Dancing Down the Moon

Witch, Please.

Here are the things I don't care about:

I don't care what the name of your religion is.
I don't care what the names of your gods are. 
I don't care how old your religion is.
I don't care if your great-great-whatever grandmother passed down your famtrad Book of Shadows under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.
I don't care if an entire civilization worshipped your Goddess for ten thousand years.
I don't care if you made Her up based on manga or Tolkien or a dream you had.
I don't care where you place your altar.
I don't care which direction you call Earth.
I don't care how psychic you are.
I don't care if you're smarter than me.
I don't care why you eat meat, or don't.
I don't care how many shields you think you need.
I don't care how your childhood trauma made you a powerful magickian.
I don't care if you spell "magic" with a k.
I don't care if you were an Atlantean Magus in your last life.
I don't care if you're brand-spanking new.
I don't care how much you hate Christians.
I don't care how many degrees you have.
I don't care if people call you "Lady" or "Lord."
I don't care if you're King of all Londinium and wear a shiny hat.
I don't care if you can read minds or light candles with your breath.
I don't care how the world owes you a living.
I don't care if you've been studying the Craft for thirty years or thirty minutes.
I don't care what your totem animal is, especially if it's a wolf, raven, or unicorn.
I don't care if you can trace your lineage back to Gardner.
I don't care if you think I'm a moron, fraud, or basket case.
I don't care how many books you've read.
I don't care how much or how little money you have.

What do I care about?

I care that your religion has made you a kinder, more compassionate person.
I care that you can hold down a job.
I care that you're growing past whatever happened to you as a child or last year.
I care that your gods help you become stronger without coddling you.
I care that you are willing and able to adapt and change as your life does.
I care that you care about the Earth.
I care that you care about someone and something outside yourself.
I care that you practice your religion with devotion and reverence.
I care that you respect others' paths.
I care that you never stop learning.
I care that you can conduct adult relationships with respect and understanding.
I care that you get how hilarious life is.
I care that you know when to ask for help.
I care that you realize that someone will always be smarter, more powerful, and more together than you.
I care that you realize it doesn't matter, because tomorrow you'll be smarter, more powerful, and more together than you were yesterday.
I care that you have reasons for everything you do, even if those reasons are purely intuitive.
I care that you can admit when you're wrong.
I care that you know you're both a tiny speck in a vast universe and a rare, precious jewel in the darkened sky.
I care that you're making a difference.
I care that you know when to speak and when to shut the hell up.
I care that you are seeking a relationship with Deity and with Nature.
I care that you are healthy.
I care that you're contributing to your family and community.
I care that your capacity for love and joy increase with every passing year.
I care that you believe in yourself.
I care that you're doing the best you can.

The Year in Review, part 2

...and here is the second half of the list of my favorite post of the year.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck around since last September--I tell myself I would write even if no one read my work, but like most writers I'm a bit of an egomaniac, and believe me, your comments and warm fuzzies have kept me at this even when I've dreaded the thought of typing another long, drawn-out sentence.  I hope that long-time readers, as well as relative newcomers, will put up their feet and stay a while.

My Favorite Posts This Year, #6-10

A Vegan Pagan's Prayer

Prozac and Polar Bears

The Three Catalysts

As Within, So Without

Give it Up for the Goddess

...and we're back

First off I apologize for my absence.  It's been an un-fun time here at Sylvan lately, but I am hoping things are getting back on track.  Regular posting should resume this week.

To get back into the swing of things I thought I'd post something completely pointless and utterly mundane.  It contains zero spiritual insights, but will at least give you an idea of the sorts of things that have been getting me through the last month or so, and if you're at all interested in me personally (being, as I am, so fascinating *laugh*) you may enjoy it.   

Feel free to take this and post your own answers on your blog; like a great many things modern Pagans do, it's partially made up and partially stolen from others like it.

Ten Things I Love - Pagan Edition

Inspired partially by Hecate - here's a list of ten things I love about practicing my religion, from the big to the not-so.  I didn't include "I love Deity," because that's kind of a given...besides, "love" in the context of a list like this seems like much too small a word for how I actually feel.

