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October 23rd, 2007
08:33 am - Meditations on the Ancestors
As I was reading the other day, I began to think about our ancestors as a long cycle of cosmic recreation, the microcosm becoming the macrocosm becoming the microcosm, and on and on. Stone becoming bone becoming stone becoming bone.
I even wrote a little preliminary chant (I'm showing my age):
"Bone to stone, stone to bone:
Never end, always change.
Breath to wind, wind to breath:
Rising up, crashing down.
Eyes to sun, sun to eyes:
Ever seeing, always knowing."
Really, I actually just wrote that down on the fly while writing to someone last night. It's not even thought out, honestly. I haven't thought of a rhythm or melody for the chant, or even checked it to see if it scans reasonably. I think it's really just an idea, not an actual attempt at any sort of chant.
But this led me into doing something I actually like to do, which is writing prayers, evocations and presenting pretty liturgical language.
I suspect I'll have my final version of what I wrote last night (much better than the chant) posted here by Samonios.
My eyes opened last night in such a way as they haven't before, to the way the Ancestors and the cosmos interact.
Can't wait to see all those "Pagan New Year's Resolutions" start floating about LJ. . . My own resolution? Well, it's more of a hopeful desire: I want to get back to updating my website, Chronarchy.Com, with more regularity. I'm already started, and things are going well. I'm working particularly hard on my Dedicant Path documentation, updating that with better-quality essays. And yes, my old essays will remain available (part of the value of my website is to show that even a monkey with a typewriter can do the DP); I really did want, though, to provide some decent essays, especially after discovering that some of my essays which would not pass under the current requirements have been held up as "examples" of "what could pass." Even notes on some things saying, "This passed under the old requirements, and would not pass under the current Preceptor or requirements," haven't stopped folk from pointing to it. Just because I'm mediocre (at best) doesn't mean your work shouldn't be excellent.
So, I expect that to be a major update. But, now I've typed more than I intended, so it's back to the grind: I have so much to do today, and so little time to do it!
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "California Promises", -JB
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September 12th, 2007
01:28 pm - Midnight Flame Festival, 2007
 On Thursday, I picked up ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) 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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July 23rd, 2007
10:42 am - Three Cranes, Esus, and Tarvos
I've been working on further developing my connection with our Grove's namesake, Trigaranus (aka "Three Cranes", who we usually refer to in the singular as "Garanus" or "Crane"), within my own mind. If these 6th night rituals work out for the Grove, we'll talk about developing this a tad further as a Grove, too.
I started thinking about what names I could refer to each of the cranes as, and I started thinking about the Grove and what the Grove's strongest traits are.
I admit, my conception of Trigaranus is inextricably tied to my conception of the Grove.
As I was thinking about the Grove, though, I began to think about us in terms of the Nine Virtues of ADF, and I started thinking, "Which three virtues do we most exhibit?"
ADF's Nine Virtues are: Wisdom, Piety, Vision, Integrity, Perseverance, Courage, Moderation, Hospitality, and Fertility
Recent events were certainly on my mind, and I began to think about how our Grove is perceived inside and out. The virtue that stuck out most in my mind was Hospitality: we've seen a surge in growth recently, and we're becoming fairly well-known for providing hospitality (the joke has become that we are "Three Cranes Grove Home for Wayward Druids", which is great in our general opinion).
I thought about other virtues, and Integrity was the next to come to mind: not only in our words and actions, but relating back to the previous point of hospitality. We have a way of "integrating" folks into the whole here, and I'd like to see that continue and grow.
Vision was another obvious choice: I speak constantly about the Crane with "one foot on the land, one foot in the waters, and an eye constantly raised to the sky." I do that primarily to emphasize his tripartite nature as a creature of land, sea, and sky, but his eye to the sky could easily be interpreted as "looking into the future" while firmly "grounded in the present and past", if one wished to make a complicated explanation about it all (and this is religion: all explanations are complicated).
