Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio (water/fixed), 7:03 am - 5:05 pm
Moon: waxing crescent, aquarius (air/fixed)
Earth: another sunny, warm day, the birds are singing, I'm itching for some outdoor time

Thoughts: still brainstorming this Brigid of the Stars ritual, marveling at the intensity and excitement; thinking about the Rachel Maddow interview with Jon Stewart, some of his points so clearly shaped by watching too much cable news; want to finish at least one blog post today (P+P or Meadowsweet), maybe two, but we'll see how it goes

Actions: still no yoga (arm still sore, but getting better); waiting for word on my first project for work; finish Brigid ritual and post it; walk in the woods; spend time preparing lesson for Savanah for Sunday; finish a blog post; go ahead and order StD cards

Connections: there's always more that I'm thinking about than I have time to devote my energies to accomplishing; sometimes I wish I could figure out a way to write as effortlessly as my brain rambles, but to craft a good ritual or essay takes a lot of pausing and staring off into space, playing with different word choices and potential structures; writing is a long process, it forces me to slow down, which is not a bad thing, just... wish there were more hours in the day

Daily Tarot Card: The Magician (I) possess creativity, skill, enthusiasm and self-confidence. Ready to engage in the world of form and to exercise willpower in pursuit of learning, experimentation and activity devoted to and directed towards what seems most important. In some ways an inward-turning card, it represents the energy, vision and initiative to make a tangible start towards an objective (though not necessarily the meticulous planning or mapping of details towards any specific goal as yet).

"Lady of the Star Fire" Chant

I just loved Ellen's chant, so much that I wanted it to be longer! Here's an expanded version I've been playing with. I tried to incorporate some more of the themes we've been experiencing and exploring in the "Lady of the Stars" TNC group, tying them back to the poet/healer/smith triplicity more traditional to Brigid. For me, this triplicity expresses itself more abstractly as "inspiration, integration, transformation" as a kind of process of both creativity and love (i.e. the "forging" of relationships). So in the first three stanzas, I tried to capture those themes... With the "exploratory" ritual in mind, I wanted to incorporate a kind of "appeal" to her for guidance in the final stanza. Here's what I ended up with (to Ellen's tune):



Lady of the Star Fire, speak to me, speak to me!
Spark of inspiration, Goddess of light!
Shaper of the Darkness, shine on me, shine on me!
Ember of creation, burning in the night!

Lady of the Star Fire, speak to me, speak to me!
Healer at the hot springs rising from the heart!
Fire in the Water, flow in me, flow in me!
Sweet the restoration deep within your art!

Lady of the Star Fire, speak to me, speak to me!
Queen of transformation, Forger of Worlds!
Hammer on the Anvil, sing to me, sing to me!
Ancient spiral turning, galaxies unfurled!

Lady of the Star Fire, speak to me, speak to me!
I am your apprentice, Worker of the Fire!
I have heard your starlight calling me, calling me!
Show me how to answer, guide my hope's desire!

Daily Diary

Days of Note: Veteran's Day

Sun: scorpio (water/fixed), 7:01 am - 5:06 pm
Moon: waxing crescent, capricorn (earth/cardinal), soon to be void-of-course
Earth: bright, sunny, warm, quite gorgeous out, golden leaves on the trees along the broad streets (though in the woods most of the leaves have fallen)

Thoughts: "Freedom isn't free; as with love, the cost of freedom is giving it to others." / "Freedom arises from right relationship. It cannot be bought by violence and war." wondering about when exactly my new job will start - they're in the process of sorting out exactly what they want me to do; spending a lot of time today working on ideas about Brigid of the Forge/Brigid of the Stars and exchanging thoughts with other members of the group; very much want to work on some ritual, plan out a preliminary meditation

Actions: no yoga today (slipped on the steps and hurt my right leg and right arm, so quite sore today); meditation, time at the library; otherwise mostly waiting to hear from the new boss about work and taking it easy

Connections: free time to spend contemplating and planning this ritual work for Brigid, which is nice; I'm giving Veteran's Day a pass this year, with the two thoughts (shared above) being my only comment on the matter; interestingly, it's saving a lot of stress and frustration not bothering to get into arguments with pro-war/military folks

Daily Tarot Card: Strength (VIII) is a card of both power and receptivity, representing a willingness and courage to listen, to learn about oneself and the subconscious, animal impulses at the root of one's nature. It depicts not brute force, but strength tempered by patience, calm composure and balance. Both fragile and fierce, strength stands poised between will and action.

Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio (water/fixed) 6:59 am - 5:08 pm
Moon: waxing crescent, capricorn (earth/cardinal)
Earth: bright and sunny morning, bit warmer than yesterday (high near 60)

Thoughts: mostly excitement about the new (potential) job, and nervousness about what it will entail; also, brainstorming about Brigid ritual, writing some liturgy/poetry/chants/recitations; wanting to finish post for P+P, though with new job not sure when that will get done; concerned a bit for Jeff, who seems to be struggling with a head cold and feeling generally lousy

Actions: yoga this morning, meditation, signed contract for independent consultant work; one of two possibilities for the rest of the day — either first day of work; or "wedding wednesday," organize info on photographers and caterers into spreadsheet with contact info, email officiant, review budget and timeline; register with TCN; clean out and reorganize upstairs closet

Connections: amazed and grateful about the job opportunity and really hoping it works out; priorities now suddenly being rearranged, and yet I find myself looking forward to having structured time for work apart from all the many other things I want to be doing (almost as though work can function as an excuse to "not be available" for a little while); I think this daily meditation is quite helpful in getting some perspective on my work load and just how much I really am trying to do during any given day (also helps me feel not as guilty if I spend x number of hours on a project and then don't finish it - I can still count the time I've put in, instead of judging only by what I finish)

Daily Tarot Card: The Ten of Cups celebrates the fulfillment and culmination of peace and serenity. Success and happiness, especially of an emotional and spiritual nature, have arrived at last, and the formalizing of a bond or union brings both stability and great joy. Whatever difficulties lie ahead, your joy will see you through it.

Earth/Stars

Be humble for you are made of earth;
Be noble for you are made of stars.

(Serbian proverb.)

Brigid of Amber, Brigid of the Stars

I frequent a forum called The Cauldron, where I belong to a flamekeeping Cill dedicated to the goddess Brigid. I began flamekeeping with them just before Imbolc of last year. (Mine is the third day in the rotation of twenty, and my shift has fallen more than once on days of special personal significance to me — which others have told me often happens during the first year of flamekeeping for a new Cill member.)

Recently, some wonderful and fascinating discussions have been going on in the Celtic Polytheism SIG, "Hazel and Oak," focusing on Brigid of the Forge as a creatrix/star goddess. The conversation has sparked (no pun intended) the suggestion of designing a group ritual. I want to plunge in and get involved in this work, journaling some of my thoughts and potential liturgical ideas on this blog, so I thought I would just mention this as an introduction for future reference.

I'll add to this later, but for now, here is a response I posted to the forum tonight, regarding the possibility brought up by others (and echoed in my own personal ritual experiences over the summer) of amber being a "stone" sacred to Brigid.

Part of the reason I did the three gifts meditation was to prepare for my trip to Northern Ireland (for a spiritual retreat focused on peace activism and social justice), and I was hoping for some images/icons to "carry with me" to meditate on during my time there. When the shadowy, robed figure outlined against the flames of the sacred fire reached into the heart of the fire and handed to me a droplet of amber, I think I actually laughed out loud in the middle of the ritual.

It suddenly seemed so obvious to me: first and foremost, amber as a "stone" of living fire or fire-in-water, the life-blood of the tree borne of the intermingling of the underground waters drawn up from the roots and the sunlight cascading down from the sky, cupped and drunk by the leaves. The prayer I use during my flamekeeping shifts begins: "Fire and water in the earth of my body, I keep your sacred flame." Amber as the sap or resin of ancient trees seemed like the perfect symbol of this idea.

And then, of course, is the fact that amber is especially well-known for containing the preserved remains of ancient insects, some of which contain the blood/DNA of ancient animals. So in another way, amber represented the "preservation and protection of life" and the continuation of ancient traditions and primordial energies or spirits. The fact that I was going to a retreat in the land of my ancestors that was focused on peace activism seemed to align perfectly with this idea.

I have wondered if anyone else made this connection to amber. While I was on the retreat, just after I'd found the amber sun amulet at the farmer's market, I had a discussion with someone at the retreat who was a former Pagan — he pointed out that amber and jet was a common combination for jewelry (especially among Wiccans, I think, if I'm remembering correctly what he said). But he said that amber was mostly associated with the God rather than the Goddess, being more "active/yang" and masculine. This deflated me a bit and so I kept my musings about any possible Brigid-amber connection to myself. So it's been wonderful for me to see others validating that connection and sharing some of their own thoughts!

And in keeping with the themes of fire-on-water and creation, I suddenly see amazing connections to the very first of the Rosary Poems I wrote back in college (of which, at the time, my advisor said, "Some poems just show up whole and perfect the way they are, like a gift"):

Annunciation

The light shines in the darkness,
and the
darkness has not overcome it. JOHN 1:5

Her yes becomes flesh
in flesh, white-winged fire swept
along sweat as if over the agitation
of waves, sharp spine of sunlight
in a slow serpentine across
the waters of her body —
there is no rushing it, no cascade
into the long cry of rising — only
a breath, a word, and the pouring
in of everything, even God.

