Guided Meditation For The Warrior Path

In a discussion with a local group of pagan warriors, we realized that we needed something to open up our training sessions. This is something that I'm still working on, but hopefully others will find it useful as well.

Guided Opening Meditation For The Warrior Path

1) Breathe in deeply and breathe out. Continue to do so as you release
any negativity that you are holding on to. Fear, worry and doubt
inhibit focus. Relax your muscles and concentrate on your breathing. In
and out. Let all of your emotional hang ups drain from you and float
away. Once complete:

2) Visualize a warrior from whatever time period and culture you
choose. Take in every facet of their image. Their armor, their weapons,
their face, their hands, their legs. Watch the ripple of each muscle as
they utilize their entire  body as a fighting tool. Hear the roar from
their lips as they make contact with their target. Embrace the
determination they exude as they focus on their mission at hand. Feel
their strength as they put every bit of themselves into accomplishing
their goal. Breathe in the spirit of all they represent. In and out.
Envision that spirit floating down into your core and becoming a part
of you. Don't stop until you can feel that spirit fully within your
core and let it center you. Once you are centered, let it push out from
your core and into your legs, arms, out to your fingers and toes and
into your head. Let it engulf you.

3)  Without letting go of that spirit, shift your focus out through
your fingers, toes, ears, nose, mouth and every pore to take in your
current environment. Hear the rustle of every leaf and the sound of
every creature moving around you. Feel the wind and sunlight sweep over
you. See every tree, branch, rock, piece of dirt, or blade of grass. In
this moment, take in every person, every voice, every little sound, and
every smell. Be completely aware of where you are and who you are.
Sight, smell, taste, touch - these are all tools of a warrior from
ancient times to now and constant awareness should be your goal state
of being. Take all of it in.

In this moment, you are the warrior and let nothing distract you from
your focus and training. You are filled with honor, strength,
determination, passion, and courage. Train today as if your life and
tribe depend upon it because one day, they might.

(Time to train)

Closing Meditation For The Warrior Path

still in progress

Women & The Sweet Spots

Some of you may have heard the phrase sweet spot used to mean the spot on the jaw where hit would almost automatically knock out the person being hit. When I use the term sweet spot it has a similar context, but not specific to that area. When I state sweet spot it means any part of the body that is particularly vunerable to a quick and painful attack with minimal effort. While these points on the body can be utilized regardless of gender I specifically keep them in mind for females because they don't require a lot of strength to give results. This short list is of easily accesible sweet spots that can aid in your self defense.

EYES & EARS -
The eyes are very sensitive as it is. Enough pressure to them and you are going to get someone to loosen up. They aren't always the easiest to get to, but if they are in range like this scenario here I highly suggest keeping them in mind. Women tend to have nails and even if you don't it only takes a little pressure to bring on massive pain.

In the same video you will also see the technique called "boxing the ears." I did this once to my husband playing around. Let's just say I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head and he clearly lost focus since it hurt his head so much. It's an instant headache and all you are doing is using your palms as a striking force that end up working almost like a suction cup so it hurts just as much when your hands are coming off as when your hands make contact with the head.

GROIN -
Okay, we all know this one. As kids I'm sure we tested it out once or twice on our male friends or our brothers. A good square hit to the nutsack and the male hits the floor. This isn't always true and with how many men sag their pants today it can be a lot harder to get a good clean hit to the genitals, but used in conjunction with other techniques makes this a very good area to keep in mind.

PHILTRUM -
I'll tell you this is what got me wanting to write this short section. I had never seen this until I found this video. What was the first thing I did when I got home? Tested it on my 300 pound husband. I love him. He has a cup
especially for me.

I will say that I don't believe everything in the video is completely accurate. When the woman puts her finger under his nose and it appears that he can't get past it, maybe I wasn't doing it right. While my husband may have had issues walking forward, he was not completely stopped from doing so. It only slowed him down.

The headlock demonstration, however was spot on. All I had to do was get my finger(s) under his nose and he couldn't fight his head tilting back that in turn loosened his grip. Once I got his head back his throat was wide open to a palm strike or right hook. If you have a partner to try this with, I highly recommend adding this to your ass kicking defense list.

KNEE -
This area is also a good place to aim. Imagine you are on the ground and your attacker is above you. Keep a leg up and keep kicking. In the provided demonstration she stays on one side kicking out with one foot. As long as you have that one foot out you are keeping a distance from your attacker. Aim for the leg, the knee and groin. If you get a good connect to the knee cap you could do some serious damage. I say aim for it, but never rely on one sweet spot. Always keep kicking and hitting where ever you can, but keep the sweet spots in mind.