I then noticed that I had three functions with three cranes, and I was interested to see what I could do with the rest of the Nine Virtues (having six left over).
I started thinking about the parts of the myth that get no air play in our Grove: Esus and the Bull, Tarvos. I wanted to include them, as well, and so I set about giving them their own attributes from the Nine Virtues.
I ended up choosing the ones I did because I see Esus as a sort of "caretaker" to the tree: pruning it instead of cutting it down. This takes moderation, perseverance, and wisdom. I primarily see the bull, Tarvos, as a sacrificial bull, and thus connected it with religious action (piety), the continuance of cycles (fertility) and the courage bulls are renowned for.
It ended up looking something like this:
Esus, Tarvos Trigaranus, and ADF's Nine Virtues
| Trigaranus |
Hospitality
Integrity
Vision |
| Esus |
Moderation
Perseverance
Wisdom |
| Tarvos |
Fertility
Courage
Piety |
It's interesting to me to start, in earnest, taking the religion of the Gauls and really doing interpretive work off of it. It's also a bit scary, as I often don't quite know "how far is too far" yet, and the last thing I want to do is jump off the deep end and into fluff. The best I can do is avoid pretending that this stuff is "really the way it was" and say, "Well, if I were practicing Gaulish religion today, what on earth would I be doing?"
It's very interesting to re-imagine the cosmos. Very, very interesting.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: creative
Current Music: "Rancho Deluxe", -JB
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July 9th, 2007
02:47 pm - And On the Sixth Night, the Druids Harvested the All-Heal
 So, I spent last night working on this ritual.
The Grove requested that we do more rituals at our last business meeting. I am, of course, happy to oblige them, and so I started doing research.
One of the specific requests was that we start doing rituals based on the cycles of the moon. Somehow, I had the brilliant idea of doing a sixth night of the new moon ritual.
Of course, this meant digging through sources, since I was suddenly of the idea that maybe I should try and have some real grounding in what happened in Gaul on said night.
So a problem arose: the original rite, according to Pliny, involves a golden sickle and sacrificing two bulls. As I can't afford a golden sickle and blood sacrifice just really isn't my cup 'o meat (especially a holocaust sacrifice, as it appears was done), I've had to find a way to take the spirit of the rite and translate it into a more modern ritual.
Fortunately for me, I'm feeling inspired recently.
( A bit on the process )
So as I worked on the ritual, I decided that the purpose would be two-fold:
- It would be our welcoming ceremony for new Grove members
- It would also do more inner work (trance and potentially ecstatic work) and help create a stronger Grove identity
I also decided that I would work outside the usual ADF Core Order of Ritual. Because this isn't a High Day ritual, I'm under no constraints, and while I have the COoR to work with for general ideas of structure, I'm completely free to exit it and abuse it (as, I feel, is proper for a list of items).
The rite itself will involve four key things: 1) Gaulish names for months (and variations on themes for them, such as Cantlos [song month] in September/October; this is an adaption from Kondratiev); 2) A more central role for Garanus, the Crane, in our Grove's hearth religion; 3) mistletoe, and actually giving it a strong functionality within our Grove; and 4) an actual mystery that simply can't be described (partially because I am not sure if I'm able to do it yet, though it's all worked out in my head).
I'm doing this whole "welcome to the Grove" thing without any oaths or real ritual terror; I'm not as interested as some folk (and traditions) are in hazing new members, no matter how much in fun it might be to the guy with the knife. Really, I just want us to affirm, ritually, our identity as Grove members, and to give some tangible benefit to those who join.
I'll have to find someone, at some point, to go over this liturgy with me and discuss it. I find, though, that I can't bounce ideas off people in my Grove, because if I'm going to try and work mystery and mysticism into a ritual, the element of surprise is crucial. It interests me how much I truly rely on their feedback in our usual rites, and how much I notice when I don't have it available.
