Hello world

Hello there! This is my first attempt at an entry, as well as a blog on this site. Let me tell you a little bit about myself before I go any further. My name is Morwen, and I'm from Maine. I recently graduated from grad school with a degree in social work. My dream job is to be a child therapist with my own practice. I have been writing in online journals for about 8 or so years, but they have focused on my private life and day to day ranting. I wanted to start a more grown up blog concerning my faith, paganism, and the struggles and blessings living as a pagan brings. I will not go to far into what paganism is, since it would take a long time and that is not the focus of this blog. If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask and I will gladly answer. For more information on pagan/wiccan beliefs check out religioustolerance.org, they are a good resource.

I have been studying paganism since I was 16, about 8 years ago now. I had always believed in God, reincarnation, the afterlife and so on, but it was not until I discovered Wicca did I have a label for what my faith was. I eagerly told my mother what I had discovered, and she was nervous at first. She didn't understand what it was, like many others. Once I began to explain the main beliefs (everything comes back to you three fold, there is a God and Goddess, and you are to harm none) my mother discovered she agreed with much of the religion. Since I was young my mother had taken me to meditation classes and to have reiki treatments. I learned how to meditate around age ten, and met my spirit guide (which scared the living daylights out of me initially!). So, calling myself a "wiccan" did not stray far from my families beliefs and practices. You may have noticed that I started out following the wiccan path, and now call myself a pagan. This is because as I studied wicca more and more and learned about the levels (circles) of priests and priestesses I began to dislike some of the wiccan tenants. I did not like Christianity because of the "level of command" and rules about who could talk to god. I did not want to belong to a religion that also had similar rules and levels of power. So, I started studying paganism in general.

Once I went to college, I found like-minded individuals and a student organization for pagans and the like. I spent those years learning, and chiseling out my specific beliefs, and developing my gifts (which I'll get into later). I made great friends, and met my boyfriend there. We have been dating for five years now, and he is also a pagan. We have a few differences in our beliefs, but not many. For instance he believes that all the gods and goddesses of every pantheon (Zeus, Mercury, Pan, Thor, Shiva) and so on, are individual gods separate of each other. I however believe in the aspect theory where there is one over all "God" or "Spirit" that then breaks down into male/female (god/goddess) and then all of the other gods (zeus, aphrodite, diana...). So, in my belief all of these gods are simply aspects (or a part of) the over all spirit.

So, that's me in a nutshell. I hope to use this blog to share with others the wonderful faith of paganism, my adventures as a modern witch (don't worry, I'm a good witch!) and the difficulties of being a pagan in this society. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks for reading!