More thoughts on all of this when I'm a bit more "together" and coherent.

Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed
Moon: waxing crescent, capricorn (earth/cardinal)
Earth: bright and sunny, a little warmed than yesterday (mid to high 50s)

Thoughts: feeling overwhelmed and slightly panicked thinking about trying to write a piece for Pagan+Politics about water-boarding, or TSA enhanced pat-downs, or PA Homeland Security keeping tabs on law-abiding citizens, or anything, really; feeling utterly helpless and lost in the dark, reading about torture and our culture of violence and fear; on a more individual level, worried that no one seems interested in donating to Meadowsweet and my readership has actually gone down since announcing the donation drive; may possibly have a part-time job opportunity in the near future (nervous about doing well, of course, but also eager to prove myself — we'll see how it pans out); on the edge (always on the edge) of just giving it up, giving up trying to stay engaged politically, wanting to run away, to move to some other country.... like the ones who walked away from Omelas; but then, the soul-image of being in the dark woods full of monsters, frightened to trembling and tears, holding the bright sword of starlight above my head, refusing to fight, trying to be a light and a guide for peace...

Actions: take a deep breath; some gentle yoga this morning because I woke up so absolutely sore; a walk in the woods is definitely looking like a good idea today; be available if my brother has any follow-up questions on the revision advice I gave him yesterday; try to figure out a way to sit and write about politics without feeling overcome with despair and grief (what helps?)

Connections: today what's on my mind is all about the things I feel compelled and called to do, and just how much a part of me resists that or feels incapable of rising to the challenge — I "should" be writing for P+P, as it's been too long again already, but sometimes I feel as though I can't face our country and our culture in the mirror in the morning; the things I need to do today are welcome distractions, little daily things that don't matter to much of anyone outside a few people... and yet I feel guilty and impotent, part of the culture of privilege that languishes in blissful ignorance of those who suffer on our behalf... And grief. Sometimes there are days when what you really need to do is grieve.

Daily Tarot Card: The Nine of Wands urges perseverance and vigilance in a time of potential danger or difficulty, and carries the reminder that strength comes from within, from the center of our being. Past conflicts and challenges may have left us cynical or scarred, but they have also taught us to trust in our resiliency and to cherish our innocence, refusing to become pugnacious or paranoid.

Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed
Moon: waxing crescent, sagittarius (fire/mutable)
Earth: bright, sunny morning, very cold right now but getting warmer

Thoughts: brainstorming ideas for wood craft project (stencils, other techniques); remembered the "red sheep" from high school/college, wondering if I still have the icon I made, musing on the connections to Brigid, perhaps getting it as a tattoo someday; thinking about elements of writing a ritual for Brigid with the Hazel and Oak SIG on TC; thinking about kids being reckless with things in the house (and talking back "maybe you should not have stuff that can get broken," which really annoyed me — what kind of excuse when an adult asks them not to shove and wrestle each other but wait their turn when hanging up coats... seriously); more potential thoughts on sustainability, rooted in the earth; finding your audience where they are — but challenging them to move, to end up somewhere new as a result of the work; workshops and presentations also an art form in a way, it's okay to start simple and work from there

Actions: yoga this morning, meditation, breakfast, craft project experiments (painting, etc.), possibly grocery shopping today?, work on a blog post (finish response to "God is Not One" post by Star — perhaps start new post, either anarchism and democracy, or sustainability rooted in earth), definitely look over Dan's grad school application personal essay and get back to him on it; look into David Smith's podcast details and decide if I want to guest (if so, prepare a topic to stay focused); try to get out for a walk in the woods, if not today (still very cold), maybe tomorrow

Connections: morning routine is very enjoyable and helpful (though I really want to get started on it earlier in the future) esp. for brainstorming about the day's plans; I'm starting to feel like a lot of my "actions" really are thoughts or contemplation, and I'm not sure how helpful it is to separate "action" from "thought" in this way; a lot of the things I do require time brainstorming or daydreaming, that's where the creativity comes in; it is helpful to outline what tasks I'm able to check off of a to-do list, but in the larger scheme of things, I feel that I'm often doing more pondering than "doing," if only because often I can think while acting; still, it's nice to have times like yoga and craft projects when my focus is externalized and engaged in physical work

Daily Tarot Card: The Two of Wands symbolizes personal power, influence, authority and to some extent a certain amount of success — yet within this success, also a degree of isolation or separation, as the one with authority and power stands out from the rest, distinguishes herself. The polarity or dynamism of two creates tension — power and effective action have brought you to a "high place" where you can survey the scene and determine what bold initiative to pursue next, but that same power can also cloud the mind, obscure right judgement and isolate you from the context that might give your actions meaning.

