Vision boards are a popular way of making resolutions and setting intentions for the New Year and many magically-minded folks I know make them or participate in making them in groups. I’ve never enjoyed making vision boards very much. They smack too much of the kind of self-centered prosperity-mindedness that infected our greater pagan and magical communities not too long ago. I had to dubious honor of sitting in on conversations when these ideas were introduced to complete newbies. Yes, setting intentions are key to magic but so is cultivating a strong sense of personal ethics and responsibility. None of that is ever covered in conventional thought-powered prosperity manifestation nonsense and so I tend to be a bit cautious about engaging in anything that hints at pulling from the wrong well of power.

I also don’t have any magazines laying around just waiting for me to cut up. I also have loads of other projects waiting for my attention. I’m not inclined to make a brand new mess on top of approximately three other messes just to create a thing that I’m going to tack on my wall between the much-loved “I ❤ Mormon Pussy” photograph and my Morbid Anatomy Museum calendar.

Maybe I’m disinclined towards vision boards also because my magical training has largely been to let go of intentions rather than continuing to feed them. Forgetting a working and letting it, you know, work is fundamental to several magical paradigms. At the very least, it doesn’t make good magical sense to me to continue doing one spell over and over again if I’m not getting results.

Another big reason why I don’t do vision boards is because there’s not very much that I actually want. Over the years my actual bone-deep desires have gotten fewer and fewer. When I’m in the living presence of the wish-granting goddess what do I ask for? The same thing that Swami Vivekenanda asked for, the same thing that caused Sri Ramakrishna to call his would-be disciple hopeless.

Such a desire cannot be put on a vision board.

Of course, there’s other things. I ask – beg – for the means to meet my material needs. That list of things is numbered close to my heart – a safe place to live for me and those I’m responsible for;the nourishing food I need to stay well; the medicine I need to stay healthy and active; enough money to meet my obligations, to live quietly, and to share with others. Past that, what do I need?

I’m sure some people who say that I have no ambition, no drive for greater things. Am I really content with a very quiet life? Don’t I want anything better for myself? Am I really content with settling for the very minimum of what life has to offer? And the answer is – yes, I am content. I’m content because the things that I want to achieve and experience can’t be accomplished by doing anything except more or less what I’m already doing.

My ambitions include refining my personal practice of devotion, service, worship, and love. I want to dive deeply into knowledge and experience and bring up treasures from a mental ocean that will enrich the lives of polytheist worshipers today and tomorrow.

I want to become a better person – which to me means being more honest, more charitable, more compassionate, more responsible, and more kind.

I want to increase and magnify the things I share with others.

I want to pursue my art and writing and creative endeavors with passion and success.

I want to provide the care and love that I’ve committed to.

None of these desires require me doing a whole hell of a lot different than I already am. That’s pretty remarkable, when you think about it. I don’t require more than a modest apartment and a reasonable paycheck and a really good pharmacy to accomplish these things. Aside from the paycheck part, I’m actually doing pretty well – but perhaps the Gods have blessed me with low expectations.

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I’ve spent nearly three weeks in bed with a massive cold/flu which took a detour into pneumonia country. I’m recovering slowly. I have an Etsy update that has been waiting since mid-December. I found a stash of beautiful teacups with perfect, lovely sprigs of mistletoe painting on the inside. They’re Christmas themed cups but if Loki has been a gift-bringer then these might be perfect for you.

The cup and saucer sets will be sold for $12. I haven’t determined shipping cost but they should probably be around $4.50. I’ve got three sets, one of which is fairly yellowed; it’ll be marked less.

I also found a small stack of Loki devotionals that I’ll be offering at a discount. These were from the very first batch I made and there are two small typos (specifically an instance of swapped letters and a missing space). If you’ve had your eye on the Loki devotional books but haven’t been able to afford the $30 price point, these might be perfect for you.

This month I’ll be busy preparing for PantheaCon in February. I’ve got just a few weeks to finish my session notes and pack, etc. Next week I’ll be presenting my session at a local venue as a trial run of the material and to give folks in my area a taste of what PCon has to offer. I’m looking forward to this class.

I’ve got a FB event page for my PCon session. Check it out and share it if you like!

Speaking of PCon, as a presenter I have the opportunity to sell copies of any book I’ve written. I’ll have a few copies of Heartroad with me along with – I HOPE! – paperback copies of Worshiping Loki. I’ve been trying to contact the designer I was working with to find out if we are still on target for a first-week-of-February deadline. Once those copies are available I’ll have them for sale on Etsy. An ebook version will follow. I’ve also got a special project in the works for this book. More about this special project as things develop.