Pagan Challenge week 1 - How did I find my path

hello,

Happy Samhain/All Hollows Eve/ Halloween everybody. We can soon say goodbye to October say hello to November.

I know I am very late to the party... again :) I want to participate in the Pagan Challenge, It is really an YouTube challenge, but I want to do my take on it through my blog :)
This YouTube challenge was started by Annika AKA The Sea Priestess on YouTube and you can find her vlog here

So week 1 is: How did you find your path?

I can't pinpoint something and say that this when I was find my path. From a young age I always had a feeling of not fitting in and I was always searching for something without knowing what I was searching for. I think it alwys have been a lifelong process.
I was brought up in a non religious household. We went to church only when it was a wedding, confirmation, baptism, funerals and such.. So we didn't go to church all that often ;)

When I think back I always had an altar without knowing it an altar. I had candles and things that was important to me. I used to bring back home things I found on my walks, like seashells, funny shaped rocks, I pressed flowers into my diaries, pine cones at fall. Picking snowdrop flowers soon as they popped up in the spring. One thing I noticed when I saw one of the Mandy See's videos and she was talking about that when you are young and blowing out the birthday candles while making a wish.. you are doing a fire spell - I thought that make sense. It is a lot of these small things we do that we connect to witchcraft.

I did have christianity lessons at school, but I never felt like it is right thing for me although there was/and still is elements that make sense to me. These elements are not enough for me that I say that I'm a Christian.
I am NOT bashing Christianity or any other religion because I pick and choose from all religions that I like and leave the things that doesn't work for me.

I have always find the subject witches, spells, blessing, altar and the elements and all in the between very interesting. As the time goes by this subjects hits the TV like Sabrina, charmed, Merlin, Witches of the East End just to name some few shows.

When the internet came along it became easier to find information, you could find other people that same views as you + you could learn from each other
In my case I don't know any other people in my town that are Pagan/wicca/witches.. I wish it were (I bet are some, but I don't know them and don't where to find them - We blend in so perfectly :) )

This was my answer for Pagan challenge week 1 and I wish you a wonderful All Hollows Eve

Blessed be,

Susann

Christian Cash Cow

Hello lovely souls :)

How are you doing tonight? I hope you are doing well. I felt I have to speak out about christianity cash cows.
This blog post may be all over the place, but I wanted to get this out of my chest.

First of all I want to give you a DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT BASHING CHRISTIANITY!!!!!! 
I am not bashing christianity as a faith/belief becuse I think that Christianity is a great faith (although it is not for me) but I question those people behind the scenes and make money out of christianity. 
I have seen few of these documetaries and all I write here is my opinions and my opinions alone, what I have seen and what I have been experienced.

Today I saw a documentary about Jan Hanvold and his work at Visjon-Norge (Vision-Norway) - What kind of work they do to make this work. I am not bashing Jan Hanvold as a person, but since he has been in the news for the last few days I am going to take him as a example.
I want to say that I haven't met Jan Hanvold and he seems a like a nice guy, but I am not agreeing with his point of views.

One of his quotes is: Money is a sign of success. God wants us to have success -
The statement right there goes against what religion stands for. For me the church represents themselves as greedy which happends to be one of the 7 deadly sins...isn't that ironic?
One of the reasons I am reacting to this is because they using religion as cash cow and your belief has a price tag. They are using fear to get money from you and they don't care about you because you are their cash cows.
I believe it is wrong to connect money with religion, I don't want any one say to me, give us money and you will be saved and come to heaven. But it is not only once, they always comes back for more money.

Every night they they are on tv and say need more volunteers to pay a fee that he calls a seed and when he/them shares spiritual truths with you are you according to the bible guilty to serve them the reasonable amount.
So here you are given them money because you need with a problem/situation and you have faith and waiting a miracle to happend. When nothing happends you get sad because you had high hopes and they turns to you, saying it is your own fault when it didn't happend and say that you didn't paid enough or you didn't had enough faith <----- This statement wasn't said in the show, but I have heard that in general debates, TVshows and discussions.

 There was also a statement in there I reacted on and that is a  woman who said some one had stand up and tell the truth.. She was ranting on about gay marriages, kids who wanted to change sex (I am NOT debating that because it is not place to do so), but the last thing she said was:It is said that Islam is regarded as the religion of peace, but anyone who pay attention knows that if you read a bit too much in the Koran and adopt those values will not be peaceful and end up as fundalmentalists. I took that if you read the Koran you will end up as exstremist. Some has done that and others will do that, BUT first we must sweap in front of our own door because we have few knucleheads in our own pile (I guess there is a rotten apple in every religion).