Savanah's Year

We just finished our first official lesson with Savanah for her "Year of Druidry," and I'd decided previously that I wanted to try to take notes and keep a record of how things go. So here goes.

She seemed both excited and a bit intimidated, though she brightened up when I told her she would be allowed to light the candle at the beginning of every lesson (a red pillar candle that we'll leave burning during each lesson — the red and the fire both seem appropriately symbolic of the fiery, passionate energy of puberty and adolescence that she'll be entering). We began today's lesson by talking a bit about her Tarot Deck, our gift to her for her twelfth birthday a couple weeks ago. Along with the deck, we gave her three "assignments" to complete before her next weekend with us: pick out her favorite card, pick out her least favorite card, and pick a card that represents "what she wants to be when she grows up." Then spend some time journaling about the reasons for each of her choices.

I think it's appropriate to keep her choices private, so I won't discuss them here. But it was quite surprising what she chose and I may want to do some meditation on her choices over the next week (or month, or year) to explore some of their potential meaning. What was most obvious was that she chose cards based on who the figures reminder her of in her own life. One card reminded her a a friend's mother, another because it reminded her of Jeff.

One thing I have realized is that working with a girl Savanah's age, I may need to get more creative (and more literal, or specific?) in the kinds of questions I ask. Jeff participated in this lesson with us, and he seemed very good at asking Savanah questions that got her thinking or responding (whereas once or twice, I actually accidentally interrupted her, not realizing she was done with her response). I tried to ask questions such as, "What about the card do you like?" But that question seemed too broad and she would struggle to answer. Jeff would ask questions like, "Is the figure alone, or with people? What do you think the person in the card is thinking about? What is important to that person?" Sometimes these questions got "I don't know" responses, but more often Savanah seemed to know or at least have an idea or a guess. This strikes me as very interesting — almost as though, at her age, she still doesn't have as much self-awareness as she has awareness of others. One of our goals with this year of work is to help her foster some self-awareness, to cultivate her inner life so that she can seek that foundation as she gets older and has more independent interaction with peers. I have a feeling this will be a challenge for Savanah the way it might not be for some of the other kids.

After discussing the Tarot cards, we used the suits as a jumping off point to talk about the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. We were able to point out how we used each of these elements in our Samhain family ritual last night — a candle for fire, a bowl of water, incense for air and bird seed for earth. I talked a bit about the elements as being "building blocks" that make up the world we live in, and how we can use them as symbols for things that might be more difficult to pin down when we want to prayer, meditate, do ritual or magic or talk to our gods. Cu Gwyn, who was prowling around during the lesson, became an example of how we might symbolize his playful, energetic personality with "fire" and so choose a candle to represent him in a prayer or ritual. We did some brief discussion about the basic correspondences, and then I gave her a word matching exercise, with a list of about thirty words (directions, seasons, times of day, colors, animals, etc.) to match up each with one of the four elements.

We then very briefly talked about the three "Druidic elements," or as I like to call them, the three aspects or qualities: calas, gwyar and nwyfre. We talked a bit about how they matched up with the three realms of land, sea and sky (which she figured out based on the literal translations of the Welsh words), and then some other qualities that might match up well with each. We gave her a similar word-matching exercise to do for the three aspects.

Although she may not get all of the correspondences right just by guessing (and using her Tarot deck to look for hints in the imagery and symbolism), hopefully it will get her thinking in the right way about how the elements and aspects function as symbols or paths of the sacred. Also, it gives her a very basic starting place for how the year of study will be organized (we'll be devoting one month to each aspect of each element — so, f'ex, month one will be calas of earth, month two will be gwyar of earth, month three nwyfre of earth, then calas, gwyar and nwyfre of water, etc.). She doesn't have to have the correspondences memorized right now, because she'll be growing familiar with them as the year goes on, but it will give her some simple "tools," a framework in which to organize the following lessons. That's the hope anyway.

Next week's lesson, we'll start with Calas of Earth, taking a month to look at the foundations of Druidry expressed through an awareness of the sacredness of physical forms (spending a week each on the natural world, our own bodies, our home and living space, etc.). I hope to spend some time in meditation and preparation before next week's lesson, instead of feeling rushed like I did this week. Hopefully I'll be able to do some simple divination as well.

Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed
Moon: waxing crescent just past new, sagittarius (fire/mutable)
Earth: gorgeous sunny morning, freezing temperatures up to mid-40s

Thoughts: brainstorming techniques to try with wood image-transfer (pendants, prayer beads, plaques, etc.); frustration with kids being clingy and constantly needing direction or to be entertained (so much for the theory that kids this age are naturally curious about the world); also, their obsession with whistling (thanks to Jeremy), which I can just deal with; thinking about a "politics of sustainability" post, rooting community order in patterns of the natural world; going over lesson plans for Savanah

Actions: yoga this morning, meditation, breakfast, shower, lesson with Savanah, trip to Phipps with all the kids, lunch, trip to library, call Dad at some point, straighten up after kids leave for the day, dinner

Connections: Sundays are days with the most structure to them activity-wise, because of the kids; had a little breakdown yesterday in frustration over trying to negotiate with Emily (which is like talking to a brick wall, except not as reliable); told the kids yesterday about Jeff and I getting married — they seemed less excited/interested than we expected and had almost no questions; still not sure what to do about Emily regarding her "well intended advice" about how to plan our wedding; none of this seems like "connections" between thoughts and activities, except that it boils down to the kids being used to being told constantly what they should be doing and being at a loss without adults there to hover and instruct (not a surprise, since this is how Emily treats over adults); also Jerilynn told us the books we got her as a birthday present were taken away as a "punishment," though she doesn't know what for, and we suspect it's that she uses reading as a coping mechanism, getting so lost in books that she "forgets" to follow the constant instructions being shouted at her by various family members; we try to limit this kind of instruction, Jerilynn is one of the few kids who knows how to entertain herself; taking books away (in particular books that just happen to be from Jeff and me) doesn't seem like it addresses the problem.... being a soon-to-be step-mom is incredibly frustrating; yet Sundays are enjoyable days, the kids always love going to Phipps and the library

Daily Tarot Card: The Queen of Wands is dedicated, passionate and active in her engagement with the world. Sincerity and involvement are her defining characteristics, and her pursuits inspire enthusiasm and interest in others. She appreciates the desire for attention, both in herself and in others, but in her maturity she is able to mitigate this desire, responding to it appropriately and expressing her energy in ways that invite participation, rather than overwhelm or overrule the interests or needs of those around her. (My note: This seems to be a card offering guidance, a potential approach to handling the frustration of the kids. Sunday activities seem a good place to start.)

DOTR Symbol Craft Project

As part of my aspirant work for Lesson 2, I've been experimenting with ways to create a wooden plaque with the DOTR symbol to include on my altar. I had at first thought of doing a combination wood-burning/acrylic paint technique (such as the one I used on my travel altar), but the redesigned and touched-up version of the three realms triquetra/triskele that Christopher did for me was so stunning, I wasn't sure my mediocre talents would be able to do it justice. I was curious to see if there were any techniques that would allow me to transfer the image more directly to the plaque.

After some brief investigating online, I stumbled upon this page over at matsutake, which provides a tutorial on how to transfer inkjet printer images onto wood. I thought to myself, hey, I have an inkjet printer... I have wood... I have Elmer's Glue and Mod Podge... I have a tiny modicum of talent and patience, but most importantly, I have an ass-kickingly beautiful graphic image that might just work. Even if the results weren't as stunning, or the process as easy, as the tutorial implied, I thought I'd give it a shot.

For full instructions, check out the tutorial itself (and be sure to let the blogger know how awesome it is), but briefly, here's what I did:

Step One: Gather supplies. Not hard. Mod Podge (I used a "hard coat" kind especially designed for furniture and wood that will provide a nice, waterproof seal once it's cured), water-soluable Elmer's Glue, card stock, a bit of wood, a sponge brush or applicator. O yeah, and an inkjet printer. That's it!


Step Two: Coat the card stock with a thin, smooth layer of Elmer's Glue. You don't have to cover the entire sheet if you don't want to waste glue, but be sure to cover the area that you'll be printing on. Allow the glue to dry completely.

Step Three: Use an inkjet printer to print the image you intend to transfer onto the glue-covered side of the card stock. (I was worried about running a glue-covered paper through the printer, but as long as the coat is smooth and completely dry, it's no problem at all.) Be sure the image you print is the reverse of the intended final design. Yup, this means words have to be backwards.

Step Four: Cover the wood surface with a thin, smooth layer of Mod Podge, press the card stock image-down onto the wood. Press hard and smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles.


Step Five: Let dry overnight. Seriously, do not rush this step.

Step Six: To remove the card stock from the wood, soak the wood in a bowl of water or hold it under running water until it is completely soaked all the way through. The card stock should, in theory, peel right off. You should also be able to rub away any glue residue without any part of the image lifting off.

I'm not sure exactly how this works, but I know it depends on the fact that Mod Podge dries (semi-)waterproof, while Elmer's Glue remains water-soluble even after drying. This means the ink, printed on top of the glue of the card stock, soaks into the Mod Podge layer rather than sticking to the paper — then, after thorough wetting, the card stock peels away and the remaining water-soluble glue dissolves, leaving nothing but the ink "glued" to the wood.



