Sorry we’ve been gone for so long, but we had computer issues for a few months. This group is about the fantasy role playing game Pendragon, and by extension anything having to do with the Arthurian mythos, romances, and the Arthurian magickal tradition tradition.
During the late spring to early summer of this year we saw Camelot, the Starz series, which told the story of a young man from a farming family who became the king of Britain when his father Uther was poisoned by his step-daughter Morgan. Stephen thought there was way too much Christianity and not enough magick or Paganism, but Tegwedd has always realized that there is a lot of Christianity in it. After all, it was first written down by a Christian monk Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 15th century. From the reading and research she has done on the subject, she has concluded that the Arthurian romances are a mixture of Paganism, and Christian mysticism. But her favorite retelling of the romance is still Mists of Avalon. She liked that it was from Morgan LeFay’s point of view in the whole thing because she is a faery.
If you’re local, we’d like to organize a Pendragon campaign at our house. Bring snacks and drinks to sustain us through the campaign. Please bring drinks that are non-alcoholic, and some that are caffeine-free, since Tegwedd can’t drink caffeine after 2:00 pm. They both are very fond of guacamole and Tegwedd loves 5 or 7 layer dip with tortilla chips. She also likes spinach dip. They both love ranch dip with veggie trays and french onion dip with potato chips. Also bring miniature figures if you have them.
Who is your favorite character? Tegwedd has already listed hers as Morgan LeFay. Stephen’s is, obviously enough the Merlin or Myrrddin the Pagan version. We hope you didn’t watch that piece of crap Merlin shown during the year on SyFy. Of course, maybe we should watch it and say we like it so the curse will kick in, and they’ll cancel it. It’s a waste of good actors like Anthony Stewart Head. He’s been in quite a few thing where his craft was able to show. He was Mr. Rupert Giles, Buffy’s Watcher in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was also the psychotic father in Repo: The Genetic Opera. He’s wasted in this putrid show because they messed too much with the story. Stephen hates it because it’s jesoid. Buffy had a similar relationship with Mr. Giles as Arthur had with Myrrddin. Eventually Buffy becomes independent of Giles as Arthur did with Myrrddin. Like many Celtic heroes, Arthur was a solar hero. Tegwedd heard something else when she heard that. She heard “solo hero”, and she thought Arthur was always surrounded by his knights of the Round Table. What Stephen has, his strange hearing seems to be catching. But once she heard what he’s actually said, “solar hero,” it made a lot of sense. You’d put Arthur on Sephirah 6 on the Tree of Life. Other Celtic solar heroes would be Lugh, Lord of Light and the Many-Skilled, Nuada of the Silver Hand, Cuchulain, and Brigit. Can you think of any other solar heroes or solar Celtic deities? In the Norse tradition, it would be Baldur,who was also called Lord of light. Sol was a Norse God of the Sun. Sulis is a Gaulish Goddess of the Sun. Balor was also a God of the Sun. He represented the harsher side of the Sun, like when it’s over a hundred degrees in the shade, and the humidity is also high. He employed a scorched earth strategy. They lifted u his eyelid with forked sticks, then he would scorch anything in front of his eye.
As the Pendragon, Arthur was the spirit of Britain. Dragons in this context were symbols of sovereignty, majesty and magick, all rolled into one. When he rode into battle, with his Pendragon banner/pennant riding high, unfurling into the wind, it wasn’t just his family or household he was fighting for, it was all of Britain. In his early days, Arthur could have been Pagan, but as he matured, you didn’t see anyone Pagan anymore as the poison from Rome spread its way around the Empire, thanks to the so-called Saints Columba and Patrick, names that will live in infamy for Pagans. In case you don’t know, Pendragon is a fantasy role playing game situated around when Arthur was supposed to have lived; the last years of the Roman Empire in the West, and the years until the Saxon invasion and conquest. Geoffrey of Monmouth set his Le Morte de Arthur during the time he himself was living, during the 15th century, the height of the Chivalric Age, a full millennium after the actual age of Arthur. The historical Arthur was reputed to have been in his 40s or 50s, a very important Pagan warrior chieftain, possibly a high king. The family castle was at Tintagel. Uther usurped Duke Gorlois’ place, took his castle, the Duke’s wife Igraine, kills the Duke, and fathers a son on the Duchess Igraine.
Fosterage was a very ancient Pagan tradition for highborn youngsters. Unlike today’s fosterage programs, which are designed to punish the parents, not help the children, the fosterage programs of old were designed to expose the youngsters to other households and other ways of raising children. They also promoted peace between tribes and households. After all, you aren’t going to attack the castle where your pride and joy is living, are you?
