Welcome to Grove of Ogham 8! We’re certainly glad you could make it! Do check out the other Grove of Ogham groups on other networks. We’re certainly glad to be here after such a long absence. How many of you read my Ogham Leg Healing spell that I posted last night? I wrote it about 13 years ago after a fall in which I injured my leg. Not as seriously as this broken ankle I have now. I think it was some soft tissue damage. Doc and I did the spell, and behold, it did heal. Now with this injury, I’m thinking it might be a fine thing to trot it out again, and do it.
Ogham is not especially ancient, as alphabets go, dating only from the 2nd or 3rd century CE. And it was not used for divination until modern times. Be that as it may, it still retains power, because it has been used for divination the past 60 years. Every few years usually every 5 or 10 years, there is a Pagan revival, and Ogham came up as a favored method of divination during the 70s to early 80s. If we can believe modern Pagan occult researchers/historians, there was another revival going back 40 years before to the 30s and 40s. We recommend that you check out Edred Thorsson, who, not only is an expert on the Runes, but also the Ogham. The book is “The Book of Ogham”. Another top researcher who published a book on Ogham is Paul Rhys Mountfort who wrote “Ogam: the Celtic Oracle of the Trees.” In the book are some images which would have made a fine divination deck. What we are asking all you young budding researchers out there is to do some research and find out whether Mountfort’s deck was ever published. If so, where is it available, so we can get copies for ourselves.
There are two Gods credited with the devising of Ogham/Ogam. One is Ogmios, a Gaulish God, variously portrayed as a man of great eloquence, and as a Gaulish Hercules. The other is Ogma, an Irish God. Brigit is also a good choice for working with Ogham, being the Goddess of the hearth and wisdom, the Ogham being emblematic of wisdom. She is also the sister of Ogma. This may explain why She is the Goddess of bardship. Brigit is Stephen’s matron Goddess, the Lady of the 22 names, so many roles and aspects has she, being both a Sun and a Moon Goddess. She was so powerful that the Christians couldn’t get rid of her, so they made her a saint. The legend goes that She was St. Anne’s midwife, and delivered her of Mary. I read that somewhere, but can’t remember where. If you’ve read the same legend, please let us know here where it’s from.
Even though it wasn’t used for divination until the 19th or 20th centuries, Stephen still feels that the power of the Shining Ones resides in it. Please do some research, and tell us whether it started to be used for divination during the 19th or 20th centuries.
While Stephen reads, I’ll tell you about my earliest experience with Ogham I had heard glimmerings and snatches about a Druidic alphabet. I got both the Celtic Tree Oracle and the Celtic Oracle in either the late 80s or the early 90s. Of course I reviewed them for the Greymalkin Gazette. That was the deal. I could buy any books or decks I wanted, so long as I reviewed them for the Gazette. Then I got Edred Thorsson’s “The Book of Ogham” from Llewellyn in exchange for a review, and I was hooked. I made two sets of fews (that’s the technical name for Ogham staves), following the directions in the book. I also have fabric for making two throwing cloths. I’ll never leave the Tarot behind, but I’m definitely sold on Ogham. Then Caitlin Matthews came out with her “Wisdom Sticks”, and I couldn’t rest until I got a set for myself. I tried them out on my usual guinea pigs, Rufus and Cherye, and they were delighted.
Stephen has 4 sets, dark oak and blue glass, both of which I covet, the set I created for him, and the ones by Caitlin Matthews. Stephen discovered the Ogham when he was about 12, but didn’t fully embrace it until he was 18. He studied both the Runes and Ogham, and formulated a layout which used the Tarot, the Runes, and Ogham all together. He continued to improve on his original design, which he called “The Celtic Divination Visionary Quest” divination system. Grandma pointed the way, but he had to take the path and do the work. We consider the Grove of Ogham to be one of our very best groups, and when our lives improve, and we aren’t continually in crisis/survival mode, we’ll return, and contribute more to the group. In the meantime, feel free to post discussions, spells, etc., anything having to do with the Ogham. We gave our members sweeping powers on purpose, in the hope that you would make this group your own, and post at will. We only ask one thing: that they be pertinent to the topic of Ogham.
Skip Ellison, the former ArchDruid of the ADF, wrote a book on Ogham. I don’t own a copy, but plan to as soon as I can afford one. If you know of any more Ogham sets or books, please write about them here. We both highly recommend the Celtic Oracle by Nigel Jackson and Nigel Pennick, both fine Celtic scholars and authors. If you belong to others of our groups, their names should be familiar to you. Stephen considers the Celtic Oracle to be one of the best divinatory systems around bar none. The Leaf Ogham, which is rarely used elsewhere, is the Ogham used for this card oracle. There is much mythology and magick in this deck. There are many correspondences used for this system.
Another excellent system is Caitlin Matthews’ Celtic Wisdom Sticks. It’s what we call a class act. It comes with 19 sticks, 18 that are the fews themselves, the 19th stick being the “steering column.” of the set. It has the 4 ancillary symbols of the Ogham, or as she calls it, the “Ogam.” I’m sure it’s still available. Look it up on Amazon. There is a little burlap bag to keep the fews in. All in all it is a very well made kit. It’s a class production. Stephen likes it when they throw in mythology, which the book does. This what’s known as an oracle.
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Ms. Matthews also has a “Tarot” deck which makes extensive use of Ogham, namely the “Celtic Wisdom Tarot.” Again I find myself smitten with Tarot envy. It is a colorful deck, the artwork done in a breezy primitive style. Stephen doesn’t consider it a full Tarot deck, but I do. He says he’s more of a traditionalist than I am, which is all right. I’ll have to look it up on Amazon, and find out if it is indeed still available. If you know anything about this deck, and have information which could settle the controversy of is it a Tarot deck or just an oracle pack? Stephen concedes that it is a non-traditional Tarot deck.
If you know of any fantasy authors who use Ogham in their stories, please let us know. Please post about your own experiences using Ogham as a divinatory system, which system is best. But in the meantime let’s talk about The Liz and Colin Murray “Celtic Tree Oracle.” It’s a well-made production except for the box. Everyone we know who has a set has had to do some major repair work on the box. My box has duct tape in the corners. One would think that with new editions, they’d have improved the way they did the boxes. The Layout sheet is very well done. The deck itself has a hierarchy with chieftain trees, peasant trees, and shrubberies. No one else has used this kind of delineation. We want to know whether there is anything very recent in the way of Ogham sets. The last thing that came out was Caitlin Matthews’ “Celtic Wisdom Sticks”
Then of course there are the sets created by a craftsman known to Stephen and Sean. I lust after the set in the worst way. They got them at PantheaCon. I want to go to PantheaCon, if for no other reason than to meet this guy, and buy a set of his Ogham fews.
Stephen discovered the Ogham when he was 10 or 12, but did not get serious about it until he was 18 or 19 in 1968. From then on it was a love affair inspired by his Goddess. A book that particularly ensnared him was the book that accompanied the Celtic Tree Oracle in 1988 by the Murrays. I think that’s when I got mine, too. After that, came the Celtic Oracle by Nigel Pennick and Nigel Jackson. He was really hooked on the Ogham by this time. It has remained a favorite topic of study and mode of divination for him up through the present day, and promises to continue to be in the future. Year of Moons, Season of Trees was yet another influence on him, coming out as it did in 1991. The Celtic Wisdom Tarot, which came out in ’99, also was a source of inspiration for Stephen. In ’92 Edred Thorsson’s Book of Ogham came out. I consider that tome to be my “Ogham bible.” In 2001 the Celtic Wisdom Sticks and Ogam: the Celtic Oracle of the Trees came out, then in 2003 the Green Man Tree Oracle came out. Skip Ellison AD Emeritus for the ADF’s book on the Ogham came out in 2002. If you know when it came out, please tell me. There is a number of other oracles, including a set of wheels for Celtic Astrology, and a Druidic Animal Oracle. I swear, Stephen must have every book or set based upon the Ogham that has been published. Has there been anything since 2003? Seven years seems to be a long time without anything new on the Ogham coming out. If you know of anything, please let us know. .
Stephen is in the process of re-reading the Celtic Vision Quest Tarot with a view to doing an additional post for this post. As you may or may not know, this deck was based upon the Ogham/Ogam. One of the things Caitlin Matthews does is a page in the book where she lines up the Trumps of the Tarot with the fews of the Ogham/Ogam showing how they are equivalent. Donald Tyson did something similar in his “Secrets of the Necronomicon.” “People who make esoteric Tarot decks create these pages in order to justify their creating a new Tarot deck,” says Stephen, waxing eloquent in his purple robe. There is another diagram in the book that comes with the deck. It’s the Wheel of the Year, so esteemed by Neo-Pagans all over the world. In this diagram, she features both the Ogham/Ogam and the Trumps festooned around the circle. In a very similar fashion, The Greenwood Tarot does this too. Stephen says that he uses the Wheel of the Year in his readings, when he reads card online. All his readings go for a year and a day, and because of two books that come with the Ancestral Path Tarot and The Arthurian Tarot. In these books, he can find the date value for any cards he comes across in the reading. He uses both systems at the same time. In The Ancestral Path Tarot, the four Aces rule the four seasons, whilst in The Arthurian Tarot, the four Kings rule the seasons. .
What music do you do Ogham to? We agreed on one group, which is possibly no longer together, and that is Clannadh. Stephen get’s an extremely strong Celtic vibe, and he gets the distinct feeling that they’re Pagan even though they’ve never acknowledged it. I’d like to go further and suggest Enya. Stephen said that he knew I’d suggest that. I said “Well, you’d already said Clannadh so I couldn’t suggest that.” Why do I say Enya? Well, it puts me in a mind-space conducive to divination and other spiritual work. So we turn the question over to you eager beaver readers out there: What kind of music do you like to do Ogham/Ogam to? Why?
Which is your favorite Ogham? My favorite Ogham is Beith Birch because it falls during the period of time when my birthday falls. Birch bark can be used as paper, and its red sap can be refined into birch beer, my favorite non-alcoholic beverage besides lemonade.
The Ogham few of the day is Muin or Vine. Stephen got the idea from the Google widget “Rune for the Day.” While not one of the traditional Oghams, that doesn’t come up very often, it is a very valuable tree. From Vine we get the grapes that yield our wine. From bramble we get raspberries or blackberries for eating, baking, or wine making. I don’t know about you, but I’m very fond of blackberry wine. A loop of blackberry bramble is sacred in much the same way as a holey stone. Blackberries were considered to be of the faeries, so it was considered dangerous to eat them. It doesn’t say so anywhere, but I think the lesson here is that something may seem to be prickly, but it still has much value. Note, the meanings are not consistent because there are about a hundred different Ogham/Ogam systems, each one differing from the last.
Three weeks ago I broke my right ankle. It was in a gallstone attack. I went to the bathroom, and was going to go to my room again when I was hit by a wave of pain so severe that I passed out. I must’ve sat on my ankle hard because when I tried to get up, my ankle went crunch! I sank down on my rear again against the door. Stephen and I had a dialogue:.”Are you all right?” he asked.
“No, I’m in a lot of pain.”
“I’m calling 911.”
“Ok.”
He asked me the questions the dispatcher asked him. I answered them. At length they arrived. I took my book and my purse with me. We went to Kaiser Morse hospital. I gave them the address. They knew how to get there. We arrived after a few minutes. They admitted me, and the next morning, my ankle was operated on. Then I spent from then until Wednesday the 7th in the hospital. I came home, and am now in full recovery. Two weeks ago I got into my room, and finally got access to my computer. Will give you updates as we proceed. Update: today I got out of the house. My physical therapist taught me how to hop down the steps using my aluminum walker. I’m going to use it tomorrow night to go to the liturgy meeting, and then Saturday I go to the board meeting for the Grove..
Now I’m waiting for someone from surgery scheduling to call me and set up my pre-op appointment so I can get this damned gall bladder out. Trouble is, the woman who is the scheduler has a full mail box, and her supervisor hasn’t gotten back to me either. I’m going to see if I can get her in trouble. I finally heard from surgery scheduling, and it looks like August is my month. I’m pestering her every other day, although I may switch to every day if she doesn’t get back to me soon with a firm surgery date.
We need paid readings and donations. Send donations to my Paypal account tezra.reitan@gmail.com and to Stephen’s email account at any of his email addies. If I get $5 donations, I shall send the donor a copy of one of my ebooks. For $20, you can have all five ebooks.
