One thing that annoys me about most of the books I pick up on Witchcraft or Wicca is how many tools they say you need. How your alter should have a certain layout and how it should be filled with wonderous things that would leave a somewhat large gap in your wallet. So I tried doing it without all this but I felt like something was missing.

I don't believe that you need an idol to worship. A statue, a figure, prayer beads etc. In my opinion these are all props that shouldn't get in the way between your true connection with deity. When I'm out in nature, back against a tree, grass between my toes and water by my side I really need nothing to talk to deity or know that they are there. I do find it so much easier outside than I do inside.

Part of my developing my spirituality is trying to take time out each day to stop and meditate with deity, have a short prayer or just have something that connects me to that aspect of my life. I feel this will probably help me not stop within a month or so and get distracted by the next shiny thing that passes by. I had tried to this before but I found my mind wandered or I didn't have time etc. What I needed was something to be able to focus my energy on when I do pray or  want to connect.

So given that I can't afford to buy statues (which can be very pricey indeed), I thought - why not make one?

I saw a video on youtube last weekend by one of my favourite witchy channels and she had made some figures out of clay to go on her altar. I'm not very good with clay, I will admit, but I thought I would try something similar. Now to avoid me trying to make it with natural clay and end up painting it and making it a mess, I thought I would use Fimo polymer clay. It's something I had bought before to dabble in, when I figured out I'd done something wrong I gave up, then the next time I put it in for too long and I burnt everything I tried to make. But I wanted to do something, so I dug the Fimo out.

I started with the Goddess - I knew I'd have to mix colours for the God figure so the Goddess was easier in that aspect. I went with a very traditional shape - one which is a universal Goddess figure for pagans everywhere, and pretty easy to make. Once I had made it, and baked it I was pretty pleased with it. It wasn't perfect, far from it but it was mine, and the satisfaction I got from it was incredible. A small white figure I had made to honour the Goddess and it felt really good. I was really excited to make my God figure the next day.

Now the God is a tricky one. He's depicted mainly as a Horned God, and as my Patron is Cernunnos, this is something I wanted to depict in my figure. Generally there isn't a "simple" God figure. He's depicted as the Green Man mostly as a "simple" depiction but I wanted something to go with my Goddess, something that was similar. So I thought about it and came up with a dark green head, body and horns. The horns were the hardest bit to get right. I wanted to make them like Antlers and I am very pleased with how they came out. I made them separate from the body and glued them on after baking.

So here's my finished product!


Nothing fancy, simple figures that represent something I believe it!

I think making things for Witchcraft is brilliant. I feel like I have a personal connection to these given that I put my time, love and energy into making them. They are imperfect but perfect to me. Currently they are sat on my bookcase next to my witchy books as I lack an altar but I hope that will change in the future. I'd love to have a place to have my witchy things on, be able to use for rituals, spells or just daily devotion.

I am planning on making further things for my future altar, perhaps some symbols to represent the elements, a pentacle tile, any other suggestions welcome. Anything I do will be put on here, all witchy developments I'm going to blog about. I might also start a youtube Video blog but I'm undecided on that as yet. Will think about it over the weekend and again, keep you posted.

I do like that I'm feeling more confident in my beliefs though, and willing to put the time in to confirm them.

And now to finish on a chant I found on a website that I love.

I haven't written in a while, so today I seek to end this.

Over the last few weeks a fair few things have happened, either personally or nationally, and even internationally (Fuck the ash cloud!).

I'll start with the big one. The General Election.

As we all know by now David Cameron is now our fearful leader. Though a pretty much complete washout the Conservatives are once again in power for the first time in 13 year. Now I know I'm not the first to be scared by this. Tories have already set about public funding cuts which is going to affect all UK readers of this blog without a doubt. My Local Authority and work place have already been trying to work out spending cuts, which in my line of work of child protection is hardly ideal. I hope that we are left alone but I doubt it.

Conservatives are in there as part of  a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Now I don't think I need to hide my affection for Nick Clegg but I do have to wonder whether or not he's made the right decision. I have looked at policies and it feels the Lib Dems are only there to boost numbers, not to make a contribution on how the government is run, which as far as I'm aware defies the point of a coalition. Should they not be working together to form this government, and it's policies etc? I know the Tories will always have an upper hand but still. Has Cameron wooed Clegg with promises which will be left unheard and Clegg with a broken heart? I think Clegg has sold out. He saw an opportunity and grabbed it by the balls, which to be fair who can blame him? But I can see that he will just sit there and happily let the Tories use his ass. But he's deputy Prime Minister, so I'm not sure he cares.

