Campus Meadows

Re: Spirit Guides

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:15:45 GMT

by Lady Scar-lotte Blacke.

Oh I'm sure they were, Avonelle! I think spirit guides/angels/spirit animals/whatever-your-path-calls-them are with you for a time and either step back when their brand of help is not needed anymore (or at hat time) or move on to another who needs their special brand of help and are replaced by what you need as a guide at each time in your life regardless of what's happening.

Re: Wicca Community Contest - Winner

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:12:47 GMT

by Lady Harmony Rose.

Hello all just a heads up to let you all know thaton Fri Sept. 10th we will be annoucing the winner of the contest so stop by the Wicca community to find out what slogan we will have.

Re: 60-Second Getting to Know You

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:28:00 GMT

by Avonelle Starfire.

1. Name, Mundane and/or/magickal: Avonelle (that’s my middle name, but that everyone calls me). Other people call me Starchild or Starfire.

2. Birthday (day/month/year/sign): 02-08-2986-Leo

3. How do you define your spiritual path/tradition? – Eclectic Wiccan

4. What brought you to your current spiritual path? – I have identified as pagan since I was twelve, when I became pretty obsessed with Egyptian and Greek mythology. I have always been interested in other religions and things of a magickal nature, and used this knowledge to create my own belief system that suited me. During the last year, however, I have found myself once again diving back into my spirituality, feeling more drawn towards the Wiccan path.

5. Do you have a specific area that you specialize or are interested in? Unfortunately, I am way too curious about everything to specialize in one thing.

6. What are some of your unique gifts that you bring to your path? Positivity. Life is too short to be sad or angry. I bring my weird way of seeing the world and writing about it or immortalizing it in crafts. And I am supercurious about EVERYTHING in the world, which means I am a dork and I loooove researching and learning.

7. What do you want to learn/teach about witchcraft? I would love to learn to develop my divination skills, which are zero. Lol.

8. How long have you been practicing? I have identified as pagan for the past twelve years, but only in the last year and a half have I begun practicing regularly.

9. In the broom closet or out? Out for many years now.

10. What ethical code do you live by, if any? I follow my heart. I treat others the way that I would like to be treated.

11. What is your favorite sabbat and why? I adore Midsummer because I am a summerchild, because I love nights when one can feel the fae nearby, when the air is warm and humid and the stars are so crystal clear and it feels like anything can happen. A close second is Yule, however. I love making presents for people and showing them how grateful I am that they are in my life, so that holiday pretty much makes me giddy with happiness.

12. What religion/tradition you were raised in? My family is Christian, but we were never heavily religious. My family was always amazing about accepting everyone for who they were, and encouraging us to follow our hearts. My sister became Catholic. I became Wiccan. And it is all good. ^_^

13. What job/career do you currently have? Administrative Coordinator/Technical Writer

14. What is your ideal job/career? – Being a professional gypsy. Or to spin poi or be a hooper for a circus.

15. Ever been to an open group ritual? Nope.

16. Ever been to a closed (invitation only) group ritual? Nope.

17. Ever been to a daytime Pagan festival? Nope... I wish.

18. Ever been to an overnight Pagan festival? Again, superwish.

19. What languages do you speak? English. A bit of Japanese, but nothing fluent.

20. Are you now or have you been a member of a coven? Nope.

21. For your book of shadows, do you keep it electronically, printed typewritten copy, or handwritten? I keep an electric copy that I am slowly printing out. Eventually, once I can master decent handwriting, I plan on writing the whole thing out.

22. How often do you cast spells? Rarely.

23. What is your favorite magickal tool? My hands.

24. What element do you feel closest to? Fire. Earth.

25. What is your favorite animal? Wolf.

26. What Gods or Goddesses do you work with or feel close to? The Lord and the Lady. Persephone. Pan. Isis. Bast.

27. How often do you pray? Every day, usually without realizing it.

28. How often do you meditate? Almost never. It gives me superheadaches.

29. Do you have a permanent altar? It is slowly coming together.

30. Do you have a blog? http://secretagentstarchild.blogspot.com/

31. Do you have a web page? Nope.

32. What is your favorite form of divination? I am trying to learn Tarot, but I am not very good at it.

33. Do you have spiritual guides? I have had several guides in the past, but I think they moved on once I got through that particular struggle. I am slowly getting in touch with a spirit animal that has been guiding me recently.

34. Are you male or female? Female.

35. Are you single or attached? Attached.

36. Do you have pets/fur kids? I does. I have a giant orangefelinebeast who is named Rajahmonster. His hobbies include laying on any craft-writing project I am currently doing, head-butting to demand cuddles, and chasing around the other cats. He is a mischiefmaker but I adore him.

37. Do you have/want children? Someday. Not yet.

38. Do you have a garden? I do! My discovery of the summer – gardening is amazing! This was my first year with one and I loved it!

39. Favorite TV show? – Oh jeez… Insert any Crime Mystery Show here. Insert any Survival show here. Pretty much anything on National Geographic and Discovery channel.