Remember, if someone from a Ning network asks you to pay, say “No way!” The only way this’ll work is if we all stick together and call the a**holes on their BS, but especially Jason Rosenthal.. We have to be willing to walk away from our networks, because they are counting on people being scared to walk away from their networks. This guy Jason Rosenthal is a bully, and there’s only one way to deal with a bully, and that is, to stand up to him.
Stephen is pretty upset right now that he would need only $87 to get back his long distance and preserve his DSL. He can’t even access his voicemail anymore. You guys have not been doing your part. It’s not as though he’s begging for hand outs. He is willing to return value for value given. Just three readings would get him out of this predicament. Three readings or classes would do it. And $32 flat for a reading or a class is really a bargain. Ordinarily he charges $32 an hour, so $32 flat is a very good deal.
Back before my accident, Stephen was able to scrape $50 together to pay our friend to put our website together, and she’s working on it now. I’m looking forward to seeing it. It should be very impressive. Fear not, we’ll keep you abreast of all developments on this front. Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick will then be on the internet map, so to speak, in a big way.
Inquiring minds want to know: How do we add music to our sites? Please let us know. The person who helps us do that earns a reading on webcam on the popular IM clients. The person who helps us establish ourselves on the Paganspace.net chat client also earns a reading or a class..
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sex and the Single Familiar
Welcome to Magickal Familiars & their Powers 5! We’re glad you could make it. Do check out the other Magickal Familiars & their Powers groups on other networks. We just finished an interesting week. Some weeks ago I became concerned about the increasing population of kittens around our place. My therapist got a printout for me of the home page of the local SPCA. They have a program, supported by donations, of free neutering and spaying of the pets of low income people. So I made some phone calls, received some vouchers in the mail, and set things up. I talked to an extremely nice lady named Rosemary and we set the whole thing up. Our friend Walt (the artist) made the supreme sacrifice of getting up at O-god-o’clock in the morning to take me and the cats to the SPCA clinic. The night before I took their food and water away, the next morning we put the twins in the carriers in the truck, and took them. Then today we did the same thing with Pyewacket and Dr. Livingston I. Presume. At 4:30 both Wednesday and today we picked them up, brought them home, and laughed a little at their wobbly attempts to walk around the room. Wednesday I comforted Frikki, and this evening I comforted Pyewacket. Comforting consists of letting the cat lie in my lap, stroking her, and saying nonsense things in a soothing tone such as “Wubba wubba wubba the girl,” and “Zooba zum zum zooba zooba birds.” I don’t know what it means, but it seems to make the putties feel better. If you have an animal, get it spayed or neutered. When I read the figure of puppies and kittens that have to be destroyed each year, it was over 7 million per year, and that was several years ago. I’m sure that the number has gone up by now to 8 or 9 million. The SPCA has a great low cost program, and around here, even free if you are low income like Stephen and I are. Also the animal lives longer if it gets spayed or neutered. Having a litter of kittens every few months takes a lot out of a female, and they’re also closer to their humans if they’re spayed. Same for boys. He doesn’t spray, roam, or get into fights where he could get abscesses that will kill him. He is also like the females a more affectionate cat. The only exceptions are if you have a pedigreed animal that you are prepared and set up to breed under strict control. Also use the SPCA’s adoption service, both to obtain an animal, and if you have excess puppies and kittens have them get them adopted for you.
We just used a bit of putty psychology. I had gone and gotten a little kitty kibble on a plastic lid, and fed it to Pyewacket. Then when she’d had all she wanted, we gave it to Frikki. When she was reluctant, we put some putty treats on the lid, and she ate that. We’re feeding Pyewacket special because she’s a bit on the scrawny side.
Familiars don’t have to be cats, of course. They can be dogs, horses, frogs, toads, and even plants and stones. A very fine rather blurry line separates the familiar from the totem animal. Raven Grimassi wrote an excellent book on the magickal familiar. You can probably find it either at Llewellyn.com, or at Amazon.com.
Familiars are basically extensions of the magician’s or Witch’s own personal power. The magician or Witch puts some of hir own power into the familiar, and works with it. S/he also projects a portion of hir own consciousness into the familiar. The familiar thus becomes an extension of the magick user’s own will, much like the wand, athame, or sword.
You can’t use it on very young kittens, but tea tree oil scares away fleas. It smells funny, so the cats hate it. This is a public service message. This is to encourage you to use herbs and other natural remedies whenever possible. It’s better for us, better for the animals, better for the earth. What other areas of working with familiars do you members want to explore?
For many years, Stephen had iguanas as familiars. The nice thing about reptiles is that they don’t have the dander that will set off an asthmatic’s allergies. The thing about lizards is that they have been used as familiars for many years Dragon familiars is what they’re called. How many of you have a love of dragons and dragon lore? The idea of dragons as familiars can be found in many fantasy based sources. From 19 89 until 1995, Tegwedd had a snake, a red-tailed Columbian boa named Tonantzin. She only gave her up when Tonantzin got to be too big to handle. But Stephen is sure there are non-fantasy sources as well for wizards and their dragon familiars. Do you know of any non-fiction sources for these? One fiction source is “The Harper Hall of Pern” by Anne McCaffrey. It’s about a harpist in training who attracts a bevy of fire lizards, who are attracted to her music. It’s really good. I recommend it.
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman is another book or series of books that has familiars in the plot, only these are called daemons, and are dangerously close to being totem animals. There are other fantasies where familiars play a role. If you have your favorite fantasy that has familiars, we’d like to hear about it. A TV show that died long ago, but you might be able to catch it if you have cable or satellite, is “Beastmaster”. What I remember was that the guy had a great ass, and looked great in a loincloth. He could see from the pov of a tiger and an eagle. He also had two trained ferrets. Then there were the 2 Dr, Doolittle films. Then there was “Bardic Choices” by Mercedes Lackey, where the main character had a relationship with an intelligent bird creature who sang along with her. It just serves to point out the love relationship between a magick user and hir familiar.
According to Ann Moura, the term familiar comes from the familiar servants retained by churchmen, and so they would call the Witches’ companion animals by a term they were themselves, ahem! familiar with. The term has come down to us from the confessions of these supposed Witches, obtained as they were through the use of such tortures that would make today’s water boarding resemble being tickled with a feather by comparison. The movie “Bell, Book & Candle” also featured a familiar who was a male Siamese named Pyewacket. The name Pyewacket means lively spirit, and comes down to us from the broadsides of Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General, who had published an account of a Witch he had apprehended. The name Pyewacket is neither masculine nor feminine. I have had two cats named Pyewacket, and now have a third. .
There are 3 animal decks which Stephen strongly recommends: Druid Animal Oracle by Druid and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. The second is Beasts of Albion by Miranda Gray. Miranda Gray is a heavy hitter and a class act. If you are a member of some of our other groups, elsewhere on the internet, you’ve seen her name before in connection with books on Celtic history, legends, and magick. Then there’s the Celtic Oracle by Gerry Maguire Thompson, which includes animals. I too have a couple of animal decks. I have the Magical Menagerie. Sorry, don’t know the author, so can’t tell you who it’s by. But I think it’s a Llewellyn deck. The other animal deck I have is the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson, published by Bear & Co., Santa Fe, NM. Then there’s the Animal Tarot by Ted Andrews. I own a copy of the White Cat from Lo Scarabeo, an imprint of Llewellyn. The artwork is by Severino Baraldi. Stephen feels that the deck has a jesoid vibe and I feel that Christians have no business dealing with the Tarot. It is a Pagan mystery.
Then there is the Cat People Tarot by Karen Kuykendall.. I met her at a SciFi convention back before my daughter Janvier was born, at least I thought that’s when it came out. But Janvier was born in 1982, and the copyright isn’t until 1985.. She was a very nice middle aged lady dressed in one of the costumes the humans on the cards were wearing. They reminded me of noble and Imperial Byzantine dress. It was the deck in my collection that Janvier selected to use to do readings with when I taught her how to read tarot at age 7. It was with this deck that she gave Stephen a reading at a party after the New Age fair, and knocked his socks off.
.We mentioned dragons above. There are several dragon Tarot decks. One such is by D.J. Conway and Lisa Hunt, the Celtic Dragon Tarot. I like it because the humans are all dressed in medieval garb. Another dragon deck is the Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson and Peter Pracowith. If there are other dragon decks, please let us know. Then there’s the Dragons’ Tarot from Lo Scarabeo by Manfredi Toraldo and Severino Baraldi.
The 7 puttiettes are now up to exploring the house. I named the first to venture out of Stephen’s room Magellan after the great explorer. So I’ll put the question to you: Why have familiars anyway? Why bother with the muss and fuss? I’ll answer for myself, then Stephen will answer, and then you can answer. And remember, we want to hear from all of you, not just a few. For one thing, familiars, if they are animals that go both inside and out, they can be our eyes and ears on the ground, so to speak. Also certain toads, of the bufano genus secrete a mucus that is hallucinogenic. From all reports, it doesn’t taste very good, but it does produce a powerful trip. I don’t recommend it though. If they are indoor creatures, they serve as temple guardians. Cats are especially good for this. When I was hanging around Thelema Lodge and the Supreme Swamp a lot there was a woman named Caitlin who was breeding pocket sized cats as temple guardians. Astral nasties have a natural aversion to cats, because cats can sense them and take them out before we humans with our limited senses can detect their presence. “It’s fun to have an extension of yourself that isn’t human,” says Stephen. “I personally enjoy critters, in some cases more than I enjoy people. So I see it as a logical following to have a familiar to love.” I can see where he’s coming from. I would rather have the company of a cat than 95% of the human race. “Our putties are the 5 elements, and this house is Puttyhaven. Putty Central. This is the headquarters for the putty conspiracy.”
Familiars can see the spirit-world. I’ve already mentioned this in passing in the previous paragraph, but Stephen wants to make a point of saying it. A lot of people have familiars because they want to have contact with the spirits. According to the old traditions, the magick user would put hir consciousness in the critter, ad be able to sense what the critter does. Another example would be the falconer and hir hawk. If the falconer is also a magick user, s/he can fly with it. Another connection is that with dolphins or whales. Another connection is what which cats have with the dream world, because they love to sleep, and they do dream.
I’ve already said that there is a very fine blurred line between familiars and totems (animal allies). The concept of totems comes from shamanism, which is very close to Witchcraft. In fact, while the term shamanism refers to the magick of people in tribal cultures, Witchcraft is the shamanism of north-western Europe. The familiar is the animal ally of a western or European shaman. Popular totems or familiars of Northern European shamans before the devastating advent of Christianity were the wolf, the bear, and the raven. Odin, the Norse All-Father himself had 2 ravens named Munin (memory) and Hugin (thought). If those aren’t familiars, Id like to know what is! Traditional familiars were not really animals but imps or nature spirits, that is, if you want to believe the Witch hunters and confessions of “witches”. As we now know, the “witches” were willing to confess to anything the sick twisted perverted minds of the interrogators could come up with. These “imps” had a trickster nature, rather like the Native American Coyote, and were parasitic upon the “witch”, using body marks like moles to suckle blood from her. Thus the Witch hunter would go about with a special retractable pick that would recess into its handle so that the pick would not penetrate the skin of his victim or draw blood.
Here’s the situation: Jason Rosenthal, probably a Christian Republican, the new CEO of Ning, intends to put the Ning networks on a paying basis. That means no more free networks, no more joining other people’s networks for free, either because you know that the owners of the paying networks are going to pass their exorbitant costs onto us. What do you say to that? Make a noise, make a big noise. Make a noise so big and loud that Rosenthal can hear it. The next noise he’ll hear is the thundering of many footsteps as we all leave. We have to fight for our rights. We can’t let assholes like Rosenthal dictate to us. This kind of fascist BS should not be allowed to happen. We should do a letter writing campaign to fight this a-h. We have to fight this biotch. This fascist crap cannot stand. We have to get going right away. If everyone protests, it’ll make him go broke and he’ll be fired. We got support for our position from an unexpected quarter. A friend of mine, whom Stephen can’t stand, both because of his politics and his lovestyle (he’s a Reagan Republican and a Gorean) said that what Rosenthal was doing in phasing out the free services was a bad business decision. “People would be coming to him from the free services to get the premium paid services, but he’s cut that part of his Market out. He should keep both.” Let’s boycott Ning, and any of the networks that cave-in to his Gestapo tactics. If any network says you must pay to play, just say no, and get all your friends to say no too. Spread it around, tell everyone you know. Don’t keep it a secret. I have been sending my blog to all the Ning networks I’m on. “We have to stop this neo-Ning fascism,” says Stephen.
