Pagan Edumacation

Interesting videos on YouTube about Paganism

2011-02-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

I've found a few very cool videos about paganism on YouTube, so enjoy!

The Big Questions Part 1

The Big Questions Part 2

The Biography Channel: Witches (Part 1 of 6)

Kaleidoscope Gathering Workshop: Registration

2010-07-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

In case you don't know, Kaleidoscope Gathering is a pagan festival that takes place at the end of July. This year, I've decided to give a workshop that requires re-registration and I needed an open web-space to post it.

===
Greetings!

Due to popular demand, I have decided to give a boffo-weapon making workshop at KG. These are the weapons used in the various Warrior Circles that have become so popular over the years.

However, because I need to buy the materials ahead of time (glue, pipe-insulation foam, duct tape, pvc piping, etc.), I need to know how many people there will be in the workshop.

Therefore I will be taking a maximum of 15 people for the workshop. Although this workshop can be of interest to everybody, kids from 8 to 13 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian (16 years +).

Please send me an email (jdhobbes [at] gmail.com) to register yourself or your child for this workshop. The deadline to pre-register is July 25th 2010. Keep in mind that this workshop costs $5 per person (child and guardian count as one registrant).

If the demand is great enough, and the KG schedule can handle it, I may schedule a second workshop (assuming I can buy more materials in a nearby town).
--
Hobbes
Boffo Weapon Burgermeister

Bardic Etiquette

2010-07-11T19:17:00.001-07:00

A Bardic is a type of pagan talent show and can include singing, music, dancing, acting, storytelling, poetry, magic, juggling, and more! A bardic usually involves several performers who each take the stage (or the centre of a circle) in turn, and the performances are usually less than 10 minutes long. Sometimes a bardic can involve judges and prizes, but it's often just a venue to showcase our community talent and while-away an evening.

A bardic is usually held at night around a campfire, although there have been venues with stages, lighting, and microphones. But a bardic is usually a low-tech, cozy, and home-grown evening of entertainment.

Bardic Etiquette applies to both the bard and the audience. The Bard and the listeners both enter into a pact where the listeners pledge to open themselves to the bard, and the bard pledges to share something inspiring. The chances of the Bard failing in this pact are as epic as the legends of old, and if the Bard is not ready to move his listeners, his listeners will move away, leaving the Bard powerless.

Truly, a Bard without an audience is a fool talking to himself. This is why the Bard needs to pick his material carefully, rehearse it methodically, and deliver it passionately. Any power he wields over his audience is given freely to him; it is not wielded solely by him and it certainly is never lorded over his audience (or at least, not for long).

When a bard performs a piece in a bardic, the audience is expected to:

* turn off their cellphones
* be respectful towards the performing bard
* be quiet, attentive, and responsive
* support the bard by participating when asked
* show appreciation at the end of a performance (applause)

When the audience gives the bard a venue in which he can perform, the bard is expected to:

* have selected, prepared, and rehearsed his performance
* speak in a loud, clear voice (where appropriate)
* make eye contact with the audience as much as possible
* speak respectfully and eloquently
* present a piece that fits within the Bardic theme
* perform within the agreed time-limits

Heckling
----------
This is a really touchy subject, both for the bards and the audience. Some say that no one should heckle the performers, while others say that a bard should expect and know how to deal with heckling. Some people even think heckling is a venue for expressing consequence-free abuse. Heckling is an attempt to distract or disparage the bard during his performance, ruining the performance itself and potentially humiliating the bard.

As an absolute rule, you should NEVER attempt to humiliate a performer, no matter how bad you think the performance is. It doesn't make you a hero, it doesn't make you a good person, and it can do incalculable damage to the artist. Having the courage to stand before any group of people and lay yourself bare before them is no small feat; having a person simply take that risk deserves your respect. Most performers will tell you that performing for a crowd is terrifying, so part of bardcraft is learning how to master that fear and use it to better your performance.

The Bard has craft something beautiful that he wants to share with you, the audience. Give him a chance to do that, and if you don't like it, it'll soon be over and you can move on to the next Bard. If you can't stand the performance, then maybe you shouldn't be in the audience in the first place. You can always walk away.

Trying to destroy a Bard during his performance from the comfortable safety of an anonymous crowd is an act of cowardice. Hurtful hecklers are bullies who cannot stand to see someone else live the glory that they are too afraid to seek for themselves. They should be pitied, but not tolerated.

How a Bard can Deal with a Heckler
============================

There's no way to predict how an audience will act during a performance, so it's best to be ready for anything. The Bard needs to understand that anything can happen, accept it, and even relish it. It's the dangerous beauty of live performance. But if you need to deal with a Heckler, here are some suggestions:

1. If someone shouts out something that adds to your story, find a way to work it in. If you can't work it in to your performance, take a moment to give a smirk in the direction of the caller, and then move on with your performance.

2. If one or more people continue to make too much noise, stop your performance and wait for them to quieten down. The rest of the audience will usually tell them to shut up. DO NOT attempt to silence them by shouting back: this only feeds their satisfaction in controlling you.

3. If a person shouts out something derogatory ("YOU SUCK!!"), try to ignore it and move on with your performance. If the abuse continues, stop your performance and wait for them to quieten down. The rest of the audience will usually tell them to shut up. If you know who this person is, find them after the show and make them explain why they felt the need to say such awful things. DO NOT deal with it during your performance.

4. If you keep getting interrupted, walk away from the stage quietly. You have failed to hold the audience's attention, so take your lumps, move on, and learn. Maybe your material wasn't right for the show, maybe you weren't ready, and maybe the audience wasn't ready. Maybe you need to revisit your performance and figure out what went wrong (length, timing, language, topic, etc.) Try to keep your ego under control and take this failure as a chance to be better next time.

Note: I have rarely seen this happen in a formal bardic; it usually happens during an informal gathering of friends or colleagues. It's important to realize that sometimes you need to pick your moments and your audiences carefully. If you're surrounded by children, telling them a 2-hour epic tale will not hold their attention. If you're in the company of adults, leading a "Little Bunny Foo Foo" sing-along won't always go over well. If the adults are drunk, their attention span may be too limited for even a short performance.

Audience Participation
====================

There is a way for the audience to take part in the Bard's performance in a positive, constructive way. Some Bards may see this as a dangerous suggestion, but I know that audience can be so enthralled with a performance that they may call out to the Bard as a show of support.

When in doubt, don't shout. If the Bard is young in his career, you should refrain from calling out until he gains more experience and more confidence. You can test the waters by calling out encouraging words or something appropriate to the story. For example, if the Bard is singing a song about a beautiful woman, you could burst out with exclamations ("Wooohoo! Hawt Girl! Sexy!"). If the Bard is encouraged by this, he may feel confident enough to adlib his way through the song based on what the audience is giving him.

You could also engage in known cliches, challenging the Bard to respond in kind. Again, if the Bard is telling a story about a beautiful woman, you could call out "How beautiful WAS she?" The Bard should be able to roll with that without missing a beat ("She was so beautiful that she looked just like you!").

To know when it is appropriate to call out anything more challenging to the Bard, you need to take the time to get to know the Bard first. Maybe talk to him about his performance, find out how he feels about audience participation, maybe even warn him that you will say something during his performance, so he should be ready for it.

But in all cases of audience participation, keep it short. The Bard is the main attraction, not you. What you want to do is add to his performance rather than take away or distract. Anything more than a few words of encouragement or challenge can damage or destroy the sacred moment between performer and the audience. If you have more to say, then swallow your fear and walk into that Bardic space yourself. Until then, respect the Bards that choose to take that risk.

Podcast featuring Gerald Gardner

2010-06-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Rikki has done a presentation on Gerald Gardner, the father of modern Wicca, on his podcast Kakophonos.

