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Nicole
I'm Nicole, a senior in
college studying chemical engineering with some other
miscellaneous stuff (computer science, a little womens studies here
and there). I have been with paglore for quite some
time, possibly since it's creation (but that was
much too long ago to remember). I
am the other half of http://technopagan.dhs.org (hosted on my happy
server). I did not grow up "religious;" my
family left religion totally open, leaving the
decision to us as we grew up. I did go to church with friends,
but never really believed in "god". I enjoyed the mysticism of
what I saw of the Catholic church and the increasing
balance between the male and female figures. My
mom's family, needless to say, were/are liberal
Catholics. Anyway, eventually I explored Paganism (indirectly and on
my own) and met up with a pagan group on campus who I didn't share anything
about myself with (for quite a while, as far as I know, they weren't
sure what I believed). The group was informal until we "formed"
it, and now it has gone back to informal. I
didn't fit in with Wicca, so I became "eclectic". As we explored
(my now-husband of 2 years (Beltane) and I) we
found(ed?) technopaganism and have drawn it out
to be what it is now. We don't have much time for active practice
and study, though, so the website has been unmodified in a while and
we haven't really flushed out beliefs. Recently,
I have spent time with my younger sister (17 in May) who is exploring
Buddhist teachings and other Pagany things. She spent some time in
a (Protestant) church also, and came to this on her own (well, with a
little introduction through older friends). She is
quite interested in how the mind works, how we
believe, things like that. It's awesome to see a young
mind opening up (she may only be 5 years younger than I, but she's still
in a whole other world). It's much easier to see the "benefits"
of my parents' open mindedness through the
experiences of my sister (so far she's the only
of my 3 siblings who have really come to something) than through
my experiences. I guess that and now I have someone else's experiences
to compare mine and hers to, the experiences of my husband (who
grew up "forced" religious). Anyway,
that's me and more. I hope you all enjoy being members of the Paglore
list and share about yourselves :o)
Rick Johnson
I am Rick Johnson. My mother
is Irish, from Co. Claire (I was almost born there too but my father was
in Korea at the time). Something which condemns me is that fact that I am
a Gardnerian Witch (Brit Trad you know) and Irish but what the hey. Life
is strange. I joined the Craft in 1971, was initiated Gardnerian in 1977
and have taught a public class on Witchcraft continuously since 1982. My
Wiccan interests include finding the truth about our history, trying to
discuss various philosophical and religious matters to the betterment of
the Craft (not an easy task with all the egos involved), and finding
exactly why we do what we do and how to make it work better. This takes me
into the fields of psychology, physics and some really interesting areas
of ritual and magick. In fact I can actually demonstrate why Skyclad works
better than clothed and why ambient e-m fields screw up our magick. P.S.,
I'm also a troublemaker because I always ask "why?" when someone
tells me something.
Updated 16th March 2001
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Valerie Freseman
I have been studying Wicca and
paganism for 9.5 years and have been an initiate
and member of the Shadowfolk Coven and Teaching collective for nigh
on 5 of those years (making witches in New York City since 1995...)
My interests are heavily weighted towards the Irish
Celtic side, especially the Bardic arts (well, I
like to sing Irish traditional music, though lately I
have been studying more classical and opera kind of stuff for fun, and
lately have been writing my own chants) and I play the
bodhran for my tribe. I also spend time teaching
one of our open to the public classes, which I heartily
enjoy because it is challenging an re-affirms my faith. I
'm interested in inter-faith cooperation and communication. I would like
to someday spend my days working on encouraging
political and philanthropic action on the part
of my fellow wiccans/pagans. (I'm working on an internet club
to share info on when covens are doing in their communities, like toy-drives
and beach clean-ups, that kind of thing) And
Paglore is the best of the pagan e-lists, even if it sometimes seems
tooo quiet.
Paul Ewing
I am a 29 year old male from the
Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. I have called myself pagan for about four
and a half years. Before that I was associated with, but never deeply
involved in the Christian church (mostly Baptist). I have always been
interested in ancient studies, and would pose troubling questions such as
if God could appear to Moses as a burning bush why couldn't he appear to
others as Raven, Zeus, etc. ... I classify myself as pagan, but I do not
normally practice like many here. I see myself more like an common Celt or
Norseman. While I acknowledge the gods and may make offerings or prayers
to them I do not devote my life to serving them. I feel that is what the
Priest and Priestesses are for. My view is that I am a craftsman (in
software and jewelry). I try to keep out of the gods way and take care of
things myself. More of the "If you can't run with the big dogs, then
stay on the porch" philosophy. I do enjoy learning about the gods and
the cultures that they serve. For this reason I am subscribed to dozens of
lists and try to read as many books (leaning toward the dry scholarly
works) as I can. I also do not really feel that I need to tie magick with
the religious aspects of paganism. I consider magick to be similar to many
other natural forces that can be bent to whatever end you need it. I don't
do a lot of intentional magickal workings because of a lack of time to
study. I do feel that I need to know exactly how something needs to be
done before starting to avoid problems. I guess that means I lean more
towards the ceremonial arts, but most of what I have done has been simple
"kitchen witchery". I live with my partner who has been
following a path called Georgian Eclectic Wicca since the 1980's. She came
to that path after studying ceremonial magick in high school and college
from the "5% wheat" books of the 1970's. She sometimes doesn't
understand my not wanting to practice the religious aspects like she does.
We have a daughter who is three. I usually strive to follow a more
conservative personal world view than many, but I also believe in keeping
my nose out of others business unless what they are doing affects me. My
sense of ethics would probably be considered grey by many. I am not afraid
to lash back at someone that harms me or my family. In fact I have sworn
to protect my daughter. My actions needed to do that someday may make a
"scorched earth" policy seem extremely mild. I am a software
consultant during the day and a jeweler and website designer by night. You
can see my jewelry at http://www.shiningmoon.com or
http://www.shiningmoon.com/paganindex.html for the pagan centered works. I
will be opening http://www.paulewing.com for my web design business in the
near future. This business will be aimed at helping small businesses setup
a store on the web or improving an existing site.
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