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Jul. 28th, 2005
T Minus two days and counting
Jul. 28th, 2005 11:25 amQuite a few of these posts have been private, due to the fact that:
a) some folks on my Friends list are non-BTW
b) some folks on my Friends list probably think the BTW are elitists
c) the rest either are mildly curious -or-
d) don't care
So go ahead and scroll to another friend's journal if you're anything other than interested.
I spent much of last night putting the finishing touches on my robes and going over that long list, again. I've a few misc. odds and ends I need to head out later and get, but at this point, most everything is done. I'll get everything together and put it in a small suitcase later this afternoon to double-check I've gotten everything. That way, my little anal-retentive self doesn't stay up all night worrying about forgetting something.
My HP called last night to make sure we were 'on' for Saturday and to see how I'm doing. He also wanted to know what questions I have and the odd thing is, I haven't any that can be answered pre-Initiation, so I'm oddly speechless. His calling was so thoughtful, I'm really touched that he thought to check in and see if I had any questions. I was somewhat surprised to find out the Initiation ritual is scheduled for four hours! Its an hour a piece, for each of us, then a big meet and greet BTW only celebration afterwards. I'm also tickled pink they used the traditional full moon incense I made them last month for their full moon this month.
I'm heading into my retreat beginning at sundown, so I may not be as active on LJ with responses, as usual.
a) some folks on my Friends list are non-BTW
b) some folks on my Friends list probably think the BTW are elitists
c) the rest either are mildly curious -or-
d) don't care
So go ahead and scroll to another friend's journal if you're anything other than interested.
I spent much of last night putting the finishing touches on my robes and going over that long list, again. I've a few misc. odds and ends I need to head out later and get, but at this point, most everything is done. I'll get everything together and put it in a small suitcase later this afternoon to double-check I've gotten everything. That way, my little anal-retentive self doesn't stay up all night worrying about forgetting something.
My HP called last night to make sure we were 'on' for Saturday and to see how I'm doing. He also wanted to know what questions I have and the odd thing is, I haven't any that can be answered pre-Initiation, so I'm oddly speechless. His calling was so thoughtful, I'm really touched that he thought to check in and see if I had any questions. I was somewhat surprised to find out the Initiation ritual is scheduled for four hours! Its an hour a piece, for each of us, then a big meet and greet BTW only celebration afterwards. I'm also tickled pink they used the traditional full moon incense I made them last month for their full moon this month.
I'm heading into my retreat beginning at sundown, so I may not be as active on LJ with responses, as usual.
Interesting Meditation work with Chakras
Jul. 28th, 2005 02:59 pmAs I'm looking for good meditation works for the coming retreat, I've been running around checking books and files, even the 'Net. Found this site, which looks promissing:
http://www.namastecafe.com/edu/chakra2.htm#Opening
http://www.namastecafe.com/edu/chakra2.htm
I do have a marked preference for KBLH meditations, even as aligned to chakras, so I'm going to do more homework.
Any recommendations welcome!
http://www.namastecafe.com/edu/chakra2.htm#Opening
http://www.namastecafe.com/edu/chakra2.htm
I do have a marked preference for KBLH meditations, even as aligned to chakras, so I'm going to do more homework.
Any recommendations welcome!
A thoughtful member of the BTW Seekers list shared this:
In the words of Joseph Campbell. . ."I greatly admire the psychologist Abraham Maslow. As I was reading one of his books, however, I found a sort of schedule of values, values that his psychological experiments had shown that people live for. He gave a list of five values: survival, security,
personal relationships, prestige, and self-development. I looked at
that list and i wondered why it should seem so strange to me. I
finally realized that it struck me as strange because these are
exactly the values that mythology transcends.
"Survival, security, personal relationships, prestige, self-
development - in my experience, those are exactly the values that a
mythically inspired person DOESN'T live for. They have to do with
the primary biological mode as understood by human consciousness.
"Mythology begins where madness starts. A person who is truly
gripped by a calling, by a dedication, by a belief, by a zeal, will
sacrifice his security, will sacrifice even his life, will sacrifice
personal relationships, will sacrifice prestige, and will think
nothing of personal development; he will give himself entirely to
his myth. Christ gives you the clue when he says, 'He that loseth
his life for my sake shall find it.'
"Maslow's five values are the values for which people live when they
have nothing to live for. Nothing has seized them, nothing has
caught them, nothing has driven them spiritually mad and made them
worth talking to. They are the bores. (...Ortega y Gassett once
wrote, 'A bore is one who deprives us of our solitude without
providing companionship.')
"The awakening of awe is the key here, what Leo Frobenius, the
wonderful student of African cultures, called 'Ergriffenheit,' being
seized by something that pulls you out.
"Now, it's not always easy or possible to know by what it is that
you are seized. You find yourself doing silly things, and you have
been seized but you don't what the dynamics are. You have been
struck by that awakening of awe, of fascination, of the experience
of mystery - the awareness of your bliss. With that, you have the
awakening of your mind in its own service. The brain can enable you
to found a business in order to maintain your family and get you
prestige in the community; given the right mind, it can do these
things well. But the brain can also impel you to give all that up
because you become fascinated with some kind of mystery.
"One of the most vivid examples I know of this phenomenon is the
life of the French painter Paul Gauguin. He was a perfectly
prosperous businessman with a family and a house; then he simply
became fascinated by what began to open up for him in painting. You
start doodling with things like painting and they might doodle you
out of your life - that's what happened to Gauguin. He just went off
on this adventure, forgot his family and everything else. His
awakening led him to Tahiti and all those beautiful paintings. He
forgot all about Maslow's values and began simply to live his bliss."
Notice, Joe doesn't say Maslow's research is faulty or his
conclusions are wrong - indeed, seems it does apply to mostpeople.
In the paragraphs that follow this passage, Campbell points out that
Maslow's hierarchy of values relates to the first three chakras of
the kundalini system - but once we reach Chakra Four - the Heart
Chakra - from there on we transcend those values.
Just as some critics of Campbell mistakenly believe that the
maxim "Follow your bliss" is little more than an embrace of hedonism
("do whatever you want"), many well-intentioned types often suggest
that what Campbell means by "follow your bliss" is simply personal
development
- but it is so much more than that.
Following one's bliss, one's passion, often entails great pain and
suffering as much as joy and elation. I think of a good friend of
mine who picked up a guitar at 17 and never put it down. He
practices hours a day, plays every chance he gets with everyone he
can - all the while working the day job, landscaping, to pay for his
bliss. Financially he could be doing better; his wife and children
see little of him - unless they tag along to endless rehearsals and
gigs - family vacations consist of attending blue grass festivals
where Dave has graduated from working the gate to backstage
security, when he isn't playing on stage himself. Dave, seized by
his art, is living his bliss - but economic security and personal
relationships suffer, and he's focused on making music, not personal
growth - so Maslow's hierarchy of values are out the window. He just
finished a CD, and is on the verge of giving up the landscaping job
to write and play music full time, which will mean significantly
less income - but he doesn't really have a choice ...
Elsewhere Campbell speaks of Joyce, who pursued his art with
singlemindedness - while he and his family lived in poverty for
decades, his daughter institutionalized, his own life cut short
because his art was more important than his health ... another life
at odds with Maslow's values. Joe suggests we wouldn't want to take
Joyce as a model for living a successful, well-adjusted life - but
he is the epitome of the artist, and is still generally recognized
as the greatest western writer of the twentieth century.
Of course, being seized by one's bliss, living a mythic life, isn't
automatically all darkness and disaster, nor always leads to
divorce, poverty, or an early death - however, for those who are so
seized, it wouldn't matter if it did ...
"Mythology begins where madness starts."
Hmn...not sure I understand or agree with all that, but there you go.
In the words of Joseph Campbell. . ."I greatly admire the psychologist Abraham Maslow. As I was reading one of his books, however, I found a sort of schedule of values, values that his psychological experiments had shown that people live for. He gave a list of five values: survival, security,
personal relationships, prestige, and self-development. I looked at
that list and i wondered why it should seem so strange to me. I
finally realized that it struck me as strange because these are
exactly the values that mythology transcends.
"Survival, security, personal relationships, prestige, self-
development - in my experience, those are exactly the values that a
mythically inspired person DOESN'T live for. They have to do with
the primary biological mode as understood by human consciousness.
"Mythology begins where madness starts. A person who is truly
gripped by a calling, by a dedication, by a belief, by a zeal, will
sacrifice his security, will sacrifice even his life, will sacrifice
personal relationships, will sacrifice prestige, and will think
nothing of personal development; he will give himself entirely to
his myth. Christ gives you the clue when he says, 'He that loseth
his life for my sake shall find it.'
"Maslow's five values are the values for which people live when they
have nothing to live for. Nothing has seized them, nothing has
caught them, nothing has driven them spiritually mad and made them
worth talking to. They are the bores. (...Ortega y Gassett once
wrote, 'A bore is one who deprives us of our solitude without
providing companionship.')
"The awakening of awe is the key here, what Leo Frobenius, the
wonderful student of African cultures, called 'Ergriffenheit,' being
seized by something that pulls you out.
"Now, it's not always easy or possible to know by what it is that
you are seized. You find yourself doing silly things, and you have
been seized but you don't what the dynamics are. You have been
struck by that awakening of awe, of fascination, of the experience
of mystery - the awareness of your bliss. With that, you have the
awakening of your mind in its own service. The brain can enable you
to found a business in order to maintain your family and get you
prestige in the community; given the right mind, it can do these
things well. But the brain can also impel you to give all that up
because you become fascinated with some kind of mystery.
