5 Little known Facts About Me Meme

I was tagged by Angela Messenger to do a 5 Little known Facts About Me Meme.

I have a bit of a hard time with this meme, because I sense that anything I would write would draw a loud yawn from my readers.

Okay, here goes.


1. As a teenager, say around aged 13-14, I was a serious astrologer. I knew how to cast horoscopes, birth charts, the whole kit. I borrowed books from the library to learn it, and some books had time conversions (important when you need to convert to GMT) and planetary positions for several decades back. I even practiced a form of astrology called reincarnation astrology that told me what I did in a past life. It wasn't pretty.

I gave that all up because astrology and all forms of divination are a sin. I found it tough to give up, because I used to make horoscopes for a lot of the popular girls, and it was kind of a social networking thing. People who wouldn't otherwise give me the time of day were genuinely intrigued by my birth charts and horoscopes.


2. As a child, I once seriously invoked a pagan god. Jupiter to be precise. I was about seven. I didn't know there was only supposed to be ONE GOD. I know that might sound hokey (and says something about the state of catechesis and religious culture in our society) but I just thought a god is a god. I read about the pagan gods of Rome, and he was the most powerful one, so why not?

When I learned the Ten Commandments, and the fact that idolatry was one of the worst sins, I had a lot of latent guilt as a child. I genuinely felt terrible. I don't think I've ever told anyone. At one point, I would pretend my little Lego people were Roman gods, but I stopped because I feared that this fascination for them could lead to idolatry. Not to mention that pagan gods were not the best examples of virtue.

I still feel a little bad, but I feel bad that I was so ignorant I didn't know any better, not that I actually did it. I'm sure God understands.


3. I won second prize for Chemistry at the Science Fair in Secondary 4 (grade 10) with a crappy project about baking. It was the first year for the Science Fair, and the projects weren't too hot ( I dreamed mine up at the last minute). I was sort of proud because I was never that strong in science.


4. I once almost decided to become a Mormon at age 15. It occurred after a visit from Mormon missionaries. The Mormons deliberately send handsome men to go door to door to missionize. What 15-year-old girl wouldn't let two handsome men in her house? (Man that Elder Jarvis was a babe.) I got a copy of The Book of Mormon,which I read quite a bit. The Elders said if I prayed to ask God which is the right religion, he'd show me.

And so I'm Catholic today.

My change of heart came from the fact that I had a really good religion teacher in Secondary 4 and Secondary 5 (Grade 10 & 11) who spoke about the basis for the Catholic Faith. I think the fact that there was no Mormon congregation near my house also helped.


5. My favourite saint is Saint Teresa of Avila, because of her autobiography. Her ideas on prayer and union with God really influenced me and led me to a higher spiritual plane. She's charismatic all while being very humble and holy.


I tried to focus more on my childhood, because sometimes I think if I mentioned things about my life today, people on the blogosphere would take advantage of that knowledge. The personal really can be political.


Okay, now TAG YOU'RE IT! You do the meme.