Pneumatised!

Samhain (aka the Witches’ New Year) is traditionally celebrated on October 31 through to November 2. The astrological timing of Samhain this year is November 7 at 1:49 a.m. EST. This is also noted as Start of Winter solar segment in the Chinese calendar.

Here are upcoming calendar dates (through to the winter solstice):

November 11 – Popping Trees month in the Lakota calendar
November 16 – new moon at 2:14 p.m. EST
November 17 – start of the 10th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Pig month in Chinese astrology
November 22 – Light Snow segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Sagittarius which according to EST occurs November 21 at 11:22 p.m. or November 22 at 12:22 p.m. Chinese ST)
November 24 – Elder month in Graves’ calendar
November 26 – Tide month in Kondratiev’s calendar
December 2 – full moon at 2:30 a.m. EST; Long Nights Moon (folk name for the full moon)
December 7 – 11th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Heavy Snow segment
December 11 – Hard Freeze month in the Lakota calendar
December 16 – new moon at 7:02 a.m. EST; start of the 11th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Rat month in Chinese astrology

The winter solstice (aka Yule) occurs on December 21 at 12:47 p.m. EST, when the Sun enters Capricorn. The Chinese calendar notes the Winter Solstice solar segment as occurring on December 22. According to Chinese ST, the Sun enters Capricorn on that day at 12:47 a.m. (I should note here that December 22 is Graves’ Day Apart since I am using his calendar with EST.)

Now we have come to my final blog entry on calendar dates. Thank you for following the past year with me. I will be working on a separate writing project involving calendar dates and astrological events that will require me to divert some of my focus and attention away from this blog, though I will try to keep updates on here about various writing projects on which I am working. Please do return to this blog every so often as writing is no fun without those who read what is written! 🙂

Happy harvesting, merry Yule, and best wishes for future endeavours!
~~~C

I actually hadn’t had much chance to read a whole lot the past few months. I needed to get a new laptop and since then was spending some time updating my Linux knowledge and skills. I still haven’t finished reading the “Linux bible” aka Linux: The Complete Reference (6th edition) by Richard Petersen. It is a fairly comprehensive reference book on Linux in general covering everything from beginner to advanced topics in Linux.

Fiction-wise, here’s what I got to read:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 7
Angel: After the Fall (volume 4)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Three Against the Witch World by Andre Norton
The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Here is my current reading list:
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
Rogue Squadron (book one of Star Wars: X-wing) by Michael A. Stackpole
The Heritage of Hastur (published in the omnibus, Heritage and Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Keeper’s Price by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the friends of Darkover (a Darkover anthology of short stories)
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I am on part three of book two, page 443)

I am still not sure what I think of the Witch World series by Andre Norton. The world is intriguing enough and it is clear that the author has carefully thought out the story and the fantasy world. I find I like Norton’s way of story-telling and tend to feel compelled to keep reading, even if I may not like any of the characters. Perhaps though, that is indeed the mark of a good storyteller. 😉 I will be reading more Witch World novels. In fact, I acquired quite a few of them. Recently, there were plenty of Norton novels at the used bookstore (BMV!)

The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley is an amusing little story. I believe she wrote this around the same time she wrote her first Darkover novels, and I am hypothesizing that she intended to write more stories taking place in the overall universe that encompasses Darkover, but it turned out Darkover was more popular and readers wanted more about Darkover, so it was Darkover stories she ended up writing more about. The Door Through Space takes place on a planet with a red sun – not Darkover, but Wolf. Seeing that Wolf has a red sun, and it is mentioned at one point that they trade for horses from Darkover, I am assuming Wolf is in the same solar system as Darkover. The story also mentions Vainwal, a planet mentioned in the Darkover novels as well. I feel that The Door Through Space is proof that Bradley envisioned a much larger universe than just Darkover and the Terran Empire, and I find myself curious about how many more stories could be told related to Bradley’s Terran Empire. Indeed, it provides much to think about in relation to a story idea I am still mulling over. (I have more than one story idea!)

In any case, I enjoyed The Door Through Space. The main character amused me and even some of the side characters were quite amusing. Bradley tends to write a few of her characters with their own sense of “honour code”, characters who are quite independent and intelligent. I think this novel by Bradley is well worth reading. It is short, about 180 pages with medium font, so the only thing preventing you from reading this novel is failing to find it somewhere used.

I am currently reading Winter’s Heart. I’d like to finish it before winter sets in. 😉

~~~C

The autumn equinox (aka Harvestide) occurs when the Sun enters Libra. This year it is on September 22 at 5:18 p.m. EDT. The autumn equinox is also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar, occurring on September 23 (Chinese ST).

