2012

I don't do much for the "new year". Religiously, my new year starts in winter, and it's more of a process than one particular day or moment. So New Years has always just been an excuse for a party, and typically the nights don't go well. They're usually a disappointment at best and a disaster at worst, so I go into things with a view that it will probably suck. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised! This year's NYE party was nothing special, but I did get to see some old friends again, and no one was horribly injured, and only one person threw up. So that was OK.

It usually means, also, that New Year's Day is spent hung over, or filled with regret, or otherwise with me being grumpy. (Tick off at least two of those for me this year.) I don't start a "new year" filled with joy or anything like that, but occasionally I'll participate in some sort of tradition; in my family, we wear a brand new item of clothing on New Year's Day, usually something received as an Xmas gift. It's supposed to be good luck. I don't know where this tradition came from, but I sort of like it. This year I didn't get anything clothing-related except socks (I like socks) and I'd already worn those, so I didn't have anything new to wear.

As for resolutions, I usually fail at them utterly. I think I'd rather set a general goal, and work towards that, but it's a strange thing to do when the world's just turning itself down towards winter. Goal-setting seems like it should happen more at the beginning of spring. At any rate, I'm more concerned with completing the goals I have in mind already than I am with making more goals.

I don't have any goals for the blog, except to keep it going. We've made it a year so far, which is about 11 months longer than any other "proper" blog I've tried to run. I still have about three book reviews half-finished that I have to complete and post at some point, and I hope in 2012 I'll be more conscientious about getting those (and others!) written up and posted.

I've also considered "monetising" the blog; I've had a fair few more visitors lately (yay!) and am not opposed to the making of a dollar or two. I decided against ads, but I did decide to put up a little "donate" button, tucked away further down the page so as not to be obtrusive. If you like the blog, have an extra dollar and feel like it, you are now able to give that dollar to me. (Or you can buy a yourself lollipop or something. Or give it to the local animal shelter. Or Alzheimers research. Anyway, the option is now there.)

Oh, also, the Mayan thing? Yeah, no. If the world was going to end this year it would have only begun about 5,000 years ago, when the last calendar ticked over to 13.0.0.0.0 or whatever it is. Which is nonsense. Of course the world is billions of years old. So. I just felt I should mention it, given the title of this blog post.

This is the holiday post, I suppose. And it's also nearly a year since I started this blog - the first post was way back in January 2011. Well, OK, to be honest it's nearly 11 months since I started the blog, as I started it at the end of January, but nevertheless as 2011 comes to a close one becomes contemplative about the past year.

It does feel like it has been a long time. I'd never blogged regularly before when I started, though I'd tried, so I'm glad it's come this far. I think I owe the "30 Days of Paganism" meme a debt of gratitude for giving me something to post on those occasions when I couldn't think of much of anything to write.

And I'd especially like to thank all of you for not only reading but linking to the blog on StumbleUpon, Twitter and Tumblr. It's because of all of you guys that Hagstone reached 3000 views this month, and I really, really appreciate it.

The Solstice is tomorrow. Summer for me, Winter for many of you, so many happy returns to those who are celebrating religiously at this time of year, and many happy returns for any secular holidays you all may be celebrating as well. I, for my part, will be picking some flowers tomorrow for my altar and celebrating the longest day with some nice fruits, some nice wine, and a ritual I will probably make up as I go along. My secular Eksmas will be celebrated with family and good food, and my Nordic Midsummer I will stretch out to a few days, with a formal blót, oh, probably on the 22nd, but perhaps a day or two later. It is a busy time of year after all.

Joyous Holidays!

A Milestone

So, at some point last month the blog ticked over to 1000 pageviews. And I didn't really notice at the time, so I didn't say anything.

But I'm looking at it now, at just over 1100, and feeling pretty pleased about that. I'd like to thank everyone for reading, thank you all for linking me on your sites or on tumblr, on reddit, on stumbleupon. Thank you also for your comments and feedback. It means a lot to hear from you, and to know that you're enjoying what I'm writing.

Thanks everyone <3

A Housekeeping Post

Hello folks.

I have set up an email address for this blog, the link for which I will post over on the right somewhere. So if you should have a question, or a comment to make that you don't wish to make publicly, you can feel free to email me. I encourage any questions or comments regarding the FAQs and so on be directed to this email address instead of made in comments on individual posts.

Note: emails consisting primarily of flames, will be ignored as a matter of course and deleted without being read through.

If you have an issue with something I have posted here on Hagstone I do recommend you make your comment public; if you feel you have to email me, wait a day before sending it, because aggressive emails will not receive a response.

Thanks all.

Thoughts on the Blog, and Moving Forward

I find myself a bit unsure what to post here lately. I think a lot of that is because I've been throwing up a lot of my quasi-feminist vitriol, and that's largely what this blog has become. Apart form the odd book review (most still in draft form, I regret to say), I haven't written much about my faith, or about Paganism generally. Which I... don't regret, I just wish to change that.

This blog started as a way for me to rant about the way abortion is treated in my country. And I've done that. And I may do that again in the future. (I probably will. Expect a rant about sterilisation again at some point.) If nothing else, my recent reading of The Spiral Dance and its particular prejudices has me twitching - but I'll save that for the review. (It'll be scathing. It really is an awful book.)

