Six Ways by Aiden Wacher
Apr. 12th, 2019 06:37 pmFor your pagan and metaphysical reading pleasure, I give you Six Ways by Aiden Wachter.
This is not your 101 book from the 90s. This is a brilliant book.
Aiden Wachter has a reputation in the pagan world for being a jewelry artisan, specializing in custom sigils. His spiritual path had a lot of turns, stepping through a lot of places including Buhddism, Ceremonial Magic, Hoodoo, and Chaos Magic among others. His current path most resembles Traditional Witchcraft, but like a chaos magician, he keeps the things that works and lets go of the things that don't. More importantly, he encourages the reader to do the same with the information he is presenting.
That's a lot of magical systems. There's some flash definitions at the end.( more )
This is not your 101 book from the 90s. This is a brilliant book.
Aiden Wachter has a reputation in the pagan world for being a jewelry artisan, specializing in custom sigils. His spiritual path had a lot of turns, stepping through a lot of places including Buhddism, Ceremonial Magic, Hoodoo, and Chaos Magic among others. His current path most resembles Traditional Witchcraft, but like a chaos magician, he keeps the things that works and lets go of the things that don't. More importantly, he encourages the reader to do the same with the information he is presenting.
That's a lot of magical systems. There's some flash definitions at the end.( more )
Is it just me or is it getting more and more random? I mean, it's not up to Teen Wolf levels of random, but still.
Sure, the show has been around forever and stuff is going to change, we've had showrunners quit, leave with the spinoff and then pass away. This past season, there's been a lot more of "we haven't bothered to look at our canon history" and behavior patters? we have behavior patterns?
Am I alone in this? I mean I may be the last person actually watching the show and I can accept that. But if you happen to be watching, what are you thinking about Gibbs this season?
Clearly I'm being lazy about putting a cut out there, but assume there are spoilers in the comments.
Sure, the show has been around forever and stuff is going to change, we've had showrunners quit, leave with the spinoff and then pass away. This past season, there's been a lot more of "we haven't bothered to look at our canon history" and behavior patters? we have behavior patterns?
Am I alone in this? I mean I may be the last person actually watching the show and I can accept that. But if you happen to be watching, what are you thinking about Gibbs this season?
Clearly I'm being lazy about putting a cut out there, but assume there are spoilers in the comments.
So as part of my renewed Neo-Pagan Journey, I've been reading a bunch of stuff that crosses a bunch of spiritual, historical, folkloric and anthropological lines. I've read and heard it often said that the "201" pagan books are not in the New Age section. I've known for a while that it was true, but it's good that I heard it over and over again because my brain needs to hear it Here's a few books I've read lately.
Madonnas that Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy since the Fifteenth Century by Michael P. Carroll
Why am I reading it? ( This is probably going to get complicated. )
( What I'm taking away from it, or my relationship with the cult of saints. )
Madonnas that Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy since the Fifteenth Century by Michael P. Carroll
Why am I reading it? ( This is probably going to get complicated. )
( What I'm taking away from it, or my relationship with the cult of saints. )
How my week has gone so far
Apr. 5th, 2019 10:26 pm1. New job role. Before I was working on doing the weird jobs for the sleepy end of the product lines. I was comfortable. Now I've been moved to the new product support and will be working in 3 week agile sprints and no doubt going crazy because the jobs I'll be doing will still be the weird stuff that doesn't break down neatly into sprint. BTW, Agile was built around software and doesn't always play well with hardware. *sigh* It's the end of an era, but they're still paying me. They also think I'm an "expert" at some of this - I don't know why.
2. Since last summer, I've been listening to pagan podcasts - hundreds of hours.
The Neo-pagan movement has changes a lot when I was tuning out from the books and other online community. Since I'm not Wiccan, I'm well pleased that a lot of the movement has been to talk about other things - Folklore, Hoodoo, Traditional Witchcraft (as opposed to Traditiona Wicca), regional folk magic and animism, among others. But it's still the internet and much like fanfic, you better save your darling in case they disappear.
As I've watched TV over the last three nights, I've been saving out 10 years of blog entries from a an amazing, writer, artist and unapologetic witch and crafts-person, Sarah Lawless, from the Wayback Machine. Her MeToo issues with other members of the Pagan Community hasn't been fully supported and she's had to rearrange her online life and online business. It all goes to show that insular, tribal nature of tiny communities is alive and well as it rebels against the woman that's rocking the boat. Over 300 entries and a few more to save.
