I kinda got hung up on trying to work on the Dedicant's Program around one of the Holy Days because I was having a hard time figuring out how to work the COR in a Heathen context (given that I'm still dragging some ritual aspects from when I was Wiccan - over a decade ago - I seem to have an issue with changing much *g*) When I got stuck on that, I ended up losing my steam on the program in general. So, I've decided that, for now anyway, I'm not going to push too hard on doing the COR rituals as I go, so I can spend some time figuring out what's comfortable for me, and just work on the rest of the material for the time being.

Anyway, just thought I'd at least pop in, say "hi" see what everyone's up to :) Hopefully, I'll be posting more often again. (Well, hopefully for me, I dunno if y'all are "hoping" for that - LOL!)

I'm watching tonight's episode of Cold Case, which told the story of a girl who was murdered when, after falling in with a group of neo-Nazis, she wanted to go to the police about a hate murder she'd witnessed her "new friends" commit (they tried to make her participate but she couldn't go through with it.)

Anyway, at one point during the show, one of the characters is trying to pass himself off as not being racist to a couple of the cops, and Lily Rush starts looking at his bookshelf. She pulls off a book titled "The Lightning and the Sun" (a real book which from what little I've heard about it, goes way beyond glorifying Hitler to nearly deifying him.) Her partner says "You fooled us... you look normal enough" and Lily notes other books on his shelf "and Nordic Mythology, Ben Kalssen, History of the Illuminati, Mein Kampf...." after which he stops denying his beliefs.

I'm sure you can see what's got me so disappointed. Having Nordic Mythology on your bookshelf isn't an indication of racism, any more than, say, an Economics book (which the character also had around) on your shelf would be.

I can't begin to say how relieved I am, though, that they didn't try to bring Asatru - especially the way it's abused by prisoners as a way of trying to justify their beliefs - into it, but it's still a real disappointment.

About 3 weeks ago, my doctor boosted the airflow from my CPAP machine (I have sleep apnea, and the CPAP [Continuous Positive Airway Pressure] blows air through my nose all night to keep my wind pipe open so I don't suffocate in my sleep) and while I didn't have any problem with it drying out my throat at the previous setting, this new one is giving me fits. Ever since I got it boosted, I've barely been able to speak at all. What's happening, near as I can tell, is that because the air dries out my throat, my body tries to make more mucus to lubricate it (especially the vocal chords) and kinda goes overboard, and my throat gets all gunked up and I can't talk. To make sound, I have to push a LOT of air out, and even then, I don't get much. It's been a bit aggravating.

Of course, I've let that distract me too much and the Charming of the Plow just went right by without my making any observance of it. Crap. I'm going to try to do something as a belated celebration, but I know this means I'll be carrying my DP work over until at least this time next year, so I can actually do it right. Which is ok, I don't want to just try and get through on gussied-up half-assed work, and I'm sure there will probably be other delays, so it's not like I was expecting to be done all in one year.

Anyway, I ran across a quote from Gene Roddenberry (yes, the Star Trek guy) that I wanted to share: "We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

We had a wonderful visit from Thor yesterday! In the early morning, all the way until about noon, we had a nice gentle rain, but lots and lots of beautiful, booming thunder! It kept threatening to turn into snow, but the temperature managed to stay about about 34 degrees, so it just rained.

Looking at our forecast for the next few days, though, I'm wondering if Skadi and Thor aren't maybe having some kind of meteorological tug-of-war! Today it's supposed to get up to 70 out, and possibly some more thunderstorms overnight, and for tomorrow, we have a winter storm watch in effect. All I can do is laugh and be grateful that my supply of arthritis meds is well stocked.

Hail the Gods! Even just in watching the weather change, it's a blessing to see their hands at work in the world, eh?

Crossposted to thorswitch

Copied from peaceful_fox

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day:

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated on 27th January each year. This marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Website here:

http://www.hmd.org.uk/about/

Survivors stories here:

http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/cat/3/

It's still happening in the world today. Racism, hate crimes and extermination are still going on. Never forget. Never forget.

I'm sorry I hadn't heard about today's memorial before just now. To me, the Holocaust is one thing that we can NEVER allow to slip into the cracks of time. There are enough people today who claim it never happened that it could become questionable in the future if we don't make sure there's sufficient evidence to counter those denials.

It bothers me to see how our culture is starting to water down some of the language of the Holocaust, as well as the symbols. I know there are many, especially within the Heathen community, who want to reclaim the swastika, which was a symbol of good long before the Nazis twisted it into a symbol of evil, but part of me feels we should just leave it be. In a way, doing so would make it an even more appropriate symbol of what the Nazis did, because through their use of the swastika, they destroyed it, just as they destroyed (or tried to) virtually everything else they touched.

But even more than the swastika, I think it's imperative that we remember what the Nazis truly were. Today, we hear the term "nazi" used to describe people who are strict. You know, people complain about "grammar nazis" on mailing lists, Seinfeld had his "soup nazi" and other such trivializations. The problem is, the Nazis were a lot more than just "strict." They tried to wipe out an entire race, and they managed to subjugate a nation to the extent that the German people didn't stand up against them. There's no comparison at all between that and someone who wants a person to use comprehensible language when writing messages! And every time we use the term that loosely, we water down the true horror of what the Nazis were, what they did and what they stood for.

