Happy New Years To All

First off, I want to introduce myself a little bit so that y’all feel more comfortable listening to me ramble on. Then, I’ll  talk in brief about what my year has been like, how that has affected things, and what resolutions I plan to make for this new year!

I’m so thankful to be here writing for all you readers out there; if you will, sit with me and let me share my stories and adventures. I have much to write and lots more still to come, journeys lie ahead that I haven’t even seen coming. If you caught the last post then you’ll know by now this is Hazey and I’m officially The *new* Bad Witch, only here to serve and report on the ‘real bad witches’ I encounter. I think it’s the perfect way to start off a new year and wish all the best New Years Blessings to anyone reading this!

My name comes from my Great-Grandmother’s name mixed with my personality. Hazey. Charming, Eccentric, Out-Spoken, Kind, Challenging, and Loyal. Trusting to a fault sometimes. Unique, young, talented, optimistic and strong willed.

I was born in a small town made of nothin’ but dirt roads and power lines. I moved to the lovely city of Auburn when I was four and have been here since. I went to the local high school and, no, I’m not in college. I am a trained and certified Tattoo Artist and Body Piercer for a living. I have a loving family and the best friends in the world. I have identified as pagan since I was about fifteen. I have always known that I was different than 90% of the kids I grew up around and once I got older, I realized that having conversations with plants and animals was in fact *not strange* and that there are others out there with similar stories and like minds.

This time last year I had been on the search for a teacher. What I found, the person, or being, or whatever you wish to name it, was not exactly what I had been searching for but I didn’t know that yet. I was enchanted and charmed by a Rattle Snake, one you’ll come to hear plenty about in my future writing.

I was planning my wedding, head over heels in love with my soul-mate. The same teacher I found married us in the summer. We spent three beautiful months being married and, at the same time, being turned against each other by people that called us “family.”

Things didn’t work out for the two of us, the stress, the mess, the drama. It was all too much and like a cheap toy, broke under pressure. I was out of a home, a job, and a spouse.

Needless to say, I had to make some pretty big choices and things did a 180. I was feeling down and making my way around town, needing a hand to help me off my knees. Needing someone to shake me, so I would be able to really see. So, I shook myself pretty darn hard, fell face first in what I thought and was told was a huge steaming pile of shite. I think it was just Black Work, getting out the impurities isn’t an easy process but it is a sacred one.

Again, as if I hadn’t gone through enough, my life jumped tracks. Call it what you will, I call it Divine Energy at work. By October, I landed my little arse on the “opponent’s” field and padded up for a hell of a game. I would soon come to see a sadly detailed web of lies a *little* spider had worked so hard to spin for me. In time, all of this will come to the surface. I wept for this spider and wished that it wasn’t so, but nonetheless it was something that was far out of my control.

Now here I am, writing my first blog via my cell phone, headed back to Auburn after my first attempt to get an RV. It didn’t go as planned but I have a strong feeling we can still make it happen. Good vibes and energy appreciated! A year has come and gone and things are finally starting to go the way I would like. We can only wait and see.

I usually never keep my New Years Resolutions I make but this year I vow to put forth my best effort and stay strong to my word.
1. Write more, at least two blogs a week. That’s at the least.
2. Paint more, practice always improves skill.
3. Save money, which means for me trying to resist over-indulging.
4. Be more open minded to others, just because you heard something doesn’t make it true and you’ll never know until you find out for yourself.
5. Putting my trust in the right places for the right reasons. Blind faith is dangerous.
6. Lastly, consume more knowledge and practices of things that interest me and help me on my spiritual path.

I want to thank all of you who are reading this and hope to have a new blog for you soon. I also want to give great thanks to my mentor, Ehsha, who has helped me more than she’ll ever know. I am truly thankful to have such wonderful relationship with you and look forward to all that you can teach me.

Until next time,
Blessed Be and Happy New Year
Xoxo Hazey.

The Undreaded Dread Pirate Roberts

Sometimes all The Bad Witch needs is a wheelbarrow and a holocaust cloak.