You can listen to it here:

http://www.kakophonos.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Kakophonos-Episode-03-2010-06-13-Matt-Clooney-and-Devin-Johnstone-Anubis-and-Synchronicity-96kbps.mp3

Celtic Spirits

2010-05-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

We're mired well and good in the part of the 101 course I like to affectionately call Deity-Palooza and yesterday, Diane did her presentation on the Celts and the Egyptians.

By pure coincidence, I happened to notice this film on the NFB.ca website called Celtic Spirits and thought you might find it interesting. Enjoy!

3rd Trimester assignments

2010-05-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

There seems to be some confusion over the assignments over the next few weeks. Let me attempt to clarify:

1. I did a presentation on the history of paper, writing, and binding. Your homework is to write a 3 page paper (double-spaced) on an aspect of that presentation, which is due in 3 weeks.

2. For the next six weeks, we'll be doing 10 minute presentations on various deity systems and cultures. Every week, you will pick a new culture a prepare a 10 minute presentation on it (where you need to talk about one God and one Goddess).

3. At the end of these six weeks, you will write two final papers on a God and Goddess of your choice from any culture you want.

West Island's Avalon Centre

2010-05-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the West Island's Avalon Centre hosted a public Bealtane ritual that got over 90 people in attendance. I'm so jealous!

Our class was honored and pleased to be visited by Yvon who gave an excellent lecture on Therapeutic Touch.
Thanks Yvon!

For more information about Avalon Centre and Wiccan Sacred Circle:

Avalon Centre: http://www.avalonnaturel.com/
Wiccan Sacred Circle: http://www.wiccansacredcircle.com/

Guest Speaker for the Next Class

2010-05-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that this week's class is the Sabbat exam followed by a presentation on Therapeutic Touch. I have confirmed that the presenter will be coming to us (rather than us going to him in the West Island), so please remember to bring your $5.

Please continue reading those chapters in the Pagans and Christians book so that we can continue discussing them in class.

I'll also be expecting the second installment of your elememtal presentations.

Follow-up on the Gus DiZerega lecture

2010-04-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

I contacted Gus about the story and this is the response I got:

Hi Hobbes-
It was many years ago- when Nixon went and Alsop (Stewart or Joseph- I don't remember, but it seems to be Stewart) got appendicitis and wrote a piece about watching it being removed via a mirror the docs gave him. That's all I remember - that and the reaction of the head of Yale's med school.
I just googled around and found another mention of what I remember here
http://www.ouuf.org/Sermons/ESSpirituality.html
This article gives some details I do not remember, but there is no mention of the head of Yale's med school saying it couldn't be true because their theories told them pain did not work that way.- so we likely are remembering the same column.
The Univ. of Maryland Medical Center discusses acupuncture in a way that fits Alsop's report, but does not mention him. (scroll down the article)
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/appendicitis-000014.htm
I think it was roo far back to be in Google. If you can find a copy of Alsop's columns (not his Saturday Evening Post pieces) and look around the time he accompanied Nixon to China, you'll find it.

Context of Examples in a Lecture

2010-04-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

I had the students listen to a lecture given by Gus DiZerega at the Toronto Pagan Conference called Return the Divine Feminine. This exercise did not go over well, as it turns out, because not everyone shares my love of listening to lectures.

One of my students complained that Gus tends to ramble in his lectures, talking about stuff that has seemingly nothing to do with the topic at hand. "He tells a story about a guy in a hospital being operated on. What does that have to do with the Goddess?"

I hadn't listened to the lecture in quite awhile, so I couldn't remember that part of the lecture. I have relistened to the lecture and now understand the point he was trying to make.

Gus was talking about how the existing patriarchal society is very resistant to any radical change, despite the evidence to the contrary. It has very rigid boundaries that define what is real and what is false, and it is therefore quick to label anything that falls outside of its box as wrong and not to be considered, especially if it contradicts the main point or mission statement (despite any presented evidence).

Therefore, a rigid patriarchal society would definitely resist any notion of a Divine Feminine model, despite any historical or logical arguments that could be made for it. The same held true for any new spiritual traditions being introduced in a culture dominated by Judeo-Christian religions. This fell outside of what was deemed to be acceptable and was, at best, rejected or, at worst, vilified.

The example that Gus presents about the man being operated on illustrates how resistant the society was to new ideas, especially if it contradict was accepted to be true. The thinking at the time was incapable of imaging a new idea:

Also, you saw the rise in non-traditional and holistic approaches to health. [...] And these methods of health assume very, very different models of reality than the sort-of mechanistic model of mainstream medicine that occurred at that time, where mind could have no effect whatsoever on the body because we all know that mind is not material and body is material, and therefore mind is an offshoot...

I still remember when Nixon went to China to open up China for the United States. An American columnist named Stewart Alsop went with him and this really [...] typifies the difference. Alsopp, a major columnist for the New York Times, goes to China with Nixon and gets appendicitis, so he has to go to a Chinese hospital to have his appendix removed. He writes a column about how the Chinese gave him a mirror so he could watch while they opened him up and take his appendix out. And they stuck these *needles* in him and it seemed to work!

I still vividly remember an interview with the head of medicine at Yale who said "This is impossible because our studies prove that pain doesn't work this way. So Alsopp was really deceived!"

What is going on is a society that is utterly committed in model of science to boundaries: firm boundaries that are not crossed.

So if the thinking at the time was so rigid that it would not believe that acupuncture could be real and something to be studied, how could they possible embrace the idea of the feminine being divine in a rigidly patriarchal society?

I tried to find a link to this story, but couldn't come up with anything. I'll try asking Gus on this blog and maybe he'll be able to provide a link. I hope that clears up the context.

Major and Minor Sabbbats

2010-04-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

As I do every time I talk about the Sabbats, I forget why they are labeled as Major and Minor. I promised the class I would look this up.

It turns out that the dates for the Major Sabbats fall on the first days of the months, while the Minor Sabbats occur in the midpoints (ish) of the months. Therefore:

Major Sabbats:

Samhain: October 31st - November 1st
Imbolc: February 1st
Bealtane: May 1st
Lammas: August 1st

Minor Sabbats:

Yule: December 20-22
Ostara: March 19-21
Litha: June 20-22
Mabon: September 20-22

There is an excellent article on the Sabbats and the Wheel of the Year at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year

Please ignore what I said about Samhain being on October 22. I think I may have been on teh goofballs.

No Class Tonight!

2010-04-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

It's April 7th and there's no class tonight! See you next week!

Class Films online

2010-04-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

It turns out that I've blogged about the films I show in class before. You can watch the NFB films online at the NFB's website.

You can read more about it here:
http://paganedumacation.blogspot.com/2009/10/pagan-films-online.html

Pagan Sunday Brunch for March 2010

2010-03-27T07:29:00.001-07:00

March 28th 2010, 10 am sharp
Resto Burgers & Benedicts
2313 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest (AMC)
(514) 228-5210
Breakfast: <$15
Facebook Event page

Winter is on its way out, but a hearty breakfast and excellent company can help to stave off the cold!

No level of pagan experience is necessary, but as long as you can wield a knife and fork like a guru master, you'll be respected and admired by your peers.

This is a kid-friendly event, so feel free to bring your offspring.

If you have any questions, send me a message on FB or email me at jdhobbes @ yahoo.ca. If you don't know anybody, don't fret. Ask the resto guys for Hobbes or look for the pentacle.
--
Hobbes

-----------
DIRECTIONS

Resto Burgers & Benedicts is in the Pepsi Forum that houses the AMC Movie theatre and is across Atwater from Alexis Nihon.

BUS/METRO/WALK:
Get to Atwater metro (Green line), cross Atwater from Alexis Nihon, and enter the Pepsi Forum. Its the first resto inside.

Announcements

2010-03-26T10:31:00.001-07:00

I have a couple of announcements to make about next class and April 7th:

Next class (March 31st), if you have one, please bring a USB flash drive to class that have at least 120 MB free on it. I have three lectures I want to give you. If you don't have a USB flash drive, I'll give you a CD with the lectures on it.

