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Update: I finally admitted to myself that almost no one is going to take this survey. And that’s as it should be. It’s not safe to publicly discuss details of gun ownership online anymore. Big Brother is here.

I’m going to keep the post here anyway. Perhaps just reading it will be informative for someone, or otherwise useful to them. There are also a couple of comments that someone might find useful. Here is the post:

Are you a gun owner and Pagan? If your weapon is for self-defense (as opposed to, for example, hunting), please participate in this survey.

Its purpose is show a diversity of personal opinions, as well as their commonalities. I don’t believe personal viewpoints can ever  represent how other people should think or act. Instead, my hope is that folks sharing about the intersection of gun ownership and Paganism in their own lives will provide food for thought for folks who read this post, including those taking the survey. This mental stimulus might help someone gain greater clarity about what that intersection currently is in their own lives, whether they want to change it and, if so, what they want it to become.

Since I’m hoping to show diversity, some people might be puzzled by my not creating another survey for those who don’t own guns. My reason is twofold:

Written May 28, 2019

 I did divination for myself, to gain new insights—or be reminded of old ones—about self-care when working hard. The reading was for me, but I post it below in case you find it helpful.

The following italicized paragraphs provide background, so the reading makes sense to you: 

Exhaustion exacerbates multiple sclerosis symptoms badly. The final parts of curriculum development for an online course can be seriously exhausting for me because of how I tend to approach those final stages of creating an online course. I’m learning to approach those final stages differently, and have come a long way, but still have progress to make.

Chaos is often an illusion. 

My Gods’ plans are so complex that my limited human intelligence cannot discern the plans’ intricate orderliness, so it seems like chaos to me. 

Divination using toys? No, I haven’t lost my marbles. I collect them instead. I do psychic readings with everything in my environment. All of life is sacred. Fun is sacred.

I collect marbles. A few weeks ago, I thought it’d be fun to do divination with them. Since I view everything is my environment as an oracle, it was only a matter time before the idea of using marbles for oracle work came to me. ... Hm, honestly, I’ve probably used them that way before this, and not even remembered it; that’s how much a part of my life using everything as oracles is. ...  In any case, this blog is about a psychic reading I did a few weeks ago using marbles.

A conversation with Rommy Cortez-Driks,

author of 

The Trouble with Wanting, 

and Other Not-Quite Faerie Tales

I met Rommy in 2008, when she started studying Faerie shamanism with me. Early on, she showed me some of her writing. I was gobsmacked. Hers was an exceptional gift. She is a true bard.

The creative gift can be fragile. Day jobs and family responsibilities can make it near impossible to find the focus to write, let alone the time. That can be so discouraging that a writer throws in the towel, especially since the inevitable naysayers try to shake one’s confidence and destroy one’s spirit. Piled on top of that are inner demons trying to tear down the visions and drive that great art demands. And all the while, editors and writers with hidden agendas dole out bad advice, e.g., praising a writer’s worst writing as their best, so the writer produces mostly their worst. Add in the actual writing process, which is complicated and demanding if the book is going to be original and moving. ... Well, it’s a wonder any good books ever get written. 

Notes: 

1) The tree of life represents all of reality. Reality extends past the mundane plane. 

2) Only speaking for myself, I am a theist who experiences all of reality—the Tree of Life—as my Goddess: I feel Her in my surroundings, reap the fruits of Her loving care, and experience magic as the Goddess and Her love made manifest.

Oh, Tree of Life,

You Who Are Tree Mother, Great Mother,

Great Mother Creator of All beings,

please bring me power, joy, and wholeness.

Traditionally, oak symbolizes strength, prosperity, protection, and overall blessings. 

Oak is a standard wand for witches, druids, and others, since it represents power.

Lore tells us oak is a door to Faerie realms and their mysteries. The name of the Ogham letter that corresponds to oak is Dair.  To the best of my knowledge, Dair relates to the English word door.