{"id":8101,"date":"2013-06-01T01:10:05","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T06:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=8385"},"modified":"2013-05-13T12:55:07","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T17:55:07","slug":"tink-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2013\/06\/01\/tink-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Tink About it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who am I? What am I?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

People like to label others, probably to get things clear for themselves. It\u2019s understandable and doesn\u2019t have to be a problem, as long as you don\u2019t get too rigid about it. Labels can change, because people change. The label \u2018female\u2019 is permanent (well, most of the time..), but the label \u2018friend\u2019 can turn into \u2018acquaintance\u2019 or even \u2018foe\u2019.\u00a0 I know I<\/em> use labels for people; it\u2019s hard not to, but I try to keep them flexible, unprejudiced and stay open to change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pagans are just like people… \ud83d\ude09 Whenever I introduce myself as a witch among other pagans, there\u2019s always someone that asks which path I walk or something of the like. My standard answer is: my own path! True of course, but not very clear to the questioner. In fact they are trying to label me. I don\u2019t mind, but the thing is I have a hard time labelling myself too sometimes! I have been practising for quite some years now and I\u2019ve tried and learned about different paths, traditions, etc. From all of it I incorporated things into my own cauldron so to speak. They can replace other things, just add something new, or create something completely different when added to the mix. It\u2019s a perpetual movement, ever changing\u2026 sometimes in a subtle way, sometimes in a major sense.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My basis and starting point has always been witchcraft and its fundamental principles. I have been raised Roman catholic, but somehow I always missed things there, although I liked the rituals. When I was about 6 I asked my dad: \u2018How do you know that god is a man? You have never seen him. Maybe it\u2019s a woman!\u2019 My parents always supported me in finding my own way. Discovering paganism felt like coming home, finding my true path. I feel comfortable as a witch and with the way most witches work. Of course the different ways are up to discussion too, but that\u2019s not where I want to go now. I\u2019m talking about the general things, not how they are individually practised. I emphasize on the similarities, not the differences. So, I\u2019m a witch. If I can only label myself with one word, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Within witchcraft I\u2019ve explored and tried a lot. Finding out what you don\u2019t <\/em>like or want is important and rewarding too! One of the major focus points of my life is balance, in all area\u2019s and all ways possible. My spiritual path is no different: to me both goddess and god are equally important. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t feel right for me to just focus on one of them all the time. I have no problem working together with witches that think otherwise, I adapt easily. People have their reasons and beliefs and if it works for them, that\u2019s fine with me! Personally though, I see goddess and god (or god and goddess) as one, they need each other, they are two halves of one whole.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I was looking around, trying things, working with others, etc, I noticed that a lot of witches work with foreign deities: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Celtic, Indian, etc. Although I\u2019m very interested to learn about them I discovered I wanted to connect with my own heritage and that of the place where I\u2019m living: The Netherlands! Looking for local deities, legends, spirits of the place I found a mix of Celtic, Roman and Germanic ones. The last ones appealed to me the most, they felt familiar and close. I got in touch with Asatru. They work with the Norse\/Germanic pantheon and I learn a lot from them. This part is important to me, so I add something to my label: I\u2019m a heathen witch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more of course. I\u2019ve studied and tried druidry, shamanism, traditional wicca, gnosticism, other pagan paths and all kinds of pagan-related stuff. I read, do workshops, discuss and try things out in different ways. I discovered and met my power animals. I found out shamanic journeying works better for some things than meditation, so I use both. Stirring in my cauldron\u2026 \u00a0I mix and match while doing my best to respect, honour and do justice to the individual parts. I try to get the hang of things, always learning, always wanting to know and\/or do more. If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned about this path it\u2019s that you are never ready. The more you learn, the more you realise how little you know. Inquisitive as I am, I like that! I don\u2019t want to be limited by one path, tradition or group though. Therefore I add one last part to the label: I\u2019m an eclectic heathen witch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So think about it: what would be your<\/em> label?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

B*B, Tink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who am I? What am I?   People like to label others, probably to get things clear for themselves. It\u2019s understandable and doesn\u2019t have to be a problem, as long as you don\u2019t get too rigid about it. Labels can change, because people change. The label \u2018female\u2019 is permanent (well, most of the time..), but the label \u2018friend\u2019 can turn into \u2018acquaintance\u2019 or even \u2018foe\u2019.\u00a0 I know I use labels for people; it\u2019s hard not to, but I try to keep them flexible, unprejudiced and stay open to change.   Pagans are just like people… \ud83d\ude09 Whenever I introduce myself as a witch among other pagans, there\u2019s always someone that asks which path I walk or something of the like. My standard answer is: my own path! True of course, but not very clear to the questioner. In fact they are trying to label me. I don\u2019t mind, but the thing is I have a hard time labelling myself too sometimes! I have been practising for quite some years now and I\u2019ve tried and learned about different paths, traditions, etc. From all of it I incorporated things into my own cauldron so to speak. They can replace other things, just add something new, or create something completely different when added to the mix. It\u2019s a perpetual movement, ever changing\u2026 sometimes in a subtle way, sometimes in a major sense.   My basis and starting point has always been witchcraft and its fundamental principles. I have been raised Roman catholic, but somehow I always missed things there, although I liked the rituals. When I was about 6 I asked my dad: \u2018How do you know that god is a man? You have never seen him. Maybe it\u2019s a woman!\u2019 My parents always supported me in finding my own way. Discovering paganism felt like coming home, finding my true path. I feel comfortable as a witch and with the way most witches work. Of course the different ways are up to discussion too, but that\u2019s not where I want to go now. I\u2019m talking about the general things, not how they are individually practised. I emphasize on the similarities, not the differences. So, I\u2019m a witch. If I can only label myself with one word, that\u2019s it.   Within witchcraft I\u2019ve explored and tried a lot. Finding out what you don\u2019t like or want is important and rewarding too! One of the major focus points of my life is balance, in all area\u2019s and all ways possible. My spiritual path is no different: to me both goddess and god are equally important. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t feel right for me to just focus on one of them all the time. I have no problem working together with witches that think otherwise, I adapt easily. People have their reasons and beliefs and if it works for them, that\u2019s fine with me! Personally though, I see goddess and god (or god and goddess) as one, they need each other, they are two halves of one whole.   When I was looking around, trying things, working with others, etc, I noticed that a lot of witches work with foreign deities: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Celtic, Indian, etc. Although I\u2019m very interested to learn about them I discovered I wanted to connect with my own heritage and that of the place where I\u2019m living: The Netherlands! Looking for local deities, legends, spirits of the place I found a mix of Celtic, Roman and Germanic ones. The last ones appealed to me the most, they felt familiar and close. I got in touch with Asatru. They work with the Norse\/Germanic pantheon and I learn a lot from them. This part is important to me, so I add something to my label: I\u2019m a heathen witch.   But there\u2019s more of course. I\u2019ve studied and tried druidry, shamanism, traditional wicca, gnosticism, other pagan paths and all kinds of pagan-related stuff. I read, do workshops, discuss and try things out in different ways. I discovered and met my power animals. I found out shamanic journeying works better for some things than meditation, so I use both. Stirring in my cauldron\u2026 \u00a0I mix and match while doing my best to respect, honour and do justice to the individual parts. I try to get the hang of things, always learning, always wanting to know and\/or do more. If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned about this path it\u2019s that you are never ready. The more you learn, the more you realise how little you know. Inquisitive as I am, I like that! I don\u2019t want to be limited by one path, tradition or group though. Therefore I add one last part to the label: I\u2019m an eclectic heathen witch.   So think about it: what would be your label?   B*B, Tink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}