We need at least $3000 to move. 916-455-2267 is Stephen’s number for multimedia readings. Just 93.75 readings would do the trick. Don’t stand by and figure that your neighbor or your friend will do it, so you don’t need to. We need your donation too. Every little bit helps. Don’t forget that you can donate to Stephen’s Paypal account. abbottsinn@gmail.com. Also call 1-800-ASK-KEEN and ask for Stephen6580. Or call 1-800-280-8496.Stephen 1580 Stephen now has.$250 in his account which is not enough to pay rent.
One of the psychic reading services that Stephen works for has changed hands. Zodiac (Celebrity Psychics.com) has changed hands and names. It is now Psychic Power. They are recruiting new readers. Stephen gets $50 for anyone who signs up and $100 for someone who signs up and racks up 500 minutes.
Stephen’s done it. He’s gone over to Chase with me. It came to a head because an agent at Bunko de America told him that he had enough money to write $900 in checks to our landlady to pay off his back rent when he didn’t have the money. Now you should understand that Stephen is even more math challenged than I am. He was sick for 5 days with asthma symptoms and wasn’t able to call them to ascertain his balance, or he would have caught the error sooner. They charged him $900 in overdraft charges, and paid everything except for the Rhapsody charge, and his porn. Now I can understand why they wouldn’t have paid the porn one, but the Rhapsody? Why didn’t they pay that one? He just called Bunko de America, and they still won’t own up to any of their responsibility in this. SSI plays a role in this whole thing too because they toyed with him for two hours, letting him think that they were going to cut him an emergency check, then reneged on him. Now folks, this is two hours when he could have been doing readings, and getting his overdraft down. And they turned around and called the sheriff on him. So maybe now you understand why Stephen is so depressed and angry. I realize that you’re probably all out of compassion. I know I am. But the need is real, and the need is dire. He is no longer suicidal, but another setback could send him over the edge again. Of course I have a plan of action now if he turns suicidal again. I’ll call 911, and have him go in on a 5150. In this state, that’s the code for in danger of harming himself or others. This way he’ll get the help he needs.
Now I’m in need of readings too. I need to put in my share of our moving money. My PayPal account is tezra.reitan@gmail.com. For a donation of $5, I’ll send you a copy of one of my books, and for $32, I’ll give you a reading by phone. For $20, I’ll send you a copy of all five of my books. 916-457-7476 is my number. I can’t give you a multi-media reading, because I don’t have my webcam and headset hooked up yet. For that, you’ll have to call Stephen at 916-455-2267.
Our friend Julie Maahs has a book out called the Serpent and the Stag. It can be found at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10619. I urge you strongly to buy a download, and tell your friends. She is publicizing it through viral marketing; or what used to be called word-of-mouth advertising. She’s directing the book towards a Pagan audience. It’s a murder mystery with nice contorted twists and turns. When I read it, I saw it as though it were a movie and I was the lighting director/art director. If you review books, contact her at julie@your-taxes.com and she will send you the free coupon code so you can get a free download. She wants a copy of the review, so send her a copy. I sent her a copy and also posted it on Blogger.
There are four putties we need to give up. Ordinarily I would’ve said “free to good homes,” but a very wise friend told me this past weekend that we should charge something for them so that the prospective owner demonstrates that s/he has enough disposable income to care for a pet. So we’ll charge the nominal $10. We’re looking for people who love cats as much as we do. Soon there will be five more puttiettes that need homes. Oreo had seven kittens about a month ago, but 2 are spoken for already.
We greatly fear that Isaac Bonewits, founder of the ADF, and foremost Neo-Pagan, may be dying. We are trying to keep a positive spin on this in line with the Secret, and the Law of Attraction, but his doctors are not hopeful. They came out and said , “This man needs a miracle,” so we have been doing rituals towards that end. We talked to Brigit on the Goddess phone and everything. I realize full well that losing many people that you love is the price of longevity, but I’ve lost too many recently. To lose Isaac on top of losing Robin Goodfellow is just too much for me.
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We just used a bit of putty psychology. I had gone and gotten a little kitty kibble on a plastic lid, and fed it to Pyewacket. Then when she’d had all she wanted, we gave it to Frikki. When she was reluctant, we put some putty treats on the lid, and she ate that. We’re feeding Pyewacket special because she’s a bit on the scrawny side.
Familiars don’t have to be cats, of course. They can be dogs, horses, frogs, toads, and even plants and stones. A very fine rather blurry line separates the familiar from the totem animal. Raven Grimassi wrote an excellent book on the magickal familiar. You can probably find it either at Llewellyn.com, or at Amazon.com.
Familiars are basically extensions of the magician’s or Witch’s own personal power. The magician or Witch puts some of hir own power into the familiar, and works with it. S/he also projects a portion of hir own consciousness into the familiar. The familiar thus becomes an extension of the magick user’s own will, much like the wand, athame, or sword.
You can’t use it on very young kittens, but tea tree oil scares away fleas. It smells funny, so the cats hate it. This is a public service message. This is to encourage you to use herbs and other natural remedies whenever possible. It’s better for us, better for the animals, better for the earth. What other areas of working with familiars do you members want to explore?
For many years, Stephen had iguanas as familiars. The nice thing about reptiles is that they don’t have the dander that will set off an asthmatic’s allergies. The thing about lizards is that they have been used as familiars for many years Dragon familiars is what they’re called. How many of you have a love of dragons and dragon lore? The idea of dragons as familiars can be found in many fantasy based sources. From 19 89 until 1995, Tegwedd had a snake, a red-tailed Columbian boa named Tonantzin. She only gave her up when Tonantzin got to be too big to handle. But Stephen is sure there are non-fantasy sources as well for wizards and their dragon familiars. Do you know of any non-fiction sources for these? One fiction source is “The Harper Hall of Pern” by Anne McCaffrey. It’s about a harpist in training who attracts a bevy of fire lizards, who are attracted to her music. It’s really good. I recommend it.
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman is another book or series of books that has familiars in the plot, only these are called daemons, and are dangerously close to being totem animals. There are other fantasies where familiars play a role. If you have your favorite fantasy that has familiars, we’d like to hear about it. A TV show that died long ago, but you might be able to catch it if you have cable or satellite, is “Beastmaster”. What I remember was that the guy had a great ass, and looked great in a loincloth. He could see from the pov of a tiger and an eagle. He also had two trained ferrets. Then there were the 2 Dr, Doolittle films. Then there was “Bardic Choices” by Mercedes Lackey, where the main character had a relationship with an intelligent bird creature who sang along with her. It just serves to point out the love relationship between a magick user and hir familiar.
According to Ann Moura, the term familiar comes from the familiar servants retained by churchmen, and so they would call the Witches’ companion animals by a term they were themselves, ahem! familiar with. The term has come down to us from the confessions of these supposed Witches, obtained as they were through the use of such tortures that would make today’s water boarding resemble being tickled with a feather by comparison. The movie “Bell, Book & Candle” also featured a familiar who was a male Siamese named Pyewacket. The name Pyewacket means lively spirit, and comes down to us from the broadsides of Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General, who had published an account of a Witch he had apprehended. The name Pyewacket is neither masculine nor feminine. I have had two cats named Pyewacket, and now have a third. .
There are 3 animal decks which Stephen strongly recommends: Druid Animal Oracle by Druid and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. The second is Beasts of Albion by Miranda Gray. Miranda Gray is a heavy hitter and a class act. If you are a member of some of our other groups, elsewhere on the internet, you’ve seen her name before in connection with books on Celtic history, legends, and magick. Then there’s the Celtic Oracle by Gerry Maguire Thompson, which includes animals. I too have a couple of animal decks. I have the Magical Menagerie. Sorry, don’t know the author, so can’t tell you who it’s by. But I think it’s a Llewellyn deck. The other animal deck I have is the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson, published by Bear & Co., Santa Fe, NM. Then there’s the Animal Tarot by Ted Andrews. I own a copy of the White Cat from Lo Scarabeo, an imprint of Llewellyn. The artwork is by Severino Baraldi. Stephen feels that the deck has a jesoid vibe and I feel that Christians have no business dealing with the Tarot. It is a Pagan mystery.
Then there is the Cat People Tarot by Karen Kuykendall.. I met her at a SciFi convention back before my daughter Janvier was born, at least I thought that’s when it came out. But Janvier was born in 1982, and the copyright isn’t until 1985.. She was a very nice middle aged lady dressed in one of the costumes the humans on the cards were wearing. They reminded me of noble and Imperial Byzantine dress. It was the deck in my collection that Janvier selected to use to do readings with when I taught her how to read tarot at age 7. It was with this deck that she gave Stephen a reading at a party after the New Age fair, and knocked his socks off.
.We mentioned dragons above. There are several dragon Tarot decks. One such is by D.J. Conway and Lisa Hunt, the Celtic Dragon Tarot. I like it because the humans are all dressed in medieval garb. Another dragon deck is the Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson and Peter Pracowith. If there are other dragon decks, please let us know. Then there’s the Dragons’ Tarot from Lo Scarabeo by Manfredi Toraldo and Severino Baraldi.
The 7 puttiettes are now up to exploring the house. I named the first to venture out of Stephen’s room Magellan after the great explorer. So I’ll put the question to you: Why have familiars anyway? Why bother with the muss and fuss? I’ll answer for myself, then Stephen will answer, and then you can answer. And remember, we want to hear from all of you, not just a few. For one thing, familiars, if they are animals that go both inside and out, they can be our eyes and ears on the ground, so to speak. Also certain toads, of the bufano genus secrete a mucus that is hallucinogenic. From all reports, it doesn’t taste very good, but it does produce a powerful trip. I don’t recommend it though. If they are indoor creatures, they serve as temple guardians. Cats are especially good for this. When I was hanging around Thelema Lodge and the Supreme Swamp a lot there was a woman named Caitlin who was breeding pocket sized cats as temple guardians. Astral nasties have a natural aversion to cats, because cats can sense them and take them out before we humans with our limited senses can detect their presence. “It’s fun to have an extension of yourself that isn’t human,” says Stephen. “I personally enjoy critters, in some cases more than I enjoy people. So I see it as a logical following to have a familiar to love.” I can see where he’s coming from. I would rather have the company of a cat than 95% of the human race. “Our putties are the 5 elements, and this house is Puttyhaven. Putty Central. This is the headquarters for the putty conspiracy.”
Familiars can see the spirit-world. I’ve already mentioned this in passing in the previous paragraph, but Stephen wants to make a point of saying it. A lot of people have familiars because they want to have contact with the spirits. According to the old traditions, the magick user would put hir consciousness in the critter, ad be able to sense what the critter does. Another example would be the falconer and hir hawk. If the falconer is also a magick user, s/he can fly with it. Another connection is that with dolphins or whales. Another connection is what which cats have with the dream world, because they love to sleep, and they do dream.
I’ve already said that there is a very fine blurred line between familiars and totems (animal allies). The concept of totems comes from shamanism, which is very close to Witchcraft. In fact, while the term shamanism refers to the magick of people in tribal cultures, Witchcraft is the shamanism of north-western Europe. The familiar is the animal ally of a western or European shaman. Popular totems or familiars of Northern European shamans before the devastating advent of Christianity were the wolf, the bear, and the raven. Odin, the Norse All-Father himself had 2 ravens named Munin (memory) and Hugin (thought). If those aren’t familiars, Id like to know what is! Traditional familiars were not really animals but imps or nature spirits, that is, if you want to believe the Witch hunters and confessions of “witches”. As we now know, the “witches” were willing to confess to anything the sick twisted perverted minds of the interrogators could come up with. These “imps” had a trickster nature, rather like the Native American Coyote, and were parasitic upon the “witch”, using body marks like moles to suckle blood from her. Thus the Witch hunter would go about with a special retractable pick that would recess into its handle so that the pick would not penetrate the skin of his victim or draw blood.
