crowdog66

Yesterday's meeting with the happy couple (I have to call them Der and Dar since both of their names start with the same letter) went very well for me, and seemed to go well for them too. From their wedding page:

Met with the officiant, and everything went very well. She is very nice and seems very knowledgeable. She was very organized and had a systematic check list for us to go over as well as some sample rituals for ceremonies she's officiated before. She had good suggestions and everything went over better than we expected.

Ah, it's always invigorating to get a good review! Dar confided to me that they were concerned about meeting "a flake", since their experiences with the local Wiccan community have contained a high percentage of fluffy bunnies, but they stated flat-out that they were immensely pleased to have found me, whom they consider to be solid and reliable.

They're quite a handsome couple, obviously very much in love and well-suited to each other, and very much on the same page in terms of their religious philosophy. We ended up talking for three hours, and I sent them home with the sample rituals and their agreement to pick up the book Welcoming Hera's Blessing, which is my main handfasting reference text and which contains many excellent suggestions for invocations, prayers, etc. They've decided to go with four ritual actions in their wedding ceremony:

1) Lighting a union candle.
2) Sharing a consecrated meal.
3) Exchanging rings.
4) The handfasting.

The ceremony will be held inside the Assiniboine Park Conservatory, which is a beautiful space, but the arrangement of the space varies depending on what larger events are being held within it so we'll have to wait until a lot closer to the wedding date (May 9th 2009) to find out exactly how we can stage the wedding itself. I can work with pretty much any space I'm given so that won't be a problem. In a month or so, Der and Dar and I, along with my friend and assistant Robin, will go for lunch at the Conservatory restaurant and scope out the space as it stands at that time.

Oh, and they paid for my dinner last night, which I was not expecting and I thought was quite gracious of them.

The more I perform this sort of function -- priestess-for-hire, as it were -- the more I wish that Wicca had a dedicated priesthood track, because I enjoy the work so much and I flatter myself that I'm fairly good at it. Ah, well... there isn't, and I'm not, and today I'll be starting the next HB project and beginning work on another MM cover. I also have to run out and mail a letter to cover the payment on our storage space for next month.

No rest for the wicked, as they say.

As promised, for those of you who were curious about what a handfasting ritual entails. You can find pictures of the happy couple and the altar here.

The capitalized [LAURIE] is me, and the lower case [Laurie] is the bride.

( Laurie and Jerry's Handfasting Ceremony )

Another day of wildly careening blood glucose levels. And as usual, no symptoms except for a nagging background fatigue. I'm beginning to suspect that the rye bread we've been buying is responsible for some of it, in which case I'll have to find a different kind of bread to eat, or no bread at all, which would suck and suck mightily.

In other news: just sent an email to the head of Keycon programming regarding that handfasting I'll be performing at the convention. I'll need to use incense and my athame during the ceremony, and the key questions are whether hotel and convention policies are okay with that -- especially the athame, since a six-inch double-edged blade, unpeacebonded, could be a touchy subject.

Things That Have Made Me Go "Huh?" Today: the whole concept of decompression in comics. More on that later.

No exercise today. I'm taking one day off per week and Sunday is it.

Oh, and my period is probably just around the corner. Perhaps this explains the cloud of depression I've been operating under lately.

But I am making better time today on MM. Huzzah and hooray!

Back to work.

I'm going to be heading off shortly to officiate my second-ever handfasting. I'm fairly confident that I have the memorization parts memorized and know where I have to stand during different parts of the ritual -- which is half the battle, really. But I'm still a little bit nervous.

The ceremony will be outside at Assiniboine Park. With the temperature being 14 degrees Celcius, I'm wearing trousers under my ritual dress even though the sun is shining, and a pair of nice heavy Oxfords.

Afterwards there will be a cocktail reception. Hopefully they'll have soft drinks, since I'm not much for drinking alcohol.

I'll let you know how it goes.

