Crafting a Shared Pagan Path Part 1

Part 1: Discussion and Communication

My fiancé is a recent devotee of the Path. He made the decision over a year ago to explore, and recently decided on the term he'd liked to be called. He has begun reading the myths and stories of the old gods, as well as modern literature on pagan practice. He is exploring the Northern Tradition, though he does not consider himself Asatru, and does not feel it is his path at this time. This means he worships Germanic deities exclusively, recognizing the existence of all gods and holds the same pagan-gnostic principle that I do: while each god is separate and distinct, at some level they are the reflections of the same force.

We have begun developing a shared path, and it has been difficult and worthwhile in many ways. This is our way of establishing a family system, a structure we can raise our children in while still allowing them the freedom of expression.

I don't know what you call me. I'm eclectic, that's for sure, and I've had a few conversations with various deities of different pantheons (Greco-Roman and Norse specifically) and I conduct my practice in much the same way I did when I was content with the "Wiccan" label. I'm not sure I care much either way what I'm called.

I'd like to spend some time with this blog talking about the development of our religious life, as separate from and a part of our more mundane relationship. To do this I will break up all the ideas in my head, focusing on one or two subjects at a time. This time I'd like to focus on the importance of communication.

You absolutely cannot have a relationship that is healthy of any kind without communication. Communication is the only way you can let each other know what is working and what is not working. This can be difficult when you're working with your partner, because you don't want to offend them or hurt them.

Ask questions. Ask your partner to share what spiritual experiences with you they will. Ask them about their thoughts on issues related to morality, ethics, theology, practice, etc. Learn where your ideas meet and where they differ. Talk about these.

Through asking questions you can come to a decision together about when you will worship together, how you will worship together, who you will worship, and work together to establish a ritual structure that is meaningful to both of you.

Communication helps establish boundaries as well. Will you share all your spiritual experiences? Will you share a Book of Shadows/magical journal (if applicable)? Will you each have separate ones and one joint one? Who will write rituals? Who will lead rituals? When will you worship together, and when will you worship individually?

It is important to have moments of private worship, reflection, meditation, whatever helps you to feel spiritual. You are a person separate from your partner, and just as you need mundane time apart on occasion you need spiritual time apart as well.

Through discussion, my partner and I have:

1. Established which holidays we will celebrate. This means the standard Wheel of Eight, for me, the full moons, and other holidays he explores that have meanign for him.

2. Established ritual work. We use the Wiccan structure in general. I act as teacher, at this moment, and it is what I am most comfortable with. We include that which is important to him, including sacrifice/gift-exchange, blot/sumbel, toasting, etc.

3. We write rituals together. He wants to learn how I do it, and I want him to feel comfortable eventually writing his own. We work together to determine readings and other important aspects of ritual.

4. He happily takes the role commonly assigned to the H.P.

5. Determined we enjoy the presence of friends and other interested parties.

6. Have decided together who we will be out-of-the-broom closet with, and how we will answer questions together.

7. Established that on occasion there will be individual experiences and worship times and we do not require or intrude on privacy. If we want to share, we will share, and there is no prying (though honestly there's very little we don't share).

8. Often teach each other things the other does not know.

So, in a nutshell, communication is very important before even getting into the details of all that goes into establishing a shared path. When one partner, like myself, finds themselves in the position of teacher, it is a fair bit easier to set structure. It is important to remember the other person will have their own experiences, and open-mindedness is key.

Talk to each other. Everything else will flow from there.

Next post should be a review of Michelle Belanger's book "The Ghost Hunter's Survival Guide"

Relationship Evangelism, and What to do with your Non-pagan In-laws

I learned this week exactly what my fiance's family thinks of me, and I am hardly surprised. To begin, this is his father's side of the family, die-hard Mormon, very traditional, very anti-anything different. (His mother's side loves me.)

The extended family views me as dangerous, a witch (which is not entirely false but their perception of it is), and that the MIL and FIL shouldn't allow the little girls (fiance's sisters) to spend they night with us, because I will corrupt them. I'm also apparently creepy because I hang around in graveyards (and I have a few pics of me in them). I learned all this about three days before we were supposed to go visit them in Nevada for four days. Fortunately, fate saw to it the car broke down and the trip was cancelled.

Fiance also came out to his mother this same week. He told her is not Mormon, so she asked what he was. He told her was Norse pagan, and said he worships old gods. She cried and basically said that if at any point she thought he was into something dangerous, she'd cut him out of her life. Just like that. She then asked if it was because of me.

