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May 26th, 2009
10:04 am - Projects, and a small haircut. A trim, really.
Wellspring [review] has me back in the swing of spirituality, I think. I've got two study programs to finish my own work on (there's an odd, sudden urgency to finishing Trance 2. . . I wonder why?), as well as numerous projects that are in a stage of complete-or-almost-complete that just need that last little bit of work to create the report. Putting the Clergy Training Program to bed is liberating, but it also brings me back around to the next project, which is the completion of the Liturgist Guild Study Program, which needs to be written.
Oh, and as some have noticed, my hair is now cut a tad shorter.
( Donation Photos )
I've sent my hair off to Wisconsin for redistribution into a wig. It's a bit odd, sending hair off like that (the magician in me cringes at the thought), but it's good hair: thick, long, and never, ever treated with any sort of chemical or dye. I picked Pantene mostly due to the fact that they accept hair as short as 8 inches, which meant that more of my hair was likely to be used. They give hair specifically to women who have cancer, though that didn't factor much into my decision: I don't really care if it's a woman or a child, or if they have cancer or have just gone bald.
I just hope that someone enjoys the hair, and that it helps get them through what they're facing in life.
And for the record, no, I do not miss long hair (I actually hated it with a pretty intense passion), nor will I be doing this again in the foreseeable future. I loved doing it once, but I don't know if I'll ever be up for another round.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "God's Own Drunk", -JB
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May 25th, 2009
09:49 pm - Wellspring 2009: Moving Forward
I have to say, as festival years go, this one seems to be the one with the best feelings and generally the best weather I've ever been involved with so far.
Coming off Wellspring now, I'm starting to see patterns: 1) This year's festivals are smaller, more intimate affairs. 2) The festivals have a different energy, one that has been better across the board. 3) I've seen things getting resolved instead of complicated. 4) Each festival is bringing us closer to resolution on particular items that are organization-wide.
I was happy to hear of a couple of particular patch-ups between people that occurred, actually, and to see some change in activity (though on Sunday night I realized that bad gossip may never go away. . . which is okay, since I created some good gossip of my own. . . ask about how I created electricity in my pants!).
The Annual Meeting was particularly good: it was nice to hear about all the things being done for ADF, as well as hearing solutions presented for issues that have been raised over and over. I look forward to completing several of the items I got to personally address, as well as many items others addressed.
Of course, it's clear to me that I simply haven't done enough with the SP's of ADF: that point is drilled back into me all the time (I actually felt that I wouldn't have anything to say when Raven asked for my report, but fortunately, he didn't ask for a report: instead, he allowed me to elaborate on changes that are in place and that will occur). As Jimmy relates from a bar stool in Captain Tony's Saloon: "There's still so much to be done." It's clear to me that we have a long way to go, no matter how visibly excited I may be about what we have accomplished.
The main rite on Sunday night was powerful and deep, possibly one of the most powerful I've ever been to. Right now, I'm ranking it around #3 in my ADF experience, with the Belenos Rite at Summerset 2005 as #1, and my Consecration as #2.
The best part, though, was the note I found on my windshield just before I left, addressed to me but really for the Cranes as a whole. It seems that we had made one member's experience with ADF brighter simply by being who we are: open, outgoing and hospitable. I'm so proud of my Grove and all we've done, and reading the note made my heart burst with pride.
I read the note to the Cranes at lunch when I caught up with them in Erie, PA. I think they were as touched as I was.
All that said, this year is a year to go to festivals: if you can manage it, please, please do yourself a favour and get to one. And if it's Summerland, so much the better :)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) cheerful
Current Music: "Tryin' to Reason with Hurricane Season", - JB
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May 2nd, 2009
08:24 am - An understanding of death
 It was a sort of odd feeling, in the wee hours of the Trillium morning [review], when I came to an understanding of death and what it meant to me.
I was writing my workshop, entitled, "An Awfully Big Adventure: Signposts on the Final Journey of Indo-European Souls," and was describing the things met along the way to the Otherworld: the two fires that separate the soul and the body, the various wells and waters, the ferryman who carries you across, the dog who devours, and the king of the dead himself. Over the past few months I've been dealing with death in various ways, considering my own views on it.