EDITED FOR CAT NEWS: The cats got the rest of the sardines for breakfast this morning, and Mina actually ATE hers. *is shocked and amazed*

Today was a busy day in our household. First, I held a meeting with a couple who wants me to officiate their handfasting in July of 2008; we got a lot done for an initial meeting, and I was able to type up and email them the first draft of the ritual this afternoon.

Second, George went out shopping. He bought several items for the studio, including video and ethernet cables, a new dry-erase wall calendar -- and a power utility heater, very similar to this one (same maker, different unit). It is a little powerhouse, and it's making all the difference in our apartment right now. Mid-September in Manitoba can get down to near-freezing temperatures at night, and the steam heat hasn't come on in our building yet. Brrrrrrrrrrr. But now, with this heater -- mmmmmmmmmmmmm, toasty.

We also got one step closer to getting some furniture out of the storage locker, which means that we can start paying (less) rent on a smaller locker.

It's going to be financially tight for the next few weeks, but I think we'll be able to get by. I have a cheque that will cover our "nut" for the end of this month, at least.

I just got back from performing Marianne and Grant's handfasting. I think it went pretty well. There were some minor problems (including an incense charcoal that didn't want to light), but the couple were very pleased with the ceremony.

More later, perhaps, and maybe some pictures to go with the description. I've just scrubbed about a pound of makeup off my face, and in a moment I'm going to have a hot bath and de-stress. The social was right after the service, and I've remembered both what I like about socials (the chance to dance) and what I hate about socials (the NOISE).

Apparently someone videotaped the ceremony. I'm not sure how eager I am to see it, but I've asked for a copy anyway.

EDITED TO ADD: I tend to forget that people outside of Manitoba have no idea what a social is. Basically a social is a money-raiser: people buy tickets (usually between $10-$15 each) to come to a community centre and sit at long tables, nibble on chips and pretzels, hear a DJ, and dance the night away on a central dance floor. Usually a cash bar is available to purchase alcohol, with soft drinks either free or very cheap. At about 11 pm or midnight, a buffet meal of cold cuts, cheese, pickles, and bread is put out. There are silent auction prizes that you can buy tickets for, which are traditionally drawn at midnight. The whole thing usually wraps up by 1 am or 2 am.

Because socials are known to be money raisers (usually for a club or for a wedding), often people will buy social tickets from their friends even if they don't intend to attend, as a gesture of support. Because I was the clergy at the marriage ceremony, my husband and I got in free, as did anyone from the Full Moon Group who wanted to attend (the bride and groom are members).

Yesterday afternoon: A coffee meeting with some folks from the Manitobans Concerned About Misty Gardens group, including one fellow who'd worked there for many years and brought some truly horrific photos from a few years back (yes, the place was just as bad then), and another lady who brought the news that the animal bodies have been removed from both the La Salle and St. Francis Xavier properties, rendering a trip out to La Salle (at least for me) pretty much moot.

Yesterday evening: Brian's AD&D game. Almost another TPK (Total Party Kill) situation. AGAIN. I'm getting a little bit tired of having my character face near-certain death every two weeks...

Tonight: A wedding rehearsal for Marianne and Grant's handfasting. I have most of my parts memorized. *crosses fingers*

Tomorrow (all day): Sorting through paperwork so the GST guy can come by Wednesday morning and help us figure out how much we owe. It's complicated by the fact that most of our clients pay in US funds, which apparently Revenue Canada won't believe until one of their representatives sees the evidence with his own eyes. And since both George and I suck at organization, everything is in a great big mess.

If I survive the sorting process, I'll post more tomorrow.

Originally posted by princess_button in wiccan, just this afternoon:

Hi everyone,

There is a petition on the 10 Downing street site concerning the legal recognition of handfasting ceremonies in England as although they acknowledge Paganism as a religion they do refuse to recognise that handfasting as a binding partnership.

If you want to help change this, please find the link for the petition below

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/handfast/#detail

Blessings

The trick is, you must be a British citizen or resident to sign the petition. I'm still hoping that at least a few people who browse my LJ will be able and willing to help the cause. :-)