of human sacrifice was present.


One of the sites named was Çatalhöyük or Catal Hüyük, where she notes that many figures depicting the Goddess and animals were found, but there are no provisions for human or animal sacrifice. Not knowing much about Çatalhöyük, I decided to look it up and read a bit. 

Restricted Practice / Craft Without STUFF

Hey, Readers,

Someone asked me about a topic I know I've talked about in the past: Restricted practice of the variety where you live in a household with people who aren't welcoming toward Paganism, and maybe even won't allow any "trappings" of it in the house, whether this be Pagan books, crystals, incense, or even candles. To help them find where I've already talked about this, or the collab has, I went through my blog, YouTube channel, and the collab channel. I discovered that all the times I've talked about this have been on the PaganPerspective collab! I have no blog posts about this specific topic, nor have I talked about it much on my personal channel, at least not in specific. Probably I figured we talk about it on the collab every so often, so there's no need to cover it on my channel, as well.

But I do think there's more to say and more specifics to be said, or ways I can update what I've said previously. So that is now on my list. But until then, I've compiled some links here to videos I've done on the subject, one video that one of my old substitutes on the collab (Sissors) did, and links to the PaganPerspective BLOG list where you can find links to all the videos done that week. So here are some past resources to check out until I get to doing some new stuff!

Unflinching Heart / Thank You

Hey, Readers,

I didn't set out to write a blog post tonight. I just started writing a little update on Facebook and it turned into a much longer post--longer than a status but perhaps shorter than a blog post--so I decided to instead publish it here. That's what I have a blog for, right? =)

About halfway through this status update-turned-blog, I realized that I was doing the work I began last weekend at a Priestessing Skills (read: Leadership Skills, of a Priestessing nature) workshop. But you all don't know about that yet. I don't know if you will, explicitly. This one may just be revealed to you in my leadership, in my priestessing. But I will tell you that it was working with acknowledging our fears about leadership, and with letting go of the idea of "perfection" in leadership. So without further adieu, here are the thoughts that sprang from my head, fully formed, before my fingers knew what they were typing.

My 2015 Lessons, My 2016 Intention

"What is Your Intention?" asks Thorn Coyle's blog post from a few years ago. I haven't thought much about a single intention for this new calendar year yet, so I'd like to do that, now. Though the whole "Yuletide" season (which for me begins slightly before the Winter Solstice and extends slightly past the change of the Gregorian calendar year) feels like a shift into a new chapter for me, I did feel a significant change in this year's New Year's Eve into New Year's Day, January the 1st of 2016.

Oh My Gods

Hey, Readers,

There are a lot of videos and blogs I need to do, but as usual when multiple topics pile up that I want to get to in some semblance of order, something else crops up that feels more immediate and wants to be discussed right now. This is one of those things.

I want to talk about Deity, God, gods, the Universe, theism, and what have you. And what have you?

Lately I've been seeing a few articles from Patheos about polytheism, theism, atheism, people who believe in the gods as literal versus those who view Deity more as archetypal energies, and so on. I also had an opportunity to get together with a friend of mine yesterday, who asked me a bit about the gods and the many viewpoints about them that exist within Paganism. There is also someone I chat with online who is beginning to discover how they personally relate to Deity, if at all. I know I've kind of talked about this before, so forgive me if it sounds repetitive, but I wanted to put down some of my thoughts at this time.

Without putting labels on it, I want to just talk about my ideas of Deity and how they (They) appear in my life.

Warriors, Life, and Being

*deep breath*

Whoa. Hey, Readers! Been a while, yeah?

So sorry about the delay. I've been busy, and also recently without internet at home. Long story, but I'm leaving it that way at least temporarily, because while having internet at home could make certain things a LOT easier (uploading videos, responding to emails, emailing card readings, etc.), it's also been encouraging me to do other things around the house, and also make time to see some friends who I don't hang out with as often as I should. =)

Anyway. Do you have ANY idea what a year it's been?
If you're tuned into your own spiritual wavelengths and Universal Radio Stations, if you will, then I believe you do. You have a pretty epic idea of what a year it's been. Holy crap, right?

This year, I've been doing a lot more work with listening to my messages from the Universe and actually trying to answer them, accept the Challenges given to me, and so on. It's not been easy. I've talked a bit about it on my YouTube channel: in March when I talked about my first feelings of going through a certain shift, several times when I alluded to the messages I'd been receiving, at the end of April when I finally talked about what my first message of the year was, the "Universal Shift" video I posted when my first message began to change into yet another message, and most recently, a vague update about how much my life has been changing as a result of listening to and acting upon these messages and Challenges.

Phew! It's been a year.

And in the true spirit of synchronicity (with which I have a love/hate relationship, as most of us likely do), I've had some repetitive symbols or signs throughout the year which, in my most unsure moments, continually reassured me that I was... that I am... on the right track.

Fundraising for Witchcamp!

Dear Readers,

The time has come again to offer readings for fundraising purposes! Last time, I was helping raise funds for Pentacles of Pride, International. This time, I'm helping out one of my own projects--My first trip to a Reclaiming Witchcamp! Donations, Etsy purchases, and Readings will go toward registration and travel fees, as well as hopefully making up for some of the money I'll not be making while not working for the week I'm away at camp--because when you return from walking between the worlds, there are still bills to pay. ;)

And this time, I'm joined by two special guest readers who are offering their talents to help pay my way, as well: Sheldon, Executive Director of Pentacles of Pride; and my mother, the Rev. Rose. =)

Here is the link to the Readings page!
http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/readings.html

Thank you for reading!
Blessings~
-C-