THROAT -
You might type in neck strike (or any variation there of) in youtube and you'll get any number of videos on how to "properly" do it. Here is the great part of this area being used for defense, as long as you can get a good hit center of the throat (aim for the adam's apple area as best you can) you are going to hurt them. Hit it hard enough and you could potentially collapse their windpipe. Regardless, this doesn't require a lot of striking power to have stopping power.

THUMBS -
As I have shown in previous blogs, I am a strong supporter of teaching the thumb pluck. Your size and strength levels are irrelevant. If you can get a hold of any man's thumbs as they are wrapped around your neck you can free yourself from a choke. Once free from the choke any of these vulnerable spots are potential targets.

UTERUS -
If your attacker happens to be another female, a good hard knock to the uteral area can leave them completely out. While I knew as a kid this area was pretty much a fight ender it had been a very long time since I had actually been hit there. My son decided to remind me how painful it was by jumping on me landing his bony two year old butt right onto my uterus. I would imagine that it would be the closest equivalent for women to getting kicked in the groin. I couldn't move and I felt the pain through my entire body. Remember, don't aim for the stomach as you could end up getting resistance from a woman with tight abs. Aim for just above the pelvic bone.

Unfortunately I don't have any cool acronyms like Sandra Bullock teaches in Miss Congeniality, but I think these are all pretty easy places to remember. With the exception of the awesomeness that is the philtrum, these are all body parts that any female with very little self defense training should be familiar with. And as always, be loud, be mad and keep striking until you can get away. The goal in self defense is to fight until you don't have to anymore then run like hell.

185 pounds

The Body The Mind

So I have fallen off the wagon once more, but I'm sure it won't be the last time. It's a struggle to stay on my exercise schedule when lacking energy, but I'm working on it. I know that it isn't in regards to my hypothyroid condition, but it is related to my lacking sleep. One week without a babysitter has turned into four months without one and so the nights I work I am lucky to get four hours before I have to be up with the little man then, of course, returning to my work shift that night. It's a cycle that is now taking a toll on my body and mind that I'm currently working to resolve. The good news is I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either.

While my body will always be a work in progress I find myself on an endeavor to read as many books on the "warrior" path as I can find. One reason is obviously for my own focus and to keep me determined to stay on the path when my body doesn't always agree. The other is because I'm working with some friends on a project that I hope will help others on the same path as me, both Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) and Neopagan Warrior.

I've recently been reading On The Warrior's Path by Daniele Bolelli. Chapter one is The Body As a Temple and while the chapter can be extremely redundant he does make a good point that I really never took the time to think about. Our society has seemed to disconnect the mind from the body. We see it all the time, advertisements for the various gyms around the area. "Join now with no registration fee. Get that bikini body by summer." We get pounded with workout videos and fad diet ads. We get told that in order to have your body fit the social norm one must hit the gym three or four times a week utilizing their specialty machines to sculpt and trim our bodies to look the way all the models in sports bras look as they flex on the screen.

As Bolelli points out we have lost our connection to our bodies because we have lost our connection to nature. Our ancestors lived outside within nature. They worked within it on the fields for agriculture, hunting for meat or even simply hiking for entertainment. Now, don't get me wrong, I have plenty of friends who go hiking or mountain biking and I envy them. They find the true beauty in the outdoors, but they are sadly in the minority. Because of their connection to their environment their bodies naturally stay fit because they are naturally active. Their health is stable without any thought to it because they use their bodies for what they were meant to do. Be constantly active.

But the author isn't merely pointing out nature as in the outdoors, he is talking about our innate nature as humans. One could say the same about dancers or athletes. They are naturally up and active. They don't need to think about their calorie intakes or getting to the gym. We have lost that connection to being active because our jobs have become more and more sedentary. We sit behind desks for hours a day at work at the computer or at home watching TV. We treat going to the gym or going for a walk as a chore. We treat our bodies like an after thought. I'm absolutely just as guilty of this.

I may love to beat the crap out of my punching bag, but it still doesn't make it feel like less of a chore putting on the gloves and workout gear right before. Then I have a set timer that I have to push myself to reach the end instead of simply listening to my body. I love my martial arts classes, but it's the same thing - getting dressed, going in the car and driving there is a chore that I'm not a fan of. And wanting to hike or bike, that was fun when I was a kid, but now it's maybe a once a year "special occasion." Why is that mentality okay?