Germany, in their efforts to prevent anything like that from ever happening again have banned the use of any Nazi symbols. While that may be necessary for them, as a proponent of free speech here in America, I wouldn't want to see laws like that passed here. I would, however, love to see social and cultural pressure brought to bear to make it unacceptable to use such comparisons.

I ran across a story this week at the Consumerist. Apparently, a little over a year ago, one of their readers discovered a t-shirt for sale in Wal-Mart stores that featured a replica of the 3rd Division Totenkopf's symbol - the Death's Head, a modified skull and crossbones motif used by one of the divisions of the Nazi army. Wal-Mart was notified and agreed to take the t-shirts out of their stores and off the market. When, 3 months later, the shirts were still being found (though, in some stores, if someone tried to buy one, they'd get a message saying that the shirt couldn't be sold) in the stores, Congress was brought into the act and wrote a letter to Wal-Mart asking them to get these shirts off of the market. In the year since then, they were found at a discount retailer, who, when they were notified of what the symbol was, pulled the shirts from their stores and burned them. And as of last week - 62 weeks after they were first noticed - the shirts were found at a Wal-Mart on sale for $3. Ironically, the shirts were designed for Wal-Mart by a Jewish employee who saw the emblem in a book on design trends in Europe and had no idea what it was. But that's part of the problem right there - not only did he not recognize it for what it was, but neither did anyone else in the manufacturing or purchasing chain, and even after repeated notifications, Wal-Mart still hasn't made sure that the shirts are out of their stores.

When the symbols and the words of the Holocaust start to lose their meaning, we're getting closer to a time when the Holocaust itself may no longer be viewed as the horror that it truly was. One thing that helps me remember what it was is (yes) a song by Rush called "Red Sector A." The sound of the song implies that it's set in a futuristic world, but the words are derived from the stories singer/bassist Geddy Lee's mother told him of her time in the concentration camps (his father was a camp survivor as well, but died when Geddy was still fairly young.) The lyrics echo some of the feelings his mother described, and the closing words are the ones that echo the most in my head and hit me with just a minuscule idea of how it felt. Minuscule as it may be, however, its more than enough to remind me that we must never forget.

All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves
Is stay alive...

Ragged lines of ragged grey
Skeletons, they shuffle away
Shouting guards and smoking guns
Will cut down the unlucky ones

I clutch the wire fence
Until my fingers bleed
A wound that will not heal-
A heart that cannot feel-
Hoping that the horror will recede
Hoping that tomorrow-
We'll all be freed

Sickness to insanity
Prayer to profanity
Days and weeks and months go by
Don't feel the hunger-too weak to cry

I hear the sound of gunfire
At the prison gate
Are the liberators here-
Do I hope or do I fear?
For my father and my brother-it's too late
But I must help my mother
Stand up straight...

Are we the last ones left alive?
Are we the only human beings
To survive?...

Think again about those last words - "Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive?"

Those came from Mrs. Lee's recollection of how the prisoners felt - wondering if they were the last people left, because if there were other people out there, where were they and why hadn't they come to liberate them from those camps? Can you imagine feeling so abandoned by the outside world that you can only imagine that they must have been destroyed - that their destruction is the only rational explanation for why you've not been rescued yet?

No, we can't risk ever forgetting the Holocaust. We can't risk letting it happen again.

Crossposted from thorswitch

A poster to one of the Heathen groups I'm on mentioned that Holda is the Goddess of the Hound. I'd asked her if she might be able to send me info on that, but I've not heard back yet (I have a feeling she's pretty busy, is all, so I don't want to bug her again - so I'll bug all of you! LOL)

Anyway, have any of you heard of this or know of someplace I could get more information about it? As always, I'm still feeling like I need a Goddess to work with, but haven't found the right one yet. If Holda has an association with dogs, though, that might be a good avenue for me to explore since I do have such a very strong connection with my dogs.

Thanks!!

I'm still reading various stuff about the Kimkins diet program that I posted about the other day, mainly because the lady who runs it (and yes, it's still online, still accepting new members, still charging between $60 - $80 a month for a "lifetime" membership - "lifetime" being a fairly relative term, since she'll apparently block any members who disagrees with her or challenges her advice, and I've read stories from people who were blocked from using the forums for things that were posted on *other* websites. She also, apparently, solicited funds to help set up a "trust" for her "foster kids" who, it turns out, don't exist.

Anyway, during my browsing, I found an article about a couple of studies that have been done recently on the effects of fats in the absorption of nutrients from salad vegetables. What they've found is that because many of the nutrients - especially things like the carotenoids (alpha and beta carotene, lutien, lycopene, etc.) - are fat-soluble, there needs to be sufficient fat in a meal for them to be able to be properly absorbed. One of the studies tested the use of avocado, another used salad dressings. The studies were done separately, but the results very much parallel each other. When a salad was eaten either with no avocado or using a zero-fat salad dressing, virtually no nutrients were absorbed. When a moderate amount of avocado was added or a reduced-fat salad dressing was used, some - but not all - of the nutrients were absorbed, and when quite a bit of avocado or a full-fat dressing was used, all of the nutrients were absorbed.

The carotenoids are compounds that help your body make vitamin A. They have also been shown to be anti-oxidants and to help with both eye and heart health.

The article does note that using dressings with trains fats in them slows the absorption of legitimacy E, so you want to watch for that. It also notes that if you're eating something else in the meal that has some fat in it, then that should be sufficient to compensate if you prefer to use a low-fat or zero-fat type of dressing.

At any rate, I thought it was interesting and wanted to pass it along. :)

Hello!

Sorry I've been quite for a while - I've just been catching up on some of my other interests. I have a tendency to cycle the intensity of my interests through the different things that tend to catch my fancy. I always stay in touch with my spiritual interests, but how much time I devote to it changes over time. I think it's because when I do focus on something, I become almost obsessive about it, and then after obsessing about it for a bit, I have to change to something out, just to kind of keep from getting overly lost in things.

Anyway, so, things are well - I'm trying to get caught up with everyone's journals - I may not be able to get to everything, but at least see what y'all've been up to recently, and I hope all is well with you, too.

My husband is going to record the more Norse-oriented "An Advanced Two Powers Attunement" script by Paradox from the ADF site, so I'll be able to start working with that soon also, which will be nice.

I've picked up a couple books to read for my essays, though I know the "historical overview" books are going to give me the biggest trouble - I'm just not good at reading stuff that dry. But I'm looking forward to getting to go through some of the Eddas again - it's been a bit since I've read them, and I think with all of what I've learned since I last read them, they'll have a whole new meaning.

I also picked up a book called "Runemarks" by Joanne Harris, who also wrote the book "Chocolat" that the movie from a few years back was based on. This is another fantasy book that's aimed more at young adults, but seems to be an ok read for us old adults, too, and make use of Norse lore quite a bit. I'm not very far into it, but so far I'm liking what I'm reading.

That's about it - just wanted to pop in with a note at least :)

I've posted this to a few of the mailing lists I'm on, but wanted to post it here and on thorswitch, mainly because I know what I'm looking for may not be all that common, so I'm hoping by reaching out to a larger group, I may have more luck finding what I need :)

I'm working on putting together ideas for my shrine, and I would LOVE to be able to find a bowl - it doesn't have to be very big- made from lightning-struck oak.  I think it would be a very fitting vessel for sacrifices and tributes to Thor.  Does anyone know of a place that might work with lightning-struck wood?  I'd also be interested in finding someone I could buy some of the wood from and someone else that I could commission the bowl from, but I don't know how to find either.

Other suggestions are welcome as well, of course!

On the ADF-Dedicants mailing list, there's a thread that was started with a question about whether or not only God(s)/ess(es) could serve as Gatekeepers or if Gatekeepers could be called on from Nature Spirits or the Ancestral kindred. It got me thinking a bit about who might be asked to stand as a Gatekeeper in a Norse ritual. Here's the question I posted to the list - I thought I'd post it here, too, in case anyone here who's not on that list wanted to add some feedback:

When speaking of the Gatekeeper for a ritual, that is a being who is asked to serve as something of a conduit between the mundane world and the spiritual world, is this correct?

In a Norse-oriented world, then, would asking HeimdallR be appropriate, given his role as the guardian of Bifrost, standing there keeping watch for the forces of Ragnarok to keep that evil from crossing the rainbow bridge and entering Asgard?

My father, who's 72, stumbled a bit a week or so ago and initially developed a bruise on the top of his knee. Later that day, however, the bruise had gone from the size of a silver dollar to being about 12" long by 4" wide. The doctors didn't want to do much with it because opening it would just open the wound to infection, and - especially with MRSA apparently going around - the last thing you want is to open a route for an infection. A few days later, though, that question became moot when the fluid that had been building up in the wound decided it had nowhere else to go and the skin broke open. He's been in the hospital since then, and they've had to surgically clean the wound and are now hooking him up to a Wound-Vac to see if that will help the wound start healing better. They're also going to be keeping him on heavy-duty antibiotics during all of this. Oddly, they're not going to keep him in the hospital while administering the antibiotics (like they did with me and my leg wound,) but are sending him home and he'll have to go to the hospital 2 times a day to have infusion treatment.

As you might guess, I'm rather worried about him. I've been dealing with one wound for about 2.5 years now, and mine started out quite a bit smaller than his. We tried the Wound-Vac on me and not only did it not help any, I think it actually prolonged the healing process by about 6 months to a year. Granted, every nurse or doctor who helped me during the time I was using it was shocked that my wound wasn't shrinking, and the reason it took so long to figure out that the Wound-Vac was part of the problem is because it was simply unthinkable to anyone that it COULD be part of the problem - that how well they generally work, so hopefully my dad will have a more normal experience and his leg will heal properly AND promptly - but I'm sure you can see where I don't necessarily have a lot of faith in the Wound-Vac.

In addition, my 84-year-old mother had to have major open heart surgery last year and is still extremely weak - and now she'll have to take care of my father when he comes home. It's hard for her - probably too hard - but they have a lot of friends from their church who are willing to help them (and who understand that I can't) so that's helpful. Talking to them about the possibility of going to a nursing home is a bit tricky, though, since my dad worked food service in nursing homes for most of what I remember of his working life. They both know all of the good things about nursing homes, but they also know - from observing it - how lonely and isolated people can feel there, and how there's often a sense of hopelessness to the people there - a sense that they're just waiting to die. And I know my parents well enough to know that neither of them are even close to ready to admit that they might need that level of help. I'm sure they will be able to admit it before they get into any kind of trouble - and if it seems like they're not, I will speak up, but I know that right now, I wouldn't get anywhere.