I probably ought to back up for a moment: I'm not much of one to dwell on afterlives. In general, my attitude has always been one of "we don't know, and won't until we get there." This has served me pretty well, honestly, for many years, and I have never thought of a coherent afterlife theory as being a requirement for leading a religious life. I had a (perhaps very Indo-European) view that it's not where we end up in the next life that matters, but how we act and what we do in this life. Sort of an expansion of the "it's not the destination, it's the journey" notion that folk often spout out.
Anyway, as I was finishing up the workshop, I found myself putting the pieces together in my head. Using Bruce Lincoln's Death, War and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice, I discovered that I was coming to very different conclusions than Lincoln did about what happens after death: his theory was very pessimistic; mine turned out not to be.
In the end, Lincoln responds to the IE myth by saying that there is nothing after death at all: "the otherworld," he says, "[is] nothing more than the grave."
My own response is very different. Death, in an IE sense, really means something: escape from the greedy monster of old age, escape from worry and care, an opportunity to live forever in bliss or knowledge, and (perhaps most importantly) a chance to maintain the cosmos in an ultimate way: to be bound by the Rta or Xartus in the most physical and lasting way possible, by reversing the cycle of creation and thus maintaining the cosmos.
I took my cue for this from the Rgveda, of course. . . Hymn X.16, a hymn regarding the funeral.
May your eye go to the sun, your breath to the wind: go to the heaven and to the earth according to rule, or go to the Waters, if there it is ordained for you! Among the plants to take your place with your limbs! In other words, when you die, the things that formed you at your creation are returned to the cosmos, to live forever within the cosmic order.
I summed this up some time ago in an ancestor prayer you may have seen, not knowing that I would return to it during this workshop, and find myself understanding death as a result of my writing it:
When you were born,
The earth became your body,
The stone became your bone,
The sea became your blood,
The sun became your eye,
The moon became your mind,
The wind became your breath.
When you passed to the Otherworld,
Your breath became the wind,
Your mind became the moon,
Your eye became the sun,
Your blood became the sea,
Your bone became the stone,
Your body became the earth.
When we were born, you did the same for us:
You called forth the earth and rocks;
The sea arose and the sun descended;
The moon shone down and the winds sang.
For those who come after, we shall do as you did for us
When we are gone, we shall do as you did before. When I gave that workshop later in the day, I suspect a sense of my awe at the epiphany was pretty conspicuous, though I tried to hide it as best I could.
In many ways, I'm not ready to face the death of someone I dearly love, no matter how near that possibility may have just been for me, but I find myself now with a more complete toolkit for dealing with it when it does, inevitably, happen to me.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: "Tryin' to Reason with Hurricane Season", - JB
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April 21st, 2009
05:56 pm - Trillium 2009, and a joyful return
It's true that I haven't missed a Trillium in five years, but it's also true that I don't think I've ever said, "Let's get out of the sun" at Trillium, either, until this year.
Trillium is that festival, you know? It's the one that, the first time you went to it, you said, "Wow, I really need to go to more festivals, because this is awesome!" It's the festival that turns you on to the festival circuit in ADF, that kicks off a year of camping and seeing old friends and meeting new ones all over again.
In short, Trillium reminds me why I'm an ADF member, year after year. It is the closest thing ADF has to a true Spring of Renewal, and I cannot imagine a festival season without it.
Though I was late coming to Trillium this year (I arrived at 2:30 AM on Saturday morning, missing two days of the festival), it didn't at all affect the amount of joy I felt at simply being there. Met by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sleepingwolf and Chris at the fire that night, we spoke for a while before I finally put up my tent (in the usual campsite) and fell asleep.
The next morning, I finished my presentation and then went out for a stroll. It was a real pleasure to visit with folks for a very extended period of time for a change, to not be hurrying to the next workshop or worrying about ritual parts. Of course, then I was asked to take the omen at the main rite, so I guess I did end up with a part.