3. As part of the renewed exploration of my witchy life, I'm planning on going to the NJ Gem and Mineral Show tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm after exactly, but there should be a lot to choose from. I'm going to look for a small variety of stones for future "Sabbat Boxes."
( What's a Sabbat Box, you ask? )
2. Since last summer, I've been listening to pagan podcasts - hundreds of hours.
The Neo-pagan movement has changes a lot when I was tuning out from the books and other online community. Since I'm not Wiccan, I'm well pleased that a lot of the movement has been to talk about other things - Folklore, Hoodoo, Traditional Witchcraft (as opposed to Traditiona Wicca), regional folk magic and animism, among others. But it's still the internet and much like fanfic, you better save your darling in case they disappear.
As I've watched TV over the last three nights, I've been saving out 10 years of blog entries from a an amazing, writer, artist and unapologetic witch and crafts-person, Sarah Lawless, from the Wayback Machine. Her MeToo issues with other members of the Pagan Community hasn't been fully supported and she's had to rearrange her online life and online business. It all goes to show that insular, tribal nature of tiny communities is alive and well as it rebels against the woman that's rocking the boat. Over 300 entries and a few more to save.
3. As part of the renewed exploration of my witchy life, I'm planning on going to the NJ Gem and Mineral Show tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm after exactly, but there should be a lot to choose from. I'm going to look for a small variety of stones for future "Sabbat Boxes."
( What's a Sabbat Box, you ask? )
New Fandom Community and Magicians
Mar. 31st, 2019 02:20 pmWhen I was at Tribal Forces a couple of weeks ago, one of the panels was discussing how fandom is currently decentralized and it would be nice to have a place to go and have conversations. Thus, EE- ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elmyraemilie, volunteered to start a new community on DW - ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomreboot.
It a general fandom community, so posts can be on any fandom. The profile pages and a sticky post (unfortunately locked) have the guidelines/rules. Basically, everyone watches on their own schedule, so put spoilers a cut. Please tag in an obvious manner, because not everyone knows your fandoms conventions/weirdness. And, don't be an asshole.
Unfortunately the default on the community is locked, so there are only a few unlocked posts, but joining is easy. Fans that are missing the fandom conversations that were the daily norms before fandom went through platform drift, are all welcome to join.
I just added a post about the latest episode of Magicians - All that Hard, Glossy Armor on the Comm - unlocked of course. You can of course comment here if a new comm isn't in the stars for you.
elmyraemilie, volunteered to start a new community on DW - fandomreboot. It a general fandom community, so posts can be on any fandom. The profile pages and a sticky post (unfortunately locked) have the guidelines/rules. Basically, everyone watches on their own schedule, so put spoilers a cut. Please tag in an obvious manner, because not everyone knows your fandoms conventions/weirdness. And, don't be an asshole.
Unfortunately the default on the community is locked, so there are only a few unlocked posts, but joining is easy. Fans that are missing the fandom conversations that were the daily norms before fandom went through platform drift, are all welcome to join.
I just added a post about the latest episode of Magicians - All that Hard, Glossy Armor on the Comm - unlocked of course. You can of course comment here if a new comm isn't in the stars for you.
I'm going to miss Supernatural
Mar. 25th, 2019 10:29 pmI'd put up an SPN icon, but I was never in SPN fandom.
I watched the show from the beginning and watched it consume fandom. There wasn't a slash pairing for me in the beginning and then Castiel came along... and there still wasn't a slash pairing for me. And that was okay, because despite wanting to toss my shoe at the TV more than occasionally, I enjoyed it overall. Oh! As the years went by, I did get a pairing that I loved, Dean/Crowley. I'll also have to admit that it took about 10 years, but Dean finally grew on me. As a general rule, I'm not a fan of the bad boy, but given enough time, they can apparently wear me down.
And maybe that's why I'm one of the few people I know that stuck with it from beginning to end. I laughed my ass off at the episodes that poked fun at fandom. I always seem to be amused or uninterested by the things that infuriated the fannish folk. It's been nice being a casual fan on the sidelines. When my mom moved in with me 10 years ago, she watched it with me and now asks "What about the boys? We haven't seen them in a while."
