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October 12th, 2009
02:06 pm - A series of oaths, a series of changes
You know, in many ways, the initiation I went through changed the game I was playing, deepening it and setting new rules. I like to talk about Huizinga's notion of Homo Ludens as vastly superior to Eliade's Homo Religiosis, but I find myself encountering Huizinga's theories on a very real and intimate level in my life.
The rules have changed for me a few times since I started in ADF: my Patron Oath, Dedicant Oath, Consecration Oath, and now my Initiation Oath have all changed the rules ever so slightly, but also so significantly.
My Patron Oath brought me into deeper relationship with Esus and Eris, and it has led to many great things while keeping me grounded and flexible all at once. New rules included building commitment while also deepening understanding in exploration and boundary-pushing.
My Dedicant Oath led me to a place where I was committed in a new way to Our Druidry, where my world was re-framed and brought into sharp focus. There, a new cosmovision sprang forth, and my life has since been filled with spirits and allies I never dreamed would be available to me before. This was pivotal in how I viewed the world.
My Consecration Oath turned a corner I did not expect, and brought me to a place of deeper piety and unfathomable commitment to the rites and rituals of Our Druidry. It also provided me with a commitment to "pay forward" that which I had learned, to bring that training to others and help others through it.
My Initiation Oath took me through deep passages in the earth and high corridors of stars in the heavens, and provided me with new tools and new focus, both in terms of the practical work I had done to get to that point, and in terms of the lessons learned from initiation. It is as if I am seeing the cosmos for the first time, and I understand fully my place within it.
My next oath will be an oath at Ordination, I suspect. I don't know what it will bring, but I can only tell you that it will likely redefine this cosmos yet again, and I am likely to see the world through new eyes, and to have new training and lessons with which to focus them, yet again.
I am excited to see where this leads, and to learn what I can do to help lead others through the mists whose paths become known. In all cases, though, any change that may come requires me to accept the new rules. This is not as simple as saying "yes, I agree to these rules." It is a complicated process of discovering the new rules, agreeing to abide by them, and then acting in accordance with them: recognition, agreement, and action. These are the three steps my oaths have taken and will take.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Travelin' Clean", -JB
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August 29th, 2008
10:10 am - Discordians on ID, the lost Principia, and the JFK assasination!
Years before Creationism became Intelligent Design and began to fill the heads of our children with unscientific rot that masqueraded as science, Discordians were fighting the good fight against ID with their own myths and stories.
There is a copy of the Principia Discordia in the JFK Collection from the HSCA. It was placed there because one of the founders of Discordianism, Thornley, was investigated as part of the conspiracy to kill JFK (by virtue of having served with Oswald and writing two books on him. . . one of those books being written before the assassination).
It's an old edition, one that contains the myth that was supposed to precede Starbuck's Pebbles in the Principia, but was somehow left out. This edition is something like the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi library of Discordianism, and I'll bet that very few of you even knew it existed. Honestly, almost no Discordians had ever seen these writings until the HSCA files were declassified in 1992, and it took a few years beyond that for Rev. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) drjon to dig it out.
Even the title is different. Discordians, of course, know their holy book as "The Principia Discordia: Or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her". The title of this version of the Principia is, "The Principia Discordia: Or, How the West Was Lost."
For those interested, though, please take a few minutes to peruse the complete scan (minus two pages that simply do not exist) of this original~ish Principia Discordia.
( And, because we *all* need to read the original myth that went along with Starbuck's Pebbles that debunks ID in a religious context. . . read on! )
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) satisfied
Current Music: "Take Another Road", -JB
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August 15th, 2008
11:27 am - Making a Special Triptych
Last night, I spent a couple of hours making something that I'd like to share with everyone: a triptych.
Now, because this is me, you know this is not going to be just any triptych. No, I created a triptych based on one of my favourite myths, a sort of little portable Pagan shrine or altarpiece.
My triptych is the story of The Original Snub.
