What's in a name?

I have been thinking a lot lately about names and the power that they have.

When I was born I was gifted a first and middle name by my parents and took on their surname then as I grew older I gained one or two nicknames, from my parents and friends at school - each one unique and each one bearing different meanings and evoking a variety of emotions.

When I married the first time I changed my surname...then changed it back by deed poll after my divorce.

Then I married a second time and changed my surname again, thankfully I have had that same surname for a good many years now!

Each name has power and each one makes you feel different.

And of course I have a magical name, I didn't for a long while after starting on the path to witchiness because to be honest I didn't feel I was 'qualified' or experienced enough at first to even call myself a witch.  But...I was visiting a local Roman palace that was holding a Celtic re-enactment day, they were all dressed in period costume, battling each other, painting woad tattoos and there was a Celtic cooking tent which obviously drew my attention.  I was fascinated by the methods used and the array of ingredients but one in particular stood out...the herb Tansy, it was used in a lot of the dishes but especially in Tansy pudding...it just felt right so that became my magical name there and then.

I felt it needed something more so I thought about all the things that I feel connected to, dragons just had to be in there because they have been a part of my life since I was a child and fire just seemed to fit as it is the element I work with most.

So there it was... Tansy Firedragon...and I have used that name for years now.

At first it felt a bit weird but gradually it became so comfortable that it even felt on occasion more 'me' than my given name...

But time passes and situations change, we grow older and hopefully wiser...ahem...or perhaps we just mellow?

I think the turning point for me was when I wrote my first book...I had to make the decision to use my given name or my magical name...and I found myself leaning more strongly towards my given name and ever since then I realise that I use my magical name less and less...why?  I actually don't know...maybe I have out grown it?   I think it is more likely that my magical side now works so much in tandem with my everyday life that I don't feel the need for the power of a magical  name perhaps?

Names do have power, magical or otherwise.  There are some that never give out their magical names, using them only when working privately because of the energy that the name can have, it makes perfect sense to me.

If you are part of a coven then everyone has a magical name, especially if that coven is online as our Kitchen Witch School is and every forum or chat room requires a 'user name' and I bet most people use a nickname rather than their given one.  Does it give us the chance to be someone else for a while I wonder?

Don't get me wrong I am not trashing or knocking magical names or nick names, I think they all have a place and a use and I still use my magical name on the Kitchen Witch forum and it still 'fits me' but I am interested in understanding why it has been stronger and more fitting during certain stages in my life or perhaps that should be stages in my path?

I guess the spiritual and magical pathways are always fluid and ever changing the key is to allow yourself to flow with it...

Yours
Rachel/Tansy Firedragon/Tansypants

A brilliantly bonkers book...

This book is brilliantly bonkers...

Intelligent Designing for Amateurs by Nimue Brown

This book is mad, absolutely raving bonkers but brilliantly so...it has everything; mystery, intrigue, dead bodies, inquisitive children, circus freaks, matriarchs, crack pot inventors, druids, steam punk, mice with wheels, socialites and more...all woven cleverly together to create a captivating story...you won't want to put it down...

The official blurb:

Charlie Rowcroft meant to be an inventor but mostly she fixes other people's mistakes. Then her new neighbour, socialite archaeologist Justina Fairfax brings a curious find to see if she can reassemble it. After which the chaos begins in earnest, with mad industrialists using mortless (undead) people to power their factories, druids on a traction engine who wish to thwart them, a retired pirate who just wants a quiet life, a stilt-walking dissenting preacher, the arrival of a freak show and other improbable personages and events who emerge as the plot unravels.

For more details http://www.tophat-books.com/authors/nimue-brown

Nimue's website http://hopelessmaine.com/

Nimue's blog https://druidlife.wordpress.com/

It's in the lap of the Gods...Celtic ones...

As you lovely people seemed to like our Celtic Goddess Oracle card set so much (for which we humbly thank you) we decided that they needed a companion...so we have created the Celtic Gods Oracle card set...a bit of balance...you can use the oracle card sets independently or you can mix them up and use them together.

The cards will be published on 1st June but are availble to pre-order now via our online shop www.kitchenwitchhearth.net

As a little thank you we are also running a competition, everyone that pre-orders a set of Celtic Gods oracle cards will be entered into a draw to win a £10 Kitchen Witch gift voucher which can be used in our online shop against any of the products or courses.

We also have a new 8 week course launching on 1st July:

Celtic Gods Online Course (open worldwide)
Set over eight weeks and sent direct to your inbox (we also use dropbox.com)
Taking you on a spiritual journey of discovery with eight of the Celtic Gods:
Aengus MacOg, Balor, Cernunnos, Dagda, Gwyn ap Nudd, Lugh, Manann, Wayland
PDF booklets & MP3 meditations for each of the gods packed full of history, myths, correspondences, crafts, recipes, spells, offerings and daily devotions. You will also receive access to a private facebook group.