April 7th: There is no class because Scarlet will not be available on that day. The test will be on April 14th.

See you next week!

Male Symbols

2010-03-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

At some point during the class, I need to draw symbols and shapes on the white board. This is really difficult for me because I don't draw terribly well. It's pretty embarrassing really, so I'm going to try to make it up here on the blog with some proper images.

Oddly, it's the male symbols that are incredibly detailed and therefore, very difficult to draw accurately. Here are some of the male symbols we talked about that I could not draw accurately.

Cernunnos:
From Wikipedia:
"Cernunnos (also Cernenus^[1] and Cern) is a Celtic god whose representations were widespread in the ancient Celtic lands of western Europe. Cernunnos is associated with horned male animals, especially stags ram-horned snake; this and other attributes associate him with produce and fertility.^[2] Cernunnos is also associated mainly as the God of the Underworld." and the

Greenman:
From Wikipedia :
The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

Check out this site for really cool leather Greenman masks.

Stag:
From Wikipedia:

White deer hold a place in the mythology of many cultures. The Celtic people considered them to be messengers from the otherworld; it also played an important role in other pre-Indo-European cultures, especially in the north.^[1]^[2] The Celts believed that the white stag would appear when one was transgressing a taboo, such as when Pwyll tresspassed into Arawn's hunting grounds.^[2] Arthurian legend states that the creature has a perennial ability to evade capture; and that the pursuit of the animal represents mankind's spiritual quest.^[3] It also signalled that the time was nigh for the knights of the kingdom to pursue a quest.^[2]

Snakes and Bladders: Celebrating All Snakes Day

2010-03-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Although Montreal celebrates St. Patrick's Day on a Sunday with its annual parade, March 17th is the actual St. Patrick's Day, which in 2010 falls on a Wednesday. Historically, St. Patrick is one of Christianity’s best-known and most-loved saints who is credited with banishing all snakes from Ireland.

Of course, there never have been any snakes in Ireland for St. Patrick to banish, so we understand that the snakes actually represent the pagans and their beliefs that were replaced by Christian doctrine. Critics often point out that this day is mainly an excuse for the population to drink excessively and wear garishly green clothing.

At face value, the spirit of St. Patrick's Day has certainly been hijacked by boorish behaviour, but it's certainly not the only holiday in which that happens. Let's take a look at the other seasonal celebrations we have and consider their excesses:

For Summer, we have St. Jean Baptist Day and Canada Day.
For Fall, we have Thanksgiving and Halloween.
For Winter, we have Christmas/Yule and New Year's Day.
For Spring, we have St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

As far as I can tell, Easter is the only holiday where the worst thing that can happen is cracking a tooth on too much chocolate (Halloween can be accused of that too, but there is more boozing in scary masks than at Easter). So why does St. Patrick's Day get all the criticism?

What are we really celebrating in March? If you take a look outside, you'll no doubtedly notice that the snow has mostly melted away and the days are sunnier. The Vernal Equinox is nigh, signalling the coming of Spring and Summer, a time of growth, rebirth, and warmth. After three months of darkness and cold, St Patrick’s Day is our moment to cast off the dark shroud of winter and welcome the warmth of the sun and the rebirth of nature.

From a pagan perspective, many modern-day pagans refuse to celebrate or even acknowledge this day. The image of our pagan forefathers fleeing the threat of Christianity is not a pleasant thought. But just as our modern-day pagan pioneers attempted to reclaiming the word "witch", I should think pagans can attempt to reclaim the spirit of the Vernal Equinox celebration known as St. Patrick's Day.

If we're going to reclaim the mythology of this day, then we can tongue-in-cheek add our own take on the myth. If St. Patrick's Day celebrates the day when the patron saint of Ireland seemingly drove all the snakes from Ireland, then we can celebrate "All Snakes Day": the day the Druids tricked St. Patrick into thinking the snakes had been banished.

After all, we snakes are still here and we are thriving! We're lean, green, Pagan machines who welcome the Sun God and the Green Goddess with open arms, excited with what the warmer seasons have to offer in terms of their bounty and boundless possibilities. Just like the snake who sheds his outer skin, so do we shed our warm, protective clothing and feel the warmth on our faces and skin. We may even hoist a horn of mead or ale to share with our kith and kin, bringing family and friends together to make plans and celebrate the friendship that got us through the darker winter days.

So Happy All Snakes Day to you, fellow pagans! Go out and revel in the heat that warms your snake skin. And I will raise a toast to you and yours while we enjoy the longer days together. As for St. Patrick? It's only fitting that we extend him some Irish hospitality for his special day if he'll lower his ash staff and share a pint or two with us.

Ritualized Quarterly Directions

2010-03-14T04:47:00.000-07:00

Last week, we were covering the five elements in terms of their traditional associations (direction, gender, symbols, etc.) when one of my students wondered why each element was linked to its compass point (earth: North, water: West, air: East, fire: South). I was stumped to explain the mythological evolution of this association, so I promised I'd look it up.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really find anything satisfying in my books about it, other than "This is the way it is". So I turned to the Internet and asked the question to Yahoo Answers. Aside from some asinine responses which basically said I was a fool to believe in such nonsense and I would soon find myself in concrete galoshes in a lake of fire, I got these two great responses:

===================
From katyask

I can tell you about Native American element and compass correlation.

East (Red-fire/heat) - The direction from which the sun comes. Light dawns in the morning and spreads over the earth.

South (Yellow-earth) - warmth and growing, the sun's rays are powerful in drawing life from the earth. It is said the life of all things comes from the south. also, warm and pleasant winds come from the south.

West (black-water) - To the west, the sun sets, and the day ends. For this reason, west signifies the end of life and sends thunder and : rain, lakes, streams and rivers. nothing can live without water, so the west is vital.

North (white-air) - North brings the cold, harsh winds of the winter season. These winds are cleansing. They cause the leaves to fall and the earth to rest under a blanket of snow.

===================
From Cosimo )O( Basta!

That is the normal convention in the Western tradition. I believe the circle is analogous both to the wheel of the year and to the ages of a human lifespan:

East for Spring, when the wind stirs in the new foliage - air;
South for Summer, when the sun swells the grain - fire;
West for Autumn, when rivers rise and fog swirls - water;
North for Winter, when all things await rebirth and the Goddess welcomes us back to her embrace.

East for sunrise and West for sunset mirror the sun's annual cycle in the daily cycle. And for those in the northern hemisphere, the sun's heat always comes from the south. In European pagan traditions, North is ever a place of magic and mystery, the home of the gods.

Gus DiZerga's Blog

2010-03-10T11:37:00.001-08:00

The author of Pagans and Christians (which is required reading in the Level 1 class) has a blog which I highly enourage you to follow. It deals with very challenging issues and topics in the neo-pagan world, and not a single spell on how to cure the common cold.

A Pagan's Blog by Gus DiZerga

Music and Improv

2010-03-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

In the last class, we talked about Improvisation and being creative as part of a ritual process. I had the students experiment with improvisation by listening to music and either drawing or writing free form. The musical pieces I played this time were as follows:

Le Reel des Soucoupes Volantes: La Bottine Souriante
Latin Jam: Beau Kavanaugh and the Broken Hearted
Mumbles: Terry Clark and Oscar Peterson
Pagan Soldier: Dragon Ritual Drummers
Team Fortress 2 - Theme 1: Orange Box
Santiago & Sevilla: The Paperboys

Also, Ryan mentioned a local shop called Charme & Sortilege that supposedly played one of the pagan songs. It's not playing the song we mentioned right now, but maybe it'll cycle through eventually. I tried searching for recorded pagan songs/chants on the web, but many of the links are broken. Maybe the MPRC should try to record these songs...