Here’s the situation: Jason Rosenthal, probably a Christian Republican, the new CEO of Ning, intends to put the Ning networks on a paying basis. That means no more free networks, no more joining other people’s networks for free, either because you know that the owners of the paying networks are going to pass their exorbitant costs onto us. What do you say to that? Make a noise, make a big noise. Make a noise so big and loud that Rosenthal can hear it. The next noise he’ll hear is the thundering of many footsteps as we all leave. We have to fight for our rights. We can’t let assholes like Rosenthal dictate to us. This kind of fascist BS should not be allowed to happen. We should do a letter writing campaign to fight this a-h. We have to fight this biotch. This fascist crap cannot stand. We have to get going right away. If everyone protests, it’ll make him go broke and he’ll be fired. We got support for our position from an unexpected quarter. A friend of mine, whom Stephen can’t stand, both because of his politics and his lovestyle (he’s a Reagan Republican and a Gorean) said that what Rosenthal was doing in phasing out the free services was a bad business decision. “People would be coming to him from the free services to get the premium paid services, but he’s cut that part of his Market out. He should keep both.” Let’s boycott Ning, and any of the networks that cave-in to his Gestapo tactics. If any network says you must pay to play, just say no, and get all your friends to say no too. Spread it around, tell everyone you know. Don’t keep it a secret. I have been sending my blog to all the Ning networks I’m on. “We have to stop this neo-Ning fascism,” says Stephen.
We need at least $3000 to move. 916-455-2267 is Stephen’s number for multimedia readings. Just 93.75 readings would do the trick. Don’t stand by and figure that your neighbor or your friend will do it, so you don’t need to. We need your donation too. Every little bit helps. Don’t forget that you can donate to Stephen’s Paypal account. abbottsinn@gmail.com. Also call 1-800-ASK-KEEN and ask for Stephen6580. Or call 1-800-280-8496.Stephen 1580 Stephen now has.$250 in his account which is not enough to pay rent.
One of the psychic reading services that Stephen works for has changed hands. Zodiac (Celebrity Psychics.com) has changed hands and names. It is now Psychic Power. They are recruiting new readers. Stephen gets $50 for anyone who signs up and $100 for someone who signs up and racks up 500 minutes.
Stephen’s done it. He’s gone over to Chase with me. It came to a head because an agent at Bunko de America told him that he had enough money to write $900 in checks to our landlady to pay off his back rent when he didn’t have the money. Now you should understand that Stephen is even more math challenged than I am. He was sick for 5 days with asthma symptoms and wasn’t able to call them to ascertain his balance, or he would have caught the error sooner. They charged him $900 in overdraft charges, and paid everything except for the Rhapsody charge, and his porn. Now I can understand why they wouldn’t have paid the porn one, but the Rhapsody? Why didn’t they pay that one? He just called Bunko de America, and they still won’t own up to any of their responsibility in this. SSI plays a role in this whole thing too because they toyed with him for two hours, letting him think that they were going to cut him an emergency check, then reneged on him. Now folks, this is two hours when he could have been doing readings, and getting his overdraft down. And they turned around and called the sheriff on him. So maybe now you understand why Stephen is so depressed and angry. I realize that you’re probably all out of compassion. I know I am. But the need is real, and the need is dire. He is no longer suicidal, but another setback could send him over the edge again. Of course I have a plan of action now if he turns suicidal again. I’ll call 911, and have him go in on a 5150. In this state, that’s the code for in danger of harming himself or others. This way he’ll get the help he needs.
Now I’m in need of readings too. I need to put in my share of our moving money. My PayPal account is tezra.reitan@gmail.com. For a donation of $5, I’ll send you a copy of one of my books, and for $32, I’ll give you a reading by phone. For $20, I’ll send you a copy of all five of my books. 916-457-7476 is my number. I can’t give you a multi-media reading, because I don’t have my webcam and headset hooked up yet. For that, you’ll have to call Stephen at 916-455-2267.
Our friend Julie Maahs has a book out called the Serpent and the Stag. It can be found at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10619. I urge you strongly to buy a download, and tell your friends. She is publicizing it through viral marketing; or what used to be called word-of-mouth advertising. She’s directing the book towards a Pagan audience. It’s a murder mystery with nice contorted twists and turns. When I read it, I saw it as though it were a movie and I was the lighting director/art director. If you review books, contact her at julie@your-taxes.com and she will send you the free coupon code so you can get a free download. She wants a copy of the review, so send her a copy. I sent her a copy and also posted it on Blogger.
There are four putties we need to give up. Ordinarily I would’ve said “free to good homes,” but a very wise friend told me this past weekend that we should charge something for them so that the prospective owner demonstrates that s/he has enough disposable income to care for a pet. So we’ll charge the nominal $10. We’re looking for people who love cats as much as we do. Soon there will be five more puttiettes that need homes. Oreo had seven kittens about a month ago, but 2 are spoken for already.
We greatly fear that Isaac Bonewits, founder of the ADF, and foremost Neo-Pagan, may be dying. We are trying to keep a positive spin on this in line with the Secret, and the Law of Attraction, but his doctors are not hopeful. They came out and said , “This man needs a miracle,” so we have been doing rituals towards that end. We talked to Brigit on the Goddess phone and everything. I realize full well that losing many people that you love is the price of longevity, but I’ve lost too many recently. To lose Isaac on top of losing Robin Goodfellow is just too much for me.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Norse Gods & Heroes
Heilsa! Welcome to Abbott’s Inn’s Nordic Tradition 8! We’re glad you could make it! Do check out the other groups on 7 other networks! What do you know about Norse tradition? Do you have a favorite Norse God or Goddess? My favorites are the Vanir, rather than the Aesir. The Vanir are the old Gods and Goddesses, while the Aesir are the newer deities, and the ones most people think of when they think of Norse or Germanic deities: Odin, sometimes spelled Odhinn, Frigga, Loki, Thor, etc. The Vanir are more the agricultural deities Freyja, Frey or Freyr, etc. I like Freyja because She is the Goddess of love, fertility, prosperity, cats, and Witchcraft. Freyja is one of Stephen’s favorites, too. For Freyr, my favorite Norse god, he was a symbol of the young god sacrificing himself for the good of humankind. He was also a sea god, very appropriate for a country full of Vikings. I got this formation out of the book Mythology: A Visual Encyclopedia.. If you can get this from your friendly local bookstore or Amazon.com do it.. It is a great book. Gertrude Jobes’ Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols says that during a war between the Aesir and Vanir, Freyr was taken hostage, and later counted as one of the aesir. He was brother and husband of Freyja as well as Gerd. He brought the rain and fertility for the crops. He was the son of Njord and Nerthus or Skadi. He, along with his sister/wife Freyja was god of prosperity and peace. In his youth he was lord of Alfheim, the home of the Alfar or the elves. Stephen’s favorite Norse God is daddy Odin the AllFather. I think he’s Stephen’s favorite because he has a trickster aspect.
If you ever have a chance to acquire the Hammer of Thor game do so. It is a wonderful way to learn about Norse mythology. You play the game by putting together a party of gods, goddesses, human heroes both male and female, and you adventure on the world tree Yggdrasil. One of the things you try to do is gain magickal treasures. The combat system is entertaining balanced and enthralling. You can’t see how strong you are until you actually begin to fight. In the game you usually don’t fight to the death, but in reality, the Norse Gods and heroes did, to do otherwise is cowardice. We would like to find out from you if you know of any other games about Norse mythology that you can turn us onto. Besides Hammer of Thor, another Norse game is Swords and Shields by Milton Bradley. All Stephen has left of his copy is the board. If you know where he can obtain another copy, please post here. The object of the game is pretty simple: you have 2 sides: one side is swords, about 10 in number the other is an army of 10 shields. In the center is the Viking king. The goal of the game is to surround the Viking king with your army. At the same time, attempting to eliminate as many of the other side as possible without giving up your position of strength around the king. A variant of swords and shields was played in the mead halls of ancient Viking warrior kings. Stephen really hopes you can help him find a new copy of this game. If you can help us find this game, Stephen and I will play the games and give a blow by blow description here.
Another way to embrace the old Norse Gods and Goddesses is the runes. I have three sets of runes. My first set are the Ralph Blum Runes, which I don’t recommend. Blum is a Christian, and the Christians have no business playing around with the Runes. My second set I made myself out of salt dough after reading Leaves of Yggdrasil, which really brought the Runes home to me. My third set is a set of semi-precious stones with the runes engraved on them in gold. Of the three, my favorite set is the third set. I also have the instructions for crocheting runes. Many of the Runes are directly related to the old Norse Gods and Goddesses. For example, in the Elder Futhark, you have Freyja’s Aett, Hagal’s Aett, and Tiu’s Aett. Runes play a very important role in mythology. I have a theory. The reason that Odin had to go through the torture of hanging on Yggdrasil for 9 nights and days, losing his eye, and getting the lance in his side, was that the Runes originally were the province of women; that is, Nerthus and Her priestesses. Stephen’s theory is that Odin sacrificed himself to himself in the dead of winter, the God of Norse shamanism the blood from the lance wound dripped into the snow, solidified into the Runes, thus the Runes being a living force. My theory is that the original blood in the Runes was menstrual blood. My theory goes along with that of Donald Tyson, whose Runes are red. Odin being the God of Norse shamanism links us up with Adventures in Shamanism. Runes were used in many different ways. Runes were used by Norse warriors carved on their weapons in invocations to deities, spells (bindrunes, etc.), thus making the weapon a magickal one.
Bind-Runes are a combination of two or more Runes to form a spell. I sometimes will “read” a house that is built in the English half-timber style, since the visible beams form Runes. There is a whole magickal system based upon bind-runes. When shaking the Runes in a reading, whatever Runes land on each other can be made into bind-runes. Besides being used as spells and to inscribe the warriors’ names on their weapons, they were used as a lettering/writing system. Runes were also used to inscribe monuments and tombstones with the dead person’s name, exploits, or maybe just a reminiscence. They also inscribed their dragon-ships when they went a-viking. Viking is a verb, by the way, not a noun. By the way, this is slightly off-topic, but Google either “Viking kittens” or “The Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. You will get a real visual treat, but make sure you have no liquids in your mouth, or your keyboard will get slattered with your beverage. The cornerstone of Norse magick is the Runes. Besides bind-Runes, there is another technique where you become the Rune yourself. They’re called stadhagaldr, which are mudras and body positions in the shapes of the Runes. It’s a whole system based upon forming Runes with the body. It’s basically a Germanic version of the Hindu mudras. What do you folks think? This is the time for you to do some research on the relationship between the stadhagaldr of the Runes and the Hindu mudras of Sanskrit. We could say a lot more about the Runes, but will save it for Abbott’s Inn Nordic Rune Corner 8, which is the next group we will do on Facebook. Norse Shamans embroider Runes on their shaman coats. Prudence Priest has Runes embroidered on her priestess robe.
The holidays are coming up, and with them many treats. I know of many Scandinavian treats, which are often done this time of year. One example is Fattigman, which is like a sweetened fried noodle. I featured it in my story, which came out in December ’06, Yule Yelps [The Fattigman Files]. It was about a small town in Minnesota, which was settled about a century ago by Norwegian Asatruar. The story has both werewolves and The Wild Hunt. My pen name is Rita Trevalyan. Google it. If you can find it for sale anywhere, please buy a download. I think you’ll like it. It’s a romance and a very dark look at the holidays. My subconscious was allowed to go hog-wild with this story, and dark is how I see Yule, even though it supposedly is the birth of light. This is the dark time of year. Enough of the personal stuff.
The skalds were the Norse bards, and sang the sagas, which are the main way that we know about the Norse deities, and heroes. One hero is Siegfried or Sigfrith, of the Volsunga Saga (Which is what the Ring Cycle of Richard Wagner was based upon). Brunhilde is another Norse Hero(ine). Beowulf is another hero like this. These are all we can think of. Why don’t you guys do research on Norse heroes and get back to us?
I just Googled “Norse Heroes” and hit the motherlode. There was a whole alphabetical list of them. One hero was Arngrim. Here is a contest for you. Fabricate a Norse hero, and tell us all about him. Stephen came up with Olaf SkullCrusher. See if you can do better. The winner gets a free reading with either the Norse or Viking Tarot Decks.
Agilaz (in Anglo-Saxon Egil) fought off a While bunch of enemies while in his fortress. He was a skilled archer. He and his wife Aliruna were besieged in their keep until Egil fought off their attackers armed only with his bow and arrows.
Bjorn Ironside carried on many successful raids in France in the 9th century. See what you can come up with. I got these from the motherlode mentioned in the large paragraph above.
