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istari

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The Wild Wood of Owls and Starlight

Among the Moonlit Trees...

Created on 2005-02-05 15:25:25 (#6026479), last updated 2009-11-17

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Basic Info

Name:	istari
Birthdate:	1965-10-03
Location:	Somewhere in a hollow tree..., Michigan, United States

Bio

Background image on main page courtesy of Photobucket themes.

Bit about me~

I'm just a down to earth Traditional Craft Witch who isn't afraid of practicing
out in the wind, rain, and snow, be it 5 below zero F or 95 above, come Hel or high water.
I have no need of fancy things and clunky junk, just me and my "Old Stick", the Land and Powers That Be...

Been on this path of the Old Ways for most of my years.
Was warped at an early age by Monty Python and Fawlty Towers,
as well as "Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Huson at the tender age of nine.
That book, along with the Old Ones, helped set me on the Path and
make me into the sort of Witch I am today.
I have a plethora of fuzzy children~four cats~Ziggy, Tramp, Gandalf and Gypsy aka Tweeny,
and a teacup poodle~ Pebbles.

Have loved the Old Ways and Elder Faiths of Pagan Europe since childhood.
Basically, for my path, I follow a reconstruction of the way of the Witch and Heathen, going back to "years ago in days of old", as well as syncretizing newer elements,
and trying to always live with an Awareness of the Otherworld. It is the only place my spirit has found rest and happiness!
But with all that I know, it is still very little of what there is to learn...
Forever a student!

A few likes:

The Old Ones! My Stang...
Myths, legends and faery tales, stargazing, cloudwatching, moonlight, firelight, flowers,
gardening, nature, dreams, happy fun people, *genuine* people, bluntness,
all things Witch related, tarot, runes, laughter, reading, writing, drawing, painting,
singing, dancing and bellydancing, mythical and fantasy art, poetry, and music, music, MUSIC!

Dislikes:

Jealous paranoid psychos, fake two-faced backstabbers, self-absorbed "downer" types,
smog, urban sprawl, liars, users, freeloaders,
frenemies, people who think 'kinky' sex is bad O_o,
malicious types that poison minds against those they envy,
anchovies... *~*

Music~

Led Zeppelin, OZZY!, Stones, Godsmack, Silvertide, Zakk Wylde/BLS,
Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, Bad Company/Paul Rodgers, Queen,
NIN, Metallica, Def Leppard, Pantera, Type O, Rob Zombie, U2,
Sabbath, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Alice Cooper, The Cult,
Puddle of Mud, Alice in Chains, Oleander, Collide,
Korn, M. Manson, Nickelback, Guns & Roses, Depeche Mode, Theory of a Deadman,
Simple Minds, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, Loreena McKennitt,
Maddy Prior, Faun, Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Xtina Aguilera,
Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith and other country artists,
Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Buble, songbirds, crickets, owls,
panpipes, flutes, djembe/doumbek drums, etc...
Pretty much anything hard and wild or hauntingly beautiful.....

...

A *few* favorite Books, Authors and Witchly Reads~

"The Real Middle Earth" by Brian Bates
"The Way of Wyrd" by Brian Bates
"Qutub" by Andrew Chumbley
"The Roebuck in the Thicket" by Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones and Michael Howard
"The Robert Cochrane Letters" by R. Cochrane, E. J. Jones and Michael Howard
"Hedgerider: Witches and the Underworld" by Eric De Vries
"The Faery Teachings" by Orion Foxwood
Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary
"A Witch Alone" by Marian Green
"Wild Witchcraft" by Marian Green
"The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales" by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
"Elves, Wights and Trolls" by Kveldulf Gundarsson
"Light from the Shadows" by Gwyn (aka Michael Howard!)
"Germanic Heathenry" by James Hjuka Coulter
"The Book of Fallen Angels" by Michael Howard (with "A Lover's Call to the Angel of Witchblood" by Andrew Chumbley, among other goodies)
"The Pillars of Tubal-Cain" by Michael Howard and Nigel Jackson
"Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Huson
"Mystical Origins of the Tarot" by Paul Huson
"Mastering Herbalism" by Paul Huson
"Call of the Horned Piper" and "Masks of Misrule" by Nigel Jackson
"The Compleat Vampyre: The Vampyre Shaman, Werewolves, Witchery and the Dark Mythology of the Undead" by Nigel Jackson
"Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed" by Evan John Jones and Doreen Valiente
"A History of Pagan Europe" by Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick
"Aradia: Gospel of the Witches" by Charles Godfrey Leland
"Witches, Werewolves and Fairies" by Claude Lecouteux (A study in the Northern European Pagan concept of the soul and Otherworld)
"Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants" by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Ph.D., Christian Rätsch, Ph.D., and Wolf-Dieter Storl, Ph.D.
"Treading the Mill" by Nigel Pearson
Walking the Tides by Nigel Pearson
"Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition" by Nigel Pennick
"Secrets of East Anglian Magic" by Nigel Pennick
"The Eldritch World" by Nigel Pennick
"Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men" by Phyllis Seifker
"Viridarium Umbris" by Daniel Schulke (I am in love with this book!)
"Witchdom of the True" by Edred Thorsson
"An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present" by Doreen Valiente
"The Crones Book of Magical Words" and "The Crones Book of Charms and Spells" by Valerie Worth

"The Christ Conspiracy" by Acharya (not flawless, but *quite* informative!)
"The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?" by Freke and Gandy ("Freke" is the name of one of Woden's wolves! *grin*)
"The Laughing Jesus" by Freke and Gandy
"The Pagan Christ" by Tom Harpur
"Christianity: The Origins of a Pagan Religion" by Philippe Walter

May the Fire of the Old Ones burn in the heart of the Seeker...

Favorite words of wisdom/inspiration~

"And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the Piper will lead us to reason...
And a new day will dawn, for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter..."
~Led Zeppelin

"All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring."
~J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings...

"If you want to know what a man's like,
take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
~Sirius Black

"Me thaet wyrd gewaef "
~"Fate wove me that destiny"

~Anglo-Saxon saying

Hoof and Horn
by Ian Corrigan

As I rode out one morning all on All Hallows' Eve
I chanced to meet with the Horned One and I asked of him his leave
His hooves were of the kettle iron, his horns sprang like the bow
And I was caught up in his pack with the Wild Hunt for to go

We rode and raged through the autumn glade where the earth grew cold and chill
And everywhere his Wild Hunt rode he worked his icy will
We rode through village, field and town and shutters drew in fear
For before us rode the Horned Man, our winter King so dear.

And then at last by starlight we came to that wild glade
Where we trod the ancient circle and the winter spell was laid
And there I saw my father, ten years and seven dead
And he did bear the icy spear and wore horns upon his head

But all things come unto an end, so from that place I passed
And when to Annfwyn I do go I'll ride with him at last
The Horned Man will bless us all as sure as you were born
So raise your cup and sup it up, all hail to Hoof and Horn!

The Pipes of Pan

~Vivianne Crowley, 1969

In caverns deep the Old Gods sleep
But the trees still know their Lord
And it's the Pipes of Pan that call the tune
In the twilight in the wood

The leaves they dance the Goat God's tune
And they whisper his name to the winds
And the oak tree dreams of a God with horns
And knows no other king