Two weeks ago, before the announcement, I was at Tribal Forces and in a panel, we speculated and proposed endings for the show. I think they should go out Thelma and Louise style.
And also, Charlie and the Wayward Sisters should be looking on to make up for all those female deaths in the early seasons.
I watched the show from the beginning and watched it consume fandom. There wasn't a slash pairing for me in the beginning and then Castiel came along... and there still wasn't a slash pairing for me. And that was okay, because despite wanting to toss my shoe at the TV more than occasionally, I enjoyed it overall. Oh! As the years went by, I did get a pairing that I loved, Dean/Crowley. I'll also have to admit that it took about 10 years, but Dean finally grew on me. As a general rule, I'm not a fan of the bad boy, but given enough time, they can apparently wear me down.
And maybe that's why I'm one of the few people I know that stuck with it from beginning to end. I laughed my ass off at the episodes that poked fun at fandom. I always seem to be amused or uninterested by the things that infuriated the fannish folk. It's been nice being a casual fan on the sidelines. When my mom moved in with me 10 years ago, she watched it with me and now asks "What about the boys? We haven't seen them in a while."
Two weeks ago, before the announcement, I was at Tribal Forces and in a panel, we speculated and proposed endings for the show. I think they should go out Thelma and Louise style.
And also, Charlie and the Wayward Sisters should be looking on to make up for all those female deaths in the early seasons.
In any kind of news
Dec. 3rd, 2018 08:58 pmSo Tumbblr, had a child porn incident that got them kicked out of the iTunes store. And yeah, that kind of shit needs to be stopped. But as someone else put, they've chosen the nuclear option and will be banning all porn/nudity as of December 17. I think they will be more successful of clearing it than The Pit of Voles.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/3/18123752/tumblr-adult-content-porn-ban-date-explicit-changes-why-safe-mode
ETA: Denise just reassured us that the reasons that many of us signed up here are still in force
In news of me, I got to thinking around Lughnassa- about the time of my last post, beginning of August, that my spiritual life could use some shaking out. I remembered that I started my pagan journey knowing that it might be a long journey finding what was going to really work for me. I found some great stopping points along the way, but it's time to stand up and walk around some more. ( More )
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/3/18123752/tumblr-adult-content-porn-ban-date-explicit-changes-why-safe-mode
ETA: Denise just reassured us that the reasons that many of us signed up here are still in force
In news of me, I got to thinking around Lughnassa- about the time of my last post, beginning of August, that my spiritual life could use some shaking out. I remembered that I started my pagan journey knowing that it might be a long journey finding what was going to really work for me. I found some great stopping points along the way, but it's time to stand up and walk around some more. ( More )
I figured I'd document my experience with MoviePass, which has been very positive overall. THAT SAID - DON'T GET A MOVIEPASS.
( How MoviePass Works )
( The Changes )
My Experience
Let me start with, I looked at how the service worked and their business model. It didn't look like they could make money. Expert estimates was that they could make to September 2018. Since we were taking a monthly plan, I figured we could make it work while it last.( Which is still the plan. )
( How MoviePass Works )
( The Changes )
My Experience
Let me start with, I looked at how the service worked and their business model. It didn't look like they could make money. Expert estimates was that they could make to September 2018. Since we were taking a monthly plan, I figured we could make it work while it last.( Which is still the plan. )
Fannish Colored Glasses
Aug. 6th, 2018 09:28 am(podcast pimp) Weekday mornings, I listen to the NY Times Podcast, .The Daily I highly recommend this if you want to understand the news more. Nowadays, most newscasts and web articles don't dive indepth because our overall attention span is shrinkign. The Daily, takes a contained topic and explores it in more depth - usually 20 minutes or less. The Host, reporter Michael Barbaro, has a conversation/interview with the principles of the story or an NY Times report with experience in the topic. Along the way, he deliberately asks clarifying questions, to drive home the points, so you walk away with a greater understanding. For instance when the North Korean summit was going on, we got the history of N. Korean negations since the 50s, that allowed one to have perspective about how things were going in the current talks. /PodcastPimp
(The following isn't about the politics, but about how the narrative is perceived by me)
On The Daily Podcast this morning, they were talking about Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels/Stephanie Clifford's attorney. (No opinions on the value of t he podcast;I haven't finished it yet.) Along the way, they played a clip from the 60 minutes interview with Clifford, which I hadn't heard before. I had heard numerous comedy show jokes about Clifford spanking whats-his-face with a copy of Forbes, with his face on the cover. What she said was the set-up of how it happened and basically he turned around, dropped his pants, and over underwear, she gave him a couple of swats.