As you can see, the color is not quite as bright as the original print-out, and there are some places where not enough Mod Podge coated the wood so the ink did wash away. Also, this won't just transfer printer ink but any ink. You can see in the picture above that I outlined the image with a pen to help me orient the graphic on the wood, and some of the pen lines were transferred as well. But other than that, it seems to have been surprisingly successful!

This is just a first attempt, an incomplete project. I'm hoping to touch it up with some paint — including a simple design on the reverse side of the wood plaque as well as some kind of border to cover up the accidental pen lines — and then adding a final layer of Mod Podge as sealant. I'm also going to experiment with other kinds of designs and photographs to see what types of effects I can get. But for now, I'm pleased with the result.

Daily Diary

Days of Note: Flamekeeping, New Moon

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed (water, west, emotions, calas)
Moon: fire friend - new moon, scorpio
Earth: gray, just above freezing, call for some precipitation, possibly snow-rain-mix

Thoughts: how out of practice I am with daily meditation after less than two months of interruption; strange dreams last night about a pirate ship coasting through flooded streets on a stormy night; brainstorming a post on anarchism and democracy; wondering what new responsibilities will come with the PNC editorial coordinator position; wondering about the slightly cold-shoulder reception in DOTR forums; thinking about Brigid as Mystery and the use of the word "mystery" in initiatory witchcraft traditions; wondering what Jeff has planned for Samhain ritual with the kids, other than what we went over last night; wonder if Savanah will remember to bring her new Tarot deck and be ready for her first lesson (better think of an alternate lesson plan is she forgets)

Actions: go to Mocha Café for morning work while Jeff picks up kids; post Keeping the Days post to Meadowsweet; reformat craft project post; read two articles on Brigid as creatrix/fire-in-wate; Samhain ritual tonight; dinner and gift exchange — wrap Josh's birthday gift; finish craft project to see how it turned out (maybe do some painting this afternoon? kids will ask to do it, too, which will be messy and use up a ton of paint)

Connections: some down time today, plenty to think about but not too many things that absolutely need to get done; the irony is I used to spend these days waitressing, which required a certain amount of mind-emptying and focus, now I spent so much time thinking about everything and planning, but rarely have any "down time" mentally; this may be why meditation has become so much harder recently - waitressing itself used to be a kind of meditation for me; crafts now act as a kind of "down time" — but with four kids, it's impossible to do crafts around them without them asking to do it, too, and (I don't know if they get this from their mother or what) they go through craft supplies like they grow on trees — Josh once cut up several sheets of paper into tiny squares just b/c he was bored! — which would be fine, if there weren't four of them); so I resist wanting to do crafts with them — which maybe isn't the best attitude to have... sigh....

Daily Tarot Card: Justice (XI) weighs all sides of the issue with fairness and impartiality in mind, seeking balance and harmony, equilibrium between the subconscious and the conscious, between responsibilities and desires. An inward-looking card, its challenge is to look within with humility to see how conflicts in the external world mirror or arise from internal conflicts. On the card of this deck, Justice holds a feather like a sword, and the soul-self must be weighed against it — which calls to mind the necessary lightness of being and nonattachment the Buddhists talk about, balance and equanimity towards all things. (What is the deal with all these Major Arcana cards coming up recently?)

DOTR Lesson 2: Sky

(Images courtesy of Google Image Search and Nasa's Astronomy Picture of the Day)

DOTR Lesson 2: Sky

Some basic research into the sky, the atmosphere and weather, and the solar system as part of DOTR Lesson 2 work.

What is the sky? What strikes me immediately, scanning through the wikipedia page (as good a place to start as any), is the rather ineffable nature of the sky, hard to nail down with a single definition. We begin with the understanding that the "sky" is the view of everything not-earth that can be seen from the vantage point of earth — the atmosphere, outer space (and we expand this by saying it is this same view afforded from the surface of "any astronomical object," by which I assume they mean, f'ex, meteors or other plants, not any object that happens to be incredibly large). During the day, you could reasonably say that the sky is only our atmosphere and the few bits of our immediate solar system that manage to assert themselves: the sun, the moon, sometimes very bright planets or comets, but otherwise, the "sky" is that approximately 11 km of atmosphere closest to the earth's surface, where most of its weather takes place. Yet at night, "sky" becomes almost infinite, from our perspective reaching out into the darkness of space where stars trillions of kilometers away are shining, reaching their light towards us from the past. The night sky is (nearly) infinite in both space and time, then, while the day sky is wrapped close around the land. Poetically, you can imagine the sky — as an intentional object (phenomenologically speaking) — breathing or pulsing, in and out, wider and closer, as the earth turns. Strange that the dark, so often associated with a turn inwards towards the center, is also the time when the sky "expands" the farthest.

