Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)

1.: Falling Leaves. From: blackbird

2.: Please consider voting From: loresinger99

3a.: Re: The Language of Orthodoxy From: Blackbird

4.: Card of the Week 3.7 The Pages of the Robin Wood Tarot. From: blackbird

5.: Yep, You Guessed It... More Shamanic Linguistics From: Kenaz Filan

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1.: Falling Leaves.

Posted by: "blackbird" blackbird_61@yahoo.com blackbird_61

Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:17 am (PDT)

Hi All,
Well It's been to long since I've been up on "The Mountain" walking the trails at Gambrill Park, Yesterday I finally got up there, mostly I stayed to the the Paved roads, but I did walk a short leg down the Black Trail, which is the most challanging in the park.

One of my favorite Charactor's in my fiction is Claudia, she is an Artist, whose particular vision lays in close up studys of small things, intimate things, A leaf, a branch, a stone in the stream. Her cherished memories of the most beautifal things in Anar translated to canvass; these few pics feel like her work to me.

It's hard to explain to someone not personally there, the Sheer Size and Power of the Stones, it's not like seeing them here, or on TV to be in their presence; they are deep Reservoirs of earth power; I call them "The Bones of the Dragon" and when you see them you understand how the Ancients could envision the world as a dragon, with us living on the back of that great dragon, like so many flees on an Gianomous Dog; I know not flattering, but true.
Pandora and Ara were Riding side by side along well worn paths of Anar. Pandora on her little Pony, Ara on her Great Mare, it was late Summer or so Ara thought. They rounded a small bend in the trail, and what sight should great her eyes, but a Flame tree, it's leaves all shining in deepest Crimson.

"Stay Close by me Child" Ara Said.

"Why Mother?" Asked Pandora.

"The Leave's of the Flame Tree are Red. They Herald the Season of the Wolf" ...

Brightest Blessings All, BB.

I am the Cup which holds Eternity.
All other Cups
Have their Source in Me.
The Goddess Innana.

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2.: Please consider voting

Posted by: "loresinger99" loresinger@hotmail.com loresinger99

Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:35 am (PDT)

NOTE FROM MODERATORS:

NOrmally, we would not be comfortable allowing a message like this to post, but Trish is a published author and has been a contributing member of this Group for some time, so we feel she has a right to at least ask for our support --

Each member of this group is encouraged to respond (or *not*) as they feel appropriate.

~Gaia and BlackBird, Moderators for Witch_Essentials

__________________________________________________________

I have a chance at a nifty job but it's an odd "vote in" position. Read this ttp://www.sam-e.com/job/entries/47 and if you feel honestly that I'm a good fit, vote. Otherwise no harm (smile).

Thanks everyone.
Trish Telesco

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3a.: Re: The Language of Orthodoxy

Posted by: "Blackbird" blackbird_61@yahoo.com blackbird_61

Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:26 am (PDT)

I myself spent several months in 2008 Listening to Lectures on Buddhist
and Hindu Metaphysics, ... which your essay reminded me of ... it is
precisely because these paths have a distinct world view, and a
wonderful tool for exploration in Sanskrit that the Indus valley has
made such a Unique contribution to the metaphyscial treasury of the
world; much that Neo-Paganism has adopted, Reincaration, the Idea the
Soul seeks to return to the Source, The Idea we are all individuated
expressions of a single Oversoul, all this and much more comes from the
Brahmans. BB.

--- In Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com, Kenaz Filan <kenazfilan@...>
wrote:
Many feel that organized religion
<http://www.amazon.com/Organized-religions-dogma-Sleeve-T-shirt/dp/B000H\
VLMSQ?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969>
[1] is a barrier to spiritual attainment, not a way to heaven. The old
slurs against "Popish tyranny
<http://www.amazon.com/Annals-Progress-Persecutions-Reformed-Churches/dp\
/1146031408?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392\
969> [1] " are now thrown at all creeds: grasping superstitious
bureaucracies that impede freedom, innovation and one's personal
relationship with the Higher Power. Hating on orthodoxies has become a
favorite new orthodoxy: heresy for heresy's sake is preferred to rigid
and exclusive proclamations.

