Pneumatised!

June 3, 2007

Public ritual was inside as thunderstorms were expected. The ritual was an experiential ritual. The participants were blind-folded, then they held hands as they walked carefully around in a circle while the presiding Priestess and Priest read something akin to a meditation to them.

June 10, 2007

Out in the park again – I got mosquito bites again. What a pain! I should never listen to anyone – mosquitoes bite through my clothes. I had pants on and I still got bit on the legs. It might be because the legs are close to the damp grass – the mosquitoes just crawl up my legs – eek!

At least the ritual didn’t take very long.

June 17, 2007

Public ritual involved making a community portrait, a”Portrait of Summer”, to be hung at the church. The portrait is to remind us of the warmth of summer during the winter months when we are indoors. We signed the back of the portrait before ritual started. During the ritual participants were to glue flowers to it on the front. I placed my flower before ritual started. Overall, it was a simple, nice ritual. The portrait looked lovely.

June 24, 2007

Midsummer was a ritual play based on the story of Diancecht, a healer deity in Celtic mythology. Afterwards herbs were given out as a form of divination as well as for personal uses. Since Nathan was there, I asked him to grab a herb pouch for me. I had a feeling I was going to get something significant to my role as Summoner. I got tarragon, a herb associated with Mars. The description says “Promotes care and compassion for others. And also protects against unhealthy self-sacrifice, promotes strength and independence.” What’d I say? Significant, huh? 😉 Note the “protects against unhealthy self-sacrifice” – very important to a Summoner!

Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

June 26, 2007

I went to the gym.

COMPLETE LIST OF WEIGHT TRAINING EXERCISES:
Machine/apparatus Exercises:
Pull-ups/chin-ups (this machine works on a counterweight, which means you are lifting your weight minus the weight you set the machine to; thus if I set the machine to 35 lbs, I’m really lifting 70 lbs if I weight 105)
-overhand (palms facing front) – 35 lbs
-underhand (palms facing back) – 30 lbs
-parallel (palms facing towards each other) – 30 lbs
Dips (same apparatus as for the chin-ups) – 20 lbs
Weighted squat machine – 120 lbs
Leg press – 275 lbs
Hamstring flexor/seated leg curls – 105 lbs both legs
Hamstring flexor (lying down on stomach) – 50 lbs both legs, 25 lbs single leg
Hip adductors – 100 lbs
Hip abductors – 100 lbs
Seated row – 67.5 lbs
Seated chest press – 75 lbs
Lateral pull-downs – 75 lbs
Pectoral fly (sometimes done using free weights) – 45 lbs
Reverse pectoral fly (not sure exactly what this is called, it works the rhomboids in between the scapulae/shoulder blades) – 40 lbs
Shoulder fly – 40 lbs
Shoulder lift/press – 45 lbs
Back extensor – 180 lbs
Bicep curls (usually done using free weights now) – 30 lbs, or 15 lbs single
Tricep extensor – 40 lbs (the dips do a good job of working the triceps, plus a special kind of push-up that I learned from taekwondo)
Leg lifts (I do a set of 30 reps. Lift legs out in front, the right, and the left. Doing the leg lifts to the sides helps work out the obliques/side muscles. I hate the new apparatus for this. I can only tolerate the apparatus once in a while because it aggravates my back, even though it’s supposed to be ergonomically designed.)

Free weights:
Two additional shoulder exercises
– lift weight in front using shoulder muscles
– bending at waist lift weight out to the side using muscles along the scapulae (this is the same as the machine that works in reverse of the pectoral fly)
– wrist strengthening – 15 lbs
– dead lift – 30 lb bar

Other exercises:
Pushups (I’m slowly working on single handed pushups – it’s very hard! For now, I’m just holding myself up on one hand for a 10 second count)
Situps
Cycling
Elliptical

Then I went for a run since the gym was closing. I ran along Bloor from Bay to Bathurst. The distance was 1.8 km. My time was 11 minutes 43 seconds – a leisurely run in humidity.

June 28, 2007

I ran from Yonge and Charles to Bay, then headed south on Bay to Edward Street. The distance was just over a mile (1.7 km). My time was 9 minutes 21 seconds – another leisurely run.

June 29, 2007

I went for my 5.7 km run. I timed the run in four parts.

Part 1: running North on Mt. Pleasant from home to Roxborough – time was 8 minutes 15 seconds
Part 2: running along Roxborough Streets to Avenue and Dupont – time was 9 minutes 6 seconds
Part 3: running along Dupont to Davenport then along Davenport to Yonge – time was 11 minutes 42 seconds
Part 4: running along Church from Yonge to home – time was 8 minutes 12 seconds
Total: 37 minutes 15 seconds

Okay, I’m ready for the 10k.

Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame