Good Reading on the Web this Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go check out my new streaming story on my StoryBlog:

http://shorteningtheroad.blogspot.com/

Musical selection from class

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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