Here are upcoming calendar dates (through to Samhain):

September 29 – Ivy month in Graves’ calendar
October 1 – Boar month in Kondratiev’s calendar
October 4 – full moon at 2:10 a.m. EDT; Blood Moon (folk name for the full moon)
October 8- 9th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Cold Dew segment
October 11 – Harvest month in the Lakota calendar
October 18 – new moon at 1:33 a.m. EDT; start of the 9th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Dog month in Chinese astrology
October 23 – Frost Descends segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Scorpio which according to EDT occurs October 23 at 2:43 a.m. or at 2:43 p.m. Chinese ST)
October 27 – Reed month in Graves’ calendar
October 30 – Cliff month in Kondratiev’s calendar
November 2 – full moon at 2:10 p.m. EST; Mourning Moon (folk name for the full moon)

The next sabbat is Samhain (aka the Witches’ New Year), traditionally celebrated on October 31 through to November 2. The astrological timing of Samhain this year is November 7 at 1:49 a.m. EST. This is also noted as Start of Winter solar segment in the Chinese calendar.

The next calendar update will be around the sabbat Samhain.

Happy harvesting!
~~~C

“Better late than never”… I was working on this blog when the “k” button on my laptop decided it would die for sure this time (it’s been buggy for a little while). I was going to wait until September to buy a new laptop (my old one just couldn’t handle the internet anymore and was actually slow even in WordPress), but it seemed fate was sending me a message. As it turned out there were some nice sales on laptops this month (likely in time for “back to school”) and I bought a laptop (an HP) and a netbook (Acer Aspire One) for a total of $1000 and change. 😀 So, finally back to this blog.

August 7th began the 7th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Start of Autumn segment. This was also the date for Lughnasadh this year according to astronomical observances as the sun reaches 135 degrees (Leo 15 degrees) in the sky. It seems fitting to me that the Chinese 7th solar month, Start of Autumn, would relate to Lughnasadh as Lughnasadh is considered to be the second of three sabbats relating to the harvest time. Relating to harvesting, August 11th started Hunter’s month in the Lakota calendar.

Today, August 20 – new moon at 6:01 a.m. EDT; start of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Monkey month in Chinese astrology

Upcoming calendar dates:

August 23 – Still Hot segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Virgo which according to EDT occurs August 22 at 7:38 p.m. or August 23 at 7:38 a.m. Chinese ST)
September 1 – Vine month in Graves’ calendar
September 2 – Hill of Bards month in Kondratiev’s calendar
September 4 – full moon at 12:02 p.m. EDT; Harvest Moon (folk name for the full moon)
September 7 – 8th solar month in the Chinese calendar, White Dew segment
September 11 – Ripening month in the Lakota calendar
September 18 – new moon at 2:44 p.m. EDT
September 19 – start of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Rooster month in Chinese astrology

The next sabbat is on September 22 – the autumn equinox aka Harvestide, which occurs when the Sun enters Libra. It also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar (this year on September 23).

Harvestide is the second of the three harvest sabbats, starting with Lughnasadh. Samhain aka All Hallows’ Eve aka Hallowe’en is the final harvest sabbat before the witches’ new year. If you research traditions associated with these sabbats you will note the progression from the first harvest to the last. The first harvest is consists of fruits and some plants (some plants are harvested closer to the autumn). The second harvest consists of grains such as corn. The third harvest consists of nuts and meats. Traditionally, livestock is reviewed and that which will not live through to the spring is killed for the meat it can provide before it dies of some winter sickness. In this way, nothing is wasted.

The next calendar update will be around Harvestide. Until then, blessings for a bountiful harvest!

~~~C

If you are interested in reiki, there is a new reiki article on my website – The Sacred Usui Reiki Symbols – which you should find interesting to read. Some of the information can be found in my reiki two manual, which gives more information on how the symbols are used in practice.

~~~C

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the leap month started on June 23. Because the Chinese lunar calendar is reconciled with the solar calendar, occasionally a leap month has to be inserted. The month is considered to be a leap month because there is no solar centerpoint (such as the Sun entering Cancer at 90 degrees) within that lunar month. (Please see my first article on calendars for more explanation of the Chinese calendar.)

The leap month is considered to be a double of the lunar month before it. This leap month is the 5th Double Month, which means we have two Horse months this year. The Double Month is generally considered to be lucky in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, hopefully a little luck might come your way, especially for those born in the month or year of the Horse.

As mentioned previously, the Chinese calendar is set according to Chinese Standard Time. The lunar months start on the new moon, which means that there was also a new moon earlier this week. The new moon this month occurred on June 22 at 3:35 p.m. EDT (which is June 23, 3:35 p.m. CST, thus the lunar month started on the June 23).

Upcoming calendar events and dates are:

July 7 – full moon at 5:21 a.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 5:38 EDT; Mead Moon (folk name for the full moon); 6th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Slight Heat segment; Holly month in Graves’ calendar
July 8 – Spear month in Kondratiev’s calendar
July 11 – Hot Winds month in the Lakota calendar
July 21 – new moon at 10:34 p.m. EDT and solar eclipse at 10:35 p.m EDT
July 22 – start of the 6th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Sheep month in Chinese astrology
July 23 – Great Heat segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Leo, which according to EDT occurs July 22 at 12:36 p.m. or July 23 at 12:36 a.m. Chinese ST)
August 4 – Hazel month in Graves’ calendar
August 5 – full moon at 8:55 p.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 8:39 p.m. EDT; Corn Moon (folk name for the full moon); Salmon month in Kondratiev’s calendar

The next pagan festival after the summer solstice is Lughnasadh on August 1st (if you are traditional) or on August 7th (if you want to observe the astronomical significance of the festival; I am of the opinion that anciently it was celebrated when the Sun was in 15 degrees Leo).

You may note a certain theme in the names of the calendar months in this cycle – predominantly hot! We have Slight Heat and Great Heat in the Chinese calendar and Hot Winds in the Lakota calendar. Tied into this time of heat, we have the theme of hunting in Kondratiev’s calendar (Spear month and Salmon month) and themes of cultivation in the full moon names of Mead and Corn. This is definitely the height of the harvest season, and perhaps you may want to celebrate with some mead or corn! (I’ve already started on the corn. 😉 )

The next calendar update will be at the beginning of August, the time of Lughnasadh.

~~~C

I recently decided to make my reiki manuals one and two available for purchase through lulu.com. If you’re interested in reiki, already a practitioner, or a reiki teacher, you should find my reiki manuals interesting to read. It is a blend of Western reiki and Japanese reiki based on the training I received in Western reiki and my research into Japanese reiki. Only manuals one and two are available right now. I am still working on the third manual. I put it aside about a year and a half ago as I was mulling over some things in my head. In any case, I hope to get that done by the end of this year and will be putting that on lulu.com. I also have a “regular book” that I am planning to write on reiki that I hope will catch a wider readership. To see everything I have published on lulu.com, go to my storefront – http://stores.lulu.com/brighidsflame.

Because I could not decide on the covers I wanted for the manuals I opted for two different covers for each manual. There are also two different binding versions for each manual. You may purchase a spiral bound version or a perfect bound version. The spiral bound version is ideal for note-taking and studying. The perfect bound version is great as a reference copy. Both versions are 8.5″x11″.

Here are the two different covers for reiki manual one:

and for reiki manual two:

To quickly purchase one of my manuals, use the buttons below. They will put the manual directly into your lulu.com shopping cart.

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 1, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 2, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 1, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 2, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 1, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 2, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 1, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 2, perfect bound version)

A little note regarding my decision to self-publish my manuals:

Why is self-publishing better than the traditional mass-market publishing? The reason I chose to self-publish is that the majority of the revenue goes to the me as the author. If you appreciate the value of what I personally put into writing my books, you will like the fact that what you are paying goes to me rather than the “middleman”, that is, the retailers. Through lulu.com 80% of the net income (sale price minus manufacturing costs) goes to me, 20% goes to the lulu.com. Contrast that with mass-market publishing, where the retailer marks up the price by at least double their costs. This is the formula for selling retail:

Manufacturing costs plus author’s revenue (that would be the royalties I’d want) plus retail markup (this is double manufacturing costs plus author’s revenue) = sales price

