How magical is your city?

[PhantomPhoenix0]

Lets see. Out in Grayslake (small town north of Chicago) Illinois, its a whole lotta crap. There is alot of churches, and not one coven to my knowledge. There is a satanist group that worships in a park near my house (so ive heard), so as to the magical extent of my city, minimal to none.  

[Winter Black]

You know, I can find you the closest coven to you. ^__^ I'm good at locating them all over America and Canada.  

[PhantomPhoenix0]

Winter Black

You know, I can find you the closest coven to you. ^__^ I'm good at locating them all over America and Canada.

If you are thinking of Wichvox, I already checked. There is one listed, but I emailed the leader, and havent heard anything. Besides, Im only 17 (I dont turn 18 till March 1st (or so my driver's liscence says stare )), so a coven wouldnt work good. And unless you could find a Seax Wicca coven, I dont know if id be interested (no offence).  

[Keistera]

Winter Black

Keistera

We should try to hang out some time... >.> Maybe on the next Sabbat? Isn't that this month? Summer Solstice, June 21st or 22nd, I believe...
I've never celebrated... And I've been practicing for almost 3 years, I think... No, longer. Its just that I've never had anyone to celebrate Sabbats with. ^^;;

I have a hard time getting to Barrie without my mum or someone driving me, so it wouldn't work too well. I don't celebrate the Sabbats because... well, I'm seeking and don't know what actually makes up my practice. sweatdrop I'd love to attend a ritual or something, or participate, but transportation/my job are the things that really get in the way right now. And my family. My mum is paranoid, and my father doesn't know.

 

[Winter Black]

Keistera

Winter Black

Keistera

We should try to hang out some time... >.> Maybe on the next Sabbat? Isn't that this month? Summer Solstice, June 21st or 22nd, I believe...
I've never celebrated... And I've been practicing for almost 3 years, I think... No, longer. Its just that I've never had anyone to celebrate Sabbats with. ^^;;

I have a hard time getting to Barrie without my mum or someone driving me, so it wouldn't work too well. I don't celebrate the Sabbats because... well, I'm seeking and don't know what actually makes up my practice. sweatdrop I'd love to attend a ritual or something, or participate, but transportation/my job are the things that really get in the way right now. And my family. My mum is paranoid, and my father doesn't know.

That blows... Summer Solstice is one of the most celebrated ritual's... And its so warm and nice... The only ting dangerous is the burning of the Yule log... Maybe someone else will come to celebrate with me... Or maybe some other time?
My parents aren't paranoid, and both of them know and don't care that I'm Pagan. Maybe I can help you find your faith... I'm already teaching a young one (says the 17 year old), but I'm not opposed to helping out others...

Phoenix:
I was thinking more along the lines of I could check on WiccanWeb.ca to see if they have listings for North American covens... I've never heard of WitchVox until today.

 

[Akasha_wp]

Nihilistic Seraph

I proclaim Montreal to be the best city! We have a thriving pagan/magical community that holds public rituals for each sabbat. It has a large number of established covens of varying paths, and numerous metaphysical stores. Hell, there's even the "Young Pagan Circle" for teens up to 18 to learn about aganism from someone experienced so they knwo what they want when they turn 18 and can thus legally join another group. Final point, we also have a bi-seasonly newsletter called Wyntergreen, which has articles written about various pagan subjects, right down to crytograms revealing really bad jokes (How did the initiate die?......First degree murder )

blaugh Chya! Represent! sweatdrop  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

Akasha, you come come to, but nnnnnoooo, you have to be out of the country at that time blaugh xd  

[Akasha_wp]

Nihilistic Seraph

Akasha, you come come to, but nnnnnoooo, you have to be out of the country at that time blaugh xd

Actually.... Major change of plans... We have to talk..  

[Keistera]

Winter Black

That blows... Summer Solstice is one of the most celebrated ritual's... And its so warm and nice... The only ting dangerous is the burning of the Yule log... Maybe someone else will come to celebrate with me... Or maybe some other time?
My parents aren't paranoid, and both of them know and don't care that I'm Pagan. Maybe I can help you find your faith... I'm already teaching a young one (says the 17 year old), but I'm not opposed to helping out others...