My reaction:
"Oh, that's not a spanking fic."
(Kink fic soapbox) 'Cause when I'm reading a kink fic (not that I would ever read that one), I expect the kink to be front and center. I also expect that we'll understand that at least one of the parties is deriving pleasure from the act and even if the other party is not getting pleasure from the act, that they are acknowledging that they are doing it to make their partner happy. In the cases where it's strictly a punishment, that there's an acknowledgement that it's necessary for the health and overall happiness of the relationship. This is an expectation for consensual relationships. There are different expectations for non-consensual ones, but in that category, I tend to read I only tend to read alien/historical slave fic, which has it's own F-uped rules. Other non-con may vary. /KinkFicSoapbox
(The following isn't about the politics, but about how the narrative is perceived by me)
On The Daily Podcast this morning, they were talking about Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels/Stephanie Clifford's attorney. (No opinions on the value of t he podcast;I haven't finished it yet.) Along the way, they played a clip from the 60 minutes interview with Clifford, which I hadn't heard before. I had heard numerous comedy show jokes about Clifford spanking whats-his-face with a copy of Forbes, with his face on the cover. What she said was the set-up of how it happened and basically he turned around, dropped his pants, and over underwear, she gave him a couple of swats.
My reaction:
"Oh, that's not a spanking fic."
(Kink fic soapbox) 'Cause when I'm reading a kink fic (not that I would ever read that one), I expect the kink to be front and center. I also expect that we'll understand that at least one of the parties is deriving pleasure from the act and even if the other party is not getting pleasure from the act, that they are acknowledging that they are doing it to make their partner happy. In the cases where it's strictly a punishment, that there's an acknowledgement that it's necessary for the health and overall happiness of the relationship. This is an expectation for consensual relationships. There are different expectations for non-consensual ones, but in that category, I tend to read I only tend to read alien/historical slave fic, which has it's own F-uped rules. Other non-con may vary. /KinkFicSoapbox
On the Fannish Front...
Jul. 28th, 2018 06:28 pmI watch a ton of shows with my Mom, and we do get to watch a lot of more typical fannish content.
Some shows I enjoy, like Supergirl and Supernatural, but they're not the kind of shows were I'm going to dive deep into the meta -- although, I may get around to reading a SN fic one of these days.
We finished season 2 of the Magicians and that is absolutely delightful the way it unapologetically mashes together Narnia and Harry Potter. This is one that may require more exploring.
The big things I have with the fannish vibe are the MCU and Senese8. So many FEELINGS about the Sense8 finale. I want more of it, but since that's not going to happen, I'm feeling an itch to write some of those missing scenes.
Sometimes I don't know where to start with the MCU. The shear size of the fandom and the fic base is kind of astounding. I was at a panel to day about searching AO3 and they wanted a rare pairing in the MCU, so I gave them Sam/Natasha -- 72 fics. That's colossal by some small fandom standards. Put there's so much I love about the MCU, or at least some charactes and story arcs, that I may just get sucked in.
And then there was Wonder Woman -- which is the only DC thing in the movies that I care about. During her panel, someone pointed out Diana Prince/Peggy Carter. I can get all over that.
I just finished a complete re-watch of DS9. Still my favorite Trek. Now I'm a little torn. I kind of want to do Voyager, but I I'm feeling the urge to do Bab 5 -- again, because I've had rewatches in the past. I really also miss Warehouse 13, so that may happen too.
I know there's more on my DVR -- A LOT MORE, so tell me about what you want to talk about.
Some shows I enjoy, like Supergirl and Supernatural, but they're not the kind of shows were I'm going to dive deep into the meta -- although, I may get around to reading a SN fic one of these days.
We finished season 2 of the Magicians and that is absolutely delightful the way it unapologetically mashes together Narnia and Harry Potter. This is one that may require more exploring.