My workshop was entitled "An Awfully Big Adventure: Signposts on the Final Journey of Indo-European Souls," and it focused on the journey a soul experiences in the "generic" IE afterlife (with culturally specific information thrown in to make it applicable, of course). I had been listed on the schedule as "Surprise!" because I had utterly failed to get valkyrvolva a title for the workshop since I'd had so little breathing time to reply to her mailings before the actual event.
I like to think that my workshop was a pleasant surprise. I know it was for me, because in writing the workshop, I came to a new understanding of death and how I, myself, see it. But that's for another time.
After my workshop, I ran into town to do some thrifting (because Trillium is nothing without thrifting, so say I!), and then came back for the main rite, where I did some divination once I realized it was my turn to do something.
At the ritual, we were also privileged to meet Margaret, a new addition to the ADF family, and a beautiful baby girl. druidkirk did a beautiful presentation of the child to the folk (don't listen to him if he tells you he screwed up), and we all got to meet her up close.
The omens for the rite were:  ,  , and 
The bardic circle was great, with acousticdryad leading the thing. I remember the first time I heard her singing at Wellspring so many years ago (I honestly thought it was a recording of some great artist at the time), and her voice just gets better every time I hear it. She kept the Bardic Circle running smoothly and gave it an oh-so-subtle push when it started to run out of steam. The Circle itself ran long into the night, with some drumming, but mostly people telling stories about their encounters with divinity, singing a song, or telling a joke. In all, it was one of the best Bardic Circles I think I've ever been at.
Sunday morning saw me up early again, and I grabbed breakfast (an awesome fudgesicle) with druidkirk and then caught up with sleepingwolf for a project that we decided simply needed to be done. I stuck around a bit to discuss next year's Trillium (the theme will be "magic" and I've volunteered to present on "Creating Magical Entities" already), and am already looking forward to doing this all again.
I have to say, it was one amazing weekend. I'm so much more relaxed today than I was when I left on Friday: good friends, good conversation, and a comfortable place to sleep will do that for you, though.
Yeah, I wouldn't trade my Trillium experiences for anything in the world.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: "Wonder Why We Ever Go Home", -JB
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March 13th, 2009
01:16 pm - Helping out a friend of our Grove
seamus_mcnasty posted about this today, but I wanted to note it as well:
The residence of Roger Drawdy, his wife Kate, and 5 month old daughter Sky, was consumed by flames beginning at about 2AM, 03/12/09. They are all safe and Roger also woke their downstairs neighbors, thus saving their lives as well. All got out of the building with the clothes on their backs and little more.
Three Cranes Grove, ADF, is taking donations at our site, and (since I'm the 3CG webmaster and can do this) I thought I'd make it easy by also placing the donation button here:
Roger is lead singer for the Firestarters, a band we hope to have play at Summerland this year (I think they're confirmed at this point, but don't know for sure, thus the "we hope they'll play").
If you can make a donation, it would be greatly appreciated: 100%, of course, goes to the family. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have only the clothes on my back when I had a five-month-old daughter to take care of.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/blah.gif) okay
Current Music: "Stand Today", - Roger Drawdy & The Firestarters
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February 9th, 2009
11:13 am - No DMF for me this year
Due to a wide variety of things, including my recent promotion (and subsequent OMGNowWTFDoWeDoWeNeedToStartNOW moment regarding a project I've been trying to get started for six months now), I will not be able to attend Desert Magic this year. This is generally okay, as I had already decided not to go, but somewhat disappointing, as I really enjoy the festival, and had intended to go as early as Jan. 1 of this year.
So, if you were hoping to see me, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to that one.
I'll send along something for the auction, though, even though I can't make it.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) annoyed
Current Music: "The Wino and I Know", -JB
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February 4th, 2009
07:27 am - 1,500: Reviewing my vocational statement
( Here is a basic timeline of my tenure in ADF. It's relevant, I promise. )
Not so long ago, I started thinking back on the work I've done as ADF Clergy, and began re-exploring the vocation I have for it.
I started down this path in college: old journals turn up statements like, "If I were Catholic, I'd be in seminary right now." I know now, looking back on it, that I was feeling a call to lead services and help others for a very long time, even before I'd graduated high school.