( For more, including a picture detailing the items on the panels, read on. . . )
Why, yes: this little triptych will be for auction at Summerland next Saturday.
Not preregistered for Summerland? Get Pre-Registered! Today is the last day to pre-register!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Smart Woman (In a Real Short Skirt)", -JB
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August 8th, 2008
05:04 pm - Is your god on The List?
There is something odd about this List of Entities that I stumbled upon. Perhaps it is the inclusion of Harpo Marx, Discordian Saint Second Class, as an entity. Usually, this would be good, except that I can't really stand lists like this, nor can I abide the great Saint Harpo being listed with (and I quote):
Gurid - an angel of the summer equinox angel. I mean, really?
Look up your favourite god and/or goddess and see what they say about him or her!
Other gems?
- Amon - Egyptian ram-headed god of life and reproduction. Later fused with sun god Ra becoming known as Apollo - God of healing poetry and music.
- She - One of the Forgotten Ones. Invoked by the vultures atop the Pillars of the Abyss.
- Nike - Greek goddess of victory. Bewinged, she was also a messenger goddess. She also has an overprinced brand of running shoes named after her.
Okay, so I can agree to that last one. . .
Deity lists are crazy popular online, part of the general buffet-style religion that's always been popular (as many in ADF like to say, there's nothing more Indo-European than stealing someone else's gods and saying you found them first). You'll find a lot of repeats and some consistently bad stuff (a personal favourite, about Esus was just found. . . "Esus, God of war, who may have been a tree god Celtic.")
I first stumbled onto this phenomenon when I came across David Owens' dictionary of gods and goddesses, which he allowed to be electronically duplicated online, called The Gods of Man: A Small Dictionary of Pagan Gods and Goddesses. when I initially ran across it, I was pretty freaked out. I mean, it's just so. . . superficial. (I've had the pleasure of chatting with him briefly online, and he's a good guy, and the list is pretty astounding, actually.)
I suppose there's about as much wrong with a superficial interest in the deities you worship as there is in a superficial interest in cheese (which is to say, not much, especially if you're lactose intolerant), but every time I run across these lists (almost always accidentally), I wonder who actually uses them.
And then I remember: I did. My superficial list was just written by D.J. Conway. Plus, it was David Owens' book that turned me onto Esus (due to its woefully bad description, but still).
So they serve their purposes, I guess. They get people interested. They build those first steps and get 'em out the door and into the bright light of Paganism.
So, in that spirit, I think I'll go invoke Lu Dong Bin, Nexhagus, and Freddie Krueger. Hey, they're on the list, man!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Duke's on Sunday", -JB
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May 30th, 2007
10:21 am - Wellspring 2007 - Just. . . wow.
 Wellspring, this year, was very, very good. Between my very first six hour ritual and having Isaac, ADF's founder, shout, "You troublemaker you!" at me, I can't really find much fault. (See Sunday for both of those oddities, plus some.)
( Thursday )
( Friday )
( Saturday )
( Sunday )
( Monday )
The last person I saw from Wellspring was Brian, who passed me just north of Columbus on I-71 while I was fumbling around to dig out my altar for my sunset ritual. (Yes, I sometimes do my sunset ritual while driving. Sue me.) :) I made it back to Columbus around 9 PM on Monday night, feelin' damn good.
Miss you all, all over again.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: "We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About", -JB
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May 18th, 2007
09:03 am - Thinkin' about "stuff"
- Asking people to think before they speak is apparently "asking people to pretend to be something they're not."
- I was never self-conscious of my finances until I got an email about how privileged I obviously am yesterday, and was, in fact, quite proud of how I've been handling them. I'm back to being proud, though.
- When I started a Grove, I didn't realize how much homework I would end up assigning myself. I just don't know enough right now to write this rite. And that's a lot of homophones.