There are good reasons for these concerns. Any organization is liable to
fall prey to groupthink
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=groupthink> [1] and
CYA behaviors. Rote memorization can replace passionate devotion:
political jockeying and corporate in-fighting may serve its leaders
better than piety
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=a%20man%20for%20all%20\
seasons> [1] . But I wonder if we aren't missing the role organized
religion can play in grounding and effectuating the spiritual
experience. Its rigidity and conservatism can provide a powerful
structure within which Ecstasy can be transmuted into the Word and from
there into the Deed.

Every language must have an underlying grammar
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=noam%20chomsky> [1] ,
a structure upon which sounds, characters and gestures are combined in
certain constrained and predictable ways. Mystics may experience the
Divine in a lightning flash which transcends all language - but in its
aftermath of their vision they must try to incorporate the vision into
their daily life. To describe it to themselves - and later to others -
they will use the words and symbols of their culture. Of course, this
incorporates a chance for error. It also offers a way of communicating,
however imperfectly, the vision of the ineffable.

Since Freud
<http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Psychology-Psychoanalysis-Beginners-ebook/d\
p/B002RKSQKC?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=39\
2969> [1] and Jung
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=jung> [1] we have
concentrated on personal interpretations of dreams: we focus on what the
symbols mean to the dreamer. A similar focus prevails in many spiritual
and theological circles. Faced with the immanence of the Gods, we ask
what impact Their presence has on the seer. Pantheons are recast as
images and reflections of some nebulous undifferentiated Divine Force,
or as psychodramas playing out inside the shaman's skull. Their role as
protectors and progenitors of the clan, the city or the people is
subjugated to their new role as therapist: They become a resource to be
tapped for self-improvement, something to be exploited rather than
worshipped.

A living tradition provides us a different lens for viewing our
experience and a different language for communicating it. It gives us
access to the teachings of others who have been touched by the Gods
<http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Down-Spirits-Traditions-Techniques/dp/159\
477269X?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969>
[1] , to their techniques and their coping mechanisms: it provides
information which is vetted by centuries of profitable use. It also
gives us goals and guideposts against which we may measure our visions.
This can help us to separate the spiritual experience from
wish-fulfillment. The line between enlightenment and self-delusion can
be a fine one: having history to draw upon can provide useful checks and
balances.

Orthodoxy
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=orthodoxy> [1]
forces us to deal with uncomfortable issues in its taboos, restrictions
and moral requirements. We may approach its strictures as reformers or
as reactionaries: we may follow its rules with varying degrees of
adherence. But we must engage with and be shaped by them nonetheless:
we must allow its worldview to color our own. We must address problems
we would rather avoid and account for transgressions we might prefer to
bury. In a self-led spiritual quest, we may never find our way outside
our comfort zones and may never account for difficult questions.

Eliade
<http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=21368\
9&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Eliade> [1] referred
to shamans as "technicians of the sacred
<http://www.amazon.com/Technicians-Sacred-Poetries-America-Expanded/dp/0\
520049128?ie=UTF8&tag=kenfil-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=39296\
9> [1] ." A similar label might be applied to those who serve in a
priestly rather than a mystical capacity. They apply the principles of
their religion to their faith-community and serve as earthly
representatives of their God/s. Their technology is their vocabulary,
their mythology, their philosophy, their skills in dealing with their
congregation - the tools with which they bring together the divine and
the sacred. If their approach is less direct and spectacular than the
shamanic one, it is no less effectual. By preserving the language of
their faith, they help to ensure its continuation.

--
kenaz filan
kenazfilan @ gmail.com <http://gmail.com/> | 917 267 7469
kenazfilan.blogspot.com <http://kenazfilan.blogspot.com/> |
www.kenazfilan.com <http://www.kenazfilan.com/>
author:
the haitian vodou handbook
vodou love magic
drawing down the spirits (w/raven kaldera)
vodou money magic
the power of the poppy (forthcoming)
the new orleans voodoo handbook (forthcoming)

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4.: Card of the Week 3.7 The Pages of the Robin Wood Tarot.

