Great news! The Pop Culture Grimoire is out! The first article in this anthology is by me, a ‘ritual’ created by music. I believe its a new way of looking at magick and I’m quite pleased about it.
Check it out at Amazon.com.
A friend of mine recently went to the Universal Life Expo — a gathering of vendors and speakers all espousing a ‘white light’ perspective. This is a perspective in which all is good, all is positive, all is light. There is no shadow (and most certainly not Dark), or if there is shadow it must be eradicated completely so that there is no dimming of the light.
As a witch, I find this perspective appaling. My belief system not only acknowledges that there is shadow, there is Dark, and that my role in physical manifestation is to understand both the Light and the Dark within me and my world and BALANCE it.
As my friend said: “If you turn on a light, a shadow is cast.”
Light and Dark and not just opposites, there are a fundamental part of ordinary physical reality. Neither is good, neither is bad. They simply ARE. You cannot eliminate one without doing dire harm.
In talking with my friend it occured to me that the ‘white lighters’ have been actively promoting their agenda (via the new age movement, most notably) for about 20 years now. I wonder if the serious problems we are seeing in our world is in DIRECT reaction to their constant, unrelenting sending out of light into the world?
Think about it.
(and, as always, comments welcomed)
Fifteen new reviews, including a bunch of music I’ve had on hand for (guilty look) months now. Also, an article on The Value of Solitude by author Robert Kull.
Enjoy.
It’s been awhile since I posted any pics of Sasha as she is now. You may remember the ball of cuteness we got almost a year ago? Well, she’s definitely a dog now, all just-under 50 pounds of her. Apparently she just isn’t going to be very big, despite the fact that she manages to take up a good third of our king-size bed at night.
She just came home from a weekend at the kennel (Soos Creek, if you must know). She isn’t unhappy there, but doesn’t think it’s the best thing in the world. We’re not thrilled either, but there aren’t always alternatives as we travel via airplane in multiple connections. She’d be a WRECK if we tried to take her everywhere we go. It’s one reason we’re driving to SF for Turkey Time, she can be with us and we don’t mid the drive. (At least in theory.)
Without further prattling, here’s a link to the pics.
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and rules new beginnings. It’s a fire sign so we’ve got that extra oomph for releasing, starting fresh as well as getting in touch with our instinctual warrior nature; the raw animal part of us. This year the hotheaded Moon in Aries of new beginnings is opposed by “the great negotiator” Mercury and Sun in Libra, trine Pluto in Sagittarius (routing out and letting go of dogmatic beliefs), sextile Neptune/Chiron/North Node (collective healing of divisions and wounds) in Aquarius (radical change), and is coupled with Venus/Mars (loving action) in Scorpio (death of the old and rebirth into the new).
(surprise, surprise)
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
You should be.
Geek Universalis has an enlightening essay at: http://proheretic.geekuniversalis.com/2008/10/02/the-economy-where-we-are-why-were-here-and-the-future-part-1/
And angry at the fix:
http://www.dinksfinance.com/2008/10/bailout-pork.html
I just finished hiring a new person for a very specific role within my company. As usual, the most complicated part was the salary negotiation, and I have some advice (noticably less snarky than my job-application advice from a few weeks ago).