Exciting new things

Inland Empire Pagan Guild.

A lot has been happening since I last posted. I've of course been busy with school and had a real dozy of a class. Some things have been happening with family. My Mom is sick again back home and she and my Dad have been struggling. Amanda and I are having it kind of rough with our living situation and her trying to find another job. She has graduated from her MFA program, YAY! At the moment we are in a place of transition. She's trying to find another job that will support us in a place of our own. We'd really love to move out of her parents apartment- no, we need to move out of her parents apartment. But that's a different story for a different day. Let's just say that I recently had a tarot reading from a friend from her "bitch" deck (I think that's what she called it) and it said for me to basically hang in there, keep going the course, because it's all going to pay off. 

Moving on. 

I was recently asked if I wanted to join the council of the local pagan group I've been a member of for the last year or so. I said yes, put in my application, and got accepted. So far I have held a very laid back full moon ritual and am going to be helping with Mabon. I am also leading a class on pagan prayer beads in December, a class on Past lives and reincarnation, and next year I will start a support group for area pagans with disabilities. I wanted the class to be all encompassing- not just focus on physical, mental, or emotional- all of them. Amanda and I are also going to start an out reach program. We have a lot ahead of us but I think it will be good.

I have not been on top of things in the last few months. I'm not sure why. I thought maybe I just needed some time to procrastinate or well, be a bit lazy. I also thought that maybe its been from all the depression, body aches, and fatigue from some of my health problems. It could be one or the other or a combination of all of the above. Either way, with the season change, I feel a bit more alert, alive, and excited. There's a lot I am looking forward to and plans to be made. I will be setting up a schedule within the next few days because I need to start writing again. Not just little things here and there or school assignments or short stories for workshop classes, but novel writing. And I need a couple of hours every day to sit down and just do that. Then I need a couple of hours a day for homework and a couple of hours to focus on my pagan studies. I have so much that I want to learn and research apart from IEPG stuff. I want to really write my Book of Shadows. 

So here's the short, simple, non-overwhelming list of plans:

1. Make a schedule 

2. Make sure it has time for me.

3. Delegate time wisely

4. Break subjects of study up.

5. Make a list of things I would like to focus on learning within the next couple of months.

6. Finish out my Pagan book challenge

7. Keep blogs updated.

8. Enjoy the season.

I could easily add sub sections to each of those but I am not going to. That's where I would overwhelm myself. Have to keep it simple.

Damn there was something else I was going to say, but for the life of me I can't remember. Hmmm. Well, until next time I guess...  

Update, recent acquisitions and I have a blessed minute!

The last couple of terms of school have been rather heavy, time consuming, and stressful. Amidst the school work we've had a trip to Seattle and had to put a kitty to sleep. He was sick and suffering and we did everything we could. It was a sad night in our house but it is okay because he's gone to be with his best bud, Yoda, my familiar, who passed 6 months prior. 

Amanda and I have also had our fair share of family drama going on as well. But, breaking away from the stress, sadness, and frustrations, I'm going to jump into some of the wonderful things we've acquired recently.

We found a candle snuffer that looks similar to the one pictured above, at a garage sale. You'd be surprised what you can find at garage sales. We even saw a cauldron at an estate sale that day. We almost bought it too, but there were weird vibes all around so we forewent that purchase. 

While in Seattle we went to Edge of the Circle Books. There we picked a large candle, a tarot bag for Amanda, and I grabbed The Inner Temple of Witchcraft Meditation CD set to go along with the book we got for Yule. 

Since we've been home I've purchased a few more books. One is for a class that I would like to teach for one of the IEPG meetings. Hopefully, I can set aside some time on my break between terms to do all my research, planning, organize a list of what I need to get for the class, and then set up date to do it. If I get even half of that done, I will be happy. Anyway the book is:

The other books are Heathen in nature. 

This is a book that the Heathen coordinator from the IEPG recommended to me. I'd had it on my list on amazon for a couple of months, but it wasn't until recently that I pushed it to my cart. One of the reasons being an assignment for the spirituality circle. We are supposed to write a ritual and it can be for anything. While several people were talking about fandoms like MLP (Amanda is doing My Little Pony and her ritual sounds amazing), I was thinking about Elves and Mermaids. I don't think there are Mermaids in this book but lore and information about Elves is. Since I wanted to study this book and move more about Heathen practices and so forth, this book was a must! Also, because I have always loved Elves (we can thank my Dad and Tolkien for starting that), and I am a writer, any lore or information I can gather for future story writing is always appreciated!   

I did not buy Witchdom of the True, but it was lent to me and ties into the next book I am going to talk about. First, this book is really interesting and has some good information to it. I don't think it is in print any more, which might be why it is so expensive, last I looked on Amazon it was over $80. So if you can borrow it or find a PDF version to purchase that's more reasonably priced, I think it is worth the read. For myself, it gave me a lot to think about in terms of where I want and feel I need to go, or what best fits me. If that makes sense. 

Frey God of the World is a really exciting book to me and I haven't even begun reading it. My copy must have be part of an estate sale or something like that. The reasoning behind this theory is that the author has autographed it and its a sweet, short message that speaks of a dear friendship to the person it was autographed to. So, for me, this book is extra special. Aside from learning more about Frey, I am curious to see exactly how much the author talks about Frey in correlation with the Greenman. I don't know where I have read or heard of Frey being referenced with the Greenman, only that I have and it stuck. While I do have a book on the Greenman (because I have always been drawn to him), I wanted to read this book first. 

Honestly, I am not sure about this book. I've debated it for a long time and finally broke down and bought it. I looked through it briefly and there looks to be some good stuff. There are hymns and poems, recipes for incense, and prayers. There was even a section on making prayer beads for Freyja. But I haven't had a great deal of time with the book and after I got it in my hands, rather than just seeing it Amazon, it appears to be a semi-personal devotional the writer put together and is sharing with those who are interested. Which, is great! I don't know that I will use everything she has but it is a good starting point. Something that I can use as a platform to build my own personal devotional. 

That's about all for today. I've decided that I will continue where I left off in my posts for the Pagan Blog Project last year. The folks running it aren't doing it this year, sadly, but I will still want to finish what I started.