Recently, the Goddess has shown her face in the Puget Sound region by sending a string of absolutely glorious summer days; high temperatures anywhere between 22 and 28 degrees C, low to moderate humidity levels and consistent gentle breezes.  But today I believe I felt the presence of the Goddess wearing the face of Uzume.  At first I wasn’t sure of her name, but the 8 or 10 degree drop in temperature coupled with a definite feeling of dampness in the air as I awoke and started going about my day had me grumbling about unpleasant cosmic jokes, which then made me think about the various faces of the Goddess and that she must have a laughing face. . .  

Well, as a baby Pagan I haven’t studied many pantheons in depth yet, but after a short while at my computer, it became pretty clear to me that the Goddess in charge of today’s weather here was either Discordia/Eris of the Greek/Roman pantheon or Uzume of the Japanese (Shinto) tradition.  A few more minutes and I figured out that it was unlikely to be Discordia, as she takes things pretty seriously, according to the sources I consulted, but Uzume . . . a-ha! . . .she might be the one!  As she is considered by some to be a “lesser goddess” I didn’t find a lot about her, but sites I visited agreed that she brought her sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, out of a deep depression with a crazy dance that made Amaterasu laugh and return to the sky.  Here is a goddess who is not afraid to be silly!

I’m kind of a fresh air fanatic, so the chill and moist air today was not enough to make me close down the entire house; I left the windows open but decided to dress in honor of both summer and the cooler seasons with shorts and sandals but also a long-sleeved polar fleece pull-over with a definite winter-y print.  I hope Uzume, the goddess of mirth, enjoyed it.  J

What does a middle-aged cradle Catholic do when she finds Roman Catholicism no longer works for her (if it ever did), but she still feels spiritual yearnings?  She ignores them for as long as possible, begins losing quite a lot of sleep, starts lurking around religion and spirituality websites, and eventually determines that substituting another “flavor” of Christianity won’t work any better for her than Catholicism did.  That was me a few years ago.  Of course, there’s much more to the tale than that, but I think this will suffice as an introduction to who I am. As to what this blog will be about, well . . .I’ve finally stopped plugging my ears and instead started to listen intently when the Goddess whispers.  She has much to say to me, I believe, and yet I hope she takes a bit of pity on me and understands that I am still very much a baby seeker on the path of Pagan spirituality.  This blog will be my way to keep track of what I’m learning as I enter and embrace the Pagan world.