In this documentary there was a lady who one of the givers to the church (jan Hanvold called it partners) was telling us that she was one of the elderly in this country who felt lonely after her huband passed away after 58 years of marriage and Visjon-Norge saved her. Without them the life isn't worth living although she has her children.
They also interviewed  a lady who is a former "partner" and she was speaking about she started to feel sad after a while because she gave them money and was told to touch the tv screen and big things will happend and nothing. If she wanted to see other TV shows she felt bad because it was/is concidered to be a bad thing.

The way I see it they play it on your conscience and exploit your self esteem to get money from you is so wrong in so many levels, 
 I am going now because if I start to repeat myself it will get boring real quick


I want to end this blogpost with a video by Jessie J with Price tag

30 questions Halloween tag

Hello

I wanted to try something fun today and that is 30 questions Halloween tag that Kelly Bear started and you you can find her vlog here

1. Favourite horror or Halloween-themed song?
- That has to be Tim Curry's Sweet Transvestite from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

2. Name something you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark forest or in an abandoned building.
-Why Would I be in an abandoned building or a dark forrest in the first place

3. Have you ever played with a Ouija Board?
 - No, I haven't. Tempted though.

4. Favourite horror monster or villain?
 - I don't watch monster movies, not because I scared, but I dream about it at night - I like the Gremlins :) And as the villain is the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood

5. The creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?
- Lot of things happend when I was alone, but one time I was home alone (I was 15/16 and still living with my parents) and just gone to bed and I was reading a magazine when I suddenly heard footsteps on the second floor. It was those kind of footsteps with a senior would have with slippers on. Mom didn't believed me (but I think she did), but many years later I told my dad about this and asked me:" don't you know who it was"? I said no. Then he said:" that was your brothers father".

6. If you were dared to spend the night in a “haunted house”, would you do it?
- Sure, I am a sceptical so I would stay the the night so I could say: I told you so if nothing happend :)

7. Are you superstitious?
-No, I am not :)

8. Do you ever see figures in your peripheral vision?
-yes, I often see something in my peripheral vision but soon as I turn my head it is gone

9. Which urban legend scares you the most?
- no one really.

10. Do you prefer gore or thrillers?
-Thrillers, I don't like gore.

11. Do you believe in multiple dimensions or worlds?
- Yes I do. I don't think we are the only living creatures in these universe and I do belive in a life after this one.

12. Ever made a potion of any sort?
- no, but I planning to make some :)

13. Do you get scared easily?
- Depends, but mostly yes

14. Have you ever played Bloody Mary?
 - no, I haven't

15. Do you believe in demons/the devil?
- no, not in the tradtional sense

16. You’re home alone but you hear footsteps in your house, what do you do?
- I would take my sons baseball bat and hunt the sucker down :) + I have my personal body guard, Nico who would bark like hell :)


17. If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?
- The Rocky horror picture show

18. If you could only wear one halloween costume for the rest of your life, what would you be?
 - We don't celebrate Halloween in Norway even few kids try to do so. We don't have this tradition.

19. would you ever go to a graveyard at night?
 - I have done that, It wasn't at night, but it was dark.

20. In a zombie apocalypse what is your weapon of choice?
- Light saber from Star Wars
 
21. Would you rather go to a Halloween party or go trick or treating?
-Halloween Party

22. You’re in a horror movie. Are you the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart
one, or the killer?
-the sceptic with the sassy answers/Comments

23. Do you have to watch something happy after watching a horror movie so you can go to sleep?
- No, But I want my husband hold till I fall asleep :)

24. Whilst watching scary movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person with their eyes covered the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?
 - Depend on the movie

25. Are you the one who gets scared, or the one who does the scaring?
 - both

26. Favorite scary book?
 - Any book of Stephen King

27. How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?
 - Ghostbusters, First time I saw Michael Jackson's Thriller it freaked me out (I was 7 at the time)

28. What was your first Halloween costume?
 - Haven't had one yet

29. What are you going to be for Halloween this year?
 - not likely no one

30. If you could have a spooky halloween pet (black cat, owl, bat, rat, wolf), what would you pick?
- cats and wolf :)

This is my answers and have a great weekend,

Blessed be :)

Susann