New students for 2010

2010-02-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

A big shout-out to my new set of students for 2010! We just had our first class and I'm very excited to start this new session with them. We had five students to start and there are three others on their way (they couldn't attend the first class for a variety of reasons).

In case they've come to peek at this blog, I will take this opportunity to shamelessly plug my new show this weekend. Go visit my podcast site to learn more about it.

See you all in a week!

A Powerful Samhain tradition

2009-10-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for something meaningful to do for Samhain, here's a suggestion:

Any evening over the next few nights (end of October/beginning of November), sit in a comfortable spot in your house, turn out the lights, light a few candles, and pour two glasses of wine.

Then sit quietly and think about a loved one who has passed away, either in the past year or previous years. You can even just speak out loud to them as if they were sharing the wine with you. They will come to you in that moment, so just allow them to be there and take comfort in it.

When you're done, finish your wine, but take their glass and pour it out onto the ground outside. If you can, leave the glass outside with a candle burning nearby (then pour the wine out in the morning). That way, the spirit of your loved one will be able to find you easily.

Good Reading Online

2009-10-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

I've known about The Internet Sacred Text Archive for a few years now, but I decided to revisit it recently. They' redesigned it a wee bit, made it easier to use, and it's amazing what's on there. It's enough to make me what to get a Kindle and load everything into it so I can read it all.

Check out what 's in the Pagan archives! Awesome stuff.

And now they're selling the stuff on DVDs and CD-ROMS. It might be something to invest in...

Pagan Films Online

2009-10-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

When we talked briefly about The Goddess Remembered before deciding to watch the Pagans video instead, I mentioned that you can watch TGR online via the NFB website.

The Goddess Remembered by Donna Reed

You may also be interested in seeing the related film The Burning Times also by Donna Reed.

Energy Work and the Wiccan Rede

2009-09-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's a new season and a new set of students (eight students, in fact!). Very exciting! In the last class, we experimented with energy work and had some really fantastic (or weird) experiences with energy balls and expanding our auras and such.

When also we talked about the Wiccan Rede and the various ways it has been re-written and re-imagined, we reviewed versions by Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, and Aleister Crowley. It's always interesting to discuss the philosophy behind the "Harm None" ideal to explore our own ethics on spiritual expression and use of magic.

As for Crowley, I mentioned a movie about a guy who resurrects Aleister Crowley's spirit called Chemical Wedding. It's not a fantastic movie, but I'm told by Crowley fans that Cowell does an excellent job of his portrayal of Crowley.

NFB's The Burning Times

2009-07-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

You can watch the NFB documentary The Burning Times on their website for free! Watch it here:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/burning_times/

The Burning Times
Donna Read, 1990, 56 min 10 s

This documentary takes an in-depth look at the witch hunts that swept Europe just a few hundred years ago. False accusations and trials led to massive torture and burnings at the stake and ultimately to the destruction of an organic way of life. The film questions whether the widespread violence against women and the neglect of our environment today can be traced back to those times. Part two of a series of three films on women and spirituality, which includes Goddess Remembered and Full Circle.

Yes, this is by Donna Read who also produced the movie The Goddess Remembered that we watched in class.

Last Class, Final Thoughts

2009-06-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

We had our last class last night and it was so bittersweet. We just spent the last 18 weeks on this introduction to paganism class and I was amazed through it all. This was my biggest class (in terms of students) and almost all of them stuck it out to the end.

I had a huge going-away speech planned, but I just could not get it out of my piehole in any reasonable way. Maybe it's for the best... maybe it didn't need to be said.

I hope some of my Level 1 students continue on to Level 2 and beyond. Everyone was brilliant and insightful; the tangent discussions in class were fascinating and usually expanded the topic that we were trying to cover, albeit in a unexpected way (and sometimes I had to nip the geek talk in the bud).

As with all of my students, I look forward to crossing them here and there at the local community events and I will delight in challenging them in new and unexpected ways!

*maniacal laughter*

Reaching me during the day

2009-05-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Where I work, my client has blocked stuff like Hotmail, Yahoo, and Facebook. This means I tend to get more productive, but it also means I won't be able to read anything you send to my Yahoo email address during the day.

I noticed that Edith is trying to tell me she probably won't make it to tonight's class (I guessing due to a work-related double-booking), but I can't read the message, nor can I respond to it.

Your best bet is to call me on my cellphone during the day if you need to reach me. If you don't have my number, remind me in class and I will repost my number.

Also, seeing how we have just a few classes left together, I feel the need to remind you all that you owe me three essays to complete the class:

1. History of Paper/Writing/Books/Book Binding
2. About [insert male deity here]
2. About [insert female deity here]

About Wiccan Sacred Circle

2009-05-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't take Meri's contact info or her website, here it is:

http://www.wiccansacredcircle.com/

For more information on Therapeutic Touch:

http://therapeutictouchontario.org/othercanadianttnetworksc33.php

Deity-palooza

2009-05-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick note to my Level 1 students about their presentations on Deities and Cultures:

You people seriously Rock!

The presentations are great and the discussions are even better. This part of the course can sometimes be kinda painful, but you all are making it a pleasure. Thank you.

Remember that we have a guest lecturer coming in next week, so please bring a $5 gift for the guest lecturer.

Deity Presentations

2009-05-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Congrats to all my Level 1 student on their fantastic presentations on cultural deities. I've been giving this class a few times now and you're all finding new information that I didn't previously find or present.

Next week, there are three students who will be giving their presentations on Judeo-Christian, Monotheistic, and Islamic deities and beliefs. I can't remember who is doing what, but I highly recommend that you watch this debate on YouTube in relation to your presentation. I know I mentioned it before, but in case you've forgotten:

Admed Deedat vs Jimmy Swaggart

The debate presents two fascinating viewpoints on the same sacred text. Try to suspend your own bias and really listen to what both speakers have to say.

April 8th Ritual Calls and Stuff

2009-04-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who missed the last class, here are the calls for stirring, calling, and dismissing the elements. Don't forget to bring your stones for the protection circle.

Also, make sure you review your notes because you will have the opportunity to retake the first test and correct the mistakes you made the first time. If you got only a couple of them wrong, you don't need to take the test again (unless you want to). You can use the time to prepare your elemental expression, meditate on the coming ritual, or complete some of your homework.

Stirring:

EAST: (light candle) I call upon light and Air at the East to illuminate and enliven the circle.

SOUTH: (light candle) I call upon light and Fire at the South to illuminate and warm this circle.

WEST: (light candle) I call upon light and Water at the West to Illuminate and cleanse this circle.

NORTH: (light candle) I call upon light and Earth at the North to illuminate and strengthen this circle.

Calling:

EAST: Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East. Ancient powers of Air Let us breathe your clarity and knowledge. We bid you, join us during our rite.

ALL: So mote it be!

All turn to face the south.

SOUTH: Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South Ancient ones of Fire Let us be filled with your warmth and passion for life. We bid you, join us during our rite.

ALL: So mote it be!

All turn to face the West.

WEST: Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West Ancient ones of Water May we drink of your wisdom and healing. We bid you, join us during our rite.

ALL: So mote it be!

All turn to face the North.

NORTH: Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North Ancient ones of Earth Portal to all that was and all that will be Touch us with your strength and bounty. We bid you, join us during our rite.

ALL: So mote it be!

Dismissal:

NORTH: Guardians of the watchtower of the north, thank you for your presence here. Stay if you will, go if your must, Hail and farewell.
ALL: Hail and farwell.

WEST: Guardians of the watchtower of the west, thank you for your presence here. Stay if you will, go if your must, Hail and farewell.
ALL: Hail and farewell

SOUTH: Guardians of the watchtower of the south, thank you for your presence here. Stay if you will, go if your must, Hail and farewell.
ALL: Hail and farewell.