Phoenix:
I was thinking more along the lines of I could check on WiccanWeb.ca to see if they have listings for North American covens... I've never heard of WitchVox until today.

I'd love to try some other time. ^_^ Currently, I'm reading about Native culture and the Goddess(es) Tara. I have a keen interest in Egypt, Kitchen Witchery, among other things. I'm not sure how you could help, but I appreciate the offer and am willing to hear any input you may have. smile

I need a vehicle of my own and a better paying job.. lol. College first, college first...  

[Himika (the gummi bear)]

I live in the suburbs of New York, surrounded by Catholics. People frown upon the Pagan craft where I am, and I only know 3 other peope that practice. My family is against it as well, except for one sister.  

[WebenBanu]

I live in San Francisco, and there are a lot of Pagan groups and events out here. There aren't a lot of Kemetics- but there are a lot more of them in the general California area than there were down in Alabama, at least. I've actually heard of a Kemetic recon group down in San Jose (I think), and I plan on checking them out at some point or another. A friend of Arcane's is talking about starting up a Kemetic recon group, and I'm thrilled to see how it's going to turn out. We have PantheaCon every February in San Jose, and there are probably other Pagan cons out here as well- I just can't afford to go to more than one a year, and I know and like PCon.

There are several really good Pagan supply stores out our way- either in the city or nearabouts. Most of my ritual oils and incenses are blended by the guy who runs a local store, The Sword and The Rose. It's a metaphysical supply shop, kinda out of the way and off the beaten track so even when you know where it is it can be rather hard to find, but their stuff is excellent- I'm totally crazy about the place, as you can probably tell.^_^ The owner seems to have some sort of rapport with the ntjrw- clearly seen in the effectiveness of his incense and oils as offerings- and he keeps a nice little shrine in Their honor in the back of the store (the store is small, so the shrine takes up about an eighth of the space they have), behind a semi-transparent veil. There is a lot of stuff from Egypt there- he keeps contacts in Egypt and they send him statuary, jewelry, and other small things (at one point I think he even had teeth from something that looked like a crocodile...). He also stocks dirks and daggers, crystal balls, and the usual metaphysical assortment. He's got a small selection of books there, a cozy little fireplace, and intermittent psychics or readers who see clients in the back. His candles are all traditionally made, hand-dipped beeswax, and the whole place just has a very nice feel to it, even though it's a tiny little hole in the wall.

I keep wanting to take a picture of the place and show it around, because it's really quaint and cozy- but the lighting is very dim. There are no artificial lights, so all the light comes from the fireplace, the front door, and a tiny little stained glass window in the ceiling, and the incense smoke can get pretty thick- especially if they're doing a store purification. I don't think you could fit more than eight people in the store, and you have to duck when entering their front door- it seems to be made for very short people, and the overhanging vines further obscure the entrance. I wish they had a website, but they don't seem to feel the need for advertising so you pretty much have to already know someone who knows of the store to find it. The store is set back from the street, so you have to walk through a short alley to get there- and the alley gives way to a courtyard covered in vines and flowering plants, decorated here and there with statues. There's even a small wishing well in the center of the courtyard, and there are goldfish in the well!^_^

Their home-blended oils and incenses are the best- I've put up a list of their Egyptian themed oils on my journal, and I keep a small supply of just about all of those incenses underneath my altar.

Anyway, the city has many places like this which cater to the occult crowd. And being such a large city, as one would expect there is a great deal of energy focused in this area- into which one can tap for magical workings, if one is so inclined.  

[Kabuki Doll]

Where I used to live in Ohio, there wasn't a coven that I knew of, or any pagans at that, besides my family and two other people who were brought up as mormons but decided to 'convert', but they're convinced I'm not wiccan, but a member of the occult. xd Their interpretation of wicca is really messed up: they don't even know what a pentagram is, and when I explained it to them, they started babbling about the movie Constantine. I don't even know why I bothered with them when they asked me and my two brothers questions.