When I began this blog, I was in a ranty mood. And I'm often in that sort of mood, because people are stupid. But that's not what I want any more. I'm a little upset with the sheer amount of rant in the blog so far. For the time being, I'm going to focus the blog primarily on religious and craft-related matters, and less on feminist and childfree issues.

I hope that's agreeable to everyone. I have quite a few books lined up for review. If there are books in particular you'd like to see reviewed, do tell me. I'll do everything but lore translations and Ravenwolf. Although note that there are quite a few Pagan religions I'm not well versed in enough to know whether or not a particular book on the subject is full of it, but I'll make relevant disclaimers as we go.

So. The weather grows colder, which I like. There's something special about winter. Most of the trees here keep their leaves... I wish they didn't. I'd like to live somewhere where the ground was white with snow instead of just the occasional frost, and the trees were great naked spiky things pointing skyward. And it wasn't so damn hot in summer.

Yule is on the horizon, which is pleasing. It's a holiday I particularly love. There's a lot of mead involved; what's not to love? As a Heathen, I hold twelve nights of celebration. As a Heathen all by her lonesome, that celebration is rather limited, but it does one good to mark the time. I rarely manage to hold ritual every night, but something is better than nothing, and taking some time to be peaceful and happy, and read some lore with good food or drink, counts nearly as much as ritual. I also hold a Winter Solstice ritual for my religious Hedgecraft, and honour my God and Goddess thereof, which means the night of the solstice itself tends to be busy and exhausting.

I extend the question to my readers, however many stumble across this post: What holiday are you celebrating soon, and how will you celebrate? I do love learning about the holidays and rituals of different Pagan (and otherwise) religions.

Of Books and Bad Reputations

Hey folks.

You deserve a post because this current book review is DAMN LONG and it's taking me forever to get it finished. I keep finding new things to add. I'm going to show it to a few friends first so I can get some feedback, and maybe trim it down a little. For your sakes. I mean, I did want to be thorough in my reviews, but not so thorough it bores the snot out of you.

In other news, a new link for everyone. Bad Reputation, a feminist blog based out of the UK. I've only just stumbled across it (I'm new to the blogging game in general) but I'm very much enjoying reading it so far. I shall add it to the link list.

On that note, if you have ideas of websites or blogs I should link to, please add them to the comments. I'm also accepting ideas on which books to review next.

In related news, I'm currently reading "Hammer and the Cross" by Robert Fergusson, about the Vikings, their religion, violence, and the conversions. I'm not far in, but thoroughly enjoying it so far. If you're interested in the Vikings or in the Christian conversions of the North, you may want to give it a read. I'm not so well versed in history that I feel I can review it properly, but what I have read I have enjoyed.

In edition, a joyous Equinox to all who celebrate it. I'm unsure what other holidays are celebrated around this time, although I imagine the Eleusinian Mysteries might take place around now. I personally held quite a pleasing ritual, elements of which were of great benefit to me as a woman who is attempting to forge her own personal religious witchcraft tradition.

May the season please you!

Housekeeping Post #1

A change in blog theme, Dear Reader, to celebrate the Autumn. It has been technically autumn here for a few weeks now, and it's beginning to grow cooler some nights and mornings, although during the day the hot weather has yet to relent. I hope to encourage the heat to dissipate with a change in blog design. I've also decreased the font size; I think it looks better, but if people have trouble reading it, please let me know.

It's heartening to check my stats and discover people have actually been reading my little blog. I hope people have been enjoying it, despite it being, at this point, just a book review and a handful of rants. I did create the blog to be largely a place to post book reviews but of course they are slower in coming than rants, as it does require me to read (or reread) books to write a review. Still, I'm nearly done with the next one I'm to post - I want to finish rereading it over again before posting the review. I'm generally happy with it, but I don't want to have forgotten anything.

I feel like I should tell you all a bit most about myself, or about the blog, or something like that. But I'm not sure what to say. I don't want to get too personal, as it's not terrifically relevant and anyway I think most of the people who come through here already know me already, from forums or social websites or similar. Still, if you have any questions, please ask them here and I'll answer them in a subsequent post. Anything I consider offensive or too personal will be ignored and deleted, of course. Also, any ideas for topics to cover in future posts will be cheerfully considered. A couple of people have already given me some ideas that will be covered in the future.

Having a dual-themed blog does present some problems, and some teething issues. I know some readers will be interested in feminist issues but not Pagan ones, and vice versa. I am happier at present with a dual-themed blog rather than two single-themed blogs, although I know that it's not always wise when starting a blog to split its focus. I think in time issues will get ironed out and the blog will find its feet, but I'm still interested in feedback on this as well. (Having said that, I will still keep the single blog for a time to see if those issues do indeed iron themselves out.)

So that's the state of things at the beginning of Autumn. The leaves are still green outside my window. The sun is still too bright, and still too hot. My toes are cold, though. The grapes in the garden are ripe. The sky is a rich blue. The dogs are asleep next to the hearth. And now I must away, to Sunday lunch with my family.