Et voila, they are provided.

A little while ago I informed you that I wanted to retire from being The Bad Witch. Tired of carrying the mantle of some other witch’s badness, I was ready to move on. Some of you grumbled but acquiesced, most of you said: “Wither thou goest, I will follow,” and around 1500 of you have hopped over to Ehsha.

For those of you who want a few more files about bad witchery, and for me–who wants to retire and move to Patagonia, there is a holocaust cloak big enough for us all.

Just like the Dread Pirate Roberts, I have found one to whom I can pass the title The Bad Witch. Rather, she found me.

Well, damn; I reckon we found each other.

You may remember her as LadyLucyChaos whose post about my blog raised a few eyebrows. (When you read “I’ll Call That Hand,” don’t miss the comments section, that’s the best part–and don’t get re-riled up; it’s all cool between TBW and LLC. Can I get a “Hell yeah”?) She now blogs the newest part of her Pagan journey at Beyond The Dreads. (I recommend you begin with “Changing Inside, Showing It On The Outside” and “Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies.” And then click “follow.” You’re not gonna wanna miss watching this bird take flight. Let me connect a two more dots for you–this is the bird I intended at the end of my post about “The Dance” at Ehsha.)

Bringin’ back the Dread(s): Hazey and Ehsha at the Unity Celebration at Hazey’s old stomping grounds.

Recently Undreaded (as in–she had the most amazing dreadlocks and got talked into cutting them off), Hazey (whose name also honors her grandmother) has been through the same-damned crucible that left me reeling a few years back. Like me, she’s charred but the fire burned the impurities out. That’s what crucibles do. She showed up on my front porch and we realized in an instant that she was the new scapegoat offered up to assure cultural continuity (go read “This is Not A Test,” we’ll wait), she was the new member of the blacklist, the new member of a not-so-exclusive “club,” she–gasp–was The (New) Bad Witch.

So, like Cummerbund, Ryan, and Westley, I am taking on a new crew and plan on calling Hazey “The Bad Witch” from here on out. It is a bit like being immortal when you have someone to pass your spiritual baton, i’n’t it? besides, she has so many stories to tell you about, so many potholes to avoid–and (honestly?) more guts to tell you about them than I ever did.

After all, who’s going to tell you these things?

Now, be good to The (New) Bad Witch. (After all, we’ve just gotten past the point where I was telling her, “Sleep well, at most I will kill you in the morning.” LOL. Not really.) Her wounds are much fresher than mine were two years ago–though I suspect her skin is a good deal thicker than mine was twenty-two years ago. Let her get her sea-legs. I’ll be on the sidelines watching and reading and moderating and swabbing the deck a drinking a beer and quoting Walt Whitman: “O, Captain, my Captain.”

Oh, and finishing off The Pagan Blog Project–unless, of course, The New Bad Witch has a good “W” word or two she’d like to share. 🙂

To paraphrase Gretchen Wilson: So here’s to all my brothers and sisters out there keeping Paganism ethical. Let me get a big ‘Hell yeah’ from The Bad Witches like me.

Hell yeah,

Ehsha

P.S. I realize that after writing “Vardlokkur: I do not think it means what you think it means” I may have worn my The Princess Bride references thin.

The Bad Witch Gives the Old “One/Two”

I know I gave you my PBP post for the week but there are so many things I need to tell you before the weekend.

One

The Bad Witch is saying “Good-bye.” I will complete my PBP obligations for 2012, but barring unseen changes, I will not be blogging here anymore.

Now, don’t get lather’d. I have a new blog set up and when it’s ready to go, I’ll link it to you. I don’t expect all 3200+ of you will follow me over there, and that’s OK. I know that what I’m doing is more valuable than my stats.[1]

Here’s why.

I made a cosmic vow to stop referring to myself in the third-person as “The Bad Witch.”

For a few reasons.

The most striking of which is, “That’s not the name we gave you.”

