SIPA Imbolc

Since SIPA always has a potluck with their rituals, I borrowed a pot and made up some soup this evening; it wasn't anything fancy, just a mix from the convenience store and some tomato puree, but it turned out pretty decent.

I've hardly ever used the dorm's communal kitchen, but this seemed like as good a reason as any. I even got a bonus view of the sunset.

This little framed painting was, I think, unrelated to the ritual, but it was sitting out in Gaia House, and I liked it. "But still, like air, we rise. ~Maya Angelou"

The main altar; I love the cloth, I need to see about getting one for myself sometime.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the Air elemental altar. All the elemental altars were nice, but the one for Air was just so pretty - it had a bunch of crystals, including a gorgeous Quartz cluster, a drawing of a deity who I think was Hermes, and a Pegasus statue. A very elegant set-up.

Ritual fire in the fireplace; I took this right after it had been lit, so it hadn't quite caught yet.

The main portion of the ritual was spent chanting while making Brighid's Crosses. They came out looking more like God's Eyes, but it was a lot simpler for a large group to do than trying to teach everyone to weave straw the traditional Celtic way, so it worked out.

My Brighid's candle, which I lit in the last part of the ritual.

The potluck was afterwards, with lots of good food, and then I headed back to my dorm room. Great night!

December 29th, 2016

"A hummingbird tells us that the physical constants of the universe are slowly degrading and may someday shift, invalidating the laws of physics and instantly wiping out the universe as we know it, while simultaneously creating an entirely new universe in a single transcendental moment of genocide and genesis."

- Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Welcome to Night Vale

March 4th, 2012

Today, I must begin with a personal anecdote. If you have not yet watched the recent movie adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, shame on you. Go to a movie theatre. Not only was the story great (and has always been my favorite Dr. Seuss book), but the message is extremely touching and important. Essentially, the story depicts the importance of environmental consciousness in an industrialized world. In the words of Dr. Seuss himself:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

The planet is our responsibility, and it is about time that we stood up and acknowledged that.

Also today, I took a video of my Ostara altar:

February 10th, 2012

I know the trembling of the leaves when the winds sweep through them.
I know what the white clover felt as it held a drop of dew pressed close in its beauteousness.
I know the quivering of the fragrant petals at the touch of the pollen-legged bees.
I know what the stream said to the dipping willows, and what the moon said to the sweet lavender. I know what the stars said when they came stealthily down and crept fondly into the tops of the trees.

~Muriel Strode, "Creation Songs"

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So, having finished my history project last week even though it isn't due until the 22nd, I spent today's research time reading a website of quotes about nature. The above was one I enjoyed, as in a few phrases, it seems to capture much of what about nature is usually uncaptureable: the feeling of "one-ness" that goes beyond the typical metaphor into actual being. In my mind, there is nothing more profound than reclining in a canoe in the middle of a still lake at noon, or crouching on a rock at dawn, with pink-gold light spilling over the tree line. My grandpa Rick, a forester, has a quote painted across a wall in his bathroom: "Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky". Just think about it.

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Nature hates calculators.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chinese Wisdom

"Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond form.
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be touched - it is intangible.
These three are indefinable;
Therefore, they are joined in one"
-Lao Tsu