I guess you could say that I started being a Pagan when I was about 9.  I don't know how I knew what to do, but I'd sit in the garden and just meditate.  Around the same time I saw an article on Tarot Reading in one of my mother's "Woman's Day" magazines (or something of that type).  It actually had pictures for every card and the meanings.  So when mum was finished with the magazine, I carefully cut out all the images of the cards and glued them to some cardboard I had lying around.  I made sure all the cards were the same size and that they were glued down well.  The Major Arcana cards were larger pictures and overlapped on the back, so I actually had to copy the designs to make my own, because I couldn't use the actual images from the magazine.  I taught myself how to read the cards, and I used that silly glued together deck until I bought a proper one when I was 16.

As I grew up, I figured that I must have been a "hippy", which is what I called myself... I dressed differently to everyone else (long flowing dresses and skirts), and still did things like meditate under the trees.  When I was about 11, I made an area of my bedroom that I called my "Altar".  This was a corner of my room, where I put  a HUGE red velvet cushion I made, hung some sarong/scarves on the walls and surrounded the cushion (on the 2 sides that weren't the walls) with a semi circle of candles,  gemstones and things like feathers, an eagle made of a shell and a tiki that I had found that had significance to me.  I would sit in there to meditate and just to relax.  I knew that gemstones were somehow very important, but didn't know why.  We'd been to a place that mines them, and I bought some pretty ones, some of which I put around my "Altar" and some I put in a leather pouch that I wore around my neck.  In that leather pouch I also put some things I considered to be lucky or special, like a coin from the year I was born, an eagle earing that to me represented freedom.  I actually wore that all the time (except to bed), even to school - under my shirt because we weren't allowed to wear jewellery.

My parents had no belief in "that sort of thing"... one being Atheist and the other Agnostic.  They thought I was a bit weird, but let me do whatever I wanted to :)  I was interested in American Indian and Egyptian Mythology, which is where I first started believing in Gods and Goddesses.  I collected bits of information about natural healing, Feng Shui and anything else "new age".  As I grew up more I got interested in Natural Healing, and became a Natural Therapist.  I was trained to do different types of Massage, Reflexology, Accupressure [Like accupuncture, but without the needles!] and Aromatherapy.  I visited every "New Age" shop I could,  and that is where I discovered the term "Wicca", from reading a newsletter brought out by our local New Age shop.  The article sounded interesting, pretty much like what I believed in... but I didn't know where to look into it further.  All the shops I had been to had books, but all on healing,   American Indians and stuff like that.  It wasn't like these days when most New Age shops have pentacles, Athames, books on Witchcraft and stuff like that.

Funnily enough, I've been to church several times.  A baptist one and some other one (I have no idea).  I joined 2 Church Youth groups - because I wanted to make friends with people who I knew wouldn't just want to drink and do drugs :)   Occasionally I'd go to church, just for interests sake... though I made it very clear to everyone that there was no point trying to convert me, I was happy believing in what I did, and was NOT going to become Christian.  They were all fine with that.  Actually the Baptist Church group were FANTASTIC people, great friends and just truly wonderful people.  They accepted me for who I was and never once tried to preach to me or convert me at all.  I was impressed.  I even started cleaning the Church every fortnight for them! 

I didn't do much about it for a few years... After I moved back in with my parents I started working in my their shop.  Strangely enough, over the years that I had been interested in "New Age", my parents started off thinking it was weird, and slowly started believing it themselves!  They eventually started up a New Age shop of their own.  Funny how life changes! 

In their shop one day I noticed a book on Witchcraft.  I knew vaguely what it was, so I read it.  I felt like I finally found a name for the beliefs I had.  Beliefs I'd gathered from here and there, over my entire life. I was a Pagan...a Witch. So I got my parents to order in a few more books on Witchcraft.  I read them.  That started me seriously on the path.  I read every book I could get my hands on.  When I got the Internet, I went to every Pagan webpage I could.  I subscribed to 40 Pagan Mailing lists..... I was always online!  I'd gather every bit of information I could, and file it away in my BOS for later.  Even stuff I wasn't particularly interested in at the time.

Through a friend I found a Women's Pagan group, which had a mailing list and held occasional rituals.  I joined that, but didn't really like the rituals or the way they did them.  I ended up just not going to the rituals, and just chatting to them via their mailing list.... I went to a few rituals held by another Coven, but it was very far away and hard to get to without a car.  So I ended up working with just a close friend of mine, and occasionally her husband too.

