Self-Esteem

The first month of 2014 has come to an end.  I’m finding that even though time has passed, there are people out there that continue to go on and on about the past.  I’m actually pretty surprised that I’m so important in their lives.  Generally they don’t cross my mind unless someone sends me a link to a post by them, or I see that I've been “re-added” to those worthy of viewing their posts.

I like to think I’m a pretty fair person.  I treat others how I want to be treated.  I’m honest.  When I have an issue, I go directly to the source.  When I discussed having a giveaway and was cock-blocked by another “friend”, I graciously postponed my giveaway.  I even assisted with coding for the giveaway.    I shared tips on how to use clay for sculpting and even offered a shoulder to cry on when this same friend had issues with their children.

I do what I can to be a very forgiving person as well.  After being tossed aside, I still maintained a friendship.  I watched as each item I posted was re-posted on another page less than 12 hours later.  While I don’t claim to have a patent on crafting, and as many of you know, I'm willing to share my crafting ideas and suggestions in blog projects or on Facebook, the idea that directly after I create a blog, another blog immediately follows.   Immediately after I post a design, a nearly mirror image follows.  While I’m not so much concerned about the copying of the work, but more so the betrayal of my sharing my personal ideas and thoughts and having them taken and posted as their own.

I sat down thinking about this yesterday morning.  There is no reason that I should sit here and take the abusive posts or be blogging fodder for those that obviously do not have the strength or respect to address me directly.  I left myself open for contact for the last 5-6 months.  The opportunity for discussion and forgiveness is now over.

Tomorrow is February 1st.  I will be turning 45 this month.  At someone point we've all said, “You know what?  I’m too old for this shit”

You know what?  I am.  And I have a few gray hairs to prove it.


Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson


Grab life by the horns and take control of your life.  Protecting yourself is not selfish, it’s self-esteem.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna

)O(

Throwing Thursday - 4th Throw

So over the last few weeks I've steadily improved how the pots are coming out.  I still have mess ups and I still have a LOT of flops!

I'm working on a few different types of pots.  I'm looking to create some small offering bowls, some salt bowls/pigs and maybe some incense bowls.

Here are some photos from my 4th throw.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson
The salt pigs didn't turn out as I had hoped.  The walls were too thick in some places and too thin in others. Just keep plugging along.


The Wages of Pagan Sin

Earlier this week I started writing a post about Pagan Sin.  Inspired by a post in a group I was in, I thought about contemplating what would a Pagan call sin?  How would one be a bad Pagan, and if they were a bad Pagan, would they have some sort of Hell they would go to?

This thought was furthered along by two things that I experienced yesterday.  First, there was a situation regarding the attack of someone who was claiming the title Pagan Elder online.  The second, was American Horror Story – Coven. 

For those that missed the excitement of the online shenanigans, I’ll spare you the gory details and just say that one witch was using another witch to attack a third and fourth witch and tragedy was averted by open dialog.   Something the current Pagan community desperately needs.  Instead of blocking people, chitter chatting behind people’s back and whispering veiled threats there should be more direct conversation, open community and frank honesty.  In this instance, we have one Pagan calling another Pagan “bad”.  They are being labeled as a blight on the community, someone who is not worthy of the place they hold in the community.  

While I understand that we have those that are indeed role models, people that do a service to the overall community; we also have to understand that we are not going to agree.  Some may see a spider as a necessary part of the ecosystem, others may see it as … EEEEEK KILL IT!   There’s no changing that.  We have to learn that even if we revile the spider, the spider will continue to be a spider.  We cannot expect the spider to suddenly say, “Oh shit, I’m not going to be spider any more.”  He has no choice but to be a spider.  Now I’m not saying that we should allow mass chaos.  The world needs level heads and understanding.  We need to be more concerned about our neighbor and less concerned about who is the “Bestest Witch”. 


Taking our incident from yesterday, let’s for arguments sake agree that a certain photo was faked.  Let’s also say that it was done intentionally and with malice and forethought.  I present you with this question.  Who cares?  What difference does that make in the grand scheme of things today?  How does it change anything?  Is the person who did that guilty of some great sin? 


Stay with me for a moment, fast forward from a photo from the 70’s and let’s turn on the TV and watch AHS-Coven episode – “Go to Hell”.  The characters Marie Laveau and Madame LaLaurie, who were immortal, were both killed and ended up in their own hell.  Understanding that this is fiction, I’m completely sure that showing that two obviously Pagan people were in hell is sort of an oxymoron.  Hell is a Christian concept.  It was created by those followers of Abrahamic religions, which would by definition exclude Voodoo and Wicca.  I’m using the term Wicca, very broadly here.  Now, as I am not a scholar in Voodoo, that isn't to say that followers may have some sort of punishment area or something of the sort.  What I am saying is that the term “Witch” is used with a pretty broad brush and for the most part, the majority of the people I know that claim that title do not believe in hell.