Dell has really messed up Stephen’s work. Don’t buy Dell. Also, if you’ve been watching those Blue Hippo commercials, don’t do business with Blue Hippo either. The CEO is a cokehead and a ripoff artist. His computers, if you even get one from him, suck out loud. If possible, they’re even worse than Dell. We mention these things because we care about our Pagan community, and we want people to know what is going on both with us and in the world at large. Doc said that 1 in 6 Dell computers (of both kinds) don’t work right out of the box. Stephen must’ve gotten that one in six because he’s had nothing but trouble with it from day one about 17 months ago. We were working on a new blog for Keen and lost it because Bailee sat on the keyboard, and made it crash twice.
Yahoo has been revamped completely. I got the new Yahoo toolbar, and added a bunch of our stuff to it. The new Yahoo has retooled both the toolbar and the home page, where you can add your own stuff. Also Yahoo has improved its messenger in the video talk aspect. We are still dissatisfied with Yahoo’s draconian policy of deleting certain groups after just 6 weeks of inactivity. It would be ok if they were even handed about it, but they seem to only delete certain groups, while others they leave alone. For this reason, and because of their draconian categorization process, we will not be putting any more groups on Yahoo. Google has also revamped their toolbar and googletalk.
Do not do business with IMVU. The new management of IMVU is a bunch of right-wing Republican Puritans who are utterly anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-sex. I had my bank disallow IMVU from deducting money from my checking account. Fully 40% of the people on IMVU are Pagans. If all the Pagans left, we might not put the network out of business, but we could definitely make it feel the pinch. I think that even the Pag-Symps would leave after the Pagans left, especially the ones interested in cybersex. Charles, also Carey, the new CEO is a conservative Baptist, who has no business running a network like IMVU. In the name of “making the Internet safe for kids”, he and his henchmen are making IMVU no fun for anyone. I feel that having an age restricted section is protection enough for the little nippers, and that adults should have a section where they are totally free to do as they will. Stephen is furious, but I am indifferent. IMVU was nothing to me but an exercise in frustration that I spent way too much money and time on. I think it’s a waste of time and money, but Stephen lives most of his life on IMVU, and so is really bummed out by these developments. They have blocked out all the cool body enhancements and furniture Stephen got from Twinkle so they can’t be seen by anyone but him. IMVU is being investigated by: the FBI, Better Business Bureau, FCC, and FTC for its fraudulent and unethical business dealings. They have a file on IMVU the size of my 3rd exhubby, and he is big. He’s gotten even larger since we’ve split up. It makes me wonder why Doc had the heart attack, and not him. If you have any fraud complaints, contact the FBI Fraud division and the Better Business Bureau. .
I have just joined Stephen on KEEN. I am also doing readings outside of KEEN. I charge $15 for a fifteen minute reading. I got a webcam, and a mic/headset, so will be able to do readings on Yahoo and Windows Live as soon as they get hooked up. I am hunting for a publisher, since FireDrake’s Weyr unfortunately got closed down. Readings and classes are our currency. I am also helping Stephen promote our friend Walter Rhoads’ art, their art gallery Gallery 14 and Julie’s tax service. I’m doing everything to raise money except sex. I refuse to get involved in porn, and I don’t have a very sexy voice.
Stephen wants to thank all of you for calling him at (land-line) 916-455-2267 or
(cell) 916-612-2504 and ordering either a divination reading or a class for just $31.95. With webcam and voice on Yahoo IM, Windows Live Msgr, or Skype, it’s almost like being here. For the reading, you got to choose a deck, method, or tool from a vast array of decks/methods/tools. For the class, you got to choose from a myriad of topics in the vast area of magick. Some of you couldn’t decide between a reading and a class, and so for just $59.90 you knew you could have both.a reading and a class; how perfect is that? You can have a reading then in the class find out how he did it. Or you can have two classes, or two readings as long as they are on two separate and different topics/questions. And thank you too for using and spreading around his Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. You told your friends, relatives, in-laws, neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, teachers, kids’ teachers, fellow parents in your PTA, bus drivers, beauticians, and anyone else we might have left out. If you know of any other categories I may have omitted , do tell me. We would like to have other sites where we can have our groups.
So basically what we want is some action from you people. We want your feedback. We know we can always count on Dylan to give feedback, but he’s a partner in this venture. How about the rest of you? This is supposed to be a cooperative effort here. For those of you who are on Red Light, Stephen is doing readings for the cost of 10 rays, and classes for 20 rays. Red Light is a network that is more liberal than IMVU has become, since that Charles guy took over.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Little Boy
Frikki & Frakki
Dr.Livingston I. Presume
. .
If you ever have a chance to acquire the Hammer of Thor game do so. It is a wonderful way to learn about Norse mythology. You play the game by putting together a party of gods, goddesses, human heroes both male and female, and you adventure on the world tree Yggdrasil. One of the things you try to do is gain magickal treasures. The combat system is entertaining balanced and enthralling. You can’t see how strong you are until you actually begin to fight. In the game you usually don’t fight to the death, but in reality, the Norse Gods and heroes did, to do otherwise is cowardice. We would like to find out from you if you know of any other games about Norse mythology that you can turn us onto. Besides Hammer of Thor, another Norse game is Swords and Shields by Milton Bradley. All Stephen has left of his copy is the board. If you know where he can obtain another copy, please post here. The object of the game is pretty simple: you have 2 sides: one side is swords, about 10 in number the other is an army of 10 shields. In the center is the Viking king. The goal of the game is to surround the Viking king with your army. At the same time, attempting to eliminate as many of the other side as possible without giving up your position of strength around the king. A variant of swords and shields was played in the mead halls of ancient Viking warrior kings. Stephen really hopes you can help him find a new copy of this game. If you can help us find this game, Stephen and I will play the games and give a blow by blow description here.
Another way to embrace the old Norse Gods and Goddesses is the runes. I have three sets of runes. My first set are the Ralph Blum Runes, which I don’t recommend. Blum is a Christian, and the Christians have no business playing around with the Runes. My second set I made myself out of salt dough after reading Leaves of Yggdrasil, which really brought the Runes home to me. My third set is a set of semi-precious stones with the runes engraved on them in gold. Of the three, my favorite set is the third set. I also have the instructions for crocheting runes. Many of the Runes are directly related to the old Norse Gods and Goddesses. For example, in the Elder Futhark, you have Freyja’s Aett, Hagal’s Aett, and Tiu’s Aett. Runes play a very important role in mythology. I have a theory. The reason that Odin had to go through the torture of hanging on Yggdrasil for 9 nights and days, losing his eye, and getting the lance in his side, was that the Runes originally were the province of women; that is, Nerthus and Her priestesses. Stephen’s theory is that Odin sacrificed himself to himself in the dead of winter, the God of Norse shamanism the blood from the lance wound dripped into the snow, solidified into the Runes, thus the Runes being a living force. My theory is that the original blood in the Runes was menstrual blood. My theory goes along with that of Donald Tyson, whose Runes are red. Odin being the God of Norse shamanism links us up with Adventures in Shamanism. Runes were used in many different ways. Runes were used by Norse warriors carved on their weapons in invocations to deities, spells (bindrunes, etc.), thus making the weapon a magickal one.
Bind-Runes are a combination of two or more Runes to form a spell. I sometimes will “read” a house that is built in the English half-timber style, since the visible beams form Runes. There is a whole magickal system based upon bind-runes. When shaking the Runes in a reading, whatever Runes land on each other can be made into bind-runes. Besides being used as spells and to inscribe the warriors’ names on their weapons, they were used as a lettering/writing system. Runes were also used to inscribe monuments and tombstones with the dead person’s name, exploits, or maybe just a reminiscence. They also inscribed their dragon-ships when they went a-viking. Viking is a verb, by the way, not a noun. By the way, this is slightly off-topic, but Google either “Viking kittens” or “The Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. You will get a real visual treat, but make sure you have no liquids in your mouth, or your keyboard will get slattered with your beverage. The cornerstone of Norse magick is the Runes. Besides bind-Runes, there is another technique where you become the Rune yourself. They’re called stadhagaldr, which are mudras and body positions in the shapes of the Runes. It’s a whole system based upon forming Runes with the body. It’s basically a Germanic version of the Hindu mudras. What do you folks think? This is the time for you to do some research on the relationship between the stadhagaldr of the Runes and the Hindu mudras of Sanskrit. We could say a lot more about the Runes, but will save it for Abbott’s Inn Nordic Rune Corner 8, which is the next group we will do on Facebook. Norse Shamans embroider Runes on their shaman coats. Prudence Priest has Runes embroidered on her priestess robe.
The holidays are coming up, and with them many treats. I know of many Scandinavian treats, which are often done this time of year. One example is Fattigman, which is like a sweetened fried noodle. I featured it in my story, which came out in December ’06, Yule Yelps [The Fattigman Files]. It was about a small town in Minnesota, which was settled about a century ago by Norwegian Asatruar. The story has both werewolves and The Wild Hunt. My pen name is Rita Trevalyan. Google it. If you can find it for sale anywhere, please buy a download. I think you’ll like it. It’s a romance and a very dark look at the holidays. My subconscious was allowed to go hog-wild with this story, and dark is how I see Yule, even though it supposedly is the birth of light. This is the dark time of year. Enough of the personal stuff.
The skalds were the Norse bards, and sang the sagas, which are the main way that we know about the Norse deities, and heroes. One hero is Siegfried or Sigfrith, of the Volsunga Saga (Which is what the Ring Cycle of Richard Wagner was based upon). Brunhilde is another Norse Hero(ine). Beowulf is another hero like this. These are all we can think of. Why don’t you guys do research on Norse heroes and get back to us?
I just Googled “Norse Heroes” and hit the motherlode. There was a whole alphabetical list of them. One hero was Arngrim. Here is a contest for you. Fabricate a Norse hero, and tell us all about him. Stephen came up with Olaf SkullCrusher. See if you can do better. The winner gets a free reading with either the Norse or Viking Tarot Decks.
Agilaz (in Anglo-Saxon Egil) fought off a While bunch of enemies while in his fortress. He was a skilled archer. He and his wife Aliruna were besieged in their keep until Egil fought off their attackers armed only with his bow and arrows.
Bjorn Ironside carried on many successful raids in France in the 9th century. See what you can come up with. I got these from the motherlode mentioned in the large paragraph above.
Dell has really messed up Stephen’s work. Don’t buy Dell. Also, if you’ve been watching those Blue Hippo commercials, don’t do business with Blue Hippo either. The CEO is a cokehead and a ripoff artist. His computers, if you even get one from him, suck out loud. If possible, they’re even worse than Dell. We mention these things because we care about our Pagan community, and we want people to know what is going on both with us and in the world at large. Doc said that 1 in 6 Dell computers (of both kinds) don’t work right out of the box. Stephen must’ve gotten that one in six because he’s had nothing but trouble with it from day one about 17 months ago. We were working on a new blog for Keen and lost it because Bailee sat on the keyboard, and made it crash twice.
Yahoo has been revamped completely. I got the new Yahoo toolbar, and added a bunch of our stuff to it. The new Yahoo has retooled both the toolbar and the home page, where you can add your own stuff. Also Yahoo has improved its messenger in the video talk aspect. We are still dissatisfied with Yahoo’s draconian policy of deleting certain groups after just 6 weeks of inactivity. It would be ok if they were even handed about it, but they seem to only delete certain groups, while others they leave alone. For this reason, and because of their draconian categorization process, we will not be putting any more groups on Yahoo. Google has also revamped their toolbar and googletalk.
Do not do business with IMVU. The new management of IMVU is a bunch of right-wing Republican Puritans who are utterly anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-sex. I had my bank disallow IMVU from deducting money from my checking account. Fully 40% of the people on IMVU are Pagans. If all the Pagans left, we might not put the network out of business, but we could definitely make it feel the pinch. I think that even the Pag-Symps would leave after the Pagans left, especially the ones interested in cybersex. Charles, also Carey, the new CEO is a conservative Baptist, who has no business running a network like IMVU. In the name of “making the Internet safe for kids”, he and his henchmen are making IMVU no fun for anyone. I feel that having an age restricted section is protection enough for the little nippers, and that adults should have a section where they are totally free to do as they will. Stephen is furious, but I am indifferent. IMVU was nothing to me but an exercise in frustration that I spent way too much money and time on. I think it’s a waste of time and money, but Stephen lives most of his life on IMVU, and so is really bummed out by these developments. They have blocked out all the cool body enhancements and furniture Stephen got from Twinkle so they can’t be seen by anyone but him. IMVU is being investigated by: the FBI, Better Business Bureau, FCC, and FTC for its fraudulent and unethical business dealings. They have a file on IMVU the size of my 3rd exhubby, and he is big. He’s gotten even larger since we’ve split up. It makes me wonder why Doc had the heart attack, and not him. If you have any fraud complaints, contact the FBI Fraud division and the Better Business Bureau. .