I remember when the Universal Life Church put their ordinations online and opened up access to the entire world. I also remember making the conscious decision not to obtain ordination in that way. I didn't make that choice because I felt it was an invalid method of becoming clergy, or because I thought it was beneath me; rather, I felt it was not the right path for me to take.
What was important to me was not ordination. It was not the powers conferred by the state or by other priests. It turned out that I didn't see ordination or priesthood in that way.
What I wanted was recognition of status achieved by the body of my chosen spiritual community.
I remember feeling shocked and somewhat embarrassed that the ADF Unity Rite I was consecrated in was so much about me. Every invocation and evocation mentioned me, with the Kindreds being addressed and asked to support me and give me strength during their invitation. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but I do now. It wasn't about the various Priests recognizing me, but about the fact that I'd done things within ADF to the point that the recognition was just right. It just came naturally to them. I don't believe any instruction for those invocations was ever given to those who participated in the rite: they just did it.
That thought, by the way, humbles me even more deeply, and makes me even more embarrassed in retrospect.
It has been, now, nearly three years since I took my oath that day, and dedicated my head, my heart, and my hands to this journey that we call ADF.
The other day, I went back to my Clergy Vocational Statement, and re-read it for the first time in over two years. I wanted to see what was still relevant, and get at why I chose to go this route in the first place. I know that I still struggle with being clergy. I know that Priesthood in ADF is still something that I sometimes question. I know that I still feel like a rookie apprentice among learned old wizards. But much about what I thought was calling me has changed.
( I made some astute statements. )
( I also made some rather. . . un-astute statements. )
A lot of what I thought would be the focus of my clergy work simply isn't the focus. The things I love to do, including the training program development, the ritual, and the simple joy of being a part of this experiment that is "Our Own Druidry," are still vibrant. But my expectations have changed so much. My own struggles with relating the GSP work to Clergy training were complicated enough: I felt untrained and underdeveloped when I started, but I have realized that I will always feel like that (and, should I stop feeling like that, I'll know I have a problem!).
The thing is, I'm a very different person than I was before my Consecration. It changed me, and time has changed me further. Despite that, some people will not see me as changed, but as the kid I was when they knew me before that ritual. Some will not see me as the kid I was before, but only who I am now.
And some, those closest to me, I think, will know the change deeply, and will understand it better than I do myself. And with the changes I have undergone, they will find that it is not me that changed, but it is my true self that emerged and began to develop itself. I know this because I am more at home with myself than I was three years ago, struggling through a hard breakup and really experiencing what it was like to be scared and alone for the first time; more at home with myself than I was ten years ago, struggling to find meaning in college coursework without a clear goal in sight; and more at home than I was fifteen years ago, stumbling onto Paganism in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico and praying for the first time to divinities I found in my Latin class.
And this, my friends, is what excites me about the prospect of Ordination within ADF: if Consecration can change me in such beautiful ways, what changes are in store for me when I am a fully Ordained Priest?
This is my 1,500th LiveJournal entry, and I want to thank those who have read this journal since 2002. My longest readers are the most special to me, and I often think about what you must have seen as you've followed this blog. Don't worry, there is much more to come.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: "Landfall", -JB
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December 31st, 2008
12:12 pm - Time to start planning for festivals!
Some days, I walk arm-in-arm
with a fox dressed in the clothes of a man
and carrying many hidden things |
I was thinking today of the festival circuit, and how it looks these days.
A lot of festivals have the same presenters, over and over again. I mean, how many times have you gone to a festival, looked at the schedule, and said, "Damn, that Michael J Dangler guy is presenting again? Don't they have anyone else?"
There was a real sense of pride when Oak Leaves published several issues without anything written or submitted by me (except a filk I didn't write). . . It was good to see the mag run on its own, without me writing articles or editing the pages on the back-end, a sort of feeling that all the work I did for that rag was worth it in the long run.
I have begun to wonder if the festivals wouldn't be the same way: what would happen if I went a year without presenting at a festival, but just went to the festivals as a participant and hung out?
