Pagan Blog Project: F is for Fearless Feline

I'd hesitate to call her my familiar; Boudicca, our cat, doesn't seem terribly interested in my magical workings. What she IS interested in is me. She could be curled up in bed with Sascha, who went to bed early, but instead she's sitting in the same room with me, staring intently at me, and occasionally complaining that I haven't gone to bed yet.

Boudicca - Boudi for short, pronouced Bo-dee, is a pure-bred Maine Coon. After a couple of years of wanting a cat, but unable to get one per our lease, we moved again for the military and made sure to get a pet-friendly place. We knew we wanted a Maine Coon, and at the time thought we might eventually get stationed overseas, so a pure bred from a breeder, with a known medical history, seemed like the way to go. She's registered as Megacoon Boudicca Cailleach. We wanted a fearless cat, so naming her for the warrior queen who sacked Londinium seemed like the way to go. And as you can see, we did indeed get a fearsome beast:

She was born on April 1st, 2010. She came home on the weekend of the 4th of July. The breeder warned us she might take a couple days to come out of hiding, but in less than 12 hours she went from this:

to coming out and playing at our feet and on our bed. It's hard to remember that she was ever that tiny, as she weighs about 20 pounds now! She really did bond to me, because unfortunately Sascha was gone for the first four months she was home, then home for three, then gone again for eight more months. So by the time he got to spend those three months with her, she was already mine. And the eight month deployment just cemented it. He saw her like the above photo, then like this:

and then, when he got home from Afghanistan, like this:

The artillery practicing nearby and shaking the house doesn't faze her. Fireworks don't faze her. Thunderstorms don't faze her. Wrecking the car made her a little clingy for a few weeks, but then she was back to her normal self. She travels with us when we need to; we have a large kennel, and a harness and leash that she doesn't mind. 

She just curls up in the back and goes to sleep! She's been across the country twice, from North Carolina to Oregon and back. In and out of hotels. (She likes their sinks.)

But I think it was really tonight that I realized she is a familiar, and not just a house cat. A house cat would go sleep in bed and take advantage of my side being empty, right? Instead she's here by my feet. I've seen her leap off the bed and run for the door, growling, when someone knocks unexpectedly. Usually when I'm also napping; if I'm awake she doesn't tend to do that. I swear she understands me when I speak. She comes when called, and sits for her treats like a lady. 

She's gotten a little too big for sinks, but she still tries. (And let me tell you, the urge to turn the water on is almost overpowering sometimes!) She's absolutely huge, and can stand up and reach things on the counter without hardly trying:

That's a normal-height table! She really wanted that bowl of crow feathers. She turns two years old this April, and sometimes it's hard to believe. Have I really had her in my life that long? Gods willing, she'll be with us for years to come, through more moves and more changes. I'm sure she'll take them in stride. In fact, I could probably learn a lot from her on taking changes well. And on being fearless. 

Sunday Photo

Fountain at a rest stop in New Mexico on a cold, cold winter night.

Sunday Photo

44 Days of Witchery, Day 17: Picture of Nature (Fire Element)

I had to go looking through my photos to find a picture of fire; this is actually one my father took on a camping trip. He's a much better photographer than I am!

Pagan Blog Project: Exploring

My husband is in the military. This means we've moved. A lot. We've driven from Oregon to North Carolina twice, from North Carolina to DC several times, and spent some time in southern California as well. When we drive long distances and stay in different cities, we have a short list of places to look for, other than normal touristy things like aquariums and zoos and landmarks. Our list?

Bookstores (preferably used ones)
Gaming stores
Pagan/metaphysical stores

This has resulted in an interesting mix of things in our house. One of my goddess plaques above the altar I bought at Crescent Moon Gifts in Tacoma, Washington. (That's also where I picked up The Goddess Companion). I picked up a few rocks from Earth Magic in Olympia, Washington. Several of my dragons are from a small gift shop on the Oregon Coast. (I think in Newport.) The centerpiece of my altar, plus a couple of other smaller pieces, are from Potala Gate in the heart of Eugene, Oregon. While we were in Monterey, CA, we picked up the klaive from this post, as well as a giant box of Nag Champa. I have a sage stick from somewhere in Georgia, a hematite bracelet from South Dakota, a glass cube from Texas, and a necklace from North Carolina. And now a Tarot deck from Maryland. I've picked up witchy books from all over the country.

It's neat, because I can look at the altar and see so many places we've been. It's also interesting, in that I've been able to find magical items - whether they were meant to be such or not - everywhere I've gone. And not just the items, but the experiences. Can you say it's not a spiritual experience to stare into the Grand Canyon? Add in 0 degrees and snow and ice everywhere. It was spiritual, I guarantee it! And look what I found at the Grand Canyon:

Magic is everywhere. In Oklahoma when we left the hotel:

In Dallas, at the Dallas World Aquarium, when you look up and realize there's a sloth sleeping above your head:

In New York for a friend's wedding and you stumble upon this fellow:

When you cross the upper Mississippi:

When you're leaving Washington to head east:

And when you realize that someone was looking out for you in Montana:

We're both alive, though Sascha broke two ribs and punctured/collapsed a lung in that wreck. The cat was thrown from her kennel, but stayed in the car. Magic is EVERYWHERE. And the more I explore my world, the more I find that to be true. And because I can't end this entry with that picture, I'll give you one more.

Magic can also be found much closer to home. :)

Wednesday's Photo

found in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

44 Days of Witchery, Day 12: Picture of Nature, Air Element

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

44 Days of Witchery, Day 8: Photo of a Magical Place Outdoors

This is a photo of a forest back home in Oregon. I love the mistiness and the trail leading off into the forest.

44 Days of Witchery, Day 4: Picture of Nature (Water Element)

I had trouble deciding between two pictures, so you get them both.

This is the Oregon Coast. The Pacific Ocean as a storm rolls in. To be standing on the cliffs with the wind blowing, and the occasional raindrop from the leading edge of the storm, as the waves BOOM against the rocks below you...it's amazing, and awesome, in the "full of awe" meaning of the word. I didn't grow up ON the coast, but it was only an hour and a half away, so we were there several times a year.

It's not like this pansy east coast bullshit where there's no waves and it's shallow and warm. The Pacific is a cold, dangerous, treacherous beast. I was brought up knowing if you get caught in an undertow, swim parallel to the coast. Never turn your back on the waves. If you're going farther in than, say, knee deep, it's advised you wear a lifejacket. Take PRECAUTIONS. There's no lifeguards on the upper west coast, you have to fend for yourself.

But that untamed wildness is why I like it.

44 Days of Witchery, Day 3: Witchy Tools: Athame

I've only ever done one real ritual, so I've only ever used it once. However, when I first set up my altar (on a piece of particle board shelving across two cement blocks, lol!) I looked at it and thought "it's missing something." And then I realized the klaive fit perfectly. I did use the klaive in my protection ritual, so I suppose it is my athame. It's a bit...huge for an athame, lol. Here it is, sitting on a regular size piano bench:

So yeah. It's a replica of a "klaive" or the sword that werewolves bind spirits into, in Werewolf: the Apocalypse. This would be a slightly large dagger to a werewolf in their half-man/half-wolf form. Currently it lives on our mantle, as the altar is no longer big enough for it.