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July 8th, 2008

02:01 pm - Getting back to divination I stumbled across some of the mails I wrote just following the COoR discussions in late 2006, and I'm somewhat amused by my own attitude toward the whole process. The more I go back and take another look, the softer I become on a lot of it. Anyway, that's another subject for another time. I'm still in the process of completing the various divinations people asked me about. I've gotten through some of them, but not many at all. It turns out that my frustration with the process was hitting a boiling point (at least partially) because I was hitting the end of my "free-time" period before everything blew up. As it stands, I'm still running pretty hard. I've done a couple of divinations today, though, and those should be going out, too. I'm *trying* to do them in chronological order. We'll see how that goes. Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "In the Shelter", -JB Tags: clergy, ctp, divination

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June 23rd, 2008

09:37 am - Good response! Thanks to those who have offered questions for divination up to now: so far, six people have sent things in, which is about perfect. I will get to them starting tonight, and will start sending out notes in order received as I finish them! Thanks (and if you still want a divination but haven't sent questions, I'm still able to do that). Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: chipper Current Music: "Island Fever", -JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, divination

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June 22nd, 2008

10:52 am - Divination anyone? *grins* What are LJ friends for, if not there to respond to a feeling of frustration with assertions of support and friendship? So, I asked in my last entry, "Frustration", if folks needed divination done. Looks like some folk are in need of it. I'm not worried about quantity: I need five more, at minimum (I got one last night), but it's not so much about filling the requirement (though last night I just wanted to hit the nine and be done) as it is about getting experience doing readings for others. So, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what I can do for you. You can use the contact form on my website* or you can email me direct if you have my email addy (I don't want to post it here) if you'd like a reading. Here are the simple things to note in the request: 1) a couple of questions, particularly questions that lead into each other. I prefer non-yes/no questions, though I can sometimes work with a yes/no. Examples might be: "What's my relationship with Tim like now?" "How does sleeping with Tammy affect this?" "What if I sleep with Brutus, instead?" 2) any background you might want to offer me (note: I won't pass this on. . . divination work is confidential, so far as I'm concerned). 3) How in-depth you're hoping to get with this. I can do a simple rune spread, with one rune for each, or I can do three runes per question, or something in between. You can also just leave it up to my discretion. 4) A note that it's okay if I include this in my CTP materials, which (as you may know) get posted on my website. All identifying information is removed, and I write these things in such a way that there's really no way to know who asked the question. I hope to get back to folk within about a week or two (though ComFest is this coming weekend, which is hell). I'll get back around to everyone, however. I use runes pretty exclusively, but for _crow365__, I'll only use the Necronomicon Tarot. * - Yes, it asks for measurements. . . It's an old joke, that I'll explain later. Fill it in however you like or leave it blank, but I get the best responses to that little question. . . Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: awake Current Music: "Volcano", -JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, divination

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June 21st, 2008

05:03 pm - Frustration Some days, I get frustrated with my progress through the ADF Clergy Training Program. It's hard (and it just gets harder as it goes on). I just stood up, my brain hurting from trying to manage answering a question, and walked around in a circle, not really knowing why I got up in the first place. There's a specter of fear in my mind telling me that I just can't answer them, and that I'm simply not good enough. Right now, I'm stuck on Divination 2. There, I need to provide nine divinations I've done for others. Right now, I only have access to notes for three. I cannot find others (though I know I've done others). So, if anyone needs any sort of divination work done, please let me know. It would aid me greatly to do some divination for you. I'm within two questions of finishing Divination 2 and one question of finishing Trance 1. I have nearly all the information I need to finish the biggest question in Trance 2, as well, but actually doing it is really hard for me. It's so hard for me to see the end but to feel like I simply cannot get there. I feel like Zeno's frog. Well, back to work: complaining about it doesn't make it finish itself. I really, really want to finish Trance 1 today, and get a solid start on Trance 2. Perseverance is the virtue of today. (If I could choose two "moods" for this post, it would be "frustrated, hopeful." But, alas, I cannot.) Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: "The Captain and the Kid", -JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp

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May 16th, 2008

11:08 am - Easing on down the Path of Study in ADF Over the past weekend at Desert Magic, I was fortunate to sit around and banter about a variety of things with some great minds within ADF. And, because you all know me, no one will be surprised that we spoke about the current state of ADF's study programs. Now that we have people working on Second Circle Clergy Training Program courses (and by Wellspring there will be at least one more person, with several more shortly after that), it's becoming more pressing to make sure that the courses are ready to go. The CTP Outline shows how many classes need to be approved for Second Circle: four out of 12 are listed as "unwritten," though that word doesn't really indicate the fact of the matter. There are completed requirement sets undergoing fine-tuning before presentation for three of those four, meaning that, really, only one class is still outstanding in the second circle of the CTP. When Kirk and I sat down to revisit the Liturgist Guild Study Program last Sunday (and others joined us, notably Ceisiwr Serith, whose input was/is invaluable when it comes to liturgy), we hammered out five new courses, three of which should transfer directly into the Third Circle of the CTP as well (should the Clergy Council wish to go that route). We're also revisiting the structure of the original LGSP, which had a few issues. Fortunately, it won't affect current students at all. It looks like only one course is left for the LGSP second Circle, and druidkirk is working hard on that one. We may have a lot of stuff done for our students by Summerland. I'm excited to see where we can take this program, and where other programs will go as well. Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: excited Current Music: "Lucky Stars", -JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, festivals, friends, lgsp

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April 28th, 2008

10:46 am - Grove Blog, Books, and Pride The new version of WordPress is a tad different, so I'm forgetting to actually "publish" the 3cg_blog posts after writing them on occasion. I caught it earlier this time than I did last time. Still, it just showed up on LJ. I ordered a book the other day from Miami University of Ohio, called Ecstasy: Trance, Dance, and Transformation. I thought this would be a great resource for my Trance 2 work, figuring that a book like that would be wonderful for more information about trance. Well, it's not about trance. Or dance. Or even transformation. It's about the damn drug ecstasy. Quite honestly, I can't figure out why anyone would want this particular book. The author is trying to be some sort of Tim Leary and not doing a very good job of it at all. I find myself shaking my fist at MUOhio and thinking smoldering thoughts in the direction of Oxford, as if it's somehow their fault. Last Thursday, I attended a Pride organizational event. Three Cranes Grove, ADF, has been asked to help with the intertraditional service before Pride this year, and I'm very excited about this. As a result, I find myself with a dire need to accessorize my ritual gear (no, I'm not kidding at all). I was thinking that I need either a rainbow stole or perhaps a rainbow sash to replace my usual belt, but something with the ADF sigil on it. Anyone willing to give me a hand and help me by making it (or keying me into where I can get such a thing)? I really enjoyed the Pride meeting, by the way. As I reflected back on the meeting, I wondered if I should have felt out of place, or if I had felt out of place. I really didn't, and I suspect that because there was a representative from Green Faerie Grove, I didn't feel as out of place as I had in the initial meetings I had during my last interfaith foray for World AIDS Day (where I was the only Pagan in the room and service, though my discomfort cleared up quickly in that setting). I've always really liked the Pride movement, but involvement isn't always easy for allies. I'm very happy that I've been offered this particular chance to show my support (and my Grove's support) for the movement. It's clear to me that I'm going to have to get over my general discomfort with certain terms, though, particularly "queer," which is a term that I've known most cleary from its use on the playground during my primary education in Kentucky, really, so those connotations still stick in my head. I'm not sure that the word had passed my lips since at least 1999, when I last mentioned playing the game "smear the queer" on the playground to my girlfriend (who was appalled I had played it: I'm pretty sure I hadn't thought of the socio-political impacts of the game's name before that). This is an entirely different community with a very specialized vocabulary that I'm not at all used to, and I'm pretty darn sure that the vocabulary isn't agreed upon by the entire population. Ah, well: it's an adventure, and one that I'm very eager to take part in. Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "Bama Breeze", -JB Tags: adf, books, ctp, pride, three cranes grove

