October 29th, 2017

Last night was SIPA's Samhain ritual, which was moved indoors to Gaia House due to the weather - it was freezing cold. There was a big turn-out, so the little building was very crowded.

There were a bunch of really fun pumpkins people brought. I made a Les Misérables carving with the Cosette silhouette, which turned out well, if I do say so myself.

As in other years, we set up an ancestor altar. Tara also established an Honor List, which included both names of those people wished to recognize, and places such as Las Vegas and Orlando, which have suffered devastating losses.

Afterwards, everyone had the opportunity to go through an Inner Circle to contact their personal gods, ancestors, etc.

At the end of the ritual, Tara gifted everyone with a Quartz crystal. I now have one from my first SIPA Samhain (top) and what will probably be my last with them (bottom).

A Fun Photo

Andi took this picture of me at yesterday's rock painting event. I like it a lot!

October 2nd, 2017

Had some fun yesterday over at Gaia House with SIPA; they put together a little crafting event painting rocks with fun images, affirmations, etc. The idea is to take the rocks after the fact and hide them for other people to stumble across.

I gave the one with the dragon away, and I'll probably keep the Eye of Horus stone, but the other two I may hide in the courtyard near where I have class.

Virtually any common stone works for this craft - I used river rocks, but there was also some sandstone pieces that came out nicely - and regular acrylic craft paint will stick so long as you let it dry between coats. A final spray-on coat of clear sealant should set it permanently.

September 19th, 2017

SIPA hosted their annual Mabon ritual this weekend, which was being led by a group of Ár nDraoícht Féin druids, which was really cool!

The ritual was held at Giant City State Park, and we had perfect weather - warm, but not humid. We also had a really good turn-out, with around 50 participants, including a lot of first-timers.

We had a visit from a very persistent racoon, who was intent on climbing into the trash can.

The sacred space was in a big clearing and encompassed a tree, cauldron of water, altar, and fire pit.

We were asked to bring water from our watershed, so I did, as well as our favorite glass for the sumbel toast. I brought along my chalice, which has been a bit under-utilized as of late.

The ritual was fairly Celtic in format, but was focused on honoring the Norse pantheon.

After the ritual, I found this stick insect hanging out in the shelter!

Hiking with SIPA

There were only a few of us today, and it was a bit chillier than expected, but it was still a lot of fun to meet up with some friends from SIPA for an afternoon hike.

This area has loads of parks and trails and state reserves - I've been down here for school for three years and I've barely scratched the surface - so both of the places we went were new to me.

Our first stop was a local arboretum.

There were a lot of pine and cypress trees.

We saw some ducks and a turtle out on the pond.

Apparently, there is also a bamboo forest, which was beautiful, but which was rather surreal because of how out-of-place it felt. There were old sandstone blocks strewn about, perhaps from a long-since gone house, and little tunnels running through the thick bamboo grove.

We also went over to a second, smaller hiking trail which featured a creek (mostly dry at the moment), lots of shelf fungus, and birds including cardinals and a red-headed woodpecker.

February 18th, 2017

SIPA hosted a fun little workshop tonight over at Gaia House - vision boards! I've made them before, but it's been awhile, and it was nice to get together with friends and tear up some magazines.

There was probably about eight or so of us who attended, and we made quite the mess. There were paper scraps and piles of glitter everywhere! Several people brought piles of magazines and cardstock, so we just tore into it finding words and images that stood out to us.

There were also snacks, and we got a Pagan playlist going on YouTube.

My in-progress vision board...

...and the finished version! I also wrote out my intentions and things on the back (and yes, that is Michelle Obama in the lower left corner - let's face it, her poise and grace are goals).

Last but not least, here's my vision board sitting on my altar where I can see it. I really like how it came together, and getting to be crafty was a great way to end my evening.

November 13th, 2016

I didn't post this yesterday because I didn't get back to my room until late, but... it's been a week. I probably don't even have to say anything, because I think just about everybody the world over knows how Tuesday went down, but I feel the need to say something, anyway.

I have been crying all week - for myself, yes, but mostly for the millions of other Americans whose human rights are at stake. Still, some of that weight has been lessened by the outpouring of support for marginalized groups across the nation, as well as all the loud but peaceful protests that have continued almost non-stop since election day.

It was in this frame of mind that I went over to Gaia House last night. Tara had uncovered an old recording of the debate which launched SIPA as a group in 1998, and was showing it to those interested in a bit of SIPA history. Apparently, an ad had been run in a local newspaper for a workshop which essentially read: "New Age/Paganism - how the Church can battle it with the Word of God".

Tara and others were concerned by the negative phraseology of this advertisement. They attended the workshop to see what the group had to say, and then Don, one of the prominent members of the Pagan community in this area at the time, set up a debate/Q&A with the church's Evangelical Presbyterian reverend to address their concerns.

Here, a Catholic moderator introduced Don and the reverend; he had 10 minutes to summarize Evangelical Presbyterianism, and then Don had 10 minutes to summarize Neo-Paganism. Don then summarized the Pagan community's concerns with the advertisement, and followed up with a series of specific questions for the reverend to address. There was a break, and then the floor was opened to attendees for questions.

Things started off fairly tame - the reverend was clearly a conservative fundamentalist, but most of his introductory rhetoric was fairly typical and expected - the usual gamut of non-Christians worshiping false idols and needing to be returned to the Christian faith.

However, once Don and the community started asking more specific questions, it rapidly became clear just how far off the deep end this guy was. He apparently did not know that the U.S. constitution protects freedom of religion in the first amendment and thought that that was a matter left up to the states, but he was firmly against the right of any non-Christian to practice their religion openly. He also seemed convinced that Jesus endorsed violence in the name of self-defense (someone brought up "turning the other cheek" and he completely brushed this off), considered any non-Christian his enemy, though he claimed he did not mean this in a "violent" way, and he tried to pass Christians off as a minority group based on the fact that they cannot preach theology in textbooks alongside evolution.