The fact of the matter is, no matter what happens in the near future, his family will always blame me for him leaving the Mormon church. They blamed me for convincing him to move in with me, when in fact it was his idea (he cleared this up, fortunately). They will always see me as a corruptive force, no matter how much they may like me as a person. He has stood up to his father when he called me an atheist, and I have no doubt he will support me should his family overstep their bounds.

Relationship evangelism- it happens:

No, I did not set out to convert my fiance to paganism. Like many people of various religious persuasions, I often thought it would be nice to share my faith with someone, to build a family tradition around. I wish I could say I'd never tried a little pagan style evangelism, but I did.

It began with a critical discussion of the LDS church. Once my fiancé double-checked my facts and data, his worldview underwent a radical shift, and he began to learn and study all he could about Mormonism, finally deciding to leave it for good. He still considered himself Christian, and we had no issues or problems. Then he began to ask me questions about my faith, and I answered him.

As you live and grow with a person, you cannot help but pick up certain traits and habits and develop new ones together. Religiosity is much the same- stay with someone long enough and you'll pick up a few quirks here and there.

Does this constitute evangelism? To a degree I did intentionally plant the seeds of doubt in a mind that already questioned but admitted he was too afraid to question. He says I was the support he needed to feel strong and brave, and that because of me he has found his walk.

Is it relationship evangelism to talk, to seek, to grow together, to provide the answers the other one asks for? Perhaps. But did I enter in to this relationship with the intention of converting him? No, I most certainly did not. Religion was never an issue for me, or for him.

They are afraid of my intermittent dark clothing choices, my love of ouija and tarot and cemetery walks; they'll never understand my doll collecting or my quirkiness, and that's fine. My only wish is that they will take the time to come to know me as a person, and perhaps find some way to overlook the labels and all the baggage that has been placed on me by those labels. Maybe they'll even like me.

So, here are some points to share with non-pagan in-laws:

You don't need to be afraid of us.

1. Pagans do not worship Satan (we do not believe he exists outside of the Christian religion).

2. We do not condone, encourage, or engage in abuse of any kind: this includes animal abuse, sacrifice, and slaughter, human abuse, sacrifice and slaughter, and sexual abuse, humiliation, or misconduct of any kind. Any pagan engaging in such practices is most certainly a nutcase, and not a pagan.

3. When your pagan inlaw refers to themselves as pagan, they may mean: Asatru, Wiccan, witch, neo-pagan, eclectic pagan, etc. Each pagan will believe differently, and most love to answer questions and point you to proper resources.

4. A pagan who practices magic or tarot or other sort of magical or divinatory practice does not do so with the intent to gain power or control others.

5. Pagans have ethics too. They believe that morals and ethics are relative, and each tradition will have it's own ethics (for example, we of the Northern persuasion believe in honor, hospitability, hard work, loyalty, family, etc).

6. A pagan believes in God, and probably a lot of them (though they could be atheistic, but this is less common).

7. Pagans are not set to destroy Christianity or related religions, nor are they set to bring about the end of American society. Most pagans are simply pluralists, who believe all religions and people should have equal rights, regardless of label.

8. Always, always ask questions.

9. Read as much as you can, but from neutral sources first (Christian sources notoriously misrepresent paganism with lies and false stories of their conversions from paganism; these have been routinely proven false.)

Our First Midsummer

On June 21st, my almost-husband and I celebrated our first Midsummer as a family coven. We worked together to craft something that draws from both our faiths (my Wiccan-esque eclecticism and his Asatru) and was unique and meaningful. The most meaningful thing we did was the Oath Making. We passed a glass of Mike's Hard Lemonade (mostly because we aren't wine fans) and made promises to one another, promises to grow in our relationship and our spirituality, to learn from the past and move forward into our new life. We promised to love ourselves and always do our best for one another.

The Midsummer for us was a chance to take stock of our lives, to recognize what we have and what we have accomplished. As we head towards the darker, colder months, we must always remember that we have each other, that there is light and hope no matter how bleak things may seem. This was especially important to us this year, as we dealt with my being disowned by my family and the betrayal of a very dear old friend. We will move forward in honor, in truth, and in love despite the negativity. In Llewellyn's Sabbats Almanac this year there is a wonderful piece on the Norse gods, particularly Tyr and Sunna, and I definitely recommend reading it if you haven't already.