The big things I have with the fannish vibe are the MCU and Senese8. So many FEELINGS about the Sense8 finale. I want more of it, but since that's not going to happen, I'm feeling an itch to write some of those missing scenes.
Sometimes I don't know where to start with the MCU. The shear size of the fandom and the fic base is kind of astounding. I was at a panel to day about searching AO3 and they wanted a rare pairing in the MCU, so I gave them Sam/Natasha -- 72 fics. That's colossal by some small fandom standards. Put there's so much I love about the MCU, or at least some charactes and story arcs, that I may just get sucked in.
And then there was Wonder Woman -- which is the only DC thing in the movies that I care about. During her panel, someone pointed out Diana Prince/Peggy Carter. I can get all over that.
I just finished a complete re-watch of DS9. Still my favorite Trek. Now I'm a little torn. I kind of want to do Voyager, but I I'm feeling the urge to do Bab 5 -- again, because I've had rewatches in the past. I really also miss Warehouse 13, so that may happen too.
I know there's more on my DVR -- A LOT MORE, so tell me about what you want to talk about.
Really, I'd like to rebalence things and dive more in to fannish activities again. we'll have to see.
At my last con back in April, we did a "paint and sip" -- you know, without the sip because it was like 10 in the morning. I loved it. I signed up for two projects, one was based on Cap's shield and the other was a more standard kind of work with fireflies in the tall grass at sunset. The Shield came at great. The fireflies needed some work, but I was able to look at it critically without hating it. I really enjoyed myself.
Fast forward, I found all the paint a-longs on You Tube. Most are showing how to do a specific painting, which is great. But one artist, The Art Sherpa, Cinnamon Cooney took it the extra mile. Like so many of the other generous artists on Youtube, she has a fine art education and pro cred. She set up a course about unlocking your artistic side, called The Big Art Quest -- no one's grading you on anything, because it's a QUEST. It's fantastic about teaching you about some basic techniques and materials that might otherwise get lost in a tutorial on a specific painting. One of the great things is you can watch them in any order, and on an as you need it basis. Like the problem with my firefly painting was my color blending on the canvas didn't go well. The vid on the techniques on how to blend was insightful. She's also a great person. She wants you to be able to paint within your budget and has a bunch of tips about how to do that and what the trade offs are for using different grades of paint. Also, she's got the SCA in her background and some clear fannish love --- although, she's not subverting copyright...although there was a Tardis in one evening. But she's just as likely to paint a goldfish or a Kracken.
I'll get around to posting some of things I've painted. I'm still organizing myself. I paint on my Mom's bowling night. During the summer that means Tuesdays, which means I lose one night a month to my shamanic drumming circle. During the winter, her bowling night will change back to Mondays and then, I hope to be in a better routine. Although, there are some nights I get off of work, and I don't have the bandwidth to start a project.
At my last con back in April, we did a "paint and sip" -- you know, without the sip because it was like 10 in the morning. I loved it. I signed up for two projects, one was based on Cap's shield and the other was a more standard kind of work with fireflies in the tall grass at sunset. The Shield came at great. The fireflies needed some work, but I was able to look at it critically without hating it. I really enjoyed myself.
Fast forward, I found all the paint a-longs on You Tube. Most are showing how to do a specific painting, which is great. But one artist, The Art Sherpa, Cinnamon Cooney took it the extra mile. Like so many of the other generous artists on Youtube, she has a fine art education and pro cred. She set up a course about unlocking your artistic side, called The Big Art Quest -- no one's grading you on anything, because it's a QUEST. It's fantastic about teaching you about some basic techniques and materials that might otherwise get lost in a tutorial on a specific painting. One of the great things is you can watch them in any order, and on an as you need it basis. Like the problem with my firefly painting was my color blending on the canvas didn't go well. The vid on the techniques on how to blend was insightful. She's also a great person. She wants you to be able to paint within your budget and has a bunch of tips about how to do that and what the trade offs are for using different grades of paint. Also, she's got the SCA in her background and some clear fannish love --- although, she's not subverting copyright...although there was a Tardis in one evening. But she's just as likely to paint a goldfish or a Kracken.
