... how jazzed I am about getting this store open? I am thinking that I will be mostly ready to go by the middle of next month, so I'm setting my official "grand online opening" for the Spring Equinox - 3/21/09. I think it's a great day to begin something new!
I've also decided that I'm going to put myself out there as well by offering readings. My grandmother was a fabulous cartomancist, and while it will be a long time before I feel that I am at her level, I must start to use the "Triple Deck" that she talked about to me in a dream. I'm excited about the whole idea but a bit nervous. It's one thing to do personal readings... but I'm sure I'll be fine. I've got excellent intuitive skill and I know my cards well, so...
Anyway... back to the HTML and CSS crap. I may rip my hair out of my head before it's all over with, LOL!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Searching for an online store platform.
This is making me crazy. I don't have a lot of HTML or CSS knowledge, and finding a store that is easy to customize has been a total pain in the ass. Fortunately I've got Kirk to help me out, but still... I want to be able to manage everything on my own.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cailleach gathers her firewood today :-)
In Irish and Scottish mythology, Cailleach (also called Cailleach Bheur) was the "Mother of All". The word simply means 'old woman' in modern Scottish. I love reading about her.
Legend has it that February 1st is the day the Cailleach gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. The story goes like this: if the Cailleach intends to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on February 1st is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood to keep herself warm in the coming months. As a result, people are generally relieved if February 1 is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep, will soon run out of firewood, and therefore winter is almost over.
I wonder what today's weather will bring?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Where to start?
I've got so many directions to go in to get the store going. I've got the domain name already - I've had that for a while - and I've got a lot of ideas, but putting them to fruition is another thing. Complicating matters is the fact that I've got this ridiculous hip injury (from work in 11/07 - long story) and it limits the hell out of me sometimes. There are days that it's all I can do to drag myself to the bathroom.
In addition, I've got school starting next month. I'm trying to get another degree in Adult Education so that I can have a better shot at getting some online teaching gigs. Being handicapped right now has shown me the importance of taking advantage of educational options. I am only as marketable as my skill and education.
However, that is a backup plan, or something that I can do in addition to the store. Witchy Living is my main priority. I've waited for years to do this and I'm not backing down this time.
In addition, I've got school starting next month. I'm trying to get another degree in Adult Education so that I can have a better shot at getting some online teaching gigs. Being handicapped right now has shown me the importance of taking advantage of educational options. I am only as marketable as my skill and education.
However, that is a backup plan, or something that I can do in addition to the store. Witchy Living is my main priority. I've waited for years to do this and I'm not backing down this time.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Okay, I'm going for it!
I've finally decided that I am definitely going to give the e-store a go. I feel that I've got a lot to offer in several areas, and I would like to let the world know about it. Guess my Leo sun is shining! I'm very excited, but scared - I want to be successful, of course, but more importantly, I want to leave a mark on the world that is of some value.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Traditional Witchcraft: One Definition
The following was written by Startella, who is a fellow member of a witch forum at which I am a moderator. This was written in response to another member's questions about how we traditional witches "believe" and I was so impressed with this that I've "stolen" it, with permission, to post here on my blog. It's a very succinct piece of writing and pretty much reflects exactly what a traditional witch is, and does - and how much our craft can differ from witch to witch. I have taken the liberty of editing it slightly to remove references to other members of the forum, but the content is pretty much unchanged. Enjoy!
"Our Craft is nothing that we ally with, it is us. Our Craft is what we do every minute of our waking moments, and some of our not so waking ones too. This includes trances, deep meditations, astral travel, lucid dreaming, etc. Most of us will add a little of our local environment and cultural background and customs, making it unique to us. That is not to say that we don’t “practice” our Craft too. We are drawn to it because it was born in us, some and most can find signs when we were children, some are able to follow through and continue – some have family to help, others are forced to follow what their parents tell them, some following without others knowing their secret, others as soon as they are of age to seek themselves find it coming out stronger and they then pursue it. Most of us here have not had family to guide them, or have a family line, and even if there is a family line, does not mean that they will be a witch.
For most of us, nature is very big. Most people think of nature as trees and animals, lakes and streams, but they don't think of every single natural thing on this planet, and the rest of our solar system, galaxy and universe as well. Nature encompasses all of these things, like a universal energy. We generally do not worship any entities, but we recognize the existence of them, commonly referred to as spirits. We believe in the equality of all beings in the Universe, seeing them all as different and separate but still equal. We revere and respect nature, however we do not worship it or its representatives.