So, if you can send energy to my dad for healing, my mom for strength, and me for wisdom, I would much appreciate it.

Looking at the Dangler book, the next topic is on developing a greater connection to and appreciation of Nature, and recommends finding a spot where we can go to experience nature. I suspect this topic is going to be one of the more difficult for me in the Dedicant's Program, but while I am stuck in my room, I do want to find ways to feel a greater closeness to nature.

Some of the things I've done over the year is when I hear a thunderstorm approaching, I'll sometimes turn out the lights, turn off the TV and the computer and just listen to Thor as he comes nearer, and then heads on to other areas in need of his life-giving rains. I also will sometimes just spend some time in silence in my room, trying to stretch my senses past the walls and floor, so that I can feel Jord's dark, damp earthen body, and the trees that we planted just after we moved into the house.

Going off on a bit of a tangent for a moment, I want to tell you about my trees! When we moved in here 13 years ago, there was only 1 tree in the back yard. I don't know what kind or species it is - it's looks like your basic, average tree with a nice rounded canopy and oval leaves that turn a kind of buttery-pale yellow in the fall. To that, we added 5 more trees to the back yard - a silver maple, a birch, an ash, an apple and a willow. I couldn't find any oaks in the places that had trees we could afford, so I got the silver-maple as a gift-tree to Thor. Even though it was very young when we got it - only a couple feet high - it looked very strong and unafraid of any storms, and it just felt right, so we got it. The Apple was in honour of Idunna and a gift-tree to all the Gods - a way to show them they are welcomed here, by having symbolic apples to offer them (mine won't keep them young, but I though they might appreciate the thought at least.) I got the Ash to stand for Yggdrasil, and the Birch as a gift-tree for Freya. The willow I got just because I love willows :)

In the first two years, every one of the trees we got died - or at least they appeared to. At one point or another the main trunk that had been grown when we got the trees withered and broke off. Interestingly, though, by the 3rd summer we were here, all but the willow started to grow back. I decided that since these trees seemed to have their own ideas about how they were going to grow, we weren't going to mess with them, so - except for things like removing a few branches to protect the roof, siding and windows of the house, the power lines behind it or the cable line crossing over the yard, they've not be pruned, trimmed or trained in any way. And when they did grow back, not one of them came back with a single trunk going up to a canopy of leaves. Instead, they have multiple trunks in interesting and odd angles and very unique shapes to them. The Ash developed 3 main trunks - two that are right next to each other, growing from the same basic point in the ground, and the third is about 5 feet from the others. Right next to it - and I mean like within about 3 or 4 inches - is the Birch, which grew back with two trunks. The Apple is probably the oddest, it actually looks kind of like a tall bush - while the others (including the Silver Maple and the one that came with the house) are all well over 10 to 20 feet tall now, the Apple is about 5 feet and looks like it's lived it's entire life in a eastward-blowing gale-force wind - everything is leaning heavily to the east. It does produce some apples for us most years - they're not very good tasting apples, sad to say, and they're green, but it's nice to be able to see them. The Silver Maple is by far the hardiest of the bunch. It has 3 or 5 good sized trunks with probably another 3 or 4 smaller ones, all growing up from the same area. I have no idea how tall it is - I haven't been able to see the top of it since I became housebound, and even from all the way across the yard, no one's really been able to get a good picture that can give me any kind of a perspective. It's a gorgeous tree, though, and in the fall when it's leaves get all silvery I love to be able to look out at it!

You know, even though I can look out my window anytime and see them, I still miss my trees - I've been getting all choked up right now writing about them.

The house also came with a couple beautiful trees in the front yard - the most wonderful being a Maple that just GLOWS with fiery reds, oranges and yellows in the fall. When I was still able to get out driving, even when I was still a couple blocks from the house, I could see that tree standing out among all the others on our street. Whenever I do a blot or other rite and have a libation I wish to offer to the Gods, that's the tree I have my husband pour the offering at. Since I use real beer for my offering, I don't want to get in the habit of pouring it in the back yard, because I know my dogs and they go out and try to eat that dirt! LOL So libations go out front!! We also have a bush-like tree or tree-like bush (I've known which it was technically) that has those brilliant crimson leaves year round. I hope I get to see that one again sometime soon.

Anyway - so when I talk about trying to stretch my senses out to feel the trees, I'm especially referring to the ones in the back yard - the ones I brought here and helped to plant, the ones I watch seemingly die and then restore themselves in a manner they liked better. And just thinking about those trees helps me feel closer to nature - I feel like because those are MY trees - chosen by me, and planted with my love as an gift to the Gods - there's a part of me out there with them at all times. When I hear the wind rustling through their leaves, I take a minute and let myself imagine the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair and my outstretched arms. When it rains, I imagine myself feeling the raindrops landing on my skin the way it lands on their leaves.

As for the earth itself, I very much see it as the living embodiment of the earth goddess Jord - often said to be Thor's mother (which I think makes perfect sense - Odin is frequently referred to as a "sky god," and lightning is created when the negative charge in a cloud is strong enough to become attracted to the positive charge of the earth, and vice versa - and the two streams reach out to connect with one another.) Even though I can't get outside, I still feel her presence, and find it to be very comforting - sort of like that sense of safety you get when someone you love wraps his or her arms around you and you feel warm and protected from whatever might be "out there" at any given time.