The atmosphere. Some fun facts about the earth's atmosphere. Dry air contains about 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases, as well as an average of about 1% water vapor. The atmosphere acts as a kind of gaseous "skin" enveloping the earth, that both deflects harmful radiation and retains a certain amount of heat from the sun, helping to modulate night and day temperatures.

The atmosphere has five basic layers, delineated according to temperature rise or fall. The troposphere begins at the earth's surface and extends to between 7 km (at the poles) to 17 km (at the equator); within this layer, temperature decreases with an increase in altitude, mainly because of heat transfer from the surface of the earth which makes the lowest part of the troposphere the warmest. The name derives from the Greek "trope" meaning to turn or overturn, and indicates the nature of vertical mixing that occurs within this atmospheric layer. The next layer, the stratosphere, extends from the upper edge of the troposphere to about 51 km, and within this layer temperature increases with altitude, limiting the amount of mixing and turbulence. The lower portion of the stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which can vary in thickness. The mesosphere extends from the upper edge of the stratosphere to about 80-85 km, and is defined by a decrease in temperature as altitude increases. The upper threshold of this level might be considered the "coldest place on Earth" (averaging around -85˚C or -121˚F). Above the mesosphere is the thermosphere, extending to about 690 km above the earth's surface, and in which temperature again increases with height. Within the thermosphere, the Kármán Line (at 100 km) marks what is commonly accepted to be the unofficial "boundary" between earth's atmosphere and outer space, as it indicates the place where the air becomes too thin to be practically useful for aeronautics purposes (in other words, in order to generate enough lift, a vehicle at this altitude would have to travel faster than the orbital velocity). Above the thermosphere is the exosphere, composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, with free-moving molecules so far apart that the atmosphere no longer behaves "like a fluid." Within the exosphere, temperature remains constant; although you could arguably describe the exosphere as ending at about 10,000 km, there really is no hard-and-fast line for its end — rather, it grows progressively thinner and thinner as altitude increases.

Light and color. The daytime sky appears blue because of Rayleigh scattering — shorter wavelength light (such as blue and violet) scatter more than longer wavelength light (such as yellow and especially red), giving the sky a blue gradient in which it appears lighter towards the horizon and darker towards the zenith, while the sun itself appears yellow due to longer-wavelength light from father away not being scattered (from outer space, the sky appears black and the sun appears white). Since I don't exactly understand this (though I have observed this effect with clouds), I'm going to quote directly from the wikipedia article on this one:

In other words, the red light scatters also; if it does so at a point a great distance from the observer it has a much higher chance of reaching the observer than blue light. At distances nearing infinity the scattered light is therefore white. Far away clouds or snowy mountaintops will seem yellow for that reason; that effect is not obvious on clear days, but very pronounced when clouds are covering the line of sight reducing the blue hue from scattered sunlight.

Weather and climate. I have no real insight to include on this particular topic, other than to note the usual distinction between weather (the hot/cold, wet/dry, calm/stormy, clear/cloudy, etc. descriptions) of a local area as the day-to-day changes and conditions, while climate indicates the patterns and averaging of weather in an area over an extended period of time. For more detailed discussion, I'll include the wikipedia page in the sources list. I can also make an effort to consult my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather on a regular basis and record the conditions in my local area as part of my daily diary.


Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_atmosphere
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather
• xkcd: Height
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather

Daily Diary

Days of Note: Guy Fawkes Day, Josh's Birthday, Flamekeeping starts at sunset

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed (water, west, emotion, calas)
Moon: waning crescent one day from new
Earth: steady rain, gray and dim (low 40s), chance of snow overnight!

Thoughts: woke up this morning worrying about the medical bills for the work-related injury back in June that my old employer is still refusing to pay, feeling out of things to try other than getting a lawyer (which I obviously can't afford); wondering how the donation drive for Meadowsweet will go; wondering about how to find shampoo that is both eco-friendly (and not in plastic) and doesn't irritate a sensitive scalp; thinking about Brigid as creatrix, fire-within-water; trying to plan ahead about future essays and writing projects; in fact, a lot of thinking-about-/planning-to-do things like exercise, meditation, guitar practice, etc.