- At some point, I would like to take a road trip to Springfield, IL. There's a mural on the wall of the Illinois Supreme Court that I want to see (you know, since Eris is on it . . . Well, Discord to be exact, but it's close enough for government work, and it is a government building). The more I think about it, the more obvious it is that I need to do this. Of course, I'll probably combine it with a very long overdue trip to Kansas to see the family, and maybe stop by the Protogroves in Urbana-Champaign and Kansas City for a rite or something. I hear there's also a Grove near East St. Louis now, too.
- My carport is clean, my back yard is shaping up, and the front yard is next to be tackled. And, it looks like I've kept my promise of clear skies tonight, at least so far.
- This morning, I remembered the feeling I used to have every day when I was in college, where your body feels healthy and ready to go, strong and awake. It's a wonderful feeling, and one that I sorely missed.
- Wellspring isn't exciting me at the moment, for various reasons. Part of this has to do with a feeling of "missing out" on last year's Wellspring and being "left behind", part is a feeling that I'm going to have people demand that I "explain myself" on things (though I don't believe that I've done anything wrong to deserve that), and part is just that I have the traditional Han Solo "bad feeling about this."
- I really, really miss some of my best friends.
- Today's Buffett Oracle:
203. What works for me might work for you.
Thanks, Jimmy. I have some ideas of how I want to spend an evening this weekend.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Buttermilk Grove", -JB
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May 1st, 2007
10:45 am - Some tired ramblings
ADF elections finally ended last night. I've been spending the past several nights at my workbench, working on things in order to keep my mind off a lot of things, but those in particular. Last night, I spent my time working to finish the set of runes I've promised for so many years to make for the Grove, but have never managed to actually do.
I also have a set of Ogham sticks that I hope to make for the Grove. As I was working last night, trying my hardest to avoid fretting over other things (a common thread in my life recently), I began thinking about the other divination tools we might need on hand.
 I'm a fan of culturally-appropriate symbol sets, which has been a perennial issue with a Gaulish hearth culture. Ian, apparently, has a new symbol set of his own that looks intriguing (I just heard about it recently, though it's apparently been discussed on ADF-Seers a couple of times. . . which doesn't help much for me, who went NOMAIL there a long time ago because it wasn't worth reading), so we might need to get something like that. I made up a set of Discordian Futhark runes for my own personal use (I don't think the Grove needs them), and I've found that they're really fun to use. [note: I have a similar creative project underway, and others have also thought about Discordian divination.]
Of course, I have no idea what to do with this whole Vedic thing and seership. I suppose I'll just do what I'm doing now: read up on the famous Vedic seers and pretend I know what I'm doing. [mental note: get a fire extinguisher for the altar, idiot.]
I've been reading as much as possible about Usas over the past few days, and as a result, I've been encountering her in my thoughts quite often. I'm back in the habit of my dawn and sunset devotionals, which are really the one thing that I will always recommend to folks who are having a hard time spiritually: it's amazing how they affect your religious life.
Of course, because I'm staying up late and getting up before sunrise, I'm getting really, really freakin' tired. At this point, we're looking at about 14 hours of daylight at this latitude, and it's only going to get longer for the next six weeks (peaking at about 15 hours). I do not expect to sleep in until late September, after the daylight savings change.
The one thing that I really feel I need to do with these rites is to wake up and stay up, which means no more lazy mornings in bed. And, if I can swing it, I'd really like to wake up, shower, and be ready for my day by the time I stand before my altar at dawn. So far, because of how late I've been up, I've chosen practicality over piety, but at least dawn is waking me: that's the real goal.
And I've been rambling for a while now, so I'm going to shut up. This, apparently, is the effect of three hours of sleep on my writing.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) sleepy
Current Music: "Hello Texas", -JB
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January 22nd, 2007
01:18 pm - Packages make the day brighter
I'd been looking forward to my weekend, but it never really happened. I managed to do nothing on Sunday, which is the saving grace of the whole shindig.
But today, when I got into work after braving crappy weather and worse drivers, I knew that a package might just arrive for me.
