Rustic Pagan Author Artist- Tchipakkan Voices on the Path-

Voices on the Path-

A Collection of Interviews

Rustic Pagan Artist Author

Tchipakkan

Email: tchipakkan@tds.net

http://tchipakkan.wordpress.com/  

http://changingtimeschangingworlds.org/

First can you briefly tell us about yourself? What is your profession? 

I am an artist, writer, and speaker (also known as "unemployed").   I'm 60 years old, a widow, and live on a small "almost a farm" in S. NH with 3 adult (handicapped) children on disability. We are all artists and sell art at shows on weekends, I am moving away from gardening and keeping animals, although we still have goats and rabbits.

 Any special hobbies?

My "hobby" is the Society for Creative Anachronism. I put it in quotes because it encompasses so many hobbies that calling it a hobby is silly. Within the SCA a do calligraphy, embroidery, costuming, brewing and cooking, spinning and weaving, archery, leatherwork, herbalism, glass-working, gardening, beekeeping, and many many more activities.

When did you begin your path? What inspired you to walk this journey?

I came to realize that I was a pagan by high school; I remember talking to and leaving offerings to the gods before that. I expect I learned about them through reading about history and mythology.

Can you tell us a little about your path? How would you describe yourself?

"Tchipakkan is an artist, writer, healer, and eclectic pagan-heathen-rustic.

I have been worshipping the old gods openly since my teens (I had very open-minded parents). I have a small farm in NH aimed at self sufficiency and sustainability, which I share with 3 of my children- now adults, and a varying assortment of animals (sheep, goats, rabbits, chicken, ducks, geese, peafowl, and cats, of course).

Author of Divine Cookies- a cookbook with recipes about gods and magic, The Heathen Cookie Cookbook, (and several other pagan cookbooks), the Rune article series in the Blessed Bee Pagan Family Magazine, and other articles in Hex, Sagewoman, and other magazines, as well as working on other books- specifically one on the pagans and heathens who go "under the radar" because they aren't weird enough to sell airtime or articles.

I practice and teach RúnValdr and Reiki, huna healing, herbalism, and soothsaying with runes, palmistry, tarot, numerology, and other systems.

Over 30 years in the Society for Creative Anachronism have brought me many friends, and many historically oriented skills, as well as more knowledge of early Anglo-Saxon culture than is conceivably useful. I love to teach useful skills like from cooking, sewing, and herb use, to divination and other more esoteric activities to participating in endless discussions of everything from healing to folklore.

I study seidhr in order to discover healing seidhr, rather than oracular seidhr.

As an artist, I specialize in portraits, but also have done a lot of work as a weohcraefter- maker of sacred images- mostly goddesses (I've done three sets of Frigga's handmaidens) in fired clay. I hope to someday learn to either make molds so they can be available to more people and more affordably, or find a rich patron! I've also paint book covers, most recently Frey's Saga.

I work with many gods, having over the years had special relationships with Mother Holle, Woden, Frigga, Thor, Eir, Kwan Yin, Anubis, Apollo, and the Virgin Mary. When challenged to stick to one pantheon, I point out that I don't give up old friends- even if new ones don't get along with them. I also work with the house and land wights and Idisi a lot- especially the spirit of the mountain I live on.

When we are living consciously every act is a prayer."

In brief- I describe myself as eclectic. Frankly, there are so many heated discussions about what a pagan or heathen is, I often use the term rustic in preference. I mostly work with the gods who come to me.

Does the path you've chosen affect your profession? If so, how?

I don't think so- I would take a "regular" job if I could get one. My personal beliefs would prevent me from taking a job I thought contrary to how the world should work, but I think that's probably true for most people.

Is community important to you, or do you prefer to express you beliefs as a solitary?

Community is very important to me, and yet I would be described as a solitary because I have never found a pagan/heathen community in which there wasn't a whole lot of effort to make others do it "their way". People seem to use community as an emotional reinforcement showing that their choice is right. I am far more likely to share a celebration with others than a ritual. I feel community should be what you have with those among whom you live- locally based. I try to be involved with our town activities.

Are you associated with any organizations, volunteer work, or groups that support your spiritual beliefs?

I support Amnesty International, the Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, Naral, and the ACLU. On pagan groups, I've liked and joined many off and on- Fellowship of Isis, ADF, The Troth, I tried the Rosicrucians for a few years in college. Most of the groups have excellent aims and are appealing, and if I had a good solid income, I'd probably maintain memberships in several.

Would you say your path has been an easy or difficult journey?  

Very easy, because it's natural. I was raised Christian, but have no problems with it. I just chose another direction. (I've never been able to wrap my mind around the concept of sin.) Frankly I have not seen much religious discrimination, probably because the circles I run in tend to be more free thinking, and maybe because I don't recognize it when I see it. I fell in love with a man I met in the SCA who just happened to be also a pagan, and have raised four kids openly pagan. I had one brief confrontation (at halloween) when my first child was in first grade and after that the school and town have been totally accepting. Frankly, I think they care more about whether my goats get out than what gods I worship. 

I observe that most problems are created by the people who have them. I have  known some who have suffered some nasty discrimination, but it's far more rare than those who run afoul of jerks by making dumb mistakes.

Any advice for someone new to this path?

Relax, listen to your inner urgings, don't be defensive. It's your choice, not theirs, and needs be no more public than anyone else's religion. If you are a good person in the broader community, when they find out you are pagan, they'll have to reassess any negative prejudices they had before. Let other people be "wrong", it's their choice. Live your life, not theirs.


Finally, what three books would you say most influenced your path.

Probably the books I read as a child before I knew were most formative:

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grayham

The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Many, many fairy tale and mythology books including the notes at the back.
(if you want another title I'll say Winged Pharoah by Joan Grant)

I started this sort of study during the "Occult Explosion" reading books by Hans Holtzer, Israel Regardie, Dion Fortune, and other writers from earlier: Aradia, The White Goddess, The Golden Bough, as well as stuff on ESP and Edgar Cayce. When Gardner, Buckland and Leek started writing, I read their books, and have stayed up on pagan literature through Adler, Starhawk and Cunningham. But I would say none of it "influenced me", or told me how I should practice (mostly I thought chanting and dancing around in circles was pretty silly, although I do practice magick, I don't consider it a part of my spiritual path). I still put out a drink or a cake for the gods, but now it's openly, in the kitchen altar instead of on the back porch.