Actions: announced Meadowsweet donation drive, updated FB Meadowsweet page; complete image-to-wood transfer project and see results; finish up DOTR lesson 2 sky work; straighten up the house before kids come for the weekend; help Jeff plan a Samhain ceremony for the kids

Connections: one of those days when I feel as though I don't have a long list of things that must get done today, so I spend a lot of time trying to think ahead about how I want things to be; tend to put off implementing plans until "the timing is right," the start of a new week/moon/season, and in the meantime just feel worried and like I'm treading water; also, today seems to be one of our random-worries-about-money day (Jeff had to make a trip to the bank because his online access to his account was screwy — all worked out fine, but again, random money stress for no apparent reason)

Daily Tarot Card: The Hanged Man (XII) may indicate a time when the odds seem stacked, life has become in some way dissatisfying, and yet the subtler understanding of acceptance, surrender to life's sun-and-shadow, and sacrifice through a withdrawal or re-centering in the soul, the heart of the self. A reversal of the usual perspective, a gravity towards spiritual matters rather than "worldly" matters (my note: though to some extent this is a false dichotomy and the world itself is infused with spirit and soul, the Hanged Man's "center of gravity" may be towards "heaven" but his eyes now turn towards the earth below him).

Daily Diary

Sun: scorpio, water/fixed (water, west, emotion, calas)
Moon: waning crescent about two days from new
Earth: gray, rainy, chilly (high 40s) with some wind; almost all the leaves down from the trees now

Thoughts (what's on my mind): midterm election results; accusations of apathy, ignorance and selfishness from the mainstream Left for those who did not vote Dem; brainstorming ideas for handmade crafts as Solstice presents this year to save money without sacrificing sentiment; ideas for new moon/flamekeeping ritual in the next few days based on Plotkin's chapter on the "Apprentice at the Wellspring"; finishing the outline for Savanah's year of Druidic study and preparing for our first lesson this weekend; the pressing need to figure out how to prioritize my various goals according to what will best support and inspire my "soul work"

Actions (what I need/want to be doing): finishing article for W&P on nonprofit tax law; getting back to Jason about position as Editorial coordinator for PNC; experimenting with image-tranfer techniques for wood and various styles for sculpting polymer clay; publishing post announcement about Meadowsweet donation drive; getting back into a routine of daily meditation; reorganizing closet and emptying out/getting rid of old desk in preparation for Dad bringing the spare furniture out next week; revamping my exercise routine; spending more time in nature

Connections (where actions and thoughts connect or inform one another, or not): concerns about financial stability giving rise to certain obligations (W&P, PNC, etc.) not necessarily reflecting what occupies my thoughts; would very much like to find a way that the areas of interest that fascinate me most might also become a means of financial support for the family (crafts, writing, spiritual work); regular meditation and other mundane spiritual routine work may help with this process, especially giving perspective and resistance against the distraction of, f'ex, petty political bickering

Daily Tarot Card: The Emperor (IV) reigns in the energy and impulses of chaos to create order and structure through disciplined, hard work. A card of responsible dominion over the wild and the irrational, but one that, taken to the extreme, can also dampen creativity, spontaneity and joy with the endless weighing of options and alternatives in an attempt to catalogue and categorize everything.

Variations on the DOTR Symbol

Interweaving the Three Realms

This design is based on the Druid Order of the Three Realm's design of the combined triskelion and triquetra. The effect of the spiraling curves in the original symbol is so dynamic and yet so simple and elegant. Though I liked that design as it is, in some ways I felt like the spirals were too "outwardly" focused, if that makes sense. I wanted to bring each of the spirals in the interlace with the others... The idea of adding the flare to symbolize each of the three realms kind of came to me while I was doodling.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the design, but it's been bouncing around in my brain for at least a week and when I did finally get a draft down I was pretty pleased with it. However, it's the best I could do without a compass and, you know, talent... I'm thinking of eventually turning it into an altar tile or plaque, and maybe even a tattoo.

After putting out a request on Facebook for folks interested in touching up the design and going for a more professional "look," I received two beautiful renditions. The first, from Christopher Lee Horne:

As you can see, I incorporated this image into the header of this blog.

The second came from Dylan Thomas:

Also quite striking. I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to both!

DOTR Lesson 2: Sky

Sunrise in Autumn

I saw
for one brief moment
the light
creeping over the hill
between horizon and fog,
everywhere suffused
with the rose and gold
of morning —
as though we turned
and moved
in joy,
as though we, like all beings,
could reach out
our hands
to cup the day and drink.
The sun rose into cloud,
obscured.
What had lingered
rustling in the shining
crowns of the trees
retreated
into mist.
Now the rooftops
and the bark of the trees
glisten
darkly
with the rainy
dawn and gloom
and everything is still
and wet
and shadowless.
Peace, friends, I say
to the trees.
This too is a kind of light.
And like them,
like all beings, slowly
I open my hands.

Introduction.

Since I happen to have this journal lying around, I'm going to use it as my DOTR working journal for the time being - we'll see how it goes. Most of these entries will be (semi-)daily, short diary-like pieces. Feel free to ignore them. Unless you're really curious about my spiritual/mundane practices on a day-to-day basis.