PBP - Andraste's Hare

Well, here we are again! It's a New Year, and a new Pagan Blog Project. So we start back at the beginning of the alphabet with A. Conveniently, the name of this blog starts with A, so I thought I'd explain the meaning.

Andraste is believed to be an ancient celtic warrior goddess and the patron goddess of the Iceni tribe. (The tribe Queen Boudicca hailed from.) Andraste is a warrior goddess, a goddess of victory. She oversees battles and is represented by ravens. There's a very in-depth look at her here.

A few of the more important bits from that blog about her:

"Andraste is a warrior goddess, the goddess of victory, of ravens and of battles, similar in many ways to the Irish war goddess Morrigan. Her name is thought to mean "the invincible one" or "she who has not fallen". It is told that her presence was evoked on the eve of battle to curry favor. As a Goddess of divination, she was probably called upon to divine the outcome of battles and war."

"As Andred, her romanised name is Andraste, she was a lunar mother-goddess figure associated with fertility and love. In her dark aspect however, she was associated principally with warfare and specifically with victory. She is sometimes compared to the goddess Andarte, a deity worshipped by the Vocontii of Gaul."

The hare was believed to be a sacred animal to Andraste; before Boudicca led her troops into battle it's said she released a rabbit and watched where it fled, as an augury.

So Andraste's Hare, to me, is a path to victory. It's the journey. This blog is about exploring my spiritual side and deciding who I am. While Wisdom is what drives me, more than Victory, my condition of victory is finding wisdom, so in a way it works.

The mythos of Andraste and Boudicca and the white rabbit has more than one meaning for me; my Maine Coon cat is named for Boudicca. My beautiful fearless girl. I've often thought of this entire pagan journey as falling through the rabbit hole, or chasing the white rabbit. It's kind of amusing to me how often Andraste and Boudicca and her hare show up in my workings and in my life.

So Andraste's Hare. Finding victory and wisdom in the path of the White Rabbit.

Book Review - The Hollows, by Kim Harrison

Today's review is a little different. I'm about six books into The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. I'd read the first four some years ago, and decided to re-read those and then catch up on the rest of the series. And they are FANTASTIC. They start with Dead Witch Walking. Dead Witch Walking introduces Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood, and Jenks. They all leave the I.S. (think a supernatural FBI/police force) to form an independent investigator firm. Rachel's a witch, Ivy is a living vampire, and Jenks is a pixie.

The books remind me a lot of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, before they devolved into porn. The Hollows has a few romance side plots, but they are definite side plots. They're not the main drive of the books.

So far I've read Dead Witch Walking, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For a Few Demons More, and I've just started The Outlaw Demon Wails. The action does not stop in these books!

I thought the take on vampires was especially interesting in this series; there are living vampires and undead vampires; you can be born a vampire or bitten and turned. That makes you a highblood or lowblood living vampire, respectively. Once you die, you come back as an undead vampire without your soul. Through the use of vampire pheromones, the undead and living vampires manipulate those around them. They wind up being a very abusive family, where the undead vampires use and abuse all around them, their only thought being for their own welfare/pleasure, while the living vampires strive to please their undead masters because the pheromones make them think they love them.

I could see it being triggering for someone who'd been abused or lived through a similar situation. The author mentioned in an interview that she intentionally styled them after abusers/abused; where the living vampires struggle with their feelings of love for their abusers while fighting the instinct to pass the abuse on. The relationship between Ivy, Rachel, and Piscary (Ivy's undead master) is a good example of this.

The series continues with White Witch, Black Curse, Black Magic Sanction, Pale Demon, A Perfect Blood, and, on January 22, Ever After.

I'm hoping to be caught up with the series by the time Ever After comes out, and I'm making good progress.

If you're looking for a good supernatural series that ISN'T all about the sex (there's a few sex scenes, but mild ones) then you should take a look at the Hollows series!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2013. I am making a re-commitment to this blog for New Year's, but we're going to do it a little differently. I'm going to keep a couple of my theme days - Friday will still be the Pagan Blog Project, Sundays I will probably still just post a photo. Thursdays I will still be trying to review all of my books. Mondays are already Monday Madness, and pretty random. I've been having trouble finding anything to write about on Tarot Tuesday and Kitchen Witch Wednesday, though. So those will also now be random days. I do need to start posting more recipes, so I'll try to start that, but not only Wednesdays.

So Happy New Year! Did anyone do anything witchy for New Year's Eve? I went to a party with a ton of friends, and met a lot of new friends. The only thing witchy I did was invoke a quick circle and meditate for about five minutes because the noise level was breaking my little introvert heart. I like parties - I like people - but every so often I have to retreat to a corner of the house and get some peace. Luckily, the house was big enough I could do that easily!

I am looking forward to a new year of sharing things here on Andraste's Hare. What are you looking forward to this year?