I will admit I haven't been paying a lot of attention as to what has happened post election beyond the coalition and a few policies. I've seen they have cancelled the Third Runway at Heathrow which is something I petitioned against quite strongly so I am very pleased that has been stopped. But I'm not about to jump into bed with them. I'm going to watch this new government with interest. Lots of interest.

Another issues that has come up following the election is the voting system. The Tories have recently said they will offer a referendum on the Alternative Voting System. But it's not enough. I've joined a group for Proportional representation. I'm not going to try and explain electoral systems, so I will link you here To the BBC who are able to explain it better than me.

So I attended a demonstration outside parliament yesterday as organised by http://www.takebackparliament.com/. It was amazing. My protest virginity has been taken and I want more! To see hundreds of people gathered to put their voices forward on the same issue. It was quite something. One of the speakers kept talking about the Suffragettes and comparing our motion to them. Quite nice to know that I'm part of something that is going to grow hopefully country wide, into every household to show that the electoral system is unfair and we're not getting what we want!

So what else has happened in my life since I last posted.

Well, I've joined a Fund raising Group for Oxfam. Had our first official meeting last week and I'd say it's looking promising already! We hope to have our first fund raising event at the forthcoming Peace Festival (Read: Hippie fest!) and hopefully have a blast. I note I am the youngest person still but there sounded like there would be someone else my age coming along in the future so that's something. I hate being the youngest at everything. Joining a fund raising group is something I've been meaning to do for a while so quite happy an opportunity has arisen so I can take part in one just starting up!

Last month I also saw Amanda Palmer live, at last! Technically it was supposed to be an Evelyn Evelyn gig but due to the ash cloud and half of Evelyn Evelyn being stranded elsewhere it ended up being a mash-up gig of Bitter Ruin, Robots in Disguise, Melissa Auf Der Maur and Amanda Palmer. A totally eclectic line up and a totally amazing show. I enjoyed every minute of it, and even got on stage for a Malcolm McLaren tribute at the end. Happy me! I started thinking about Amanda Palmer's work after the gig whilst drifting aimlessly around art galleries and wondered if I could ever be that talented. She has the ability to write about anything in any style and has songs so fuelled with emotion. I started to think about my own creativity.

Currently my inspiration and creativity has been null and void. There's been nothing there for me to write or anything I write is utter crap, as you will have seen in a mini rang entry. It is the most frustrating thing in the world especially when I want to do nothing more than write. Usually I can't because I can't get the words out into anything that sounds remotely decent. I did manage to write a couple of things on the train home the day after the gig but I couldn't finish them so they remain as works in progress. Its annoying because I sit with ideas that I just can't get out. I have a rough sketch of what the idea is and how it should develop but I never think it's going to lead anywhere. Currently I have, in my mind, a brilliant idea for a novel. I've sat on it and developed it a little but I don't think I have the ability required to actually get it out as a novel, not even a rough draft. Maybe my "writers block" will fade and I will find the ability to get the words out into some form that makes sense. Who knows. Would be nice to attempt at least.

The only other thing that has crept up in my mind, more recently than the rest, is my beliefs. At the beginning of the blog I had stated that I wanted to concentrate on my beliefs and try and have some sort of idea of what it is exactly I believe. I'm not entirely sure if I'm any good at philosophy, I mull over things in the back of my head and something random usually just pops out which is quite profound, I mention it, peoples brains melt and then it is ignored and whatever idea I did have with any philosophical seed vanishes into the ether. I find this is often how my thought processes go when it comes to pondering my own beliefs. But the other day I was sat reading a book (Dan Brown if you must know) and listening to music and a thought popped into my head that I was simply pagan. Now I have always felt drawn to witchcraft for as long as I can remember, before I started to read Harry Potter books even! I've gathered quite a little library on witchcraft with spells etc but when I really think about it, it's not the magic side I'm overly interested in. Well I am, but I don't do it and I haven't even tried to spend time to get together the basic tools of a witch and spend the time that seems to be required to honour the old ones or even practice magic which as far as I'm aware is a fundamental part of being a witch. I'm more likely to be outside, in a park sat by a tree by the river taking wonder at the ducks and swans, the occasional squirrel that bounds about and taking joy from the world around.

Now of everything I know I believe in a God and a Goddess. That to everything there is a male part and a female part and that somewhere whatever sparked creation on this earth was not an accident (although apparently the dinosaurs were). Everything on this earth is part of a circle. we are born, we live, we pass on our knowledge and then we die, our bodies going back to the earth from which we came from. My thoughts on my beliefs are still a little muddled and I do intend to concentrate on them more in the coming weeks so expect, hopefully, a slightly more in depth look at them.

Until next time!