I'll get around to posting some of things I've painted. I'm still organizing myself. I paint on my Mom's bowling night. During the summer that means Tuesdays, which means I lose one night a month to my shamanic drumming circle. During the winter, her bowling night will change back to Mondays and then, I hope to be in a better routine. Although, there are some nights I get off of work, and I don't have the bandwidth to start a project.
LJ doesn't seem so important now...
This is breaking news. We're tuned into CNN right now. Trump Launches Military Strike in Syria
This is breaking news. We're tuned into CNN right now. Trump Launches Military Strike in Syria
Finding LJ friends on Dreamwidth
Apr. 6th, 2017 10:54 am2017revival has set up a post where folks can link their LJ name and DW name to help new folks.Want to find an old LJ friend? Linking DW and LJ identities
rosefox posted about how to comment on LJ without accepting the new TOSETA: Currently working from my phone, which I'm bad at. I'll be doing most replies and account deletions from home later on, but I'm reading.
ETA2: As of about 20 minutes ago, I was able to delete my LJ without signing the TOS.
I disabled Java in my Chrome browser and used a direct link to get there
Direct Link to LJ Account Status
About my Livejournal...
Apr. 6th, 2017 07:32 am**** Currently this post is only appearing on DW and InsaneJournal, because LJ is blocking crossposts if you haven't accepted the new user agreement, discussed below. Later on, I think that I will accept, crosspost this post and then delete my permanent LJ account. Everything there is basically backed up here. ****
Last December, LJ moved the servers to Russia - which for me was enough of a reason to close my account there. I know over the years as we have all discussed the implications of our Russian overlords, we've generally been okay with it because with the servers located in the US, it gave many Russian users a political platform.
The server move and the new user agreement that came out this morning indicates that this is now no longer the case. As explained in this article - LiveJournal, Now Based in Russia, Bans “Political Solicitation” in New User Agreement, the server move means that the Russian government will now be cracking down on political dissidents within the Russian Federation.
In addition, when I read through part of the User Agreement, it said that once you accept the terms, that they can update the agreement and not tell you about the updates - they'll just be posted on the website.
What does it mean to me and my fannish postings? Probably nothing, but that doesn't mean that I will support the site any longer. This is hard because I have a permanent account - when I was clearing out old paperwork, I even found the receipt paying for the account. *sigh* I suppose that I've paid more in abandoned gym memberships over the years and got my money's worth over the time I've had it.
What I'm more upset with is that LJ is the only means I know how to communicate with some of you. I will leave the account open for a short period of time so that I can gets comments on this post or private messages. If we only know each other through LJ, please let me know if you have another social medial presence - Tumblr, DW, etc.. If you're looking for me, the best place is my Dreamwidth -- and if you have an LJ account or other OpenID account, you can comment on DW accounts without creating a DW account.
**** Other note: I took a quick look at my LJ and realized that the last two crossposts didn't go through because I had a password issue. I fixed the password issue and tried crossposting one of the missing posts - it didn't go through because I didn't accept the user agreement yet. So this is it. If you want to do anything on LJ, you're forced to accept the agreement.
Last December, LJ moved the servers to Russia - which for me was enough of a reason to close my account there. I know over the years as we have all discussed the implications of our Russian overlords, we've generally been okay with it because with the servers located in the US, it gave many Russian users a political platform.
The server move and the new user agreement that came out this morning indicates that this is now no longer the case. As explained in this article - LiveJournal, Now Based in Russia, Bans “Political Solicitation” in New User Agreement, the server move means that the Russian government will now be cracking down on political dissidents within the Russian Federation.
In addition, when I read through part of the User Agreement, it said that once you accept the terms, that they can update the agreement and not tell you about the updates - they'll just be posted on the website.
What does it mean to me and my fannish postings? Probably nothing, but that doesn't mean that I will support the site any longer. This is hard because I have a permanent account - when I was clearing out old paperwork, I even found the receipt paying for the account. *sigh* I suppose that I've paid more in abandoned gym memberships over the years and got my money's worth over the time I've had it.
What I'm more upset with is that LJ is the only means I know how to communicate with some of you. I will leave the account open for a short period of time so that I can gets comments on this post or private messages. If we only know each other through LJ, please let me know if you have another social medial presence - Tumblr, DW, etc.. If you're looking for me, the best place is my Dreamwidth -- and if you have an LJ account or other OpenID account, you can comment on DW accounts without creating a DW account.
