So I guess it's my own turn for an introduction.
I've always been called by the magick ever since I could remember, almost as long as Iv'e had the desire to draw, and found early on that it led me to always be a deeply spiritual individual regardless of path. Without the solitude of my relationship with the mystical, I get stressed out and tire quickly too, oddly enough.
I was raised in a fairly strict legalistic Roman Catholic household, with one parent devout and the other lacedaisical when it came to faith, making for some conflicting paradigms growing up. In high school I studied world religions on my own, but wicca ended up stealing my heart. I immediatly saw the similarities in practice between mass and magick. But while tied to my faith I very much considered myself wiccan for a long time. I guess it was my way of rebelling. Oddly enough, however, several years into college I had some intense beautiful spiritual experiences that led me back to the Christian, if not Catholic church. I put down the ceremomial parts of my practice and embraced fully my love of learning about The Christ. Oddly enough, this caused more conflict in the house than my caling mself a "witch".
I've since started my life on my own. When I felt the familiar void from the swinging of my religious pendulum, I came to the conclusion that once called by magick, your'e stuck with it for life, or wanting for more always. It was then that I found Rawna Moon's page and have been slowly studying it since. I love her Norvisensian tradition! :-D That was almost a year ago, methinks. My boyfriend knows about the whole thing, but he is hesitant to use the word "witch" or "magick," even though his mother and her husband might as well be Christian witches in their own way. Yet he is likng the fruits of the study in me.
I am definatly a city witch. I love big buildings, and big cathedrals (As an artist, I can't help but see the work behind them as an act of worship by their builders and artisans and I get to join in that worship by admiring it), and pubs and coffeeshops. And I love People. Even though I'm an introvert. And I like pockets of nature hidden within city walls.....maybe reminding me that we can thrive in strange places too. I am a hearthwitch. I love the home and what it can represent as a place of nurturing and growth and rejuvination. My magick always usually starts from the kitchen. No surprise there, I'm sure, that my occupation is Starbucks Barista, so I LOVE coffee and tea magick. Call coffee a minor obssession of mine.
A few years ago, I decided to simplify the tools of my faith in order to keep my whole life sacred (no just a chosen part of it and those tools), which has also kept it easier for me to keep one foot in the broomcloset. Think playing cards for cartomancy divination instead of the auspcious tarot (which I still admire), or magick in your coffee cup instead of on an alter.
Yet, despite my best efforts, I've already been burned by nonunderstanding individuals about my being both a Christian ans a Witch and having no qualms about it. Because of that, I'm Mass shy, but perhaps I'll make it back regularly someday. When I go to church, it's at an interdenominational church down the street that has a beautiful artist ministry. Too bad I'm just as lazy with ritual and holiday observances someday. My life just bleeds slowly into each dawning season, although I have never ignored a Samhain. :-D
Lately I've been exploring Celtic Christianity, and the beauty of its words, poems, chants, and theology of a spiritual prilgrim's sort. The wildness of it, the magick interweaved into it, the rebellion against Rome, the love of all that is trinitarian. I've also always admired the Catholic contemplatives and desired the peace they shared with Christ, and if I wasn't in a relationship, I'd probably be chasing a monastic life myself. ;-)
Well that's me. I also do henna and mhendi, and have been exploring how to incorporate that practice into my spellwork, besides weaving prayers into my designs. I have recently found a whole sliu of Christian symbols hidden in the traditional indian school of henna symbols. *squee*
good
ditzy
pissed off