We are offering a new service. For just $19.95, you can have spell-coaching. We will take you through the construction and performance of a spell. It’s very simple. If you want to perform a spell but you don’t think you know what you’re doing, hire us to coach you through it. The fee is payable to our PayPal accounts, to either abbotts_inn@yahoo.com or tezra.reitan@gmail.com .
We will coach you using strong ethics. Tegwedd has a couplet she will teach you which you can add to your spell that will ensure that it is ethical. Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick is over 40 years old, having been founded in 1970 in Berkeley, CA. It went cybernetic almost 9 years ago. Lizet has been helping us put the school on a more commercial footing, and with her inspiration, Tegwedd has started packaging the classes into manageable packets. Ms. Freeman did a 3rd website for us almost a month ago at http://abbottsinn.wordpress.com. From there, by clicking on two of the graphics, you can go to either of the other two sites: http://abbottsinninternational.com/ and http://abbottsinn.com/ . You can also get to our network http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ . With her help, we also salvaged some things from his old website, including the mission statement: The Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick aims to provide a gentle nurturing environment that promotes education in both the atmosphere and the specific tools of magick. Our research arm is called the Magickal Research Institute or MRI, not to be confused with the medical MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Image, which Tegwedd had on her right ankle about 9 months ago. Stephen and Lizet came up with the name almost 9 years ago. The three of us have become a very effective working team. Stephen is getting a new cellphone which should be arriving any day now. His cell phone number is 916-467-6393. He’ll have access to the Internet on that phone. He says “I’m not very good at texting because of my glaucoma, so please be gentle with me.”
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Beware: Chatting Druids Here
Welcome to Druidchat 10! We’re glad you could make it! Do check out the other DruidChats on other networks. Sorry we’ve been gone so long, but for a few months, we had computer issues.
The original DruidChat has had an interesting history. It was started by Sybok of the Order of the Mithril Star. Tegwedd knows this because he told her this himself. She may have had her issues with him in the past, but she has to admit that he started a good group, and under Aigeann’s leadership. it’s gotten even better. It has hundreds of people in it. When you think about DruidChat, you think about Isaac, who was there a little. Sean’s been there too, from time to time. This is a place to chat about things of interest to Druids of all stripes.
Tegwedd saw a movie Saturday evening that may be of interest to Druids, and others concerned about the environment. It’s called The 11th Hour, to emphasize the fact that something has to be done to get us away from our global addiction to fossil fuels. The dumb part is that there are so many alternatives to fossil fuels that we could have been off of them over 30 years ago, if the Republicans would just stop letting the fossil fuel companies lead them around by the testicles. People are making money off these alternatives and the gas and oil companies could too if they weren’t such dinosaurs. It was produced and narrated by Leonardo diCaprio. The more Tegwedd sees of this young man. the more impressed with him she becomes. He’s a lot more than just a pretty face.
“This movie shows that Leonardo diCaprio’s heart is in the right place,” says Stephen.
According to the film, this planet is a wreck, and getting worse. Unless those who are aware can impress upon those in power (the fossil fuel companies and their tame legislators) that there is scads of money to be made in developing alternate energy sources, that they can make at least as much money in renewable energy as they did in rapidly diminishing fossil fuels, our quality of life will continue to fall, and our time on this planet is coming to an end. Tegwedd is impassioned about this, and she’s on fire. She’s pissed off. The Republican menace must be stopped. These anit-Druids must be tried and convicted of treason because they are traitors, nnot only to America, and the American way of life, but also to the planet. Tegwedd isn’t a political animal, and you guys know that. But our very survival is on the line.
Stephen is very much a political animal, and a militarist who knows about weapons. He thinks that the Republicans all should be vampire food except for Clint Eastwood and Tegwedd’s relatives. She loves her relatives, but they’re all Republicans. It’s all Grover Norquist’s and Rupert Murdoch’s fault. Murdoch’s TV stations and publications conned her relatives into voting against their own best interests. As Druids, we need to be aware of the situation our nation and indeed our planet are in now. All the Republicans and their rich corporate masters care about are short term monetary gains. If there’s any true evil in the world, it’s the Republicans, and their colleagues and collaborators in other countries. For all you politically active Druids and other Pagans out there, vote these bastards the hell out of office. We have a list of all these assholes. You can get it too by Googling the Senate, House of Representatives, and the governors of the states in which you live. You probably know which party your state governor belongs to. If s/he’s a Republican, vote hir the hell out of office. If your Congressman or -woman is a Republican, get hir the hell out of office. The same goes for your state legislatures. If we all get together and rebel, they have to listen to us. Remember that the first 3 words of the US Constitution are “We the People.” If you are apolitical, get involved. Remember that our old friend and Druid’s Druid Isaac Bonewits was politically active. An acquaintance of Tegwedd’s was also politically active, and participated in protest demonstrations to forestall the construction of nuclear power plants. His name was Wally Davis. He sacrificed himself in 1984 so that he could defend his beloved Mother Earth in no-ncorporeal form. It seems that he was right about nuclear power plants being dangerous as the Japanese power plants and the one in New York’s Indian Point bear out.
