Okay, maybe I did drop off the face of the earth!

My web presence has been scattered and sporadic for the latter half of the year (though for good reasons, mostly. YAY new job!) and that’s not likely to change going forward, though I am hoping to update this site a bit more than, you know, never.

Like today! Except, today, instead of doing an update that adds content, I’m taking some down? Why? Because the creator of the content asked me to do so, because they’ve been harassed over the subject matter they shared about their path. Because the idea of some things are just TOO FAR OUT THERE. I mean, we all just talk about what we can see with our embodied senses, right? Right? Gods are okay, but different ways of explaining our souls origins are just . . . . too hokey. I mean, we totes understand 100% exactly how every part of our brains work, right? And we understand how we understand, yes? I mean, scientists are still working hard to suss this all out, are they? It’s figured out! No reason to wonder any more! Phew.

Snarky Jo is snarky.

I dunno. My internal storyteller is flexible. She has to be. She can hold Poseidon being Poseidon being not Poseidon being Vishnu being none of the above being separate from her and not in her mind, and not be invested in any one way of that being ‘correct’. (Well, she tries, anyway. We’re still going back and forth with that name thing, though, he softens my heart). I’m pragmatic — in that sense, how souls are made, if souls are really a thing, if I was all one being before now or pieces of various beings stitched together into this present ‘me’ . . . none of that matters. It’s fun to think about. I love exploring different ideas, but if I’m a new soul, an old soul, once-a-true-daughter-of-Pops, once part of a rune spirit, once a dragon, once an elf — it doesn’t really matter to me now. And it shouldn’t, unless it helps me in some way.

And I’m just getting more pissed off. So I’m going to stop, and go take down that link.

Share, if you are comfortable, because *most* people are *not* assholes. Really. Really.

New links, update pages, and some added photos!

My thanks to Virginia Carper and John Halstead, for allowing me to link back to your material! Virginia Carper has two pieces you should check out! Her #mypolytheism contribution can be found here. She also shares with us what it’s like to practice with a brain injury. I especially love this latter contribution. This is the nitty-gritty stuff I want people to be talking about  — how does your practice look, with the unique challenges you face. How does your practice answer the needs you have, how are these things addressed? Thank you, Virginia, for sharing this with us.

John Halstead also shares with us a glimpse into his polytheism, and I’m not going to lie — I was super excited to see this. Not. All. Polytheism. Looks. The Same. I prefer to hear the stories you tell about your practice, not the stories others tell about your practice, and I’m glad he’s chosen to share a bit of the story he tells about his practice.

I’ve also added a link to Kallisti’s Polytheism’s Visibility Matters, because it does. For all that I started #mypolytheism, I’m not a huge user of hashtags, and I’m a dabbler when it comes to Twitter. But: I can’t be a supporter of the importance and awesomeness of online community/ies, their potential, and ignore the importance of using the tools that are available to us — including hashtags and such. It’s not something I think a whole lot about, and I value this post for prodding me to think about it a bit more.

Pictures have been added to the gallery, so check that out, as well.

There’s a new FB group (well, new-ish?) focused on Polytheist and Pagan Monasticism, so check that out, too, if you’re interested. (It’s Polytheist and Pagan Monasticism, surprisingly enough. It’s a closed group, but joining is easy!)

To help keep all the balls in the air, I’m going to be blogging once a week here, announcing additions as applicable. I’ll be posting links more frequently to the FB page, so if you’re following that, these updates will likely be repetitive. Sorry about that! And thanks again to everyone who is making My Polytheism great!

Have not dropped off the face of the earth.

I have, however, had minor surprise foot surgery, and am slightly miserable at the moment. I have things to add to the site on my to-do list and once I can be up and think straight, that’s going to happen.

I’ve created a to-do list note in Google Keeps to help me keep links and such in one spot where I can find them. If anyone want in on that note, let me know, and I can share. That way, if you find something you think should be on the site, you can toss the link up there, and I can have them all on one to-do master list.

New shrine photo, topic suggestion proposed, oh, and hey, look! We made the Wild Hunt!

Super quick update, as I’m squeezing this in between breakfast and showering, and running out to the day job! Beth’s been awesome enough to share a photo of her newly reworked shrine to the Traveller. Go ahead and click on the gallery to take  a look at it — and yeah, before anyone asks: pop culture polytheism is welcomed here. (A shameless plea for material on the subject? YES!)

