Alhethor

Last year I lit a green birthday candle I found lying in the bottom of a drawer for Saturday. I melted the bottom to a bottle lid, lit it, turned out the lights, sat down so that I was eye level with the flame, and said hello. It spoke back. He was fresh and young and had traveled quite a ways. He was afraid of the dark all around him, but I explained that the lights were out, but it was okay, I was there, and he had to be strong to supply light. He was happy to be with me and we held a mental conversation. His name was Alhethor and he was quite exited about something or other. I mostly got vague images about what it was, but it seemed to be something earthy.

I wrote a small poem/prayer when watching him and sang it back to him. He seemed to like it.
"Candle candle burning bright
Burning bright all through the night
Come to me by heart's delight
Through the flame that burns tonight."

Of course, he died as all things do. Before he went, he thanked me for being so nice to him. I asked him if he was going to be all right, and he said that I had helped strengthen him. I thanked him for giving me light and talking to me and he slowly winked out. He wasn't quite dead though. I felt part of him curl and spread through the air. The other part ran off in a whispery kind of delight.

I almost miss him whenever I think of him, but I always remember that he lives within everything that is the universe- including me.

Thank you for sharing your light with me, Alhethor. <3

Demographics

I'm beginning to wonder just how many Wiccans there are in the world. Luckily, Wikipedia is amazing and always humors me in my strange searches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca#Demographics

DemographicsThe actual number of Wiccans worldwide is unknown, and it has been noted that it is more difficult to establish the numbers of members of Neopagan faiths than many other religions due to their disorganised structure.^[95] However, Adherents.com, an independent website which specialises in collecting estimates of world religions, cites over thirty sources with estimates of numbers of Wiccans (principally from the USA and UK). From this, they developed a median estimate of 800,000 members.^[96] In the United States population alone, there have been many attempts at finding a figure, with the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey estimating that at least 134,000 adults identified themselves as Wiccans, compared to 8,000 in 1990.^[97] Wiccans have also made up significant proportions of various groups within that country; for instance, Wicca is the largest non-Christian faith practiced in the United States Air Force, with 1,434 airmen identifying themselves as such.^[98]
In the United Kingdom, census figures do not allow an accurate breakdown of traditions within the Pagan heading, as a campaign by the Pagan Federation before the 2001 Census encouraged Wiccans, Heathens, Druids and others all to use the same write-in term 'Pagan' in order to maximise the numbers reported. For the first time, respondents were able to write in an affiliation not covered by the checklist of common religions, and a total of 42,262 people from England, Scotland and Wales declared themselves to be Pagans by this method. These figures were not immediately analysed by the Office of National Statistics, but were released after an application by the Pagan Federation of Scotland.^[100]

Well that's interesting. I had no idea it was largely practiced in the air force! Quite fascinating really. I wonder why.

Oh! Now that we're on the subject of demographics, stats came to mind. Lady Elk is only being found through random searches, so if you find my blog interesting and know someone who would like to learn more about Wicca, by all means, share my link!
I would be much obliged. =)
Blessed be, amazing humans!
-Gwen <3

My First Beltane!

May 1st is Beltane! This Sabbat, I'm springing in to action (pun not originally intended) and planning out my day!
Unfortunately, I'll be at my Mom's house on Tuesday, so I'll just have to hold the observance on Thursday. =)
Beltane, or Mayday, is a time of unity, fertility, and the joining of summer and spring. Although it is usually celebrated with bonfires and a maypole, I 'll skip out on the bonfire. If my yard were to catch fire, I would be very sad. =(
I'll probably make a mini maypole though! It can have woven flowers, ribbons, and other fun stuff. I'll put it in my yard near my chicken burial ground. (It is the place I bury dead chickens and pets, just in case you were wondering. Despite all the sadness that comes with burying dead things, the place has some very positive, happy energies. Maybe because it's healthy. Maybe because I just like digging in the ground. Maybe it because of the overhanging persimmon tree. Any way, It's a great place.)
Although Mayday's traditional colors are red and white, most people also use vivid blue and pink, lavender, yellow, and white. Flowers, fire, ribbons, and mirrors are a Mayday theme.

Here is my planned Beltane in a nutshell:

---
Beltane
Symbolism
Unity, the meeting of spring and summer, fertility.

Rituals and Activities
Picking flowers, weaving ribbons and wreaths, setting up a maypole, decorating the persimmon tree. Dancing and music. (I'm going to use Battlefield Band. It's very good Scottish Folk music.)