"One of the most vivid examples I know of this phenomenon is the
life of the French painter Paul Gauguin. He was a perfectly
prosperous businessman with a family and a house; then he simply
became fascinated by what began to open up for him in painting. You
start doodling with things like painting and they might doodle you
out of your life - that's what happened to Gauguin. He just went off
on this adventure, forgot his family and everything else. His
awakening led him to Tahiti and all those beautiful paintings. He
forgot all about Maslow's values and began simply to live his bliss."
Notice, Joe doesn't say Maslow's research is faulty or his
conclusions are wrong - indeed, seems it does apply to mostpeople.
In the paragraphs that follow this passage, Campbell points out that
Maslow's hierarchy of values relates to the first three chakras of
the kundalini system - but once we reach Chakra Four - the Heart
Chakra - from there on we transcend those values.
Just as some critics of Campbell mistakenly believe that the
maxim "Follow your bliss" is little more than an embrace of hedonism
("do whatever you want"), many well-intentioned types often suggest
that what Campbell means by "follow your bliss" is simply personal
development
- but it is so much more than that.
Following one's bliss, one's passion, often entails great pain and
suffering as much as joy and elation. I think of a good friend of
mine who picked up a guitar at 17 and never put it down. He
practices hours a day, plays every chance he gets with everyone he
can - all the while working the day job, landscaping, to pay for his
bliss. Financially he could be doing better; his wife and children
see little of him - unless they tag along to endless rehearsals and
gigs - family vacations consist of attending blue grass festivals
where Dave has graduated from working the gate to backstage
security, when he isn't playing on stage himself. Dave, seized by
his art, is living his bliss - but economic security and personal
relationships suffer, and he's focused on making music, not personal
growth - so Maslow's hierarchy of values are out the window. He just
finished a CD, and is on the verge of giving up the landscaping job
to write and play music full time, which will mean significantly
less income - but he doesn't really have a choice ...
Elsewhere Campbell speaks of Joyce, who pursued his art with
singlemindedness - while he and his family lived in poverty for
decades, his daughter institutionalized, his own life cut short
because his art was more important than his health ... another life
at odds with Maslow's values. Joe suggests we wouldn't want to take
Joyce as a model for living a successful, well-adjusted life - but
he is the epitome of the artist, and is still generally recognized
as the greatest western writer of the twentieth century.
Of course, being seized by one's bliss, living a mythic life, isn't
automatically all darkness and disaster, nor always leads to
divorce, poverty, or an early death - however, for those who are so
seized, it wouldn't matter if it did ...
"Mythology begins where madness starts."
Hmn...not sure I understand or agree with all that, but there you go.
My bags are packed, I'm ready to go....
Jul. 28th, 2005 08:58 pmAs sundown draws near, a few last minute thoughts before the Retreat begins.
First things first:
My deepest gratitude and sympathy for my friends who have seen me through the amazing transformation and journey with the BTW Outer Grove, especially in the last year. For putting up with my angst, my tizzy fits, my lectures on occultism and my rants and raves as I worked to make progress. Thank you, there will never be enough said to transmute my thoughts and words to your souls. You have kept me sane, made me laugh at myself and you, I owe you more than I can ever repay.
For my former group members and Elders: Thank you for not being where I belonged because I learned and laughed a lot along the way. And without you all, I would not be where I am now. I always learn more from my mistakes than my victories, so many hugs and much love for being "my favorite mistake", as Sheryl Crow sings. And take that first part the way I meant it, with gratitude and gentle humor.
Thank you to my LJ Friends, some of which I've been blessed to know IRL or through the local Seattle area pagan grapevine. I've learned from all of you, laughed with most of you and look forward to many LJ journeys together. You all mean more to me than you can imagine and you guide me by the examples you set, the learning and journeys you've shared and the debates we've had.
Thank you for all the BTW friends, online and off who have steered me to where I am now and kept me researching and thinking, who challenged my preconceptions and gracefully nudged me back on path when I went astray. And especially thank you for the clue-by -fours and the screaming fits when I was too stubborn to hear what you were saying the first time around.
To my husband: Thank you, Josh. For being the man of my dreams, the magical partner of my every need and the husband every pagan woman admires. Without your love, our beautiful and safe home, and our furchildren I would not be who I am today.
To my family: Thank you, Mum & Da for always being so supportive, emotionally and financially of this journey. Without you, we wouldn't have had the closing costs on our house and without that house, we wouldn't have our home and furchildren. Thank you for insisting I receive good occult training, for all the books, gifts and pagan art, for all the times you've tagged along to Sedona, AZ, to Winter Solstice at St. John the Divine (well, I tagged along with Da, but you know what I mean) and all the wonderful conversations over wine, the trip to Ireland where I came face to face with what I was meant to be and all the other little things and big things that cannot be counted. Thank you for insisting that my opinions ALWAYS be backed with good research and for never allowing me to be less than I could be. Embracing my potential might have been a bitch of a journey, but it was always a challenge you taught me I could face. With grace and humor and a LOT of booze.