**** Other note: I took a quick look at my LJ and realized that the last two crossposts didn't go through because I had a password issue. I fixed the password issue and tried crossposting one of the missing posts - it didn't go through because I didn't accept the user agreement yet. So this is it. If you want to do anything on LJ, you're forced to accept the agreement.
Greetings from Tribal Forces
Apr. 1st, 2017 11:06 pmI think it's Tribal Forces 12 and I've been coming for 11 of those 12 years. To all those TF con goers and organizer that might spot this, a mighty thank you for helping us to gather again.
TF is a tiny slash con in the north west suburbs of Philly -- one of the follow on conventions that sprang from Connexions. Later this summer I'll be attending Connexions 2.0 and next year, I'm looking forward to a ConText. All of them are different, except for the fannish love, especially of slash. And now there's found family at all of them.
Today I was able to attend the Sense8 (Sense8! Sense8! Sense8!) panel. I love too many things that I love about that show for this post, but I will tell you that there's nothing better than squeeing about that with fellow fans.
There was the annual NCIS (in all it's forms plus a little Bull) chat. Our feelings are mixed nowadays, but we can't give it up because there's something about one or all of them that tugs at our heartstrings. (Although, there's a real possibility we'll give up Bull at some point.)
Not all the panel's today grabbed me, which freed me up to spend time in the gaming room. I learned about Exploding Kittens, Just Desserts, and a couple of more, while renewing my love of Fluxx. I even showed Brenda a game that she was unfamiliar with.
Tomorrow I've got wall to wall panels and get to host the ones for Grimm and Marvel on Netflix. ... possibly I should be using this time for refreshing my memory, or maybe watching another episode of Iron Fist.
We just got done with our small Vid Show, compiled by a con goer that can't always join us in person, but makes a show for us anyway. I also got done with a hard cider, so that might have something to do with my lack of will to research. Blair's my icon because we ended on a Sentinel Vid.
TF is a tiny slash con in the north west suburbs of Philly -- one of the follow on conventions that sprang from Connexions. Later this summer I'll be attending Connexions 2.0 and next year, I'm looking forward to a ConText. All of them are different, except for the fannish love, especially of slash. And now there's found family at all of them.
Today I was able to attend the Sense8 (Sense8! Sense8! Sense8!) panel. I love too many things that I love about that show for this post, but I will tell you that there's nothing better than squeeing about that with fellow fans.
There was the annual NCIS (in all it's forms plus a little Bull) chat. Our feelings are mixed nowadays, but we can't give it up because there's something about one or all of them that tugs at our heartstrings. (Although, there's a real possibility we'll give up Bull at some point.)
Not all the panel's today grabbed me, which freed me up to spend time in the gaming room. I learned about Exploding Kittens, Just Desserts, and a couple of more, while renewing my love of Fluxx. I even showed Brenda a game that she was unfamiliar with.
Tomorrow I've got wall to wall panels and get to host the ones for Grimm and Marvel on Netflix. ... possibly I should be using this time for refreshing my memory, or maybe watching another episode of Iron Fist.
We just got done with our small Vid Show, compiled by a con goer that can't always join us in person, but makes a show for us anyway. I also got done with a hard cider, so that might have something to do with my lack of will to research. Blair's my icon because we ended on a Sentinel Vid.
Grimm Finale
Mar. 31st, 2017 10:43 pmSo I better post this today, because if my first post in months shows up on April 1, than you will all think that I was hacked.
( spoilers, naturally )
( spoilers, naturally )
Happy Samhain!!
Oct. 31st, 2016 11:27 amHappy Samhain!!
Samhain
- Miriam Dyak 2015, as published in We'Moon 2016 Quantum Leap Year
So the "veil between worlds" is the classic Celtic way of viewing the world. It comes out strongly in Irish mythology where the Fey retreated into the hidden hills and mankind rarely gets a glimpse inside. except at Samhain. The veils are thin and we see the Fey out on the land and we can visit with the ancestors more easily. A modern Celtic pagan tradition is to have a meal where we invite and set places at the table for the ancestors to join us.