Enough of the political diatribing already. What do you want to talk about here? As we see it, Druids’ main concerns are nature, natural magick, and priest-craft. Speaking of nature, who of you have heard of the comet Elenin? We’ve only heard a little about it approaching the Solar System. We’ll keep you posted as things develop, or you can post here about it if you get some more information about it. Speaking of comets, do you know what the word “disaster” means? It means “evil star” People used to believe that comets or stars, or planets in the wrong alignments caused cataclysmic events or presaged them.
Sunday Tegwedd and four of the other women from the grove went on a nature hikealong the Sacramento and identified plantain, which is a good remedy for things like bug bites or stings as the leaves when bruised or pulverized and put in a compress suck the venom out of the bite or sting. Then when they got back to Jill’s house, they toured her garden, had a tasty lunch, and worked on their crafts. Meanwhile Stephen did a nature thing of his own, working to tame the backyard of our staff member and friend Lizet Freeman. They identified and saved morning glories. Supposedly the seeds get you high as they contain a small amount of LSD, but they’ll get you sick before they get you high. Stephen thinks they have a magickal use, but isn’t sure what it is. On a purely mundane level, they make good ground cover. The building where Tegwedd lived for 16 years before she moved here had morning glories climbing up the wall. We suggest you do research to find out what its magickal uses are.
Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick is over 40 years old, having been founded in 1970 in Berkeley, CA. It went cybernetic almost 9 years ago. Lizet has been helping us put the school on a more commercial footing, and with her inspiration, Tegwedd started to package the classes into manageable packets. Ms. Freeman did a 3rd website for us almost a month ago at http://abbottsinn.wordpress.com. From there, by clicking on two of the graphics, you can go to either of the other two sites: http://abbottsinninternational.com/ and http://abbottsinn.com/ . You can also get to our network http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ . With her help, we also salvaged some things from his old website, including the mission statement: The Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick aims to provide a gentle nurturing environment that promotes education in both the atmosphere and the specific tools of magick. Our research arm is called the Magickal Research Institute or MRI, not to be confused with the medical MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Image, which Tegwedd had on her right ankle about 9 months ago. Stephen and Lizet came up with the name almost 9 years ago. The three of us have become a very effective working team.
The original DruidChat has had an interesting history. It was started by Sybok of the Order of the Mithril Star. Tegwedd knows this because he told her this himself. She may have had her issues with him in the past, but she has to admit that he started a good group, and under Aigeann’s leadership. it’s gotten even better. It has hundreds of people in it. When you think about DruidChat, you think about Isaac, who was there a little. Sean’s been there too, from time to time. This is a place to chat about things of interest to Druids of all stripes.
Tegwedd saw a movie Saturday evening that may be of interest to Druids, and others concerned about the environment. It’s called The 11th Hour, to emphasize the fact that something has to be done to get us away from our global addiction to fossil fuels. The dumb part is that there are so many alternatives to fossil fuels that we could have been off of them over 30 years ago, if the Republicans would just stop letting the fossil fuel companies lead them around by the testicles. People are making money off these alternatives and the gas and oil companies could too if they weren’t such dinosaurs. It was produced and narrated by Leonardo diCaprio. The more Tegwedd sees of this young man. the more impressed with him she becomes. He’s a lot more than just a pretty face.
“This movie shows that Leonardo diCaprio’s heart is in the right place,” says Stephen.
According to the film, this planet is a wreck, and getting worse. Unless those who are aware can impress upon those in power (the fossil fuel companies and their tame legislators) that there is scads of money to be made in developing alternate energy sources, that they can make at least as much money in renewable energy as they did in rapidly diminishing fossil fuels, our quality of life will continue to fall, and our time on this planet is coming to an end. Tegwedd is impassioned about this, and she’s on fire. She’s pissed off. The Republican menace must be stopped. These anit-Druids must be tried and convicted of treason because they are traitors, nnot only to America, and the American way of life, but also to the planet. Tegwedd isn’t a political animal, and you guys know that. But our very survival is on the line.