When we separate the mind from the body, as Bolelli points out, we do lose a piece of the puzzle that makes us happy. As my friend Kym Lambert has been known to point out, when we work out we get "awesome workout endorphins." I know I've experienced that feeling of bliss even though I'm sweaty, I smell and I'm out of breath. Those same endorphins come from just being up and active. Anyone whose ever gone for a hike at the local park, played softball, or been an active gardener has experienced those moments of pure bliss when your mind is at peace and you're just happy.

When we treat our bodies as the temple they are we get healthy without the fuss of a gym membership and machines. We don't have to rely on the timers and the irritation of "getting ready." As we use our bodies in the way they were meant to be used and exercise them naturally as we do our minds there is the opportunity for a sense of total peace. Our health isn't a chore it is simply part of living that we have forgotten about.

As kids we played outside and stayed fit without a care in the world. We kept active, we wrestled around, we ran around the neighborhood and we stayed healthy. It was just something we did without thought. We wanted to be the fastest, the strongest and the dirtiest. Riding a bike wasn't a chore and playing in the mud was fun. This is a place I need to get back to. The author is right, as a Warrior, or even simply as a human being, balance between the body and mind is bliss. I already treat my mind as a temple by filling it with as much information as I can find. It's now time I start treating my body as a temple and that means using it!

Do your words reflect you?

I promise not to get too preachy on this blog, but I felt this fit perfectly here since I have not mentioned my faith very much. Enjoy! -

My words reflect who I am and what I believe. I'm a Warrior who lives the philosophy of the Fianna - "Truth in our hearts, Strength in our arms and Fulfillment in our tongues." Truth is spirituality that is specific to the individual as revealed by communing with deity and study. Strength is being physically capable of living your truth through keeping the body healthy and ready for whatever comes (specifically battle) and fulfillment means living a life as far from fallacies and deception as possible through not only actions, but through my words. Perhaps a more general look at it could be - Knowing Truth, Living Truth and Speaking Truth.

I pull no punches and I speak bluntly. I can do so without being insulting, but some consider my lack of beating around the bush as being tactless. It is far from it. What I recommend reflects me. If I knowingly recommend any group or website or book to study that I'm telling others they should read to learn from (in the manner that what they learn is "truth") and I know it's main component is fallacies that is a direct reflection on me.

Others choose to go about things other ways and that is their right. I prefer to be myself and speak my mind. We pagans are a vast and very different group of people with many different paths and many different opinions. I personally think that which should draw us together should be the reality of our deities in a world where they are compatible with that which is natural. Not a world where our faith is based on lies.

If we can't take ourselves seriously how will outsiders?

The Zombie Apocalypse

You've all pictured it. One day you're living your happy go lucky life then you end up in a car wreck, getting shot, or a plane crash. The next thing you know you wake up in a hospital gown, in a hospital bed, in a hospital room alone. You pull out the tubes from your arms (which apparently doesn't even cause you to flinch despite ripping 1 inch long imbedded needles out from under your skin). You stumble around a deserted hallway continuing the stumble out into an empty parking lot filled with abandoned vehicles, some of which look pretty banged up. You think to yourself, what the hell did I miss?

You hear someone approaching you from behind so you whip around to find a mangled human whose jaw seems to be missing as is half their hair. They're limping toward you reaching out for what you think is help. You move in closer to get a better look since you have some morbid fascination with this decomposing creature and you live to regret the slip in sense when the woman lunges at you. She spits blood and bile at you as she starts aiming her mouth for your neck. Then she starts aiming for your chest. Then your arm and you start thinking "This woman wants to eat me." You're able to toss her off of you and grab the nearest rock swinging at her head. You strike it once and it does nothing to dissuade her attempt at making you her breakfast. You hit her again and again and again until finally she stops moving, her head bashed in beyond recognition and the foul stench of death strewn all over your hospital gown. In comes the melancholy music of doom as the camera pans out conveying the loneliness and confusion you feel. The realization hits you. It's December 22nd, 2012 and the Mayans were right! It's the Zombie Apocalypse.