I started looking around for a Pagan name.  I wasn't happy about using my real name on the Internet.  I couldn't think  of what name to use... nothing seemed to fit.  I wanted something to do with purple (since it is my favourite colour), but someone in  the Women's group was called Amethyst already... so that was out.... I wanted something to show my Green eyes or Red (though  it's dyed) hair - which I think are features of me....Then one day I was flipping through the crystals section of my BOS, and the  name "Obsidian" just seemed to jump out of the page at me.  Hmm.... I thought about it for a while... I loved the name, but was  concerned that it was "black"... since the Obsidian I knew about was a black stone (glass).  Then I read up on it.  There was a  purple Obsidian (for my love of purple), a Green Obsidian (for my eyes), a Mahogany Obsidian (red for my hair), as well as other  colours and variations.  Wow... a pretty looking name (I love the letter i in a name), with the 3 colour aspects I wanted.  It was ME.  The "leader" of the Women's group told me it wasn't my name, that I might use it for a week or so, but it wouldn't stick... Ha... I have been using it for years...and it's more me than my "real" name.  Even my Husband's parents sometimes call me Obsi. 

Through being in the shop and talking to people, and from reading books myself, I thought that there should be some books on certain topics in Witchcraft, so you could buy a cheap book on just that topic.  So I started to write some.  Then several people asked me if I taught classes in Witchcraft.  I thought about it.  I'd started writing a book on Witchcraft, so I decided to turn that into classnotes for a Witchcraft class.  To my complete surprise it was popular, I had people wanting to do my course, and enjoying it.  The I had overseas and interstate people wanting to do my classes, so I turned the classnotes back into a book, and also made a correspondence course.  I also had people who wanted to join a Coven.  I didn't know of any, so some of the people that did the Witchcraft course, and a few friends all got together one Full Moon, at a friend's house and held a ritual.  We had fun, so we had another one.  Then "Coven of the Crescent Moon" was born.  None of the original members are in the Coven anymore, but the Coven has grown and changed and that's good too. 

I've just never really been one to do spells or rituals all the time.  I much prefer to just do something simple to celebrate a Sabbat or Full Moon, like just lighting a candle.  I also don't believe in just casting spells for the sake of it.  I figure that you should try the mundane approach first, and if that fails - THEN try a spell...  I figure that yes, I could do with some more money, a nice house, a car etc.  But have I done everything "mundane" I could to achieve that?  (like go out and get a well paid job) No... then why should I "cheat" and do a spell for it....  I personally think it is wrong.  If they are needed I think it is ok to do one at the same time as you do the mundane thing, but I think it is wrong to just try to "Magick" things away or to you, without putting any physical/mundane effort into it yourself.

I started buying a lot of herbs in bulk for my own supplies (because I could, having access to my parents catalogues!), and had noticed that some of the people I chatted to in their shop were having trouble finding herbs... so I started packaging up some herbs to sell in the shop.  They sold... Then I added a few other things (like runes and Spellboxes)...and they sold too...  So I decided to set up my own proper business selling Pagan things.. and "Obsidian Star" was born.  I'd wanted to register just "Obsidian" as a business name, but it was already taken. (Obsidian Laboratories Pty Ltd I think it was).  So thinking quick (At the business name registration office), I added the "Star" to the end.  And that's how the name came about. I'm glad I did, because just "Obsidian" on it's own wouldn't really have worked, and would have been confusing "Hi, I'm Obsidian from Obsidian..."

A few weeks later I did a Small Business management course, through NEIS (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme).  They put you through a course and help you to set up your business by giving you funding for a year while your business takes off (it's not much, but it helps you get started).  To get approved you have to submit your idea, do the course and then submit a business plan.  If they think you'll succeed, then they'll give you the grant thing.  Heh, can you believe a Government department gave a grant to a business selling Witchcraft tools and teaching Witchcraft?  (especially since it was illegal at the time).. well they did!

I figured that trading online meant I could reach more people, and I wouldn't need to rent out a shop.  Through my contacts on the Mailing lists I was on, I was able to tell a lot of people about my business, and I ended up getting customers from Singapore, the UK, USA as well as around Australia. I tried to provide a service that was personal, rather than those online shops where you never actually deal with an actual person.  Plus I didn't think it was fair how some places charge a flat postage rate.  I remember wanting to buy something online (a packet of incense) and the $4 packet of incense was going to cost $9.50 to post, and it was only coming from across town!  I could have driven over and picked it up for cheaper.  So I decided to charge postage based on what the order weighed.  A much fairer system!

I started wholesaling (Selling to other businesses) my products by going to a couple of New Age shops in the area.  They mostly bought my booklets, spellboxes and Runes.  That led to selling wholesale interstate and overseas.  Unfortunately I just don't have the time or space for wholesale anymore.
 

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