31 Days of Magic: What lead you to start practicing witchcraft?

"Magic" by Curenta

A few weeks ago, a blogger on Tumblr mentioned a lack of Secular Witchcraft "31 Days" Question Meme. For those who don't know, the "31 Days of ___" is a meme of sorts that has 31 questions to be answered over a series of 31 days. The ones easily found by Google for witchcraft, though, had religious elements in the questions. Such as, "What Gods/Goddesses do you worship?" or "How do you honor the Moon?" and stuff like that.

So, in response, I decided to make a 31 Days of Secular Witchcraft. I called it "witchcraft" because that was what the person seeking the meme worded it as. Ironically, I don't call what I do "witchcraft" so I'm going to be changing this title for myself to "31 Days of Magic."

Without further ado, I'll now be answering the first question: What lead you to start practicing witchcraft magic?

My Beliefs ... As of Today

"Change" by NaBHaN

I am starting a new Tumblr blog, despite creating this blog so I wouldn't. But my idea behind what this blog should be changed. Instead of just being a place to store and type out my thoughts, I have started to consider this blog a platform for discussion.

And like my idea behind what this blog should be changed, so have my personal beliefs. For one, I am distancing myself from calling myself "pagan" and "witch"--two identifiers I have used for several years now. But my perceptions are changing, thus so too are my beliefs in what I am and should be.

Woe is Me: Celtic Culture and Eclectic Paganism

This is an article I have been itching to write, but I don't really know how to go about it. Perhaps it is because this is probably the most opinionated piece I have so far written; these are more about my thoughts about something that irks me, but isn't necessarily unmoral or a call to movement.

My problem boils down to this: a lot of people in the pagan community tend to use terms, practices, and holidays removed from their original cultures.

For example, pretend that someone in Europe is celebrating Fourth of July. They have fireworks and are eating outside--but why call it Fourth of July? Why celebrate another country's national holiday when that person is outside the country?

So... Why celebrate Lughnasa without understanding of the culture that created it?

Another One Bites the Dust

I wonder if I should make getting kicked out of Facebook Groups my new hobby?

(Warning: Below the cut contains slurs.)

Using Minecraft for Worship: A Shrine to Lugh

"Druid(?)" Shrine (source)

I live in a small apartment. My boyfriend and I do not have any space for a kitchen table, yet I managed to squeeze in a small corner of our studio to be a shrine space. Still, I find that it lacks a lot. I wish the space could be dedicated better to the shrine, and less to witchcraft tools and the nightstand with our phone chargers. 

I found a way, though, to have shrines. As large and a vast as I want: I am making them in a video game called Minecraft.

Local Community--Different Group, Different Results

Decorative hummus from Lughnasa Ritual I went to.

Looking over my Blogspot statics, my post: "Local Pagan Community--Summed up in Facebook?" so far has the most views out of any of my other posts. I guess everyone likes a good drama--that, and I have been linking to it every time I bring up my experiences in the local pagan community. However, I will probably start to refer to this article too; I have branched out once more and met with a different group of local pagans who work out of the local Unitarian Church.

What to do with a Gender Binary?

Before I was banned from this group, I went to a meet up where in the general discussion a person mentioned a Women's Retreat. I don't recall which one she meant, but there are Pagan Women Retreats throughout the United States. This also is not a purely Pagan or New Age ideology. Christian Churches will have women's retreats, or even secular groups will engage in this dichotomy. To be clear, there are also male-only retreats or gatherings.

As the title suggests, I'm not a fan of this.