"In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey"

Started packing today. I moved a carload over to the new place. A lot of stuff is going to be in boxes until B moves out because there's just not as much storage in that place. I've a growing pile of stuff in my living room which is the stuff I will be trying to sell or donate away. I've already thrown 2 trash bags out. It feels a bit unnerving because a good portion of that pile is books. Some of those books I just will never read and some I'll never want to reference again. So on they go.

But that wasn't really what I wanted to talk about.

I wanted to talk about identity...about names. I've been thinking about this moniker that I chose for myself a lot lately. Most of you know the story...a little less than 10 years ago, I was on a listserv. I used my own name for awhile on it, but most of the women were choosing screen names (as an aside, names with the word wolf in it predominated because we were working through themes in Women Who Run With the Wolves).

I chose spinsterwitch. Spinster because, legally, in some states, I would be designated a spinster on deeds of sale or mortgages...also because I wanted to reclaim the term to have it mean what it originally meant: "one who spins." There's all sorts of spider images that are in there too...because I'm "spinning" on the "Web." (yeah, yeah...bear with me) Witch felt like a no-brainer. I am a witch. So there it is.

After I left the listserv, I really didn't give much thought to the name. It was in my e-mail, but I often had other e-mail that I used. But when the idea of a blog came up, I resurrected it for the screen name. The interesting bit is that I have evolved so much during the time in which I've had this blog...and I've taken so many risks as spinsterwitch, that in some ways I feel more like Spins than I do that other part of me with that other name.

Oh, it's not a real split, of course. And I still love my given name (I've talked about the history behind it before), but there's a part of me that feels so grounded in the name of Spinsterwitch. I've just realized, as I've been writing, that it feels a little like the name that a person would have in Native societies...a true name, a name with power in it, the name you don't just give to anyone.

So this whole diatribe has given me an idea...well, it's a spin off on an idea of Mystic's from awhile back. Tell me, if you want to play, what name you feel best suits my character. It can be a "real" name (like Cathy or Jane) or a "blog" name (like HippyChick or BeeDragon). No prize, just a little bit of amusement for my dreaded Monday back at work!