It was also a time for us to think of our plans for next Midsummer, the day we plan on wedding. It is fitting that the focus on preventing negativity comes during such an emotional time as wedding planning. I find myself worried and increasingly superficial about some details of the wedding business, and one my goals for the rest of the year is to conquer this. In a year, we will be husband and wife.

The Future Mrs T's Midsummer Potpourri Recipe:

The following recipe uses the term "parts" to mean whatever base measurement you want. For this measurement I used teaspoons. Note that you can burn this, and I did so in my little cauldron. They gave off a very nice scent, and not entirely potent. My whole house smelled wonderful for several hours after. Be sure to crush/bruise each ingredient with your mortar and pestle, and mix together afterward.

1 Part Chamomile (flowers preferably, but I used dried tea)
1 Part Rose (flowers, not oil)
2 Parts Lavender (bruise this so it gives off a stronger scent)
1 Part Mugwort

The Future Mrs T's Cleansing and Joy-Inducing Potpourri:

The following recipe uses the term "parts" to mean whatever base measurement you want. For this measurement I used teaspoons. Note that you can burn this, and I did so in my little cauldron. They gave off a very nice scent, and not entirely potent. My whole house smelled wonderful for several hours after. Be sure to crush/bruise each ingredient with your mortar and pestle, and mix together afterward.

1-2 Bay leaves
1 part cloves (don't use the oil if you can help it; clove oil is very expensive)
1 part chamomile (flowers preferably, but I used tea for this one too)
1/2 part basil
1 part Valerian (Valerian is very, very stinky, but the stink is washed out by the rose and lavender)
1 part rosemary

Blend all the ingredients together in an appropriately sized bowl, and then add to a small sachet or other little bag to store. Be sure to label what they are so you don't forget over time.

Wishing Stones:
In the afore mentioned Sabbats Almanac, they offered a great idea called wishing stones. You hold a stone, walk around the fire whispering your wish to the stone, and toss it into the fire. We plan on incorporating a version of this into our reception next year.


The next post to follow will be a crafty post, on how to make a miniature spellbook/Book of Shadows.

Don't forget to check out the Pagan Mom Blog and the 30 Days of Deity project. It's sure to be something really impressive!

The Pagan Bride: Dresses and Theme, Sneaky Weddings Ramblings

I am engaged to be married, and have been since March of this year. We wanted to choose a date with religious significance and wanted to choose a time when there wouldn't be five feet of snow. (This is Idaho, after all.) We chose the solstice, June 20, 2012 for the date. I got a head start on planning, and I've already got my dress on order. Then I started to research handfastings and started looking at the sorts of dresses other pagany, witchy, handfasting-type brides were wearing. I feel a little out of place.

This is my dress: http://api.ning.com/files/cFf8D80kB-rCVpch4PGrA22VyD6C4TaBKTYLhBRe2lpDFnLuCh*I4AlgL*XpHfKFfRO9OgVQY100ak5OoEl7KkAQKQIHwt85/weddingdress.jpg

At first glance, it appears fairly traditional (and as a member of offbeat bride I get to see lots of traditional and lots more nontraditional dresses). It's a ballgown, and it's cream. Mine will have a corset back as well as the corset-style front, and a big pink crinoline. It made me feel like a fairy queen, which works well for our Lord of the Rings/Arthurian "theme" wedding.

Many beautiful dresses I've seen pagan brides wearing for their handfastings are medieval or Renaissance inspired, with long bell sleeves and the little belts. They look like something Arwen would wear, like these:
http://www.bride1.com/gowns.php?gown_id=49&name=Katrina_Marie_Wedding_Gowns_&_Dresses
http://www.romanticgowns.com/collection/displayimage.asp?image=7614-front-b.jpg

Or they go for something gothic and neo-Victorian, or at the very least something colorful. I wonder why this is?

Not me, apparently. I dress in neo- or psuedo-Victorian clothing pretty much everyday. I wanted something different than the full skirts I already wear and love to wear. It feels different to me.

The theme really has little or nothing to do with my religion, even though fantasy and Ren-faire type themes are very popular among pagan brides (again, I wonder why). I choose it because of my love for history, for fantasy, and frankly because I wanted an excuse to wear a dreamy fairy dress. It just happens to "fit", and I'm thinking that the guests who don't know we're pagan won't see anything unusual about out ceremonies. They will only see the theme, and they'll see the handfasting and the gods as part of that theme.