EAST: Guardians of the watchtower of the east, thank you for your presence here. Stay if you will, go if your must, Hail and farewell.
ALL: Hail and farewell.

HP will take up athame, go to the north quarter, point athame down and move widdershins around the circle (N-W-S-E-N). Envision the blue light drawing back into the athame and HP will say:

The circle is open yet the circle remains as its magical power is drawn back into us. So mote it be.

ALL: So Mote it be!

Good Reading on the Web this Week

2009-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

I found a few really cool articles on the web this week that you might enjoy reading. Be warned though: there's alot of text (and I haven't even rebutted yet!). Be sure to read all the comments as well!

Dr. Brendan Myers: Is the pagan movement a community?

Gus DiZerga: The Perils of Pagan Clergy
First Argument
Second Argument
Third Argument

And lastly, my own essay was published on Witchvox:
Raven vs. The Big Bang

Topics raised last class

2009-03-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Spirited discussion! Excellent class! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here are a couple of links related to what we talked about:

Ley Lines:
Wikipedia
National Association for Scientific and Cultural Appreciation
Nasca Lines on Google Sightseeing

This is the article I mentioned that refutes many of the claims made in Goddess Remembered. His axe-grinding writing style does nothing to add to his credibility, but he does make some interesting points.

And finally, this website lists many of the chalk figures that appear in the hills in England.

Documentaries on Paganism

2009-03-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've been researching documentaries on Paganism and I found a couple of interesting videos. YouTube has a couple of shows that National Geographic put together, which are short but interesting:

National Geographic: Wicca
National Geographic: Naked Witchcraft

Then I found a British show that followed the live of five women who study with a wiccan priestess for a month. It has more to do with spellcraft than the philosophy of witchcraft, but it's interesting all the same.

The Real Witch Project: Part 1
The Real Witch Project: Part 2
The Real Witch Project: Part 3
The Real Witch Project: Part 4

Enjoy!

Update!
This YouTube link has nothing to do with paganism, but it's a fascinating debate between Islamic preacher Ahmed Deedat and Pentecostal preacher Jimmy Swaggart. They are debating whether the Bible is the holy word of God (Swaggart says yes, Deedat says no). It's really worth listening to, even if only for the pleasure of hearing two great orators go at it.

Recycling materials

2009-03-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing that some of you are having a difficult time coming up with practical things to make from recycled material.

If you're looking for some inspiration, check out the Green ideas at Instructables.com:

http://www.instructables.com/green

Also, here's a fun and simple way to start your growing project by using egg shells to grow your seeds. The best part is that once the seedling outgrows the shell, you can bury the whole thing, shell and all, in the new pot!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Eggshell_Seed_Starters/

Classroom shenanigans and projects

2009-03-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

Vanessa, Melanie, and Andrew! We missed you last class.

Despite my recovering from the flu, I was able to teach the class on Magical Symbols, Colors, and Altars and Shrines. We got to the end of the first trimester, so this means that the exam will be in two weeks! So if you've missed out on the classes, make sure you get in early next class to take some time to copy some of the notes we made in these classes. You'll need them to be able to pass the test.

Next week, the class will be divided into three parts:
1) Bring in your reading packs and we will discuss some of the sections you highlighted.
2) We will be watching a movie called The Goddess Remembered and discussing it.
3) I will give you time in class to prepare your Element Embodiment performance.

Also, in order to give you some context for all the material we've been covering, we've decided to perform our own ritual in class on April 8th 2009. It will be a ritualized spell of healing where we will be making protection stones.

Therefore, before April 8th, you need to find a small stone you wish to charge with healing energy. In selecting this stone, try to do some research on the lore behind the various stone types to make your choice more relevant.

Very exciting!

Celtic Ceilidh in NDG on February 28th 2009

2009-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is the show I'll be performing this coming weekend. I hope you can make it!

The Anglican Church of St. Columba
4020 Hingston Avenue
(corner Notre-Dame-de-Grace Ave)
Montreal, Quebec
(514) 486-1753
mrogers@montreal.anglican.ca

Celtic Ceilidh
Saturday, February 28
from 6:00 pm until 10:30 pm.
Tickets $12 for adults (children free)

The evening will start off with a dinner including Irish Stew and
Oatbread, and a special Irish dessert. Beer and wine will also be
available for purchase.

John David "Hobbes" Hickey, a professional storyteller, will entertain
us in the time-honoured Celtic tradition. Also included in the
festivities will be a Celtic band led by Jim McDermott who will invite
us to share in the excitement of a traditional Celtic ceilidh,
including music, dance, jokes and stories.

There will also be an opportunity to admire and purchase the works of
skilled craftspeople at a mini-marketplace at the beginning of the
evening.

Shamless Plug

2009-02-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

Go check out my new streaming story on my StoryBlog:

http://shorteningtheroad.blogspot.com/

Musical selection from class

2009-02-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of the music that you heard in class during your improvisational exercise:

Team Fortress 2 theme song
Half-Life 2, episode 2 - Song 25
Spit'n Flankers -- Dust Rhinos
El Baile del Puma -- the Paperboys
Mumbles -- Clark Terry/Oscar Peterson
Parade -- Dragon Ritual Drummers

Experiencing energy on purpose

2009-02-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

Big shout out to John and Rosanne for guest speaking in the class, teaching the students about grounding, centering, and taking note of the energy flow. Everyone had an experience of some kind, some more intense than others.

Training your mind and body to recognize energy flow takes practice. When people do it for the first time, either nothing will happen or everything will happen. The trick is taking note of what happens without over-analyzing it too much. If you notice your hands are tingling slightly, that's good. Focusing on that tingling will pull your meditative mind away from its attempt at sustaining awareness, which is the definition of distraction ("Oooh... shiny!").

We also got into some great discussion on the Wiccan Rede and the charges of the God and Goddess. Every time I got through those passages and the students discuss them, I get new insight. It's very cool.

Next week will be very exciting because John will return to the class to do more energy exercises. Because we're up in the room above the shop, we now have the room to move more freely about. I'm curious to see what people's experiences will be.

New class in 2009!

2009-02-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

I had my first class with my new set of students, all nine of them! Nine! This is my largest group so far and I hope they all stick it out until the end of the course.

My new resolution for this group is to be on time for class, which is a bit of a challenge since my client is two traffic jams away. But when I tried to complain about this, my student Syl replied with "Awww... shall I call you a WAAAAAHHHHmbulance?" True enough.

So Wednesday will be my half-day or full day off from work. I'll go into work in the morning, leave around noon, and make my way into the city. I'll either meet up with folks or just take my laptop with me so I can keep working with a pint within comfortable reach.

The first class was great! Everyone has great energy and enthusiasm, so I'm looking forward to some hearty discussion and debate over the next 18 weeks. I have a couple of CMS teachers who are guest-teaching for the next couple of weeks so we can try out the energy exercises, so that'll be fun.

I'll also try to update this blog more often. Check back soon!

Alternative Healing

2006-11-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

For some more information on Reiki and Therapeutic Touch, check out these sites:

Reiki Canada
The Nurse Healers - Professional Associates International

Also, I had a personal epihpany during that class. You can read it on my Live Journal.

Taking out the Spiritual Garbage

2006-11-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

At last night's Samhain ritual, the organizer (Alex) was talking about how the Goddess was the centre of all things and he started to state that the God wasn't that important when I piped up and stated that the God was just as important and active as the God was (this was announced to the entire crowd of 75+ people).

Later on, a woman who was in the circle came to me and asked why I had said that. I replied that this was an old argument of mine, that I didn't like it when the position and presence of the God is reduced to taking out the spiritual garbage.

This morning, she sent me an email that had this quote:

"So, you said it tongue in cheek, but why state that the God takes out the garbage in a Goddess based religion? If a male feels unimportant in a goddess religion, why not go to a God based religion and feel the identification with a powerful deity?"

