Category Archives: Spirituality

Coincidence?

Everyone seen the first Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban trailer? Yes?

The Wanted poster with a maniacal Sirius Black is pretty disturbing (ergo cool). I downloaded a still of it the other day for my desktop, and when I enlarged it I discovered something very interesting:

Yep. Those are Elder Futhark runes at the beginning of his serial number. Specifically Pertho (which means secrecy, hidden ancestral knowledge, and the mystery of fate), followed by Algiz (associated with protection and sanctuary).

I love my life. Possessing the knowledge that I do means that I can make the coolest connections.

Rough Seas Ahead?

Oh, dear. Oh very, very dear.

Mad, Mad House

When the proposal for this show came up last year I’d hoped it would die a quick death. Alas, it is not to be; the first episode airs this Thursday in both the US and Canada.

Kerr Cuhulain of the Officers of Avalon has issued a press release with his position which you can read here.

I tentatively agree. People already tend to give me sideways looks if they learn that I’m Pagan, let alone Wiccan. A show that emphasises the freak aspect will do not much for the seriousness with which I present my spiritual path. It’s my business, yes. But I’m really tired of the media pushing the weirdness aspect. It’s nature-based, and encompasses reverence and tolerance for pretty much everything. It emphasises self-improvement and healing.

I am rendered speechless at the publicity stunt that author and witch Fiona Horne seems to be pulling with her appearance in this show. But then — selling stuff is what publicity is about, isn’t it. It rarely has to do with truth. Granted, I haven’t seen it (and I still haven’t decided if I’ll watch the first episode or not: do I evaluate the damage, or do I boycott?), but the material I’ve read on it over the past year has done nothing to calm my dread and suspicion.

Pagan Funnies

A wand is a power tool and a ritual instrument for invoking deities.

I kid you not.

And no, the author didn’t mean it in humourous reference to the potenially high-energy applications of the wand. Maybe I have power tools on the brain these days, or maybe this is just poorly worded.

Every once in a while I just throw back my head and howl reading through this book. Sometimes in agony, sometimes with laughter. This one was a bit of both.

In the dead of winter…

At this time of year, my husband and I get restless because we’re housebound so much due to the extreme cold. So naturally, we begin to think of ways to make the house more pleasant.

I went out for three hours on Saturday to do administrative teacher-type stuff, and came back to a cheery yellow kitchen. The transformation was literally that simple; I was present for practically none of the emptying of the room, the preparation for painting, the actual application of colour, and the replacement of the removed items. I left one boring kitchen, and came home to a different, bright one.

Yesterday, the bathroom was painted sage green and white. It looks fabulous. HRH even went so far as to paint the outside of the claw-foot bathtub sage green, which looks very cool. I was here for half of this particular endeavour, but I was away at the Beethoven rehearsal for the latter half.

It was, in fact, a very busy day. I had a three-hour rehearsal for the Beethoven, then came home to study group already in progress (in which time flew, making us late for…), then a Changeling game (which also went late thanks to our belated arrival, plus various things like dinner and bookkeeping and the first combat session of the story!).

The Beethoven: It never ceases to amaze me that I can sight-read brilliantly, but fall apart at simple passages that are played really fast. The symphony already sounds phenomenal; I can’t wait to hear the choir with it. I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to play with this ensemble.

The study group: Ah, the joys of discussing deity concepts, and the balance of male and female energies. Always fun. The nice thing about this group is that it’s made up of experienced people, so the discussion is very different from the discussions I usually have with students, for example.

The game: It’s been so long since I’ve made a character for a new game that I’d almost forgotten how much I hate it. Unless I have a very clear concept that pops into my head, I have to slowly try out bits and pieces that either work or don’t. This is the third session of world-building and intro games, and I’m still not settled on who this character actually is. It’s been frustrating because I’ve really missed gaming, and to struggle with a new character when I so desperately want to dive right in has been so maddening. Last night was as close as I’ve been able to come to feeling comfortable with her; dropping her age from eighteen to eleven has really helped nail it down and free me up to enjoy the game and explore her personality. I know that part of my problem is derived from my habit of firming up a character’s personality through gaming; it’s hard to know what a character is like until you’ve put him/her through some paces in context. I’m lucky to have an understanding group who chose to play a couple of experimental sessions to introduce the system and the world, which gave me a chance to stretch my muscles a bit and discover the character’s actual personality.

On today’s agenda: fleshing out the anthology series proposal for my publisher; working out a couple of brick-wall type passages in the Beethoven; and refilling my black ink cartridge with the ink that just arrived in the mail. Of course it leaked, so I have to email the company and ask for a new instruction sheet. Not much ink was lost, but as anyone who has ever had a leaky fountain pen knows, even a small amount of ink creates a disaster of epic proportions! And tonight, my CD-ROM drive gets replaced by the burner drive! Hurrah!

The Bad News, Balanced by the Good News

The Bad:

Last week I got the sad news that my sweet little sewing machine is going to cost about a hundred dollars to fix. It was exactly what the man who took it in suspected: the timing has gone on it. A lightweight machine like this one isn’t designed to sew anything heavy, and that’s pretty much all I’ve sewn with it. The repair shop was impressed that it had lasted eight years, but the man warned me that to fix it would likely not be worth the money it would cost. His phone call last week confirmed it. He told me that even if he fixed it, I’d likely run into the same problem within a year or so if I used it for the same projects.

Now that I have a functioning printer of quality, my original plans to buy a new one no longer apply. I think that when the cheque for the first project I finish at the US publisher comes through, I’ll use a bit of it to treat myself to a new sewing machine instead. One with a bit more oomph, a little more weight, the design to handle heavyweight material and projects, and maybe a range of speeds that embraces more than bunny/turtle.

The Good:

I had an hour-long chat with my editorial contact at the US publisher – the imprint specialist is a go, with the contract being tweaked before it’s sent down to me. The series proposal is being fleshed out as I go. This is becoming more and more of a full-time thing, a real career. I’ll be going down to Boston somewhere around the end of February to pitch the proposal and meet everyone, and possibly one of my authors as well. There are the fall bookfairs to think about too, where publicity for the new imprint might require me to be on hand for talks and info session with buyers.

Yes, I’m still stunned.

I’ll need new clothes. Jeans and t-shirts (beloved uniform of home-based freelancers everywhere), however fetching I look in them, are just not going to cut it in a conference room or a marketing sales floor.