So what do they believe in?   What will happen to those people who harm others?  What will happen to those who use the craft to further their own personal vendettas against the world?  What about those who don’t follow the rule of three?  Will they continue to thrive while those that respect the earth and the world only just get by?  What about fooling the entire community? What about stealing the work of others?  What about spreading lies via blogs and backbiting?

Here’s my take on the whole thing.  The success of one does not equal the value.  Just because someone has a 100,000,000.00 home, or a fancy car doesn't make that person successful.  Your success, your failure is within you.  You are the one who determines your worth.  If you sit all day, grumbling and complaining that page X has more likes than you, or blogger X has more followers, you will continue to see that come to fruition.  You are sending that energy out in the world and it is coming back to you.  You have to accept that there are those who will benefit from being nasty.  There is no great cosmic parent who is going to come rain down fire and brimstone to defend you. Ever heard the adage ‘misery loves company’.  It’s sort of like that.  You keep talking negative, being negative, living negative and you will attract negative.  Regardless of your belief in the rule of three.

I believe, there is no judgment at the end.  There’s no hell or heaven.  We are the masters of our destiny.  We make our lives good or bad.  Live your life openly, honestly and stand by what you believe in. 

Ultimately, you are the judge, jury and executioner of your life.  You are the only one that you need to please.  Live your life to be who you are, even if you are a spider.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(


Throwing Thursday - 3rd Throw

On my third sitting at the wheel, I tried to put a pot back on the wheel and re-center it.  It was a little like watching The Three Stooges do pottery.

Here are a few photos from the sitting.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Throwing Thursday - 2nd Throw

On my second trip to the wheel I switched from the white clay over to the red clay.  At this point I only have two bats.  That means I have to use the wire to cut each bowl off the bat in order to use it again on the next pot.  I will be getting more bats in the future to avoid this.  Letting the pot sit on the bat until it is leather hard lets you put the bat back on the wheel and do the trimming without the need to re-center the pot.

It also eliminates the misshapen and distortion of the pots that occur while moving it wet.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


After about 2 days, the pots get to a state called leather hard.  This is where the clay can sill be shaped and but it has a firm feel to it.  This is when trimming would occur or if I wanted to add a handle, I can do so at this point.  As you can see below the clay looks a bit dryer than the photos above.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

After a few more days, it will fluctuate based on the temperature, the clay reaches a state called bone dry. At this point I'll can either do a fire on the clay, or put it back in the water to revert it back to a state that I can put back on the wheel.  Currently, I don't fire anything.  I'm in a practice mode and just let everything dry to bone dry, then toss it back in the water.

Greed vs. Need


I sit here in my modest home, with my modest belongings and know that I am only a month away from bankruptcy.  I know that if I lost my job, or had some major illness, my little shop would disappear.  My shop doesn't pay the bills, in fact, I work my mundane job so that I can afford to throw some clay, make some jewelry and go out to various events around the local area.



Photo Credit - Renee Olson - 2013
Sosanna's Closet - Beltane Festival - Newport News, VA

I have a website and a shop site on the various sellerpages.  I might sell a few pieces a month, but for the most part, my personal business is not self-sufficient.  I've worked at the same job for nine years now.  I love my job.  It suits me.  I’m able to work a fully day and feel at least somewhat rewarded in helping others.
Because my job is online, I spend a great deal of time sitting in front of a terminal, with glowing screens and the rat tat tat of the keyboard being the most organic sound I hear all day.  I do this so that we can have our modest home and so I can pour myself into the creative outlet I call Sosanna’s Closet.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson - 2012
Sosanna's Closet - Yule Bazaar - Wilson, NC

I would love to be wildly successful.  I would love to have people commission pots or order jewelry from me from around the world.  But at this point, I’m happy to get a few comments and maybe a few likes on Facebook.  I’m ok with having that I have.  I’m sure living like Beyonce or maybe getting paid what our government officials in Washington get paid might be nice, but I’m really OK with just having my simple life.

My needs are met.  I have bills.  I have debt.  But my lights are on and I’m not going hungry.  To me, having what you need should be a basic human right.  When we collect more than what we need, most see that as some sort of illness.

