Macroinvertebrates and my thoughts on city witchery

This piece was kind of a random one.  I just started with some intricate knotting and it radiated into this.  I am quite proud of it as it is the best celtic knot work that i have produced to date.









Now to the blog.

Today, my friends and I decided to be nature dorks.  We wandered down to a small stream on the north end of the Findlay campus and spent about an hour searching for macroinvertebrates.  A.K.A.  the awesome little creepy crawlies in streams and ponds and such.  Our hopes were not high as the creek is not a very good ecosystem.  It runs through a city so it is polluted as all get out, and the university just shut down our ice rink and dumped all of the water down into the creek  (yeah it pisses me off too, but that is a different story.)  The creek actually turned out to be a little healthier than we expected, which was quite the suprise.

We found tons of aquatic worms.  We found a bunch of crayfish, but could only catch one for observation. he was a cool little bugger and missing a claw and antenna.  we found a scud and a sick fish with some sort of tumor on its side. We also found dozens of bivalve shells that we are going to bleach in the sun and make necklaces out of.  We also discovered several caches of fish eggs, which we carefully replaced so as not to injure the future fry.  the creek was full of minnows and water striders as well, but those are hard to catch with one's bare hands.  It was great to see a creek that is flourishing despite the massive destruction being inflicted by man.

So this whole experience got me thinking about how much I love nature and how much i really want to live in the middle of nowhere so that I don't have to deal with people when I am at home.  I currently switch back and forth between living on a college campus and living in suburbia.  I cant say that I care for either one as I am quite effectively cut off from nature.  I love camping and being completely immersed in mother nature, it makes me thoroughly happy.

This also got me thinking about some debating that I had with several witches a few years ago.  They were the witches who lived in the big city and had nearly completely cut themselves off from nature,  and they loved it.  They didn't think that nature was all that important, and were quite content to live in the heart of a massive city and not have to deal with nature.  this got me heated up because i believe that nature is the source of our power as witches, and was the whole reason for magick to begin with.  Magick was originally used for a successful hunt and a bountiful harvest.  Furthermore, the god and goddess are in nature.  They dont exist in skyscrapers and massive cities.  They are in the soil, the rocks, the trees, the animals the plants. 

I know the whole to each his/her own, but i just don't understand the allure of city witchery.  What got me involved in the craft was wanting to be closer the the earth and I have made myself an advocate of nature.  So i guess you could say that I am a little biased, but it makes absolutely no sense to me.  I'm not even going to start with online covens and such.  that is a whole separate blog in itself.  What do yall think?  I want to know the consensus on the topic that i have dubbed city witchery.  Legit magick or udder twaddle-speak?

I am a witch damnit!

Okay so before i get into my ranting... here is more art.

This is a pencil drawing of Cernunnos, my patron God.  I attempted to color it, but it did not turn out too well so I left it in black and white.  I hope that you all enjoy it.  I am quite proud of it, as my human (or satyr in this case) drawing skills are not all that great usually.

Now to my ranting....
     
As I have said in past blogs, I attend a religious university.  The pagan population here is very minimal, and, as I am starting to learn, quite uneducated.  This is starting to annoy me.  I met a girl in theatre who claimed to be a wiccan.  I had a feeling she was one of those people who got into wicca as part of a rebellious stage,  but, being a fairly good person, i kept an open mind.  We started discussing religion backstage the one day, and I was sorely tempted to smack her.

Now, i understand your average person who knew nothing about withchery not knowing the terminology.  In fact i have gotten used to explaining it to friends and acquaintances who don't know any better, and i harbor no ill will towards them.  But, in my opinion, if you are a witch or wiccan, you should know that the term for a practitioner of magick whether male or female is "witch."  This girl looked at me like I was crazy when i described myself as a witch. She told me that I was wrong, and that I am a warlock or wizard.  I hope that you are facepalming at this point, because if you aren't, you shouldn't be reading my blog.  She was adamant that I was wrong, and that she had been a wiccan for three years and she was right.  As i said before, this kind of talk is acceptable from someone who is your average every day person, but from a wiccan who claimed to be practicing for years it is just unacceptable.  I dont know any modern wiccan trad that uses the terms "warlock" or "wizard" to describe their male members.  According to wikipedia, warlock means oath-breaker or deceiver.  I am neither and I resent  being called one by someone who should know better.

It probably wouldnt bother me so much if it was just one person, but i have had several people who claim to be witches who have had this argument with me and I am quite tired of it.

that is all
     

My new design

So this amazing new design is courtesy of my most amazing and dearest friend, Ancasta.  She is a computer wiz and i am absolutely amazed with the magic that she weaved with my blog.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
Ancasta I love you


That is all  

My Revelation.. a long overdue blog about my religious awakening over the past few months

Firstly, I have decided to do something with each blog.  I am somewhat of an artist and I like to show off my work.  So i have decided that I am going to feature a different piece of work with each blog post because I love to hear people's reactions to my work.  I love feedback, so please leave some about both the blog and the art.