And lo and behold, it did.
Inside, three small packages were wrapped.
I opened the first one and found a rather lovely and precious trinket of my short-but-hot modeling career. I'll be the first to admit a bit of narcisism from time to time (we've all got it), but this was particularly enchanting to me, mostly because of the presentation. I have no idea what I will do with it, but I know I will do something with it that allows it to be shown off.
The second one I opened was from the shrine to Eris on Mt. Olympus. The sender indicated that it brought her luck ever since it was in her posession, and now the luck of Eris could be with me (or so she hoped). It's now sitting right behind Han and Leia, under my monitor here in my office. I think it may stay there for a while.
The final package contained my greatest hero, a hero since childhood. I could, if I chose, put him on my keychain, or slip him into a pocket in case the world becomes too overwhelming and I find a need to escape. The world will always need heroes like him, and I will always crave the adventure that calls him out.
Deep thanks are now offered. This brightened my day. And the luck has begun to flow.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Buttermilk Grove", -JB
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October 18th, 2006
05:32 pm - Googling Eris
Googling "Eris" is always interesting.
Is it just me, or has Eris recently been busy in Ohio's elections?
Further, Eris is designed to simplify client development of games, apparently.
And, Eris Media offers a variety of production services, and "can be there to capture your wedding." I presume you need to invite them first.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Miss You So Badly", -JB
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September 1st, 2006
01:01 am - Dating Eris?
On a pure side-note: If you've ever wondered what a date with Eris is like, this is totally the video to describe it:
"What Was I Thinkin'" by Dierks Bentley (safe for work, it's a country music video)
[Secondary link in case the first one doesn't work. . . Bottom video in the right column]
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Lone Palm", -JB
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July 11th, 2006
08:48 am - A quick review of the last 168 hours or so.
- Saw Pirates twice, despite not being so happy with it the first time.
- Received a picture from a very hot girl with "chronarchy" written across her chest (I think I finally made it big in the Internet world).
- Found and transcribed two commentaries on Lucan's Pharsalia.
- Found (but didn't transcribe yet) the Adnotationes super Lucanum.
- Began translations and putting said commentaries online as a public service (and because it's nice to have 'em handy).
- Had a conversation with Eris that hasn't been transcribed yet.
- Made a joke about cornering the market on paisley socks.
- Had my cell phone refuse to dial, drop connections, and generally act like a bitch about 30% of the time.
- Emailed an author about a corrected citation.
- Slept in a bed that was not my own (twice).
- Slept in my own bed (twice).
- Slept on various couches (every other night).
- Sang in the shower.
As an FYI, no the post yesterday wasn't directed specifically. I just. . . figured I needed to say something about my dropping off the face of the earth on occasion.
And my newest goal with LJ? Get all the information into all the fields on the update screen before the words "Autosaved draft" appear on the page. I almost had it this time.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Happy Christmas (War is Over)", -JB
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June 27th, 2006
05:51 pm - Voyage to the Planet Eris
I looked up from the hammock and saw the crescent of the waxing moon still very visible in the bright blue sky overhead. Watching the moon above me, I had a sudden sense of my place amid the mysterious inner workings of the universal clock. As I rocked in my hammock, the earth was spinning like a giant gyroscope as it orbited the sun. Out there beyond the blue, the distant invisible planets and the Milky Way moved with us.
It never seemed so grand and mysterious in a classroom. Maybe teachers ought to approach astronomy from a hammock on a deserted beach as well as from the lenses of giant telescopes. The earlier in life we know we are part of something magical and mysterious, the better off we are.-A Salty Piece of Land, p. 433 Eris' mother now has her own heavenly body. I can't wait until Eris herself does. I'd totally lead *that* expedition. . .
You know, not to insinuate that Eris' body isn't already heavenly. Because, like, it totally is.
