Return to Phae

The replies (both here and on Wordpress) to my previous post have brought another question to mind. What exactly is divination? When practised, are we connecting to the gods? Spirits? Our subconscious?

I, personally, tend to lean toward the 'if it works, that's cool' school of thought (and thus why I didn't care much for physics in high school). A lot of the time, I'm not really interested in the why. Obviously, I do appreciate that learning more about something will help to make me better at it, but I am not really a person who is endlessly asking 'why' or 'how' about everything.

Point being, that for me, divination is a means of gaining clarity. How it works doesn't often cross my mind.

Also, I think that this is one of those belief-based things. Who knows if we will ever discover exactly how it works, but I am curious to hear about everyone else's beliefs.

How do you think divination works? Does the message come from without or within? Or both?

--Phae

I don't know if anyone has watched the development of this idea into a community, but it is much like Witches Weekly was. Except that this one is still updated every week. I made a little image (didn't really care for the ones I have seen, and I was feeling creative ... and minimalist) for the community if you want to check it out.



Ok, on to it:

Describe the moment when you could call yourself a witch, pagan, [fill in the blank] and know that it was true. Did you do a dedication ceremony? Were you initiated into a group/coven? Was the moment filled with powerful emotion or was it soft like slipping into a warm bath? Did or do you do anything to commemorate that moment? Do you choose to wear anything that identifies your path such as a pentacle or other religious symbol?

Well, I think I was about 19 when I finally came to know that I was a Witch through and through.  It was after I had cast my first successful, handcrafted spell.

I remember sitting alone in the dark, whispering over the prepared candle.  I felt my mind expanding and trying to escape as the words I chanted lost all meaning.

I didn't expect it to work right away, or be really obvious (the books tell you that the results are often subtle and things just gradually change with a little help from your spell).  The next morning I got the results of my spell.  It was about as in your face as it could get.

That was when I knew that I was a Witch.  And I haven't doubted it a moment since then.

--Phae

All in one!

So, my minor epiphany after my much cranky post of a couple of days ago, came as I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. It was kind of one of those *poof* "Oooohhhh, I get it" kind of moments.

But first, a little background - there are a lot of parts of Wiccan theology that I don't tend to agree with. Much of it, in fact, I have really just discarded over the years because it didn't fit at all in my world view. Over the years, I have heard people describe what writings such as the Wiccan Rede mean to them, and I have always felt mildly envious that I just didn't see what they saw in it.

What I saw was really just a big PITA waiting to happen. The majority of people don't really understand it and try to invoke it as some sort of High Law for Witches. Academically, I can see the value of how 'An it harm none, do what ye will' can be very freeing for people who have lived good portions of their lives under the yoke of a god who tends to take offense at a lot of rather trivial things.

I grew up in a very liberal family, and the ones who were more hardcore were people I just generally avoided because they were a serious buzz-kill for a young and flighty Aquarian.

In the end, I wrote off the Rede as more trouble than it was worth. Until the moment that I realized that it can work both ways. I am sure that most of you have noticed that I tend to be more forgiving of newbies than I was in previous years (I credit this attitude to spending more time working on my own path, and less time caring whether someone else looks silly in front of a TV camera). My feelings these days can be summed up in eight little words:

"If they aren't hurting anyone, leave it alone."

The fact that someone may have a silly or even stupid idea does not obligate me to set them straight. Let them think that the world is made of fluffy kittens and unicorns. Let them believe that they are the reincarnation of a fictional character or that they are actually aliens in disguise.

If I can live in a world of Jedis, Trekkies, Plushies, conspiracy nuts, Crystal children, Otakukin and any number of other weird personality quirks, then I can live in a world with Fluffy Bunnies in it, too. In the grand scheme of things, their offenses are really rather mild.

Not to say that I mean to keep my opinions to myself when asked, but if no one is asking, I can just as easily roll my eyes and go on about my business. And in the last four years, one thing I have learned is that no amount of denouncing them is going to change how the mainstream public views Pagans and Witches. Apparently, that takes pizza.

Now, on to the discovery part of this post. I have recently been feeling poked and otherwise prodded to get my altar finished and to get some statuary for it. I have been looking for a nice modern interpretation of Aphrodite (more on that later), when I found a couple of the most gorgeous new sculptures I have seen in a long time.

Neil Sims is an up and coming artist and sculptor from the UK.  His busts of the Horned God and the Earth Goddess have been hitting some online shops in recent months (Others can be found HERE).  They are really gorgeous, but obviously quite pricey as well (and then shipping from the UK - ouch!)

Some random surfing over the weekend showed me that he draws and paints too.  My only sadness is that he doesn't have a website of his own where you can order prints and see his whole collection.

Some good news on the pricing front of the busts is that the fantasy modelling community got a hold of him before we did.  You can order the busts and paint them yourself for about half the cost of buying them bronzed. *as the artist in me squeals with delight*  About the only part of those silly fantasy war games that WD used to play that I actually liked, was the modelling.  I love painting and  altering models!

Now if I can just find something suitable for Aphrodite, then I'll be set - though, I have an inkling that I may end up having to make something for her as well.

That's all from me for now.

--Phae

I have been yearning for some more indepth conversations lately ... things that we don't get into on TT or PW because of the sheer amount of newbies (it gets difficult when a conversation tends to specifically exclude people who have only been at this for a few months ... and yet somehow doesn't seem to stop them commenting), and while I do enjoy NFP, I am not entirely certain how good an idea it is to post a bunch of Witchcraft related discussions on a comm filled with Pagans who are not magically enclined.

So, to fill my need, I thought about starting my own comm (which might also have been called 'Land of the Phae' ... because I can't pass up a good pun), but then I thought, why not revive the Thicketeers? It's just sitting there with no one posting in it.

I have posted a few threads, but I would like to see if I can get it going more solidly. What I really would like is a comm for more advanced Religious Witchcraft discussions that doesn't always center around Wicca (I like talking Wicca, but there are times when it seems like people figure that that is the only Religious Witchcraft out there).

So, if you see lots of cross-posted messages from me, this is what I am doing (and I won't turn away a little help if someone has an idea for an interesting discussion).

--Phae

I finally bought Evolutionary Witchcraft. I went to the bookstore to pick up the new Almanac ... but it wasn't out yet. Did find the Llewellyn Witches Datebook for 75% off ... couldn't pass it up for less than $4.

Bookstores always make me poor. I did manage to pass up Kate West's 'Real Witches Year' ... it was a really cute little hardbound pocket book, but I want to wait to get the 'Real Witches Kitchen' and 'Real Witches Garden' first. So, all in all, I think managing to leave with only three books and only $35 poorer was good for me ~_^

--Phae