Let's look at hoarders for example.  The collect more and more and more until their house literally can fall down around them.  Their looked at a sick and in need of therapy.  They accumulate more and and more until the walls are piled high with items and you can no longer see the floor.  We send out cameras and create reality shows about these people.  We shake our heads and think how pitiful they are.
Yet, when someone collects more and more money.  We see them as some sort of success.  They cannot eat their money, or breathe that money. 

Gandhi said – the earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.

This is such a true statement to me.  Recent discussions in social media avenues have led to some of my friends complaining that THEY are paying for people who don’t want to work.  Or they are paying for healthcare for lazy people. Really?  The changes in healthcare hit me pretty hard.  Our deductible when up and our coverage down.  I’m pretty healthy so, I could handle the changes.  Plus, now there are some kids out there who are able to get health care.  I’m ok with that.  I’m willing to share what I have, though it’s not much, with those in need. 

People are not homeless because there are not enough homes…

A long time ago I was listening to a George Carlin stand up and he started in on golf courses.  He started talking about how homelessness is some abstract frame of mind and what these people really need are houses.  


NSFW - George Carlin on Homelessness



I've watched over the last 3-4 years, where Detroit has offered homes as low as $500 to encourage people to move back to the failing city.   They even started a campaign to revitalize the city by offering writers a free house!

Over the last few months I've watched the movie set “Zeitgeist” and found reference to The Venus Project.  Started by Jacque Fresco, the Venus Project looks at changing to a resource based economy.  We focus on sustainable living and natural resources.  We change our lives with other by changing how we work with one another.  We could end war and poverty if we just stopped looking at what we can own and start looking at what we can share.

Utopia.

Recently I had some shingles ripped up off my house from a wind storm.  I had someone come over and repair them for a dozen eggs from my hens and a homemade pumpkin pie. 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson
My Hen

I’m not suggesting that we all head down to Wal-Mart with our basket of eggs to try to get an iPad.  What I am suggesting is that if we start locally.  Small and help our neighbor, live just might get a bit better for us all. Maybe one day, everyone will have an iPad, and no one will be hungry.


With that I send blessings for a more socialized society.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna

)O(

All Wired Up

Over the last few months I've been dabbling in wire wrapping.  I started with basics, doing some simple rings.  I made quite a few rings for a local show and sold a large number of them.  I even had a few folks order custom rings on the spot.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


I currently have a couple for sale on my Etsy Shop and my Facebook Page - Shopping Tab.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


I then moved on to learning to wrap stones and glass in such a way that didn't appear that copper wire had vomited on them.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson
I've even started working on creating some of my own designs.  I'm working on several right now.  I have a rainbow/chakra beaded pendant.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Still working the kinks out, but having a great time.

Blessings!
Sosanna
)O(


Throwing Thursday - Re-Centering

Centering is a term used to put the clay ball in the center of the wheel in order to be sure that you can get a symmetrical pot.  The least bit of pressure in one direction or the other will push the pot off center and basically break it.

In my last post I talked about my pottery wheel and over all the history of how pots are made.  Looking back I realized that I was taking a prospective of teaching people, how to create pottery.  I can’t really teach what I don’t know.  So instead of moving forward in a presentation of skill and technique, I’ll leave that for you to go out and research.  What I’m going to do is just create posts showing how my work is changing. In a sense, re-centering my work to start again.

I’ll start with my first time at the wheel.

 
Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Photo Credit- Renee Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Olson




My goal is to create several mainstream products that I can share with both the Pagan Community and the Non-Pagan community.   

Love is Never Invalid

This afternoon I saw a post shared by The Advocate magazine that the marriages in Utah have been declared invalid.  I did a quick search online to find it was indeed true.  I found this article on The New Civil Rights Movement where Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced that Utah will not recognize the marriages of 1300 same sex couples.

I remember years back something very similar happened in San Francisco in 2004.  I do not believe the majority can really understand what it feels like to be told that you are not valid.  Your relationship, your partnership, your marriage is void.  I blogged about this in 2011 in a post called 'Lawfully Wed'.


For the life of me I cannot understand why people need to do this.  How.... I just ... I'm completely and utterly blown away by the fact that these couples are treated so terribly.  Gay and Lesbian people AGAIN have had their rights shat upon and it is appalling.

I wonder how people would feel if their state decided that interracial marriage was wrong, and they were going to invalidate all those marriages.  Or how about religions, let's be sure that the religions match or guess what... no marriage!

Our country rants and raves about how free we are.  Citizens run around waving flags and cheering USA USA.... well today the state of Utah decided that not every one in that stated was worthy of protections under the law.

I sit here now, sobbing, my heart breaking for these families.  Just a few days ago I posted that I knew that we would see marriage equality in this nation in my lifetime.  I really, really hope that I was not wrong.