This piece is one that I have recently done.  it is a Horned-God Pent.  i eventually want this as a tattoo on my chest.  It was inspired by a recent connection that I have been developing with the god Cernunnos and one of my spirit animals, the stag.  I find this to be one of my favorites pieces and I think it is fitting for the first piece that I share.




          I am a witch.  It is quite an awakening experience to say that.  I have called myself a Wiccan for several years now, and I have recently found myself not agreeing with all things wiccan.  I cant really say exactly when i had the revelation.  It was not one singular moment really.  It happened over a period of time.  But the overall result has been that I am not a wiccan.  I am a witch.  I am an ecclectic witch and I want to howl it to the moon as loud as my lungs will allow.  This revelation alone has brought me closer to my deities and made me infinitely more spiritual and made my magic feel much more real and amazing as ever.  I cant even describe in words how amazing it feels.

         It is an amazing feeling to find myself in a place that feels so right.  Wicca found me, but i think that i called myself a wicca for lack of a better term.  I discovered that I am not truly a wiccan.   Modern wicca has moved quite a distance from its original intentions and I don't believe that i would have even fit in with wicca in its original intentions.  Wicca has become a religion of tradition, and i am not in any tradition nor have I found a trad that fits my system of beliefs and that I truly want to follow.  I have found some that I could settle and live with, but this is my religion and I have to settle for so many other things.  I refuse to settle for religion just to fit in with people that I don't agree with.  Wicca is also fast becoming a goddess cult, which does not sit well with me.  After reading about several traditions (including those crazy Dianic Wiccans) i find that there is too much goddess and not enough god for me.  It is my belief, that things should be about the duality of this universe.  The God should be noticed and worshiped equally as much as the Goddess, and that is not so in far too many wiccan and even pagan traditions.  That does not sit well with Iolair Stormwing.  I have my patron, Cernunnos and I worship him just as much as I worship the goddess who i have yet to put a name to in my life.  Im not saying that there is anything wrong with wicca, im just saying it is not for me.  and after having that revelation, it is one of the most amazing feelings that i have ever experienced in my life.

I am a witch.  A cauldron-stirring, herb-growing, grimoire-writing, fire-dancing, God and Goddess-loving WITCH!!!  And I howl it at the moon with all the pride that I can muster

Jumping on the "An it Harm None" bandwagon

Okay, so I have been reading a multitude of posts recently about the portion of the Wiccan Rede that a good number of witches take to heart.  Im sure you all know what I am talking about.  "An it Harm None, Do What Thou Will."  It has been thrown back and forth lately and I decided to throw my opinion out there for those who want to hear it.  (I like to pretend that people actually like to hear my opinion, but I know the truth.)  Now, I do not consider myself a wiccan, but i think that the rede is a good thing for even witches to follow, as long as they follow it in the right way.

Personally, i believe that the rede should not be applied to every day life and every situation.  The idea of not harming anyone was taken from the original idea of the rede and stretched beyond belief.  I am not, by any means, saying that it is okay to harm someone in any situation.  I am saying that the idea of "harm none" is may out of control.  I have met people, and read blogs of people who take the rede so much to heart that they would not even do harm if it were to protect themselves or their families.  I dont agree with this point of view at all. 

I am also coming from the point of view of a Pre-Veterinary Medicine major.  I am going to be a veterinarian within the next six to eight years, and that job would require me to cause pain in order to help animals.  I am going to have to euthanize animals, and i see no issue there as long as it is better for the animal.  (this is a whole different blog topic that i am not going into here.)  I am going to have to draw blood, and place IV's and many other things that will knowingly cause the animal pain, but will also get it on the way to healing and getting better.  This is not the place to apply the rede.

I recently broke up with my girlfriend.  It hurt her a very great deal.  I am an empath, I can feel how much it crushed her. It needed to be done.  For my own sanity and to help her in the long run.  I knowingly hurt her, and i dont think that I will receive any negative effects for it.  This is not where the rede should apply.  There are countless times in ones life in which you will have to hurt someone, and its just part of being alive in our society.  It cannot be escaped. 

Where should the rede be applied?  It is very simple, and i think it has more to do with the original intent of the rede than anyone realizes.  Magick. It is as simple as that.  Magick can be a very powerful thing, and can easily be used to harm someone.  There are also cases in which it accidentally harms someone.  I think that the main idea of the rede is saying, do whatever magick you want, as long as you are not knowingly harming someone.  Magick has many uses, and us witches put them to use.  Personally, i will never perform magick that will knowingly harm another living thing, it just goes against my morals.

Thats my opinion on the rede, feel free to refute me or just send happy supporting comments.

