Everything Under the Moon

Finally I'm in. I waited a bit for my account to be activated which wasn't too bad actually. I have been lurking in the shadows here for a good while now.

I've been in a search of an active witchcraft forum and it seems I might have found my place. I have been reading probably hundreds of threads already and I truly like what I've seen so far. Its not the first forum of this sort on which a witch feels at home. The vibe here is very nice, I hope I'm not mistaken on it. To get to know me will take more than just an introduction, but I'll try to throw some things out here to give you an idea. I'm from Finland, 34 years old, male. Born on 23.1.1984. And yep, for those horoscope nutters out there, I'm very much an aquarius. Some of the personality sort things really hold the water (Yep. blue_laugh ) about me.

I'm a musician, I also do other art, I draw, photoshop and I handcraft things when ever I find time for it and I also renovate vintage bicycles, also when ever I find time for it. Music is my main thing though, I would love to make my living from it, but heavy metal pays quite badly. Its more like a way of life than a hobby anyway.

Then on to the interesting stuff. I would say I'm an eclectic witch of sorts. I really like some things about Wicca, but I don't feel like I would settle into a coven very well as I have my on doing things and I like to experiment, break the rules and try stuff out. And I'm also on the fence about deities, or how should I put it, undecided which ones are "my thing". I'm also into Finnish religion / ancient tradition / deities and so on. Actually Finnish deities and spirits have been close to my heart for a long time in a way or another.

My interest in witchcraft started a long time ago, getting into heavy metal music and finding suitable friends helped a ton on it, mostly teenage stuff, but that set the path for me. (That was also my introduction to Wicca among other things.) Then as time went by I slipped on a VERY dark path and I have done some things that would probably frighten people to bits. It took its toll on me and I'm still fighting my own past in a way. My mental health got severely beaten and not only because what I practised, but also because of other nasty things that happened to me.

Finally I was able to struggle my way out of it and all that dark stuff was quite a growing experience, I'm much more mature and smarter with magick these days. And I've "switched sides" completely. Which brings in what's up right now. I have had major changes in my life lately and that has made me reflect on the past and think about the future... To handle all the stress I started to practise meditation again. And soon enough something happened that made me interested in witchcraft again, and I mean full blast interested. (I've been doing rituals etc. on and off for years.) I even started writing my Book of Shadows, finally. I've thought of that for years and now I'm on it. I experienced kind of a wake up call of sorts and for the first time I've been reading a lot about witchcraft, funnily enough, a lot of it came as a confirmation on things I've learned myself without anybody teaching me.

Spending time here reading on what you guys have been posting for last +10 years has been a lot of fun, I hope chiming in will also work like a charm. What a way to start the new moon.

So merry meet you fine people here, and that vampire, bunch of fairies and the grinning gargoyle in the corner.

Blessed be.

Welcome. I hope you will share some of what Finnish religion and deities are all about.

SnowCat wrote:Welcome. I hope you will share some of what Finnish religion and deities are all about.

I definitely will. Maybe I'll start a new thread on it at some point.

Welcome & hello

I think I'll post a bit about Finnish deities in here, that subject sure needs its own thread at some point.

The most important one for me is, not surprisingly, Ukko. He's the god of rain and thunder and the heavens above. Funnily enough, being born under an air sign, this one feels close to heart. Ukko has a lot of resemblance to Tyr and there's some Celtic deity who's very close to that too. This deity also causes thunder by throwing a hammer, or sword or with an arrow. I don't think I mentioned before that I love thunderstorms? I've been drawn to it since I was a little kid. When it thunders, I go out there, no matter if I get soaked wet, I just have to, I get so energised from it. Its pure magick. The name Ukko is interesting one as it also means an old man, some times Karelians call their father/grandfather with that name or use it to mean just some random old man. Also the word for thunder is Ukkonen in Finnish. Ukko is an interesting deity, not almighty, not always on a good mood. Rain was seen as his kindness and thunder as a punishment or anger.

Another important figure is Tapio, the deity or the guardian of the forest. Anything in Finland that isn't a lake, a house, a road or field, grows trees... Its not wonder there's powerful deity of the forest here. He can show himself in many forms, most commonly described as a human, but he can show up as a moose or a bear to mention some.

Third one I pay some real attention to is Ahti, the deity of waters, lakes and the ocean. I'm a passionate fisherman when I win my laziness or busyness and I always do a little prayer and a sacrifice to him before fishing.

Most of the worship of these deities is about sacrifice and summoning them to help with spell work. Also the ancient Finnish holidays correspond quite well with other traditions, not surprisingly. The most important one of those for me is mid summer, that's the celebration of Ukko, huge fires a set up, people drink and eat, heat up sauna, go swimming and make merry in all the ways there is. The idea is kind of thanksgiving and prayer for Ukko to give rain to help the crops grow. Its a fertility celebration really. There's ton of spells to do on that night, spells which many people still do in a playful way. Many of them are fertility spells, for people, animals and crops alike.

Finnish traditions and deity worship is very nature based, there's a lot of spells, very often they we're sung, there's rhyme in almost all of them. Fertility and the course of the year, weather and so on are big part of the whole thing. Also there's a lot of tradition that has to do with reading signs from nature, predicting luck and weathers and so on. And there's certain dates on which the tradition dictates are important for telling about the future.

Whoa, this post has gone way longer than I thought. Btw, in old times, one of the names for Finns that foreigners used was the witch people. And with very good reason too. Finnish tradition is full of witchcraft and magick, the most typical Finnish witch is the village wise person, the healer, herbalist type. Funny thing is that many people here really like and admire all that tradition, or what little of it has been written down, but their reaction goes U-turn when its called witchcraft.

Ok, enough rambling on this subject, it really needs its own thread.

SpiritTalker wrote:Welcome & hello

Merry meet you SpiritTalker.

This forum has a very nice feel to it. Finally I've found an active forum. I'm so much a talk person when I'm on something I really like like. I'm also on a Finnish witch/neopagan forum, but its so small and quiet, I don't like to talk to myself. xD

Welcome to the fold, as I'm sure your aware this forum is very useful for posting questions and getting answers one way or another as well as the friendly community. Hope you settle in and enjoy what we have to offer

Ashrend wrote:Welcome to the fold, as I'm sure your aware this forum is very useful for posting questions and getting answers one way or another as well as the friendly community. Hope you settle in and enjoy what we have to offer

.o/

So far I'm having good time around here.

Hail and welcome Lorde L.J.Hex. Lots of friendly critters on this site, they even tolerate me. I be an old Solitary Eclectic Witch from way back always interested in the path experiences of others. All that matters is our attunement with the Infinite and that we be true to the Wizardly way of life.

Namaste

Shekinah wrote:Hail and welcome Lorde L.J.Hex. Lots of friendly critters on this site, they even tolerate me. I be an old Solitary Eclectic Witch from way back always interested in the path experiences of others. All that matters is our attunement with the Infinite and that we be true to the Wizardly way of life.

Namaste

Thank you for the welcome. I've read a lot of your posts, you seem to stand out of the crowd a bit.

And I do agree on the critters around 'ere.

Bless Ye Brother

Welcome!

Thanks. ^___^

I was away for a bit... I've been busy with "real" life issues and pure laziness. Going to dig in deep when the weathers go worse. Its been far too nice outside to spend all day online.