If you are a supporter of equality.  If you believe that ever tax paying citizen is entitled to fair treatment under the law, I urge you to get involved in the marriage equality movement.  Write letters, sign petitions.


Tell the Governor of Utah you stand with LGBT Families -
On Facebook  - https://www.facebook.com/HerbertForUtah
On the Web - http://garyherbert.com/



Give these families the rights that you already enjoy.
http://www.marriageequality.org/
http://www.hrc.org/campaigns/marriage-center
http://www.southernequality.org/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/lgbt-rights/marriage-equality
http://www.freedomtomarry.org/



Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Throwing Thursday - The Potter's Wheel

For years I've always wanted to be able to make pots.  My maiden name is Potter.  As many people do, when I was younger I looked up the origin of my name.  A potter was someone who made earthen vessels.  I've always wanted to be a real potter. 

A potter’s wheel is a machine used to create round clay ware.  It works like a wood lathe works.  Original wheels were powered by kicking a circle at the base which rotated the wheel head located on the top.  

Photographer: Oliver Kurmis[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 Clay is placed on the wheel head.  Clay is shaped using water to lubricate the hands to pull the clay up to create bowls, cylinders or pots.  The wheel generally changed and power was added.  Currently fully motorized wheels can be purchased or ones that have both a kick wheel and a motor.

By Julo (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This past November, I got my wish.  We ordered our Speedball Clay Boss Potter’s Wheel from Clay-King.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson


I did a lot of research on the wheel before we ordered.  I chose this one for two reasons.  First, the price.  Clay-King has an amazing deal for this wheel.  It’s got a great motor speed and comes with two bats, delivered free.  Secondly, it has an amazing warranty.  It came with a five year warranty. 

Potter’s wheels usually last for years.  So the only time a warranty should be a buying feature is if the wheel has plastic parts.  Older wheels are really heavy and generally have a pretty long lifespan.   I follow Dan on Facebook and subscribe to his YouTube Channel.  I really enjoy his videos and I like his technique.  I highly recommend checking out his channels to learn more about throwing simple pots.

In this video Dan shows his wheel and the tools he uses to create amazing pots.






You’ll see me refer to several of his videos throughout this series.  Interestingly enough in my research for this post I found the myth of the Egyptian god Khnum, who was said to have created the first humans on a potter’s wheel which is shown in the relief below.

Roland Unger via Wikimedia Commons


Looking forward to my next turn at the wheel.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Welcome 2014

Over the last 2 years ever single Friday I've posted a blog post for the Pagan Blog Project.  I've written about everything from the Ankh to Zoomorphic; from Anpsi to Zealot and it’s been incredible.  I was in many cases able to learn new things and in others, share things that I have learned throughout my experiences as a Pagan.  I believe this is a fantastic way to learn about Paganism and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes to have a prompt for blog posts and enjoys the challenging of learning new things.  For 2014, I've decided to take the year off from this project. Jess is amazing and I love the project however this year is going to be pretty busy for me. 

I take part in Sunday Stew.  The Sunday Stew is a collection of posts from a group of Pagan identified individuals from assorted paths.  It is hosted by Kallan Kennedy, and is published once a week.  Here’s an example of the posts for October 2013. The Stew shares Pagan Lore, Weekly Tarot and Weekly Totem entries as well as recipes and editorial content from the Stew Chefs.

I plan to spend some time working with my potter’s wheel.  Because I find that I tend to learn better when I have some sort of “grading” process.  Holding myself accountable to actually get out there and work on the wheel, the blog post will give me a place to actually grade myself on what I've learned.  I plan to share the process I used for selecting my wheel, my kiln and clay.  As I progress, I’ll share glazing and firing techniques as well as possibly some wheel footage.   I've decided to call this “Throwing Thursday” and obviously it will be published on Thursday.

I’m also working on a project called “The Thirty Days of Hecate”.  This project offers thirty questions about a deity sort of like an interview.  These will be presented as blog posts biweekly over the next year.  I plan to use this as a learning/training experience to assist me in my path as a Devotee of the Goddess Hecate.  Each post will be open to discussion.  I plan to add links to other’s blogs who are also participating in this project.  They may or may not be directly related to Hecate.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all my readers for your regular visits, your comments and emails.  I enjoy writing and appreciate all the valuable feedback you've provided.  I hope that you will find the upcoming year entertaining and educational.  Today I'll be sitting down my black-eyed peas and greens for luck and prosperity.  I wish you all a joyous and prosperous New Year.

Watch out 2014, here we come!!


Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna

)O(