I thought I’d explore paganism at home. I’m starting with sharing this video about Scotland.
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I’ve never even been to Scotland, but my heart belongs there.
Fernweh - a consuming longing to be somewhere you’ve never been; an aching to be in a distant and unknown land
This describes my relationship with Scotland.
I’ve learned recently that the Appalachian Mountain range in the US and the mountains in Scotland were once part of the same mountain range and shared a lot of the same ecology (which makes a lot of sense talking about Scotland previously being 60% forests rather than moorlands). I went to college in the heart of the Appalachian mountains and felt very at home there too. It’s a curious connection!
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing!
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sometime in the near future I will travel the whole world!
thanks for sharing the video @tracyS 
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Glastonbury
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Stonehenge & Avebury
CW: [video briefly mentions masturbation (in the first few minutes) from a magical context]
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I think Jacob makes a wonderful point about people taking more than they give at these sacred sites. I see this on smaller scales, too - taking from the Gods, taking for themselves, taking, taking, taking… it’s like there’s no balance between the give and take of their spiritual energy. Just something I’m pondering on now… 
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I think there’s a balance to be had, too. There’s definitely a difference between asking for help from the Gods in the proper way (whatever they’ve deemed is proper) versus expecting an energetic exchange from the natural world and sacred sites. This may end up being a longer sort of ponder for me lol
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Definitely, but I’m not to ponder for another 5 days 
, by then I will have a list as long as my arm, then it’ll be chaos all over again, but I will remember this time, to thank Loki for the chaos 
. Question? What energy can we put in? I think for me, gratitude 
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Or maybe you will realize that some things you thought needed pondering aren’t actually as important as you originally thought they were 
Gratitude is a great one! Even returning our happiness and joy would work, too. Now I’m wondering if giving the Earth our sadness, for example, counts as giving or taking… we are giving our energy in the form of an emotion, but are we taking anything in return or using the Earth in a certain way? Words aren’t very strong for me right now as I don’t feel that great, but I think gratitude and joy are two of the best things to give in return.
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I came up with a habit relating to this to help with many areas of life, from ADHD impulse control to managing my emotional energy. I got the idea from a video I watched years ago about dealing with conflict in the workplace. They encouraged the people involved to take a step back from their arguments and actually rate how important their argument is to them. And they found that often, we end up arguing over things we don’t actually care that much about. (Well, especially for software engineers. )
So I thought that was cool and adopted a version of it for life. Basically, I often try to take a step back and rate the importance of something to me on a scale of 1 to 10. For example:
- How important is it that I actually buy this thing? Helps me not constantly buy random stuff I don’t actually need.
- How important is it that this person is saying something horrible or ignorant? Helps me say eff it and move on more easily.
- How important is it that I have an answer to this right now? Helps keep me from diving into every rabbit hole I see right then and there. (I mean, I still want to know everything that there is to possibly know, but I’m not in a rush or going to be upset if I don’t, know what I mean?)
- How important is it that I feel XYZ right now? Helps me accept the random highs and lows of life without trying to control them.
And so on. It’s easy to ask those questions, but I find that actually rating them really makes me slow down and be a lot more critical.
Anyway, talking about it seems to be at the front of my mind lately. I’ve been doing it for quite a few years now, so I don’t really think much of it. But now that I’ve actually been thinking about it, I’m really glad for it. 
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I think that’s a good system to have. I try to do something similar, though it’s not really a rating system 
more of… "do I realllyyyyyy need this?* type of thing, I guess. Your system is more thought out than my line of questioning but I love it!
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Not going to lie, I selected and printed out that section of the post as a reminder to myself!
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I’m a Scottish witch and Scotland is full of hidden gems and the history of witchcraft can be traced as far back as the 16th century. I live close to where the witch trials took place and I have stood on the ground where my ancestors have been.
If you ever visit Scotland come and see the place where a coven left their possessions
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Thank you Tracy, 
I am going to a Celtic Festival soon and I am not sure how to dress, I was wondering if you had some pointers? Also I will be listening to your video’s that you posted so I can learn more. 
On my mothers 
side she was German and I have had family from England so I think since she was from Northwestern Europe, which would constitute great Britain, Ireland, Northern France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweeden, and Iceland; only I never knew my real mom and only met with her a couple times. I have a picture of my grandma and she was so beautiful. Anyway I am 31 Percent from England and Northwestern Europe. Also Sweden and Denmark which is only 7 percent and Norway 5 percent and Basque. I have 29 percent Spain and Indigenous Mexico 8 percent so I am as mixed as they come.
I am interested to travel to Europe some day to see where my family is from. I am very curious. Anyhow I have always felt drawn to the Celts and was thinking about studying more about my lineage.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom Tracy
Jeannie
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Kristy4, 
Neat 
I might book and try a tour thank you for your witchy 
wisdom! I am very intrigued!!!
Jeannie
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If it works, that’s all you need. 
A question with a yes/no answer works really well for my partner for most things. It’s a lot easier for them to comfortably pick one or the other.
For me, I find myself saying “but” and then going around in circles for too long. At the very least, I can encourage myself to put something on hold for the moment. The exception being if I’m shopping for something my partner has stated that they will like. All restraints come flying off.
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That tour location looks amazing. 
I would love to go on a tour like that.
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@Jeannie1 ooh I hope you enjoy the festival. When I’ve gone to any, I just dress normal, I’ve never dressed up, just me. Have a great time 
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I am going to do a DNA test from ancestory we have been doing our family tree and have found out a lot it’s been very interesting and I think once have these results I’ll find out where I am from. I have Irish blood as my great great grandparents are from Ireland and of course I have Scottish blood. My father in law has Norse he’s about 17% from Norway which makes my daughter prob part Viking. Hoping I have some too and I feel I too have Viking blood but who knows. Will find out soon enough.
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