I have to say, as I'm writing this, I'm finding that my memories of nature are very, very strong - and I am so grateful for that. Even though it's been decades since I was last able to ride a horse (for lack of access to a horse more than anything else,) I can still remember the feel and smell of the horses fur, the thrill and sense of freedom that I had on the day I got to take one of my parent's friends' horses out for a run while they chatted. He had a huge ranch, and I could just take off and go wherever I wanted, as fast as the horse was willing. I think that's my all-time favourite memory. I can remember the smell of grass and the warm dampness in the air before a rain. I can feel the light touch of snow falling on my face as I look up to watch is lazily winding its way to earth.

My biggest regular connection with nature is with my dogs. That may sound funny, but they are creatures of nature - and as much as I tend to anthropomorphize them, they really aren't human, and their innate spirits are very different from ours. Plus, every time they go out to play, they bring bits and pieces of nature back with them. Mostly mud, but hey, it's more than I get to on my own, eh? LOL

Maybe this won't be so challenging after all. I would so love to find ways of acting being able to go outside and experience nature more, but while I know this has been a long and winding piece (sorry about that) I'm just finding all these vivid memories springing to mind and can remember so clearly what it's like to be outdoors, just sitting quietly and taking it all in. I just need to make sure I take time every day to just relax and enjoy them again and again until the day comes that I can set foot (or wheel!) outside and go be amongst my trees again.

Crossposted to thorswitch


walkyrja posted this to the Troth's mailing list, but I have to share it - too priceless! I hope the guy goes through with his plans for a spring "thank you" bonfire, too - that would be very, very cool :)

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7839016?source=rss



Flaky prayers may melt records
December snowfall rides high at resorts
By Troy Hooper
Special to The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 12/30/2007 09:42:54 AM MST


Skiers and snowboarders pack Loveland Ski Area on Saturday after bountiful snowfalls. (Nathan W. Armes, Special to The Denver Post )ASPEN — Skiers and snowboarders last month were dancing and chanting around a 45-foot-high bonfire as they paid homage to Ullr, the Norse god of winter.

Frustrated with the balmy weather and scant precipitation, the snow lovers tossed old skis into the flames as a sacrificial gesture to Ullr, who they prayed would deliver heavy snow to their fair mountain town.

Coincidence or not, the snow arrived within a matter of days.

And it hasn't stopped.

This month is the second biggest snowfall total for any December in Aspen since officials began tracking that in 1934. So far, 93 inches have graced Aspen Mountain's slopes this month, just shy of the 102-inch record in 1983. Down the road, Snowmass Ski Area has received 110 inches — more than 9 feet. Snowmass needs 7 more inches to tie its record December snowfall, set in 1983.

Indeed, it has been a December to remember.

"It's been sensational," said venerable ski industry pioneer Klaus Obermeyer, who has lived in the area since 1947. "Not only did it snow a lot but it has been cold enough to dry that snow out and make it champagne powder. You can be in 2 feet of snow and just float down the mountain."

Across the state, ski resorts are boasting some of the best conditions in memory. Wolf Creek has the deepest base in the state with 116 inches. When it opened for the season in November, the resort had only 10 inches.

Other Colorado resorts had delayed their openings or cranked up the lifts with limited terrain.

Just days before Vail was scheduled to open, professional skier and longtime resident Chris Anthony was pedaling his mountain bike on November's snow-barren slopes. Now he's relishing Vail's winter wonderland.

"It's awesome. We've had consistent snowfall, and the snow has been really soft," said Anthony after a hard day of skiing Saturday.

Whether the bountiful snowfall turns into big business for Colorado's ski resorts remains to be seen.

"The snow message is crucial. Not having much snow at Thanksgiving was detrimental to our bookings," Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman Jeff Hanle said.

In 2006, Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade group representing 26 of the state's ski resorts, reported a record-setting 3.29 million skier visits through Dec. 31. Officials aren't expecting to break that mark this year.

"We're looking pretty strong. I don't know if we're at record numbers, but the snow in December definitely helped us," said Nick Bohnenkamp, communications coordinator for Colorado Ski Country USA.

Bohnenkamp expects this month's copious snowfall to translate into increased business in the spring, when many of the same vacationers over the holiday season will return to get last turns before the season's end.

Aspen resident Andrew Scott, who helped mastermind the Ullr ritual, said another bonfire is in the works this spring. But it will be different than the last, he said, as the fire won't beckon Ullr for more snow.

"This time, I think we should thank the gods," he said.

BJ, who set up and served as priest for the Yule ritual I attended in Second Life has posted a self-evaluation of the ritual at his Live Journal (dreams2fly). It's a great write-up and goes into a lot more detail about what we did, as well as explaining a lot of the work that went into creating it. For anyone curious about what it takes to create a ritual in a virtual world, I highly recommend checking it out!

