I apologize for the donation button you see to your far right. I’m really not one to go around begging for money. Truthfully I had to think long and hard before I actually did decide to put it up (it’s going up on all of my blogs) because I just don’t like asking complete strangers for money. I’m just not like that. However, right now, it’s either put up a donation button and hope for the best, or forget about going to college. I’ve been informed that I am completely ineligible for financial aid, even my student loans have been cut off. I can’t use ANYTHING but money from my own pocket to go to school with. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that ONE credit hour is over $100, and all classes are at least TWO credit hours. So yeah. It’s either stick the donations button up and hope for the best, or don’t bother going to school.

Just a note - I find it funny that they say we have a RIGHT to an education, including college, but then make it too expensive for us to get one.

I was reading an article on WitchVox about Tradition vs Eclectic Wicca. Basically the gist was that they are not the same. No they aren’t. And even though they may be based on each other, Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Corellian, etc aren’t the same either. The writer of the article made some very valid points and missed the biggest one of all.

Many of the “Neo-Wiccans” do not have the opportunity to become involved with or initiated into “Wiccan” traditions. We have to make our own path because we have no access to any other! I would love to study under a teacher of a specific tradition. Guess what? I can’t. I have no access to a Gardnerian coven or Alexandrian coven. Short of saying a prayer to the Goddess and God and then taking out an ad in the area newspapers that screams “I’m looking for a coven of the ____ tradition because I would like to be initiated and be a part of it,” I don’t have a way of being anything but an eclectic Solitary.

The problem is, by enforcing a seperation of Wicca and “Neo-Wicca” you basically invite those who are trying to find their faith to feel like they’re not as good as others because they can’t get access to a coven of “real” Wiccans. It’s not fair to me and the thousands of other solitaries who do not have access to a “traditional Wicca” coven/teacher to be labeled “Neo-Wiccans.” It cheapens our faith, it makes us look like small children playing copycat.

Guess what? There are umpteen different versions of Christianity but they all get to call themselves Christians. Even the ones who haven’t been baptized by the authority of this church or that church can say they are Christians if they are at the very least making an attempt to worship deity in the manner of the Christians. But “Neo-Wiccans” are to be forced to add “Neo” to the beginning of Wicca because we cannot or choose not to be structured by the traditions and covens of “real” Wicca? To be perfectly honest, how fair is that?

Cross posted at A Question of Faith.

I was reading “Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” and in the book, Scott Cunningham speaks of starting your own solitary tradition of Wicca. This idea actually appeals to me, and he gives some very good guidelines for getting started. I have a few books of rituals, a few books that give ideas for writing your own Book of Shadows, etc. I am seriously considering studying these and coming up with a plan for my own tradition of Wicca. Whether or not I give it a name or choose to teach others about the tradition I have not yet decided. However, I think this sounds like a wonderful idea.

Granted, I realize that it is not as easy as it sounds. That I will have to do a lot of work and a lot of soul searching in order to build my own tradition and to write rituals for myself. But the thought of having my own tradition - something I created, something I built to honor my relationship with the Goddess and God - appeals to me.

Right now, I’m at my best friend’s house. I’ll be going home in a bit to gather some items and when I do, I’ll bring back to her house the items I need to start working on this Wiccan tradition. I may post notes that I’ve made on this blog, or perhaps, I may start another blog, dedicated solely to my tradition that I am creating. Of course, that will require naming the tradition, something that I haven’t actually decided upon. Then again, I don’t necessarily have to name the tradition in order to create a blog about it.

Oh look at me, rambling on like I’m talking to myself and probably boring my readers half to death! In any case, if I do create a blog regarding my own tradition, I’ll post the link here so you can visit it.

Ok, I’m sure a lot of you knew, but I never realized how alike Wicca can be with Christianity. My first teachings in Wicca were that your spells were your prayers, and that you didn’t actually say any sort of prayers at other times. Now I am finding that daily prayers such as those before bed and before meals are just as common place in Wicca as in Christianity.

Yes, I’ve seen many sites that offer prayers to this Goddess or that Goddess, but they seemed to be mostly prayers used in times of ritual or spell work and didn’t seem like the type of thing you would use on a daily basis.

Prayer was never one of my strong suits, even when I was Christian. I just never seemed to get into the habit of speaking daily with the deity. I am starting small, using, for now at least, a prayer found in Living Wicca to say before meals. Eventually I am sure I will start creating my own prayers, but for now, I am just going to start slow and build myself up to it.

Well, I’ve gotten at least one thing completed on my list of things to do to increase my spiritual growth. I’ve completed the reading of Scott Cunningham’s Wicca - A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. I am currently endeavoring to read Living Wicca - A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. I am also planning on putting some of the techniques I found in “Wicca” to use, such as the attunements to the Goddess and God, and the Mirror Book. I am also going to hand write some of the items from the third part of the book, “The Standing Stones Book of Shadows” that appealed to me that I think would go well in my own Book of Shadows.

Once I’ve completed Living Wicca, I am planning on moving on to “The Meaning of Witchcraft” by Gerald Gardner. It is a book I currently own and it is one of the books in the suggested reading list in “Wicca.” I also have Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, which I plan on eventually reading as well. I am the sponge, I just need to start soaking up the knowledge these books have to offer!

I’m still working on rekindling my spiritual side. I’ve started studying Wicca again, first using Wicca - A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. When I’ve finished that, I’m going to go to Living Wicca - A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Then I’ll see where my attention wanders as far as my books about Wicca and Tarot.

I’ve done more Tarot readings lately than I had previously done, so that’s all right. In fact I’m hoping to do another one here pretty soon - just for a little insight into a situation I may be facing a bit later today. See if the cards have anything to say about it. I suppose I’d better go for now. I’m at the library and I’ll be getting picked up in a little bit.

The American Family Association, headed by Rev. Don Wildmon is calling for a boycott of McDonald’s. Why? Because McDonald’s “supports the Gay and Lesbian Agenda.” He claims that the gay and lesbian marriages that are being allowed are going to destroy marriage and the family unit. Use at least ONE brain cell in your head and THINK about this for a moment.

The majority of couples are - man and woman. Not woman and woman, not man and man. The MAJORITY of people are “straight.” Now granted I know quite a few women who are with women and I know quite a few men who are with men. That doesn’t mean that they love each other any less, and it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have the right to be married to each other. I find it hilarious that God creates us all with our sexual orientations, however, in the Bible he turns around and says that being homosexual is wrong.

Hello? God created us the way we are. I know enough gay people to know that it is NOT a choice for them. It is the way they are. It works like this - I can’t help who I’m attracted to. I don’t “choose” to be attracted to one man over another anymore than my friends at work who are gay choose to be attracted to the same sex over the opposite sex. I have even had people who are gay tell me to my face that if they could be attracted to the opposite sex, they would. It is NOT a choice. It is the way they are. Period.

Well, I’m doing a bit better. I got all the stuff off my altar that didn’t belong there. When your altar is on your dresser, things sometimes end up there that don’t belong on there! I’ve also done a couple of personal Tarot readings the past few days, you can see the results of both at Amaranth Moon Tarot. I’ve delved into Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca - A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” as well, and so I’m starting to regain some of my “witchy” ways. I’m hoping to regain more as I’m going to start spending more time at home than at my friend’s house. After all, I’m paying rent to live at my apartment and I’m rarely ever there anymore. With spending more time at home, I am hoping to start doing my daily devotions in front of my altar as I used to before I started staying over at my friend’s house so much. I really need to get back in touch with the “witchy” side of myself.