About Me!

Welcome to my homepage! My screen and Craft name is Rivarae, and I am a 25 year old woman from Washington state. This is my first attempt at a web page, so bear with me. I grew up here on the coast but have been all over the country. I still firmly believe there is no better place than Western Washington. So my roots are firmlyplanted, and happily growing.

Let me tell you a little more about myself. I went to college at the University of Montana and majored in Wildlife Biology. After college I worked on the Washington coast as a Biologist for the Timber Industry. I mainly specialized in Coho Salmon Habitat Convservation. This went on for about five years untill the feds decided to declare Coho Salmon "threatened" in Washington and Oregon. At that point, a lot of the money for biologists working for private industry dried up and I found myeslf unemployed with a lot of my fellows. At this point I thought it would be pertinent to rethink my career and did something rash. I went back to school for a few months and got my CDL. At that point, I hit the road for a year of basically "paid vacation". There is something really apealing about the freedom of the open road. Where else could you spend one weekend on the coast of Florida, and the next in northern Manitoba.

This is what I look like. :)

Most of my life I have been an artist. Its one of my most pleasurable things things to do...so I haven't made a career out of it yet. Im deathly afraid that somehow getting paid for art will spoil it. I work mainly with the fantasy aspect, drawing people and animals that dont exist, except maybe in my own shadowy imaginantion. The background of this page is one of my favorite pieces. Her name is "Windswept" and shes a character on a mud that I enjoyed playing for some time.

Speaking of mudding...

Mudding is another of my hobbies. I currently play Chislev (the Goddess of Nature) , an immortal, and help run a mud called Ansalon . Ansalon is based on "DragonLance", Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's book and roleplaying series (currently published under TSR akaWizards of the Coast). If you enjoy a good bit of roleplaying, come check us out. I have been playing Chislev for about ten years now, having started out on JD Mead's mud The Keep, in 1991.

Here is the introduction from my Book of Shadows. Which if your not in the Craft, is a self written book, or a book you hand copy from a mentor or teacher. In essence, a witches Bible.

I am a witch. I am a daughter of the Earth, and I walk the path of light and shadows...

Witchcraft is religion, a way of life. Witches eat, breathe, feel, and exist within its conciousness. Witchcraft is an Old Religion, stretching back far into the reaches of time, well past any modern day celebration of faith. We worship the One, and its children, The Lord and The Lady. The Lord and The Lady are like multi-faceted stones. They have many faces and have been called many names. We usually bond with one or two aspects of Them, but always feel free to call upon ANY aspect of them depending upon the need. They are our parents, children, lovers, sibling, even ourselves....joined with us in every way.

The Craft as Witchcraft is sometimes called, has been passed down from mother to daughter, father to son, and sometimes even from stranger to stranger (having a common bond of gifts and interests) in secrecy and quiet reverance. Teachers always know who to teach and who to leave in ignorance. This will always hold true. These teachings and practices are traditionally held in secrecy, but more and more witches" are coming out of the broom closet". Witches haven't always been accepted into society. But those of us that remain vow "Never again the Burning Times", and thus work to promote understanding and acceptance.

We folk of the Craft, the witches, live in two worlds; the world of form and tangability , and the hidden world of the spirit. . The known world is manifest as our planet Earth. The invisible world makes up everything that is not physical. We live as witches, and practice our magic within the consciousness of Both Worlds. Our ultimate goal is to move freely and live perfectly between them both.

All creatures seen and unseen deserve to operate as they please and indulge in what makes them happy and comfortable, as long as it doesn't harm anyone or anything else, or infringe upon their same rights. Therefore, its not necessary that personal "Truth" conform to anyone else's. Conversely a person cannot expect the world to conform to their truths either.

We live as part of Nature, within it, as well as along side all of our fellow creatures. We accept our gifts and use them as they are meant to be used...for goodness and out of love or concern. We don't practice cruelty, pain, or act out of anger. To be a Witch is to be something to be proud of. Never feel shame at our heritage.

We carry within us souls that are immortal. We live many lives, and as such we oftentimes remember bits and pieces of lives we have lived before. These memories might manifest themselves in fears, talents, tastes, virtually every manner. Know that the reason for being, the reason for living is to gain knowledge, and learn to better ourselves. Many of our kind feel that we are put on this Earth, our ladies bosom, to learn certain lessons. Once these lessons are learned, we are free to pass onward...to rest. Then we are born again, after being refreshed, to learn new lessons. Never be afraid of death. Its a natural part of the world...one that we don't need to shrink away from or fear needlessly.

Above all......."and it harm none, do what thou wilt." So Mote It Be. The Gods and The Goddesses still whisper "seek us, find us, know us; walk the way which lies between the worlds".