Pneumatised!

MM,

After about three weeks straight of finalizing some stuff, I’m offering reiki courses for levels one and two. Please see the scheduled dates and times below:

LEVEL ONE (SHODEN)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(one-hour lunch break at 1 p.m.)
Monday, May 7, 2007
6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

LEVEL TWO (OKUDEN)
Saturday, June 2, 2007
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(one-hour lunch break at 1 p.m.)
Saturday, June 9, 2007
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(one-hour lunch break at 1 p.m.)

For course descriptions and other related services, see “Reiki Courses and Other Services” on my website. Contact information can be found there.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Ritual last Sunday was a beautiful dance and music ritual dedicated to waking up the goddess as it is now spring. It has been a little cold lately, so perhaps the goddess needs some encouragement?

The whole ritual was done by dance or music, in particular drumming. Beautifully put together and performed. The Priestess portrayed the goddess who was asleep during the winter months, then she woke up to the sound of our music and dancing.

The only criticism I have about the ritual is that the drumming was too loud for an enclosed area. The drumming was sustained at 100 decibels during a few parts of the ritual. Now concerts reach 100 decibels, but those are held in a much larger enclosure. Our temple fits comfortably thirty people. I don’t really think for thirty people in a small room we need drumming at a 100 decibels.

If they can manage to control the volume of the drumming next time this particularly ritual is done, it will be one of my favourites.

After the ritual, I was reminded of the Korean sword dancing. As Summoner, I couldn’t dance that night. (Oh well, that’s my sacrifice this year!) I ended up thinking about how I could dance with a staff, if it was made for my height. Then, I thought of the Korean sword dance. Hopefully someday I have time for that.

Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

It’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been crazy busy as usual, but I’m finished working on something important, so hopefully things should ease up for me.

Public ritual on March 11th was a song and music ritual. It reminded us of how we learn from music and song. Ah, the stories you can tell with just one song.

Ritual on March 18th was public sabbat – spring equinox. Yay! It’s finally spring. Is it warm enough yet? Time to stop hibernating? The ritual was dedicated to Artemis, Greek maiden huntress.

My private group met only once this past month. It’s been crazy for everyone lately. We met up for a spring equinox ritual where we blew eggs and then coloured them. We made something yummy with the eggs, of course. Mmm… the wonderful taste of blessings from the gods.

Public ritual on the 25th was dedicated to the community. We have at WCC a stone which we call the “Teutates stone”. Teutates is a Celtic god of the tribe and the people – very much a community god. The stone was found years ago in a riverbed. It was half buried in the riverbed, and the other half was not even in the river. This is very significant because the Celtic worldview consists of land, sea, and sky. A place that featured land, sea, and sky was held to be very sacred. This stone came to WCC already sacred and was thus named for Teutates. The ritual gave people a chance to hold and commune with the stone for a bit. A nice ritual. It is often nice for people to be reminded that they are still a part of the community, even if they only come out to public ritual once in a while.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

In light of a recent ritual involving dance and music, I’m reminded of something I still want to study one day (assuming I ever get the time) – Korean sword dance.

Here’s a video of probably the best Korean sword dancer:

Sword dancing seems to be a tradition in Korea, as there are quite a few movies featuring it. One of my all-time favourite movies, The Duelist (Hyung-sa) which happens to be Korean, features a beautiful dance/”fight” scene between the two main characters. The man is using a sword and the woman is using two daggers. A beautiful scene – best understood in the context of the whole movie.

I might just have to return to gumdo classes, if I can’t find a Korean sword dance teacher.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame