I see too much shallowness in the world. The only things people feel safe talking about are the only things that don’t matter – what so-and-so wore to such-and-such an event, what video games are the best, the newest techno-gadget that just came out that you must have to be a complete fully-evolved Man.

My grandmother once told me that there are three things that as a rule you must never talk about in polite society: Sex, Politics, and Religion.

Polite society, if there is such a thing any more, nixed Sex from the list and replaced it with Morality.

I plan on breaking that rule for all three.

Why? Because those are the only things that really matter. It is the subject of our hearts, of our bodies and minds, and of our souls. It is my opinion that you cannot truly know a person until you have talked of such things with them, and gone below the surface seemings of the mundane.

So, I am writing here, so that I can explore some of the deeper facets of life, and that you all may know me and that together we can discuss. With that said, to get to the deep parts of the ocean, it is best to begin at the shallows and swim outwards, so let me share those basic facts.

My name is Samantha. I go by Sam or Raeliyah, depending on the origin of knowing me and the familiarity of the speaker. Here, I will accept either, although most often on the Internet I am referred to as Raeliyah – it is, in a sense, my heart-name.

I am a follower of the man we know as Jesus the Christ. I haven’t always been so – I was raised Roman Catholic, and disabused with The Church, I set out to find out what else the “supermarket of religions,” as a friend puts it, had to offer. I learned, and am still learning, a great deal about a great many religions, from Eastern philosophies to Druidism to New Age Re-constructionist. There are very few religions or philosophies I haven’t heard of, more that I am only familiar with the name, but for the most part, I have an ever-growing knowledge of many of the current ways of life. I had settled on a re-constructionist eclectic version of Shamanistic Animism, with the Winds as my major spirit in my personal pantheon. Now I am a Christian (although I dislike the term), and after the initial love affair that is the conversion process, I have set about to learning with the same atavistic hunger that I have always had for all things immaterial.

I am a therianthrope – or that, I believe the shape of my soul doesn’t conform with the shape of my body. My soul’s shape is a gryphon, called Raeliyah, and if you want me to be more detailed than that you will have to ask. Perhaps I will write an article on it one day. At least that’s how I identify the feeling – there have been other explanations, some of them probably more “in line” with standard Christian theology, but as far as I know I’m a rarity within the church body that way. Whatever it is, I have it for a reason, and that’ll probably become more clear as I grow and mature as a person and as a Christian. Phoenixes are also specially important to me, but not in quite that way.

I have a passion for beauty. I love art, and fantasy, and those explorations of the mind that is in any way called aesthetic. I once fancied myself an illustrator, and once a graphic designer, but in most things, being an artist is as core a part of my identity, my worldview, as being a Christian or being Raeliyah. I appreciate beauty in Nature, in Man, in all things. I have pets because they are beautiful and deserving of care, I build vivariums because they are a slice of Nature’s beauty accessible to all.

I seek to be the embodiment of perfect agape love – so that I am approachable and not intimidating, so that perfect strangers feel comfortable talking deeply with me. It is what all Christians are called to strive for, and yet it is so much more to me than simply a “should be.” My early encounters with Christians were the antithesis of that love, so I call myself to overturn that encounter for others, and within myself. It is my goal, and although I don’t think I will ever attain the fullness of it that I seek while I am alive, I still strive for it, as much as can be accomplished. I’m still seeking for what I think God is calling me to, but this particular goal is part of it.

I think those are my core attributes – they shape the way I interact with everything else, and, are the most important. I have a few topics that I wish to address, but this is enough for now.

Zhai’helleva (wind to thy wings),

Raeliyah