Along with material dealing with experiences within pop culture paganism, it’s been suggested that we add a section talking about patrons and matrons. I think that’s an awesome idea, and as soon as I have material to link to, I’ll be doing so! (I have a writing vacation coming up next week, and aside from tackling my sad kitchen cupboards — no, really, don’t look —   I’m hoping to get some significant writing done.)

On the ‘what is my life’ front, Crystal Blanton took some time to speak with a number of people about the #mypolytheism project for wildhunt.org, myself included. My heartfelt thanks to Crystal, Celestine, Danica Swanson, Alley Valkyrie, and Yvonne Aburrow for taking the time to talk about this project. My thanks, too, to everyone who has helped make this a thing. I’ll keep saying it: you lot rock.

For those interested, there’s now a FB Pagan and Polytheist Monasticism group happening, and there’s talk of the creation of LANMIPP, a Loosely Affiliated Network of Monastically Inclined Polytheist Pagans, and yeah, this makes me happy.

Okay. Not so quick, but now! Food into face and going about the day job. Four more days, and then? Staycation!

New Photos and New Links!

Quick update (and it’s not going to get much better for about a week or so; watch FB page for more frequent updates!). Photos have been added to the gallery: Silence has shared his shrine for Loki with us, and I’ve tossed up some updated photos of my own Poseidon and Vishnu-with-Poseidon shrine. Also, the Modern Southern Polytheist has shared with us his #mypolytheism contribution. Check it out!

Reorganization, some additions, and my gratitude — but maybe not in that order.

First: additions! Today I’ve added a link to Hearth Keeper’s essay about her interactions with her local spirits. I’ve added a new section, on Online Community, and Estara and Jack have been good enough to allow me to link to their material.

Along with creating a few  new sections (on Online Community; Admin), I’ve reorganized some of the pages under the Admin page, update the about this site and the landing page, and added ‘an about me page.’

Because I’m not oblivious, I know that this site and this project have come up in a few spots and has been criticized (by one critic for not allowing criticism, which I don’t quite understand, because how exactly could I begin to stop criticism from happening?). I know many of you have come out to try to explain this project, to defend my reasoning for not allowing debate on this site, and for wanting to build up communication and community in this particular way — and I’m grateful for that. I do not go looking for people talking shit about me or what I do. I do not care if people are, and  I don’t have the time to invest in the search, anyway. I am not here for them. They are not my audience. They are not the point of this. Please know that I appreciate the support. I appreciate what this place has already meant to people. Do not feel the need to defend any of this on my behalf, or on behalf of this project. You can, of course — I can’t stop you, and it’s not my place to.  But it’s not required or expected. I’ve got better things to do with my time, and I bet you do, as well.

Quick update, nothing exciting.

Dropping a quick note to let you know that I have not dropped my interest in this space, and yes, I do plan on writing some essays and sharing them, and revamping some of the info about this page since, holy bananas, people are interested! We’ve been dealing with an ill dog (CHF and other issues) and it’s been a tense week here at the Nunnery. Illness, lack of sleep, a full time and a part time job does not leave a whole lot of mental capacity left over for stringing words together in any way that makes sense — and I don’t want to give you ‘some assembly required’ sentences ;-p

Our dog is on the mend, and it looks like his issue was not strictly heart failure related. (Keep failing at that heart failure, Corb!) So, sleep and recharging will commence. It’s going to be long week, this coming week, but then there will be multiple days off, and I plan to neaten things up a bit once that happens.

New additions!

Three new additions to the #mypolytheism train! Thank you Syren, Finnchuill, and Veggiewolf for adding your voices to this!

Three new additions to #mypolytheism

Huge thank you to Syren Nagakyrie, Kaye, and Finnchuill for letting me quote and link to their #mypolytheism posts! Check ’em out!

New additions!

Once again from the top: you all rock so very much.

Celestine from Find the Path, Lee Davies from Cylch Riannon, and Camilla Laurentine from Foxglove and Firmitas have added their voices to #mypolytheism. Hooray!! Columbine shares some of her experiences with local-based polytheism with the Land of the Two Rivers, and Beyond; Sean Donahue writes of Safe Spaces and Ritual Purity.

I’ve also gotten a handle (more or less) on the gallery feature, so  the ‘snapshot’ page will be replaced by the handy dandy gallery widget on the sidebar. Click to explore!