I know some of you are asking yourselves, what the hell does this have to do with anything? Well, stick with me. The first rule in Zombieland? Cardio. What's the first rule in Warrior training? Cardio. If you get winded in a fight you are almost guaranteed to lose. While the average street fight lasts seven seconds there are fights that go on for minutes. Watch the energy expelled during a muay thai or boxing match. There are times when at the end of the first round both are breathing heavily. Then they're taking hits to the face. How quickly can you think when you have just taken a beating and can't catch your breath? On top of utilizing the energy to fight back imagine having to run from your attacker. So, yes, cardio is extremely important to the Warrior.

Second rule in Zombieland? Double tap. I’m sure those reading my blog are aware of what double tap means, but for those who don’t it is when you shoot your enemy and assume they're dead. You place another shot in their head just to make sure they are actually dead because you never know when they will pop up and come grabbing for your ankles. While this isn’t necessarily a rule for Warrior training it does bring up two other subjects. Weapons and awareness.

We can learn a lot from Woody Harrelson’s character Tallahassee. The man made an art out of killing zombies with whatever was around. I bet you'll never look at a banjo in the same way again! In Resident Evil: Afterlife Milla Jovovich’s character Alice uses stacks of quarters in lieu of shotgun shells. Warriors should be aware of everything of use around them. Look around you right now. If you were attacked what could you use as a weapon? A pencil? Scissors? A shovel? Now, where could you hide? Where are the exits? If someone you cared about was with you how would you defend them? Everything is a potential weapon and everything can aide you in an escape - just think outside the box.

In Dawn of the Dead, the survivors got supplies from and took up shelter in a mall. In Resident Evil: Afterlife they got what they needed from a prison. Zombieland they took supplies from wherever they could find including what they thought were abandoned mansions. On a Warrior's mind should be some very simple questions - where would you go to get needed supplies like food, ammunition, and survival gear? What could you easily carry with you? Once those supplies run out can you survive on what the land has to offer? Do you know what plants are deadly and what could sustain you? Do you know how to hunt and prepare game meat? Do you know how to combat weather conditions and keep yourself warm or from becoming over heated?

In a Warrior's world, these questions are common place. Looking to ancient Warriors and even some modern soldiers their survival relies upon what they can find in nature to eat and the skills they pick up to keep themselves from having the elements cause their deaths. The Warrior mentality doesn't just include how well you can defend yourself, but how long you can survive with minimal supplies and your knowledge of the land. A war isn't generally hours long, it's days, weeks and years of grueling conditions, supply conservation and planning. This common scenario ring a bell with every Zombie movie you can recall?

So like the common trend goes I personally find myself utilizing the impending end of the world scenario to dictate some of my focus while training on my path. It’s partly as a joke, partly because my husband is obsessed with Zombies, and partly because it is actually good sense. With all the questions posed above we realize that movies like Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead, and the Resident Evil series make you ask yourself one very important question - could you survive? Are you Warrior enough? ;)

190 pounds

Five More

It’s so easy to go “I can make this pain stop.” How you go about that speaks a lot about determination. In a workout there is always the ability to stop. Unless you are working with a personal trainer it is usually just you driving the workout. You can make the pain stop simply by stopping. Take your water, your sweat ridden body and get up. Turn on the TV, sit at the computer or get in your car and fool yourself into believing your work out was “good enough.”

Or you could say “five more.” I do five more and I can stop. Numbers sometimes seem arbitrary. Three sets of ten or five sets of three. I don’t know the science behind the numbers and I don’t really care. It is hitting that number that matters. That number is a tiny goal and the only one stopping you from reaching it is you. That is the only thing that stands in the way of you and a healthy body.

Little goals drive your workout. You can choose to set that arbitrary number and hit it or set that number and give up. It truly is that simple. Which one do you think will fulfill you more? You’re sitting down after your work out – are you basking in your little accomplishment or are you chiding yourself for not finishing that last set or that one last push up or sit up? Or worse – do you even care?

Five more may seem like a lifetime away when you can’t think straight, your body hurts and your sweat is pooling on the floor, but take away all those factors – how far does five more feel sitting behind your computer? Not so far away now, huh?

Mismatched Legs

My short lived Army career was ultimately my doing. When I originally went to MEPS the doctor who examined me failed to inform me that I had flat feet. Whether he knew the cause or not remains to be seen as I haven’t found it noted in my records anywhere. I didn’t learn of this particular flaw until my first few days at reception. We had to stand on a box with a clear glass top, a light inside it and a mirror at the bottom. The Drill Sergent (DS) then examined it and told us whether we had high arches, regular arches or no arches. This would become handy to know when purchasing the correct running shoes for training.