Details in our online shop www.kitchenwitchhearth.net or via www.goddesspathways.com

Head full...

I have a head full of stuff...I know that's not a very imaginative word but stuff is about all my brain is capable of coming up with at the moment.

Lots of things (another unimaginative word sorry) whizzing around in my head and it all needs some kind of organisation.

I have spent the past five months working on my latest book (yes another one...) this one is part of the Pagan Portals series and covers Meditation.  Today I did the final proof read, spell check, making sure I haven't put anything stupid or missed out anything glaringly obvious in the manuscript...and it has now been submitted to the publisher Moon Books for the first copy edit...the part that I hate because as soon as you have hit the submit button your brain goes into overdrive about whether it is correct, long enough, up together or in fact any blinkin' good...

Which has left my head still full of more stuff...for the next book, for other books, for courses, for lessons for...for...for *bang* ...that was my head exploding...

The funny thing is I realised today that with my head spinning with ideas, threads of stories and nuggets of inspiration to the point where I don't know whether I am coming or going...that I was writing a book on meditation...which would help me clear and focus my mind...sheesh...sometimes we don't see what is right in front of our very own eyes...

So...I will now take the rest of today off (and read a new book that I have...watch this space for a review because it looks really good) and start afresh tomorrow.  The task for tomorrow is to write a four page masterclass article for Spirit & Destiny magazine (eeep...yes I am totally freaked out about this...).

And of course...I shall meditate...


www.rachelpatterson.co.uk
www.kitchenwitchhearth.net

I did it for ME...

I was having a chat with a lovely lady a couple of weekends ago and she asked me about the 'body con' dress and whether it was for an interview or something...I explained that it was a confidence test for me...to give me a bit of a boost...she was surprised that I needed any kind of confidence encouragement....

Yes I can stand up in ritual and use a very loud voice...yes I can stand up in front of a room full of people and talk (or actually waffle and wing it on most occasions) about the Craft but those are things that I am comfortable doing because I am passionate about the subject.

Body confidence and self esteem? Now there is a totally different kettle of fish...

In my youth I was lairy...(really you aren't surprised are you?), I had a size 10/12 figure and always wore fashionable clothes and had the latest hair style...but life changes...as I grew older I became more comfortable in my skin, I found my true pathway and settled into not following fashion and just being ME.   Then children came along and my body shape and size changed...now I am a size 16 which is the curviest I have ever been but I am also the happiest and most content I have ever been too.  But...I am also growing older, parts of my body are no longer in the upright place they should be ahem...and my face is definitely lower than it used to be and has wrinkles...and don't get me started on the grey hair.

Part of growing older is accepting it and becoming accustomed to it but I don't think I am quite ready for that yet, I am still fighting it.  I will be 47 years old next birthday and whilst I don't have a desire to wear mini skirts anymore I definitely don't want to slip into the 'comfortable slacks' just yet.

I want to be a mad hippy kaftan floppy hat wearing batty old woman...(I suspect I am fairly close to that goal already).

It was never my intention to become an author, that happened quite by accident (or fate depending on how you look at it) but now I am 'out there' it has taken quite a bit of getting used to.  If you write books then you need to promote them, no point writing them otherwise...but a big part of that is pimping yourself and that is incredibly uncomfortable.

One of the facets of pimping is to get promotional photographs done, pretty much every magazine or ezine I write for asks for a 'head shot'.  But I have to tell you ... for every one photograph that goes up on facebook there have been 101 photos taken...I have just binned the other 100 because I didn't like them (much to my husband's dismay and comments of "what was wrong with that one, I liked that one").

Yesterday I had a moment of confidence wibble and had a radical hair change, well actually not radical for me because I have always changed my hair - I have had every colour in the rainbow (yes including green...note: khaki green hair is not a good look) and have had every hairstyle going from short & spikey to 80s perms.  I was also blonde for a very long time a few years ago and it was blonde that I went back to yesterday.

People made some incredibly nice comments on facebook for which I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of you, yes it made me feel warm and fuzzy but ultimately I changed my hair to make myself feel better and it worked, I love it and that's the main point isn't it?

I am human and I am certainly no super woman and I need the odd confidence boost, I think we all do and actually why shouldn't we?  It is lovely to be told you look nice or that someone loves the outfit you are wearing.

Changes are good, anything that boosts your self esteem is good, but ultimately the choices you make about your look, size, shape, style and anything else related to you must be YOUR choice, do what makes YOU feel good ♥