Just rented The Wicker Man (remake) on PPV. I had read a few reviews that stated it was the “best Pagan movie ever made” and that it “potrayed ancient pagan ways accurately”. I don’t know why anyone would claim this movie is an accurate portrayal of ancient pagan ways. Lady Summersisle (the leading lady in a closed-off matriarchal society) happens to mention that her Celtic ancestors had to flee in order to get away from the male dominance. Being of the modern Celtic Reconstructionism faith, I would have to disagree with her completely about her so-called “ancestors”. The Celts happened to be the one culture that, for the most part, actually saw women as equals with men, not subservient to them. From what I’ve researched, the ancient Celts never left their homes to venture to the west (the Americas).

(Spoiler Warning: Do Not Read Below If You Haven’t Seen The Movie)
This movie is about “ancient rituals” in a community of women who make men subservient to them. Rituals that include sacrifice, but wrongly portray the truth of it. Yes, human sacrifices were a part of the ancient ways. Did the Celts sacrifice children? NO. Did they lure in outsiders to the tribe and sacrifice them? NO. Criminals of the tribe were sacrificed first…and volunteers second…at least in the Celtic culture, which seems to be the base culture for the movie.

Bottom line, this move was a good suspense/thriller, but a horrible portrayal of anything remotely accurate to the ancient and/or modern pagan ways. It reminded me of a fundamentalist cult…the ones we should all be leery of. If non-Pagans didn’t see Pagans in a bad light before, they just might after watching this movie.

Wow, it’s not even my birthday yet and it’s already turning out to be a great one. My birthday is officially on the 27th…and this year I turn the big 3-oh. Though it doesn’t faze me…age is just a number, and if you can get past the mentality of thinking you’re old, you’ll never really be old.

Anyway…so far I’ve gotten a cute little card from my soon-to-be sis-in-law (thanks Sandy…yours is in the mail!), a gift certificate to Renderosity from my mom-in-law (of which I couldn’t help spending all at once…Poser is my obsession lately), and…get this…a car! Yes, I’m the proud new owner (along with ‘J’) of a 2005 Jeep Liberty!
I’ve been wanting one for a while now, but because of our credit history, didn’t think we’d be getting one til ’J’ has been at his job longer. Well, weren’t we surprised when he got approved for it…with payments under the amount we specified! The Liberty is used, but it’s in pretty good condition, and we got a really good deal on it. And I love driving it! I love sitting higher off the ground than in a car. ‘J’ tried out the 4-wheel drive in the snow and ice around the area and it does great. I’m so happy with it, and it’s nice to finally have my own vehicle.
If you’re in northen Cali and looking for a good deal on a Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep, go to Red Bluff Chrysler. That’s where we got the Liberty. They approved us over the phone, didn’t change anything when we got there, and we were driving home about an hour later (me in the Jeep!).

So who says turning 30 is a bad thing? This has been one of my best birthdays…and the actual day isn’t even here yet!

The new year is upon us. Another year gone in so much of a blink of an eye. This was a big year for my family and I.
In February we moved from our apartment of going on 9 years into a cozy 3-bedroom house. And even better, we moved up to the mountains where we actually get snow in the winter! We’ve already had up to about 4 inches on and off since right around Thanksgiving. My hubby finally got into the job we’ve been waiting on for a year and a half, which incidentally, is the main reason for our move.
Shortly after moving, we decided to increase our family…we started looking around for a dog….a Husky or Malamute to be specific. We found a beautiful Husky rather quickly and adopted her. A month or so later, we adopted a Malamute. Being young (ranging between a year and 2 years) they can be a handful…but they can be so sweet as well.
One of my brothers got married this summer and got me into thinking of finally tying the knot with my hubby. We’ve been wanting to, but with 2 kids and all sorts of bills, the money just flew right by us. Now that hubby’s in a better job, we’ve started planning our wedding for November 22 of this year. Funny thing, one of my other brothers is getting married in the spring of this year.
Let’s see, this has been quite a creative year for me. Hubby and I bought Poser6 for Christmas last year and I’ve been playing with it a lot in the past 12 months. I have quite a few full scenes and even some signature tags I’ve created with the program…and I’ve used it to completely update the look of my design site, RavenMoon Designs. I’ve got a little something brewing with my artwork, and I’ll let you all in the secret soon.

And that about does it for my year. 2006 was quite a year, with lots of changes. It was a great year. And now, as I look forward to 2007, I can only hope it’ll be as great. Happy New Year!