On Sneaky Weddings and Possible Offense:

Recently on Offbreat Bride there was a discussion about on-the-sneak pagan weddings. The main issue was that the bride's husband, who she calls a pagan priest, will not come out of the closet yet still expects to conduct Wiccan rituals on the sneak for their wedding. One of her ideas was to trick the guests into participating in the creation of a Wiccan ritual circle by seating them in the form of the circle. This is trickery, and frankly it is offensive. No one should be cajoled, tricked, or forced into participating in a ritual by which they may be offended. She saw nothing wrong with this, and felt the circle itself was unimportant! She was convinced I was referring to the shape itself, not to the ritual aspects of her particular circle and purpose.

The fact is that simply having your guests in a circle is not offensive or trickery. But when that circle is serving a religious purpose (which in the Wiccan case is creating a sacred space in which to conduct ritual or spellwork) and involves calling the elements and other aspects of Wiccan ritual, it becomes more than a simple quirky seating choice and the guests are unwittingly donating of their personal energy to these magical act. I can think of a few people in my own life who would shit bats to find out they'd be involved in something like this. I equate it to someone taking your child to a Christian church to be baptized without your permission, or tricking you yourself into being baptized. It's disrespectful of your guests, in my opinion.

The girl brought up one interesting point. She said, "No matter what I do, I have my spirituality in it... making the big ceremonies and such a bit confusing and a headache for me, particularly when it comes to protocol with having other people there and sharing in it. For me its just life, and I don't know where to draw that line... Should I warn everyone who eats my food that I cook it with intent to heal and nourish both body and mind?"

In my opinion, simply giving someone something you have made in a magical way is different than expecting them to participate in the magical preparation of that thing, whether it is food or a necklace. This is a rather example, and one that shows she clearly does not understand the difference between participation and observation. There is a reason that the Wiccan ethics tell you not to cast spells on people without their permission- making them an amulet of protection could essentially be construed as a spell done on their behalf without their permission. It is still better than tricking them into helping you make that necklace while you concentrate on pouring magical energies into it. Pagans like this show a marked lack of respect for the feelings of others, and help to create bad stereotypes about us.

(See the full thread here: http://offbeatbride.ning.com/group/witchybrides/forum/topics/how-to-have-a-stealth-pagan)

There are ways to have subtle pagan touches to a handfasting or traditional wedding without needing to resort to trickery. A guest can appreciate the beauty of a bunch of lavender and yarrow without needing to know the spiritual significance of what you chose. You can burn and display this herb, and the guests never need participate in the ritual aspects of this- they are not burning or participating in the ritual; they are merely observing and watching. In fact, they'd probably appreciate a little bit of the folklore behind the things you are doing and using. The handfasting itself is NOT a pagan tradition. It has roots in pagan traditions, but handfastings have occurred world-over, and even Christians have used them (in Scotland they were a make-shift wedding until a priest could come make the thing official), and any reliable book or website will point this out. The handfasting is not inherently pagan, and even my staunch Catholic father had no issue, seeing reflected in my idea the Irish Knot-tying ceremony of his Catholic ancestry.

This is a good introduction to handfastings: http://www.handfasting.info/

Sometimes you have to hide your religion, and this is sad. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and a wedding is not the place to come out of the broom-closet, whether on purpose or accidentally. There are already heightened emotions, drama, and many people trying to get along in a small space. Do we really need to make these even worse than they have to be?

Please, having respect for your guests and do not trick them. If you cannot be open, be wise, be respectful, and everything will fall into place. The gods won't care that you didn't name them by name. Our gods are not gods of condemnation and judgment. They understand when things must be done, and the trick is to find that healthy balance between what you want and what can/should do.

No Longer the Maiden…why I am abandoning the Triune Goddess concept.

As a teen, I proudly called myself Wiccan. As I grew older, my views changed, my path wound round in confusing knots and I eventually settled for the term "pagan". Even though I do not call myself Wiccan, I do find myself using Wiccan terminology and religious expressions in talking and writing about my own beliefs. Wicca sits well with my love of archetype, and has done wonders for creating, or at the very least raising awareness of, archetypes.

