mlerules

Interested in good arts 'n' crafts 'n' pagan writing 'n' other cool stuff/people? Check her b-day post out:

Originally posted by

lupabitch at post

I TOLD people I had a perfectly reasonable explanation for setting an artichoke on fire!

So--it's my birthday! (33, if you must know.) Want a really easy, but really effective, way to make this day most excellent for me? Read on!

Hi. I'm Lupa. Pleased to meetcha!

And that's my car, Juniper. She needs a bath. Say hi, Juniper!

So--back in September I finished a three-year graduate program in counseling psychology. This about sums up what it was like (minus the truly and awesomely enjoyable element of working with clients, and the ever-inevitable soul-searching that made our program require every student in it to get at least ten hours of therapy as a client before starting practicum):

Grad school cured me of bibliophilia.

However, I have happily graduated, and upon receiving my diploma you might say I felt I had accomplished a little bit:

Picture courtesy of Zelda Dungeon. Also, the original Legend of Zelda is 25 years old. I still have my NES.

However, I'm taking a bit of a break from psych as a form of self-care, and to plan strategically for the long term. In the meantime, I have successfully transitioned into being full-time self-employed as an artist and author. By a number of happy occurrences, I have the opportunity to make a go of it with a reasonable chance for long-term success, even in the current economic climate.

Please don't mention student loans. Or health insurance. I'd like to keep smiling.

And that's where you, the reader, come in. That easy thing you can do to brighten my birthday?

Spread the word! While I do a fair bit of promotion of my work, I can only figuratively reach so far. Your word of mouth can help me a great deal.

I mean, really, all you have to do is link to this post right here! I talk about all kinds of things that I do here--it's like a one-stop Lupa shop! (*ahem* In a manner of speaking, of course...)

For one thing, I write books! Mostly on totemism and other forms of animal magic, but I also wrote a book on Otherkin that I've been told doesn't suck, and I compiled an anthology about cultural appropriation in the neopagan community (my totem is not the one-trick pony). This is for all you voracious readers out there ;)

No, Animal, not "Eat books", READ books!!!

I also offer totem card readings! The link above will give you plenty more information, but the short version is that with this deck, I can help you find totems that you can ask for aid with various parts of your life. (If you're looking to find your life totems, that's a much more involved process, but I'm happy to offer advice!)

Divination is serious business.

The creative effort that's been getting the most attention from me has been my artwork! I make stuff outta dead stuff--like these lovely muley antlers:

Yes, yes, I know what you all are itching to say.

All my currently available work is here, and I'm available for copious amounts of custom work. In case I haven't convinced you yet, here are a few teasers:

Look! You missed it! It's up THERE!

Want to help me continue making all this awesomeness--and more--keep happening, and getting better with every year? Promote me, baby!

Does it make it okay if a dedicated feminist uses the term "pimp" in a facetious and ironic manner with a side dish of duckface to drive the point home?

I mean, if this doesn't work, and the economy and job market don't get better, I may have to resort to drastic measures, like becoming a sword for hire...

I'm sadly out of practice with drilling. "Free time"? What is that?

...which could have potentially disastrous results...

Don't worry, folks. I'm a trained amateur!

So, since none of us want that, why not take just a moment to pass on this post, or any of my other links, to a few people you know? It'll give me a boost, let more folks know about what I'm doing, and increase my chances of survival on a number of levels! Plus, you get to help me have a happy birthday!

Here's where you can find me:

The Green Wolf - my main website
Therioshamanism - my shamanism blog that I've kept for the past four years
Pagan Book Reviews - I've been reviewing books here for almost five years, and I am accepting books for review!

AntlerRunes.com - dedicated specifically to the custom antler rune and ogam sets that I make
My Etsy store - you can fave my shop and my works, and even add me to your circle to see when I upload new stuff!
My Artfire shop - despite some issues with new policies, I decided to keep the shop for those who prefer this over Etsy
My deviantArt account - this is primarily an archive, but please feel free to add anything you like to your favorites!

My Twitter feed
The Green Wolf fan page on Facebook
My Tumblr account - only recently revived this, trying to get it worked into my routine, but feel free to add me!

So please feel free to blog about this post and/or my work in general, Tweet it, Facebook it, Tumblr it, and otherwise get the word out to people who may be interested in what I'm doing here!

And, finally, for reading this, for passing the information on, for buying my books and art and readings, for cheering me on over the years, and for making all this possible, even to the smallest degree, I have to say...