I already mostly hang out at certain festivals: Wellspring rarely sees me give a presentation, and Summerland hasn't seen a presentation of mine in a few years. But then, at other festivals I have presented nearly every year: Trillium, Desert Magic, and Midnight Flame (where I, along with Skip and druidkirk, was once the entire program).
I do not mind paying to get in to festivals, so the main perk of presenting (free festival admission) isn't so vital to me as it might be for others. Indeed, as a presenter I've paid where I could, and I've never made festival admission a requirement for giving a workshop. When cash has been tight (as it often is), I've occasionally really wished that a festival would pay my way for a workshop, but I've never made a big stink about it.
The kicker to all of this is that I would really, really like to see new people given a chance to give presentations, and to see people who haven't presented in years come back and give presentations on new material. While I am always happy to fill a spot on a program (or, as has happened in the past, headline a festival bill), I really want to see opportunities go to more ADF members, even if it means I get to hear myself speak less (tragic, I know).
Maybe this is the year to do that. Maybe I just need to hang out and be there for other members of ADF: the ones who need a presentation slot in order to attend a festival, the ones who have great ideas that need to be heard, or the ones that are just tired of hearing me ramble on about things.
My festival schedule is currently: Trillium, Desert Magic, Wellspring, Summerland, and Midnight Flame. I hope to sit in the audience at as many of those as I can manage. I'll hang onto some materials and have a presentation ready to go, but I'll offer to present only as a back-up in case they can't fill their schedule or someone doesn't show, rather than snatching a good slot early-on.
I wonder if I can manage to get to a few more festivals, as well? As the Buffett Oracle sang to me this morning, "Only time will tell."
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: working
Current Music: "Richard Frost", -JB
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September 9th, 2008
02:38 pm - Midnight Flame Festival, 2008
 Last weekend's Midnight Flame Festival was pretty darn awesome. I grabbed some photos (okay, a lot of photos, mostly of fire, oddly enough). This entry has a short sampling :)
I really like this festival. It's come to mark the end of my own festival season, and for those of you who either are Norse or just kind of like the Norse gods, this is the festival for you. It's a heavily Norse-leaning festival (moreso than Trillium or Desert Magic, which both seem to skew that direction), and it's just a lot of fun.
One of the focal points of the festival is this pretty awesome little tradition of burning a hollow log, which gives a pretty excellent effect for several hours. You can see it below this paragraph. We sumbled the night away, raising toasts to the Kindreds, and then offered boasts, toasts, and oaths for ourselves. My own boast (carefully worded) was that the Clergy Training Program is nearing completion. Finally. There's a light at the end of that long, dark tunnel.
Flip's boast, however, was that he would submit his Dedicant Path documentation before the next Midnight Flame Festival.
Now, we get to bug him (gently) until he actually submits it!
I love going up to this festival. It's a load of fun, really. It's quiet, laid back, and pretty simple, but then, what more do you need? I'll be back at it next year.
A toast to the two Groves who host it!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) hungry
Current Music: "When Salome Plays the Drums", -JB
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September 6th, 2008
07:19 pm - Nerthus prayer, Festival of the Midnight Flame
I was asked to make the Earth Mother offering tonight. They're really into Norse stuff up here, so I'm offering to Nerthus (I notice she's become popular in some Nordic circles).
Here's the prayer for tonight's rite:
On an island in the sea,
Within a sacred grove,
Your wagon awaits your ascension.
As the cows pull you forth,
War ends, swords are sheathed.
Quiet descends.
Nerthus, you move among us
Bathed in our joy for you.
Know our presence as we know yours.
Nerthus, accept our sacrifice.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: "Lawyers, Guns and Money", -JB
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August 25th, 2008
10:58 am - Summerland 2008
Hot damn, that festival just gets better every year.
Every stinkin' year :)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/wink.gif) mischievous
Current Music: "Carnival World", -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 5th, 2008
02:58 pm - Summerland
Coming up in a few weeks, we have the Summerland Gathering. For some of you, hopefully this post will remind you to register before the deadline (online registration ends on August 15th, yo, though you can also register at the gate). For others, maybe it'll spark an interest.
