Candace's Guide for Baby Pagans (newbies)

Candace's Guide for Baby Pagans (newbies)

Here is a list of things that I feel that new people coming into paganism should consider.

1. Don't just read one book. There are other authors out there that give their version on the same subject. I you want your dose of witchcraft, there are various forms of the craft so it's best to research as much as possible.

2. Don't just read 101 books but read other things, like history, philosophy or other things that interest you other than the 101 collection.

3. If you are joining a group/coven/grove/temple do your research. Ask to meet the leader in a public place and try to get to know him or her first before you make your decision. You will find that a lot of those groups might not seem right for you.

4. Try to avoid the very complicated spells, rituals and other forms of various magic. As a baby pagan you are just learning and growing. Try not to summon Cthulhu just yet!

5. Try to go to your local pagan pride day. I know it may be scary at first but you will realize that there are pagans that won't judge you on the lack of knowledge. You will find that they may teach you a few new things that aren't in your 101 books. Plus you might find the workshops fun and educational.

6. Don't be surprised that in books they want you to choose your “magical name”. Don't worry about this because you really don't need one just yet. Eventually it will come but not right now. I have been pagan for almost 8 years and I haven't had a magical name. This also goes for the gods you choose. If you do choose a name try not to go all out, I think that Lady Raven Unicornfairybuttdust will make the gods laugh. Just saying, just saying!

7. Don't worry about trying to do ritual on every sabbat, esbat, every new moon or every occasion you get because sometimes you need to skip Yule or Mabon probably because you are working or maybe other things come up. The gods aren't going to punish you because you missed a sabbat and knowing that it's Yule says that you acknowledge it's that time of year. This goes for non-newbies too.

8. You don't need to buy every tool that is mentioned in a book to put on your alter. Sometimes the best items are the ones that work for you and sometimes the best tools are the ones you make yourself. I have had almost every tool on my alter given to me or made by myself. It's cheaper and It has my energy put in and as you can tell I encourage crafting.

9.. Try to make your own spells. Sometimes the best spells is made up by the individual and not from another source.

10. Sometimes in the craft you might have to get dirty. Any path isn't all about love and light and sometimes you might have to turn to other means. Just reminder that if you do there might be consequences!

11. Remember the best tool for every thing happens to be the mind.

I hope this helps for new people. Remember paganism isn't for everyone so if you feel like you want to take up another religion it's completely fine as long as you are on a path worth choosing for the individual and not what others want.

(If anyone wants to add anything on please feel free to put it in the comments, thanks)

Bright Blessings.

Candace

Solitary Witch

Why I am a solitary witch some may ask. Well it all started with stories of people who get into a coven and after a while is thrown into a drama infested world which sets me off to a whole new view of reason to stay where I am when it comes to my craft. In the community there is talk of some of the people that go off being snobby and self-centered. Even some elders in the community today seem not to want to bother with training newbies because in their minds eye, there is so much information about Paganism/Wicca/Druidry/etc. These are some stories that I heard so don't yell at me and note the word SOME. I went to a bookstore the other day and I seen so many books on one subjects. I get why some older people who have been in the craft longer then they can count, can tell someone to read stuff on certain subjects, but yet sometimes lack the understanding that young people look up to older people in the craft for more information other than what is in books. It does sadden me to think of this. Years and years ago when we didn't have so much information on these subjects we did look for teachers. I think that when it comes down to it young people turn away from covens and revert to solitary practice and online information of the craft because it's more handy than a “teacher” telling you to do your research before they can start you on the craft.

I have been pagan and a witch for 7 going on 8 years now and I have heard all the stories from people who turned to solitary work because of claims of misuse of authority and the mistrust of “teachers” who claim to be your only hope in learning the craft. Some times I wonder if I should start doing what others haven't and that is teaching others what the craft is all about, instead of all this nonsense and garbage yet I remain solitary.

Last reason why I am solitary is that I like to do things my own pace when it comes to learning about the craft. See I have aspergers and it's hard to learn with other people so the anxiety of a coven (crowds) will get the best of me. The level of anxiety of being in a crowded room has gotten better over the years but will not gone since I am a Aspie.

Here You Can Have My TV!

As I was flipping through my TV today and there seems to be nothing on I was thinking that I might as well give away my TV. Why do I say that well because all we have is reality TV and not enough good programing these days. Yes there are still good shows out there, such as Sanctuary, Merlin, and The Walking Dead and yes these are some of my favorite shows out there. On the other side there are horrible shows such as Jersey Shore, Dancing With the Stars, and other shows that display much drama that makes me want to just shut down the cable and watch my favorite shows off of Netflix or buy the boxed sets for cheap off of Amazon. Might as well most of the time I don't even turn on the TV anymore and a low monthly fee seems reasonable. Even the news seems to be about who is doing what, and what is the latest scandal. Yes I am talking about the recent “Weinergate” scandal which I don't care about it done lets all get on with the real news. By the way I really don't care about who is pregnant. I would hate to be famous and have to deal with all of this crap from the media. Most of this country has very voyeuristic tendencies, it really makes me sick because there is a camera in people's houses filming their "interesting" lives. Me personally I really don't want a camera in my house filming me eating a sandwich and filming me doing a private circle for a sabbat. It would really feel awkward to have a camera in my face when all the time.

Now I know that other people have this as a gateway out of everything that is going on in their life and I get that's why a lot of people watch it and that's alright but I really don't need to see it so that is why I don't watch most of the crap that is out there. Drama free life please!

Bright Blessings

Candace

I have not died

Greetings

People probably have wonder where the hell I have been for months. I know I didn't have much in the way of blogging but life kind of took me for a ride.

I broke up with my boyfriend which made me all sorts of down. I don't like down but sometimes when you know someone and they do the unexpected it kind of hurts. Him and I are still on a speaking level.

I spent most of my time for a while finding a job. I did find one for about two months until the company that I worked for had a policy that I broke. It was a stupid one too. There policy states that If I am over two dollars that I automatically get penalized. If I do this more two times that I get terminated, which I did. I got terminated over something stupid and it wasn't like I got into a fight with the manager either, it was Candace had a bad day and Candace made a mistake. Now you're wondering why couldn't they just take the amount out of my paycheck and I have wondered that myself. I was a great worker and yet this had to happen. I enjoyed myself there too. I worked for a widely known dollar store and some of the policies these people have are the dumbest I have ever heard. So now I am at square one trying to find a job once again.

I am wondering if the universe is laughing at me and the gods are giving me a hard time. It's a mystery that I can't answer and I like a good mystery once and a while.

I have been reading quite a bit lately. I just got done with American Gods by Neil Gaiman and I am now on the last set of Mary Stewart's Arthurian series Wicked Day. I have been also reading a bunch of pagan blogs and I have now have new pagan podcasts on my iTunes podcast feed. So I am always looking to listen to new podcasts so If you have any suggestions that you think I haven't heard yet please feel free to post it.

Thanks for reading
Bright Blessings
Candace

This was written while listening to iPod Witch: Episode 58.

Past life, Regular Dream or Time Travel?

Greetings

This blog is brought to you by the letters W, the letter T and the letter F.

So the other night dreaming like some “normal” people do, until I encounter a dream where I was in 17th or early 18th century I think It was England, it could have been America but I am not to certain. It was more of a third person narration. Kind of like those old narrations that sound like an old person speaking. As it was speaking I see this little black girl and I think it was her mother in this wooded area, she was sitting on a log getting some sort of weird contraption put around her neck. I described it as curcular on the bottom and arch of wood fasen on both sides. If you seen blinders on a horse it's almost like that except it was wood. After I was put on this girl the lady walked into this wooden house and the girl followed, tripping and rolling with this thing on her, all the way in the home where the narration basicly stated that “As she turned around she saw a demon like no other...” When that was said my self tried to turn around to see this person, and when I tried, was pulled out of the “story” or dream or whatever it was. Now whatever it was didn't want me to witness what happen next. The weird thing is I woke up when I was pulled out of the dream...that never happened to me before. Secondly I think that this either was a time travel type of dream or it was a past life regression. Here is why, the item that was on the girls neck I have never seen before. When I told this dream to Lance he told me what that type of thing was, It was an item to stop mental patients from biting. Thirdly some mental patients, as I did some research later about this, were confined to homes and was cared for by the family. So now I wonder what it was really, was it a time travel dream or was it my spirit going into a past life finding out answers of my strange ways. I think myself because it seemed like it was a narration of part of a person's life that I traveled some where some time to find something I shouldn't .

Now on to some news that would make you want BRAINS. On the 16th of this month (OCT) there will be a zombie crawl in Saugerties. Now my boyfriend has created a simulation game that gives you a “What would you if your town/city was infested with zombies.” It's called Zombie Cataclysm, if you are interested you can go to www.zombiecataclysm.com and see what it's about and if you want buy a copy, either by PDF or a hard copy make sure you have a Pay Pal (shivers) account. Me and some of the play testers for the game that we play on Mondays. So check us out or just hobble to many bars and restaurants for this great zombie crawl that a friend of ours is working her ass off to promote and create. So please if you are in the area come join us it will be fun!

Speaking of zombies out game has created Zombie Cataclysm senarios in my dreams. Including finding a ghost in one of the houses. I swear cannot make this crap up!

Craft Item of the week

I know I know I'm sorry I haven't uploaded a craft of the week for months now. I am been so stressed about getting a job and my boyfriend is switching servers for his business which makes my life a but more stressful because I'm a damn empath. On top of that I had to switch computers for a while and I could not upload any pictures on the computer in the living room because It sucks ass. I finally have gotten my new laptop so that I don't have to worry about the computer in the living room exploding on me when I am trying to do something (yes it's that bad).

Now this craft of the week is dedicated to those pirate fans out there. Complete with skull and crossbones, hematite beads, snowflake obsidian and jet beads.

I had another picture but Blogspot is being a pain and giving me a 503 error so It's a little impossible the post it at this moment.

What has been on my mind lately?

Greetings readers

Well it has been weeks since my last post and I have to say I have been extremely busy. I was going to put one out about a couple of days ago but my boyfriend gave me his cold. The scary thing is that I could not breath very well. I had what was like asthma symptoms but it was the cold that was affecting my lungs. I am better now and all i have is a stuffy nose. I'm not miserable, it's just an annoyance in my function in this world. What matter is I am better and I am healthier. On the negative side is it's allergy season again and I can feel it. Allergies hot me like a sack of potatoes hitting me and I have a sight cough but that's nothing try not breathing through your right nostril last night. Again I say it I am better than I was two days ago
There are a few things that I want to cover first off Lance and I with the help with some of our friends are creating a zombie simulation. From my tweets and things you may be wondering what in the world I am editing. Well for those who are confused it's called Zombie Cataclysm (Zombie Apocalypse was taken!) It's a zombie simulation game. Now since there is a rise in the zombie lover's community, we have created a game where you can go out and try to survive in a zombie infested world. If you want to know further details you can e-mail me at Stargirl12451@gmail.com to know the overview of the game. I can't go into much detail considering that we are still working out the kinks and fixing some spelling and grammar issues. I'm the editor so considering that Lance writes like he talks he needs some work when it comes to creating something that people can understand. This is a "game" than anyone can pickup and enjoy for the most part. The interesting part is the other day I did a prosperity/money/luck spell and the next yesterday a writer from Fangoria Magazine contacted Lance and told him he wants to write a story on the game. Now considering that Fangoria has a big fan base this game will do better than we expected…if the readers read the article. Yes, yes people this is a bit of promotion going on here.

I have a bit of a twitch going on here considering some news that is making me a bit pissed. It seems that there is a bit of controversy regarding a mosque being 3 blocks from ground zero. Now I am all for the freedom of religion and I accept that people have views on this and let me know I am all for our constitutional rights. Now some idiots are promoting that this mosque/community center is a ground for terrorist training camp. Some people even said that it's a victory agains america. Umm…people I am so against terrorism and the extremes of religion, but this doesn't mean that the whole religion is involved with terrorist attacks. It seems more likely that those who are involved withterrorism are more politically orientated than religious. Yes, the group that attacked us on 9/11 where practicing Muslims but people please just for once use some sense. One group who practice a certain sect of a religion does not mean that everyone who practices Islam is a terrorist or hates america. We have islamic groups here in america that love the freedom of practice their own way and yet we hate for the whole instead of the one.

Someone please beat some sense in to Glen Beck and his followers. Recently Glen Beck had is "Restoring Honor" Rally and he says he had over 300,000 followers there. First of all he had about 90,000 peoplethere and they are lunies. His "Restoring Honor" Rally, which by the way was on the anniversary of the Martin Luthor King Jr "I Have a Dream" Speech, no coincidence there -side stare into that a load of BS look-, quickly turned into a self promotion rally…yes he actually used this rally to promote his new book…a book which name I really don't care because it's Glen Beck who wrote it and it's a load of crap, like his three or four books that he has out now. How do you know you may ask. I saw them at a local book store…I nearly vomited when I saw them. In his TV career he has called President Obama a racist, fascist and a complete left wing nut. He called us fascists, and he made fun of Malea the President's daughter because she asked her father if he plugged the hole yet on his radio show after the disaster in the gulf involving a working oil rig. The same question that most of american are asking and he goes and makes fun a 10 year old. Yeah he's a great guy /sarcasm! As for the "Restoring Honor" Rally this guy doesn't have any honor at all so how the hell can you say you are going to have a rally for this if you don't have it yourself. Mr. Beck you are an ass-hole who needs to get off your high horse and stop being so damn stupid.

Someone please tell me who the hell would try to burn a holy text?

<--Oh wait it's this guy, a pastor of the name Terry Jones. Terry Jones who runs a congregation of only 50 members out of Florida, said that on September 11 the 9th anniversary on the attacks on american soil by Al Qaeda, they will hold a Qur'an burning. . . . . Really is he this stupid? Does he really want to tarnish america even more. I hope this man will burn in his

hell so that I won't have to see him ever again after this is done. Burning is holy text won't do anyone good even with our troops in the middle east, which by the way are starting to focus on coming home. When someone sees their holy book being burn by a small sect of christianity muslims will think that we are out to get them… Mr. Jones you are now on my shit list because of your arrogance and stupidity and I hope that some islamic group bombs your church and only your church…and possible the Westbro Baptist Church too.

Well that is my beef with the world I hope you understand what's going one and why I have been so damn busy.

Bright Blessings

Candace