Monday Madness

I have, perhaps, a startling confession to make.

I don't believe in God.

I believe in gods - small g - but not God. I do not believe there is an omnipresent, omniscient, all-powerful God. My gods are flawed. They do not know everything. They can't do everything. They're not always paying attention. One of my favorite quotes describes WHY I think of my gods like this.

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
(this has been attributed to Epicurus, but there's a lot of debate over whether that's correct.)

In the wake of the last two shootings - the one in the Oregon mall, my home state! and the one in Connecticut that killed all the children - this seems like a time for this quote. A benevolent, omnipotent, omniscient God COULD NOT have allowed that to happen. I refuse to believe in a God that would.

There's also the conundrum of, if God created us, then he created evil as well and allowed it. I will not believe in such a God.

My gods are small. I view my gods as facets of the same divine force; I see no issue with praying to Brigid with one breath and Kali with the next. I believe in Pantheism - EVERYTHING is part of the divine force. In a sense, praying to Brigid is praying to myself; focusing my energy, my will, through the lens that is Brigid in order to achieve an end. When I say I hear Cerridwen calling, it not that an entity named Cerridwen is trying to get my attention; it is that I feel myself needing to transform away from the hearth and homemaker I've been and into something new.

I do believe there is a divine force. I do believe in magic. This sets me apart from atheism. But the God of monotheism just angers me.

This rambling brought to you by Facebook drama with family. (I'm in green, my mother is in black.)

A walk through the woods

Well, these crows apparently do not welcome my company like the crows back in Oregon did; they left soon after I began my walk, and are returning now, as I type this on the computer and watch them through the patio door. But my walk was enjoyable, nonetheless.

There were several trees with large, woody vines entwined around their trunks. I love seeing that image, even though I know it's not good for the tree.

Caught a crow mid-flight.

The squirrels were not as shy as the crows were; this guy scuttled around beside me for quite some time as I took pictures.

I love the S-curve of the creek through the woods; the way it has cut into the ground and made deep banks looks particularly cool.

One of the banks, held up by tree roots. There is a bit of trash in these woods, unfortunately. I've seen worse, but it's still disappointing.

Found a tiny sprig of holly growing; I was careful to walk around it and let it be. At least I think it's holly, but aren't holly leaves usually glossier? Not sure what else has those saw-tooth edged leaves, though.

Another bank held up by tree roots.

A large downed tree; looks like it came down quite some time ago.

I'm standing with my back to my apartment building here, looking deeper into the woods.

Turning around, I'm now facing my apartment, which you can just barely see through the trees. The woods wrap around the entire apartment complex, we occasionally see deer in the parking lot!

Thought this was an interesting little tree, with the bulby vine wrapped around the branch. At least I think it's a vine; it kind of looked like tree, but I'm not sure why it would have grown like that.

And I have to end this with what drew me out there in the first place today. So many crows!

The Crows are calling

Going for a walk in the woods today, the crows are calling me to come play!

Video taken on the 9th, but they were back yesterday and again today. I'm heeding the call today. I should have Sunday, there were about twice as many crows then as there are now. 

Monday Madness

Yes, I'm aware Monday is the only day I've been posting the last couple of weeks. I've been working almost every day at the retail store lately. (Holiday Shopping, Joy!) There will, however, be a new Pagan Blog Project post this Friday.

That said...I'm writing again. In other places than the blog. You see, in high school I dreamed of being a writer. I loved writing. I wrote short stories, plots for longer stories, poetry...I just wrote. I wrote less and less in college until I finally stopped altogether. I can count on one hand the number of poems I've written in the last ten years.

But...I had a scene worm its way into my head one night, and refuse to leave. Once I wrote it down, two more quickly followed. Now I have a partial plot, an inkling of how magic works in this world, and three main characters. I have a full year before NaNoWriMo rolls around again; I may spend this year building scenes and plots and outlines and characters, and then next NaNoWriMo I may attempt a book.

If you had a species that was kind of a cross between a roc and a dragon - and they bonded telepathically with their riders, like so many dragons do in books - what would you call them?

I'm currently calling them "Companions" but that's also the name of the Heralds' horses in Lackey's Valdemar. So it's mostly a place holder. (It's also a bit of a side plot - the story lies with the people more than the birds.)

Monday Madness

I prayed, and I received understanding.

I called upon the divine, and Wisdom came to me.
I loved her more than scepters and thrones.
Wealth is nothing compared to Wisdom.
I cannot compare her to any jewel,
for gold is like sand compared to her,
and silver is like dull clay.
I love her more than health and beauty.
I love her more than light, 
because she is unfailingly radiant.
All good things come to me because of her, 
and from her hands come all treasures.
 - Wisdom, 7-14

One practice I've adopted from my husband and a few of our friends is finding a Word. A Word that symbolizes who you are, who you want to be - what you strive for. Your life's purpose.