I was originally informed I had one regular arch and one low, but upon arrival to the PX and putting on the running shoes I was in pain just walking around for 15 minutes in the store. Another DS put me back on the box and told me I had flat feet. Obviously, the science behind this particular test is subjective, but the second evaluation was true and I purchased the correct sneakers. If only those were all we wore I would have been home free. Unfortunately, the boots don’t have support and I wasn’t informed I needed any before I went in.

Through my time at basic we had many come and go for various indiscretions on their part and some with true medical reasons. We had one girl, I’ll call her Bee (as in Bumble), who had spent the last year in rehab due to stress fractures in her hip. This girl was an inspiration. She was gungho, loved her uniform and was about 5 foot 5 inches and maybe 110 pounds sopping wet. I could toss her like a rag doll, but that girl never gave up. She spent about 5 weeks with us when she started going back to the doctors because she started having pain in her hip again. She was pulled from training when they realized the stress fractures had returned. She was looking at possibly another year of rehab if they didn’t ultimately dismiss her from service.

My own story started about 2 weeks into actual basic training (reception was the first 8 days). My right knee began to swell up and so I had it checked out and was put on profile for the next few days. I was banned from doing the Victory Tower sealing my fate of going back to red phase if I was ever pulled from duty because of an injury. You can’t graduate basic without having completed the Victory Tower.

Well, as the weeks went on my swelling knee became a gigantic right calf. I didn’t even notice it until one of the girls pointed it out when we were in the shower. The look of disgust as she pointed to it was actually pretty amusing – “What the hell is wrong with your leg?” It had grown to almost the size of my thigh. I wish I had taken a picture for posterity.

This lead me back to the doctor and forced an overnight stay with the “sick” company so the DSs wouldn’t harp on me and I could focus on reducing the swelling by keeping ice on my leg. I was pretty much on crutches from that point on which screamed “pick on me.” Once I returned the next day and he prodded and poked my leg he determined that more than likely I had stress fractures at least in my right leg to which my eventual physical therapist would unofficially confirm was starting in my left as well so I had a choice to make. Get the problem officially diagnosed then treated but get pulled from training and go to rehab for the next 6 months to a year or go home now.

Keep in mind that you are still a piss ant while you are in training. Until you finish basic training you are unworthy and treated as such by everyone who has any sort of rank around you. Also, remember I stated my fate would have been sealed for returning once I was cleared to do so. Whatever phase you leave in would be the phase you return to and though I was pulled from training during white phase (they earned blue phase status literally the next day) because I hadn’t completed the Victory Tower my already 7 weeks of basic wouldn’t have mattered – I would have returned to day one. I had been officially serving in the Guard for almost a year by this point but, I had literally gotten married 4 months before I left for basic training and while none of these reasons are necessarily good excuses for leaving they are my justification for the choice I made. I wasn’t going to hope for the best during rehab having nothing but bi-weekly 5 minute phone calls and daily letters from my new husband to start over at day one of basic to once again get pulled at 7 weeks because the stress fractures had returned. I chose to walk away with the hopes of one day returning if I was found fit to do so.

It would be over a year later that I would have a different physical therapist inform me that I had minor scoliosis which resulted in my right leg being shorter than my left. This is what caused my knee and leg swelling and why combat boots are pretty much worthless to me. I will always have issues with my knees and legs because of it, but the one thing I regret is not getting my chance to serve. It was ultimately my choice and I take responsibility for it, but it is hard wondering what might have been. I’m not bitter. It is a part of life and having a name for the problem gives me some peace since I know now I probably wouldn’t have been able to continue much longer even in rehab.

Not being able to serve has pushed me in many endeavors. I’m happy to serve in other capacities that are more behind the scenes and I support our troops at every chance I get. Before my head DS dropped me off to my out processing company (the Rejects as we were so fondly nicknamed) he told me “I’m going to salute you one day.” While I may not be lucky enough to see that happen I can at least push myself to be worthy of those words without the rank and uniform.

Pumped For The Fight

I consider myself someone driven by sound. Silence denotes a calm that only ambient sounds of home life can compliment. If I just want to be at peace I need no other sound than my son scooting his blocks along the floor. Though not my choice of audio for meditation because the distraction of it can flinch you quickly to your feet and across the room when that sound turns from blocks on the floor to sobs or the even scarier no sound at all.