Cunning Folk?... I think not

So I recently had an experience on Facepook that had me thinking quite deeply.  but first ill talk a bit about myself as I have not posted in a while.

I am a single man.  I have recently dumped my girlfriend as I was not happy with the situation.  We are trying to be friends, but who knows how well that will work out.  Girls are kinda crazy.

I am back in Findlay and already hitting the books hard (or they are hitting me, i should say).  This is going to be a rough semester considering my schedule consists of general chemistry 2 lecture, physics 2 lecture, cell biology lecture, statistics, gen chem 2 lab, physics 2 lab, cell bio lab, and physiology of animal reproduction and growth.  The only class of which I like is repro.  It is going to be a very labor intensive semester for me and I need A's so y'all will know why if I am scarce.

now back to my topic...

I have recently gotten into joining pagan facebook groups in order to meet new pagans and give what i have to offer to those new, starting off witches so as to avoid a whole new generation of witches following the teachings of Silver Ravenwolf or Fiona Horne.  I found one that seemed innocent enough.  There were only a few members and the administrator of the group  seemed to be a well-informed young man who posted a lot of accurate, factual information in his groups feed.  So i read some of what he posted and I posted information about my two favorite shops aswell as a quick bio about myself.

The admin seemed to take a liking to me, and immediately friend requested me and sent me a message outlining what his purpose was with the group.  Honestly, he had me running for the hills at this point.  First of all, what kind of idiot is going to friend request someone just based on their little bio on a facebook group, that seems dumb and careless, but it stopped suprising me the more i thought about and read his message.  What was his plan you ask?

He wanted to collect a group of witches to be his "cunning folk," and people can contact him via the facebook group or email with a problem that needed magickal help and he would dispatch a witch of group of witches in order to perform the necessary magick for a fee to be determined by the witches involved.  He even talked about performing services over the net. ( I sure hope that you are facepalming as badly as I was when I read this crap). So essentially, this man wanted to be a pimp and for us self-respecting witches to be his hoes.  I have a problem with that.

For those of you who dont know what "cunning folk" are, Sarah Lawless wrote a lovely article about them.  http://witchofforestgrove.com/2009/09/17/cunning-folk/.  You can learn a little about the idea of cunning folk if you so choose

Now, I know that in olden times, witches would perform services for people in exchange for some sort of payment whether it be food, animals, shelter, etc.  This was in a time when magick was taken far more seriously and people were far less intent of suing for all that they can get.  In today's times, there are so many people who are afraid of being screwed, and there have been many cases of fraud witches milking naive people for all that they have.  There are too many people out there who could pose for witches and take advantage of the average person out there.  If you ask me, the administrator of this group is putting himself in a precarious position, and he could be quite liable for the witches that he so naively pimps out.

Personally, I do not agree with charging for one's magickal workings.  I have been told that this idea of not charging for ones work is of North American origin, and I feel that it is a very good idea.  I perform tarot and oracle readings for people and I do not ask for anything in return.  I look forward for the ability to practice and work on my abilities and build various skills.  I would glady work magick for people that I know, but i would not charge for it, I just dont agree with such things.

Another issue that was raised in my mind is the fact that magick works best when there is a connection between the witch and the one requesting work.  I am all for the mixing of natural remedies and such, and they are effective no matter who uses them, but magickal work is not so universal.  It is never as strong as when the witch and "client" have some sort of connection.  One would have to be a quite powerful witch in order to work magick on a complete stranger.  This brings up more liability issues for the administrator of the group.

As far as online magick, thats just a whole new issue of stupidity that I do not have space for unless I want to make this blog into a novel.  I think that it is utter bull and thats all you need to know. 

I think that the owner of this group does not realize what he is doing or the trouble that he could get in if his witch-pimp idea comes to fruition.

Honestly, I want to know others opions on this topic.  You know how I feel, and I want to know how you (my whopping two followers (love you guys)) think.

thank you for listening to me bitch
Iolair Stormwing

Pine Oil

So I have started making my own simple oils, starting with some pine needles from our yule tree.  I have no idea what I am doing, but I am bumbling my way ahead and doing okay. 

I took some pine needles from our tree and bruised them with my mortar and pestle.  My Christmas tree is a beautiful white spruce that my mom and I picked out.  It is a little on the dry side, but it still smells wonderful.  The bruised needles were very fragrant.  Ive heard that bruising the herb before placing in oil increases the release of the plant's oils and whatnot.  So I put the bruised needles in an empty and clean baby food jar and filled it to the brim with olive oil.  I have been turning the jar and making sure that everything mixes.  I have heard that this process takes some time, like a few months to be exact, but I have patience (well some anyway).  Hopefully after a few months I will have some lovely pine oil.  I will let you know that results when i have them.

If anyone has any more ideas or suggestions I am more than willing to listen and try them.  I am still an amateur witch, and willing to learn all that I can.  So send your suggestions and thought my way please.