At the next Liturgy Meeting (this Thursday), I'll get more verbose about my plans when I speak to the Grove. But, as a taste, I want all our current members to go through this as a "Grove welcoming", too, so that we obtain that shared experience.
Now, I just need one thing: a source for sprigs of mistletoe. Part of the issue is that I need them before August, when we will do our first of these rites: that's well before the holiday season (where you can sometimes get ahold of it).
Does anyone have a source for sprigs of mistletoe?
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: productive
Current Music: "Frank and Lola", -JB
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June 6th, 2007
04:22 pm - Wondering Why We Ever Go Home: Greece, 2007
Journal Entry 8
 04/10/07
4:30 PM
Delphi
Beneath the Temple of Apollo Pythios
The air was still, cool. The scent of the earth filled my lungs. Outside, the "lifeguards" (little old ladies with whistles who sit in high places and tell people not to climb on the ruins) were blowing their whistles at overly adventurous tourists who didn't read the signs that say "No climbing" or "Do Not Touch". Men and women walked by, chattering in all manner of languages at their children.
And here I sat, alone in the darkness beneath the Temple of Apollo Pythios, with zylch outside standing watch for anyone official.
the corridor beneath
the Temple of Apollo Pythios
I made an offering of a coin to the God of the Temple, and began my meditation.
zylch had decided to do a Two Powers meditation, and I was originally planning to do the same, in order to accurately compare our experience. As I knelt down, though, and thought about where I was, I decided that simply opening in a meditative state was the ideal meditation here. So my eyes closed, my body relaxed, and I began to experience the place.
As I breathed in, I felt the cool darkness that places within the earth provide. The smell of the dirt and the dust in the air entered my lungs, and I sank deeper into the meditation. The stillness of the tunnel, so different from the chaotic outside, brought me deeper and deeper.
I expected to feel the presence of Apollo; after all, here I was below his temple, wondering if this was the tunnel to the fault where the Pythia found her inspiration. Instead, I found the earth. I found that this place might be sacred to Apollo above, but where the ground began, it was the earth, Gaea, who was truly the patron of this place.
I was no longer in the realm of the god of enlightenment, inspiration, and divination. I was at an entrance to a deity far older and far more present.
Soon, I ended my meditation and slipped out of the opening we had entered.
Later, zylch told me that she couldn't connect to the Sky Power.
I don't think the Sky Power is there. I don't think it can penetrate. I think the earth is all you will find supporting the Temple of Apollo Pythios, and all that supports Delphi.
Gaea may have been defeated here, but she was not supplanted.
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The Temple of Athena | Sunset over Delphi's port | Delphi's "Cafe Ichor"
[end of journal, moment of non-journal follows]
I like the Cafe Ichor the best. I'm all about finding Lovecraftian things in sacred places :) (btw, it was a very nice cafe/bar sort of establishment, with pretty blue lighting and a rather sexy clientèle. Just the sort of place I'd like to hang out.)
ferrelux and I ran across this nifty glass picture, and I snapped a picture because I can't read Greek. The aim was for zylch to translate it for us. You know, if she's willing.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Last Mango in Paris", -JB
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June 4th, 2007
09:13 am - A short devotional structure
At ComFest last year, Three Cranes Grove, ADF, did short devotional rituals every three hours for three days. They were hectic, but they were very, very good for us.
In light of ComFest coming up yet again this year, I wanted to post this, and explain a bit about it.
We stand at the Center
In the presence of All
Our feet supported by the Earth Mother
Our minds crowned in Inspiration
Our hearts pure of purpose.
[devotional prayers/offeings/etc.]
Our hearts remain open,
Our minds retain their fire,
Our feet are still supported,
As we depart this place.
May we take our center with us.
This rite is ended. The central hope was that we could find a way to do our usual opening prayers without going too deeply in depth. So, I took our normal order of opening prayers, and basically:
- Asked folks to find their center,
- noted our usual "Universal Spirit Prayer",
- acknowledged the Earth Mother,
- called on inspiration,
- and reminded us to think on the purpose.
