Pneumatised!

An ever-changing life inspired by the pneuma

2006/01/27

Do jang day – January 25, 2006

MM,

It’s been a bit of a crazy week for me. I had my reiki 3 course on Saturday (January 21) and have been working on my manual and generally engaged in research.

I did manage to get to the do jang this week, even if it was just one day. Wednesday, I actually got there just in time to change and get ready for poomse class and ended up teaching the orange and green belts. I had two children to teach too. It’s strange how these two kids pick up things faster than the adults. Then I took the next class which was of course lots of kicking. But a good workout as always.

Now, I’m contemplating if I can get a run in today. Still lots of work to do, but I guess it will still be here when I get back. Today is going to be rough for a run since I haven’t ran for awhile. Wish me luck.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Eros Party! – February 10, 2006

Filed under: General,Paganism and Spirituality — feyMorgaina @ 02:48

MM,

I don’t make it a habit of promoting events, but this is on behalf of a good friend of mine who’s running the event.

If you’re in Toronto, Canada or the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), you may be interested in checking out this event. It will, I’m told, be a blast!

Here’s the event details:

A PANsexual Celebration
of Sensual Creativity!

Friday, February 10
The Vatikan, 1032 Queen West

Doors open at 8:00 p.m.
Show at 11:00 p.m.

More info at www.erosparty.ca

Advance tickets $12
($15 at the door)

Best costume prizes
Dress code
Dungeon

Tickets can be purchases at:
Birds & Bees, 6A Kensington Avenue
www.birdsandbees.ca
Clandestiny, 768 Queen Street East
www.puffmama.ca
Northbound Leather, 586 Yonge Street
www.northbound.com
The Occult Shop, 109 Vaughan Road

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!

Event poster links:

EROS-2006_Lighting_Promo_poster

Eros2006_email-flyer

Peace and love,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

2006/01/20

Reiki Update

Filed under: General,Paganism and Spirituality — feyMorgaina @ 15:06

MM,

I will be receiving my Reiki 3 (the so-called Master level, but I will be calling it a teacher level – please note that there is a difference between a Master and a teacher of something, even taekwondo makes a distinction) by the end of this month. In the meantime, I have finally gotten around to writing up my reiki manuals and my lesson plan as there is much information to cover. As soon as that is done, I will be offering reiki courses about once a month or every other month to start. Keep checking my website and my blog for more information and updates.

Healing blessings to all,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Do jang days (January 17 and 19)

Filed under: Cass' training blog - martial arts, weights, running — feyMorgaina @ 14:55

This week so far has been busy. Since I’m working on my reiki manuals, I haven’t had much time to go running or to the gym – I’ve only had time for the do jang.

Tuesday, I went to gumdo and taekwondo class. Gumdo was a good class and since I hadn’t done a good gumdo class in awhile, my arms were suitably worked out. I think I remembered my kyo gum and ssang soo correctly. I will have to check sometime to make sure I didn’t miss any moves that’s supposed to be in the patterns. Taekwondo was “crazy kicking class”. Lots of kicking and some non-contact sparring. My knee was a little buggy because of the rain, but overall I wasn’t too tired and had some energy for sparring. Then we did lots of kicking drills. By the time I got home, my legs and arms were suitably worked out – not overly tired or sore which is good as it means I’m getting used to taking two classes in a row again.

Thursday, I went to the do jang for gumdo and taekwondo again. Same as last time, lots of kicking though not as much sparring and my knee wasn’t bothering me. 🙂

Been busy the past week writing my reiki manual, so still haven’t had a chance to go for a run. 🙁 I’m hoping tomorrow I can get a run in.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

2006/01/16

Training update – January 7 to 15

Filed under: Cass' training blog - martial arts, weights, running — feyMorgaina @ 14:43

Saturday, January 7

Had a black belt meeting, but we didn’t have any training. I decided to go to the gym afterwards. I did a half mile on treadmill (dreadmill!) and then stopped. My time was 4 minutes 20 seconds. I’m realizing it’s very hard to do a mile on the treadmill because it’s just sooo boring! Nothing interesting to see or look at when you run outside. Then I just did my normal weight routine.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor
Bicep curl

I also did some free weights – two shoulder exercises and wrist strengthening which I hadn’t done for awhile. I did some side cruncehs and my pushups. Then of course I did some stretching before I headed home.

Sunday, January 8

I went to the do jang. I warmed up with some slow kicking and then took class. It was a nice small class. Had time to work on all the kicks. I should really try to get up earlier on the weekends so I can train those days. Less busy and chaotic than on the weekdays and it would be nice to be able to stay home and get work done weekday nights.

Tuesday, January 10

I went running in the afternoon. I ran 1 mile to Yonge/Bloor via church. My time was 9 minutes 8 seconds. Then I did a half mile back from Park Road and Bloor. My time was a decent 4 minutes 57 seconds.

