Brace Yourselves, (heh-heh)

Guess, it's my turn to take the latest swing in "getting to know you". Note: I love Meme's, questionaire's, etc...so thought this would be a fun way to introduce myself. Would love to see others answers if so inclined. I found it on the internet and it's kind of long, sorry about the length.



Basics
Do you have a magickal name? Bast

does it have a special meaning? In homage to the Egyptian "Cat Goddess" Bast/Bastet

How did you find Wicca/Paganism? My mother was a "scholarly" witch, who unveiled the magickal world very, very early in my life.

How long have you been practicing? Although paganism is my main path, I have also dedicated myself to other spiritual paths, so "practicing" since about twenty or so. I'm now 46.

Solitary or group practitioner? Solitary until now.

What is your path? I tend to be drawn to the earth based paganism ways.

Are you out of the broom closet? yep.

Gods/Goddess
Who are your patron Gods? Hermes, Ganesh and Odin, Archangel Michael and Herne.

Who are your patron Goddess'? Bast, Brigid, Aphrodite, Kwan Yin and not really a "Goddess" but Mary Magdalene and the same with Morgan Le Fey.

Which Gods/Goddess' do you worship? I don't know if I "worship" any deity although I certainly honor and revere them. My cats are certainly very worshipped as the saying goes, "Cats were once worshiped in Egypt and they have never forgotten this" so perhaps Bast?

Do you fear darkly aspected Gods/Goddess, or rather respect them? Both fear and respect especially Kali

Do you worship the Christian God? I believe that Jesus was a great teacher and am very drawn to the true Gnostic teachings, but definitely don't worship ole Yaweh!

Do you ever worship animals? As mentioned above, I certainly pay a lot of homage to my cats.

Or plants? I don't worship plant life necessarily, but am very respectful and drawn to plant's and herbs, esp. sage, sweetgrass, rosemary, and saffron to name a few.

Nature
Do you regularly commune with nature? In one form or another, most definitely.

Ever walked barefoot in the woods? Yes, loved it.

Taken a camping trip just to talk to nature? Not really a "camping trip" more like a pilgrimage to certain sacred places.

Describe the moment you felt closet to Mother Earth? Too many to mention, but first really profane experience was in Ireland when I traveled with my mother (accordingly enough) and every time I've visited Indian res.'s despite the sadness and every time i participate in a sweat lodge or similar rituals.

What is your power animal(s)? Wolf, hawk and cat.

Do you have a familiar? I'm owned by my two sister cats, but really for special ritual and magic, Miss Bella is my familiar. Her sister, Sele is my clown and heart.

Have you ever called upon the powers on an animal in ritual? Yes, often.

Or a plant? Yes, especially when participating in Native American rituals, like sage, sweetgrass, cedar and copal.

Do you hug trees? Actually I do and I really love old oak trees which are in abundance where I live fortunately.

Give them gifts? My love and energy, does that count?

What is your favorite flower to work with? Lotus flower and jasmine.

What is your favorite tree to work with? Oak tree and willow.

Wheel of the Year
What are your favorite holidays? Samhain and Litha

What if your least favorite holiday? In the "western" world I cant' stand 4th of July or Columbus day, too much hypocrisy and death.

Have you ever held a ritual on a holiday? Yep!

Ever taken a day of work to celebrate a pagan holiday? Yes, usually Samhain

Do you celebrate Yule on the 21 rather than the 25? I do.

Have you ever felt the Veil thin? A lot!

Ever danced the Maypole? It's been a while, but I have many times in the past. When I was a little girl, in really early elementary my school always celebrated May Day with a Maypole although I know for a fact, that most is not all of the people knew of the real origins or worshiped it as a pagan.

Know what the Maypole symbolizes? Fertility, the coming together of the Lady and Lord? and a welcoming of the true Spring spirit?

Ever made love on Beltaine? Sigh, been too long, but most definitely!

How do you usually celebrate the pagan holidays? Spent in nature and at home with loved rituals and practice.

Divination
Do you use Tarot? I can easily pick up a tarot deck and "divine" with it, but haven't in a long time.

Do you use runes? I've dabbled with the runes but am more drawn to tarot.

Do you use a pendulum? no

Do you use dowsing rods? Never have tried, although I really admire water witchs

Do you use astrology? Love astrology. Here's a little view of my chart: Sun-Libra, Moon-Virgo, Rising-Virgo, Venus and Mars in Scorpio and Mercury in Libra. Born in the Year of the Cat (appropiately enough) or as other Asian cultures call it Year of the Rabbit.

Any other form of divination? I always pay attention to what animals I see in nature and what they're doing, especially Hawks.

Spells
What was the first spell you did? When I turned 9 years old, my mother gave me a book on how to call forth Faeries, and I started to do one in my bedroom by myself and all of a sudden felt their presence and stopped because I was too scared. Wish I had a "teacher" or "mentor" who could have walked me through that road.

What was the latest? I haven't cast one in a long time, the last one was a prayer/blessing for my 21 year old son who was abusing heroin three years ago. I prayed, cast a circle, etc...for three months straight. Now, he's completely clean, straight "A" student and just really an amazing person. Thank the Goddess!

Ever done a love spell? Never a conscious manipulative one like casting for a specific person or taking some one away from someone else, but when I was younger used to cast lots of love spells.

A job spell? Yes

A healing spell? The one I mentioned for my son it that could be considered a "spell".

What was the most powerful spell you've ever performed? When I was 19 my mother (again ; ) gave me a St. Brigid statue and a 10 day novena to meet a husband. On the 10th day I met my now ex-husband.


Cryptozology
Do you believe in Vampires? The energy vampire's perhaps or wannabe's.

Werewolves? Perhaps

Shapeshifters? Yes!

Elves? Yes

Fareries? Yes

Dragons? In some form or another.

Nymphs? Yes

Sprites? Yes

Mermaids? Yes

Sirens? Yes

Satyrs? Not sure

Angels? Without a doubt!

Ghosts/Spirits? Absolutely

Ever "seen" any of the above? Yes a few of the above.

Ever talked to any of the above? I've met a few N. American Shapeshifters.

Ever called on any of the above in magick? Yes, quite a few times.

Do you have one of them as a personal guardian? I believe so.

Random
Do you see a rabbit, a man or a woman in the moon? I always talk to Grandmother Moon, but I have seen a rabbit in the moon.

Own a cat? I don't know that anyone can "own" a cat, but they "own" us. I've already talked about being owned by two female felines.

When you meditate what does your sacred/safe place look like? A lot like Lothlorien or the high desert like at New Mexico or Arizona.

Do you work with Chakras? Yes

Do you believe in soul mates? Yes and not just the romantic type.

Ever met one? Yes, I've been blessed to meet quite a few.

Do you have a Spirit guide? Yes a few different one's.

Is it always love and light? I practice white/green magick, but I firmly believe you can't have the light without the shadows.

Pheww, that was exhausting but great for my own knowledge about myself and hope that any of you enjoyed it too. Oh yeah, and my name is Wendy