Back to the land of the living...and blogging!

Alrighty then.

Quite a bit o' time has passed....and with it, a whole lotta personal life crapola.  Not the least of which is my impending divorce fun. 

The soon-to-be-ex-husband moved out in mid-November.  I struggled a bit through the holiday season, but mostly made it through emotionally intact....and what is more, stronger, relieved, and dare I say it...happier.

Well, getting that way.  Day by freaking day.

Got myself an attorney.  Got myself in financial good stead.  Getting my house cleaned up, emptied out, repainted and ready for the real estate market in the spring.

Most importantly....upgraded my car to a midlife crisis worthy mobile...a snazzy new convertible sports car.  Yes indeedy, this gal  ((thumbs pointing to chest)) is not going to "go gently into that goodnight" of forty-something female singledom without being armed with some cooler, self-indulgent toys to compensate for her second crack in the reliving the reckless youth she never had to begin with.

One of the many things being recovered, reconciled and revamped? 

You guessed it.  This blog space.  Back from the dead.  Full throtle and damn the torpedoes.  Or something.

So thanks for the patience gang, if any of y'all are still out there in internetland.  Am back....not with a vengence...but certainly with a new shine on my brass ovaries and a revved up new besom to cruise around and rant to Hel and back astride.

XOXO,
Albiana

Deja Broom: Considering coven-style practice?

Considering coven-style practice?  One might first ask you --- what is it you are looking for in a coven?

• Are you wanting to train in a specific tradition?
• Are you seeking mentorship with more active or advanced practitioners?
• Are you simply looking for others to socialize with who share similar spiritual interests?
• Are you desperate to get help with some problems, both magical and mundane that you feel are out of your present level of experience or aptitude? 
• Are you trying to find validation for your current knowledge base, hoping to share what you know with others or just bursting at the seams to not feel like you're the only one in the world where you live?

There are as many reasons to work in a group as there are to be solitary, and both ways offer benefits and drawbacks. What is really telling is discovering your motivation for whichever way your path takes you at any given time in your life. Be honest. Be authentic.

If it is camaraderie and social acceptance you're after, then try attending local Pagans Night Out gatherings, meet-ups, or occult topic book discussions in your area ----and know that the "in your area" part might not necessarily mean in your backyard....you may have to commute a bit to find one.  In fact, I highly recommend expanding your search to visit as many as possible within an hour's drive...if only to get exposure to a wider bunch of groups and individual personalities so you can compare and contrast to find our more about what suits your needs.

If it is study advancement you're leaning toward, try checking out some pagan-friendly bookstores in your vicinity. Many have bulletin boards that speak of class offerings, open circles and festival events. Also try looking up your local chapter of the Covenant of the Goddess or peruse the local group and individual listings on Witch Vox to see if anyone may be hosting any events you can attend.
"Fortune favors the bold!" as they say, so don't shy away from getting out there and introducing yourself at these opportunities.  But beware that the oft-quoted adage "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" may not necessarily apply...many covens --particularly traditionalist ones--- do not advertise when they are open to new students. Instead they may work through a referral system via their present members, so you just never know if someone you bump into at one of these pagan-friendly meet-ups or classes may turn out to be a great networking buddy who can later help you in your search for a group. 
Thus your getting out there to "show face" has the dual advantage of allowing you to meet with folks who could potentially offer you exposure to particular pathwork that would not otherwise be offered to the greater pagan populace.  The personality fit, the "personal chemistry" match has to be there before some groups will even acknowledge that they would consider you for candidacy in the training curriculum of their closed, private group.

Most of all, know that a true coven is more than a bunch of random folks who get together for circle every month and on occasional holidays.  They are close-knit family of sorts, and you cannot just petulantly stand on their doorstep and demand to be adopted.  There has to be a time of getting acquainted with you and you with them. Covens aren't generally looking for any warm body to fill out their membership numbers....they're looking for a "good fit" for their established group.

Consider your seeking time more like an interview for a prospective dream job. Not every candidate belongs to every niche, but you can greatly increase your opportunities if you spend your solo time perfecting your rudimentary skills on a personal level and diligently searching for what you need.

Probability will work in your favor (what's that little thing about 'sympathetic magic' again? *grin*) and your chances are greater that you'll soon find the perfect home to call your own the more often you put your intentions out into the universe.

Good luck in your search!

Navigation of Rough Waters

I have had good intentions with this blog space, but unfortunately, I have also had distractions too.  Hence the infrequent posts, and those that have made it thus far have been mostly "re-prints" of older items.

One of the reasons "Broom Handle" has suffered in the past year was due to the hackers who infiltrated my blog site and caused a hellfire mess therein. 

The other reason, if I haven't admitted this previously, has been my dealing with the painful disintegration of my marriage and the amount of time and energy and focus that has sucked out of most other aspects of my world.

To spare the gory details....my Real Life(tm) simply got in the way, and while I didn't let my Craft suffer in the literal sense, I haven't had the gumption to devote what creativity and inner emotional fortitude I have left to spare into writing much.  I've been preoccupied with "holding my shit together" elsewhere, for keeping my career going and working through my home-life struggles.

**Yeah, must be the "joyous side" of elevation at work....the third-degree of getting one's life in order so that the Gods can....er, help you....uh, get onto the path where you ought to be.**

It feels like I'm in a prolonged 'sophomore slump'...you know, like the way many professional artists and athletes are predicted to have a stellar trajectory of creativity, but immediately following their debut and rave reviews, they hit that lackluster phase that makes everybody question whether they gave up or had just been a lucky hack to begin with.

In my case, when my home-life's wheels came off, my sense of direction and creativity foundered along with it.  I haven't been inspired to write anything.  My muse, like Elvis, has left the building.  She says she'll come back after the demolition crews have finished their messy work and the remodel is under way.

The implosion of my 10-year marriage has left me gasping.  I'm busy trying to get myself to a more stable place in head and heart...because nothing shakes the foundations like having your primary relationship die a slow and painful death.  It is hard to try to teach and promote the understandings of Perfect Love and Trust....when you've just learned that your mate has decided that he doesn't love you anymore and you don't trust him anymore these days either.

So that's what has been going on here, folks.  Not an excuse, not really, but it is an explanation. 

The legal stuff is eminent, hopefully before the end of the year, but the packing up and moving his stuff out of the house has already begun.  Each day gets easier to breathe, each day I find out how much stronger I am than I'd thought I was capable of being.

When the dust settles, when the ride on the emotional waves becomes manageable, I'll be back with witticism and sarcasm and food for thought.

I'm turning 42 in a few weeks....and didn't Douglas Adams declare that magic number to be the answer to the universal question?  Well, I have a tongue-in-cheek suspicion that it will bring me wisdom alright.  Gotta gear up to see what that holds.

And then I'll write about it.