Then we did a short devotional prayer or offering to the Kindred/Power/entity that we were doing the devotional for.
After that, we simply returned ourselves by doing it backwards.
It worked quite well for us, and I really like this very simple, very easy form of devotional.
And I'm very happy that I found it again, because I had no idea where this little devotional structure was until just yesterday.
And this morning dawned beautifully. For those who weren't up and outside by 7 AM, man, did you miss a glorious morning. . .
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) happy
Current Music: "Lucky Stars", -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 11th, 2007
03:27 pm - Groovin' down the Path
Today's Jimmy Buffett Oracle is pretty straightforward:
64. I'll put on my Bob Marley tape and practice what I preach. I happen to know exactly what that means.
This morning, I updated my Liturgy Practicum 1 journal for what I hope is the final time (*fingers crossed*). . . there's a space for a final essay, but it's not required, and I'd like more time to reflect on the journal before I actually do it: it's only been about 5 months since I finished the course, and I'm very happy with how it worked out, but I want more "space" before I start trying to analyze and distill the lessons.
At lunch today, I found myself wondering about two questions in particular:
- Is there some code among girls that, if a guy makes you a mixed CD or mixed tape, he's "totally into you"?
- Why do I have no Patsy Cline in my entire music collection? How has it taken me this long to notice?
I also re-started my re-working of my Dedicant work today at lunch, and I began with the eight High Days. I expect to retain my old, original work on my website, but I will make a very clear demarcation between the "good stuff" and the "original crappy stuff".
So far, I'm finished with Imbolc and Autumnal Equinox. A key change I've made to the format of my previous submissions of High Days is to use the actual ADF terminology for the "Eight ADF High Days" (see Article 4 of the ADF Constitution). Well, close to it, as I numbered the "crossquarters" as "first crossquarter" and such, and also indicated the season the astronomical phenomenon fell in like "winter solstice". And I included both the "modern Neo-Pagan name" for each and the "Gaulish name" (from Ariotanos Iuranantantios' work).
I'm really enjoying the mental exercise of going back to the basics here. I've said, time and again, that anyone can gain from walking the Dedicant Path. I've been a major influence on lots of DP's in the past four years, and I'm finding a lot of worth in going back to re-do it.
And for all those Dedicants who have the habit of telling me that I'm somehow inspiring, I'd like to point out that it's your work that inspired me to go back and re-work my own DP. And I mean that.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Cinco de Mayo in Memphis", -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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February 26th, 2007
10:36 am - Usas, Writing and Working
Yesterday, I sat at my computer. I'd gone to bed at gods-know-what hour after suffering through a major headache on Saturday, and woken up with suddenly nearly an enitre day to do two things:
- Practice my ASL
- Work on my book
The first thing I did was type up my ASL glossing for the test tesinth was going to help me record.
The second thing was sit down and move my book another step toward publication.
As I was writing a passage for the book, working on the "meat" of the book, which is chapter 6, "Deepening Your Practice," I found myself writing about sunrise rituals. I remembered the first time I had seen the sun rise, back when I was almost 19 years old, and thought about the effect it had on me.
Then I thought about my most recent actions regarding the sunrise, I realized that I had experienced the expanding days with a particular joy: Soon, I would be able to hold sunrise and sunset rituals again. Just today, it seems, the dawn comes at a time when I can rise before her, prepare the sacrifices, do my ritual, and still make it to work on time. I have truly missed this, and tomorrow morning I will re-start my dawn/sunset rituals.
I found myself, entirely to my surprise, suddenly writing about Usas, dancing on the rim of the world. She is the last of all dawns that came before her, and the first of all dawns that will come after her. She is that beautiful maiden whose bosom, rising from the waters of her bath, drenches the sky in the hues of morning. She opens the gates of heaven, the ways for Surya, the sun. She is greeted by those who make generous sacrifices and ignored by those who do not. It is almost as if the sacrifice can afford you a glimpse of her beauty, and it will forever affect you.