That evening I finally went to my gumdo class. I was taking a break for awhile and figured it was time I went back. Then I took taekwondo class after.

Wednesday, January 11

I went to the do jang again for taekwondo. It was patterns class and I ended up teaching. The next class we did patterns too, so I ended up teaching again.

Thursday, January 12

I did a half mile run to Park Road and Bloor. My time was a little slow – 4 minutes 40 seconds. Then I did a mile run back via Yonge/Church. This time was a little faster – 8 minutes 47 seconds.

Sunday, January 15

Too cold! I decided to try a run anyway. I forgot my scarf to cover my mouth with and with the cold hitting me hard, I only did a half mile run (my time was 4 minutes 46 seconds) and headed over to the gym – alternating between walking and running.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor
Bicep curl
Free weights – two shoulder exercises and wrist strengthening

Then I headed home. I made a few stops then ran home from Isabella and Yonge. Brr! It was cold. Definitely a winter day.

Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

2006/01/05

My first run this year (January 3)

Filed under: Cass' training blog - martial arts, weights, running — feyMorgaina @ 03:19

MM,

I went for a mile run on Tuesday (January 3). It felt good to get out and run. I was a bit worried about it since I hadn’t gone for a run since mid-December, but I did fine. My time was 9 minutes 25 seconds. It was good warm-up for me as I was heading to the gym after for my usual weight training.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Bicep curl
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor

I was also a little worried about the weight training since I hadn’t done much of that either (just some pushups and some free weights at home), but I continued pretty much where I left off.

I hadn’t been in the do jang yet. I’ve been a bit busy with other things to do. This month is going to be busy and I guess I’m trying to ensure some time for myself before that happens.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

How to be a Good Taekwondoist – a review of the basics

MM,

Finally, I present some of my best training drills for the basics of taekwondo under the taekwondo section of my website. Please see http://www.brigidsflame.com/goodtaekwondoist.html.

Please note that the article is written for those already training in taekwondo. It is not recommended that you try any of the exercises suggested in the article without any prior taekwondo training or without any guidance.

Hope you enjoy the article!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

2006/01/01

Happy Gregorian New year

Filed under: General,Paganism and Spirituality — feyMorgaina @ 10:59

MM,

Time to welcome in the new year with my first blog entry of 2006. Wow! Time really does fly. I still remember the big new year’s for 2000. It’s now more than half a decade later. To start off the second half of this decade, I think I’ll do a quick run-down of major changes in my life since 2000.

1. I’m in a wonderful relationship despite being bitterly cynical from previous failed relationships. 😀 Of course, I found someone who was equally bitterly cynical. Somehow we managed to find together the cloud in the silver lining… er… wait… is it the silver lining in the cloud? 😉

2. My overall wellbeing is probably at its best so far in my life. I’ve always felt emotional/mentally and spiritually strong, but over the past 5 years I’ve also become physically strong. It has been my goal to be as physically strong as I am inside. (Though I have to say this path has been one of the hardest for me. I had my emotional ups and downs, even becoming for awhile a little numb with life. I also had to deal with physical injury, having surgery, and recovering.)

3. In relation to spiritual wellbeing, I found a wonderful spiritual community of friends who somehow without knowing were there for me while I grew more spiritually. They were also there for me when I had familial problems and gave me the support to deal with those issues.

4. In relation to physical wellbeing, I received a black belt in taekwondo (summer 2004) and am now working towards my 2nd dan black belt. Through this I found an excellent way to keep fit as well as challenge my mind and my spirit. I have also started learning a sword art as well as learned a bit of other martial arts. As well through martial arts, I have met some of the most interesting and wonderful people.

5. Career-wise, I have changed careers and moved out of the corporate realm to working for myself. This is a challenge and there is still so much more for me to do. The most important step was breaking out of feeling that I had to follow what everyone expected of me and to just do my “thing”. Since then, I have created this website with a clear purpose and managed to maintain it.

6. Last and most important, I have found my path in life. Each year it seems I’ve moved closer and closer to… my destiny. While I do believe in free choice, I also believe in something called “true will”. This is different from free will which is what I call free choice. True will refers to the path your soul needs to take in life. Denying your true will will lead to unhappiness and discontent while following your true will will lead to fulfullment and peace. Everyone has free choice – do you choose your true path or do you deny your soul its peace?

Now for some minor changes since 2000…

1. I now have three wonderful cats instead of just one adorable feline. To get to this though, my pretty princess had a few litters. Sadly, I had to give away all but one of those kittens and just have my three little felines. My male feline is all love and I think strangely he kept reminding me of how loved I was whenever I was in doubt. For that, I just have to worship his amazing felineness. The two females I have are just cute as pies when they want to be and have kept a smile on my face.