Most of us here do not call on deities, (except those that accept deities) but many may call on spirits and their ancestors. Some of us use “deity” energies and aspects in our workings, if it is needed. Some of us may occasionally call on the elements as well; most do not have the same belief of the four elements that is taught in Wicca. When performing magic we will concentrate on our own power, or and we may call on assistance from a spirit in the spirit world and/or ancestors.
Magic, that’s a big mouth full! It’s an everyday thing. We work our magic into our day to day lives, in cooking, cleaning, little spells here and there, keeping ourselves, our family, and our homes - even work - safe and healthy. We also work spells (for lack of a better word) for doing something very specific. Some of us do it in ritual style, other times not. Some of us use tools, sometimes not. Our spells and magic depends on our backgrounds, what we are doing at the moment, all different elements come into play here, at any given moment when it comes down to it. I do not consider doing readings to be magic. I have a natural ability but that did not make it so I can just do them. I had to find what spoke to me, and from there I had to work at it, not as hard as doing something I don’t have a natural eye for, but it is work and takes time to develop. We all do things very differently, and some here don’t do readings at all, some maybe they haven’t found the system that speaks to them, or they don’t have the time now to work at it.
Love and intent - we all do things in love, like protect our loved ones, our pets, family, friends whatever. We send each other healing energies, good thoughts, etc out of love. We will protect our cars, homes, lands, bikes, boats whatever, to protect them and the ones in and on these things, to keep them safe, running good, and healthy as best we can. Intent - that’s a whole different arena. Our intent is to do what ever it takes for most of us to get the job done, usually as quickly as we can. Does it harm someone in the process, well it might, but what were the consequences to us if we didn’t? And we take full responsibility for what we do. We don’t do things without thinking about it first. Some of us, do hexes, jinxes, and we will even do curses, if the need arises. What is the intent here, well that is obvious. I kinda think of it as tough love. Sometime you just have to do it, because it will help in the long run, no matter how hard it hurts right now. And then there are the times its just the right thing to do to someone, because of what they have done to you or yours. It maybe hate, disgust, or anger as part of the intent, or because they paid me to do it. But all in all you will find that we have very strong ethics that we follow, and each one of us has our own.
Evil spirits - that’s fluffy Wiccan to me. When we die some of us believe we travel to the plane of existence called the spirit world. Our resting place. When we continue our journey we may be born into a new life, reincarnation being commonly believed in by many. However another alternative that some believe is that we meld with nature becoming one with it, becoming a land spirit, one of the reasons we always show respect for the spirits as they are the spirits of those that have passed before us. I think the vast majority of spirits will remain as themselves within the spirit world sometimes interacting, (or trying to,) with the living. Not all spirits are nice though.
We see all life, all nature, all space as sacred. Since we believe that everything is sacred it is perfectly acceptable to do magic or rituals and spells in our living rooms or bedroom as opposed to being outdoors. We do not need to cast any circles to make it sacred, we do not call upon the watchtowers or elements to guard us, if we need assistance we may ask a spirit or an ancestor with help or the use of the universal energies. At the same time this does not mean that we may not use a circle to do a working in, it all depends on what we are doing.
Some of us generally observe the sabbats as these days correspond to solstices and equinoxes, but not all relate them to a specific mythology. Some do, per their tradition, background, culture and customs. I honor the seasonal changes themselves, when I see them happen in my area, rather than on a calendar - but not the lives of any Gods or Goddesses. Some or most, not sure, observe moon phases and other natural phenomena also, with the full moon being the most significant. Others follow even older ways when the Sabbats were the full moons and the now called Sabbats were just the festivals of their culture and customs.
For most of us things kinda flow being a witch and our craft is just who we are, and we can't imagine not being. That doesn't mean that it is easy, it can be a very hard path, is a life long journey, and well rewarding. There are no hard fast rules - rather there are commonalities. Each one of us is different, our craft is as individual as we are, it is the commonalities that bring us together."
"Our Craft is nothing that we ally with, it is us. Our Craft is what we do every minute of our waking moments, and some of our not so waking ones too. This includes trances, deep meditations, astral travel, lucid dreaming, etc. Most of us will add a little of our local environment and cultural background and customs, making it unique to us. That is not to say that we don’t “practice” our Craft too. We are drawn to it because it was born in us, some and most can find signs when we were children, some are able to follow through and continue – some have family to help, others are forced to follow what their parents tell them, some following without others knowing their secret, others as soon as they are of age to seek themselves find it coming out stronger and they then pursue it. Most of us here have not had family to guide them, or have a family line, and even if there is a family line, does not mean that they will be a witch.