That being said:

1 ~ I love that we have things like the Chocolate Ritual, the Fraggle Rock Ritual, and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Casserole.  Self-parody is pretty much nonexistent in mainstream religion.

2 ~ I love the sweat-socks/marijuana/desert smell of burning white sage.

3 ~ Along the same lines, I love how most Witches' homes all have that underlying "50 Kinds of Incense" smell that permeates everything from our clothes to our curtains.

4 ~ I love the sensation of being gently but firmly pushed to the back of my own mind that occurs at the onset of Drawing Down the Moon.

5 ~ I love the fact that even though I don't speak their language, trees talk to me and I understand perfectly.

6 ~ I love that we don't have blasphemy.  Otherwise I'd be in sooooo much trouble.

7 ~ I love that when my friends and I talk, I can say things like, "Her energy was all crispy and had all these green tentacles like a hentai sex monster, and it felt like she was poking me in the third chakra," and they know exactly what I mean.

8 ~ I love that having a vagina doesn't render me inferior or less "in God's image" than someone with a penis, and that I can teach, lead, and affect the evolution of my religion regardless of biology, sexuality, or race.

9 ~ I love my athame. (The picture doesn't do it justice.)

10 ~ I love when I'm doing a Rune casting for someone who previously didn't really believe in silly things like divination, and they give me the wide-eyed "holy fuck!" look that means not only am I right, I'm scary. 

Ten Small Things I Love for No Big Reason

1 ~ I love when my turn signal syncs up with the beat of the song on my car stereo, just for a second.

2 ~ I love the way my insides tingle when I hold blue kyanite.

3 ~ I love orzo pasta.

4 ~ I love natural redheads.  For hours at a time, if I can.

5 ~ I love how every time I get a really weird song stuck in my head, I turn on the radio and it's playing.

6 ~ I love when Cosmo gets the Kitty Zooms and runs at breakneck speed from one end of my apartment to the other, then screeches to a halt and looks at me as if to say, "Quoi?" before returning to his butt-licking regimen as if nothing interesting had just happened.

7 ~ I love how on some people's skin, tattoos are raised just slightly as if they were drawn in Braille; but on others, they're smooth, just part of the skin itself.  (Mine are the Braille variety, just FYI.)

8 ~ I love my shoulders, especially the picture they create when teamed with the Epic Adventure that is my cleavage. 

9 ~ I love that I kick so much ass at Trivial Pursuit.

10 ~ I love the tiny white pencils they give you at IKEA.

Now, it's your turn--go forth to your own blog and make a list of Ten Small Things You Love for No Big Reason.   

Ways of Prayer, part 3 - Spiritual Soundtracks

Considering I can't sing worth a damn and don't play any musical instruments, music is surprisingly vital to my path.  I am our coven ritual DJ; I've been known to spend hours trying to combine just the right pieces to capture the mood I want to convey for our Circles.  As I've said before, I consider my iPod a magical tool.  I think of music the way I think of incense:  one wisp of scent, one verse, can completely change your state of mind, taking you from screaming rage to peace in a matter of minutes. 

I've already posted a list of music that I use in ritual, as well as some suggestions of music for ecstatic dance (one of my absolute favorite ways of prayer); there’s another category of songs, however, I find equally important. 

Favorite Blogs (Damn, it's Cold!)

Austin is currently coated in ice, leaving me stuck at home feeling like I should be hibernating, not writing.  I spent most of the day feeling like a truant, draped over my giant armchair in my pajamas drinking cocoa and watching The Three Amigos. The seers at the Weather Channel predict even worse conditions tomorrow, so I may very well be off work another day.

Since I find myself completely unmotivated toward anything useful, I thought I would post a list of my favorite blogs, from all genres.  It's not deep and spiritual as far as posts go, but at the moment I'm far more concerned with finding my toe socks than with pursuing enlightenment.

Sylvan's Favorite Blogs - Paganism/Spirituality

Pagan Godspell - One I've pimped repeatedly, so I won't belabor the fabulousness.

At the End of Desire - Author Inanna posts thoughtful entries on all manner of Pagan subjects.

The Gaian Tarot Journal - Joanna Powell Colbert's chronicle of her work on the Gaian Tarot; I daily resist the urge to harangue her to hurry up and finish the deck, as I have every intention of owning it, stroking it, loving it, and calling it George as soon as it's available for purchase.

