A Polytheist in a Duothestic system

Neo-pagan Witchcraft or Wicca is on the surface a Duotheistic faith that believes in a God and a Goddess of which all other God's and Goddesses are a reflection of.

This is an idea that Wicca picked up from Dion Fortune an British occultists who was a member of the Theosophy society, which mixed Christianity with more eastern beliefs and with a overall view that all religious paths are lead to the same truth.

However in the last few years Pagan's have been re-evaluating what they have been taught and Judeo-Christian influenced views have been abandoned, leading to many Witch's to become polytheistic.

This has lead me to the question, when we call on the lord and the lady in ritual what energies are we invoking? Are we calling on actual deities, archetypes, a concept?

I look at it in one of two ways, that we are calling on the collective energy of all the God's and Goddess and/or we are using these generic terms so that each participant can view the God and Goddess in a way that is meaningful to them.

But I have yet to hear anyone discuss this topic and my inquiring mind wants to know what others think.

Back in time for the New Year

After two days in Connecticut at my uncle's for Christmas and four days without phone or the Internet thanks to a faulty wire I'm back just in time for one last post to reflect on the year that's passed.

Spiritually speaking the big thing that happened this year was me leading my first rituals ever, one a open mid-summer and the other a closed Yule. It was a bit nerve racking on both counts, especially the closed Yule where I had a good amount of lines to memorize for the ritual.

I was complimented on how well both rituals turned out which was a big boost for me as it proved to me that I have it with in to lead a ritual and do it well. Now I can look forward to the two full moons will be doing next year plus any other rituals I might get talked into *laugh*.

It was another successful year scholastically as I march ever onward towards my master's in History with a respectable 3.2 GPA for the year. At the same time I'm a little sad that I will be leaving QCC for the halls of another college next fall but it's on to bigger and better things.

And speaking of school this year I finally decided what I'm going to do with my education and that is become a professor of History. It had been an idea that has floated around for years but I only settled on back in June thanks to the advice of some good friends.

So a happy New years to all!

Let it snow

The city saw it's first significant snow fall of the season yesterday which thankfully held off long enough for me to go to school, take my finial and get back home before the roads became a mess.

It was the perfect amount of snow, four inches. Just enough to give the area a winter wonderland feel but not too much that we would be digging out for days which is a pain.

Now if only I had a camara to take pictures (hint, hint),in any case let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

So who the hell am I?

After much weeping and gnashing of teeth(Sarcasm) I have decided to write the required "about me" post that nearly all blogs posses to better tell all who read this blog about myself.

I am a twenty-four year old college student currently attending a local community college in New York City, were I hope Gods willing to attend Hunter College next fall where I plan to major in history and minor in either religion or business.

My goal is to obtain my PhD and go on to teach future generations as a professor of History in a respectable College hopefully either in or near NYC.

I have been a history buff since I was very young although it is only recently that I decided to peruse a career in education, let's just say that the God's whisper before they hit you upside the head with a two by four.

Originally I was baptized as a protestant but later was re-baptized Catholic at my Grandmothers insistence and attend seven years of Sunday school which led to both my first Communion and later my confirmation.

At age thirteen I fell away from the church do to it's conservative theology and for several years after paid little attention to the spiritual realms, as I was preoccupied with defining myself.

At seventeen I discovered Wicca through some books I discovered in my school library and two years later was fortunate to find a group of knowledgeable and friendly Witches.

I follow the Shadowfolk tradition which is a fairly eclectic mix of Alexandrian, Cabot and some Celtic reconstruction.

Pagan's In Ivory Towers

My Pagan friends come from many different lines of work, one is a store owner while another is a Secretary at a law firm. A few work freelance designing websites or writing code, another is a editor for trade mag and the rest work in numerous other fields.

But none as far as I aware work in the Ivory towers academia unless you count my friend Denise who is an elementary school teacher, but I am referring of course to the realms of "higher" education.

As I trudge through the process of transferring to a four year school with the eventual goal of getting my PH'D in history which will allow me to become a professor, I can't help but wonder where all the Pagan scholar's are hiding?

Are the halls of academia filled with staunch secularists as some on the right have you believe? Or are the Pagan's in academia just keeping a low profile?

And they wonder why people don't trust politicians

Most people outside of Illinois who have never heard of Gov. Rod Blagojevich will after today with the headline news that the Blagojevich has been arrested for basically trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama.

Blagojevich has been under investigation for some time now but few saw this coming, but sadly many in Illinois are not surprised as he becomes the second consecutive Governor to charged with illegal acts and I believe the fourth Governor in forty years.

I'm not a big believer in government as a force of good and this is part of the reason why, you can't trust politicians to look out for anyone other then themselves. So in my book the government that governs best governs the least.

Edited to add: As George Carlin once said "The government dosen't give a shit about you"

You don't say?

In an interview with Nightline President Bush acknowledged that the bible is most likely not literally true, a realization that many bible experts and others have long since come too.

It's amazing how many people still believe that the bible is the inherent word of God. That contains no error's or flaws, even as research has shown that it was written by many different people over the course of thousands of years, to say nothing of it's numerous contradictions.

The problem with biblical litteralist's is that most are intolerant of others who don't share their views, be they fellow Christians or those of different faiths. To them we are all poor souls headed straight to hell for our "Heathen" views.

I thank the Gods everyday that this President didn't do more to impose his conservative Christian views on the nation, and what he did do can in my option be undone under an Obama administration quickly enough.

T-minus 41 days till Obama is sworn in.