The Pagan Circle

[Gypsi]

I don't know if I blend in precisely, but I get along. People know me. I've taken care of the feral cat population, the ones the coyotes didn't wipe out, for years. I feed em, trap em, get em fixed, and keep feeding them. Purina dog chow. We no longer have 100's of cats raiding trash. Used to end up with all the stray dogs, find them homes or get them in some shelter or rescue, ended up with an abused lab mix this summer and said, ok, I'm full, you are going to have to call someone. Stuck my ex-husband (via my youngest daughter) with the adorable bull mastiff mix that parked himself on my front porch 5 or 6 years ago.

I'm the critter lady. And had the best garden in the neighborhood this year. My watering trick and interplanting between shrubs, pine trees, etc, had people stopping by to admire the melons, tomatoes and corn. I kept going to a UU church until about 2009, but when the economy sank further, it took all the hours I had to keep the business moving at all, and keep working on the house, yard, self-sufficiency stuff. So far mine is the only white roof in the neighborhood that is painted white, but I've seen some new shingle colors going on. I'm contagious. If I get my solar up, that will likely be contagious to some of the neighbors too.

I can't save the world, but I can tend my little corner of it. And Mother Earth, well that is what wicca is all about anyway, is it not?

Gypsi

 

[Marianne]

I'm pretty quiet about being pagan also. I live in an area that is pretty intolerant of faiths different than their own. :/

You sure aren't kidding there. I lived in Kansas for 13 years. They are intolerant of almost everything. No sense of humor either. Apologies if I offend any Kansans...I am from Missouri

No offense taken! You just didn't live in the right 'hood'! For years we lived in a lower income neighborhood, had wonderful neighbors and friends, great people! None of us had extra money, so we had get togethers for coffee, learned cheap tips from each other, watched each others kids, talked and laughed at ourselves and talked about whoever wasn't there at the time - great incentive to show up, ya know? But it's not like that everywhere!

We lived in a little city, large enough to do your own thing, big enough to where not everyone knew your business. Where we live now, it's a completely different thing, but everyone around here is very nice, salt of the earth kind of people. They invite us to their church, I politely decline. :/

 

[rathbone]

talked and laughed at ourselves and talked about whoever wasn't there at the time - great incentive to show up, ya know?

Love this - a true picture of being human

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I'm pretty quiet about being pagan also. I live in an area that is pretty intolerant of faiths different than their own. :/

You sure aren't kidding there. I lived in Kansas for 13 years. They are intolerant of almost everything. No sense of humor either. Apologies if I offend any Kansans...I am from Missouri

No offense taken! You just didn't live in the right 'hood'! For years we lived in a lower income neighborhood, had wonderful neighbors and friends, great people! None of us had extra money, so we had get togethers for coffee, learned cheap tips from each other, watched each others kids, talked and laughed at ourselves and talked about whoever wasn't there at the time - great incentive to show up, ya know? But it's not like that everywhere!

We lived in a little city, large enough to do your own thing, big enough to where not everyone knew your business. Where we live now, it's a completely different thing, but everyone around here is very nice, salt of the earth kind of people. They invite us to their church, I politely decline. :/

Marianne-I lived in 3 different "hoods" ...Paola, Coffeyville and Manhattan. Paola is a "bedroom community" for Kansas City, Coffeyville definitely qualifies as a "low income hood"..and Manhattan..well, it' just a college/army town. I guess I just didn't fit in anywhere. I lived a total of 13 years in Kansas.

 

[dragonlaurel]

That sounds like a great garden and if it got you neighbors to give some new ideas a chance- very cool. Maybe you can start a trend. Good luck.

Taking care of the local cats, or dogs, is a great way to help your section of the earth. Doing lots of religious stuff isn't what really matters. It sounds like you are doing good at making it a part of your regular life and helping at the same time.

 

[Gypsi]

I'm hoping I can get them to help with the bee-keeping, at least I've got the bee-spraying slowed down. We lost all of the neighborhood bees in June 2010 when a rent house owner discovered they were "squatting" in her house. Bad removal, lots of poison used, couldn't get anything pollinated except by hand afterwards. I bought bees in March 2011, and everyone's gardens flourished, I lost my bees to a robbing, and except for the robbers pollinating my yard, not too many bees. I've taught the other gardeners what a mason bee looks like, and trying to teach them all the difference between a honey bee and a yellow jacket. (that's a work in progress).

At any rate, I do the Lady's work, and whatever She sends me, is enough for me.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I wish they'd had a beek remove them. I hope the bee education works out. I managed to pet a bee last summer. I had a feeling it was getting ready to die and it didn't react to me touching it.

Living right and helping people know how to not hurt the Earth is important stuff.

I'd rather not tell people about my religion until they know me as a person. It' s easier to tell them what I matters to me than deal with dumb stereotypes. People that become good friends are usually fine with it.

 

[Marianne]

Wow, Gypsi..

 

[Gypsi]

I'd rather not tell people about my religion until they know me as a person. It' s easier to tell them what I matters to me than deal with dumb stereotypes. People that become good friends are usually fine with it.

This is my policy. Only I very rarely get around to telling them at all. I lived over 10 years in my old neighborhood, and a couple of hundred people were fine with it - and back then I wore a pentagram, but when I moved here, with the business and the mortgage, it just didn't seem so important to advertise.

 

[doc_gonzo]

hey D L,

it was great meeting you and F D recently, we had a blast! we're already planning a spring trip, to visit a bit more and perhaps dig a few crystals.

Dawn and i arent overt about our break with traditional philosophy. as others, we too get invitations often to join friends for church. Dawn and i have become adept at gracefuly declining. we usualy joke about attending the church of harley davidson as sundays were our only day to ride together.

doc