My word is Wisdom. I like knowledge - I do like learning new things - but Wisdom is what I want. I don't need to know HOW, so much as WHY. I want to go back to school, but I haven't decided exactly what for. I intend to take a Psychology 101 class, a Sociology 101 class, and a Philosophy 101 class. I want to know WHY people do things the way they do, WHY the world is the way it is. I took a Introduction to Ethics course once, and had an amazing time in it. Philosophy is really interesting to me. I think those three classes, as well as possibly a Counseling class, will tell me what exactly it is that I want to do. Besides strive for Wisdom.

In the meantime I read as much as I possibly can, about a wide variety of topics. I'm currently having a lot of fun watching the videos on The Vlog Brothers' Crash Course channel. I've also enjoyed a lot of the videos at The Khan Academy, and worked through a lot of their math course. Reddit and Google+ provide me with a lot of news and current events. (Pick your subreddits and circles carefully, and those sites can be incredibly educational!)

Unfortunately, working retail this holiday season is infringing upon my time spent seeking Wisdom. It's also infringing on my time spent writing entries for this blog, as you've probably noticed, and I apologize sincerely! I have at least been able to keep my commitment of one entry a week; and after the New Year I should be able to get back to daily blogging.

I shall end this blog with two questions for you all.

Do you have a Word?
What are your favorite resources in the search for Wisdom?

Monday Madness

This is actually a little more like Friday Madness, or Thursday Madness, since Thanksgiving and Black Friday are what this entry is about.

I have to work on Thanksgiving. And not just Thanksgiving morning; I have to work from 4 pm to 11 pm. Which means the Thanksgiving Dinner plans I had are now "Thanksgiving Lunch" plans, and I'm very, VERY grateful to my hostess for changing her schedule for me.

So back to this working on Thanksgiving thing. I work in retail. I always have. I've worked in various stores, and I've never had to work on Thanksgiving before. The earliest I've had to go in was 4 am on Black Friday. Which sucked, but I understood. That company is opening at midnight this year. Another company I used to work for is opening at 9 pm Thanksgiving night. Other companies are opening at 8 pm, or earlier. The company I currently work for is open 4 pm to 11 pm on Thanksgiving Day, and opening again at 7 am Black Friday.

WHY?! Why do companies do this to their workers? Thanksgiving is listed as a Federal Holiday, but soon it will only be Federal Employees that get the day off. Retail almost never pays Holiday Pay. Only full time workers get that, and those are few and far between in the retail business. So while full-time people, federal workers, and union workers all get paid to NOT work on Thanksgiving, we get paid time-and-a-half TO work. Which means, in comparison, we really only get paid half-wages. If you go off the basis of people getting Holiday Pay. Half-wages to work on Thanksgiving.

Because consumers will come out to the sales. Everyone complains about what this does to workers - but they still go shop the sales. If you want this to stop, it begins with you. YOU must stop shopping Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. YOU have to vote with your wallet, and stop supporting these practices. Unless the consumer - YOU - stops giving in to the marketing, corporations will continue to open their stores earlier and earlier, and make their employees miss more and more of their "holiday", to rake in the sales.

We talk about the over-commercialization of Christmas. It's now branching into Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is no longer a time to enjoy good food with your family, but a time to pig out until it's time to go to the stores and shop. Or a day to sneak out of dinner and go visit the sales. I would really like to be able to spend Thanksgiving dinner with the people I love, but instead my husband will be home alone and I will be catering to shoppers. Shoppers who will probably wish me Happy Thanksgiving, and ask "why are you working on Thanksgiving?" not understanding that it's because THEY ARE SHOPPING.

So please. From one person to another. (Because though I work retail, I AM STILL A PERSON.) If you know someone who works retail, or if you have ever worked retail yourself - skip shopping on Thanksgiving. Skip Black Friday. Send a message to retailers that this has gone far enough. You can wait eight hours to get that half price TV or that blouse for 70% off. You don't need craft supplies while your family is eating Thanksgiving dinner. Tell retailers you'd like to wait and get a little bit of sleep. We employees will thank you for it.

Sunday Photos

Today I'm going to post a series of photos. These are shot off my back patio; I live on the fourth story of an apartment building, and there are thick woods behind our building. (On the other side of the woods are a grassy park where I've seen a herd of deer, and then more woods.) The view makes the apartment a really enjoyable space.

The view from my patio in June:

It was pretty, and green, and lush.








Then Fall started to settle in:

The trees began to change color and give us some wonderful fall hues.









After Hurricane Sandy brushed past us on her way to New Jersey and New York, a lot of the leaves were missing!

It started to look more like winter at this point.








And just a few days ago, it looked like this.

I plan to continue taking pictures as the seasons change, I really like the progression!