But as for paganism in the community, no one is really aware of what it really is because it's over populated by christians. There are very few jews and muslims there.

An even worse town is where my best friend lives. There is literally a church on the corner of every street. Poor Danny got jumped by this christian youth group while we were walking to the art gallery. If I remember correctly four boys, one of them being a former band mate of Danny's, had Danny curled up on the ground as they beat him while this girl threw her bible at me shouting "May the power of Christ compell you!". I don't think I've ever been so angry at a set of Christians in my life. I've had so many bad run-ins with people of that religion that I just exploded on all five of them. NO ONE hurts my best friend. At worst I think I ended up breaking one of the guys' nose, the other three had a mix of busted lips and bruised faces, and I think I scared the girl away after I chucked her bible back at her face and screamed at the top of my lungs about how they were all going to burn in hell. I was so pissed I started sobbing after the whole situation got sorted out. Damn, it was just horrible. I really hate people sometimes. evil

Now I'm in england, and I'm hoping to find a coven that will initiate me in a couple years. But for now I'm looking for a group of pagans to practice with being that I'm not 18 and fully initiated yet.  

[WebenBanu]

Wow, what a terrible situation! That must have been so hard- I'm really sorry that you and your friends had to go through that.-_- That was very brave of you to stand up for them.

I was fortunate, even growing up in the Deep South I wasn't accosted by anything worse than the occasional street preacher. Then again, I also took pains not to broadcast my religion unless I was engaged in some sort of public charity work. And even then, all I did was to wear a pentacle necklace- I never engaged folks in religious discussion. Several of them would come to me and ask me why I was helping other people if I was a Satanist, though, (lol) so I took the opportunity to explain briefly what a Pagan was, how we were also responsible members of the community, and how we also believed in doing good deeds. So by and large, I was able to avoid such conflicts, and give some positive representation to the Pagan community in the process.

My sister, on the other hand, was Christian- but not the right type of Christian according to some local Baptists. They advertised an overnight "pizza party," and then locked her in a closet and badgered her about how she was going to hell all night. I guess they let her out the next day- she came home really upset and my family has had very sour relations with the family who'd given us the invitation ever since.

It just struck me as bizarre that my sister, who was Christian, had a worse time of religious intolerance than her sister, the witch.^_^'  

[Kabuki Doll]

WebenBanu

My sister, on the other hand, was Christian- but not the right type of Christian according to some local Baptists. They advertised an overnight "pizza party," and then locked her in a closet and badgered her about how she was going to hell all night. I guess they let her out the next day- she came home really upset and my family has had very sour relations with the family who'd given us the invitation ever since.

It just struck me as bizarre that my sister, who was Christian, had a worse time of religious intolerance than her sister, the witch.^_^'

The world is so messed up stressed
I've seriously just had it with people trying to tell others the difference between right and wrong when it comes to a persons religion/spirituality. And in all honesty, I don't like calling Wicca/Paganism a religion, because it just doesn't feel that restrictive on a persons morals. I like calling it a spirituality, rather, because I'm picky and uptight about the definite differences between the two meanings.

But, seriously, Christianity needs to back off or just learn that people aren't going to hell if they don't follow those basic morals. I mean, c'mon, why tell someone that they're going to hell if they don't believe in god, satan, heaven nor hell? To me it seems like a lost cause. But I must say it is fun to see the look on their faces when biting back at them: "No, YOU'RE going to hell mrgreen " I'm only evil to people of different religious/spiritual morals if they tell me I'm wrong for believing in something else and that I'm going to pay for it.  

[Jishin]

*wry grin*

When I saw the title of this post, I assumed that the question was more about the actual magic of your city, not about groups and stores and stuff.

My city (San Diego) is truly magical, if you know where to look. The canyons, the beach, the hills, the skyscrapers .... mmm. I love this place.