Themes and Colors
Ribbons, flowers, woven branches. Blue, pink, lavender, yellow, and white.
---

Happy coming Beltane, everyone! =^^=
Blessed be.
-Gwen

Jesus + Me = BFFs?

You know, it's really pretty tragic to me that so many people I know claim to not like Jesus.
He and I don't share the same religion. He lived thousands of years before me, --if he even lived at all-- and yet I know that I would have loved the guy if I ever met him. He's just so agreeable!
On the other hand, we have Christian extremists who twist his teachings and spin webs of guilt in his name. Now I know that most Christians aren't like this, and I even know that my religion has it's fair share of loonies! It's just strange to me that a group of people who follow the teachings of a pacifist can be so violent when defending their viewpoints.

Wicca is a pretty peaceful religion too. Why can't we be friends?

I think that the world would be a better place if we delighted in who people are, not judge based on what we think they should be.

Lost

I found my wand again!
She had kind of run away from me when I took that break from Wicca. The poor thing. I was really worried about her. I had almost accepted the fact that maybe she didn't like her place in my life anymore when I decided to clean under my bed the other day. Lo and behold, there she was! I could have sworn I'd looked there.
She kind of smiled shyly at me and I took her out of her sleeve, checked her over, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She's back.

Astrology from a Practical Point of View

I found this post on a blog I follow. I found it so interesting, I asked if I could use it on my own. She said yes, so here it is!
[Used and edited with permission from Rahel Sewell.]
[Original post]

Elements
Signs usually get along well with other signs of the same element. Looking at the chart, you will see that the lines connecting signs of like elements will form a triangle. Individuals born under signs of the same element will tend to see eye-to-eye with each other, and usually form strong bonds.

Fire: Power & Creativity

  Aries

  Leo

  Sagittarius

Earth: Stability & Resoluteness

  Taurus

  Virgo

  Capricorn

Air: Freedom & Intellect

  Gemini

  Libra

  Aquarius

Water: Change & Emotion

  Cancer

  Scorpio

  Pisces

Personality and Method

Each sign has a method of actions as well as a personality attached to it.

Aries- Powerful and assertive. Wants and accomplishes.

Taurus- Stable and stubborn. Grounds and protects.

Gemini- Dual, shifting, and imaginative. Blends and changes itself.

Cancer- Tenacious, organized, and critical. Feels and reacts.

Leo- Creative and egocentric. Creates and empowers.

Virgo- Observant and detail-orientated. Organizes and improves.

Libra- Balanced and diplomatic. Understands and harmonizes.

Scorpio- Sensitive and intense. Feels and expresses.

Sagittarius- Striving and seeking. Knows and Directs.

Capricorn- Ambitious and practical. Builds and asserts.

Aquarius- Logical and unconventional. Sees and progresses.

Pisces- Caring and emotional. Feels and aligns.

Teamwork

Each sign is fine on it's own. It can work by itself and generally manage things well. However, it helps if it has another sign to balance it out. Two minds are better then one.

For example, Leo is creative and can be self-absorbed. Leo also consolidates and then shapes energy, ideas, facts, etc. This is great, but it also needs some direction. Enter Sagittarius. (Note. Aries works quite well with Leo too. This is just an example.)

To see how signs relate to each other, think of sign compatibility less like 'Leo and Sagittarius are compatible' and more like 'Leo consolidates. Sagittarius directs. Leo needs Sagittarius to direct excess energy. Sagittarius needs Leo as a source of energy.'

When you think of it this way, astrological signs widen from romantic compatibilities to team-building and harmonizing.

As an example of signs that usually don't work, take Sagittarius and Cancer. Cancer feels and fixes. Sagittarius directs. Cancer may cling to and attempt to better Sagittarius. Sagittarius may walk away from Cancer or attempt to steer it. If the relationship is handled wisely, it may work out. For example, it might work if Cancer understands that Sagittarius needs free-reign and helps mend and heal when needed, and if Sagittarius understands that Cancer is just trying to help and  tries to include Cancer in it's life.

Now that we're breaking away from romantic compatibilities and moving on to teamwork, one can start to create teams or characters based off of various signs. Try to apply an astrological sign to each character. Then examine how they interact. Make some notes then refer to the charts and lists I provided. The results should prove interesting.

This method also works for character creation in books and such as well as games and real-life teams.