Posted by: "blackbird" blackbird_61@yahoo.com blackbird_61

Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:44 pm (PDT)

Hi All,

Today, I would like to spend a little time with The Pages as they are found in the Robin Wood Tarot. Now first of all I should say in all fairness the Robin Wood is on my short list for Absolutely Favorite Decks. The Quality of the art is Superior to most decks, The Symbolism is deep and Subtle, and if you own this deck, but have yet to buy Robins Book, Buy the Book!. The overall Vision is Very Pagan Friendly, And the Deck has the best balanced court of any Deck I'm personally aware of ...

First off we have a Gender Balanced Court, The King and Kt are Matched by the Queen and Page, this is a plus in and of itself. And the Queen, are Fully Equal to their Consorts, They are Neither smaller in scale, presentation nor intent. I very like that ...

But it is the Pages, our Subject today, that make this Deck Uniquely special. With most decks I've personal experience of the Page, or Knave is something of a Teen/Tween Card, a little Younger than the Knight, a little less active than the Knight, but not too much so ... the Knave is the Little Brother or Sister to the Knight, but it is not so very much the Junior here ... and this provides some balance. We certainly see this Relationship in the Gendron. Where-in the Princess is always older, more powerful, and fills more of the frame than her little brother.

But in my experience the Robin Wood is Unique in depicting the Pages as Children, Not Teens, not Tweens but Children, Cards that can depict any young person from age 4 or 5 to age Ten or So... that lovely innocent all important chapter in life, that is so often neglected by the Tarot.

These cards have a lovely Unique balance was well, for while they are all little girls, the Page of Pents, and Swords (one feminine on Masculine Suit) are very clearly girls. While the Pages of Cups and Wands (again one Feminine and one Masculine Suit) are a bit unclear, and could speak to little boys of the same age.

As most Qs are Women, and a good many of them are Mothers, the Robin Wood stands alone in speaking to that most vital of all mothers concerns children. We can't exactly blame Mr. Waite for not including Young Children in his Deck, in the very early 1900's young children where "Woman's Work" not something we would expect a Grown Male Esoterocist to have much concern about as he explored larger issues, but today, today the world has changed, and Magick has changed too, for the better I think and towards the Feminine for sure, and Robin has made a bold statement her in realigning the tarot to look more like real life.

Enough Blather lets look at the Cards after all...

We begin with the Page of Pents, ...
Simply because I love her, she is firmly connected to the Earth, both feet firmly planted there, she is a girl who loves to go out in the world, searching for things to draw into the book on her belt. Her little Sketch Diary, but it is as much Dairy as Sketch; she is a reflective little thing, quite at home sitting quietly on the long, considering her moment, considering just how to express what she is feeling, what she is experiencing, just what is going on in her world. Notice her focus on the Pentacle, she is a able to sit appreciate, admire a thing for some time; she does not suffer from a short attention span, quite the opposite, you'll be calling her in night after night, as the Shade of Night Creep up on her unawares, caught up and lost in the beauty of the world.

Her sister in the Page of Swords, could hardly be more different. She is very much a "Tom Boy" notice the Telescope on her belt, the Better to see Pirate Ships with, Robin Calls this her "Running with Scissors card." notice her Racing Fearlessly across the frame of this card, this card is all about Youth, Exuberance, that sense of Invulnerability that only the very young enjoy. She is not waiting for her dreams to come true, she is racing towards them, Fearless in complete confidence she will arrive just where she means to go ...

If the Page of Swords is racing off seeking Pirate Treasure, the Page of Wands seems to have found hers. Look at her gazing that the Great Wand in her hands, but she is not our Passive little Princess of Pents, no she is an active little thing, on the cusp of springing into action. I like to Imagine her a Sorcerer's Apprentice with the great Magus wand in her hands, she know it is a thing of Beauty, and Power; and she knows power is a good thing. That if she would do good in the world she needs power to do it, she does not fear power, nor think of it as corrupting, for she loves and serves a great Magus; who is neither covetous or corrupt. Notice the little bundle on her belt - They are Firecrackers, speaking to the explosive side of her character, but also I think, to the Leo in this Lioness; She knows a bit of Flash and Bang is good theater and make Magick LOOK more magickal. This is a delightful little card...

The Page of Cups closes our circle, we began with the Page of Pents contemplating her Pentacle with a Poets eye, we end with Page of Cups, contemplating a small cup with a Painters. Notice the small fish, leaping from the cup, like a moments inspiration rising from the depths, leaping through the mind, and then gone; can you capture that moment, that inspiration, the glimmer of Higher or deeper things.

