Not much will be happening here at the Pond until Friday. My mom has come for a visit and I will be dragging her around TO for some sight seeing.
I’m currently suffering through a mild summer cold. I’m actually quite annoyed, because there was a lot of things I wanted to do this weekend. But, as always, they will have to be put off. I wish I could just suck it up and get on with my day, but I am so fatigued.
Anyway, it is time for this week’s Witches Weekly.
Pagan Children
Questions this week are donated by Daki.
How do you (or would you) go about teaching/including your child about your practice/beliefs?
I have given a little bit of thought to this, but not very much. quanta and I don’t expect to starting having children for at least another two years. We have argued about sending our children to Catholic school (since quanta is Catholic), but I don’t think it will happen. What I would ultimately like to do is teach my children non-religious ethics, i.e. you are kind because you are a good person, as well as teach them about all sorts of different religions. When the time comes, if they decide to follow a Pagan path, then I will work with them to find a way to include them in my practice.
What kind of coming of age ritual might you suggest for your child and how would you approach them about it?
Again, it would depend on if my children chose a Pagan path. I would want to some how honour them as they grow up. Maybe set aside a day to celebrate the changes they are going through. I’m not really sure.
What might you tell them about being a Pagan in a Christian-centric community?
I’d tell them that the religion someone is doesn’t matter; it is a person’s actions that are important. Yes, we may get Christian holidays off from work and school, and not the holidays of other religions, but that is because our country was founded by Christians. Over the years, religion has become more diversified, but the holidays have become mostly non-religious. There is no reason to be upset, and there is also no reason to think that a religion is any less important because its holidays are not days off work. It shows strength of character to honour them and to honour all other people’s holidays.
I’m really starting to wonder about Amazon.ca. Click here to see a picture of their number one choice for housewarming gifts. Hardly appropriate, in my opinion. 😛
I’m earlier then normal for this week’s Sidhe Shots. The theme is beauty, and I found an excellent example in the garden of my building. Truthfully, one of my favourite subjects is flowers, so I really enjoyed this week’s theme. But, uh, does anyone know what type of flower this is?
Fran, at Sacred Ordinary, has posted a writing prompt. Funny, but she seems to have inspired a number of my posts over the last couple of months. I wonder why that is. Anyway, the prompt is this:
Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers. (All, uh, two of you I think.)
Canada Day is quite different then the American holiday of Independence Day. Today we are celebrating the joining of the British North American provences into the dominion (and later country) of Canada. This holiday was orginally created in 1979 as Dominion Day, but was later changed to Canada Day in 1982. (Funny, that’s in my lifetime, but I don’t ever remember the old name. I suppose I was too young.)
Canada Day is celebrated in many different ways. Generally speaking, people have the day off work, except those unlucky enough to work in tourist areas. (The major mall in downtown Toronto is open today, for example.) In many major cities and towns, there are festivals and celebrations around the city hall or at the major park. Often, a part of these celebrations is a citizenship ceremony, where new citizens are sworn in. The entertainment and food at these festivals, especially that in Ottawa, refect the diversity of Canada. And perhaps the best part of Canada Day is the fireworks displays at night. There are lots of professional displays to see, but many different types of fireworks are legally avaliable and people set them off in their own backyard or nearby open field.
So my plan for today is to enjoy having quanta home for a long weekend, before we have a procession of guests join us next week. We are also going to walk down to the lakeshore later to see if we can see the fireworks from Ontario Place. Other then that, I’m just going to be proud that I am a Canadian.
I finished up the Barnes and Nobles grammar course today. I can’t say that I learned anything that I didn’t already know, but it was still nice to finally learn the rules that I follow unknowingly. And I have certainly written a lot of notes in the past few weeks. I’m going to file everything away so that I have them for reference when a problem crops up.
As for The Book, it is slow going. I think I have decided on a how-to or course, since I am so dissatisfied with all those currently available. That means that there will be a good deal of research to do and notes to make. Most of what I want to include I know, but I can’t always put that knowledge into words. And it is also difficult to be sure that I am including everything that a neophyte would need to know. I must be careful about assuming too much about what my reader already knows. So, there will be much reading of forums, books, and websites dedicated to newcomers. I need to discover what is being taught (or not taught, as the case may be), and what questions are being asked. This is certainly not going to be a six month project.
My dad gave me quite a bit of encouragement this weekend. I am always uncomfortable discussing my spirituality with my parents, but he thinks The Book is a great idea. Maybe I will write it with him in mind. It is important to have an audience in mind when writing, and he might just be right.
Needleworker, Knitter, Crocheter, Sewist, Paper Crafter, and more!
Also known as Silverlotus & Stitchinglotus
Located just outside of Toronto, Canada.
Contact Me