The author rebukes this idea and points out that as a community we only wish to address death as a group and in the safe space we co-create. In my shamanic practice, we move past the veils everytime we drum and while the landscape is described differently, it's not uncommon at all to seek out the advice of the ancestors and to help souls that have become lost or stuck on their journeys.
I especially liked, "Death is just a doorway between particle and wave, and every particle of our being dissolves into wave every nanosecond of our existence " What a beautiful melding of the pagan belief systems that honor the continuity between life and death. And then, "Not if we think who we are is pure consciousness and out of that mystery decide to shapeshift ourselves into beings with great wings, being shining with internal light, beings who dance an open spiral around the limits of death and life." This speaks to our joyful but inevitably futile resistance of the heat death of the universe. ...Well this universe. There are a lot of physicists that are concurring on the idea that the universe will simply reincarnate itself when it collapses. They probably don't use the term "reincarnate," but maybe they should.
Namaste!
Samhain
- Miriam Dyak 2015, as published in We'Moon 2016 Quantum Leap Year
Psst….wanna know a secret? There is no "veil" between the worlds. We are always in multiple dimensions, and the veils, when there are any, are all in our heads! What is sacred today on Samhain is our communal decision to come together and venture beyond our imagined fail-safe points. Take your mother's, sister's, daughter's, lover's hand and walk bravely up to death. Introduce yourself. Say hello.
What a wonderful and holy time to practice leaping over the edge of Surrender into the dark juiciness of all Unknown. Death is just a doorway between particle and wave, and every particle of our being dissolves into wave every nanosecond of our existence -and then collapses back into the same old, same old who we think we are. NOT if we pay attention! Not if we think who we are is pure consciousness and out of that mystery decide to shapeshift ourselves into beings with great wings, being shining with internal light, beings who dance an open spiral around the limits of death and life.
So the "veil between worlds" is the classic Celtic way of viewing the world. It comes out strongly in Irish mythology where the Fey retreated into the hidden hills and mankind rarely gets a glimpse inside. except at Samhain. The veils are thin and we see the Fey out on the land and we can visit with the ancestors more easily. A modern Celtic pagan tradition is to have a meal where we invite and set places at the table for the ancestors to join us.
The author rebukes this idea and points out that as a community we only wish to address death as a group and in the safe space we co-create. In my shamanic practice, we move past the veils everytime we drum and while the landscape is described differently, it's not uncommon at all to seek out the advice of the ancestors and to help souls that have become lost or stuck on their journeys.
I especially liked, "Death is just a doorway between particle and wave, and every particle of our being dissolves into wave every nanosecond of our existence " What a beautiful melding of the pagan belief systems that honor the continuity between life and death. And then, "Not if we think who we are is pure consciousness and out of that mystery decide to shapeshift ourselves into beings with great wings, being shining with internal light, beings who dance an open spiral around the limits of death and life." This speaks to our joyful but inevitably futile resistance of the heat death of the universe. ...Well this universe. There are a lot of physicists that are concurring on the idea that the universe will simply reincarnate itself when it collapses. They probably don't use the term "reincarnate," but maybe they should.
Namaste!
NCIS -S14 E5 Philly
Oct. 18th, 2016 09:52 pmWhile I'm always going to miss Tony, in general, I'm liking the new team. What follows is a bit of live commentary, annotated with some evaluation.
( NCIS -S14 E5 Philly )
( NCIS -S14 E5 Philly )
You know, I don't know where all my ME time went to. I used to have or make time for a lot of fannish activity and now I barely keep up with life. But here's some things going on with me.
Italy! Half a year ago, I was asking questions about my upcoming trip to Italy and since then I've done it. Mom and I went on the big genealogy quest and did some touring to boot. We had an amazing time. We spent a week touring Sicily hard and then a week in the mountains where we barely spent any cash at all. Then we went to Rome, which all in all wasn't as expensive as I thought it might be for a large city.
Writing this whole trip up will take me weeks, but the highlights:( cut )
Italy! Half a year ago, I was asking questions about my upcoming trip to Italy and since then I've done it. Mom and I went on the big genealogy quest and did some touring to boot. We had an amazing time. We spent a week touring Sicily hard and then a week in the mountains where we barely spent any cash at all. Then we went to Rome, which all in all wasn't as expensive as I thought it might be for a large city.
Writing this whole trip up will take me weeks, but the highlights:( cut )