I've still been working with the Two Powers meditation, using the Ian Corrigan guide tape. I'm finding it to work quite well for me, though I'm hoping to be able to take it somewhat deeper and make the process be somewhat longer, so that I spend more time in that state of mind that I do currently. One thought I've had is to create a set of prayer beads, somewhat like a Rosary, but obviously in a Pagan/Heathen vein, not a Marian one :D

So far, I've though that I could include:

The Nine Virtues of Druidry:

1. Wisdom
2. Piety
3. Vision
4. Courage
5. Integrity
6. Perseverance
7. Moderation
8. Hospitality
9. Fertility

The Nine Noble Virtues of Heathenry:

1. Courage
2. Truth
3. Honour
4. Fidelity
5. Discipline
6. Hospitality
7. Industry
8. Self-Reliance
9. Perseverance

The Nine Worlds:

1. Asgard
2. Vanaheim
3. Muspilheim
4. Jotunheim
5. Ljossalfheim
6. Midgard
7. Svartalfheim
8. Hel
9. Nifelheim

I'd use those 3 "Nines" to make the rounded part of the rosary, with each set of Nine getting a specific kind of bead, and placing a "spacer" between the sets. That way, if at some point, I decide I want to change the assignment of one of the sets of Nine, I can still use it - I'll just have to organize whatever I'm wanting to add (say, a particular prayer for something I need at a given time, or a prayer of celebration and gratitude, or some kind of magickal working I might wish to do) into 9 parts, which, given how important 3's and 9's are in both Heathenry and Druidry, shouldn't be TOO hard.

Then for the strand that hangs down straight off of the "necklace" loop, I would have 3 sets of 3 beads representing Nine Holy Things:

• The Three Realms
1. Underworld
2. Middle Realm
3. Heavens


• The Three Worlds
1. Land
2. Sea
3. Sky


• The Three Kindreds
1. The Nature Spirits
2. The Ancestors
3. The Shining Ones
</oi>

There would be a spacer bead between each set of three, and the final bit would be a Thor's Hammer at the end (where a Catholic would have a Crucifix (or Marian medallion of some sort). I have a really nice one I can use already, so I'll just need to decide what kind of beads I want to use for each of the nines and then for each of the Nine Holy Things.

The only trouble I see with it is that both the Nine Virtues of Druidry and the Nine Noble Virtues of Heathenry have Courage, Hospitality and Perseverance listed as specific values. The easiest, and most obvious, solution is to just spend a bit of time on those particular virtues each time they come up - I'm not sure that Courage, Hospitality and Perseverance can be over-considered - or I can just spend a bit less time on each when I hit them in the second segment than I did when I came across them in the first segment. Or, if I find that's not working, I can work on creating a prayer of praise I can offer instead of one of the sets of virtues.

Now, I just need to assign bead types and find them online so I can order them. If anyone has any suggestions regarding either the rosary/prayer beads itself or a store with a decent reputation that sells beads online. I want to stay away from plastic if possible - I'd rather use I guess they'd be called "stone" beads or "mineral" beads? I'm thinking along the lines of Hemetite, Onyx, Obsidian, Quartz, Agates, Athemyst, an other lower-cost "semi-precious" beads (is that the right term?)

Thanks!!

I've been trying to organize my thoughts on Yule for several days, and I think the best way for me to do that is to just start jotting down the things I want or need to think about and go from there. So, this may seem a bit disjointed, but once I get all the info down, I should be able to start forming it into something of an essay :)

High Day Celebrated: Yule

Location: Second Life (virtual nemeton created by BJ Rogers [Beej])

Date Celebrated: Sunday, December 23rd

Time Celebrated: 3pm CST

Who Led the Right: Beej

Grove/Group Name: ADF in Second Life

Other ritual officer: None

Number of Attendees: About 10

Gatekeeper: Manannan Mac Lir

Deities of the Occasion (Patrons): Gwion Bach and Cerridwen

Omen Method (i.e. runes, ogham, tarot): Ogham

Omens (as read, with interpretation): I didn't realize I would need to record the interpretation, so I sent Beej an email to ask to which omens were pulled and the meaning. He was able to give me the omens he pulled, but because we were using voice chat and he was reading the omens as he pulled them, there wasn't any kind of a record of what, exactly, he'd said. The comments here are just the barest outlines of what I remember him saying during the rite. I will make sure to get more info on this next time around.

The omens pulled were:

• Ogham: Elder, Kenning: the fair Folk - this was pulled to represent the message from the Nature Spirits, and the meaning is remember the fair Folk and their blessings throughout the year.
• Ogham: Heather, Kenning: Responsibility - this was pulled to represent the Ancestors and the meaning is to remember the Ancestors and the responsibilities we have to family throughout the year (I think... I'm a bit fuzzy on this one)
• Ogham: Ivy, Kenning: Search for self - this was pulled to represent the Shining Ones, and the meaning is that they will be with us as we search for our true selves.

Beej then proclaimed that the omens were good.

Any Magical Workings Done or Oaths Given: None during the ceremony. Later that evening, in a a time of prayer, I gave my First Oath to the Aesir, Asynjur and Vanir, and in particular to my Patron, Thor.

Impressions/Other Comments/Notes: In some ways, because this was all so new to me, I think I probably missed some of the details and the subtler currents simply because I was trying to figure out how everything fit together. It was, however, a very beautiful ceremony, and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to meet with other Neopagans and Druids in a setting like Second Life, where I the visual representations on the screen help me be able to really see myself in a grove somewhere with real people, feeling the spirits of Nature, the Ancestors and the Shining Ones in our midst. Because we were using voice chat, I could hear the other participants when we made our responses and sang the chants, and in those moments, I wasn't sitting here alone in my room, but I was out in the world, among people who love and cherish much the same things I do. It was very moving, as I haven't been able to feel that kind of fellowship in years.