She's a hottie.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Math Suks", - JB
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June 1st, 2006
10:56 am - A short ritual with a lot of friends, in five parts
Last week, the majority of PSA got together at some point or another to celebrate _crow365__'s birthday with the Ritual of the Pentave.
What came out of the fifth night's ritual was one of the best pictures of PSA ever taken.
( Pic of the last night behind the cut )
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Creola", -JB
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May 19th, 2006
01:56 pm - "Billy Clyde wasn't insane. . ."
So, today I'm meeting with _crow365__ and club to perform The Ritual of the Pentave. I admit to looking forward to this, and I'm happy at its timing. It reminds me of things I've generally forgotten about.
I'm happy today, as I was yesterday. I was reading Eliade recently, working up an article about the Water Skate in Zuni mythology and sacred centers, and I came across his discussion of orientation in Sacred and the Profane, a discussion I'd never read before. I realized, when I thought of why I felt so good when I expected that I would feel fairly terrible, it seems to be because I have found orientation.
For a while, I was sort of liminal. I wasn't sure where I stood in relations to a lot of things.
But on Wednesday night, I found definition. I know who I am.
And that is a huge relief.
My Buffett Oracle for the morning is:
35. The pleasure was worth all the pain.
Whatever I did, it worked with that Oracle. . .
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "The Weather is Here (I Wish You Were Beautiful)", -JB
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January 23rd, 2006
06:00 pm - Boy, I got crap done. . .
This past weekend, I admit, I dropped off the face of the earth. My appologies. It'll happen again, but not today. I got stuff done, though. Many goals were met. . .
 1. Book and pack for trip to Atlanta to see erienc.
2. Take a girl to see a bad movie.
3. Dream a dream that should not be dreamed in preparation to launch Wikinomi.Com.
4. Do taxes and land a windfall refund.
5. Ask my friends what the Buffett line: "I like to be in touch with what makes me scream" means (Comment, yo?)
6. Get to the top of alia_egilsson's list (which list will be left to the imagination).
7. Decide on whether to LJ whore next month to get someone to buy me a paid account for the next year.
8. Finish a paper, some reading, and a bibliography for tomorrow's class.
9. Be inspired by a Golden Delicious Apple on my desk. . . My gods, you can't imagine what those particular fruits can do to me.
10. Consider a Jungian approach to Aztec human sacrifice (even if the very thought makes me ill and completely disrespects the Aztec culture).
11. Wake up next to. . .
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Tin Cup Chalice", -JB
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December 28th, 2005
10:20 am - Honestly, what did you think you'd get in response?
I received in my email:I would like to speak with Eris. Please tell me how. Thank you. I responded:( Read more... )
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Today's Message", -JB
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November 30th, 2005
08:54 am - It's been ten days? Not long enough.
Since Monday, Nov. 20, in no particular order I:
- saw the nautes pillar
- did a monkey dance
- saw a Roman archeological dig
- saw Notre Dame and decided it wasn't worth it to go in
- kissed a girl in Paris
- caught a shooting star with someone who had never seen one
- found a new favourite air carrier (four words: "green skirts, golden apples")
- was closely watched by the Illuminati
- had impure thoughts in a church
- realized I needed more work on my Latin
- realized I recalled more French than my 7th grade teacher would believe in a million years
- realized German, no matter how often I heard it, is simply impossible for me
- had really good chocolate (the jury is still out on whether I believe in really good chocolate)
- kissed a girl in the Vienna Christmas market
- saw more famous dead people (Falco!) than I had any right to
- lost three people in Vienna, and found two of them
- lost a bottle of tequila to pressure in the cargo hold, and soaked some poor sot's bag with it, I'm sure
- slept with three women and one other man . . . in one bed
- spent an hour and a half with a shower buddy struggling to remove gold body paint
- finally got between Mazi's legs
- lost all chance I had with a girl to a three year old
- had french fries that could only be described as "exquisite"
- saw signs for "Men with hats cross here", "Men with hats go down stairs here", and "Men with hats steal children here"
- had a crisis of conscience that would have been terribly funny from my persepective, but not so much from yours
- discovered that the sun does not shine in France, and especially does not shine at Charles De Gaulle (CDG) airport
- Became stranded at CDG on the way home and discovered the previous assertation is untrue, though we also discovered that CDG is designed after Charles De Gaulle's nose: large, unsightly, and ugly
- learned that a hat, properly worn, can move you to the front of any line
- proposed to a girl in Vienna
- found Europe to be exactly like the US, just with a few new languages and monopoly money
- discovered the French are much nicer when you're in a wheelchair, and customs are much simpler
- went fishing in shark-infested trashcans
- had a one hour layover turn into a 23 hour layover
- encountered the Great Mystery of the Missing Cheese Stick
- am now the proud owner of an Air France t-shirt
- managed to get my bags checked all the way through to Columbus, but not my travel partner's
- will never fly Air France, into CDG, or go to Paris ever again.