Veganism and Animal Rights

I don't go in much for the issues-heavy blogs; I prefer the ones focused on food and lifestyle that don't get bogged down in negativity.  (I feel the same way about Pagan blogs, actually.)  So you won't find endless photos of slaughterhouse floors or diatribes about the evils of honey in the blogs I love, just inspiration and good eats.  If you're looking for a good (and funny as hell) veg issues blog, try SuperVegan.

Food for Thought - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's blog, mostly transcripts of her fantastic podcast.  Reading her posts is a valuable shot in the arm on days when I find my veganly enthusiasm flagging.

Vegan Lunch Box - One of the coolest blogs of any sort, and has won the awards to prove it; Jennifershmoo's photos and recipes of the amazing lunches she sends with her son to school (or, sent; unfortunately Shmoo is home-schooled now so the entries are less frequent, but they're still awesome).

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World - blog of my favorite cookbook author, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, or more specifically her recent cupcake book, which may in fact be holy scripture.  No one can ever believe the cuppies from this book are vegan--let the pics speak for themselves.  Mmmmm, cupcakes.

Fat-Free Vegan - awesome recipes and gorgeous food porn.

Random Topics

Dykes to Watch Out For - home of my favorite comic strip and author Alison Bechdel.

The House Next Door - television, movies, and other media; reviews, links, lists, thoughtful essays...something new every day.

The Happiness Project - Gretchen Craft Rubin spent a year, in researching a book on happiness, trying out every piece of advice about happiness she could find, and continues as she writes the book itself.  Some really great ideas, and some crappy ones, but always interesting.

Deus ex Malcontent - when I feel a need for some serious snark, I surf here; covers politics, entertainment, and all sorts of subjects.

And now, I will retreat to my cocoon of flannel sheets--stay warm out there.   

Five Magical Products I Would Not Be Without

(and they smell good, too!)

1 - Pacifica's soy wax candles. My favorite scent is Spanish Amber, but they're all lovely. The soy wax burns very cleanly and produces a rich, strong scent.

2 - "Consecration" scent oil from R'Chel Enterprises. I often blend my own ritual oils, but when I want a delicious-smelling all-purpose anointing oil, I use this one cut with sweet almond oil. The Consecration scent is a blend of sandalwood, lavender, bay, and rose. It's safe to use on most people's skin (so you don't walk around with a flaming pink pentacle on your forehead the next day).

3 - Crystal Journey votives. I don't make my own ritual candles, as it's messy and I'm impatient. Most of the time my spellwork is done over the course of several sessions rather than the quick kind that uses those tiny tapers (although I go through a lot of those too). The CJ votives smell wonderful and are made with food-grade paraffin; they come in something like 100 scents, and are less expensive than votives made by Pacifica or other high-end brands. CJ also makes themed gift sets of square votives that I like--the Four Elements set is a great gift for your favorite magical person. Right now I use the Dragon's Blood flavor as my main altar candle (Lilith likes it).

4 - Amber scent paste. This stuff smells fantastic, and is one of the major ingredients in my homemade perfume. It's a brown goop in a tiny jar, and I used to buy it from Natural Magic, our local Pagan store which unfortunately closed its doors at the end of October. Now I have no idea where I'm going to get more, so I'm rationing it very carefully. I'll have to do some Internet searching for a new dealer--I saw one of the shopkeepers pouring it from a larger container so I know it comes from a company in India or nearby.

5 - Amber incense by Shrinivas Sugandhalaya. Comes in a triangular box, most often as part of the "Oriental Basket" scent set. I can get the amber on its own locally at Book People (or at least I can right now, so I stocked up last time I was there). This is currently my house scent. I tend to have a smell that I burn every day, sometimes in every room, which is why my clothes all smell like incense. The house scent rotates--sometimes it's Nag Champa, sometimes Nataraj's Shiva scent, sometimes a nice sandalwood. Right now I'm seriously grooving on the amber. It's also pretty inexpensive.

