Greetings and Salutations!
Hi, all! I'm relatively new here - joined about three weeks ago, at the suggestion of Aislynn (I'm in her study circle - for those of you who've seen her vlog challenge video, I'm the one with glasses who sounds like a valley girl :D ). I've mostly been a lurker since then, but I figured since this seemed like a fairly close knit community, I should take the time to introduce myself and say hi.
As far as my background goes, I was raised Catholic (15 years of Catholic schooling - ugh), but when I was about 11 or 12, and therefore old enough to realize that you weren't born into a religion and could choose to believe differently from your parents, I considered myself an atheist (although I'm not sure I knew the word then). I was raised by a nurse and an astrophysicist, so I've always had a rather rationalistic approach to life - I was big on empirical evidence. I was always drawn to nature-based spiritualities - those of the First Nations, specifically - but I could never bring myself to take that leap of faith that something *other* might be out there. Anyway, somewhere around the end of college I started to drift more towards agnosticism; I don't remember if anything in particular happened, it was just a growth process, I guess. I read a couple of books on Paganism, and was fascinated, but the belief in deity, or rather my lack thereof, still held me back. Then I met a couple of people who ended up becoming good friends of mine, and they were Pagan. That was the first time I'd met people who actually followed such a belief system, and it was the first time I thought I might not actually be crazy for being so drawn to what I'd previously thought to be a relatively dead system of belief. It still took me awhile to actually consider myself Pagan, but I've been reading and studying off and on ever since (about 8 years altogether). I joined Aislynn's study circle almost a year ago now, so that's helped a lot - I tend to be a bit of a slacker, so it's helped with the motivation thing. :) I'm still developing my Pagan beliefs and practices - I hope I always will be - but for now I consider myself an eclectic Pagan with DRW leanings. I haven't found a pantheon yet, although I've been reading a lot about Welsh Celtic mythology recently. The vast majority of my reading has been Wicca related, but recently I've started investigating Druidry, which I'm finding really exciting, so we'll see where that leads.
Other than spiritual beliefs, I'm in school for massage therapy. I'd eventually like to have a wellness center where all sorts of healing modalities are practiced, but that's long term. Short term, I'd settle for making enough of a living at something I actually enjoy that I don't have to have any other job. :) I'm also a HUGE geek, of the sci-fi and board gaming variety (ask me just about anything Star Trek related, and I'll probably know the answer), and a minor ancient Egypt geek. I enjoy crafty sort of things - cross stitch, knitting, sewing, etc - but sadly never seem to have the time to do much about it. I have a dog and a cat, both of whom are lazy bums (they probably get that from me...). I used to be in choirs and play the piano, but I don't really do much more than sing in the car these days.
Anyhow, that's probably more than you ever wanted to know about me. :P It's nice to meet you guys! Hopefully I don't say anything too stupid - if I do, my apologies in advance. I can also be kind of blunt sometimes. I do my best to pay special attention to what I say online, since it's not very conducive to sarcasm or tone of voice or anything (especially when I'm dealing with people who don't know me and my weird sense of humor), but I'm sure I'll forget to self-filter at some point, for which I also send out advance apologies. I won't *mean* to stick my foot in my mouth, it just tends to happen every once in awhile. :D
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sangraal on -
Welcome aboard, Hazel! Glad to see ya coming out of lurking and hope to see you more around now. :)
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Permalink Reply by Daniel O'Neill (Cat wrangler) on -
Howdy Y'all grab a log an warm your feet by the fire.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Renee on -
Welcome Hazel! Any friend of Aislynn must be fantastic:-) I am going to be enrolling this summer in college to become a massage therapist and hope to work in a wellness clinic myself! So glad you can be here with us:-)
Namaste,
Jennifer Renee
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Permalink Reply by Hazel Cloud on
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Thanks, guys! :)
Daniel, I have to say that I'm always excited when I see you comment on a post. You crack me up. :)
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Permalink Reply by Jen {Teh Pixie} on -
Bendithion and Welcome Hazel! If you're seriously looking into Welsh Mythology, may I suggest reading the Mabinogion, great great book on the tales, rather short with only 4 branches, but you learn much about the Welsh Dieties in the process.
I, myself, follow the Welsh Pantheon, took me awhile, but glad I finally found it. I may also suggest speaking with Grayson, great guy, plus he can help with those bloody Welsh pernounciations that give me a headache just thinking about it lol!!
Anyways, welcome to the site!!
Bendithion,
Jen
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Permalink Reply by Hazel Cloud on
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Thanks, Jen! I did actually find Grayson's post on pronunciation, it was much more helpful than in any of the books I've read thus far (although admittedly, I haven't gone into any language books yet). I'm normally pretty good at other languages, but it really throws me off to have letters I recognize produce the "wrong" sounds, lol.
I'm almost done with Ford's translation of the Mabinogion - I'm actually done with the four branches themselves, I'm just working on the romances now. I'd read that his was easier to read than the Jones translation, so I decided to read that one first and then do the Jones version. I have to admit, the writing style irritates me, but I don't know if that's b/c of the way it's written or translated, so I guess I'll find that out when I read the Jones version. I'm glad to know there's someone else interested in the Welsh pantheon on here - so far it's been difficult finding a lot of information on it, so I hope you don't mind if I come to you a question or two every once in awhile. :)
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Permalink Reply by Tina on -
Merry meet and welcome! I too am a geek so dont feel bad. You and i are in the same boat, well except you have help. My teacher lives in Michigan and idk when i will see her again...again welcome!
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Permalink Reply by Jen {Teh Pixie} on
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No I don't mind at all, and actually yeah, it's tough as heck to find info on the pantheon. I don't remember who's version of the Mabinogi I read, but all I know is that after like every line they said "As by God" or something silly like that and I'm like Okay very annoying, moving on..and I would just skip that little section of the sentence.
If you have *any* questions go ahead and ask, I'm still relatively new to it as well, but I've read a crapload on Welsh/Irish Mythology and Fae lore. If I can't answer your questions, feel free to ask Grayson, he doesn't bite, just puts stoats in your pants! ;)
Bendithion,
Jen
Hazel Cloud said:Thanks, Jen! I did actually find Grayson's post on pronunciation, it was much more helpful than in any of the books I've read thus far (although admittedly, I haven't gone into any language books yet). I'm normally pretty good at other languages, but it really throws me off to have letters I recognize produce the "wrong" sounds, lol.
I'm almost done with Ford's translation of the Mabinogion - I'm actually done with the four branches themselves, I'm just working on the romances now. I'd read that his was easier to read than the Jones translation, so I decided to read that one first and then do the Jones version. I have to admit, the writing style irritates me, but I don't know if that's b/c of the way it's written or translated, so I guess I'll find that out when I read the Jones version. I'm glad to know there's someone else interested in the Welsh pantheon on here - so far it's been difficult finding a lot of information on it, so I hope you don't mind if I come to you a question or two every once in awhile. :)
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Permalink Reply by lilgem (love) on -
WELCOME AND GLAD YOU JOINED
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