Summerland is a great festival. . . it holds a very special place in my heart. And this year, our Grove, Three Cranes, is helping to sponsor the festival (so, ya know, if you come, it supports our Grove, too!), which means that we'll be doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the festival, as well as running registration and a couple of rituals. In a lot of ways, we see this mostly as a chance to give back to The 6th Night Grove, ADF, who we affectionately remember as our very own "mother grove."
The schedule is shaping up nicely, and I know that a lot of people are coming, too, from all over the country (and possibly beyond, from what I hear). There's a meal plan for those who would like to purchase one, and fast food within about ten minutes of driving for those who don't.
Mostly, though, I'm looking forward to hanging out with folks I haven't seen in a while. There's too much time between Wellspring and Summerland for me, but it's to be expected. While I feel like I've been running pretty ragged recently with ADF stuff (Oh, you can't *imagine*. . . well, some of you can. . .), I know that Summerland is where to go to get it all back.
I hope to see as many of you there as possible (you can register here!). . . I'll be at registration on Thursday, wearing my brand new pocket protector and probably working on study program questions, which is what I ought to have been doing recently, anyway!
I simply cannot wait to get back into it all!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/energetic.gif) bouncy
Current Music: "Livingston's Gone to Texas", -JB
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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
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May 6th, 2008
12:48 pm - Lectures, rites, and festivals . . .
I was fortunate enough to be asked to give a presentation on ADF and Discoridanism yesterday. This meant that I got to talk about two of my favourite things ever during my lunch hour. I was very pleased.
Dr. Urban asked me in to speak on these things to his class, which is doing an entire quarter on "Neo-Paganism, Witchcraft, and Satanism". The next class meeting is on Chaos Magic and Play, and I had a wonderful discussion with the class (well, I enjoyed it. . . I hope they did too. . .)
I'm spending the next few days working with the ADF Dedicant Path Documentation, trying to work up a monthly schedule for Grove Meetings. I'm also working on the outline for the next few Druid Moon rites, since I realized that as I head out to Desert Magic, I'm leaving shawneen_bear and tanrinia without much guidance, and because we're still feeling this out, I want to make sure that we get that guidance in place in the future.
This next rite is a lovely fire ritual, so I'm excited to see what they come up with.
It's odd, but with Desert Magic right around the corner (I literally leave from work tomorrow to go to the airport) I find myself most excited about Summerland coming up in August. . .
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Tampico Trauma", -JB
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April 22nd, 2008
04:05 pm - Trillium 08 in pictures
Some pictures from Trillium:
 |  | 
Help for Mormons | Trillium's Fire | A cool road sign
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sleepingwolf stirring the shit | juxtaposem stirring the shit
(much shit was stirred at Trillium this year!)
juxtaposem and me at Fish Hatchery Road
Check out my hair!
(picture taken primarily because of the name
of the road, and singingwren's fondness for it)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "On a Slow Boat to China", -JB
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April 7th, 2008
02:31 pm - No one at the TSA likes the priest of a fire-cult
It is an interesting experience, seeking to travel across the country by plane. With the security standards in place, you have to check and see if everything you wish to take is, indeed, still allowed since the last time you flew, or if the things you wanted to take last time but could not are now allowed.
I pack very light when I travel. I no longer check bags, and I have never had to do without. I do, however, travel with a lot of ritual gear. When I saw that there are no shopping areas near the Desert Magic Festival this year and the point after that is "bring offerings!" I started to think about this again.
You can bring one book of "safety" matches on a plane. I didn't find anything (outside the general restrictions on liquids) on the TSA pages about highly flammable liquids (whisky and everclear, anyone?), candles, or other things of that nature. In general, I presume that makes it "okay."
Then again, I have found a new tin for my portable altars, which might just wow the TSA into submission, if they're of the correct generation.
It becomes more complicated, too. While I will (thankfully) be on the ground at sunset on May 8 (that was planned, right druidkirk?), I won't have any way to light a fire, which just makes things ever more inconvenient. Add to this that I will be in the air at sunset on May 12, and I just sort of look at it and sigh. They really frown on open flames on planes.