It strikes me as odd, that Usas and Ratri, so tied to perfect order, should call so strongly to me. Usas holds my heart, but there is a love for Ratri, too, and her prayers come at sunset. My facination with Usas might come from my stint as Surya at Walking With Fire in 2005, but it's hard to say. I suspect that it has more to do with the fact that I have done these dawn rituals, that I've seen Usas first hand, and every morning I fell in love with her again.
I agree with MacDonell, that there truly is no other figure in literature nor myth who is as charming or described with more deep love and emotion as Usas. I smile when I see the dawn, that knowing smile a lover gives to his beloved. I know how the poets felt when they saw her, and I know what they thought when they thought of her. I don't feel as if I can speak and do justice to her, and the things I write are never as beautiful as she.
Praised through my prayer are you who should be lauded. You have increased our wealth, Usas who loves us.
Goddesses, may we win, by your good favour, wealth to be told by hundreds and thousands.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: rejuvenated
Current Music: "Please Take Your Drunken 15 Year-old Girlfriend Home", -JB
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February 22nd, 2007
10:44 am - Going back to the work I long to do. . .
 In a discussion last night, I realized that I have been slacking on my Clergy Training work. I need to get back into it.
So this morning I started in on the essays for Magic 2, and I'll start the trancework for that and Trance 1 shortly.
I will need to finish transcribing my Liturgy Practicum 2 work over from my paper journals, as well.
Also, I am going to begin to use the divinations I've been doing for others for my Divination 2 work (don't worry, I'll ask you before I use something I did for you, and you are encouraged to say "no" if the idea makes you even the least bit uncomfortable). Because of the recent upswing in requests of that nature and my attention to the notation of those readings, I should have my requisite nine very shortly.
Of course, now here I sit thinking that it would be good to do Divination 2 based off the Magic 8 Ball on my desk, a powerful (and wholly IE) divination tool, if I do say so.
The journaling requirements in the second circle of the CTP are huge, but not really daunting. We took into account that a lot of journaling would be done in this circle, and so we merged two requirements for different courses, and set the time limits to be reasonable so that people could complete them all in a year. I don't really have an issue with 5 months of trance practice, or 5 months of daily/weekly divination. The four months of journaling for LitPracticum 1 were, simply put, amazing.
ardgruntler indicated that the first circle of the CTP requires (roughly) 26,800 words. I don't know if she counted "Law and the Church", which is technically Second Circle at this point, but that does put things in perspective. I never thought about it in terms of "total wordcount". Shockingly, after having done it, I'm surprised that I had so few of my essays that scraped by at the minimum. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that I learned so much in the process, that what once looked like a daunting task turned into such a learning experience that I didn't have problems making it happen.
With the second circle of the CTP being roughly 25,500 words with 5 out of 12 courses still unwritten, it's safe to say that Clergy Training in ADF will become twice as "hard" with every Circle you pass. But, as I look at the requirements and read through them, I can't help but smile and say, "Yes, this is harder, but the previous Circle prepared me well for this, and I can certainly do it."
For reference, the Dedicant Path has about 7,700 required words, if you're looking at the requirements.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/wink.gif) mischievous
Current Music: "West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown", -JB
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February 7th, 2007
01:41 pm - Piety on the pilgrimage
"A mountain temple, Senyuji stands out for having had its main image carved by a woman. The figure of the thousand-armed Kannon was carved in the seventh century by a young woman, who is supposed to have prostrated herself after every cut of the knife. Several of the temples where the main image was carved by the Daishi also claim this kind of reverence during the making of the image. The next level of holiness in carving requires prostrating and reciting a prayer before each cut, as well as the post-cut recitation."