2. I moved a few times. Actually, I moved back to my mom’s and then fate stepped in, I met my sweetheart and moved in with him. 🙂

I think that’s all on my list so far. Probably more major changes than minor ones.

Now for some prophesying. Hm… I’m going to base my next year predictions based on how my new year is spent.

  1. I spent some time connecting with my goddess and the spirit.
  2. I spent time with my sweetheart.
  3. I made a wonderful breakfast for my sweetheart and me.
  4. I spent some time with my cats.
  5. I wrote on my blog.
  6. I did some exercise.
  7. I did some reading.
  8. I’m going to go to my mom’s and pick up the rest of my stuff.
  9. I plan on working on some projects of mine.

Based on this, I guess during the next year I will be spending lots of time with my sweetheart and my cats again. I will connect with my goddess and spirit more often. I will be writing on my blog and working on my website. I will be reading things that interest me. I will be reading Robert Jordan (hooked on that series now, started book 3 today after a busy two weeks of working on some other projects) and other fantasy novels. I will continue my exercise regimen. I will be trying to finish some projects. I will be creating an atmosphere of true love for my relationship to grow more. Finally, I will be letting go of much of the past. (I’m clearing out some of the stuff I have at mom’s.)

Sounds like a busy year ahead. I should probably get some rest before the year really gets to a start. Hm… good rest in the upcoming year sounds like a good prophesy to me.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

2005/12/31

Calendars and Full Moons

Filed under: Paganism and Spirituality — feyMorgaina @ 15:50

MM,

As the year draws to a close, I found myself immersed in the subject of calendars. A boring subject for most people, however calendars are quite important to any pagan or anyone who wants to live according to nature’s cycles.

This little bit of study spawned off of me planning my next year of moon rituals. For awhile now, I’ve been wanting to do a full year of personal moon rituals (for me or for me and my partner). The idea behind this is to attune to the cycle of the moon and the seasons. For this, I decided to work through a set of moon rituals presented in Enchanted by Titania Hardie. The author of this book is using what is commonly known as “Celtic Tree Months” – birch, rowan, ash, alder, willow, hawthorn, oak, holly, hazel, vine, ivy, reed, and elder. This calendar is adapted from Robert Graves’ in his book The White Goddess which lists these 13 months. Of course, there are some major differences between Hardie’s suggested calendar and Graves – one of which is that she is trying to ensure 13 full moons in a year (which does not occur ever year). In contrast, Graves has fixed his calendar to the winter solstice (which is the last day of the 13th month and is normally on the 21st of December) and created 13 months each consisting of 28 days (which he calls a lunar year). Since 13 months of 28 days is only 364 days in a year, Graves has indicated that the day after winter solstice is the intercalary day (also the last day of the year). This is where the common pagan term “a year and a day” comes from. It refers to Graves’ 13 lunar months and the extra (intercalary) day. Note of course that Graves’ calendar does not suggest there are always 13 full moons in a year or 13 new moons in a year. Actually, you will be missing at least a full moon or a new moon except in the years where there is a 13th new moon or full moon (more on this later below). This means that to celebrate 13 lunar months, a practicing pagan will have to adapt and do some new moon rituals as well if she wants to celebrate all 13 moons.

Of course, me being a inquisitive pagan and loving math, I decided to look into what is called a lunisolar calendar wondering if this would be more practical. Some of the more famous lunisolar calendars are the Chinese calendar and the Hebrew (Jewish) calendar. Lunisolar means that the calendar is reconciling the lunar year with the solar year. This occurs every 19 years and the 19 year cycle is called the Metonic cycle. Why does this occur? First, a true lunar month (synodic month) is about 29.53 days and a solar year is about 365.25 days. A lunar year of 12 months is 354.36 days, just about 11 days short of a solar year. (Note: 13 lunar months is 383.89 days, 18 days more than a solar year.) In 19 solar years, it works out that there will be 235 synodic months. Here’s some of the calculations:

365.25 days x 19 years = 6939.75 days
6939.75 days / 29.53 days = 235 synodic months
29.53 days x 235 synodic months = 6939.55 days

Note the days in bold. Based on the lunar month, after 19 years, we’re just short by 0.2 days, a few hours. On a practical note, this means that your REAL birthday comes around again in 19 years give or take a few hours and by REAL birthday I’m referring to the position of the stars on your birthday. In 19 years, the stars should be basically the same as when you were born.

Because the lunar year is shorter than the solar year by about 11 days, every so often an intercalary month is required. Recall that in 19 years, there should be 235 months. If our calendar consisted of only 12 lunar months every year for 19 years, we’d only have 228 months, 7 months short. This means that the 7 intercalary months need to be inserted throughout the 19 year cycle to ensure that the months occur around relatively the same time each year.

In comparison to Graves’ calendar, the lunisolar calendars seem more practical adding the extra lunar month every few years as you don’t feel like you lost a moon to celebrate! The most important difference is the 13 months in Graves’ versus the 12 months in the lunisolar calendars.