It's now almost nine AM, and I am not at work. There is a very good reason for this.
Walking With Fire is/was/has been the best festival I ever attended. I am not sure that the experience ever could be or ever will be beaten.
Pictures are forthcoming, as is a longer review.
For now, though, I'm just too tired.
Entries from this trip:
Entry 1 | Entry 2 | Entry 3 | Entry 4 | Entry 5 | Entry 6
A quick overview of the entire trip
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) exhausted
Current Music: "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season", -JB
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November 3rd, 2005
11:50 am - A song, and hotties. Lots and lots of hotties.
featherynscale posted a poll about my entry from the Song of Songs last night. Got me thinking.
I generally think that the Song of Songs isn't really about god and man, or man and man, or even that it's necessarily mystical. When I read it, I generally take the position that it's written by a woman to a man, but I don't really believe it's that, either. The voice flip-flops a lot. I do tend to think of it simply as a beautiful way to describe just how you love someone.
To me, the key phrase is, "My beloved is like a Gazelle". It's got some deep meaning to me, personally, that probably shouldn't be described at this point. I'm not even sure it could be described. Some people might have an inkling, or think they do (one person, I imagine, actually has a very good idea), but I don't honestly know how to define it.
As far as erotic thoughts about deity: I fall borderline. I think of Eris as extremely hot 'n' sexy, but I've never considered anything sexual with her, really. So I don't think I could consider the thoughts I have about her as "erotic", though others might think that simply seeing her in the light I do, I'm having erotic thoughts.
It brings up how I see most women, though: just because they're hot doesn't mean I think erotically about them. ( And I devolve into a discussion of hotness )
On the to-do list:
- Track down resources for my next DP-related project: requirement packets
- Finish my next Oak Leaves article about Felicitas Goodman and ecstatic body postures
- Fix my Slavic vampire presentation for Walking With Fire
- Call the people I didn't manage to call last night
- Start in on the next Chronarchy.Com update
- Re-work my daily rituals a bit
- Maybe get cleaned up before tomorrow night. Just a bit.
- By popular request, add a "Make-shit-up-about-MJD" section to the next 3CG business meeting
- Maybe make a poll for the same thing here on my LJ
- Make sure we have a location for Saturnalia
- Write up that bit about costumes I've been meaning to. perlgirlju gave me a great start over email, and so I'll probably edit some things I wrote in my half of the conversation to her and use that as my basis for the entry.
Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: "Cowboy in the Jungle", -JB
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September 22nd, 2005
12:35 pm - Devotional
The Five Fingered Hand of Eris is ever at work in my life.
It is before me
and behind me.
It holds my head under water until I can breathe as the fishes.
It flaps my arms futily until I can fly as the birds.
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Treat Her Like a Lady", -JB
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August 30th, 2005
10:12 am - Eris!
"Eris can hear a pinhead full of dancing angels land pinhead down, along with all their agonized screams."
I'm rather proud of that statement. . .
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Twelve Volt Man", -JB
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