I have just joined Stephen on KEEN. I am also doing readings outside of KEEN. I charge $15 for a fifteen minute reading. I got a webcam, and a mic/headset, so will be able to do readings on Yahoo and Windows Live as soon as they get hooked up. I am hunting for a publisher, since FireDrake’s Weyr unfortunately got closed down. Readings and classes are our currency. I am also helping Stephen promote our friend Walter Rhoads’ art, their art gallery Gallery 14 and Julie’s tax service. I’m doing everything to raise money except sex. I refuse to get involved in porn, and I don’t have a very sexy voice.
Stephen wants to thank all of you for calling him at (land-line) 916-455-2267 or
(cell) 916-612-2504 and ordering either a divination reading or a class for just $31.95. With webcam and voice on Yahoo IM, Windows Live Msgr, or Skype, it’s almost like being here. For the reading, you got to choose a deck, method, or tool from a vast array of decks/methods/tools. For the class, you got to choose from a myriad of topics in the vast area of magick. Some of you couldn’t decide between a reading and a class, and so for just $59.90 you knew you could have both.a reading and a class; how perfect is that? You can have a reading then in the class find out how he did it. Or you can have two classes, or two readings as long as they are on two separate and different topics/questions. And thank you too for using and spreading around his Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. You told your friends, relatives, in-laws, neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, teachers, kids’ teachers, fellow parents in your PTA, bus drivers, beauticians, and anyone else we might have left out. If you know of any other categories I may have omitted , do tell me. We would like to have other sites where we can have our groups.
So basically what we want is some action from you people. We want your feedback. We know we can always count on Dylan to give feedback, but he’s a partner in this venture. How about the rest of you? This is supposed to be a cooperative effort here. For those of you who are on Red Light, Stephen is doing readings for the cost of 10 rays, and classes for 20 rays. Red Light is a network that is more liberal than IMVU has become, since that Charles guy took over.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Little Boy
Frikki & Frakki
Dr.Livingston I. Presume
. .
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Romani People: Their Psi, Their Magick
One group who has trained its children in the use of the psychic sciences is the Rom, aka the Romani, known to most gaje as the Gypsies. For many centuries they were thought to have come from Egypt, hence the name “Gypsies”, short for Egyptians. Unfortunately, they mostly use their psi to see how they can relieve non-Rom of their cash and valuables, hence the term “gyp” as in “He gypped me.”, which is the old ethnocentric term for “he ripped me off.” They also tend to have and foster a fatalist view towards destiny and the future, which to them in engraved in stone, and cannot be altered. We who understand how quantum mechanics works know that the future is fluid, destiny is what you make it, and that an event changes merely by the act of being observed. Just the fact that you know what may be coming changes it, and if you don’t like what is coming, you can take steps to change it. But if you do like what is coming, it is your responsibility to take steps to see that it comes about. The origin of the Rom is as mysterious as they are themselves. It is thought that they left India sometime in the 9th century, which is about the time that the Muslims came to India, and started throwing their weight around, as Muslims often do. They have the same sense of entitlement that Christians do, which bugs the hell out of me. Anyway, the Romani people were pushed out of India, and slowly traveled west. They brought their skill at divining with paper cards with them. They had gotten the cards from the Chinese, and developed the art as a way of supporting themselves. In the meantime, during the Italian Renaissance, the game of Tarocchi was developed, and the cards were developed. The Rom switched from divining with the Chinese cards to divining with the Tarocchi cards (Tarot in French, which is where we get it from.
Back to the Romani, most people are so focused on 6 million Jews being killed in the concentration camps during the Third Reich that they fail to recognize that over a million and a half Romani perished in those camps. How do I know all this? Well I’ve read books on the topic, and I also looked it up online. The Rom have their own website, “The Padrin”. Raymond Buckland, the Witch who was responsible for bringing Gardnerian Wicca to the United States back in the ‘60s is part Rom, or Traveler, as they call them in the.British Isles. He has two decks out. One has the unfortunate but undoubtedly commercial title of “Gypsy Fortunetelling Kit. The deck is much like a normal deck of playing cards except that there are some cards added that depict the Romani experience. I don’t read with it much. But what I do find valuable is the accompanying book, because it told me how to use my crystal ball, which was a gift from my 3rd ex-hubby. You want a dimly lit room. I like to have the living room dark, but have light in the hall, or some other room in the house then have a candle burning on the table where I have the ball set up. I have a black velvet cloth to cover the table. The candle should be dark blue for psychism. I have a psychic portals incense that I burn on charcoal to put my mind in the right space. Then I take my glasses off, because I want a soft focus, and I gaze at the crystal ball. Buckland, or Uncle Raymond, as I like to call him, says that it will become foggy, but I have yet to witness that phenomenon. Mostly what happens is that I get an image in my mind. There is a saying which goes YMMV, Your Mileage May Vary. That goes in spades in Scrying. I am fortunate enough to own a crystal ball, but there are other things to scry into. You can scry into a bowl of water. Stephen 6580 favors the magick mirror. You remove the silver paint from the back of a mirror and paint it black. Let it dry thoroughly, and then wash the back with mugwort water. That is a solution which you make by boiling mugwort leaves in spring or purified water. Let it cool. Put it in a clean glass jar, and keep it in the dark until use. You can just pour your mugwort water over the mirror and gently pat dry with a clean cloth. Do not wipe as this will remove the herb’s virtue from the mirror. Let dry.
I mentioned before that Uncle Raymond has 2 decks out from Llewellyn. The other occupies a place of honor in my heart as one of my favorite Tarot decks of all time. In fact it’s one of the few that I have in a wooden box. It is the Romani Tarot, and it is a very powerful deck. The artwork is drop-dead-gorgeous, and the scenes are very evocative of scenes in Romani life. I don’t know whether it is still in print, as it came out in the early 2000’s, but check with either Amazon.com or Ebay. Also, Mind-n-Magick may have a copy in their store. But if you get a used one, check to make sure that you’re getting the deck as well as the book. I made the mistake of buying a used deck from Amazon, and their 3rd party seller neglected to send me the deck along with the book. I didn’t even care about the book. It was The Book of Doors, a quasi-Kemetic deck and book set. I wanted the deck. Naturally, I panned the seller soundly. Thus far he has not offered to make good on the botched order, so I’m going to make sure Amazon doesn’t use that seller again.
I’m offering a new service on KEEN. If you know that I have a certain deck, you can request that I read you with that deck. There is one exception to that offer. If you are getting a free 5 minute reading, you get read with whichever deck I happen to have on hand. For example, this week, I am featuring the Tarot of the Elves, but you can request the Romani Tarot, or the Morgan-Greer Tarot, or any of the other 400-some decks that I own. If you like, in future blogs, I can feature some of my decks and discuss their virtues and shortcomings. Please let me know if you’d like me to do that in future blogs.
Isaac has just finished having chemo and radiation. Please send him all your healing energy. And he needs money to pay for all of this, so buy his books directly from him. I’m currently reading his “Neo-Pagan Rites”. It’s the go-to book for those who want to plan public Pagan rituals, from ones with just a few in your living room to several hundred in a hall or at a park. He goes through what works and what doesn’t, and why. His book is for everyone from experienced ritualists to the novice just starting out. He begins, as he often does, with definitions. I’m lucky, in that my definitions pretty much agree with his. Of course, he being the master of definitions, he put into cogent words what I had been thinking for years, but hadn’t been able to spell out. Go to http://neopagan.net/ and you will find his books listed. His email is ibonewits@neopagan.net. I don’t know whether Phaedra is answering his emails, or whether Isaac is in any shape to answer your own, but go to the site, and see which book(s) you might like to buy. I realize that it says on the site to buy the books at your friendly local metaphysical shop, or at amazon.com, or b&n.com, but that is outdated. The more current word is that they need to move the inventory they have on hand, and Isaac needs the cash he can garner from selling the books directly, and donations, all the donations he can get. Remember that as my guru the Swami Beyondananda says “Does are better than stags because with a country full of stags, you have stag-nation, but with a country full of does, you have doe-nation.” But personally, I would prefer a country full of bucks. All the bucks you can send my way will be most appreciated.
If you have a question that calls for a date or time period, Stephen6580 is the go-to guy. He uses the Celtic Wheel of the year time system, and can pin point when something is supposed to happen to within a week, according to the cards that are drawn. Readings go for up to a year and a day. He is a great reader, and has taught me much about the Tarot in particular and divination in general. For a clairvoyant, you can’t do any better than Astro Wing 3323. Stephen has stated that I am a clairvoyant. He’s only half right. According to the KEEN rules and definitions, I’m what is known as a pseudo-clairvoyant. I can get vague images, but not names, either of people or locations. I taught myself remote-viewing. I can sit in the passenger seat of a carm and see where there may be clogs in the traffic ahead. With a finger exercise I do, I can at times clear it up by sending everyone on their way on alternative routes. If it is an accident, I clear out the rubber-neckers. That’s what slows traffic down with an accident, you know. It’s not the accident itself, it’s all the people trying to get a look at it as they drive by. Once the highway patrol get there, they clear the road pretty quickly. There wouldn’t be as many accidents if people would just pay attention to their driving and not follow the person in front of them so closely. Give yourself a good stopping distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. The California Uniform Vehicle Code decrees that you should allow at least one car length for each 10 mph that you are driving.
Back to the Romani, most people are so focused on 6 million Jews being killed in the concentration camps during the Third Reich that they fail to recognize that over a million and a half Romani perished in those camps. How do I know all this? Well I’ve read books on the topic, and I also looked it up online. The Rom have their own website, “The Padrin”. Raymond Buckland, the Witch who was responsible for bringing Gardnerian Wicca to the United States back in the ‘60s is part Rom, or Traveler, as they call them in the.British Isles. He has two decks out. One has the unfortunate but undoubtedly commercial title of “Gypsy Fortunetelling Kit. The deck is much like a normal deck of playing cards except that there are some cards added that depict the Romani experience. I don’t read with it much. But what I do find valuable is the accompanying book, because it told me how to use my crystal ball, which was a gift from my 3rd ex-hubby. You want a dimly lit room. I like to have the living room dark, but have light in the hall, or some other room in the house then have a candle burning on the table where I have the ball set up. I have a black velvet cloth to cover the table. The candle should be dark blue for psychism. I have a psychic portals incense that I burn on charcoal to put my mind in the right space. Then I take my glasses off, because I want a soft focus, and I gaze at the crystal ball. Buckland, or Uncle Raymond, as I like to call him, says that it will become foggy, but I have yet to witness that phenomenon. Mostly what happens is that I get an image in my mind. There is a saying which goes YMMV, Your Mileage May Vary. That goes in spades in Scrying. I am fortunate enough to own a crystal ball, but there are other things to scry into. You can scry into a bowl of water. Stephen 6580 favors the magick mirror. You remove the silver paint from the back of a mirror and paint it black. Let it dry thoroughly, and then wash the back with mugwort water. That is a solution which you make by boiling mugwort leaves in spring or purified water. Let it cool. Put it in a clean glass jar, and keep it in the dark until use. You can just pour your mugwort water over the mirror and gently pat dry with a clean cloth. Do not wipe as this will remove the herb’s virtue from the mirror. Let dry.
I mentioned before that Uncle Raymond has 2 decks out from Llewellyn. The other occupies a place of honor in my heart as one of my favorite Tarot decks of all time. In fact it’s one of the few that I have in a wooden box. It is the Romani Tarot, and it is a very powerful deck. The artwork is drop-dead-gorgeous, and the scenes are very evocative of scenes in Romani life. I don’t know whether it is still in print, as it came out in the early 2000’s, but check with either Amazon.com or Ebay. Also, Mind-n-Magick may have a copy in their store. But if you get a used one, check to make sure that you’re getting the deck as well as the book. I made the mistake of buying a used deck from Amazon, and their 3rd party seller neglected to send me the deck along with the book. I didn’t even care about the book. It was The Book of Doors, a quasi-Kemetic deck and book set. I wanted the deck. Naturally, I panned the seller soundly. Thus far he has not offered to make good on the botched order, so I’m going to make sure Amazon doesn’t use that seller again.