The other important topic regarding Graves’ calendar and the “Celtic Tree Calendar” is whether there is some basis for considering these to be Celtic. Graves’ in his book never calls his calendar Celtic and frankly it is obvious that he was creating a calendar to his liking. What he did was associate a poem, The Song of Amergin, to the 13 months and then associate 13 of the ogham to the months. It is from the ogham where we get the names of Graves’ months. If Graves’ calendar is not truly Celtic in origin, then what is? The Coligny calendar is thought to be a true Celtic calendar. It was found 1897 in the Celtic region, Gaul. The calendar has 12 months and tracks the lunar monthly cycle. It is disputed among scholars and contemporary pagans about where the month starts. Some claim it starts on the full moon while others suggest the new moon. Yet, some evidence points to the month starting on the 6th or 7th day after the new moon, i.e., the first quarter. (In comparison, the months begin on the new moon in the Chinese calendar.) The names of the months are known though and it is known that the calendar inserted the intercalary month every few years, suggesting that the Coligny calendar was also a lunisolar calendar. The names of the Coligny calendar months are below (along with the Gregorian equivalents):

Samonios (October to November)
Dvmannios (November to December)
Rivros (December to January)
Anagantios (January to February)
Ogronios (February to March)
Cvtios (March to April)
Giamonios (April to May)
Simivisonnos (May to June)
Eqvos (June to July)
Elembivios (July to August)
Edrinios (August to September)
Cantlos (September to October)

The Coligny calendar divided the year into two halves – Samonios began the dark half and Giamonios began the light half. We also know that the Celts counted the start of the day at sunset. The days went from sunset to sunrise (which is an amusing perspective for any pagan).

Another Celtic-based calendar is one found in The Apple Branch by Alexei Kondratiev, a well-known Celtic scholar. Like Graves’, this calendar has 13 months but each month varies between 27 to 29 days, so that there is no intercalary day. The calendar starts in October 30, on Samhain what is commonly known as the Celtic New Year. Because of the 13 months, this calendar operates much like Graves’ – you’ll get the 13 full moons or 13 new moons every few years.

Another calendar I looked at is a Lakota calendar from Earth Signs by Grey Wolf. This calendar is fairly straight forward and simple. There are 12 months and the year starts in March around the spring equinox. The moon cycle is then just tracked during the 12 months. According to the author, each month starts on the 11th of each Gregorian month (though I think he’s just making it simple for non-Lakota people).

With all these different calendars available to use, I decided to do a practical comparison. I set up a spreadsheet file (in Excel format) containing some of the calendars and a calendar I “created” using the Celtic tree months. My idea for the 13 months was to have Elder and Birch share their month except for when there is the 13th moon every few years. The calendar is somewhat fixed in that the winter solstice is always in the last month of Elder. Each month started on the new moon. I felt this worked better than another idea presented by faeriefaith.net which was to split up the month so that Elder and Birch each had their own month. However, that idea meant that often either Elder or Birch had a short month and that one will get the new moon while the other will get the full moon. That calendar fixed the winter solstice to Elder and Imbolc to Rowan. In comparison, I rather like Graves’ and Kondratiev’s calendar and I don’t see why this person rejected Graves’.

After filling my head up with all this stuff about calendars, I still am to celebrate 13 moons. I figure I can use my calendar or Graves’ – either way, the current moon is birch (new moon – December 30, 2005; full moon – January 14). One major reason to use Graves’ calendar instead of mine is that the 8 sabbats fall in the same tree month each year whereas it may vary with mine depending on where the moon is. I guess it really depends on whether one wants consistency or changeability when planning full moon rituals.

In relation to celebrating the full moons, I looked up full moon names and found some consistency though a variety of names for some full moons. I thought perhaps these moon names will provide some ideas of how to celebrate each full moon. I have yet to settle on moon names for each month that I find suitable to the cycle where I live. Some full moon names for each month can be found on the Excel file I’ve provided above. In addition, there is a chart for planetary hours for those people who like to plan down to the exact hour.

We are now in the birch “moonth” which represents beginnings and it seems to be fitting since this is the time of year where we begin new things even if it’s just thinking of them – conception of an idea is definitely something belonging to birch.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0002076.html

About the Celtic tree calendar:

http://www.faeriefaith.net/treecal.html
http://www.the-tree.org.uk/Sacred%20Grove/treecalendar.htm

About the Coligny calendar:

http://www.livingmyths.com/Celticyear.htm
http://www.roman-britain.org/cycle.htm
http://www.roman-britain.org/coligny.htm

Sites with Full Moon Names:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon
http://www.angelfire.com/de2/newconcepts/wicca/moons2.html
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/fullmoonnames.html
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/full_moon_names_2005.html
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonnames.htm

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