Now, I should be clear that this man was an extremist, and I am aware that his opinions do not reflect the opinions of the majority of Evangelical Presbyterians. However, it did feel a little on the nose to watch this video now, when the rights of many are being threatened by a small, extreme, and vocal minority. In particular, I was reminded of the discrimination against Muslims which has become so prominent of late, though to be sure antisemitism and other forms of religious prejudice also remain problems.

This reverend went on to lose his position over this debate, as the views he voiced were too divisive for his community, but he apparently went on to start his own church elsewhere in the area where he continues to have a small following to this day, which no doubt says something in its own right.

However, the verbalization of all this negativity had a positive effect - SIPA was formed. So many Pagans/witches/etc. came out of the woodwork to attend this debate that they decided to form a group to practice with and support one another, and it's still around today, 18 years later.

As I was thinking about all this, I then noticed on a coffee table this little setup - for all those feeling upset, angry, and/or depressed by the election, there were candles to light and papers where one could leave a message or write down good thoughts for America.

Love was on there a couple of times, as was hope.

Now more than ever, we need both of these, hope to carry us, and love to finally trump hate.

October 30th, 2016

Yesterday was a wonderful, busy day. After volunteering at Habitat for Humanity in the morning, I got changed and ready to go to SIPA's Samhain ritual. Tara met me outside my dorm around 2:45, and we drove over to Crab Orchard Campground for the event.

The ritual had originally been going to be at Devil's Kitchen Lake like Mabon, but apparently that area is now undergoing construction, so the parks department gave us the Crab Orchard spot instead. Quite honestly, it was probably a better site, anyway - for one thing, the peninsula was huge, and we had the whole thing to ourselves. There was no designated shelter, which, granted, would have been less fun had it been raining like last year, but fortunately, the weather was perfect. The sky was clear, and it was 80 degrees in the afternoon.

I explored the site a bit, and found this strawberry plant growing a baby strawberry! It seemed a little late in the season, but as warm as it was, I suppose the plants didn't mind.

Because the area was so large, we had a lot of options for where we held ritual. Tara originally wanted to use this spot, right on the lake, which had a cool, star-shaped tree stump in the ground. However, it was quite windy, and there was some concern about whether or not things would blow over, so she decided instead to use an area further back in the trees, but which still had a view of the lake.

As always, there was a potluck. I brought soda, since there hadn't been enough drinks at the last ritual, and enjoyed pizza, vegetables, pasta, cupcakes, and cookies. There was also a home-grown watermelon which I had some of later - very tasty - and apple cider.

Look at these cool Samhain cupcakes! They were filled with raspberry sauce, too, mmmm....

I hadn't been expecting to get to use my construction skills at all at the ritual, but as it would turn out, there were some pieces to construct for the Circle setup. Sean designed these elemental doorways, built out of 2x2s and fabric, which we put together using his battery-powered staple gun. This was Air, in the East.

A close-up of the elemental altar beyond the Air doorway; people had the opportunity to banish from their lives anything relating to the element Air by writing it down and then tying the paper to the wreath like a dreamcatcher.

The Fire doorway; problems relating to the element Fire were written down and the papers burned in the cauldron.

The Water doorway; problems relating to the element Water were written down and drowned in the water inside the vase.

The Earth doorway; problems relating to the element Earth were buried in the tray of potting soil.

There was also a central bonfire for burning any problems related to Spirit, or to issues not clearly covered by one of the other elements.

These were the items I brought for the ancestor altar; we've had some deaths in the family this year, so I had quite a bit more to bring than I did last Samhain.

We held the ritual after the sun went down. It was windy enough that it was impossible to keep the candles lit, but I saw a shooting star right after everyone had finished honoring their ancestors, and it was a really good, contemplative ceremony. There were also some reporters from a local newspaper who came to talk and photograph, so I may be in the newspaper sometime this week!

September 25th, 2016

I just got back from camping out after SIPA's Mabon ritual - it was a very nice evening!

The site for this ritual was over at Devil's Kitchen Lake, on a little peninsula. It was sunny, and very hot - almost 90⁰!

Near the tip of the peninsula was a little shelter with picnic tables, where we eventually set up food for our potluck.

There was also a big stone fire pit, so some of the guys got wood together to build up a ritual fire later in the evening.

This is more of the lake - it was a very pretty view!

Somebody brought bubble wands, so a couple of us stood around for a while blowing bubbles.

I was borrowing the group leader's tent after she kindly agreed to lend it to me, and I ended up pitching it to the side of the trail with a nice view of the water.

There ended up being quite a good amount of food for the potluck, between cakes and mashed potatoes and pasta and fruit. I brought peanuts in the shells, because they're fun to crack open and also make good offerings.

One couple brought this large cow's skull to rest among some of the harvest offerings people brought.

There were also two little dogs, who quickly became good friends!

Starting the fire...

Sunset...

Some toads, who all things considered were pretty good-natured about being handled.

The ritual Circle, outlined with tiki torches and with the fire pit in the center.

The focus of the ritual was balance, recognizing the things which we meant to accomplish this past year and did not, and releasing that energy. It was simple and to the point, which worked well for the intended goal in my opinion. I volunteered to do Quarter calls for West; it was my first time taking on a role like that for a public ritual, so I was a little nervous, but I think it went well.

The stars last night were beautiful - there were so many, and it was such a clear night that there was really good visibility.

And then this image is from this morning, standing on the fishing pier and looking out over the lake.

View from the pier back towards the campsite.

The Samhain ritual will be held at this same spot, so I'm looking forward to that.