I want to be street smart (AND gorgeous..oops! too late) like Rachel Marianna Morgan

 I do not know how many of you read Kim Harrison's, The Hollows series but they  feature a modern, younger witch named Rachel Mariana Morgan, known by Rachel.  She is so talented as witch but also brave, daring & bold. She of course gets in a lot of trouble. What she does for a living is be a detective in her own little firm that includes her room mate Ivy, a living vampire  & a pixie named Jenks who lives in their garden with his with and pixie kids.
She has numerous fairly steamy romances with various & sundry males including vampires & other supernaturals although, like James Bond, if you are the current paramour you may get killed or at least attacked. Everybody seems to want a piece of Rachel. She is not an easy person to date, but she is a very easy person to like.

What I like best about Rachel is that she knows who & what she is. She knows how powerful her magic is & she knows how to use it and she never backs down. I am a never back down person, too but for me, it is purposeless. If someone tells me I cannot or should not do something,  it's the thrown gauntlet. I am the gal who has to touch the paint right by the "Wet Pint" sign.  So I end up doing a lot of stupid, bonehead things. I am like Rachel who is there for her friends: to fight, cast spells or just stand up for them or by them. She is definitely a risk taker(NOT me,chicken little) & will stand up to the wealthy & powerful men(not me either, the coward) that seem to pop up in her life. She is fearless (generally) & wears cool black, leather boots. Ivy helps dress her-she has more money & better taste but also lusts after Rachel so that is a problem, too as Rachel is hetero not even bi. Well I am hetero, too & think I will stick with that in the next life. I really like men.
I cannot go back in time & relive my youth but in my next life, I am going to be a stronger young woman, firmer in my convictions. I want to have convictions when I am young not just drift along my life like a dandelion puff, landing here, there, everywhere. Of course, I was a teen in the late 60's and all that that implies. Drifting was pretty fun back then!
But when I come back things will be different. I will have goals, purpose, pick a great career, be gorgeous & wear black leather boots. Hunh.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I am late as usual. The title: WWGWD?**

On the topic of witch craft learned from fictional characters, I press on. In the absence of any witch mentors locally & since I moved to witchcraft via a fictional book, it shouldn't seem odd that my teachers would  not be real, either.
When in doubt about a course of action I ask myself, **"What would Granny Weatherwax do?" Granny Weatherwax is  the crone of a group of three, sometimes two & sometimes four, witches that live in Discworld. Discworld is a world in the multiverse that is a flat disc carried by four huge elephants that in turn stand on the back of a gigantic turtle named the Great A'tuin. The world is flat. The witches live in the Ramtop Mountains. They each have their own little cottage, a shack more like, especially Granny's.

 Granny is an extraordinary witch who knows that the hard part about magic is NOT using it. Granny is sensible, solves her problem's & everyone elses, too, by using her head, "thinkology" in her terms. She doesn't approve of shiny wiccan jewelry or fancy witch terms instead she views herself as he local wise woman nurse/midwife. She does what others won't & she stands up for those who cannot. She lives thriftily since witches do not get paid except in kind: chickens, old boots & worn out sheets to roll for bandages. She helps people. But not by spell casting but by changing bandages, visiting the elderly & infirm & by doing what is right. She is my beacon. When I want to sit and  gossip nastily  I think, WWGWD? & because if you have to ask, you already know the right answer, then I do it. I think most of us have someone in our lives like Granny, be it real or divine or made-up. Someone you turn to get level again. Someone who epitomizes the woman or man you want to be.Someone who can help you become the person you know lurks deep inside, hidden under the layers of fluff & stuff. So, does it matter whether the guide is real or not? Why would it?

Some favorite quotes on the nature of Granny Weatherwax~ from Wyrd Sisters: "'Tis not right, a woman going into such places by herself," Granny nodded. She thoroughly approved of such sentiments so long as there was, of course, no suggestion that they applied to her. Witches are not by nature gregarious, at least with other witches, and they certainly don't have leaders. Granny Weatherwax was the most highly regarded of the leaders they didn't have. She had never mastered the talent for apologizing, but she appreciated it in other people. from Witches Abroad: ..Granny Weatherwax, who had walked nightly without fear in the bandit-haunted forests of the mountains all her life in the certain knowledge that the darkness held nothing more terrible than she was... Granny Weatherwax disapproved of magic for domestic purposes, but she was annoyed. She also wanted her tea. She threw a couple of logs into the fireplace and glared at them until they burst into flame out of sheer embarrassment. from Lords and Ladies: "Blessings be upon this house," said Granny Weatherwax. In much the same tone of voice have people said, 'Eat hot lead, Kincaid.' ".......you stupid man!" "I do happen to be king, you know," said Verence reproachfully. "You stupid king, your majesty." "Thank you."

"Inspiring Witches" Blog Party Tomorrow!

If you haven't heard about the "Inspiring Witches" blog party that Willow over at "A College Witch's Experience" is hosting, be sure to stop by and check out all the blogs that are entered. I know all of the bloggers that are going to post and am really looking forward to hearing about their magickal inspirations. Over on my blog "The Year of the Cats", I'll be having a giveaway, so if you feel like flying by and saying "hi," I'd love to see you.