crowdog66

Got a call at 2 pm today (just before I was about to head out to my DBT session) from a complete stranger who'd found my name via the net as Winnipeg's "PR Witch" and wanted me to minister at a Pagan friend's funeral this coming Saturday. Being a complete masochist, I accepted the challenge.

This will be the first funeral I've ever officiated as a Priestess. *sweatdrop* Fortunately I've got a pretty good grip on exactly what I'm going to do and have run it by the family, who approves of my plans. I'll be meeting with them on Friday afternoon to go over the final script for the service -- along with Robin, who has kindly agreed to be my assistant for the event. Her job will consist of lighting candles on the altar at the appropriate times, carrying some of my stuff, and generally acting as moral support for me in a room full of very sorrowful strangers. THANK YOU, Robin, for agreeing to help out at such short notice!

Hopefully Holly will be able to loan me her lovely grey robe with two free-flowing front panels, which would be perfect for this occasion. Otherwise I'll have to go emergency robe/dress hunting on Friday afternoon, thus running myself to an even bigger frazzle.

Which brings us to... Hardy Boys. As previously mentioned, Daniel turned in the last 6 pages just in time to run me right up against the Full Moon ritual last night (which went extremely well, given that we only had four people total in attendance). And now Jim wants the entire book -- including 25 or so pages of corrections because Daniel couldn't be arsed to draw the figures properly in the first place -- finished this week. I'm going to see how much work I can get done tonight and tomorrow during the day, and figure out from there whether Jim is going to get a "sorry, no can do" letter or not.

Yesterday afternoon's appointment with Dr. Enn (and an attending resident) at the Health Sciences Centre was nerve-wracking, a two hour dig into every aspect of my depression and my personality. At the end of it they put me back in the waiting room, somewhat shaken, while they conferred, then called me back about 15 minutes later to share their diagnosis: Borderline Personality Disorder, chronic atypical depression, and yep, treatment-resistant as all get-out. Dr. Enn is going to recommend rejigging my medication load in a few different ways to try to get it under control; he says there IS hope, since he's seen people who've suffered for decades find that magic combinatio and stabilize in the long term, which I was beginning to despair of ever finding. Electroshock therapy is a possibility, but it's a fair ways down the list of options right now.

Bah. Off to paint Hardy Boys and consider exactly what words I'll be using in Saturday's service. I love having a brain that can multitask visual and verbal problems simultaneously.

*twirls finger in the air with glee*

One down. Four more to go. Then the six-page preview of next issue, and this issue is done.

Schedule? What schedule? :-P

Chatted with Holly earlier this evening, and we've rescheduled my teaching night in her course to October 27th. In the process of researching The Descent of Inanna for the course I rediscovered this lovely page full of hymns to Inanna/Ishtar, including the following:

*****************************

Praise to Ishtar

(from an Akkadian hymn to Ishtar, translated by Ferris J. Stephens -- Man, Myth and Magic. Vol.13.)

She is clothed with pleasure and love.
She is laden with vitality, charm,
and voluptuousness.
Ishtar is clothed with pleasure and love.
She is laden with vitality, charm,
and voluptuousness.
In lips she is sweet; life is in her mouth.
At her appearance rejoicing becomes full.
She is glorious; veils are thrown over her head.
Her figure is beautiful; her eyes are brilliant.
The goddess - with her there is counsel.
The fate of everything she holds in her hand.
At her glance there is created joy,
power, magnificence, the protecting deity and guardian spirit.
She dwells in, she pays heed to compassion and
friendliness.
Besides, agreeableness she truly possesses.
Be it slave, unattached girl, or mother, she
preserves (her).
One calls on her; among women one names her name.
Who - to her greatness who can be equal?
Strong, exalted, splendid are her decrees.
Ishtar - to her greatness who can be equal?
Strong, exalted, splendid are her decrees.
She is sought after among the gods;
extraordinary is her station.
Respected is her word; it is supreme over them.
Ishtar among the gods, extraordinary is her station.
Respected is her word; it is supreme over them.

*****************************

Beautiful. :-)

Today's DBT class was a little slice of hell, but I got out of it in one somewhat-battered piece. Nothing like sitting in a room full of people -- four of them complete strangers just joining the course -- and going over the skill cards, revealing the darkest secrets of your despairing soul. :-P Bleah.

