Things of which I was unaware:

Mention Venus transit, and I’m there. The skeptic in me never adopted the pentacle as a personal religious symbol until I learned its origin: it’s a two-dimensional plot of the eight-year Venus cycle. OK, I said those many years ago, now I can begin to understand why this symbol is sacred, and to source it to antiquity and not some made-up-recently, cool-and-groovy, let’s-call-it-ours creative moment.

Wow. I knew it had been used by several religions (including early Christianity, where it represented the five wounds of Christ), but I never knew the Venus connection.

(Found via Goddessing. Her original source can be found here.)

Witches Weekly June 07, 2004: Path, Workplace, and Raising Children

1. What path of Paganism do you follow? (If you take pieces from several traditions, list all of them and why you follow those as well)

Officially Wiccan. My formal trad is the Black Forest Clan, which is based on a blend of Celtic and Germanic practice. I like a lot of the Heathen practices and employ them on my own time.

2. Are you/would you be open about your spirituality in the workplace/school?

Ha, ha, ha. I worked in an occult store for four years. What do you think? It’s the one workplace where you’re odd if you don’t talk about spirituality. (Incidentally, one of my co-workers wears a crucifix along with her witchy stuff, and she often gets odd looks. Talk about when worlds collide.) I also teach a broad curriculum of Neo-Pagan subjects; and now that I’m a professional editor for a series of intermediate New Age books as well as the consultant for a New Age publishing imprint, yes, my spirituality is still central to my work. I know exactly how fortunate I am.

3. If you were in a marriage of separate faiths, how would you raise your children?

I’m not fanatical about my kids following my precise path. I’m lucky that my husband is Pagan as well, but if he wasn’t, then I’d bring my kids up with thorough education regarding religions of the world, with lots of emphasis on tolerance, respect, and the understanding that all those religions are just different ways of talking to God. (All of which I happen to believe, and is precisely what my kids will be taught anyway.) If they decide to become Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, whatever, I’ll be happy that they’ve chosen a spirituality that they personally connect with. But they’ll have done it after lots of education about the various religions of the world, and with the knowledge that everyone has the right to choose their own path. (It’s the teacher in me talking. You teach comparative relgion for three years and see what happens to you.)