-Temple 58, Senyuji1 This particular quote is one I stumbled across while bringing mazisexton a copy of the book it's found in. There's something about this sort of action that speaks to me deeply.
The Shikoku pilgrimage interests me quite a bit: architecturally, spiritually, and academically. To say nothing of the fact that I promised mazisexton that I'd make it happen sometime with her.
But today, I ran across the paper I'd written that quote down on, and I remembered how much I just wanted to share it, to mention it, particularly to ADF Dedicants working on their understanding of piety. And I remembered how good that felt. And I certainly remembered the fact that that's really all I want to do on so many days. And that felt good to remember.
1 - p. 195: Readicker-Henderson, Ed. The Traveler's Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages. Weatherhill:New York, NY. 1995
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: quixotic
Current Music: "Little Miss Magic", -JB
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December 4th, 2006
09:00 am - The Feast of St. Barbara
 Tonight, December 4, 2006, at 8 PM, you are cordially invited to my house for a feast.
Yesterday, I went up to Toledo with tesinth, who needed someone to drive up with him but hadn't heard back from anyone who had expressed interest, so I became his last resort. :) On our way back down, we stopped at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and raided their gift shop.
During our raid, we discovered that Catholic school girls are really just like every other kind of girl: they talk about boys and who is dating who (two of them were working the checkout line in the gift shop). Apparently, one spent time during checkout checking me out, or so tesinth says. I'm not sure how I feel about a sixteen year old girl checking me out, but hey, at least I wasn't checking her out.
Also at the shop, I picked up a few items related to St. Barbara: two more medals and a card with a devotional prayer on it. The card also had a feast date for St. Barbara on it: Dec. 4.
"Hey, her feast is tomorrow!" I said, as a bright light shone down from heaven and lit up the world around me.
Okay, so that last paragraph didn't quite happen like that.
But because she is one of my two patron saints (the other being St. Gulik), I feel it appropriate to honour her in some way today (especially since her feast day was, apparently, removed in 1969). And since I don't know what exactly goes on during a Catholic Saint's Feast Day (having never been Catholic), I'm going to make it up as I go along.
So tonight, join me for a dinner that will probably be generally Italian, Greek, or Turkish in food (she's from Asia Minor and is a Roman Catholic saint, so I'm a bit unsure what to cook), some prayers to a Catholic saint, and we might just blow something up.
RSVP (with number attending) is three methods:
- Reply to this journal entry.
- E-mail me or use the form on my website
- Call me and let me know you'll be there.
All RSVP's need to be received by 4 PM today so I can make sure that I have enough food on hand and enough time to mail out directions to those who need it.
If you have my cell phone number, you can call me after 4 PM to RSVP, but not too late, as I may have to regretfully decline your presence if I've already bought food for a certain number of people.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Music: "Creola", -JB
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December 1st, 2006
02:01 pm - It's a tad blustery, but that's not really important. . .
 So today it's kinda blustery outside. People keep talking about it (one gent demonstrated the force of the wind to his friends by stumbling about in the lobby of my building when I got back from lunch), but it's really not that impressive to me. Sure, the wind is blowing, but then, it kinda always does. You know, it's wind. And wind, as they say, blows.
I would point out, though, that 'tis an ill wind that blows no minds.
Personally, I'm more concerned about the state of disaster I heard Kansas was in this morning, given that I have family there whose livelihood can be destroyed by a very bad ice storm, like the one that has recently passed over there.
The weather here, honestly, is annoying but not bad or extraordinary to me.
I've been following the conversations on ADF-Liturgists, but avoiding posting recently. A number of conversations have come up here on LJ, and they've been rather fun to talk through without a lot of the emotion that seems to have spurred discussion on the email list. Those I've talked to on LJ seem a lot more willing to chat about things, and I don't have to worry about being formal.