Halloween

Planning a Halloween costume always takes me back to my childhood. Most of my costumes back then weren't terribly inventive; I was Garfield, Snoopy, Rainbow Brite, something with a plastic mask. Still, a few stick out in my memory, both as a kid and as an "adult."

My Five Favorite Halloween Costumes

1 - Laura Ingalls Wilder - I think I was in third grade for this one. My mother and aunt sewed the entire dress, originally so I could represent Germany on our "Christmas Around the World" float for Campfire Girls the year before. For Halloween I added a pioneer bonnet. The dress itself wasn't that remarkable, but the fact that my Mom made it for me just blew me away.

2 - Dryad - 2005 - Not a terribly sexy outfit, as I felt kind of like a giant brown couch, but it was quite cool. My coven sis made me a "trunk" dress from brown fabric, and I made a gigantic headdress of leaves, branches, a bird's nest, and several birds. The only problem with the head thing was that once I was good and drunk, it started sliding sideways on my head every ten minutes. Or that might have been my entire body listing starboard, trying not to pass out. I don't remember very clearly.

3 - Bible-Thumper - I think I was 23 or 24? For the Witches' Ball that year I threw together what may have been the Best Costume in the Universe, Bar None. This was around the time that all those wacky Fundamentalists were protesting the Fort Hood military Pagan group, and our dear governor-now-President-damn-it said he didn't think Wicca was a real religion. The whole thing nauseated me so much I decided to commemorate narrow-minded human stupidity for Halloween. I wore a knee-length black skirt and white dress shirt, knee socks, an enormous fake gold crucifix (designed for vampire costumes, I believe), and a WWJD? button. I had a friend poof up my hair as hugely as possible (known as Hallelujah Hair--the higher the hair, the closer to Heaven). I also carried a picket sign (Wicca is the Devil's Work! or something equally silly), and a "Bible" that was actually my copy of Drawing Down the Moon covered in black paper. I spent the Ball pretending to pray in a loud, hyperSouthern drawl. I was unanimously awarded Scariest Costume.

4 - Demeter - The following year for the Witches' Ball I wore a green Greek-inspired dress and a really badass head wreath made of autumn leaves, punkins, wheat, and all sorts of other stuff. Not my most creative outfit ever, and rather simple, but it looked really splendid on me, particularly given that the dress was slit up to the thigh and I walked around barefoot all evening. (Barefoot women are just sexy.)

5 - Tarty Schoolgirl - 2006 - I realize it's terribly politically incorrect and will mark me as the Worst Feminist Ever, but this year I decided I wanted to do something completely unlike me. One thing I never do is wear short skirts, and that gave me the idea--a red plaid skirt cut up to here (with a matching tie, thanks to S1ren the Sewing Maven), a white dress shirt open down to there, over a black lace bra and chaste anime-inspired white panties (keep your tentacle monsters far away, please). I even have white stockings with bows on them, and fake glasses to wear. It's too bad my hair is short this year or I'd wear pigtails, but I think that might be pushing the pervert quotient a bit far. I may carry a ruler so I can smack any wandering hands. *laugh* I'm probably going to freeze to death, but I'll be the sexiest Popsicle evah.

Hey, it could be worse. I could be dressing up as a Congressional page.

Five Ways...

I recently realized two things: one, I have been a Wiccan for thirteen years, not twelve; and two, I cannot add.

I don’t usually set much store by mystical numbers and their associations, but even after all these years there’s still something about the number thirteen that seems…important. My tenth Paganiversary passed pretty much without notice, but I feel that this one, which I will mark officially at Yule, should at least get a cake or something.

In the meantime, I give you,

Five Ways You Can Tell You Have been a Wiccan For a While

1 – You have a Book of Shadows you haven’t needed to open in six months or more

2 – When your coworker says, “Everyone’s acting crazy today, it must be the Full Moon,” without looking up you reply, “Nope, not until next Tuesday.”

3 – You have a favorite resin

4 – You’ve gone from being a neophyte to hating neophytes to hiding from neophytes to teaching neophytes

5 – You long ago stopped believing that

Christian = evil
Pagan = good
Tools = magic
Magic = guarantee
Pagan Standard Time = funny
Degrees = worth
Festivals = safe
Clothed = oppressed
Author = guru
Reading = experience