WAKE UP! RISE AND SHINE!

Have you missed us? We have sure missed you. And I can’t tell you how glad I am to have The Pagan and the Pen back on the map!

I am more pleased to announce that we have some awesome things on the horizon. It’s almost like the vision we had years ago is in full bloom! Scratch that. It IS like that. We are in full bloom!

While I am still signing Authors up and working out the details of Columns, I’d like to give you a short sneak peak of what we have so far.

Of course we will be posting the Ancient Calendar, daily, but we will also include Modern Day Pagan Holidays as well.  We have added Magical Moon Phases and All Things Paranormal.

I have new articles coming up interviewing people and their experiences with the Astral/ Shadow Spider/People Phenomenon.

We have new interviews being set up as we speak with Pagan Artists, Musicians and Authors. Once a month or so, our very own Nimue Brown will be giving you the latest on Pagan Authors and Books. She will also be taking us on a journey to meet all these Artists we have coming and fabulous Musicians. I can’t even begin to list the things Nimue has in store for us.

But also, real quick, I’d like to thank her husband, Artist Tom Brown, for constantly feeding our blog with his very talented Art. Without him, our Graphics would be so very lacking.

New Columns on the horizon. We have Modern Minoan Paganism and Circe’s Circle, just to name a few. Please click on those to find out their descriptions. You will NOT be disappointed.

We have with us, D. Ryan, who will head up Circe’s Circle, who happens  to have first hand knowledge in the field of Education and LGBT issues.

Laura Perry will not only educate us concerning Modern Minoan Paganism, but she is an Artist who has published her own set of Tarot as well.

We have a new Facebook Page, GIVE US A LIKE HERE, please, and we have a NEW TWITTER ACCOUNT. We also have a Forum in the works, which will be coming later, but soon.

We have Debi Gregory,  who will also be bringing us a Column. Debi heads up Pagans with Disabilities .which is affiliated with the Pagan Federation. They have an online Midsummer Festival event coming up so PLEASE check that out!

We have Folklore (Mountain Lore) and Remedies coming, Historical information, Metaphysics, Herbs and Gardening, Bath & Body, Kitchen Witchery, Recipes, and  SO MUCH MORE!!!!

There is so much on the horizon, I couldn’t possibly list it all here. So please, find us on Facebook, Twitter, follow or join the blog… whatever you need to do to stay posted and as always….ENJOY!

Seeing the Opportunities

And so I continue with the project of trying to milk meaningful thoughts and reflections out of the current mess of my life. There is that piece of wisdom, ‘when life sends lemons, make lemonade’. I’ve seen it amended in a number of ways lately. ‘If it doesn’t also send you water and sugar however, your lemonade will be vile.’ ‘Ask for salt and tequila’. There’s a truth here, and it pertains a lot to what scope we have for happiness. It does assume that there can be good in any situation.

One of the key notions in Buddhism is that life is pain and the only way to transcend that is to learn not to want. That philosophy allows a certain kind of contentment with very little, and a way of getting through hard times by trying to want and need less. I’ve tried that as a way forward, and I’m not going to recommend it. Learning to make do with less, can enable you to tolerate all sorts of things that it would be better to fight against. It can lead to a paring down of soul and self that is neither happy, or noble.

So, my challenge for today is to see the potential for good in what is happening to me. To stop drowning in pain and dismay, and try to find a way of relating to things that not only makes it easier to bear, but helps me move forwards.

There is always scope for learning. Whatever is going on, where there is life, there are things to be learned, even if they are things we have no desire to know. Accepting that possibility and looking for the lessons within experience can soften the stings.

I’m personally inspired by Brendan Myers work on heroic virtue (see ‘The Other Side of Virtue’ which is brilliant). Even if we have no apparent choice about our fate, there is always the choice of how to face it. Heroic cultures, pagan cultures, favoured facing your fate on your feet, with a weapon in hand. Certain doom can be faced with style, panache, courage and honour. Sometimes, it turns out not to be certain doom after all, because the insane, desperate attempt against all odds does work out sometimes. There is a solace of sorts to be found in taking a heroic stance, willing to accept whatever blows honour or passion demand. Celtic love stories are seldom happily ever afters, but they are epic, wild, and love burns very brightly in them. And so I will take it as a challenge, a chance to shine, not as a setback.

There’s scope for looking at accidental benefits that can be caused by challenges. The changes and demands of hard times can set us in new directions, creating new opportunities. Looking back at previous setbacks, some of them turned out to be blessings in disguise, most made me stronger, there were often unexpected ripples.

What do I have here? No shortage of opportunity to learn, grow, become stronger. I have a challenge to face, and it is going to take courage and determination. So be it. I have the chance to demonstrate to the love of my life, how far I would go for him, how much I would do and give to be with him. And he has the opportunity to do the same for me. Watching his eyes as we talked yesterday, seeing the fierce passion, the fire and determination in him, has affected me deeply. It is inspirational. Out of the pain we craft something stronger, deeper. Most people do not get chances to fight monsters and risk everything for the sake of their beloved. Life for most people most of the time is unremarkable. But I am caught up in something huge, shattering, hard, and I will have to fight, and so will Tom. My life is an epic romance. Seeing it in those terms makes it a very different thing to deal with.