The chants were an interesting aspect of the rite. Beej ran through all of them a couple times before we started, but there were so many (eight) it was a bit difficult to keep all the tunes straight. (At least among the Norse groups I worked with before I became homebound, we don't sing without quite a bit of ale to soften the blow to the ears!) Plus, they covered a wide enough vocal range that I think most of us had some difficulty trying to sing them. I wound up singing in my lowest register (in high school, my range was enough lower than most of the altos that I was actually put with the tenors since there were very few of them in the choir that year,) but when I sing that low, I also tend to sing very softly, so I don't know if my voice was even heard by others. If it wasn't, they can consider themselves quite lucky! Still it was an interesting experience, and I have to say that the songs themselves were quite lovely, even if our group performance of them wasn't. I'm hoping I can learn not just these, but others before the next ritual so perhaps I can feel more confident joining in more fully in that part.

This was my first time attending a ritual where the deities being honoured did not include my own deities. It felt a bit strange, especially at first, but that quickly passed. I mean, it wasn't like anyone was asking me to swear an oath of fealty to the Celtic Gods or anything like that - and I certainly accept the reality of the Celtic Gods and have no issues with them, so I decided that I should just act as a good guest, and offer them sincere thanks for their hospitality. I planned to spend time later with Thor and the other Norse Gods and Goddesses, so I knew they weren't going to be forgotten, either.

When Beej opened it up for any other offerings (including, he noted, offerings of praise, or oaths) I considered making my First Oath at that time, but because we had invited Celtic deities to join us, and my Oath would be directed to the Norse Gods and Goddesses, I didn't feel it would be appropriate. It just struck me as being like if you're at your in-laws for the holiday and when you have a chance to express your gratitude to them for welcoming you into their home for the holiday, you decide, instead, to call your parents to tell them how great they are and how much you love them. So I stuck with my plan to do the Oath later when it was just me and whichever of the Aesir, Asynjur and Vanir chose to hear my vows.

I believe this was the first time Beej had held a full-out ritual in the virtual nemeton, and Second Life being Second Life, there were some technical issues that slowed things down a bit here and there or needed to be addressed, which kind of took us briefly out of the moment, but those bumps will get smoothed over as more rituals are done and everyone gets used to how the technological aspect of it works.

The only real - I don't know if "complaint" is the right word - perhaps "disappointment" is better - that I had was with the meditative component of the ritual. Rather than taking time to allow everyone to really sense the energy from the waters in the earth and from the star in the sky, the meditation script was read at normal reading speed and the whole going into that meditative state was done in probably less than a minute. Likewise for when we were to return to normal space at the end of the ritual. While I'm sure many people can - and do - quickly achieve the passage into that kind of mental space that is good for spiritual workings due to having practised it so many time, not everyone is to that point, and it would have been nice to maybe take it a bit slower. Still, I would consider that more of a minor quibble than anything that seriously disrupted my ability to participate in the ritual.

I am quite looking forward to the next ritual there - I think it's a fantastic way to allow solitaries, people who don't have much access to real nature, and people who are disabled and can't get outside to participate in a celebration with others and really feel like you're a part of something bigger.

Crossposted to [Bad username: thorswitchchristianity, humour, religious freedom, religious tolerance, thor]

I must thank weofodthignen for directing me to this in the comment section of my post about the House of Representative resolution on the importance of Christmas and Christianity. It was written by Radical Russ at Pam's House Blend, and is a thing of beauty!

No, this one isn't real. But this one is.

110th CONGRESS
1st Session

H. RES. 987
Recognizing the importance of Thursday and Thor, God of Thunder.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 12, 2007

Mr. BELVILLE of Oregon (for himself) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION
Recognizing the importance of Thursday and the faith in Thor, God of Thunder.

Whereas Thursday, a weekday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated weekly as "only one more day of this crap" by workers throughout the United States and the world;

RadicalRuss :: Score one for Thorocracy

Whereas there are approximately 43,000,000 Americans born on Thursday in the United States, making Thursday the birthdate of over one-seventh of the American population;

Whereas there are approximately 900,000,000 Thursday-born people throughout the world, making Thursday the third-favorite day in the world and the favorite day of about one-fifth of the world population;

Whereas followers of Thor, God of Thunder identify themselves as those who believe in the ancient oak of Geismar, sacred gathering place of Thor, God of Thunder, the Son of Odin, and who, out of respect for the mighty hammer Mjolnir, commit themselves to living their lives in accordance with the teachings of the Prose Edda;

Whereas Thor, God of Thunder and his followers have contributed greatly to the development of striking implements;

Whereas the United States, being founded as a constitutional republic in the traditions of western civilization, finds much in its architecture that points observers back to its use of various hammers;

Whereas on the fifth day of each calendar week, American followers of Thor, God of Thunder, observe Thursday, the weekday celebrating the reign of their warrior, Thor, God of Thunder;

Whereas for followers of Thor, Thursday is celebrated as a recognition of Thor's conquest of frost giants, the Midgard Serpent, and Loki; and

Whereas many followers of Thor and non-followers throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Thursday as a time to prep for the weekend: Now, therefore be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the faith in Thor, God of Thunder, as one of the great religions of the world;

(2) expresses continued support for followers of Thor in the United States and worldwide;

(3) acknowledges the international work week and historical importance of Thursday and Thor, God of Thunder;

(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by hammers and Thursday in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;

(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against followers of Thor, God of Thunder, both in the United States and worldwide; and

(6) expresses its deepest respect to American followers of Thor, God of Thunder and throughout the world.

