Category Archives: Spirituality

Success!

I am returned victorious, with my shield, not on it!

Still flushed with triumph, I am home after teaching my very first public class. I was calm, I was balanced, I was well-prepared (having put in a few hours of work over the past couple of weeks planning it out, and having drawn up a detailed lesson plan today), and it went like clockwork. Two of my registrants didn’t show, but I put that down to freezing rain and the fact that they had to drive in from out of town. The three people who did attend were dynamic, interested, had excellent senses of humour, and very supportive, knowing that this was my first official class. I have rarely felt so assured of being successful – usually I find some reason to defer the certainty of having done a job well and to the best of my ability. I feel proud and pleased that everyone enjoyed themselves – I gave good solid information, in a clear fashion, and answered questions intelligently. I hit my two-hour mark with a fifteen minute break and didn’t have to rush or cut anything out, or stretch my material in a vain effort to fill time. Positive responses and feedback all around. I feel… like a teacher. Like I communicated something of value and everyone (including me) came away with something new, or a different way of thinking about something. Like I’ve finally given something back to all those people who have ever taught me something.

I’m feeling pretty darned good.

(The claddagh ring is still on my finger, though.)

Testing The Waters

Five for five in the Roll Up The Rim to Lose! Woo-hoo!

I’m teaching my first real live workshop tonight: Designing Rituals. I was supposed to do a different one last week, but with no students, it kind of falls flat. I got a dry run when a friend offered to let me adapt that class to fit into her Saturday night program, and it was interesting, but any discussion of ethics succeeds better when there are several people to debate instead of two students who agree all the time. The student teacher ratio of one to one might have been a little imposing, too.

Wish me luck!

Spring!

Whoa! Somewhere along the past day and a half, this page received its three hundredth hit.

I’m stunned. In just under one month, people have stopped by by three hundred times to see what I’m rambling about. (And yes, I set my counter to ignore my own hits on the page.)

Wow.

In other news, damn it, it’s SPRING! We’ve thrown open all the windows, I’ve gone for a walk to buy orange juice and a paper, and now I’m sitting at the computer in a patch of cosy sunlight, breathing in the warm spring smells, listening to Mozart arias on the radio. Apparently it’s going up to 16 C today. Life is pretty good.

Tonight I’m leading a class on ethics, then I’m off to a good old-fashioned sleepover with four other women. There will be much chocolate in various forms, as all good sleepovers must have. The added bonus of adulthood means daiquiries too. Woo-hoo! Tomorrow morning we shall dawdle over silver dollar pancakes and waffles, then I’ve got a Star Wars game in the afternoon, and a book club soiree in the evening. Needless to say, this does not allow for seeing Men With Brooms, so we have plans to see it next Saturday that shall not be overturned!

CURRENT READING:

Typically, I’ve begun half a dozen things at once:

Witches & Neighbours by Robin Briggs is a socio-politico-cultural examination of the witch hunts in Europe, creating a historical context of the changing face of society in order to further understand the phenomenon of the hunts. Interesting.

Pilgrims of the Night by Lars B. Lindholm is a fun look at the ancestry of modern magical belief, Western mystery schools and esoteric practice. After looking at people like Thomas “Chip” Aquinas (you had to be there) and Agrippa, I’ve learned about John Dee (who had more money than sense, most of it apparently originating with the Philosopher’s Stone and his alchemical experiments) and Albertus Magnus (whose name means “Big Al”, and who was below average height).

Mutts Six: A Little Look-See and Mutts: Sunday Mornings by Patrick McDonnell. No one told me there was a new Mutts collection out!!

Teach Yourself HTML and XHTML. Yep. I’m trying to figure out how to create another table in this template so I can format it to have different fonts and colours so you can actually read it.

And, yes; I found Perdido Street Station, so that’s next…

IN THE DISC DRIVE:

Affairs of the Heart: Music of Marjan Mozetich (and if you don’t recognise it, it’s probably because it’s Canadian and modern).
Classic Yo-Yo: a collection of nifty bits of Ma’s recordings, about half of which I don’t have. The other half is good enough to have twice.
Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams: no, it’s not Star Wars on the cello. I never knew Williams had written a cello concerto, let alone an Elegy (expanded from a musical theme used in Seven Years in Tibet) or Three Pieces for Solo Cello.

Virtues

So I’ve picked up the latest issue of Alan Moore’s Promethea (number 19 for those who are following it), and wow. Wow not only for the lush Van Gogh artistic tribute, but for the portrayal of this particular stop along the storyline.

Okay, having some sort of background in occult studies made following Promethea’s trip through the Major Arcana possible, and I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around the journey through the sephiroth along the Tree of Life as it progresses. Then last month I read The Witches’ Qabala by Ellen Cannon Reed to prep myself for a lecture on the Qabala, and it was the proverbial shock of recognition — my brain encompassed it all for a moment, then lost it as I saw that I had understood. (Never make the mistake of remarking that you’ve succeeded at something, particularly grasping the truth of the universe.) I proceeded to devour the first third of Self-Initiation Into the Golden Dawn (for the info, not to actually — oh, never mind) and amused my husband by exclaiming frequently in happy discovery and wearing out a highlight and a half. Qabala is like the blueprint for the universe, or a filing system in which every aspect of the universe is organised. It’s nifty.

Anywhats, all this led to another flash of recognition when I opened Promethea #19 (“Fatherland”) which talks all about Chesed, the sphere of greatness, benevolent ruler gods (excellently illustrated in a double-page spread), and the vision of perfect love. Seeing how the Virtue of this sphere is Obedience, the leap at the end into the unknown is just perfect. The next sphere will be the second to last, that of Binah, understanding and intelligence, or form and restriction, but not in a negative sense; more like a container. Binah is the feminine principle to Chesed’s male principle; the passive/negative side to the universe. It will be interesting to see how Moore envisions it.

Ever Onward

Fourth show down, two to go!

We were sold out last night, standing room only – and people were willing to pay for the standing room. We began fifteen minutes late as the Front of House crew were still trying to find seats for people at eight o’clock! As nice as it is to have a complete audience, it makes it difficult for the singers on stage: a full house soaks up sound, causing it to seem as if you aren’t projecting, as you cannot hear your voice bouncing back. As a result, all of our soprano soloists thought they weren’t pushing enough and had to keep reining themselves in from forcing their voices. Our first act ran 75 minutes long; usually we clock in at just under an hour. That may not sound like a lot to you, but when a well-rehearsed show can be clocked down to the minute, it’s an eternity!

I had an interesting conversation backstage last night with two young ladies who through circuitous conversational coincidences ended up wanting to know more about where I worked, and what witchcraft was all about. There were four other ladies listening covertly. Well, part of my personal mission is to educate, after all! The Pagan Poster Girl strikes again…

CURRENT READING:
Well, I’m book-less again, actually; I read Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland last night, a lovely collection of thematic stories revolving around a painting by Vermeer. I intend to begin Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair tonight. The subtitle describes it as “An Out-Of-This World Tornado of Adventure and Imagination Featuring the Feistiest Literary Detective Ever To Hit The Page”. Her name? Thursday Next. (I kid thee not.) It looks hilarious, and combines two of my favourite themes, time-travel and literary archaeology. After that’s done, I’ll finally read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville; borrowed it from a friend after she met him at the World Fantasy Convention here in Montreal last November. Updates as events warrant.