We have this, now. We have moment to moment the breathtaking reality of living with a love that will cross oceans and do battle with bureaucrats. And I also see how this is touching all the people around us. Friends and family who are stepping up to help, and who are investing in our struggle. And so you too become part of this story. We had best make it a good one. Something worthy of remembering and repeating. A tale that in future years, people will look back on and say ‘I was there, I saw.’

Who knows what that might bring into the world?

Life and story

Dear friends, your support over the weekend has been tremendous. Tom and I are both deeply moved by how everyone is responding to our plight. For the time being, this blog is likely to be more personal than philosophical, because I’m struggling to think about anything else much. Neil Gaiman says ‘We have a duty to tell each other stories.’ It is also a way of having some control, some ownership over experience. Sharing our stories is often the basis of relationship, it shapes community and collective identity, and in times of anguish, it’s about the only thing that reliably helps.

So I will tell you my stories. Tom and I have been involved for six years, ish, first as friends, and creative partners, and now as lovers. He’s my inspiration, and my soul mate. It took both of us a long time to realise how we felt might be requited. Somehow, online, we managed something akin to love at first sight (well, emails, technically). This last year, has been a journey, the unfolding of an epic romance, a more profound love affair than I could have imagined before. I did not know love could be like this, or that I could feel like this, or that anyone could value me so highly and adore me so completely.

I’m quite aware that one of the conventions of romance fiction is the torturing of the characters, such that even though everyone knows it’ll work out ok (that being the main rule of romance) you start to believe it won’t. But this is not a romance novel, and we have no certainty of a happy ending. There is an ocean between us, and all the rules and regulations of countries who don’t really like folk moving around. We are not rich enough to have an easy ride of it. Officialdom is much more sympathetic to wealthy folk who want to change country for love.

 This morning I woke up, heart thundering, headfirst into full on panic. Yesterday was the same. I’ve got to try and get that under control, because my digestive system can’t take it, and it’s making me ill. Which is not going to help in the slightest. I sat with a lock of Tom’s hair in one hand, and my pentagram in the other – left to me by someone I think of as a craft parent, but that’s a long and complicated tale in its own right. Generally speaking, my druidry is more about communion, service and celebration than asking for help. I tend to assume I’m on my own for most things, I am not much of a god botherer. But right now, I need all the help I can get. I am praying for courage and strength. I am praying for a way through this, and not to be eaten by despair. Above all, I am praying for help. Never before have I felt so keenly that my life is in the hands of the Gods. I do not know what they want of me.

There are moments when I feel I am not alone, when there seems to be support and comfort from some external source. Moments I cannot explain. I’ve had them before in times of extremis. I survived those. But I want to do more than survive this, I want to win. I want to get my lover to the UK, marry him, live with him, have one life, one future, one story.

Today is my birthday. I am thirty three. I have never been more sure of what I want, and less sure of where on earth my life might be taking me, literally. So I dry my tears, and do the only thing I can do. I will tell stories.

Please, keep us in your prayers. I am thinking, when we get through this, there will be a handfasting. I’m considering Avebury, because it is huge, and I can invite everyone.

Lost Bards and Dreamers Art

I have a poetry collection just come out at Alpheratz Press. It’s very druidic, inspired by nature, the seasons, ritual, and philosophy. Much of it was written with the intention of being able to use it in rituals. So, I shall be talking about it over the coming days. I thought I’d start with the cover art.

When I first considered putting together a collection, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find a publisher, and thought about self publishing. Tom offered to do me a cover (because he is very lovely) and we went from there. Other opportunities arose, and Alpheratz were very happy indeed to get a Tom Brown cover, so that worked well.

The image on the cover has a longer history than just this book, however. More than a year ago, I’d talked with Tom about the possibility of him designing a tattoo for me. At some point I’ll get that sorted. I want a purple poppy on my hip. Poppy seed was traditionally used to make sleeping potions, and of course opium induces strange dreams and hallucinations. It’s a flower with considerable personal significance. Thinking about Tom’s poppy sketches, I thought one of those would make a lovely cover for my poems, and asked if I could do that.

Tom, being both incredibly generous and something of a perfectionist, was not at all keen on the idea of me using the poppy sketch for my cover, and insisted on doing a fresh image. He was familiar with the poems, because I’d read most of them to him while I was putting them together. The background is full of lovely details – trees, standing stone and water. I love the colours, they’re so rich and vibrant.

 I’ve been blessed with some fine cover art over the years. Tom’s work on Hunting the Egret is gorgeous, and the artist I had for The Shifting Heart was awesome. Dawne at loveyoudivine does excellent work with photographs, I’ve had some very stylish covers from her over the years. But even so, there isn’t another cover on a book of mine that comes close to this one. Tom has excelled himself. I’m looking forward to having the original in the house, its destined for a frame and some wallspace.

I am blessed, having such a talented partner. He understands what I do, and being a fellow druid had an intuitive grasp of what was needed, artwise. I am going to try and arrange print versions of the cover art, and will make it known once that’s sorted out.