HAIL THOR!!!! For, truly, where would our nation be without hammers?

Crossposted to thorswitch

Crooks and Liars, a liberal video blog I frequent, decided to ask its readers today a series of questions James Lipton asks his interviewee's on "In The Actor's Studio." I thought it would be fun to see what your answers would be. I'll go first, and you can answer in comments ;)

1. What is your favourite word?
2. What is your least favourite word?
3. What turns you on?
4. What turns you off?
5. What sound or noise do you love?
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
7. What is your favourite curse word?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

My Answers:

What is your favourite word? "However" - I actually was nicknamed "however" by some of my friends in college because I so often will structure sentences like "so-and-so has a good point here, however, this-or-that should also be considered." It's just a very useful word that allows you to acknowledge the strengths of someone's arguments and then address the weaknesses and why you disagree with them.

What is your least favourite word? "Cunt" - just hate it

What turns you on? Really, really good music - especially really, really good guitar work (surprise, eh? LOL)

What turns you off? Someone who tries to get me turned on using crude sex terms.

What sound or noise do you love? A well-played guitar

What sound or noise do you hate? Buzzes, screeches, the classic "nails on the chalkboard," a specific sound or effect that gets thrown into a lot of rap songs - I've never been able to describe it and I don't know what the name of it is, but as soon as I hear it, I'm diving to turn the source of it off.

What is your favourite curse word? Profane: Fuck, Non-Profane: Bloody Hell!

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? My last "profession" was being dealing with really pissed off customers and authorizing repairs or legal settlements at a home warranty company. If I could be any other profession, I'd want to be a very successful rock guitarist - that's really been my dream. I just didn't stick with it when I was younger because I didn't think there was room for a female hard rock/progressive rock guitarist, and by the time women started being taken seriously in rock, I'd sold my guitars and was getting too old - and having too much pain to give it a go.

What profession would you not like to do? Anything dealing with "bodily fluids" and/or trash. Oh, and nothing involving children, either.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? I just want to hear Thor say "Welcome home" to me when I approach the gates of Bilskirnir. Anything beyond that would just be gravy.

I've done sound work at radio stations before, and while not *quite* as fussy as ad agencies, I can tell you, this isn't far from the truth of it at all...

Enjoy!

Good Yule, everyone! I hope that your Yule is going well and that the Gods and Goddesses are giving each of you the gifts of joy, warmth, love and hope!

Today, I participated in my first ADF-style ritual, and it was quite interesting. I had mentioned a few days ago that I was a bit cautious about doing this because it was going to be held in Second Life, and I had previously had some serious problems with using SL irresponsibly. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts - I had no trouble at all getting through the ritual and getting the program back off my computer, and I don't feel any desire to go back in again until it's time for the next ritual.

One fun side note - I decided that since I'm only going to be using it for ADF or other Spiritually-related events, I wanted to have an avatar with the name "Kriselda" on it so people would know it's me (my current avatar is named "Rocinante.") When making an avatar for SL, you have to choose your last name from a list of names they currently have available. When enough avatars have used any given name, that name is removed from the list and new names are added. You can pick your first name pretty freely, though - as long as no one else using the same last name you pick has it (and as long as it's not in violation of the TOS, of course.) I could NOT believe my luck when I went to pick a last name for my "Kriselda" avatar - Thor was available as a last name. Not Thorfinn or Torvald or Thorrson or any other variant, just plain old Thor. So, the next time I attend a ritual in Second Life, I'll be there as "Kriselda Thor" - the only way that could have been better is if they'd had "Jarnsaxa" available :D

These are just some brief notes on the ritual today for when I go back to write it more in depth for my essay later.

The ritual today was in honour of Gwion Bach and Cerridwen, which had a very different feel for me, given my Norse orientation, but it was interesting to experience. I'd never been in a ritual before where the deities being honoured were different from my own, but I found it didn't bother me - I honour them as brother-and-sister-kindred to my Gods, and then took time to honour Thor, the rest of the Aesir, the Asynjur and the Vanir later. At that time, I also took up my hammer and made my First Oath. I posted the text of it above a few days ago, but I'm reposting it so that when I go back through these notes later, I won't have to go searching for it.

"I, Kriselda Jarnsaxa, give this - my solemn Oath - as I start a new direction on my path by taking up the Druidic ways, so that I may more fully honour the Aesir, Asynjur and Vanir, my Patron, Thor, and any other God or Goddess who makes plain His or Her intention to be a force in my life. I give my Oath that I will continue to study the Elder Ways so that I may more fully understand them and make them a foundation for my life. I give my Oath that I will always endeavour to live true to the Nine Virtues of Druidry and the Nine Noble Virtues of Heathenry, and that I will seek to do right by my Gods, my family, my friends and my community."

I'll write up more about the ritual later.

Blessings to you all!
Kriselda