For most of us, nature is very big. Most people think of nature as trees and animals, lakes and streams, but they don't think of every single natural thing on this planet, and the rest of our solar system, galaxy and universe as well. Nature encompasses all of these things, like a universal energy. We generally do not worship any entities, but we recognize the existence of them, commonly referred to as spirits. We believe in the equality of all beings in the Universe, seeing them all as different and separate but still equal. We revere and respect nature, however we do not worship it or its representatives.
Most of us here do not call on deities, (except those that accept deities) but many may call on spirits and their ancestors. Some of us use “deity” energies and aspects in our workings, if it is needed. Some of us may occasionally call on the elements as well; most do not have the same belief of the four elements that is taught in Wicca. When performing magic we will concentrate on our own power, or and we may call on assistance from a spirit in the spirit world and/or ancestors.
Magic, that’s a big mouth full! It’s an everyday thing. We work our magic into our day to day lives, in cooking, cleaning, little spells here and there, keeping ourselves, our family, and our homes - even work - safe and healthy. We also work spells (for lack of a better word) for doing something very specific. Some of us do it in ritual style, other times not. Some of us use tools, sometimes not. Our spells and magic depends on our backgrounds, what we are doing at the moment, all different elements come into play here, at any given moment when it comes down to it. I do not consider doing readings to be magic. I have a natural ability but that did not make it so I can just do them. I had to find what spoke to me, and from there I had to work at it, not as hard as doing something I don’t have a natural eye for, but it is work and takes time to develop. We all do things very differently, and some here don’t do readings at all, some maybe they haven’t found the system that speaks to them, or they don’t have the time now to work at it.
Love and intent - we all do things in love, like protect our loved ones, our pets, family, friends whatever. We send each other healing energies, good thoughts, etc out of love. We will protect our cars, homes, lands, bikes, boats whatever, to protect them and the ones in and on these things, to keep them safe, running good, and healthy as best we can. Intent - that’s a whole different arena. Our intent is to do what ever it takes for most of us to get the job done, usually as quickly as we can. Does it harm someone in the process, well it might, but what were the consequences to us if we didn’t? And we take full responsibility for what we do. We don’t do things without thinking about it first. Some of us, do hexes, jinxes, and we will even do curses, if the need arises. What is the intent here, well that is obvious. I kinda think of it as tough love. Sometime you just have to do it, because it will help in the long run, no matter how hard it hurts right now. And then there are the times its just the right thing to do to someone, because of what they have done to you or yours. It maybe hate, disgust, or anger as part of the intent, or because they paid me to do it. But all in all you will find that we have very strong ethics that we follow, and each one of us has our own.
Evil spirits - that’s fluffy Wiccan to me. When we die some of us believe we travel to the plane of existence called the spirit world. Our resting place. When we continue our journey we may be born into a new life, reincarnation being commonly believed in by many. However another alternative that some believe is that we meld with nature becoming one with it, becoming a land spirit, one of the reasons we always show respect for the spirits as they are the spirits of those that have passed before us. I think the vast majority of spirits will remain as themselves within the spirit world sometimes interacting, (or trying to,) with the living. Not all spirits are nice though.
We see all life, all nature, all space as sacred. Since we believe that everything is sacred it is perfectly acceptable to do magic or rituals and spells in our living rooms or bedroom as opposed to being outdoors. We do not need to cast any circles to make it sacred, we do not call upon the watchtowers or elements to guard us, if we need assistance we may ask a spirit or an ancestor with help or the use of the universal energies. At the same time this does not mean that we may not use a circle to do a working in, it all depends on what we are doing.
Some of us generally observe the sabbats as these days correspond to solstices and equinoxes, but not all relate them to a specific mythology. Some do, per their tradition, background, culture and customs. I honor the seasonal changes themselves, when I see them happen in my area, rather than on a calendar - but not the lives of any Gods or Goddesses. Some or most, not sure, observe moon phases and other natural phenomena also, with the full moon being the most significant. Others follow even older ways when the Sabbats were the full moons and the now called Sabbats were just the festivals of their culture and customs.
For most of us things kinda flow being a witch and our craft is just who we are, and we can't imagine not being. That doesn't mean that it is easy, it can be a very hard path, is a life long journey, and well rewarding. There are no hard fast rules - rather there are commonalities. Each one of us is different, our craft is as individual as we are, it is the commonalities that bring us together."
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