I replied to her that Paganism is NOT a Goddess-based religion and technically, it's not even a religion (it's a belief system). Wicca is a religion, and although it empowers the Goddess-side of divinity, it also is not Goddess-based. There are forms of Wicca that are Goddess-centric (like Dianic Wicca), but they are not the defining statutes of Wicca.

It really irks me when the masculine expression of spirituality is frowned upon or dismissed by people. I'm a man. I'm a spiritual man and the way I express my spiritual side will have a masculine feel to it as well as a feminine side. I do NOT feel the need to apologize for it and nor will I stand by and have it be belittled.

Alternative Healing

2006-11-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Amanda gave the class today on Alternative Healing because she knows way more about it than I do. Next week, I have one or two guest speakers coming in to talk about Reiki and Therapeutic Touch. Thanks be to Roo and Meri!

As we discussed the different types of healing methods, I was reminded of the following passage I saw somewhere on the Web:

The History of Medicine:
2000 B.C. - Here, eat this root.
1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 A.D. - That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2002 A.D. - That antibiotic doesn't work any more - here, eat this root.

Good news! One of my students came back, so we're back up to 3 students! Welcome back Astra!

Probability Magic

2006-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

I was at the Montreal Casino yesterday with two friends with $60 in my pocket to play with. I played some blackjack and slots and walked away with a $0.50 profit ($60.50). The best part of going to the Casino is the people watching around the blackjack tables.

As we walked by the slot machines, I commented to my friend that I had another friend who could sense which machine was about to go off (using a skill he called kenning). She rolled her eyes and replied that the machines had no memory (like the old expression "dice have no memory"). "How could you possibly be "reading" it? There's nothing to read in it!"

It was a proper statment and a good question. It's amazing what you can come up with when someone puts a question directly to you, which is why this friend is my girlfriend and why I like volunteering at the MPRC.

"He's not reading the "mind" of the machine," I replied. "He's reading the probability of the machine hitting the jackpot. He's trying to sense which one is likely go to off by sensing which reality is about to fall into place."

It got me thinking about magic and what we're tapping into when we do spells and such (or however you want to call it). If I do a spell asking for a nice weekend for my camping trip (which is next weekend), I don't think that I'm actually controlling the awesome power of the global weather. I'm thinking that I'm trying to influence the natural probability of getting a sunny and warm weekend.

Magic tends to try to find the simplest, most natural path to bring about change, so the results tend to seem more like coincidence rather than miracle. Miracles, by their very nature, tend to go against the natural order of life and the realities of this plane of existence.

** Will complete this train of thought later **

Knee Deep in Deadlines

2006-09-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'll be missing this week's class unfortunately. I'm knee-deep in a deadline at work that's keeping me here long after the sun goes down. *yawn*

Amanda will be teaching the class on her own, so pay close attention! Also, Amanda and I have been working on the course plan, so the topics might be in a slightly different order than what's in your student handbook. It's still in development, but we should be hammering it out (to meet with Scarlet's approval) in the next couple of weeks.

Have a good class and I'm sorry I can't make it!

Interview with the Farrars

2006-09-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

In the last class, we covered more terminology and discussed the differences between Wiccans, Witches, and Warlocks. The students are bright and insightful, asking many interesting questions. It's fun.

We also led a guided meditation that raised some healing energy and sent it out to the grieving people in the city. It was a powerful session, but I forgot to guide the people into grounding the excess energy properly. Consequently, some of the students felt a bit wonky after it. I must make a point of grounding after each meditation to make sure it doesn't happen again.

We also talked about some of the important people in Neo-Pagan history, including Gardner, Saunders, Crowley (who I called the Steven Tyler of the occult world), and Valiente. We also talked about about the Farrars, so I thought people would be interested in listening to an interview with the Farrars.

It's episode 14 of Deo's Shadow, a pagan podcast run out of Waterloo Ontario. You can listen to it here.

In invite you to take a listen to Deo's other podcasts. I find them interesting and insightful, but I don't always agree with the opinions he puts out. Still, it's a good show. Enjoy!

New Season, New Class

2006-09-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

I just want to take a moment to welcome my new set of students. We had our first class yesterday evening and it went great. We've got seven students in this term: a full house! Five of the seven showed up for the class, but one of them has gotten back to me (he wasn't feeling well).

I was a bit loopy from having crossed the country in a jet plane, but Amanda helped bring the class into focus. We'll be meeting next Monday to hammer out the rest of the course.

As it stands now, it looks like we'll be starting each class with learning a new chant or song and ending the class with a grounding and centering. These things always take practice and it'll be good for the students to do this in a class setting.

I look forward to a new season!

Today's CMS Ceremony will be at Melange

2006-08-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Due to inclement weather, the CMS Ceremony will be held at Melange Magique rather than Angrignon Park.

See you there at 5pm!

End of Semester Blues

2006-06-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

We ended our Level One class with a bang, so thanks to Kary-Ann for her presentation on native traditions and mythology. It really helped to end the course on a high note!

For those of you interested in attending the Native Pow-Wow event in July, here's the link to the website: Kahnawake Pow Wow. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be keeping it up to date, so I'll get the exact dates from Kary-Ann and posting them here. In the meantime, I did find photos from last years Pow Wow.

We ended the class with a great discussion on how the students have progressed and how they intend to move forward with what they've learned.

So my thanks to all my students who made it through the 20 weeks of Level 1. It was a pleasure to see you every Wednesday night and I hope our paths keep crossing!

Telling stories in French on Saturday

2006-06-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

Yoinked from Ceridwen's Cauldron

2006-05-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

"Magick is concentrated thought fueled by a need, assisted by a tool, empowered by Divinity, trusted by the self, and cast into the void of the Universe. If the thought is not focused, the need not relevant, the tool inappropriate, the belief not strong, or Divinity not infused, magick will not work; or if it does, it will work badly. It is also wise to remember that magick follows the least path of resistance and is purely natural in effect. Often it looks more like a coincidence than a shower of thunderbolts."

Silver Ravenwolf, Hexcraft, p. 38

Ceridwen's Cauldron Trackback

Deityapalooza Continues

2006-05-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are, knee-deep in the Deity presentations (ie week 3). So far, we covered Prehistoric, Mesopotamian, Celtic, Egyptian, and Roman-Greek. Wowsers.

I think the next time I go through this course, I might try to start the Deity presentations after the first third of the course and spread them over the next two-thirds. Lumping them at the end of the course makes for alot of lecturing from us and listening for them. We're trying to break it up by allowing the students to research some deities on their own and present them in class, but it's still alot to take in.

Still waiting for my CD on mindfulness from the CBC...

Mindfulness and Meditation

2006-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I mentionned in class that I was listening to the Ideas program on CBC radio when they were interviewing Jon Kabat-Zinn. This guy had some really interesting things to say on meditation and spiritual growth (although he'd mock the use of the word spiritual).

So I went to the CBC's website and placed an order for that interview to be delivered to me on CD (I also bought the Steve the First radio play, but that was for my own amusement). Once I've had a chance to listen to it, I'll see about putting it out to the CMS students to have a listen to it.

You can listen to Jon Kabat-Zinn as he gives a talk on the benefits of medicine, meditation, and mindfulness at the ResearchChannel website.

Next Week and Related Resources

2006-05-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Caroline! We missed you this week!

I just wanted to post a couple of links I used for my presentation on Prehistoric Deities, although the conversation went way off-topic with my students this week (good discussion, but only a bit on-topic).

Mithras: http://www.taivaansusi.net/historia/mithraism.html
You can find many of the Prehistoric Deities on http://www.pantheon.org/
Millenial Gaia statue: http://www.akashanpathways.com/gaia_statue.htm
Gaia Theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis

Next week, we'll be expecting your presentations on alternative healing methods and our guest speaker (Meri Fowler) will be doing her workshop on Therapeutic Touch.

