Here we go!

So, I'm not really naturally a blogger (or a journal writer even with pen/paper).  I have good intentions, and sometimes crazy ideas, but I tend to keep them all locked away in my head.  I like writing, don't get me wrong.  I find that when I put things on paper (virtual or otherwise), it helps me to organize my thoughts better, and sometimes to even get them more refined.  It just seems like there is always so much going on and something as simple as writing sometimes get pushed by the wayside.

I have been on quite a few forums, and one of the things I always dread about joining a new one (besides feeling like your stepping into someone else's party) is posting an introduction.  I understand the need for it in a virtual world, since no one can see you and make a first impression.  It is both liberating (I get to choose what to share) and daunting (what do I say?).  It sets the tone for those first initial posts until people get a sense of who you are.

So this is my introduction post!  For all of you out there who don't know me or what I do, and for those of you who do know me, well consider this a 'me in a nutshell'.

Basics first.  I am a married woman, mid thirties now (wow, sure doesn't feel like it....I swear parts of my mind will always be a teenager), and I have one son in middle school.  I am a stay at home mom, and have been since my son was an infant.  I have been a Pagan, in one shape or another, since high-school.  My husband doesn't share my beliefs.  Neither, for that matter, do my parents, although they did find out when I was in college and we had a lovely awkward discussion about it and then kind of don't speak about it now.  They don't treat me differently, so it's all good on that front.

My roots are in what I consider commercial Wicca.  Not the lineaged British Traditional Wicca, but the Wicca 101 type of books you can find in mainstream book stores.  I actually got introduced to the concept of magic and witchcraft through a book called The Power of Magic, which was in my high school library (only slightly odd...it was a private Christian school).  The pictures absolutely captivated me, along with a note that contacting a Coven wasn't that hard, and that in North America they even put advertizements in magazines.

Needless to say, it wasn't as easy as that to make contact with others.  I did end up finding a New Age type shop and talking to some of the people there, and strangely enough making random contact with quite a few young military Pagans after being abandoned at a dance club by a 'friend'.  During this time I absolutely devoured anything relating to witchcraft, Paganism or the occult.

My husband and I moved from Hawaii (where my Dad had been last stationed in the military and where we had met) to the mid-west (where my husbands parents were).  I continued to practice pretty much solitary, though had some interactions with a local coven.

After we moved again, this time to a much smaller country town, I pretty much lost contact with everyone.  It was a kind of lonely time for me.  Eventually I found some Pagan forums, and started meeting others online.  One of the forums I have been on for a long time is more Occult based, and so I learned from and talked with people who are not of the Pagan faith, but more interested in Eastern philosophy, Ceremonial Magic, Chaos and a whole world of other practices.  This still highly influences the way I think about and approach magic.

But my heart is really in witchcraft and Paganism.  I have a lot of calling towards Heathen concepts, and have been working on exploring them.  At the core I am a kitchen witch, I can practice with whatever I have on hand (or just my hands!), but I like to play dress up from time to time and work with fancy tools and ornate rituals.

So, in my blog you will encounter all kinds of ramblings (have you noticed I tend to be a bit wordy...), ideas from any number of sources, and just crazy thoughts I have had pop into my mind that won't let me go.  Hope you enjoy, and love to hear from anyone reading (just forgive me if I don't respond right away....sometimes I forget that there are comment sections on these things!).