Meditation in the traditional sense is not something I generally take part in. For that all I need is a pen and paper and the creative juices flowing from them to truly put my mind in a state of ease. My preferred form of meditation involves gloves and a heavy bag – something I was lucky enough to receive as a recent birthday gift. As a friend of mine eloquently put it, my offering to the Gods is my blood, sweat and tears and my ultimate form of spiritual connection is partaking in the adrenaline rush of a “fight.” Lucky for me, it’s also good for cardio and muscle building.

Because I respond strongly to auditory stimuli music can truly ignite the fire to unleash that first blow. I would say I have a fairly eclectic taste in music, but the heart pumping type is pretty standard; heavy metal and hard rock. I have a play list that acts as a timer for my workout as well as guides me from warm up to full out hardcore to cool down. It contains various songs through out my life that got my blood boiling or helped me release that aggressive energy that would build up from whatever happened through out the day or simply because I woke up in a bad mood. I choose not to deny what some consider the negative emotions because, as humans, they are emotions we are intended to feel. Why deny them? As long as they don’t drive us to negative actions I say put them to some use!

Right now my playlist is just over 30 minutes long. I need to start slow and work my way up. Eventually I am hoping to work up to an hour adding more songs to the current playlist and creating others so I don’t get bored along the way. A lot of these songs were popular when I was in high school and since I only rarely listen to the radio these days, well, call it nostalgia or simply recognizing that high school was an emotional time. Whichever you prefer – it gets the heart rate up and the fist connecting.

At the current moment, I can put this song on repeat and it’s all I need to get me in the mood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLrxT8Vu978

FULL PLAYLIST:

1) Youth of the Nation – POD 4:18

2) Whatever – Godsmack 3:28

3) Never Again – Nickelback 4:17

4) Bodies Hit The Floor – Drowning Pool 3:19

5) Monster – Skillet 3:07

6) One Step Closer – Linkin Park 2:35

7) You’re Going Down – Sick Puppies 3:07

8) Break Shit – Limp Bizkit 2:46

9) Last Resort – Papa Roach 3:33

10) Children of the Korn – Korn (featuring Ice Cube) 3:52

TOTAL: 33:52

Make The Decision

I find that my journey is no different from anyone who needs to lose weight. There is a moment in your life where you say “I need to change this.” I am overweight and it started with my pregnancy. I was laid off from a job where I was constantly active and on my feet then placed on bed rest for a portion of my pregnancy, and then it all went down hill from there. I would sit in bed not being very active at times and just eat whatever I felt like eating. Prior to my pregnancy and for the first few months of it I was exactly where I wanted to be weight wise and I had the nice flat stomach I absolutely loved. Here I am now, fifty pounds overweight and my son is almost two years old.

I have had friends that had children around the same time I did and within nine months had lost the weight just by no longer being pregnant. I attributed my inability to do so to genetics as my mother has had issues with her weight since giving birth to us and left it at that. It was when I began getting run down and having no energy to do anything and yet the will to want to that I knew there was something more going on so this took me to the doctor. He put together all my symptoms and we decided that taking a synthetic hormone could help my mood and it has, in some ways, though in others maybe I’m just not taking enough or what have you to alleviate everything. Some of my symptoms have gotten slightly better and others have not. There isn’t much of an exact science in this case and so figuring out the right dosage will have to be part of my journey as well.

My story isn’t unlike a lot of other women, but my path very much is. Since the birth of my son I have found a renewed strength in my faith. My religious beliefs are very alternative and are even alternative within the sub-sect that I practice within. As a Celtic Reconstructionist I practice a religious tradition that perhaps only a few hundred others do. While it fits into the larger scale of paganism my tradition is a minority within a minority. This has pushed me to “put my money where my mouth” is in regards to what I believe and practice. There is no one else to lead the way for my child so if I don’t set the example he will have no understanding of the tradition I put all of my heart and soul into.

In my tradition there are various different positions one can hold just as there were in the ancient times. Within the Celtic tradition one can be, amongst other things, a Bard, a Healer, a Druid or a Warrior. I am the later. Some could say it is by choice and in some ways it is, but for the most part, just like anything else in faith, my thriving to be a Warrior is a calling. As such it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and stop putting off the practice and training that I have always wanted or intended or sort of done before and I am hoping this public proclamation and documentation will keep me on that track. Sadly, I make this decision right at a time of celebration that usually involves lots of eating and drinking so while I am starting this blog now, the journey truly begins once everything calms down. To quote Lao-tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” so here it goes.

Blackbird
205 pounds