First let me address, briefly, my view of Pagan Gnosticism. I have read the Gnostic Gospels and the infamous Jesus Mysteries (the series of books about Gnosticism, mysticism and the history of Christianity), and come to this understanding: Gnosticsm implies layers of belief and increasingly complex layers of understanding. In the "Jesus Mysteries" the authors state that (and I'm paraphrasing here) that Inner Mysteries, or the deeper truths, are reserved for the religiously elite (priestly castes and religious scholars), and that the Outer Mysteries are for the rest of the population, those that either should not or cannot comprehend the deeper truths. So in this sense, it is both true that the gods are separate and distinct personalities but also true that they are reflections of a larger divine force. Both ideas seem to be conflicting (hard vs. soft polytheism for example), but the Pagan Gnostic realizes that they aren't conflicting, and would further assert that it is also true that the deities themselves are merely metaphorical. All three of these truths are simultaneously true and valid. I will address Pagan Gnosticism in a later post.

So, while I no longer consider myself Wiccan I find their ideas and terms work well for me (privately, socially, and politically). I am a Pagan Gnostic in that I do not worship The Goddess, but many goddesses, yet consider all of these goddesses to be one great Goddess, but not a Triple Goddess. I used to identify with the Maiden, Mother, Crone triad, that metaphor of womanhood. This concept stands for the three major phases in the woman's life: her youth or virginal state, her adult state or state of childbearing, and her crone or post-menopausal state.

The virgin state irritates me the most. The Christian bible places a great deal of emphasis on the value of a bride in her virginal state (I will not bother to post specific verses, but please read Leviticus and "God and Sex" by Michael Coogan for an amazing scholarly study of gender roles in the bible), and the value of a woman based solely on her ability to reproduce. This virginal state is seen as optimal, and honestly contributes to the marginalization of women even today. In this virginal state, the Goddess or the woman in untamed, free, wild, pure, true to herself, innocent and strong. Then, she knows a man and gives birth. It's as if all those traits which made her desirable are gone; she is no longer free. She is captive to the cycles of nature. Many argue that the ancients did not view womanhood in the manner, yet I argue they certainly did. Read any of the ancient Grecco-Roman scholars and you will see comment after on comment on how people, particularly women, are to behave sexually. You will see an emphasis on the importance of virginity (how many maidens does Zeus and so many other gods deflower?).

The Mother is just that, the Mother. Many have begun to realize that this archetype just doesn't work anymore. We don't have sex solely for reproduction. Women are taking charge of their sexuality and expressing themselves sexually in unions different than the "typical" Judeo-Christian understanding: they aren't necessarily getting married, and they aren't necessarily having children. The idea of virgin meets man becomes mother does not work in a modern concept. I am a woman who is sexually active, mature, and capable of bearing children, although biologically I've been capable of this since I was fourteen with the onset of menstruation. Virginity and motherhood seem to be at complete odds with one another, conflicting. What do you a call woman who is no longer a virgin, no longer a little girl, but does not have children? She is that strange in-between, in a liminal stage to which the great archetype does not apply. One could argue that Aphrodite once fit this mold, sexually free, independent, and certainly no virgin (and then she has a couple godlings of her own and moves on into the next stage of life).

This is not to become a feminist rant, but rather to inquire as to why we, as modern Pagans, as sexually liberated people, continue to accept a metaphor for a life cycle which very rarely applies in our modern context. The metaphor is a simple one- the virgin is spring, the virgin is purity and beginnings- as if sex and menstruation are not pure and beginnings in and of themselves. The Crone is death, she's barrenness, she's cruelty- why is it that the postmenopausal woman must become a destroyer? Why is she necessarily wanton and harsh? In my Pagan context, these metaphors do not apply. I am not a virgin, the crones I know are not cruel as winter (and winter itself is not cruel). These speak to a past where we were ruled by the forces of nature, and this does not happen in our modern world (speaking of course of developed countries, with a respectful nod for those that aren't, and noting once again this is not a political discussion), where winter meant death and spring life.

I am abandoning the concept of the Triple Goddess. She cannot explain my life right now, where I am at, this liminal place of not-mother-not-virgin. Someday, I hope to be a mother, but even then I will not bow to a metaphor that deems my eventual menopause as destruction. I am a woman, and I will not be limited and cannot be explained by a simple archetype.

First Post!

This is my first post on my new Pagan blog, inspired in part by all the drama from the Circle of Moms contest (which I will likely comment on at some point in the near future). Let me begin by introducing myself and stating my goals for this blog.