Also because, as I have repeatedly explained (and it has fallen on sets of giant deaf ears), I was keeping a “File” on the bad behaviors of some Witches around me. Then, I thought that was in bad taste. I found that after writing for a while I had better things to do than explore their, um, asshatery. For that reason, I never really got around to telling y’all much of nothin’ about them. Plus, they’ve said plenty themselves about themselves.

I promise to go back and clean up all the unsaid stories and hinted at “I’ll tell ya laters” before I go. But that’s it. By Yule, I’ll be gone from this joint.

Secondly, because I see a bit of an egregore growing and it’s better unfed. I mean, there is a populous who will keep feeding it, but I refuse to knowingly provide fodder for their pantries.[2] All the lies poured into the creation of that egregore? Feck. Imma separate myself from that bull-oney as fast as I can.

Thirdly, I’ve grown out of it. I’m not the person I was two years ago, or even four months ago. Having shed the remnants of an illusion (and twelve pounds to boot), I see that those with whom I thought I could forge a magical way do not fit into the grand scheme of things. As ever[3] I wish much for them. Our paths simply diverge too much for us to walk side-by-side.

Two

I planned to tell you this in two weeks, but it’s become time.

Having turned-out twenty or so students since creating Open Path Training, I see that there is a pronounced need for quality Pagan education. Emphasis on quality. The number of requests I get on a regular basis has grown exponentially. I can’t keep it up with just these two hands.

You’ll note that I have “frozen” much of the OPT content; this is to give me an opportunity to revamp it.

“Revamp it for what?” you ask? Well, the first answer is to the first call: to initiate an ecclesiastical Pagan seminary through which Pagan ministers can get an actual education rather than simply “purchasing” their ordination. It’s also a way for folks to get a Pagan-based religious degree (which is different than an academic degree, mind you). You can earn degrees from associate to doctorate.[4] I have a diverse group of teachers lined up and about fifty to sixty students who have already indicated an intent to enroll. I’m looking for two or three more teachers and, of course, more students. If you are interested, drop me a line as I think I have forgotten to upload the application. *Adds to list of things to fix.*

So, yes. I have founded a Pagan seminary. Go look.

This is the link to the Seminary.
This is the school now. If I sent you a preview link—this is entirely different. I took your advice and separated it into its own site.

The second call to answer is this: I am also embarking on a new ministry that plays to my strengths. I will be posting at length about Ulfarnir, the new Seiðr group I have started (we have five (or six—we’ll see about the last one) members, I need four to seven for it to work—so it’s already a firm go). I’m going to toss a few lines out there and see if anyone else (local) is interested before the scheduled initiation. I’d love to see some more drummers, a few musicians, a third “sensitive,” and someone who likes to be the center of attention.

If you think you are interested in setting up something like this in your locale—let me get my feet good and wet and I’ll invite you to wade out too. Maybe summer?

This is the site for the church, seidr group, etc.

Above, you can also find a link to the the grove (which, um, I named—thanks for keeping that straight–In Jan 2013, we renamed the grove, Nine Worlds Kindred, to further separate from that old nastiness).

So, this is the beginning of the end, y’all. Get ready to bookmark some new stuffs.

Wæs þu hail!

Ehsha

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[1] I’ve never been one to panic when my Facebook friends list shifts downward and I’ve always been able to find my sense of self-worth outside of my “page likes.” And I’ve never referred to anyone as my “follower,” because—um, gross.

[2] I became aware of it when I was working with a woman in a similar situation—except that she had created the monster of another woman’s person. Just after I wrote “Clean-up in Aisle Three,” it struck me like a ton of bricks that the samedamned thing was happening here.

[3] . . . even though they often bind-together (in a way that proves all of René Girard’s points about scapegoating) to smack-talk, ill-blog about, and wish nuisances on me. . .

[4] Doctor of ministry—not philosophy. It’s attractive, but not the same—don’t be confused. It’s like dentist school or chiropractor school, these folks are “Doctors” but not MD. With a ThD, you are “Doctor” and/or “Reverend,” but not PhD. It doesn’t mean a hill of beans outside of a religious framework. But inside a religious framework, it’s as good as you can get!