Stay tuned to your local news about the freak accident involving a strip-search of a fire priest by the TSA and strike-anywhere matches.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "False Echoes [Havana 1921]", -JB
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September 12th, 2007
01:28 pm - Midnight Flame Festival, 2007
 On Thursday, I picked up druidkirk from the airport. We were scheduled to be up in Michigan at the Midnight Flame Festival, hosted by Grove of the Midnight Sun and Grove of the Twilight Flame.
On Friday morning, we started driving north, running up US 23 and arriving about an hour before sunset. We were greeted warmly, and I was scolded for driving too fast in the campground.
The campground itself is amazing: there is cabin and tent camping, and the stars. . . my gods, they were beautiful. The area has almost no light pollution, and you can see deep into the Heavens and the shining night. The cabins were rather comfortable (I slept with druidkirk and Skip), and the bath and toilet facilities were also quite nice. The weather was absolutely beautiful for the entire weekend, too: I couldn't have imagined better weather.
When I asked about the program, I found out that Skip, druidkirk and I were the program, which amused me to no end. Fortunately, we more than managed to fill in all of Saturday with no dead time, really.
2/3 of the program
The first night was spent enjoying a roaring fire with a chimney log, ( which can be seen behind the cut )
We used this fire for our first night's ritual fire, as well, and Flip opened the Gates as he strode around it. ( You can watch the video behind the cut )
All day Saturday were workshops, with druidkirk presenting on sacrifice, me presenting on prayer, and Skip doing his "Food and Drink in Indo-European Societies" class. We also worked in some pretty heavy trancework after Skip's presentation, doing the Bear Posture from Dr. Goodman's Where the Spirits Ride the Wind. Honestly, the workshop lineup ended up being quite well-done, with each one working in and dovetailing nicely with the rest of the workshops.
I was particularly happy with the way the trancework ended up working out. It was nice to sit down and talk with folk about the posture after we'd done it, and see the commonality of experience wasn't just a fluke with the last time I'd done this posture in a group.
On Saturday night, the Unity Ritual included a wonderful healing working. druidkirk did the healing work, and I'm tasked with following it up as the moon begins to wax. It was also nifty to see how these two Norse Groves do ritual, which isn't something I've really had a solid opportunity to experience.
But probably the best part was meeting ADF members I'd never met before. Really, the theme of the festival really was one of Ghosti and hospitality. I also discovered that both Skip and druidkirk are more outgoing than I am, but I knew that anyway. I met a lot of new people this past weekend, and I expect that I'll stay in general correspondence with a few. There's something about going to the outskirts of our American Groves that just can't be defined.
I hope that folk will come out for next year's Midnight Flame Festival. It was certainly worth the drive for me. A couple of people mentioned that it would have been great if folk from Shining Lakes had come up, and a few others were also hoping to draw some Wisconsin or Minnesota members over next year. I do hope that they come up.
Anyway, the festival was relaxing, intimate, and truly a joy to attend. I highly recommend this one to anyone who can go.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Livingston Saturday Night", -JB
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September 5th, 2007
09:30 am - Festival angst, on the horizon
At Summerland, Nora asked me if I'd do a workshop/ritual on my sunrise and sunset devotions for Desert Magic next year. I agreed, and also agreed to talk about Vedism in a workshop as well. I'm pretty sure that I can talk about Vedism for a while with no real issues.
The more I think about it, though, the more issues I have with the devotional aspect. The central problem, for me, is that my sunrise and sunset devotions are so amazingly simple and unimpressive that I'm almost embarrassed by how. . . "un-theatrical" they are.
Theatrics play a large role in group ritual. It's just the nature of the beast. They do not play a role in my own rituals, because there's no need to reinforce cosmology, intent, or anything else. I admit what might be described as a "deep fear" that someone standing outside my personal practice would find it weak, lacking imagination, and undeniably simplistic.
