Hello, hello. :)

[Beele]

Good evening (morning, night, afternoon), everybody. I'm Beele and in the grand world of secular activity, I'm studying information technology full-time. It's a general certificate which fulfills the prerequisites for further degrees in both hardware and software, but I'll be pursuing an advanced diploma in networking and network security once I've finished. I've lived in Melbourne, Victoria for almost a year now, and I really enjoy it - I come from a very small country town, so it's proving to be a refreshing change to have people and things around me all of the time. I live with my partner and two other housemates.

I have one pet fish who lives with me (a betta, but he's coming up to the end of his days, sadly) and one pet cat who lives with my parents, as my landlord doesn't allow furry friends. When I'm not studying (hah - see the jokes I can make!), I enjoy getting bored on the internet, reading books and playing video games. I like to think that I enjoy playing electric and bass guitar, but it's actually more of a challenge that I'm stubbornly enduring. I keep a piggy bank and have a growing collection of animal hats. I love dead things and deal exclusively with one taxidermist from Adelaide, who has been brilliant in all requests.

Spiritually, I guess that I call myself a heathen, even though I feel like I'm being a bit pompous to do so. I was raised as an atheist but have always fundamentally disagreed with that premise. I came to heathenism through genealogy: when attempting to research my family tree, I've learned that my ancestors, except for one relative on my mother's side who is Aboriginal Australian, were exclusively Germanic (primarily Swedish and Norwegian). I'm pretty interested in bloodlines, heritage and ancestral history, so it was inevitable that when researching Germanic culture, I'd very quickly discover the Norse pantheon and become a hard polytheist.

I now honour the Norse pantheon (though I don't consider myself an Ásatrú practitioner in the slightest) and I'm attempting to align my worship with something more native to their culture / my ancestry as much as I can without discomforting my partner. I'm sure he'd be supportive, but, you know - mutual respect and whatnot. I think that ancestry plays a big role in my personal practice, and even though I don't have contact with any of my personal ancestors (at least, I don't think so), I enjoy trying to work with ancestral Germanic culture as a whole. I don't have a patron god, and I wouldn't really be surprised if that never changes, but I do have one or two favourites. I'm working on quitting that. (;

Well, you now know entirely too much about me, so I'll leave off here. I'm looking forward to getting know you and your respective practices - it'll be great fun, I'm sure!

(As a final note, because I've noticed in my lurking that staff members come into the introductions threads, I'd just like to clarify one of the rules: am I reading over them correctly if I understand that when replying to anything, I must quote at least some part of the text (or at least leave an empty quote box linking to the post I'm referring to) during any and all conversation? I just want to clarify it before I forget and get into a spot of bother.)

[Tana]

Hi and welcome to the Cauldron.

To answer the question at the end of your post.
Yes we require quoting in threads, to make the whole conversation easier to follow.
Threads can get easily to 10 pages here and, if the answer to a certain point of a former post is separated by 5 other posts, quoting helps to avoid misunderstandings.

It is not necessary to quote the whole post. Only the part you're refering to.
And if you leave an empty quote box - which is absolutely ok - you just need to take care that the /QUOTE closing tag is in a different line aka hit return once.

If you have any other questions, just ask ahead.

Again, welcome out of lurk mode and enjoy your time at TC.

[Beele]

Hi and welcome to the Cauldron.

Hi Tana. Thank you for welcoming me and for clarifying the rule on quoting - I just wanted to make sure I had it right! I appreciate it.

[MoonCrone]

Good evening (morning, night, afternoon), everybody.
I'm Beele

Hello and welcome to the forum

[RandallS]

Good evening (morning, night, afternoon), everybody. I'm Beele and in the grand world of secular activity, I'm studying information technology full-time.

Welcome to The Cauldron!