The prayer time has helped, too. With a recently cleaned room and a greater tendency to sleep in my bed (instead of the couch, which is where I have been exhaustedly falling asleep until about this week), I'm reopening a deeper personal practice. My liturgy journal is behind in postings, but it's not so far behind in being written down. I just have to find the time this weekend to do some catching up.
I picked up issue # 12 of the Army of Darkness comic book. The cover I got, of course, is the one with Ash and the two schoolgirls. I mean, honestly, what did you expect? The back cover, though, indicates that unlucky issue # 13 will involve the death of Ashley J. Williams. I'm curious to see how this plays out, but it's expected to coincide nicely with a Marvel Comics crossover, Marvel Zombies. Why didn't I get into comic books as a kid? This is kinda fun!
I'm also highly amused at two headlines, sitting sid-by-side in the politics section of CNN today:
Um. . . I think that the first and the second one are mutually exclusive. The GOP is apparently not happy with telling you what you can and can't do in your bedroom; it now also wishes to legislate when you're allowed to feel pain for the first time. How's that for civil liberties and personal responsibility?
Time to write my rat of a congresswoman yet again. She's so good at what she does.
Oh yeah: I also have a "terror score" assigned to me for the next forty years. Didn't know you were reading a terrorist's LJ, did ya? I wasn't aware I was writing one until just this morning.
I'll be at Outland tonight. . . We'll see how the 80's/industrial/goth night goes. I'm curious how it'll all play out.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Little Miss Magic", -JB
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October 18th, 2006
04:59 pm - Mad Lib prayers?
Please fill in the blanks:
- a) name of deity
- b) title/attribute of this deity (i.e. "horse goddess", "sky god", "red-head hottie")
- c) your name, pseudonym, or identifying category (i.e. "MJD" or "A child of the Earth")
- d) Mythological feat by this deity
- e) Cosmological place of this deity
- f) Action you have done for this deity - optional
- g) Request you have of this deity - optional
- h) word or phrase for ending a prayer
I'm testing "MadLib" style prayer creation, and I need a number of possibilites here.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "The Weather is Here (I Wish You Were Beautiful)", -JB
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October 16th, 2006
01:02 pm - Liturgy Journal Update
If anyone is following along in my Liturgy Journal, the past two weeks are now available.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Door Number Three", -JB
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October 6th, 2006
05:33 pm - Life in the Briar Patch
But livin' in the briar patch ain't what it appears
Sooner or later you've gotta face your fears
I heard it from the parrot verbalizin' in the tree
I heard it in the song line of the aborigone.
Seems like everyone knows it but me, ya know? *grins*
Then again, the "fears" aren't really what I'm worried about, here in the briar patch.
Today's Buffett Oracle is remarkably apt, given how I intend to spend my weekend:
191. You've got to make a sacrifice. This weekend is following the suggestion from mazisexton that I spend it in "prayer, offerings, reflecting, and conversing with the Devas."
Beginning tomorrow morning, it's all work and no play, sunrise on Saturday until sunset on Sunday. Maybe sunrise on Monday, too. I haven't decided.
I have a lot to make up for. First, there's the crap I need to purge from who I am. Then there are the two nights in a row of "missed" sunset devotionals:
- Wednesday night: I was two minutes early finishing my devotional.
- Thursday night: I was in town but not at my altar at sundown, and I didn't have my travel altar with me
So you see, they're not really "misses," so much as "not done to my satisfaction."
More info on those devotionals will be available when I update this week's Liturgy Journal on Monday (or as soon as I can thereafter). Let's just say that I've been creative, and it hasn't been good for me. (Last week's entry is up, and it's a long one, and includes some info about the Clergy Retreat, though it's mostly about my crazy schedule and the devotionals I've imposed on my life.)
There will be no ADF work over this weekend, just me maintaining my altar space and working with the Spirits of Place, the Ancestors, and the Shining Ones. And I expect to do some trancework, too.
But today, I got the weirdest compliment ever on my work: "This might possibly be good work, Mike. If it works."