Workshopalooza Part II

2006-04-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

My students can breathe a sigh of relief: their Sabbat exams went very well. In fact, it took me longer to go over them because I couldn't believe how good they actually were! I, of course, take all the credit (and share it with my co-teacher Amanda).

On Wednesday, we will be visited by Meri and her workshop on Therapeutic Touch. There's a couple of sections we missed, so we need to go over those too in class. All of this will be leading up to the intensive 6 week part of the class dedicated to Deities of the World (which I'm tempted to call Deityapalooza). 24 deities in 6 weeks. Yikes!

Amanda and I are in discussion about the Writing workshop. It might be in two weeks or we might put it off for a few weeks (to get a break from the Deityapalooza). We'll let you know.

Amanda has also contacted her Herbalism specialist and it looks like we might get an herb walk this spring! This will probably be an optional class rather than a substitution. Would you be interested in this Herb Walk as an optional class?

Workshopalooza Part 1

2006-04-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Heartfelt thank-yous to my good friend Robyn for coming in (virtually last-minute) to give a fantabulous workshop on Reiki (check out Le Urban Retreat where she works). Unfortunately for me, I'm too heavily shielded to feel the benefits of Reiki, but my students did definitely feel the reiki energy pulse through them when Robyn did her demonstrations.

Then we did a grounding/centering just before the students did their Sabbat exams. I wasn't sure how I was going to do this guided meditiation, but as we sat down, I was inspired.

I had them visualize a pool of liquid light beneath their chairs. As they drew in a deep breath, the light would be drawn upwards through them, flowing through them and being held at their heads. When they released their breath, the liquid light would fall back down to the pool, dragging all the tension, stress, and other negative fluff out of them.

I'm very picky about guided meditations. The most popular one tends to be imagining that you are a tree and you need to visualize your feet becoming roots and your arms becoming branches.

Blech. I've never been a tree and it's unnatural for me to imagine any of that. In fact, my claustrophobia usually kicks in when my feet become roots, holding me fast to the ground. The terror that results usually pulls me right out of the meditative state that the leader is trying to build.

I try to stick to common experiences that people have. Walking in water, leaving a noisy place to walk to a quiet place, rubbing your hands along a cold stone, etc. Maybe I'm too literal, but I find I can ground and center with these images much easier than imagining that a beaver has started to nibble at my ankles.

Having an industrious beaver turn up in a meditation should tell you how irrevocably Canadian I am, eh?

Scheduling Conflicts

2006-04-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

There's been a bit of a scheduling conflict with our presenters over the next few weeks (completely my fault). I'm trying to get my friend Robyn to come in tomorrow night to give a talk about Reiki, but I haven't heard back yet.

Don't forget that we'll be doing that exam on the Sabbats, so go over your notes in your workbooks (dates, symbols, crafts, foods, stories, etc.). If we don't get a speaker in this week, we've got another film to watch and I have a discussion in mind that leads well into the Deity classes we're about to get into (in 3 weeks).

Of course, being in class is an excellent time to catch up on homework... *hint*hint*

Reaching out across the water

2006-04-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

If you look the Comments, this blog has been found by someone in Wales! I have no idea how she found me, but we're exchanging links for a Pagan Blogging Circle. Welcome Starfisher!

One of Starfisher's journals is quite topical for the upcoming part of the class on Deities from across the planet (24 deity structures in 6 weeks!). I invite you to check it out!

The Holy Cow

Sabbats... Get Cracking!

2006-04-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

We watched a documentary called Pagans that covered the Pagan Sabbats of the year in more detail. The documentary's not bad, but it's still heavily Goddess-oriented. And the food the students brought in was fantastic! Scarlet brought apple cider (for Samhain) Valou brought a spicy carrot soup (for Mabon), Caroline had an orange-peach pie (for Litha), and Taiga had a fruit-stuffed cake (I forget which Sabbat she had). I brought a bran-raisin bread for Lammas.

Next week, Mrs. Young will be giving her talk on writing and we'll be doing the dreaded Sabbats exam. Get cracking!

And thanks for all the positive feedback on the course evaluations! We'll try to work more meditations, chanting, and ground/centering work into each class from now on.

Food and Films!

2006-04-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that next class, we are bringing in our Sabbat foods for feasting. I'll be making my bread tonight!

I'll be bringing in my laptop so that we can watch the second film. Also, don't forget your exam redo's!

In two weeks, Ms. Ceri Young will be giving her lecture on Writing, so don't forget to bring your extra $5 for the guest lecturer.

With Sabbats comes... Food!

2006-03-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

We covered the Sabbats and the Esbats tonight. I drew parallels between many of the holidays we already celebrate (like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween) with the traditional Pagan holidays (like Yule, Ostara, and Samhain). One of the best part of Paganism is that I don' t have to give up my favorite Christian holiday traditions; everything just blends together seamlessly.

Thank the Gods for Amanda though... I take the lead on the class direction and she happily and skillfully fills in all the holes. I love teaching this class with her.

Next week, my students will be bring in Sabbat foods and we'll be munching while we watch another Pagan film. Hopefully, the film will generate some discussion. If not, I might bring up a topic that I'm hoping to turn into a discussion session for the upcoming Awakening Isis festival.

Video and Exams

2006-03-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure about the market for quality films about Paganism, but there's not much out there. We watched a the Discovering Witchcraft DVD put together by the Farrars about 7 years ago, and while it was informative, focussed, topical, and certainly better than Goddess Remembered (put out in the late 80's), it's production and direction was a bit blah (a bit homemovie-ish).

I wonder what it would take to put together an instructional video on the modern state of Paganism today? Hmmmmm... Another project for the backburner.

I was trying to work with a local documentary company to put together a 10-15 minute segment on modern paganism, but trying to pull everyone's schedule together to hold a ritual that would be filmed proved to be our downfall. However, the documentary people are supposed to be contacting me in the coming months to try again in the spring. Besides, a Bealtane ritual in the spring would come off better on film anyways.

The students worked on their exams (don't worry about it folks!) and then we went for a pint to celebrate completing the first part of the course.

Next week, it'll be Esbats, Sabbats, and Cooking!

Happy Ostara

2006-03-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

A bit late, but Happy Ostara to everyone. Don't forget that there is a public Ostara ritual on Saturday March 25th. You can reading more about it here: MPRC Events Page.

An exerpt from an article on WitchVox about Ostara.

Easter gets its name from the Teutonic goddess of spring and the dawn, whose name is spelled Oestre or Eastre (the origin of the word "east" comes from various Germanic, Austro-Hungarian words for dawn that share the root for the word "aurora" which means " to shine"). Modern pagans have generally accepted the spelling "Ostara" which honors this goddess as our word for the Vernal Equinox. The 1974 edition of Webster's New World Dictionary defines Easter thus: "orig., name of pagan vernal festival almost coincident in date with paschal festival of the church; Eastre, dawn goddess; 1. An annual Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, held on the first Sunday after the date of the first full moon that occurs on or after March 21." The Vernal Equinox usually falls somewhere between March 19th and 22nd (note that the dictionary only mentions March 21st, as opposed to the date of the actual Equinox), and depending upon when the first full moon on or after the Equinox occurs, Easter falls sometime between late-March and mid-April.

Altars and Shrines

2006-03-21T05:36:00.000-08:00

In last week's class, we went over the difference between Altars and Shrines and the student's homework included designing their own altar and shrine.

If you're curious, here's what my altar looks like:

Pic1
Pic2
Pic3

Been Quiet for Too Long

2006-03-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

I just updated the blog with the blogs of my new students. Classes started again almost two months ago and I'm pleased to report that they're going great! This is due to a few factors:

1. Great students.
2. Amanda is co-teaching the class with me.
3. This is my second go at the course.

We started with four students and after the first third of the class, only one student has dropped out (with very good reasons). We'll miss you Louise!

