Welcome to Thoughts from a Threshold. I use this blog for public discussion of all sorts of Pagan related topics (in a very broad sense) from books to research methods, extended metaphors to ritual theory, interacting with seekers to pedagogical techniques.

More about me:

The basics: Female, 33, live with my cat in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (I’m a transplant: I grew up in the Boston area.) I’m a generalist: I like many different things.

Religious life:
I’m a priestess, a witch, active in my local Pagan community and in several online ones. I’m high priestess and one of the founders of a small coven, Phoenix Song. You can read a bit more about the tradition and my coven over at that link. The short version is that I started training with a training circle in the Twin Cities in late 2001, received my 3rd degree in late 2007, and hived off to form the new coven in March of 2008

I’m particularly interested in the use of music in magical and ritual work, group dynamics and other ‘healthy community’ issues, and how to spend more time doing the things I like and less time on the things I’m not so crazy about. I’ve also focused on how to improve research and critical reading/thinking skills in the Pagan community. My personal ritual work tends toward the meditative and introspective side, with a dash of magical work for specific reasons.

I’ve been on the board of the Twin Cities Pagan Pride event since 2005, mostly as Programming chair or co-chair. It’s given a lot for me to think about in terms of community interaction, though my preference for ritual work is in a very small group (small coven) environment.

Interests:
I read anything that sits still long enough. On the fiction side, there’s an emphasis on thought-provoking urban fantasy, dystopia novels, and character-driven speculative fiction. On the non-fiction side, I’m fond of narrative non-fiction and microhistories. I’m on the computer a lot, and read a lot there.

Computer interests include LiveJournal (I was a volunteer for the Abuse Team for 18 months), online gaming (I’ve played World of Warcraft since it came out, though I’m very much a casual player), and a number of online discussion forums. Non-computer hobbies include drop spinning (a recent passion), a 29 string folk harp, and making bread.

Day job:
I finished my Master’s in Library and Information Science degree in the summer of 2007. My professional interests include:

• Just plain helping people find information (and other resources) that matter to them.
• Online safety and literacy issues (from a non-alarmist point of view)
• How libraries can better serve ‘invisible’ populations (with a particular interest in minority religious groups, especially Pagans)
• Reader’s advisory (the library jargon term for “What do I read next?”)
• Policy development and practical adaptation.

Got questions?
Feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment. Unless I’m amazingly busy or offline, I usually answer email within a day or two. If you don’t hear from me after 3-5 days, please feel free to email me and try again (or leave a comment on an appropriate entry: I can see the email address you provide there.)

My email is jenett (one n, two ts) at this domain (gleewood.org), in an attempt to defeat spamming.

If you leave me a comment, I can see your email address (and can reply privately) but other people can’t. So you can leave a comment with “Hi, got something I’d like to discuss in email.” and I’ll email you from there, if you prefer.

What is Paganism?
(As I may be picking up some readers who are not familiar with modern Paganism.)

Paganism is a broad umbrella term used to describe a wide range of slightly-related religions. My personal religious path is of modern design, but it takes inspiration from pre-Christian sources and religions in a variety of ways, in combination with folklore.

Wicca is a close enough approximation for many conversations – but the Wicca you have heard about on TV is just as overblown as TV portrayals of your average school, college, job, or friendship (which is to say, “very overblown”)

You can find more general information aimed at a non-Pagan audience over here on the Pagan Pride site: Pagan Pride is an event designed to both help people interested in Paganism find others in their area, and to help educate the general public learn more about what we do – since there are a whole bunch of misconceptions and assumptions!

I’m a priestess in a specific tradition (the common parallel to denominations in Christianity that define a particular set of practices and shared approaches), and lead my own small group in that tradition. I’m considered an autonomous leader in the tradition at this point (after 5 years of intensive training work and practice). I also do a fair bit of community education and support for people who are interested in Paganism. However, Pagan religions do not generally seek converts: we are simply open to those who are interested and who choose to learn more. We don’t think we’ve got the only answer, and we want people to find the path that truly speaks to them.

I have a lot of respect for other religious paths, and continue to learn about them – but they’re not the ones I’m called to. I’m quite familiar with Christianity (and Judaism, for that matter – I was raised Episcopalian and Catholic, and parts of my mother’s family were Jewish), and in fact have read a substantial amount of the New Testament in the original koine Greek.

However, I’m also aware of the ways my religious beliefs go against many mainstream assumptions about religion. The size of our services is different (most Pagan groups are quite small, and generally meet in someone’s home, because we work together as peers in ways that require knowing each individual rather than in a congregational mode). Our beliefs and practices share some things with other religions – but there are some things that are different, like the common belief in polytheism (multiple deities). Our values include responsibility for one’s actions, and an understanding that things in our world are interconnected, both of which impact how we interact with others.

I welcome sincere questions of all kinds. I don’t mind if you disagree with me – and in fact, I really enjoy serious and deep debate – but this is my online space, and I expect people who wish to engage in conversation here are able to do that without being nasty or insulting. (In other words, not knowing about something and asking is great – just don’t be mean or nasty while you do it. I may choose to delete comments that don’t have any productive comment.)