I'm still deciphering that.
I'm turning off the waterfall, the tourists can go home.
I feel it's time to travel, take time to write a poem,
Time to seek some therapy: I'm going walkabout.
Answers are the easy part, questions raise the doubt
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Off to See the Lizard", -JB
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October 2nd, 2006
10:39 am - Reflections on ADF's first Clergy Retreat
The vision started with a blending and bending. The Trilathon stood at the center of my vision, the world around it swirling and yet stationary.
To the right of the gate stood the Earth Mother, beautiful to behold, smiling gently, adorned in reds and browns. I was astounded to realise that I had never in my life looked at the Earth Mother, through all my training and work, through five years of honouring her in all my rituals. I was awed by the beauty that radiated from her.
To the left of the gate stood Garanus, wings folded, stately. One leg was folded up, his other foot was rooted to the mud. It struck me as odd to find him in this pose, when so often I have seen him in the deep, sacred waters with one foot, and the other foot on the land. Still, the mud between his toes was the land and sea, and he was still a creature of the skies.
I bowed to the crane and asked his blessing. I knelt before the Earth Mother, smelling her scent. Both granted me entrance to the mists beyond the portal. So began my vision. ADF's Clergy Retreat this past weekend included the best and deepest trance experience and work I have done since meeting and experiencing trancework with Dr. Felcitas Goodman.
It may have been better.
ADF has integrated real, deep trancework into Our Druidry in a very tangible way.
The omens taken that weekend are still written on my hands. The Initiate's Program is hammered out entirely, and should be ready for students very, very soon. ADF's Core Order of Ritual is solidified. We discussed what ADF ritual *doesn't* do in concrete terms. Courses in magic, divination, and trance are now prepared. I took over 24 pages of notes in my journals regarding events this past weekend. I learned many things about liturgy and ritual, and have helped write and learned a new chant, one I hold very deer to myself.
I am, possibly, not the same person I was on Friday night, when I stepped out of the car at Tredara.
I have no doubt that the weekend was life-changing, and that my experience was deeply religious.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: rejuvenated
Current Music: "Stars on the Water", -JB
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August 16th, 2006
01:34 pm - Esus in Algeria (fighting the French, I'm sure)
Ladies and gentlemen:
I mentioned that I found an inscription relating to Esus recently. Well, PICTURES!
They're on my "About Esus" page that I've built (Quick Link to the spot on the page).
If you just want to look at the pictures I found, and don't care about what I think about them, then they're here:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
What really catches my eye? That sand-dollar-looking-thing on the first pic. And the birds hanging out around those trees with the anchors around 'em on the other two pics.
Is it just me, or is this damn cool?
(tlachtga, I'll give you a copy of both articles from this site at Summerland.)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "The Hangout Gang", -JB
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July 3rd, 2006
09:53 am - Deforestation and Erysichthon
I was startled, when reading an article called "Lucan's Caesar and the Sacred Grove: Deforestation and Enlightenment in Antiquity" that describes the episode of desecration of the sacred grove by Caesar and what it means. Kinda cool article, and some copies will likely be made for a few people. What startled me, though, was that it referenced me to a passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book VIII, lines 738-884, the story of Erysichthon, who cuts down a sacred tree.
Get this: Erysichthon cuts into the sacred tree, and blood flows out "like a fountain from the neck of a great bull, who falls before the altars of the gods."
If there were cranes involved, too, I'd die. Literally, I'd be dead and gone of shock. But there are no cranes, so I'm guessing it's just an interesting, poetic coincidence.
But for a moment, I wondered.
(I think I'm going to suggest this passage for the "piety" and "nature awareness" requirements in the DP. . .)
Before anyone says anything anti-Roman, there's no actual evidence that Caesar destroyed any groves. Just an FYI, because we have a popular tradition in Neo-Paganism saying he did.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Train to Dixieland", -JB
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