I want to thank my students for getting through the first volley of classes and being so passionate about the lessons (especially for reading the reading pack on time for the in-class discussion!). I look forward to our classes every week!

I'll try to keep this blog updated and I will now be reading your blogs. Whee!

Reflections of a Greater Glory

2005-11-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

So last night we were watching an NFB documentary on pagan spirituality, the new feminist movement, and the environmental movement (Full Circle).

With so much on Goddess spirituality in the mainstream media, the concept of Goddess spirituality is certainly well-known. I'm sure that in 1992 (over 13 years ago), this would've been a relatively new concept to hit the mainstream consciousness.

So the film was more than a bit dated for my students, as well as myself. There was also a nasty undercurrent of anti-male sentiment that I found disturbing (that the males were responsible for everything that had gone wrong in the world). That type of male-villification just gets my blood boiling (so don't get me started).

I was discussing this with Ms. Carotte last night, and I said:

"The movie attributed everything to the Goddess! The oceans, the moon, the animals, and the earth is the Earth Mother. And what about the God? The God gets regulated to the Sun, sperm, general security, and taking out the garbage."

"Think of it this way," she smirked. "The only reason we can see the Moon at all is because it reflects the light of the Sun. What does that say about the Goddess?"

I grinned malevolently. "I'll be sure to use that on some unsuspecting pagan feminist. Maybe I'll go get my tombstone done now and avoid the rush."

There's a reason I love that girl. She always trying to get me killed in some kind of spectacular way.

Stickler

2005-10-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

I like challenging my students, but I don't want to be a jerk about it either. I like being able to present them with a new idea, a new dilemma, a new perspective, a new scenario and see how they work their way through it or around it.

It's through this process that we find enlightenment. People learn more about a topic by working out an answer than just being told the answer. Even if the journey leading to the answer presents more questions, struggling with those questions can lead to even more answers. And so on. And so forth.

Not that there are any plain and simple answers in Pagan Edumacation. I was once told that I chose to be Pagan because I was lazy, that I didn't have make an effort to follow the rules because there is no Pagan doctrine, no Bible. There's no central Pagan authority to guide me, to keep me safe.

In my opinion, being Pagan is not for the lazy because I have to find my own answers to life's questions. I have to do my own research and come up with my own answers. On top of it all, those answers can change from day to day. Everytime I think I reach the top of the mountain, the clouds part to reveal another slope.

Whereas in other "documented" faiths, they provide you with a map that clearly indicates how tall the mountain is, where to go (to be safe), and where not to go. And if you discover another mountain top, the Faith Sherpa will tell you that it's either Not There or it's a Not To Go part of the mountain.

All this to say that, while I like to unveil new parts of the mountain to my students, I'm keenly aware that there's a fine line between challenging them and being a butthead about it.

I'm learning still. They're learning still.

New Links and Info

2005-10-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been going through the journals, homework, and exams and I'm pleased to say that my students take their studies very seriously. More than just repeating what they were told, they've obviously done some serious thinking and research of their own on the topics we've covered.

If there's one thing I want them to learn is that their search for knowledge should never end. The course they are taking with us is only a springboard.

I've been asked by Montreal Sabbats to lead the public Yule ritual (December 17th), so I've started to do some of my own research to design a kick-ass ritual that everyone will enjoy. In doing so, I found some interesting links (which I've added to this page on the side).

Since we'll be covering the Sabbats in the next few classes, you'll probably find these interesting:

Encyclopedia Mythica
Pagan Chant Library
The Sabbats
God Checker

See you on Wednesday!

Scheduling Conflict

2005-10-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've just realized this week that my storytelling show at the Dollard Des Ormaux Library is on Wednesday the 19th of October, which is in direct conflict with my class. This date was selected long before the class date, so I've double-booked myself (again).

Scarlet has very graciously agreed to run the class for me, so don't worry! I'll be back the following week to continue our studies.

My apologies for my absence. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.

Pleased

2005-10-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to hear that my students are enjoying the course and are intending to continue with it. I'm thanking the Gods that Scarlet is teaching the class with me (providing the more academic side while I expound upon the experiential side), but I'm looking forward to a time when I'll be comfortable enough to teach the class on my own.

The next couple of classes will be more relaxed since we'll be watching some pagan-related films and opening the floor to discussion and debate (my favourite).

I hope we're all still around so that I can see my students perform their own ritual.

Shaking a Creative Leg

2005-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Our third class was spent looking at the creative, improvised, making-it-up-as-you-go part of ritual and magic. We had a few exercises that allowed the students to express themselves physically, trying to communicate their ideas without words. Then we had exercises that allowed them to free-form write their inspirations down based on unfamiliar music.

What's the point of all that and what does it have to do with magic?

Communicating your ideas, desires, and needs to the universe does involve a certain amount of creative thought and expressiveness. Ritual is all about theatrics, especially in group situations. You need to be comfortable with yourself and your instincts so that you are not be bogged down by fear, second-guessing, and debilitating frustration when things don't go as planned.

So being confident in your abilities, being able to think on the spot, to go with the flow, and being able to improvise will allow your energy to flow more naturally.

Being able to improvise your way through a flubbed dance step is the difference between creating art and stumbling until you fall into the orchestra pit.

Second Class

2005-09-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last night's class was even closer to complete, but now I've met all of my students for this term. I must say that I'm impressed with the folks that have come out for this class. They all have varying degrees of prior experience with pagan spirituality, philosophy, or magic-use, but they are very quick, knowledgable, and ask some tough questions. This is going to be fun and challenging.

One of my new students says that there are people in St. Leonard giving a similar set of courses, but the are definitely focussed on Wicca specifically and the teachers gave her an odd feeling. I wonder who these people are 'cause I've not heard about these classes. While we do cover Wicca in our set of classes, we also try to offer a balanced look at many belief systems.

We also had an interesting discussion on the Ethics of using Magic, so I'm looking forward to future questions, discussions, and their journal entries on this subject. The example I provided was as follows:

"My mother is in the hospital and is very sick. I want to do a healing spell to help her get well, but she wants nothing to do with my magical work. She believes it to be the Devil's work and wants no part of it. Of couse, I know my magical work is not Devil worship, so I still want to do the healing spell. What are the ethics involved here?"

Any thoughts on this (use the Comments feature to let me know)?

Also, Scarlet used a simple grounding exercise to show the students how energy can be used to tie a person down. This was the same exercise she asked me to participate in a couple of years ago that completely freaked me out. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to lift her off the ground after she grounded.

It was cool to watch the other students react to this demonstration. I'm looking forward to exposing them to energy using their Third Eye.

First Day, First Post

2005-09-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

I taught my first class last night: Level One students at the Crescent Moon School. Overall, the class went well, although it ended late (we started late). There's also a huge load of material we need to cover in each class, so I really need to keep a better eye on the clock.

The students are very bright and very different and they can ask very tough questions! I'm glad Scarlet was there to provide the academic side of things. I'm handling the personal experience and opinions side of things.

And speaking of opinions, I had the opportunity to rant about two things I was looking forward to, namely:

Black/White/Fuscia Magic: magic is a tool and it doesn't have morality about it. It's like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build a chair or you can use a hammer to crush someon's skull. It doesn't change the nature of the hammer: it's the intention of the person wielding the tool that matters. Black or White witchcraft is like Black or White carpentry.
The Necessity of Magical Tools: using candles, incense, knives, wands, etc. can add lots of theatrics to your spiritual practice and can be useful to focussing the mind, body, and spirit, but they are definitely optional.

It's your energy and your connection to the energy of the universe that matters. With practice, you can focus your mind, body, and spirit to a point where you won't need the tools anymore. They can be fun, but definitely not necessary.

Scarlet only had to pull me back a few times, but I need to focus on that for the next class. Still... it's loads of fun! I hope the students find the classes fun and informative.