Contrary to what some people may believe, books published on the mass-market aren’t necessarily better books than self-published books. (The gods only know how many books I put back on the shelf after flipping through them.) By supporting independent publishers like myself, you are encouraging people who honestly love to write. Part of the reason there are so many pointless books in the retail bookstores is that some people write simply to turn a buck or two. It’s very annoying. So please, please support independent publishers! Thanks.

~~~C

Ah… it’s been another busy couple of months.

Here’s a couple of novels I finished reading recently:
30 Days of Night – Rumours of the Undead by Steve Miles and Jeff Mariotte
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

and a couple of comics:
30 Days of Night – Return to Barrow
Buffy – Time of Your Life (Season 8, volume 4)

Following is a list of books that I’ve started reading:
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
Three Against the Witch World by Andre Norton
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
Rogue Squadron (book one of Star Wars: X-wing) by Michael A. Stackpole
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (as of today, I am on part three of book two, page 443)
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

I mentioned that I was putting a few books aside for now. I think for now I am putting Ursula LeGuin’s Always Coming Home aside for now. I think it will be more likely that I will read either The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed before I finish Always Coming Home when I get back to reading LeGuin novels.

Here is a review of The Sum of All Men (book one of Runelords) by David Farland:

I didn’t actually finish this book because I was disappointed with the story line so far. I think I read the first 100 pages or so. I don’t really buy into the scenario of people seeing how great and glamourous Raj Ahten is to the point that they decided to throw down their weapons and surrender to him. I sort of feel cheated, like he copped out of having to write a decent battle scene between the two armies (which seems strange to me as the overall writing is decent enough).

Then, there is the supposedly “strong” heroine who verbally threatens to risk her life by taking up arms in the battlefield if it was required, but deep inside wouldn’t really. For someone who trains in martial arts and lives its philosophy, suffice it to say the heroine of the novel was a big disappointment for me. Clearly, the author thinks some women can look strong, but really must not be that strong mentally or physically in reality.

I really enjoy George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time much better than this novel. Seeing as I still have some ways to go with Martin’s series, still have to catch up with Jordan’s series, and have a few other books that might be more interesting to read than Farland’s, I doubt I will be inclined to finish reading this novel by Farland any time soon.

30 Days of Night – Rumours of the Undead was a decent story. The story isn’t going to be anyone’s favourite, and it really should be read as part of the 30 Days of Night continuity. The overall 30 Days of Night series is intriguing. I will have to see how well I like it after reading through a few more of the graphic novels.

A Kiss of Shadows (book one in the Merry Gentry series) has Hamilton’s typical flair for sarcasm, humour, and adventure that is familiar from her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. The difference is that the Merry Gentry series is more romantic in nature and very sensual (to put it mildly). I am more interested in this series for Hamilton’s depiction of the faery world. So far it is intriguing and she has built a full world with lots of different, not just characters, but species. Intriguing.

Yay, Buffy! What can I say? I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer – the ultimate kick-ass girl. But what happens when Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Fray the Vampire Slayer? Oh no! Time warp! If you are a Buffy fan and haven’t been reading the season eight comics, you really should pick up Time of Your LIfe (volume four of Buffy season 8). I love the art in this series and the whole series is overseen by Joss Whedon. This is stuff you wouldn’t have seen in a TV series.

And speaking of Buffy, I finally got the last Buffy Omnibus – volume 7. “Oh happy happy joy joy!”

I recently went back to reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I’m on book nine, Winter’s Heart. I am a little more than a third of the way through, but then got into another one of those crazy writing phases where I write almost non-stop and my brain keeps jumping topics so I have to accomodate by working on more than one writing thing at a time. (Yes, my brain really does work that way sometimes. Some days I wonder that I make any sense at all!)

~~~C

Here are the upcoming calendar events and dates:

Today, May 5 – Beltane; 4th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Start of Summer segment
May 9 – full moon at 12:01 a.m. EDT; Flower Moon (folk name for the moon)
May 11 – Flowering month in the Lakota calendar
May 12 – Hawthorn month in Graves’ calendar
May 13 – Flowers month in Kondratiev’s calendar
May 21 – Grain Fills segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Gemini, which according to EDT occurs May 20 at 5:51 p.m.; the Chinese calendar is set for Chinese time, 13 hours ahead of ET)
May 24 – new moon at 8:11 a.m.; start of the 5th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Horse month in Chinese astrology
June 5 – 5th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Grain in Ear segment
June 7 – full moon at 2:12 p.m. EDT; Strong Sun Moon (folk name for the moon)
June 9 – Oak month in Graves’ calendar
June 10 – Fiery God month in Kondratiev’s calendar
June 11 – Drying Up month in the Lakota calendar
June 21 – summer solstice aka Midsummer aka Litha (occurs when the Sun enters Cancer); also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar

It should be interesting to note that the names associated with the months around this time of the year are related to fruitfulness and fecundity (e.g. Flowering, Hawthorn, Flowers, Grain Fills, and even Flower Moon for the full moon). Then in June the names are related to heat and fire (e.g. Fiery God, Drying Up, and Strong Sun Moon for the full moon).

The next calendar update will be around the summer solstice.

Blessings for a bountiful spring!
~~~C