Thoughts on this reality show I've applied for...

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering about my choice to apply for this reality show, and to be honest, I don't know what the producers' intentions are. I first found the link on the Witches' Voice newsfeed, and every comment was negative, voicing concerns that they would make us look like freaks, or that someone would get on the show who "doesn't know their cauldron from calling the corners."

The ad reads: "Major cable network is on the hunt for the BEST voodoo / witchcraft shop in America!

If you think you've got the skills, the personality and the business for television then contact us immediately. Feel free to submit yourself or someone else.

This is a paid opportunity.

You don't have to work in a shop in order to qualify. You can also practice out of your home or travel. Nationwide casting."

This suggests to me that the producers don't know what to expect, but they think that someone who owns a shop will be more deeply involved in the occult than an average practitioner, and that a shop full of witches will make for better TV than just one. But they're keeping their options open, and I like that.

There is a lot of fear in the Pagan community on a lot of levels. Mainstream culture has not always looked upon us favorably, and they don't want more negative attention (something reality shows are known for). There is a lot of irony in the fact that they want to celebrate being different, but don't want to be perceived that way.

Unfortunately, making a show about how Witches are just like everyone else (as some comments suggested) would not make for good television. People would be bored to death! Get too normal, and the editing crew would be forced to pick out every little disagreement as the most interesting bits, leading to just another Jersey Shores type show. If the WOW! factor can be kept high, there's a lot less room for those kinds of editing choices.

There were a lot of references on WitchVox to a show called Mad Mad House, and I thought I should watch it to find out what they were all griping about. Honestly, the show didn't cast us in nearly such a negative light as I expected (hardly at all, really), which shows again the fear of being perceived too differently. I also found Fiona Horne's blog about filming the show, which was enlightening about what the editors did that was misleading (playing up arguments and relationships, mostly).

So, why do I want to do this? For one, I'm already doing it on a small scale with Ritual Network. One of the comments that popped up a lot in the WitchVox forum is "no real witch would want their rituals on TV." There are a number of reasons I disagree with this comment, and this should be no surprise as I've already been doing just that on Ritual Network. For one thing, Silvia Brallier described being clergy as "doing your work in public," and for another, the public rituals are for the benefit of the audience/ the greater Pagan community as much as for me. 

Honestly I expect to get more flack than accolades if I do get this show, but I'm not out to convince the world to like me or change anyone's opinion, but rather to offer some support and encouragement to those who seek it from me, and to show the world that there is no shame in doing magick, and to normalize its practice to an extent. That people may look upon it with curiosity rather than fear.

Joseph Campbell said that if you follow your bliss, doors will open where you don't expect them and where they wouldn't open for anyone else. In the event this is not that door, I will not give up on my bliss...

Ultimately, it would be cool to create a ritual theater-type experience that could potentially reach a very large audience. That's my great joy in life- creating a magickal experience for others, and I only hope this show will be the vehicle to expand on my work while also supporting my family. May it harm none, so mote it be!

You can help my chances of getting the show by voting for me. You don't have to sign up, and you can vote once a day. Vote here: http://www.realitywanted.com/call/16207-voodoo-witch-shop-is-wanted-for-new-tv-show-casting-now

2012 and the Mayan Long-Count Calendar

I have had several people ask me my opinion of the 2012 end of the Mayan Long-count calendar, and it's been asked often enough that I think I just need to post it here. I hope it helps!

"What are your thoughts on the significance of this year, 2012?"

Obviously you're referring to the end of the Mayan long-count calendar. Most people like me do NOT consider this to be a doomsday event, but a major change. I can't say for sure since Mayan history and folklore are not my specialty, but other cultures have similar calendars, most notably related to something called the "precession of the Equinox." The Earth wobbles a little bit on its axis, and every couple thousand years the sun is in a different sign on the spring equinox. While Western astrology still considers March 21 (approx.) to fall in the sign of Aries, that hasn't been the case for well over two thousand years. Around the year 1 AD, the sun started moving into Pisces on the spring equinox, beginning the Piscean age, and now the sun is in Aquarius on that day (yes, "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius..."). It generally takes about 100 years for the changes to fully take place, but from what we've seen in the past, it's pretty distinct. It should not be surprising that the symbol for Christianity is the fish (the cross was adopted later) and it has been the dominant religion during the Piscean age. The Arian age before that was defined by empires and tribes constantly at war with one another. Before that, the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians described the Great Bull (Taurus) breaking open the Egg of the Year, and it was a time of developing civilization. (Note: the Mayan calendar is NOT based on the Precession of the Equinox, but other astrological events. I feel it's a worthy comparison, though. The Americas had their own eras, and perhaps the Mayan calendar better reflected those.)

So we come to Now. We have already been seeing great upheavals in our society as the old Piscean modalities are being broken down, making way for the new Aquarian social constructs. We can see how much fear there is over change, and certain groups grabbing frantically to hold on to the old things that no longer serve us. Technology has made incredible leaps forward in the past 50 years- far greater leaps than ever seen before. Also civil rights began changing dramatically about that time. The way the younger generations see reality is drastically different from our grandparent's worldview. This year is special because of the way that the Earth will line up with Galactic Central point on Winter Solstice, suggesting to me the turning point in this change. It's not going to be an easy change, but the world will be better for it once we're done. Aquarius is all about flow, intuition, and connection. The internet is a perfect example of new modalities replacing the old. The world is connected like it has never been before, and through it people are learning tolerance of differences in culture and lifestyle, even celebrating those differences. We're becoming more aware of our relationship to the Earth, and beginning to honor it.

This is probably going to be a very difficult year or two in a lot of ways, but there is a reason for that. In our culture, we have a distinct lack of Rites of Passage. Tribal cultures have used rites of passage to help individuals transition between childhood and adulthood, usually involving an ordeal that serves to change the perception of the individual toward himself, and for others to recognize that growth. This time of upheaval is our great rite of passage, because without it, the world will not be able to see itself as different from before, and fully integrate the growth and changes we are experiencing. It would be WAY easier if we just had a great medicine man who could shake a stick and make a fire flash some pretty colors as a spectacle for the tribe and say, "The gods say we must change! This is how we will behave from now on." It worked for Moses, right? (NOT to mock Judaism or Christianity- I do have respect, and I also understand from the position of a Priestess how a little psychodrama is all that is required to truly experience God.) The big joke is, we're going to create that change this year because we believe it can happen this year: it's a self-fulfilling prophesy. We're all ready for that change, we just need permission to be different. :)

A successful Samhain

Despite some initial technical problems, last night's Samhain sabbat on Ritual Network was a resounding success. It was a major milestone: Ritual Network's first group ritual, first Sabbat, first outdoor ritual. Fraught with challenges which I had not previously faced in my sanctum sanctorum, it was also far more rewarding.

Sky has officially joined Ritual Network as our resident High Priest, and we can't wait to start preparing for Yule. Things will only get better from here. :)

Ritual Network would like to thank Jenny for allowing us the use of her space, Rufus for taking a couple hours out of his busy schedule to make an absolutely amazing Anubis mask, Morgan for her role in the ritual, and everyone who chose to witness. Thank you!

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A True Democracy?

New Idea: I just commented on a couple of political posts on FB, and it occurred to me that perhaps we're trying so hard to fix this broken system that we've missed the fact that it has become obsolete. Once upon a time, it was the best governmental system on Earth for the average citizen. But it has become corrupt, and we will likely never work out all the bugs. The United States currently runs as a Democratic-Republic, meaning that the people vote in officials (Democracy) to make our laws (Republic). This system was chosen because at the time of its inception, it was the best way for the people's voices to be heard. It was impossible to count every vote with any sort of accuracy back then, so for things such as the Presidential election, an electoral college was created. We've already found the limitations in this system and debated lightly about abolishing it. Congress is designed for the same purpose as the electoral college. But now we have the greatest resource ever known to Man: the Internet. With a few clicks, every computer in America is able to access the exact wording of all the bills that are being debated. It's far more difficult to attach self-serving legislation into a proposal if ten million people can call you out on it. However, it would require the people to step up and take responsibility for our own governing, which seems to be the new paradigm anyway. Imagine it: a true democracy that makes laws for itself.

Welcome to Ritual Network!

Blessed Be and Welcome!

Ritual Network aims to offer community support to solitary Witches and Pagans, partly by offering live streaming rituals online. This project is under construction, but I hope to have the official webpage up and running very soon!

Ritual Network's Facebook profile is our temporary website, where you can view RitualCasts (click "Livestream" on the left-hand menu) and get updates and notifications, or you can catch us on our Livestream channel.

Ritual Network follows an astrological calendar, so events will not necessarily be at a "convenient" time for any one region. Times are written in 24-hour format.

Event	Pacific Standard		Universal Time		Japanese Time
New Moon	9/27	04:00	9/27	11:00	9/27	20:00
Full Moon	10/11	19:00	10/12	02:00	10/12	11:00
New Moon	10/26	12:45	10/26	19:45	10/27	04:45
*Samhain	11/01   |  21:00   | 11/02  |  04:00 |  11/02  | 13:00
Full Moon	11/10	12:00	11/10	20:00	11/11	05:00
New Moon	11/24	22:00	11/25	06:00	11/25	15:00
Full Moon	12/10	06:30	12/10	14:30	12/10	22:30
*Winter Solstice	12/21	21:15	12/22	05:15	12/22	13:15
New Moon	12/24	10:00	12/24	18:00	12/25	02:00

How to make the most of your Ritual Network experience:

• Make arrangements so you won't be disturbed during ritual. Wear ritual garb/jewelry if you like, go Skyclad if you desire. Visualize yourself within the circle I cast, and feel free to cast your own space as well. We meet in a place between the worlds, the bounds of time and space have no hold on our work.
• POV is from the Northern quarter of the circle unless otherwise stated. If possible, arrange your device so you face South. 

Have the following items at hand:

• Your wand or athame
• Candles- see a table of correspondences for color recommendations (we'll have one soon!)
• Incense
• Matches or a lighter
• Food and drink for Cake and Ale blessing
• Have a stone or crystal on hand to charge with intent
• Individual rituals may have other suggested items.

A simple but effective Altar setup in a confined space.

Respecting children= respecting our future

Being a new mom keeps me very busy, so I don't always have the time to blog, but it certainly has given me a lot of inspiration. My daughter Raelin just turned 5 months old, and every day is full of discovery for her. A few days ago, she found that she can reach her feet and that her toes are interesting to look at. I see dramatic changes in how she interacts with the world almost daily, and it amazes me to no end.

I spend a lot of time lately looking at my earliest memories to more easily understand how Raelin experiences the world. I remember little things, like how when my mother picked me up her hands dug painfully into my armpits. She never realized she was doing this, of course, and in her mind she was being gentle by not squeezing too hard around my chest. So I try to be mindful of those little things.

My parents played a lot of Raffi's music for me as a child, and I wondered whatever happened to him. It turns out that he now runs an organization whose philosophy is as follows:


Child Honouring is a philosophy—a vision, an organizing principle, and a way of life—the children-first way of sustainability.

It starts with three givens:

• The primacy of early years—early childhood is the gateway to humane being.
  
• We face planetary degradation that is unprecedented in scope and scale—a state of emergency that most endangers the very young, and that requires a remedy of equal scale.
  
• This crisis calls for a systemic response in detoxifying the environments that make up the world of the child.
  

Child Honouring is a children-first approach to healing communities and restoring ecosystems. It views how we regard and treat our young as the key to building a humane and sustainable world. It is a novel idea—organizing society around the priority needs of its youngest members.
The essence of the vision is expressed in A Covenant for Honouring Children and its underlying principles.
Its spirit is invitational—a call to imagine and create a diversity of child-friendly cultures. A child-honouring society would show love for its children, and thus for all of us, in every facet of its design and organization.

~*~*~*~*~

Buddha is attributed with saying, "What's done to the children is done to society." I fully agree. I have seen people do or say things to kids that they would never say to another adult, and not even bat an eyelash. I'm not even talking about cases of abuse or anything dramatic, I'm talking about little things, like continuing to carry on a long conversation after a child starts fussing, until it turns into a tantrum. The adult gets angry at the child for "making a scene" and tells them to stop crying at the count of 3, "or else." If someone twice your size told you to do something at the count of 3, "or else," how would you react? The adult has also made it clear that a) the conversation was more important than filling the child's needs right away, b) the opinion of bystanders observing the "scene" is more important than the child making it clear that his needs have not been met, c) that because adults are older and bigger, they have the right to make threats. Little things matter.

One of my greatest passions is the study of comparative mythology/religion. I believe they are all paths to the same goal, and that if you strip away the metaphors and symbols (i.e. anything that has a describable form) the same truths are unearthed.

Matthew 18:3 reads: And [Jesus] said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Buddha said something similar with regards to reaching Enlightenment, and alchemical psychology "processes" past memories to purge the practitioner of "lead". The Egyptian goddess Isis had a throne on one of her headdresses, and her son Horus ruled as a god from her lap. I'll let you interpret all that for yourself. Even if the spiritual mumbo-jumbo is not your cup of tea, it can't hurt to take a trip down memory lane and see what you dig up. You're likely to come out of it all a better person. 

Recommended Resources (Will be updated regularly)

Movies:
Pay It Forward
The Secret
What The Bleep Do We Know?
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
 Eat, Pray, Love

Books:
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Being In Love by Osho
The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho



Organizations:
The Centre for Child Honouring