I’m offering a new service on KEEN. If you know that I have a certain deck, you can request that I read you with that deck. There is one exception to that offer. If you are getting a free 5 minute reading, you get read with whichever deck I happen to have on hand. For example, this week, I am featuring the Tarot of the Elves, but you can request the Romani Tarot, or the Morgan-Greer Tarot, or any of the other 400-some decks that I own. If you like, in future blogs, I can feature some of my decks and discuss their virtues and shortcomings. Please let me know if you’d like me to do that in future blogs.
Isaac has just finished having chemo and radiation. Please send him all your healing energy. And he needs money to pay for all of this, so buy his books directly from him. I’m currently reading his “Neo-Pagan Rites”. It’s the go-to book for those who want to plan public Pagan rituals, from ones with just a few in your living room to several hundred in a hall or at a park. He goes through what works and what doesn’t, and why. His book is for everyone from experienced ritualists to the novice just starting out. He begins, as he often does, with definitions. I’m lucky, in that my definitions pretty much agree with his. Of course, he being the master of definitions, he put into cogent words what I had been thinking for years, but hadn’t been able to spell out. Go to http://neopagan.net/ and you will find his books listed. His email is ibonewits@neopagan.net. I don’t know whether Phaedra is answering his emails, or whether Isaac is in any shape to answer your own, but go to the site, and see which book(s) you might like to buy. I realize that it says on the site to buy the books at your friendly local metaphysical shop, or at amazon.com, or b&n.com, but that is outdated. The more current word is that they need to move the inventory they have on hand, and Isaac needs the cash he can garner from selling the books directly, and donations, all the donations he can get. Remember that as my guru the Swami Beyondananda says “Does are better than stags because with a country full of stags, you have stag-nation, but with a country full of does, you have doe-nation.” But personally, I would prefer a country full of bucks. All the bucks you can send my way will be most appreciated.
If you have a question that calls for a date or time period, Stephen6580 is the go-to guy. He uses the Celtic Wheel of the year time system, and can pin point when something is supposed to happen to within a week, according to the cards that are drawn. Readings go for up to a year and a day. He is a great reader, and has taught me much about the Tarot in particular and divination in general. For a clairvoyant, you can’t do any better than Astro Wing 3323. Stephen has stated that I am a clairvoyant. He’s only half right. According to the KEEN rules and definitions, I’m what is known as a pseudo-clairvoyant. I can get vague images, but not names, either of people or locations. I taught myself remote-viewing. I can sit in the passenger seat of a carm and see where there may be clogs in the traffic ahead. With a finger exercise I do, I can at times clear it up by sending everyone on their way on alternative routes. If it is an accident, I clear out the rubber-neckers. That’s what slows traffic down with an accident, you know. It’s not the accident itself, it’s all the people trying to get a look at it as they drive by. Once the highway patrol get there, they clear the road pretty quickly. There wouldn’t be as many accidents if people would just pay attention to their driving and not follow the person in front of them so closely. Give yourself a good stopping distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. The California Uniform Vehicle Code decrees that you should allow at least one car length for each 10 mph that you are driving.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Celtic Romance But Were Afraid to Ask
This group talks about some of the famous lovers in the Celtic tradition. Such names as Fand and Cuhulain, Emer and Cuhulain, Morgaine and Arthur, Guinevere and Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, Tristan and Isolde, Elaine and Lancelot, Igraine and Uther, Igraine and the Gorlois the Duke of Cornwall, Deirdre and Noaise, Merlin and Nimue, Merlin and Viviane and many others.
Nimue was great comfort to the knight Pellas when his lady courted and bedded Gawain. There were multiple relationships in Celtic romance. Melwas, lord of the Summerland, became love-struck with Guinevere when she rode out on Beltaine to greet the May. Arthur attended by his faithful companion Lancelot was willing to call out all out war to get her back. It is probable that Melwas treated his captive with respect and love.
Keep in mind, though, that this group is about all Celtic romance, not just the Arthurian romances. Also music plays a great role in Celtic romance. But it only stands to reason. Ever tried to seduce or romance someone without playing your favorite romantic music? It was much the same 1500 years ago or so. I have an audio cassette with music to seduce a man to. Now that I have a computer with a CD burner and Rhapsody, I’ll probably burn a CD with better music on it. Taliesin introduced his harp to people as “his lady”. It may have been a transformational device that turned human every so often. Dagda’s harp had eyes. Dagda and the Lady Boyne. There is also the theory that Bridgit was not his daughter but his wife.
The story of Noaise and Deirdre is typical of the Celtic romances in that they don’t end well. Deirdre, Noaise and his brothers escape to Scotland, where they live happily for many years, under the protection of the local king. Through trickery Deirdre’s husband the king Conchobar manages to get the four back in Ireland. Of course, Noaise and his brothers are killed, and in varying accounts of the story, Deirdre commits suicide or is kept prisoner by her husband.
And of course you all know the story of Tristan and Isolde, how they drank the love cup that was supposed to be shared by Isolde and Mark, her husband to be. That didn’t end well either. Celtic romances have a tendency of not ending well. I suppose that means that my relationship with Doc was a Celtic romance.
Cuhulain had many lovers. One was Fand. Another was Emer. Still another was Scathach. She was the one who ran the warriors’ school. Still another was Aife. Stephen says that Cuhulain was the most prolific and prodigious Celtic lover, I say it was Fion MacCool, who do you say it was? What about Brian Boru? I think Mary O’Connor would say Brian Boru. Mary O’Connor is an acquaintance of mine, member of St. Ita’s Renaissance Guild. Which woman in Celtic romance was the most prolific? Stephen says Queen Maeve. I thought it was Scathach. What woman would you say was the most prolific?
Cuhulain saw Emer across either the River Boyne, Shannon or some other river when he heard women’s voices. He marries her only after schooling in the martial arts (and perhaps as well the arts of love) by Scathach and her sister Aife. Forgall, Cuhulain’s father-in-law-to-be, hoped that the Amazonian Scathach would kill him, but instead Cuhulain has affairs with both women. Plainly Forgall did not do a charisma roll on Cuhulain before sending him to Scathach’s school, or he would have known the effect Cuhulain would have on these women. Cuhulain was like an ancient rock star, with women all over swooning over him. Even married women were no proof against his charms. Fand, the faery wife of Manannan mac Lir became his lover as well. We can only guess how Manannan mac Lir felt about it. I doubt that he was the kind of understanding husband who, realizing that he could not satisfy his wife, would move over and just let Cuhulain do his job. Stephen says that Cuhulain was an ancient Celtic stud-muffin. Cuhulain had a mad passionate affair with Fand while her husband was off doing something else, but Emer found out, and chastised him in front of her women. Conchobar had his Druid Cathbad brew up a forgetting potion for everyone involved to take so there wouldn’t be a war. In the Masons it is part of a Mason’s obligation that you do not screw around with your lodge brother’s wife. Apparently they didn’t have an agreement like that in Ulster. But according to Edain McCoy’s Celtic Myth & Magick, Manannan mac Lir had already left Fand before the affair with Cuhulain began. But Manannan, realizing that the relationship between humans and faeries would result in Faerie being destroyed, so he drew his mantle between the two, making them both forget the affair.
Cuhulain also had a relationship with Morrigu. Morrigu was the crone aspect of the Morrigan, also known as the three Babhs. This was a triple Goddess similar to the Norse Valkyries, with similar powers. She is there during his major battles. Ferdiad was Cuhulain’s only male lover. According to the Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Ferdiad was Cuhulain’s boon companion. They may even.have shared female lovers. Ferdiad was beguiled by Queen Mabh who promised him her daughter if he would fight Cuhulain in her defense. The Morrigan tried to keep Cuhulain from fighting his last battle, by getting him to not eat dog. The washer at the ford fed him dog which he was under a geas not to eat. A geas is a compulsion to do something or not to do something. It’s like a taboo. Taboo is a Polynesian word for something which is forbidden. It’s a kind of magick spell. In my ebook, Aengus Og, the Celtic god of love, has a geas placed upon him by the Morrigan that he cannot find love for anyone else until he finds love for himself, and is placed in the middle of 21st century San Francisco. The title of the book is “Aengus’ Sweet Duet”. Google it. See if you can pick up a download.
Dell has really messed up Stephen’s work. It took him 5 hours to send out just one 5 free minutes message. He wanted to show me so I’d know how to do it when I accumulated some clients. .He has over 3000 clients so figure out how many hours it’ll take him to send out that many. Don’t buy Dell. Also, if you’ve been watching those Blue Hippo commercials, don’t do business with Blue Hippo either. The CEO is a cokehead and a ripoff artist. His computers, if you even get one from him, suck out loud. If possible, they’re even worse than Dell. We mention these things because we care about our Pagan community, and we want people to know what is going on both with us and in the world at large. Doc said that 1 in 6 Dell computers (of both kinds) don’t work right out of the box. Stephen must’ve gotten that one in six because he’s had nothing but trouble with it from day one about 15 months ago.
Yahoo has been revamped completely. I got the new Yahoo toolbar, and added a bunch of our stuff to it. The new Yahoo has retooled both the toolbar and the home page, where you can add your own stuff. Also Yahoo has improved its messenger in the video talk aspect. We are still dissatisfied with Yahoo’s draconian policy of deleting certain groups after just 6 weeks of inactivity. It would be ok if they were even handed about it, but they seem to only delete certain groups, while others they leave alone. For this reason, and because of their draconian categorization process, we will not be putting any more groups on Yahoo. Google has also revamped their toolbar and googletalk.
Do not do business with IMVU. The new management of IMVU is a bunch of right-wing Republican Puritans who are utterly anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-sex. I had my bank disallow IMVU from deducting money from my checking account. Fully 40% of the people on IMVU are Pagans. If all the Pagans left, we might not put the network out of business, but we could definitely make it feel the pinch. I think that even the Pag-Symps would leave after the Pagans left, especially the ones interested in cybersex. Charles, the new CEO is a conservative Baptist, who has no business running a network like IMVU. In the name of “making the Internet safe for kids”, he and his henchmen are making IMVU no fun for anyone. I feel that having an age restricted section is protection enough for the little nippers, and that adults should have a section where they are totally free to do as they will. Stephen is furious, but I am indifferent. IMVU was nothing to me but an exercise in frustration that I spent way too much money and time on. I think it’s a waste of time and money, but Stephen lives most of his life on IMVU, and so is really bummed out by these developments. They have blocked out all the cool body enhancements and furniture Stephen got from Twinkle so they can’t be seen by anyone but him. IMVU is being investigated by: the FBI, Better Business Bureau, FCC, and FTC for its fraudulent and unethical business dealings. They have a file on IMVU the size of my 3rd exhubby, and he is big. He’s gotten even larger since we’ve split up. It makes me wonder why Doc had the heart attack, and not him. If you have any fraud complaints, contact the FBI Fraud division and the Better Business Bureau. .
I have just joined Stephen on KEEN. I am also doing readings outside of KEEN. I charge $15 for a fifteen minute reading. I got a webcam, and a mic/headset, so will be able to do readings on Yahoo and Windows Live as soon as they get hooked up. I am hunting for a publisher, since FireDrake’s Weyr unfortunately got closed down. I also need to get on Skype. If you can talk me through getting on Skype you get a reading. Readings and classes are our currency. I am also helping Stephen promote our friend Walter Rhoads’ art, their art gallery Gallery 14 and Julie’s tax service. I’m doing everything to raise money except sex. I refuse to get involved in porn, and I don’t have a very sexy voice.
In other news, Isaac Bonewits has started chemo and radiation. He has a semi-permanent IV shunt in his arm so he can get the chemo at home, since it requires a full work week of treatment once a month, and this will keep him from having to be in the hospital every month. I should tell either Isaac or Phaedra about aloe vera juice or gel and vitamin E oil. My father found them to be very soothing and efficacious when he was having radiation. Do go to his website at http://neopagan.net, and make a donation, and/or buy a book or two. I saw one that I want to buy that I don’t have. His essential guide to Wicca and Witchcraft is the one book I don’t have. Do send him healing energy so that he can go into permanent remission and so he can continue to write. It’s good therapy for him, and we like reading his books. Check out his music CD and see if it’s still in publication.