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April 25th, 2008

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January 27th, 2008

09:51 am - Adventures in Linux (or, Saving Six Study Program Documents from Certain Doom) Not long ago, I actually got "real" internet access at home. This consists of the cheapest possible DSL connection that I could possibly obtain: $15/month, which I split down the center with Tina. Since it's on my phone bill, it's not an extra bill, just more like an extra feature. I also received red_sput's computer from my parents at about the same time. He had run into the classic confusing issue of "Windows just shuts down before fully booting," which indicated that there was some sort of issue with his WinXP installation. I offered to look at it, but he bought a new computer back in November, so it wasn't really urgent. When I pressed the power button, the computer sprang to life, and I watched in amusement as the entire thing booted and popped into Windows with no problems at all. "I have it working," I told my father, who had seen it not work before. "What did you do?" he asked. "I turned it on." "Huh, nothing else?" "No," I said, "nothing else. There's a magical aura that tech support people have that makes it impossible to replicate an issue once the computer is in their hands. I have that aura." It turns out that the issue was a combination of spyware, viruses, and (as I soon found out) a faulty hard drive. Since then, I've been playing around with the machine (and am currently typing on it). I've used it for all sorts of things, from gaming to updating the Three Cranes site. But two days ago, I heard that ominous clicking on boot. The hard drive had gone. Gone, daddy, gone. While there was nothing of actual importance on this machine, I did have some ADF Clergy Training Program work saved on this machine and it was not yet backed up. While I can always re-write some of this stuff, I was kicking myself for falling victim to something I've told many, many Dedicants over the years: back your work up! As a result, I went back to a solution I used last time a hard drive died: Linux. ( Geeky stuff ahead, but interesting ) In short, I think that the older versions of Knoppix are what I recommend and will probably stick with if I actually have to do anything in the future. For the really short term, though, I'm just going to get a new hard drive for this bad boy and use my flash drive to back everything up until this one finally craps out. While it's on its last legs, I did manage to get back into Windows and boot from the hard drive. I noticed yesterday that the hard drive had appeared in Knoppix, meaning that it's working temporarily. So for now, the machine is intact. Sorta. Did I mention there's also a c-clamp holding the monitor together? I love computer repair and support. It can be so. . . ghetto. Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: amused Current Music: "Mac the Knife", -JB with Frank Sinatra Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, dedicant path, diablo, facebook, family, house, linux, myspace, work

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October 10th, 2007

09:39 am - Chronarchy and the Fox At the Clergy Retreat this past weekend (which I was only able to attend for about 10 hours), during the Order Work, I encountered an old friend. While walking across the green plain, I passed a fox. He was dressed for travel, and walking on his hind legs, a bag and a stick slung over his shoulder, almost like a child who had run away from home, but his step was sure and he was focused on his destination. In my first vision, he tipped his hat and continued walking. In this vision, he smiled with a toothy grin and turned around to walk with me. As we traveled, we discussed things. Many of these things are simply unimportant to the present re-telling, so I will leave them. What is important, though, is the very direct message that this old friend gave me: He said, "You have a long way to go." Then he looked at me squarely. "Start already." And with that, he turned and continued on his way, and I continued on mine. But I certainly have not and will not forget what he said, and I certainly know exactly what it meant. Maybe one day, he'll show me what's in that bag of his. I know what it is, even though I've never seen it. I knew when I first saw the bag a year ago. I hope he doesn't think it's a little red hen. Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: "Brand New Country Star", - JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, freedom, reflections, trance, writings

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June 1st, 2007

11:26 am - Marrying, burying, and the ULC Slipping through information, trying to find out whether I can legally marry someone in Tennessee or North Carolina or whether I have to do something like register first (still working out particulars there), I found that the ULC isn't legal in all states. This is kinda odd to me: while the ULC isn't exactly a banner of training for their clergy, one would think that the First Amendment would trump a lot of the stuff out there. But, so far, it appears that at least New York City and North Carolina don't accept ULC ministers as legal marriages. Curiously, the ULC purports to be legal in all states. Gotta love it. I guess they're technically correct: the First Amendment would make them "legal" in all states, but individual states occasionally haven't had a challenge that would test case law that ruled against them (as in the case of North Carolina), or else the courts have ruled against the ULC. (Wikipedia has a list of court cases involving the ULC, most of which are favourable to the ULC.) tesinth has also informed me that his ULC ordination isn't valid for marriages here in Ohio, but I'm not finding info on that yet. Then again, he's the one with the certificate, so he'd know better than I. Because I'm registered with the state under my ADF credentials, I don't have much to worry about here. On the other hand, depending on laws, I might need a physical meeting place for the Grove to legally marry people in certain states (like the state of New York, though because I "have" a congregation, I should be okay on that). ADF's "Law and the Church" course gave me a solid footing on how to slip through and search out a lot of this information, and I'm happy to have that. Just the act of finding as many laws as possible really gave me a leg up on the process. I know who to call to resolve questions that the statutes don't seem to answer, and I know how to dig through case law in some cases as well (though this particular skill is not as good as I'd prefer, I admit). Current Location: Southeast of Disorder Current Mood: curious Current Music: "All The Ways I Want You", -JB Tags: adf, clergy, ctp, friends

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