Yet another long overdue update...

So I'm having a real problem with updating regularly.... I suppose that's why I don't have too many visitors to the blog these days.... but oh well, it'll happen.... in time. So a lot has definitely happened since my last post; I'll try to sum it all up here in as short a post as possible.

So I suppose the first thing to talk about is my initiation into the first degree of the Pagan House way. It was very empowering; I felt amazing all throughout the ritual, and I found a very peaceful feeling during the call of the ancestors part. It was even cooler because they had us, the students, build the altar and cast the circle. Everything about it was just great, and I loved the rush that I got from it all. The whole thing ended with some devastating news, however, which I am not at liberty to discuss on here.... but it truly broke my heart while at the same time making me proud that such a great opportunity presented itself. So anyway, Morgan said that during the call of the ancestors, she saw that my ancestors were big islander looking folk, wearing long tan-brown papery looking skirts with black designs on them, and holding sticks that looked like they were used for paddling... The men were all tall and strong, while the women kind of kept quiet. Interesting, noh? Ever since then I've been trying to find a little bit of time every day to kind of do some research to see if I can find what kind of tribal people had that kind of outfit.... no luck yet though.

Secondly, I was supposed to lead a New Moon ritual a few weeks ago, but that ended up not happening because my schedule had been changed and I had to be at work at the time the ritual would have been going on. Everyone was really excited for me to be doing the ritual, and I was excited myself, however I did not feel that I was truly ready for such a daunting task just yet. So I suppose that worked out for me, even if everyone (including myself) was kinda bummed out about the sudden turn of events. My new schedule also prevented me from going to my year and a day classes, so that was a HUGE disappointment for me. However, My beloved High Priest and High Priestess at Pagan House did all that they could to see if they could work something out for me with my command or with the chaplain... And while they were not so successful on that front, my schedule suddenly changed, outta the blue, back to my normal day check hours... so it's interesting how things just work out for me lately...

I think the best part of this update is right here, however. Over the last couple of days, I have done three Full Moon Rituals; the first one being a skyclad one up in Carlsbad, the second one being a regular one in Mission Bay, and the third one being a smaller one at Balboa park. The reason this is important for me to mention is that in all three rituals, I played an integral part in the ritual. For the first two, I casted the circle. The first one was actually a surprise to me; I was told that I would be doing it at the second one, so that was the one I had prepared for. But my lovely teacher Morgan had the surprise planned out for me, I suppose. According to the people's feedback from that first night, I did great, so I'll take it as it is. The second one went much better; I received a lot more feedback, so I'm feeling a lot more confident about this. In the third one, I was asked to be the God for the night, so I accepted because at the time they had asked I was the only guy there. After that ritual, they had told me that I did wonderful for a first timer. lol. So anyway, I guess the point of this all is that I am growing more and more into my personal power and it excites me! Looking back on the past six months that I have been here in San Diego, it's just amazing to see how far I've come and how much I've grown on this path... Back then I definitely never would have thought that I would be casting circles at this point! And I have my wonderful teachers of my two classes: Aaron and Morgan Taggert of Pagan House and Carrie Hammond of Indigo Paths, to thank for that. I can't wait to see just what the rest of the year brings to me and how much more I grow!

Announcing a new Meetup Group: The San Diego County Warrior Circle!

So I posted the following message to a few of my Meetup groups announcing a new group that I have created for the military pagans in San DIego County. If this thing is successful and grows big enough, I might even have the Warrior Circle thing expand to other bases... it's part of the dream but a much later part, if you know what I mean. First I have to get this thing going.

"In light of the recent events that took place earlier this month at the US Air Force Academy, I have decided that now was the proper time for me to set my plans in motion and I created a new meetup group called San Diego County Warrior Circle. This is a pagan group for military servicemembers. Our goals are many, but the main one is to provide a stable community for pagan servicemembers. We are here to educate those new to the faith or those who are just curious about the things that we do. We are here to make sure that people know their rights when it comes to the military and religious practice and worship. If you are in the military, please join, and tell your other pagan or pagan-curious friends who are also serving. If you aren't in the military, but know someone who is, please invite them to check out this group. This is my dream and I would like to see it grow into something big, but I need your help to do it."

So there you have it, my latest update... Things are really starting to look up for me again, and I am so happy about that. I have Owls class tonight up at the Pagan House in Carlsbad, and every second spent up there is just an amazing time. I love being up there and basking in the energy of the place.

My Vision for the Military Pagans, and some exciting updates!

So, I have my own little Pagan House vision, but then I also have my own personal vision..... and it is all about the military, since I am serving on active duty in the military and all that. So anyway, in my last journal entry over on The Pagan House blog I had answered a question about what I planned to do with the knowledge that I gain from taking the Owls class. In my response, I mentioned something about sharing my knowledge with other military servicemembers I said, "One of my dreams is to be able to teach other military service members who are new to the path or who are just curious about it. I want to be their walking, talking Pagan encyclopedia and aid in their spiritual growth and development."

This is me expanding on that sentence and going into my actual vision for pagans in the military. Someday soon, I'd like to organize a group on base (I'll start out with just people on base, and if things go well I will expand to all servicemembers in the area [San Diego County]...) that would come together at an agreed frequency to perform rituals with a military tone to them; kinda like a military coven, I suppose. However, the group would be so much more than just that. The main purpose of the group will be to provide military servicemembers with a community in which to exchange knowledge, ideas, information, and resources. Whether it be teaching curious servicemembers about the pagan spiritual path, or even teaching established pagans about certain things that they do not know yet or have not heard of, one of the main goals of the group will be to exchange information within the community. One of our goals within this would be to set up classes every now and then covering a vast array of topics, such as circle casting, calling the corners, making smudge bundles, how to build and use an altar that complies with barracks regulations, etc. I am currently reading a book called "Faith and Magick in the Armed Forces: A Handbook for Pagans in the Military" by Stefani E. Barner, and one of the things that I want to do with the knowledge that I get from the Owls class and the information that I will gain from reading this book and doing other personal research is to kind of act as an unofficial pagan chaplain for the group. By that point, I should be able to answer most questions involving pagan life in the military (like rights to worship, getting time off to be able to go to rituals, etc.). My services should suffice until the day that an official pagan chaplain comes into the armed forces.

So there you have it, my grand vision for the military pagans out there... On to the exciting updates lol.

So last post that I made, I completely forgot to mention that I CAN FINALLY SEE AURAS. It's still in its infancy stages right now, so I don't see any color yet... But I can definitely see an energy field around a person's physical body. I think it might have been awakened that time that I saw Maureen's shield (in fact, maybe it wasn't her shield that I was seeing, but her aura!)...So anyway, that's big update #1... Big update #2 is that I performed my first act of Reiki healing last night! It felt amazing while I was doing it, and Jennifer said that my hands and her foot were really hot (so yay, I did it right [or just for the Pagan House, "I wasn't doing it wrong!!] lol). I ended up being REALLY hungry after that, and it got real bad on the drive home... which stuck me as funny since I had already eaten like 4 times at The Pagan House that night!