She can, she carries her little Pallet on her belt, just as Artists through out time have carried, a Pencil, A sketchbook, a watercolor block. Any book on Photography will tell you always have your camera with you, the world is filled with Unique and Uniquely beautiful moments, and if you would capture them, and bring them to the world, then you must be prepared too.

Well that's enough verbiage from me ...
but I hope that you are not through, take a moment, take a long moment sit mindfully with the Images ... let them speak to you, if you have the deck, sit with the cards themselves, play with them, rearrange them, see what stories they have to tell you.

Again, If I had to pick 4 or 5 Essential Decks every reader should own and be intimately familiar with .. the Robin Wood would be near the top of that list.

Blessings, BB.

I am the Cup which holds Eternity.
All other Cups
Have their Source in Me.
The Goddess Innana.

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5.: Yep, You Guessed It... More Shamanic Linguistics

Posted by: "Kenaz Filan" kenazfilan@gmail.com houngancoquilledumer

Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:29 pm (PDT)

[from http://kenazfilan.blogspot.com]

On Mystic Wicks <http://www.mysticwicks.com/>, a couple of people responded
to my earlier post<http://kenazfilan.blogspot.com/2010/09/whats-in-word-still-more-shamanic.html>about
the linguistic uses of "Shamanism." (You can follow that discussion
here <http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?p=4217803#post4217803>).
Since they both raised great points for discussion, I thought I'd share my
response on my blog.

****

There's definitely a tendency to lump indigenous religious practices
together under the Shamanism banner. "Shamanism" can become a justification
for all sorts of cultural mixing and matching. Holy symbols become consumer
artifacts or aesthetic trappings, to be blended based on color schemes
rather than religious significance. It's like our culture's version of
the *pwen
achete*, the "bought points" or purchased spirits of Haitian Vodou.

By declaring a culture "shamanic," we provide ourselves with a set of
expectations. We focus on the things we consider shamanic - use of plants
(especially if they are entheogenic or hallucinogenic), drumming, trance
journeying or possession, spirit work, etc. - and ignore the finer points of
their culture. For an example of what I'm talking about, look at the way
indigenous American cultures from Algonquin to Zuma have become "Indian
spirituality."

You both mention "bullshit detectors." I agree that a healthy sense of
skepticism is invaluable when studying an unfamiliar spiritual path. But I
think we also have to be careful not to overestimate their accuracy. Keep in
mind that skilled con artists will look nothing like the stereotypical
greasy used car salesman. They're going to be sweet and reassuring: they
will meet all your suspicions with perfectly reasonable answers and play up
to all your expectations. They will be the wise spiritual leader or the
humble peasant as best suits their needs.

By contrast, genuinely spiritual people may appear awkward, alternating
between overbearing forcefulness and meek confusion. They may have the
common human flaws of arrogance and thin-skinned defensiveness. They may
make statements that shock your sense of political correctness or display
behaviors that make you uncomfortable. And your common sense might, with
justifiable reason, tell you to go with the person who met your culturally
and linguistically-determined preconceptions.

Now let's add to the mix the people who are simultaneously lauded as great
spiritual leaders and scorned as dangerous cult-leading frauds. And keep in
mind that spirituality can be a business like anything else. When working
with indigenous cultures you are dealing with a tremendous disparity in
economic power between students and prospective teachers. More often than
not, you're also dealing with a culture wherein paying for services and
religious instruction is an accepted practice.

And as Satori43 said, it's important that the shaman be trusted "within the
group." Figuring out who is and is not trusted can be challenging for people
coming to a culture as complete outsiders. Taking your time and getting to
know your prospective teachers, and their students, is always useful. So is
learning something about their peers and the community in which they operate
as spiritual leaders. It requires more effort than buying an airplane ticket
and writing a check, but the time spent will more than pay for itself in the
short and long term.

--
kenaz filan
kenazfilan @ gmail.com | 917 267 7469
kenazfilan.blogspot.com | www.kenazfilan.com
author:
the haitian vodou handbook
vodou love magic
drawing down the spirits (w/raven kaldera)
vodou money magic
the power of the poppy (forthcoming)
the new orleans voodoo handbook (forthcoming)

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