Before the class, took my light little fur-lined boots in for repair in preparation for real winter weather (they'll be ready next week). After the class, stopped at PharmaPlus and picked up a bunch of prescriptions (all for free, Pharmacare ROCKS) and some fresh-cut flowers just to brighten the place up. As I was shopping, I could feel my spirit rousing a little, like a horse led out of a dark, dank stable to the edge of a field of grass: my soul's head came up, my ears twisted forward, and I stamped once or twice, testing my own inner strength. Things seem to be turning around, thank the Gods.

On the way home, stopped at Sugar Mountain and picked up two bottles of Pic-a-Pop -- Blue Razzberry and Strawberry flavored. Pic-a-Pop is a classic Winnipeg soft drink that was off the market for decades, but has recently been revived. I can't have it myself, but hope George will enjoy it immensely.

Tonight: Research for Holly's class on the 20th, while I have a burst of energy to do it with.

( Oh, and a AD&D -related quizzy thing )

The photos from and around the time of K's belly blessing ritual that I just got developed...

( Warning! Lots of pictures! )

Up! Coffee! Is good! Especially in pretty lime-green Starbucks mug eastpath gave me! Rahhhrrrrr!

Now -- unpack closet? Or flat new Star Wars pages Doug put up to FTP? *grunts, scratches head*

[/caveman mode]

Decisions, decisions...

Oh, and last night I ended up finishing What Witches Do, by Stewart Farrar. A strange book indeed... it is a fascinating glimpse inside the workings of an Alexandrian coven from the POV of a first-year Wiccan, and an even more intriguing look at Alex Sanders, the founder of the Alexandrian Tradition and as charming and confounding a rogue as you're ever likely to meet. The book also acquainted me more with the ritual use of the scourge, as well as different techniques for cord magic, the use of various invoking/devoking pentagrams for specific elements, and the celebration of the Sabbats. Since the Black Ring line contains elements of Alexandrian practice, all this information is very useful.

Some educational links on Alexandrian Wicca and Sanders himself:

http://www.cog.org/wicca/trads/alex.htm
http://www.meta-religion.com/Spiritualism/Wicca/alexandrian_wicca.htm
http://www.pagans.org/wicca/branches/branches.html

I found the chapters on "Worlds of the Elements" and the Cabalistic Tree of Life particularly interesting (the latter in part because it applies to the way Neo and Smith are honored in the fictional Temple practices of the "Degrees of Separation" roleplaying universe). All in all, What Witches Do is a book I'd highly recommend -- but only in the Third Edition, where a preface adds additional material and clears up some errors in the original text.

Last night I attended another initiation ritual for the Black Ring line of Wicca here in Winnipeg. It was a truly beautiful ceremony, full of dedication and love. My own initiation rite has been tentatively scheduled for August 20th, and I am so very pleased to be considered for this honor.

ETA: The initiation ritual date has been changed to Saturday August 27th. Why? See below.

Hmmm, that reminds me: must set a date for the next Full Moon ritual and post it to the Winnipeg Pagans LiveJournal.

ETA: Turns out August 20th falls pretty much directly on the full moon, so I'll be running a ritual of my own on that night. Anyone wanting more info can find it here.

Back into painting Hardy Boys again. Later today I'll need to nip out to the store and pick up some groceries, but for the moment it's work, work, work.

I have no words for the depth of my indignation over this. The link is to the Wren's Nest Pagan news listing on the article (51 comments and counting), and the italicized text is an excerpt from the article itself:

Prager: Our Father Is No 'It' Or Gal God

Father's Day provides a fine opportunity to talk about our Father in Heaven. Why do Judeo-Christian religions insist on God being a father and not a mother? Is it still important to use masculine images and vocabulary to describe God? Or is that all a vestige of sexist religion?

That is the charge of "progressives" within Christianity and Judaism. Because men and women are equal, their argument goes, describing God, the highest being, in male terms is pure sexism. It simply discriminates against women and places men in a superior position. These arguments have great appeal in an age that confuses equality with sameness. So it is worth briefly sketching some of the arguments for preserving male depictions of God.

First, God is the source of moral rules. As the feminist thinker Carole Gilligan argued years ago, men think more in terms of rules, and women think more in terms of feelings/compassion/ intuition. There is a great human need for both. But, first and foremost, the Judeo-Christian God is a moral ruler (giver of moral rules and moral judge of humanity), and neither men nor women want to be given rules or ruled by a woman. For both men and women, the masculine image carries an authority that the feminine one does not.

I hate having the flu -- it ramps my emotional responses in all directions. *snarl*