I think what I'm most afraid of is that I'll do my devotional in the morning and one of two things will happen:
- I'll bore folks out of their skull, or they won't have enough time to achieve a ritual mindset
- I'll plan a lot, but get so lost in my devotion to Usas or Ratri that I'll forget that there are other people there with me, and I'll either speak too quietly or personally to the deities for anyone to "follow along" into a ritual mindset
As an example of how fast my devotions go now, my entire sunrise devotional can be summed up like this:
- Strike a match
- Sing the Clergy Charm while lighting the candle(s)
- Pray a seven-line prayer to Usas.
- Stand "still" for a moment
- Put on my necklace
- extinguish the candle
It took me about six times as long to type that as it does to actually do the devotional, where the longest item, the prayer, clocks in at 15 seconds. (Ratri's prayer, in the evening, takes a total of 18 seconds, and is one line longer.) My average devotional lasts between 30 seconds and one minute.
Sure, some days I might add other prayers, such as my "Prayer to the Absent Epona," or a prayer to another deity, but these are actually fairly rare: most of my prayers to deities other than Usas (or Ratri at night) are done during regular ADF rites at my altar.
In the end, I am not sure how to do a sunrise or sunset devotional for a group of people who have no investment in Usas or Ratri. There are so many nuances in my own worship and adoration that even I do not understand them all.
Interestingly, as uncertain as I am about the entire concept of doing a group devotional, I'm not uncertain about the key aspect: I'll get up that morning and pour out my adoration to Usas, and I will pray fervently to Ratri that night. The twin daughters of heaven will be pleased, even if no one else is. And honestly, that's okay.
Then again, no one attends sunrise services at DMF anyway, so the point is probably moot.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music: "Hula Girl at Heart", -JB
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August 31st, 2007
02:02 pm - Happy. Very, very happy. (All I Need to Review About Summerland)
 Today, I am very happy.
This actually started a week ago today, when I was rushing about the kitchen at Summerland, buttering bread for garlic toast. I turned around at one point, and surveyed the activity around me.
I don't really want to call it chaos, though that's what it was. To call it "chaos" would bring up too many ideas of disorganization, things breaking down, and loud bangs.
But really, it was what Discordians might recognize as chaotic harmony: a state of chaos so pure that everything flows seamlessly, like water down a mountain stream; not a state punctuated by stuttering jolts, or by small explosions or unexpected turbulence.
There was nothing disharmonious in that kitchen. There was no element of danger, or a single person unsure of their job at that point. Nothing was dropped, nothing was broken. Not a single thing was out of place, even though there were things in every conceivable place in the kitchen taking up counterspace, burnerspace, sinkspace, and even being tossed through the air when necessary.
At that moment, I felt more amazed by my Grove than I ever had in my life. Here is what we have been growing from small seedlings, tending carefully, nourishing for so many years. Here it is, right before my eyes, in the bloom and promise of its youth and vigor.
Three Cranes turns five years old very soon (our anniversary is Sept. 22). At Samhain, I'm stepping down as Senior Druid. I will, of course, still be around in my capacity as Priest, but the day-to-day running and the direction of the Grove will be in new hands (and, I might add, hands that I have the utmost confidence in).
I couldn't be more proud of my Cranes. They've done so much for me, really, that I can't express it. I know I've done things for them, too (they inform me of this often), but I watched five years of blood and sweat pay off right then and right there, and I knew that we had built something together that would leave an indelible mark on each member, ADF, Central Ohio, and even Neo-Paganism as we know it.
I settled in and watched the Cranes cooking and cleaning. I listened to them trade insults and laughter. A tangible warmth that was not the heat nor the humidity of the day pervaded the space. The smell of the cooking wended through the kitchen, causing startled comments from those who passed by. New members, old members, and adopted members were all pouring their souls into the Grove work, and I imagined that the food we were producing would have an unmistakable hint of the spice of fellowship. I savored the moment, smiling contentedly and breathing easily for about thirty seconds.
And then, still smiling with a full heart, I turned back to my garlic bread, pouring butter with one hand and spreading with the other. That only lasted a moment, though, before I was convinced to join in a dance to the music we had blasting over the CD player.
I'm still filled to the brim with that experience today.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Nothin' but a Breeze", -JB
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