B A S I C S //
Do you have a magical/Pagan name? Erik.
What does it mean? According to various baby naming sites, it means something like “eternal king”.
How did you find Paganism? With some of my friends, in a class at a witch shop in 1990. The store was in a storage unit. We’re all still friends.
How long have you been practicing? Basically ever since, for some value of “practicing” that can also mean “not practicing but still seeing the world in a pagan way”.
Solitary or group practitioner? Solitary, 99% of the time. Tried a coven, a grove and a CUUPS chapter, all of which fell apart for various reasons.
What is your path? I’m calling it “life”.
Are you out of the broom closet? I’m not a witch… but yeah, pretty much, except to my in-laws.
D E I T Y //
Who is your patron God? Don’t have one. I have paid cultus to many of them, at different times.
Who is your patron Goddess? Ditto.
What Gods do you worship? Hestia. Athena. Zeus and Hera. Hades and Persephone. The Muses, particularly Thalia. Quan Yin.
Do you fear darkly aspected Gods/Goddess, or rather respect them? I agree with Kullervo in rejecting the premise behind this question. All the Gods have “dark” (by which I assume is meant “not necessarily well disposed to humans”) aspects, just like people do.
Do you worship the Christian God? No… although I do periodically attend synagogue where I participate in the worship of Hashem, who may or may not be related.
Do you ever worship animals? Worship? No. Respect and honor? Definitely.
Or plants? Ditto.
N A T U R E //
Do you regularly commune with nature? I try to, yes.
Ever walked barefoot in the woods? Yes.
Taken a camping trip just to talk to nature? Yeah, just recently. I plan to do so again.
Describe the moment you felt closest to Mother Earth? … any time I’m outside.
Do you have a familiar? No. (See “I’m not a witch”, above.)
Have you ever called upon the powers of an animal in ritual? I don’t think so.
Or a plant? Definitely not.
Do you hug trees? I’ve been known to hug a tree or two – it feels great and they seem to appreciate it.
Give them gifts? I have poured libations on their roots, yes.
What is your favourite flower to work with? Carnations always brighten up a room.
What is your favourite tree to work with? Poplar is soft and easy to carve; I am working on turning the trunk of a holly tree that I had to cut down into a staff… does that count?
W H E E L . O F . T H E . Y E A R //
What is your favourite holiday? Halloween! Then Independence Day.
What is your least favourite holiday? Shrove Tuesday? I have no idea…
Have you ever held a ritual on a holiday? I like Seillan’s response so much I’m going to steal it: “Hello? Druid! That’s what we do.”
Ever taken a day off work to celebrate a Pagan holiday? I do take off Halloween, but not for religious reasons.
Do you celebrate Yule on the 21 rather than the 25? Solstice on the date (sometimes it’s the 22nd), Christmas on the 25th.
Have you ever felt the veil thin? I believe so, once.
Ever danced the Maypole? Yeah, actually, I have – at an SCA event.
Know what the Maypole symbolizes? Lame question.
How do you usually celebrate the Pagan holidays? By breathing.
D I V I N A T I O N //
Do you use Tarot? I collect them, but I don’t really use them much. I have on occasion.
Do you use runes? No, but I think they’re cool.
Do you use a pendulum? No, but somewhere I have one my dad gave me.
Do you use dowsing rods? No.
Do you use astrology? No.
Any other form of divination? I have used the Limyran and Homeric oracles.
S P E L L S //
What was the first spell you did? The only real spell working I ever participated in was a binding to protect a child from abuse. It worked, too.
What was the latest? That’s it. Just the one.
Ever done a love spell? No.
A job spell? No.
A healing spell? No.
What was the most powerful spell you’ve ever performed? see above
What deities do you usually call on? For magic? I don’t.
C R Y P T O Z O O L O G Y //
Do you believe in Vampires? Meh.
Werewolves? No.
Shapeshifters? Not really.
Elves? Don’t think so.
Faeries? Little hotties with wings, no… minor spirits, probably yes.
Dragons? It would be cool, wouldn’t it?
Nymphs? Yes.
Sprites? Yes.
Mermaids? Ondines/Naiads – again, probably.
Satyrs? Not as depicted in art, but maybe.
Ever “seen” any of the above? What’s with the quote marks? And no.
Ever talked to any of the above? Talked TO? Yes. Talked WITH? No.
Ever used any of the above in magic? No. (a) I don’t do magic, and (b) smart people don’t try to “use” other beings, particularly spiritual ones. Idiots do so once.
Do you have one of them as a personal guardian? No.
R A N D O M //
Do you see a rabbit, a man or a woman in the moon? I see a rock. A really big rock.
Own a cat? Two.
When you meditate, what does your happy place look like? My “happy place” is the library. When I meditate it looks like the darkness inside my head, mostly.
Do you work with Chakras? No.
Do you believe in past lives? I don’t rule out reincarnation, although I suspect it’s more like the Buddhist version than anything else.
If so, describe a few briefly: No can do.
Do you believe in soul mates? Yes – plural. If you’re lucky you meet one of them (I did).
Do you have a spirit guide? I don’t drink spirits, I drink beer. I do have a couple of good beer books.
Is it always love and light? Is… what… er… nevermind. No.
sightless among miracles 
Nice answers. But I can’t imagine ruling out spirits. Beer is not a jealous beverage, and bourbon is worth it.
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I just don’t like spirits much.
I’ll occasionally drink some Bailey’s, and once every couple of years maybe a cocktail, but mostly it’s beer (well, actually mostly it’s water, tea and the damn free sodas at work… but on the infrequent occasions it’s alcoholic, it’s probably a good beer).
I will like the bourbon on your behalf, then.
Please do, thanks. My wife says if you’re feeling up to the task you can like it for her as well…
Oh, and when I filled this out I forgot that I do take off for Winter Solstice as well, so that’s two religious holidays plus Halloween.
I WILL DO MY BEST.
Reading some of your response here made me feel better about not strictly following a path. I have been influenced by pagan thinking and sometimes view the world in a pagan-ish way, but I don’t feel that means I have to be a capital-P Pagan. Like, I’m trying to follow the moon phases, just to make a connection with nature, not necessarily to connect with some god or for the purpose of doing spells or something. Maybe that will happen later, I’m not sure. It’s hard because I feel like I’m not doing enough, but when I try to do more I feel stressed and too pushed, like maybe I don’t really believe that other stuff and I’m just doing it ’cause I feel like I’m supposed to. I guess I don’t like being put in a box. I feel like my path is just my life, like you said. I just keep moving and I want to feel like that’s good enough.
I love how you answered the questions to this quiz Erik. Serious when serious was due, but wonderfully snarky when that was due too. :)
Courtney – It *is* good enough. Just keep walking. And – as I’m discovering – what you’re called to do may (will?) change over time… and it’s not all woo-woo! A big part of what I believe to be my “work” in this life is centered around my family, as it obviously is for you as well.
Kay – Thanks!