Each year I like to look back over the previous year, and then set goals for the coming year. Many people do this on Jan 1st; I prefer to do it on my birthday. I often refine the accomplishments and goals until my new year, Samhain, but the bulk of the work is done on or around my birthday.
To see last year’s post, click HERE.
Every year I do a tarot reading for myself to get an idea of what the coming year might bring. Here it is, presented (as usual) without comment.
I’m sure it’s no surprise that I have a lot of semi-precious stones that I use for magickal purposes; I’ve been collecting them for decades.
Kept in various bowls and dishes around the home, each month I ask the stones which want to go onto my altar, and there is regular turnover. I hardly buy anything nowadays, but with age has come a terrible side effect: I am losing track of which stone is which.
Last night J. and I went to see Heilung (link takes you to their FB page) at the Roseland Theater in Portland, OR.
It was an enchanting and odd experience.
They call it ritual.
image credit: Skott Photography
Sorted and presented in alphabetical by author level.
At the end of 2018 I set a goal for myself of reading all of the books on the Top 100 Fantasy and Top 100 Science Fiction book lists. It was ambitious, and I will not succeed by the end of 2019. I am closing the year at 75 fantasy and 75 sci fi books from the lists.
I just couldn’t not read other books! I read all of McCaffrey’s PERN books, Carey’s Kushiel trilogy, Cherryh’s Cyteen trilogy, Robinson’s StarDance trilogy, McDonald’s Fletch and Flynn series’, Hart’s Death on Demand series, Bishop’s Black Jewels series, May’s Pliocene and Galactic Milieu series’, MacLeod’s ‘Boston’ and Madoc & Janet Rhys series, innumerable cookbooks, travel guides, gardening books, and alternative spirituality books. With the books from these lists (not counting the ones I’d already read, of course) I’ve easily read 300 books over the course of the year. (Yes, I am a fast reader.)
. . . I just got too busy to write for awhile, which is a little strange. Not the too busy part, but the not writing part. Although, I am working on a writing project, more on that in 2020 when I’ve found a publisher. Every day, for at least an hour, I’m writing. My goal is a chapter-like-subject every week. According to my outline I’ll be done next summer.
Humans are fundamentally social creatures: we love to get together. We are educated in groups, we work in groups and many of us worship in groups. But what, exactly, is a group? A group of people working in the same room, or on a common project, does not necessarily make a group.
When people work in groups, there are two different factors involved. The first is the task to accomplish, teaching a class, holding a ritual, or doing community outreach are examples of tasks. The second factor is process of the group work itself, the mechanisms by which the group acts as a unit. If group members don’t pay enough attention to the process, the value of the group can be diminished or even destroyed. The synergy between task and process makes group work attractive despite the possible problems (and time spent).
This last week has been full of ritual.
On Wednesday we held our Samhain ritual with the Art of Ritual class, finishing our year-long cycle of solar celebrations. Then on Friday we ritually closed the class, as we do every year. (It is a huge shift when we release everyone who participated in the class.)
Gloriously, on the Sunday following we Dedicated three new members to the coven. It’s always a pleasure to bring new members in. I look forward to seeing what they bring, and how they change our energy.
Next year JaguarMoon turns 20 . . . and we have plans!
At the end of 2018 I set a goal for myself of reading all of the books on the Top 100 Fantasy and Top 100 Science Fiction book lists. It was ambitious, but a recent vacation allowed me to get ahead on both, and I finally read a few more fantasy novels.