Isaac has decided to keep records for Keen just like he does for Zodiac, with date, time name of client, state or province, birth-date, and favorite number. He received this revelation in a dream. I think that it will be more efficient for him. Stephen says that this seems to be more productive for him since he had 15 calls today, between the two services. We are both keeping our dream journals. I put one together the same way that I put mine together; with a three ring binder and ½ package of notebook filler paper. Cost: $0, since I had the binder and the paper on hand. I have about three reams of college ruled notebook filler paper. Sometimes in August the two big-box office supply stores have good deals on it. I stock up then. Stephen wants to thank all of you for calling him at (land-line) 916-455-2267 or (cell) 916-612-2504 and ordering either a divination reading or a class for just $31.95. With webcam and voice on Yahoo IM, Windows Live Msgr, or Skype, it’s almost like being here. For the reading, you got to choose a deck, method, or tool from a vast array of decks/methods/tools. For the class, you got to choose from a myriad of topics in the vast area of magick. Some of you couldn’t decide between a reading and a class, and so for just $59.90 you knew you could have both.a reading and a class; how perfect is that? You can have a reading then in the class find out how he did it. Or you can have two classes, or two readings as long as they are on two separate and different topics/questions. And thank you too for using and spreading around his Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. You told your friends, relatives, in-laws, neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, teachers, kids’ teachers, fellow parents in your PTA, bus drivers, beauticians, and anyone else we might have left out. If you know of any other categories I may have omitted , do tell me. We would like to have other sites where we can have our groups.
So basically what we want is some action from you people. We want your feedback. We know we can always count on Dylan to give feedback, but he’s a partner in this venture. How about the rest of you? This is supposed to be a cooperative effort here. For those of you who are on Red Light, Stephen is doing readings for the cost of 10 rays, and classes for 20 rays. Red Light is a network that is more liberal than IMVU has become, since that Charles guy took over.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Little Boy
Frikki & Frakki
Dr.Livingston I. Presume
Nimue was great comfort to the knight Pellas when his lady courted and bedded Gawain. There were multiple relationships in Celtic romance. Melwas, lord of the Summerland, became love-struck with Guinevere when she rode out on Beltaine to greet the May. Arthur attended by his faithful companion Lancelot was willing to call out all out war to get her back. It is probable that Melwas treated his captive with respect and love.
Keep in mind, though, that this group is about all Celtic romance, not just the Arthurian romances. Also music plays a great role in Celtic romance. But it only stands to reason. Ever tried to seduce or romance someone without playing your favorite romantic music? It was much the same 1500 years ago or so. I have an audio cassette with music to seduce a man to. Now that I have a computer with a CD burner and Rhapsody, I’ll probably burn a CD with better music on it. Taliesin introduced his harp to people as “his lady”. It may have been a transformational device that turned human every so often. Dagda’s harp had eyes. Dagda and the Lady Boyne. There is also the theory that Bridgit was not his daughter but his wife.
The story of Noaise and Deirdre is typical of the Celtic romances in that they don’t end well. Deirdre, Noaise and his brothers escape to Scotland, where they live happily for many years, under the protection of the local king. Through trickery Deirdre’s husband the king Conchobar manages to get the four back in Ireland. Of course, Noaise and his brothers are killed, and in varying accounts of the story, Deirdre commits suicide or is kept prisoner by her husband.
And of course you all know the story of Tristan and Isolde, how they drank the love cup that was supposed to be shared by Isolde and Mark, her husband to be. That didn’t end well either. Celtic romances have a tendency of not ending well. I suppose that means that my relationship with Doc was a Celtic romance.
Cuhulain had many lovers. One was Fand. Another was Emer. Still another was Scathach. She was the one who ran the warriors’ school. Still another was Aife. Stephen says that Cuhulain was the most prolific and prodigious Celtic lover, I say it was Fion MacCool, who do you say it was? What about Brian Boru? I think Mary O’Connor would say Brian Boru. Mary O’Connor is an acquaintance of mine, member of St. Ita’s Renaissance Guild. Which woman in Celtic romance was the most prolific? Stephen says Queen Maeve. I thought it was Scathach. What woman would you say was the most prolific?
Cuhulain saw Emer across either the River Boyne, Shannon or some other river when he heard women’s voices. He marries her only after schooling in the martial arts (and perhaps as well the arts of love) by Scathach and her sister Aife. Forgall, Cuhulain’s father-in-law-to-be, hoped that the Amazonian Scathach would kill him, but instead Cuhulain has affairs with both women. Plainly Forgall did not do a charisma roll on Cuhulain before sending him to Scathach’s school, or he would have known the effect Cuhulain would have on these women. Cuhulain was like an ancient rock star, with women all over swooning over him. Even married women were no proof against his charms. Fand, the faery wife of Manannan mac Lir became his lover as well. We can only guess how Manannan mac Lir felt about it. I doubt that he was the kind of understanding husband who, realizing that he could not satisfy his wife, would move over and just let Cuhulain do his job. Stephen says that Cuhulain was an ancient Celtic stud-muffin. Cuhulain had a mad passionate affair with Fand while her husband was off doing something else, but Emer found out, and chastised him in front of her women. Conchobar had his Druid Cathbad brew up a forgetting potion for everyone involved to take so there wouldn’t be a war. In the Masons it is part of a Mason’s obligation that you do not screw around with your lodge brother’s wife. Apparently they didn’t have an agreement like that in Ulster. But according to Edain McCoy’s Celtic Myth & Magick, Manannan mac Lir had already left Fand before the affair with Cuhulain began. But Manannan, realizing that the relationship between humans and faeries would result in Faerie being destroyed, so he drew his mantle between the two, making them both forget the affair.
Cuhulain also had a relationship with Morrigu. Morrigu was the crone aspect of the Morrigan, also known as the three Babhs. This was a triple Goddess similar to the Norse Valkyries, with similar powers. She is there during his major battles. Ferdiad was Cuhulain’s only male lover. According to the Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Ferdiad was Cuhulain’s boon companion. They may even.have shared female lovers. Ferdiad was beguiled by Queen Mabh who promised him her daughter if he would fight Cuhulain in her defense. The Morrigan tried to keep Cuhulain from fighting his last battle, by getting him to not eat dog. The washer at the ford fed him dog which he was under a geas not to eat. A geas is a compulsion to do something or not to do something. It’s like a taboo. Taboo is a Polynesian word for something which is forbidden. It’s a kind of magick spell. In my ebook, Aengus Og, the Celtic god of love, has a geas placed upon him by the Morrigan that he cannot find love for anyone else until he finds love for himself, and is placed in the middle of 21st century San Francisco. The title of the book is “Aengus’ Sweet Duet”. Google it. See if you can pick up a download.
Dell has really messed up Stephen’s work. It took him 5 hours to send out just one 5 free minutes message. He wanted to show me so I’d know how to do it when I accumulated some clients. .He has over 3000 clients so figure out how many hours it’ll take him to send out that many. Don’t buy Dell. Also, if you’ve been watching those Blue Hippo commercials, don’t do business with Blue Hippo either. The CEO is a cokehead and a ripoff artist. His computers, if you even get one from him, suck out loud. If possible, they’re even worse than Dell. We mention these things because we care about our Pagan community, and we want people to know what is going on both with us and in the world at large. Doc said that 1 in 6 Dell computers (of both kinds) don’t work right out of the box. Stephen must’ve gotten that one in six because he’s had nothing but trouble with it from day one about 15 months ago.
Yahoo has been revamped completely. I got the new Yahoo toolbar, and added a bunch of our stuff to it. The new Yahoo has retooled both the toolbar and the home page, where you can add your own stuff. Also Yahoo has improved its messenger in the video talk aspect. We are still dissatisfied with Yahoo’s draconian policy of deleting certain groups after just 6 weeks of inactivity. It would be ok if they were even handed about it, but they seem to only delete certain groups, while others they leave alone. For this reason, and because of their draconian categorization process, we will not be putting any more groups on Yahoo. Google has also revamped their toolbar and googletalk.
Do not do business with IMVU. The new management of IMVU is a bunch of right-wing Republican Puritans who are utterly anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-sex. I had my bank disallow IMVU from deducting money from my checking account. Fully 40% of the people on IMVU are Pagans. If all the Pagans left, we might not put the network out of business, but we could definitely make it feel the pinch. I think that even the Pag-Symps would leave after the Pagans left, especially the ones interested in cybersex. Charles, the new CEO is a conservative Baptist, who has no business running a network like IMVU. In the name of “making the Internet safe for kids”, he and his henchmen are making IMVU no fun for anyone. I feel that having an age restricted section is protection enough for the little nippers, and that adults should have a section where they are totally free to do as they will. Stephen is furious, but I am indifferent. IMVU was nothing to me but an exercise in frustration that I spent way too much money and time on. I think it’s a waste of time and money, but Stephen lives most of his life on IMVU, and so is really bummed out by these developments. They have blocked out all the cool body enhancements and furniture Stephen got from Twinkle so they can’t be seen by anyone but him. IMVU is being investigated by: the FBI, Better Business Bureau, FCC, and FTC for its fraudulent and unethical business dealings. They have a file on IMVU the size of my 3rd exhubby, and he is big. He’s gotten even larger since we’ve split up. It makes me wonder why Doc had the heart attack, and not him. If you have any fraud complaints, contact the FBI Fraud division and the Better Business Bureau. .
I have just joined Stephen on KEEN. I am also doing readings outside of KEEN. I charge $15 for a fifteen minute reading. I got a webcam, and a mic/headset, so will be able to do readings on Yahoo and Windows Live as soon as they get hooked up. I am hunting for a publisher, since FireDrake’s Weyr unfortunately got closed down. I also need to get on Skype. If you can talk me through getting on Skype you get a reading. Readings and classes are our currency. I am also helping Stephen promote our friend Walter Rhoads’ art, their art gallery Gallery 14 and Julie’s tax service. I’m doing everything to raise money except sex. I refuse to get involved in porn, and I don’t have a very sexy voice.
In other news, Isaac Bonewits has started chemo and radiation. He has a semi-permanent IV shunt in his arm so he can get the chemo at home, since it requires a full work week of treatment once a month, and this will keep him from having to be in the hospital every month. I should tell either Isaac or Phaedra about aloe vera juice or gel and vitamin E oil. My father found them to be very soothing and efficacious when he was having radiation. Do go to his website at http://neopagan.net, and make a donation, and/or buy a book or two. I saw one that I want to buy that I don’t have. His essential guide to Wicca and Witchcraft is the one book I don’t have. Do send him healing energy so that he can go into permanent remission and so he can continue to write. It’s good therapy for him, and we like reading his books. Check out his music CD and see if it’s still in publication.
Isaac has decided to keep records for Keen just like he does for Zodiac, with date, time name of client, state or province, birth-date, and favorite number. He received this revelation in a dream. I think that it will be more efficient for him. Stephen says that this seems to be more productive for him since he had 15 calls today, between the two services. We are both keeping our dream journals. I put one together the same way that I put mine together; with a three ring binder and ½ package of notebook filler paper. Cost: $0, since I had the binder and the paper on hand. I have about three reams of college ruled notebook filler paper. Sometimes in August the two big-box office supply stores have good deals on it. I stock up then. Stephen wants to thank all of you for calling him at (land-line) 916-455-2267 or (cell) 916-612-2504 and ordering either a divination reading or a class for just $31.95. With webcam and voice on Yahoo IM, Windows Live Msgr, or Skype, it’s almost like being here. For the reading, you got to choose a deck, method, or tool from a vast array of decks/methods/tools. For the class, you got to choose from a myriad of topics in the vast area of magick. Some of you couldn’t decide between a reading and a class, and so for just $59.90 you knew you could have both.a reading and a class; how perfect is that? You can have a reading then in the class find out how he did it. Or you can have two classes, or two readings as long as they are on two separate and different topics/questions. And thank you too for using and spreading around his Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. You told your friends, relatives, in-laws, neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, teachers, kids’ teachers, fellow parents in your PTA, bus drivers, beauticians, and anyone else we might have left out. If you know of any other categories I may have omitted , do tell me. We would like to have other sites where we can have our groups.
So basically what we want is some action from you people. We want your feedback. We know we can always count on Dylan to give feedback, but he’s a partner in this venture. How about the rest of you? This is supposed to be a cooperative effort here. For those of you who are on Red Light, Stephen is doing readings for the cost of 10 rays, and classes for 20 rays. Red Light is a network that is more liberal than IMVU has become, since that Charles guy took over.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Little Boy
Frikki & Frakki
Dr.Livingston I. Presume
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