40. Favorite type of music? Hard rock, punk rock, industrial, jungle music, happy hardcore… I dig pretty much everything.

41. Favorite Craft book? “Mists of Avalon” by Morgan Zimmerman. Okay, maybe not quite a Craft book, but it always inspires me to get more in tune with my own spirituality.

42. Favorite non-Craft book? Anything by Anne McCaffrey, Jim Butcher, or Melanie Rawn.

43. First Craft book that you read? I don’t even remember… It was over a decade ago. Lol.

44. Favorite herb? Sage,

45. Favorite flower? Sunflower!

46. Favorite stone? Amethyst or hematite.

47. Favorite color? Green. Dark hunter or forest green.

48. Favorite season? Summer!

49. Favorite food? Vegetarian sushi. Fettechini alfredo.

50. Favorite poet? Jeffrey McDaniel. Also been a bit obsessed with slam poetry lately, and there are too many amazing slam poets to name!

51. Favorite movie? Moulin Rouge. Mirrormask. Ferngully.

52. Favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate chip!

53. Favorite hobby? Hooping or crafting.

54. Favorite kind of weather? Warmwarmsunshine! I am a summerchild. J

55. Favorite Vacation Spot – Well, I am a dork and I am in a LARPing group called Dagorhir… Every summer, we leave the real world behind for a week and camp out, dressed as elves or Vikings or faeries. We fight battles all day and drink and have revelries all night. Time doesn’t exist and the stars never seem closer or bright. Something magickal seems to happen every year. That is my favorite vacation spot.

56. Favorite alcoholic drink? Frozen strawberry margarita!

57. Favorite non-alcoholic drink? Tea!

58. Night Owl or Early Bird? Night owl to the extreme.

59. College graduate? Yuppers.

60. If you could do anything else besides what you're doing now, what would it be? Crafting. I am doing a pagan swap in honor of Mabon, and I have a lot of cool projects to be working on, instead of being stuck at a computer. *sighs sadly*

Re: Taboos

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:41:12 GMT

by Avonelle Starfire.

While I don't know about using pain in magick, I have known a lot of people who use pain as a way to gain spiritual enlightenment. I have a lot of friends who do suspensions or flesh-pulls... For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically when someone takes these giant hooks, pierces them through your back (or chest, or knee, or whatever you want to dangle from), and you literally hang, suspended from the air. Flesh-pulls are related to that, but instead of hanging from a ceiling, you are connected to someone else with hooks in their back.

Okay, some of you are cringing now. Understandable. While I have never been through the experience myself, I have witnessed a lot of them get it done. It is almost a ritual of sorts. I watched my best friend dangle from her back for 45 minutes, turning her body into a swing, just spinning and dancing above the ground. She had the biggest smile on her face the entire time. All of them admit that it hurts crazy.... But there is something spiritual about it. About pushing yourself past the pain, about being stronger than it, about realizing that you are capable of withstanding and thriving through more than you could possible imagine. You can do anything. Of course, the endorphin/adreneline rush also helps with that.

While I follow the Rede, I don't view this as harm. The body heals and the scars are small, but I think the experience and the wisdom that one could gain from such things makes up for it. Related practices have been used throughout the ages in spiritual matters, and pain has often been used as a rite-of-passage for many cultures, used to signal that you have become an adult.

Taboo? Probably. It isn't for me, though. I guess it just depends on your perspective.

Re: Spirit Guides

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:14:23 GMT

by Avonelle Starfire.

I have had several people come up to me and tell me that I was protected by the angel Ariel. I don't know if this is true, as I have never had any vivid interactions with Ariel, but I was told this by someone who could see such things. I was going through a really hard time in my life, but I am the type of person who always smiles no matter way, always puts on a bright face. One night, this old man stopped where I was working and looked at me, and told me that everything that going to be alright, that I was protected. Later, I would have many conversations with this man and we became friends. Sometimes, I think he was the angel. Even though the term angels makes me slightly uncomfortable, it was still a comfort to know that someone was looking after me.

While I can't see angels, I think I have had spirit guides for many years now. When I was young, I would have people that I thought were invisible friends. Having an invisible friend at the age of fifteen or sixteen... Slightly odd. But I had two of them, one named Sam and the other Gabriel. I had discussions with them, I knew what they looked like vividly, and I could sense when they were worried or angry. Only Sam ever got angry, and that was when he was being protective of me. They helped me during a rough time in my life, when I was severely depressed and hurt myself and made a suicide attempt. They kept me from trying again, they gave me strength and encouragement and solace and friendship during the two years of emotional struggles.

Now that I am older and have had a bit of opportunities to explore the world, I can look back and recognize those two for who they were. They weren't invisible friends, they were spirit guides to keep me from throwing away my life before it could even begin. While I haven't seen or heard from those two in a long time (indeed, I think they moved on once I made it through my rough patch), I still keep an eye out for other guides.

That is just my experience. ^_^