To Alicia, aka Wanderlust, for being my covensib and my Initiating partner, thank you for your laughter, your welcoming smile and all the times we've laughed and struggled together. For your Irish soul, your Hawaiian self, your eternal childlike wonder of the world. For putting up with my anal retentive self, my eternal quest for the BTW and occult knowledge. For Guinness and many, many hugs. Its been an honor and a gift making this journey with you and struggling through the challenge of the last year. We've had more "wtf" moments together than the rest of my life, combined. And I treasure that and you.
To my Elders, HP & HPS: I can never express what this Initiation means to me. I can only hope you already know exactly what this feels like and what it means to all Seekers who find their Families in you.
To the Lady and Lord: I've courted you for years, searched for you in the wrong places, found you reflected in other's eyes and myself, yet found myself wanting to know you by your most intimate of names and countenances as long as I can remember. It will be a gift beyond words to put names to the 'faces' so to speak. I look forward with all humility and gratitude to being formally introduced Saturday evening.
And now, gentle friends and neighbors... the sun has set, the Retreat begins and the Journey comes to a new crossroad.
First things first:
My deepest gratitude and sympathy for my friends who have seen me through the amazing transformation and journey with the BTW Outer Grove, especially in the last year. For putting up with my angst, my tizzy fits, my lectures on occultism and my rants and raves as I worked to make progress. Thank you, there will never be enough said to transmute my thoughts and words to your souls. You have kept me sane, made me laugh at myself and you, I owe you more than I can ever repay.
For my former group members and Elders: Thank you for not being where I belonged because I learned and laughed a lot along the way. And without you all, I would not be where I am now. I always learn more from my mistakes than my victories, so many hugs and much love for being "my favorite mistake", as Sheryl Crow sings. And take that first part the way I meant it, with gratitude and gentle humor.
Thank you to my LJ Friends, some of which I've been blessed to know IRL or through the local Seattle area pagan grapevine. I've learned from all of you, laughed with most of you and look forward to many LJ journeys together. You all mean more to me than you can imagine and you guide me by the examples you set, the learning and journeys you've shared and the debates we've had.
Thank you for all the BTW friends, online and off who have steered me to where I am now and kept me researching and thinking, who challenged my preconceptions and gracefully nudged me back on path when I went astray. And especially thank you for the clue-by -fours and the screaming fits when I was too stubborn to hear what you were saying the first time around.
To my husband: Thank you, Josh. For being the man of my dreams, the magical partner of my every need and the husband every pagan woman admires. Without your love, our beautiful and safe home, and our furchildren I would not be who I am today.
To my family: Thank you, Mum & Da for always being so supportive, emotionally and financially of this journey. Without you, we wouldn't have had the closing costs on our house and without that house, we wouldn't have our home and furchildren. Thank you for insisting I receive good occult training, for all the books, gifts and pagan art, for all the times you've tagged along to Sedona, AZ, to Winter Solstice at St. John the Divine (well, I tagged along with Da, but you know what I mean) and all the wonderful conversations over wine, the trip to Ireland where I came face to face with what I was meant to be and all the other little things and big things that cannot be counted. Thank you for insisting that my opinions ALWAYS be backed with good research and for never allowing me to be less than I could be. Embracing my potential might have been a bitch of a journey, but it was always a challenge you taught me I could face. With grace and humor and a LOT of booze.
To Alicia, aka Wanderlust, for being my covensib and my Initiating partner, thank you for your laughter, your welcoming smile and all the times we've laughed and struggled together. For your Irish soul, your Hawaiian self, your eternal childlike wonder of the world. For putting up with my anal retentive self, my eternal quest for the BTW and occult knowledge. For Guinness and many, many hugs. Its been an honor and a gift making this journey with you and struggling through the challenge of the last year. We've had more "wtf" moments together than the rest of my life, combined. And I treasure that and you.
To my Elders, HP & HPS: I can never express what this Initiation means to me. I can only hope you already know exactly what this feels like and what it means to all Seekers who find their Families in you.
To the Lady and Lord: I've courted you for years, searched for you in the wrong places, found you reflected in other's eyes and myself, yet found myself wanting to know you by your most intimate of names and countenances as long as I can remember. It will be a gift beyond words to put names to the 'faces' so to speak. I look forward with all humility and gratitude to being formally introduced Saturday evening.
And now, gentle friends and neighbors... the sun has set, the Retreat begins and the Journey comes to a new crossroad.