Who am I?
I am a 24-year-old Libra, two semesters away from graduating with a BS in Anthropology, with a minor in Folklore. I'm in love with mythology and world religion, and have made it my academic specialty. I am an intern for the museum here, and spend most of my time sorting through old documents and filing them. It's less than glamorous, but I do get to hang out with skeletons and various bits and bobbles that have been excavated over the years.

I am a family tradition tarot reader and witch. Tarot reading (or some version thereof) has been in my family for several generations, and my great-great grandmother made her living summoning spirits and reading people's fortunes. Most of our witchy knowledge is tied up in superstition and folklore, of knowing without knowing, of trusting and feeling. We are naturals, born able to do what we do. Ours is a path that exists apart from religion, and we run the gamut from agnostic to Mormon. I am a Pagan, meaning that I worship ancient gods and follow these traditions as closely as possible in a modern context. I am an anthropologist, highly educated, and my path is based around my knowledge and understanding. I do not perpetuate myth and sillyness, and I always try to provide academic data and proper sourcing to back up anything I say. I have been actively walking the Pagan Path for eleven years as of this October. My fiance is a recent convert to Paganism. He was chosen by Odin and is on the road to defining what his Path is.


My own "witchy powers" are even less glamorous than my job. I am not psychic but hypersensitive. I saw ghosts as a child, and I firmly believe in the power of thought. About all I can do with any accuracy is make it rain.


I have not trained with a coven, nor do I have any intention of doing so. For a time, I studied with Sacred Mists Online Coven. Due to my inability to accept the blatant misinformation, the constant fluffy-bunny attitude, the nature of the High Priestess, and many other issues, I parted ways. I have very little good to say about Sacred Mists, but I will not slander them. I am family trained, academically educated, and I have been around. Does this make me qualified to speak on Pagan issues? I don't know. I do know that I am a Pagan, a young Pagan at a time of transition from single to wife, and eventually to mother.


My goals for this blog include providing a mature, educated youth's opinion on Pagan issues and the more mundane side of Pagan living. I want to write about interfaith issues, conversion issues, family issues, and relationship issues from a Pagan perspective. I want to write about what it is like becoming a wife, what it is like to live with your boyfriend before you are married in a Pagan context. I want to dispel the myths and misinformation that so often accompany the mention of Paganism and Wicca. I am not yet a Mother, but I am no longer a Maiden, and there has to be a place for us somewhere.

I live in the western half of the United States, nestled in the rocky mountains of Idaho. It's easy to feel close to nature here. However, like all populated places, we have our share of religious extremists. Here it is impossible to avoid Mormons (LDS, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). They are the dominant religion, and are very good at singling out non-Mormons. Most of my religious discrimination experiences come not from my Bible-thumping neighbors during my homeless southern years, but from the Mormons. Some of my posting will be related to Mormonism as well as general Christianity.

I would not be being completely honest if I did not mention my bias. Let me state clearly that I respect everyone's right to believe and practice their beliefs insofar as they do not hinder the ability of anyone else to do the same, and insofar as no harm comes to anyone else in the process. This means that I do not approve of morally mandated legislature. I am not a fan of Mormonism, nor of any Abrahamic religion (particularly Christianity). I'll just put that out there. I have read the Bible from cover to cover three times, and I see nothing but hate, lies, evil, murder, torture, rape, incest, and the mistreatment of women contained in this "holy" text. The history of Christianity speaks for itself, and I do not believe there is any factual reason to believe in the authority of the Bible. It is flawed. For all its flaws there is some good contained in it, but no more than a Robert Frost poem or a Hallmark card. However, I do not hate Christianity, nor do I hate Christians. What I hate is people using their religion to further their religious agendas. Hell, I went to Catholic school and almost became a nun!

That said, I do apologize if any posts I make now or in the future come across harshly. I do strive to provide fair treatment of any subject I discuss. I respect the rights of all individuals to believe as they do, and practice as they do, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with you nor like what you believe. You can be sure that I will never berate anyone for their beliefs, and I will not resort to ad hominem attacks. I suppose it's difficult to be fair and open-minded, but I do try. I find that by admitting my biases I can come to terms with them, and I will become a better and more tolerant person. I just hope you will bear with me along this ride.

Whew! This post was incredibly long and I will sum by mentioning that eventually I will import interesting articles from my other blog. In the meantime, go vote for your favorite mommy blogs at Circle of Moms.