Stephen is very much a political animal, and a militarist who knows about weapons. He thinks that the Republicans all should be vampire food except for Clint Eastwood and Tegwedd’s relatives. She loves her relatives, but they’re all Republicans. It’s all Grover Norquist’s and Rupert Murdoch’s fault. Murdoch’s TV stations and publications conned her relatives into voting against their own best interests. As Druids, we need to be aware of the situation our nation and indeed our planet are in now. All the Republicans and their rich corporate masters care about are short term monetary gains. If there’s any true evil in the world, it’s the Republicans, and their colleagues and collaborators in other countries. For all you politically active Druids and other Pagans out there, vote these bastards the hell out of office. We have a list of all these assholes. You can get it too by Googling the Senate, House of Representatives, and the governors of the states in which you live. You probably know which party your state governor belongs to. If s/he’s a Republican, vote hir the hell out of office. If your Congressman or -woman is a Republican, get hir the hell out of office. The same goes for your state legislatures. If we all get together and rebel, they have to listen to us. Remember that the first 3 words of the US Constitution are “We the People.” If you are apolitical, get involved. Remember that our old friend and Druid’s Druid Isaac Bonewits was politically active. An acquaintance of Tegwedd’s was also politically active, and participated in protest demonstrations to forestall the construction of nuclear power plants. His name was Wally Davis. He sacrificed himself in 1984 so that he could defend his beloved Mother Earth in no-ncorporeal form. It seems that he was right about nuclear power plants being dangerous as the Japanese power plants and the one in New York’s Indian Point bear out.
Enough of the political diatribing already. What do you want to talk about here? As we see it, Druids’ main concerns are nature, natural magick, and priest-craft. Speaking of nature, who of you have heard of the comet Elenin? We’ve only heard a little about it approaching the Solar System. We’ll keep you posted as things develop, or you can post here about it if you get some more information about it. Speaking of comets, do you know what the word “disaster” means? It means “evil star” People used to believe that comets or stars, or planets in the wrong alignments caused cataclysmic events or presaged them.
Sunday Tegwedd and four of the other women from the grove went on a nature hikealong the Sacramento and identified plantain, which is a good remedy for things like bug bites or stings as the leaves when bruised or pulverized and put in a compress suck the venom out of the bite or sting. Then when they got back to Jill’s house, they toured her garden, had a tasty lunch, and worked on their crafts. Meanwhile Stephen did a nature thing of his own, working to tame the backyard of our staff member and friend Lizet Freeman. They identified and saved morning glories. Supposedly the seeds get you high as they contain a small amount of LSD, but they’ll get you sick before they get you high. Stephen thinks they have a magickal use, but isn’t sure what it is. On a purely mundane level, they make good ground cover. The building where Tegwedd lived for 16 years before she moved here had morning glories climbing up the wall. We suggest you do research to find out what its magickal uses are.
Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick is over 40 years old, having been founded in 1970 in Berkeley, CA. It went cybernetic almost 9 years ago. Lizet has been helping us put the school on a more commercial footing, and with her inspiration, Tegwedd started to package the classes into manageable packets. Ms. Freeman did a 3rd website for us almost a month ago at http://abbottsinn.wordpress.com. From there, by clicking on two of the graphics, you can go to either of the other two sites: http://abbottsinninternational.com/ and http://abbottsinn.com/ . You can also get to our network http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ . With her help, we also salvaged some things from his old website, including the mission statement: The Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick aims to provide a gentle nurturing environment that promotes education in both the atmosphere and the specific tools of magick. Our research arm is called the Magickal Research Institute or MRI, not to be confused with the medical MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Image, which Tegwedd had on her right ankle about 9 months ago. Stephen and Lizet came up with the name almost 9 years ago. The three of us have become a very effective working team.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Return to DruidWicca_Coven
Greetings all you DruidWiccans out there! At last we’re back. Sorry we were gone for so long. We were working on other groups. and had computer issues for about 4 months. First my HP Pavilion 1710 died, then Stephen’s laptop died. We were reduced to doing our computing at the library. Then my 2nd ex-hubby brought up his daughter’s old computer for us to use. Then on about the 8th of June, I got the computer I’m on now. She’s a beauty, an HP Pavilion Slimline. She has 3 gigs of memory, and runs Windows 7. And I LOVE Windows 7. It is the most user friendly OS Microsoft has come up with yet. It is so fast that it almost does what I want before I think of it. So we’re back, and to show we’re back, we’re doing posts to all our prior groups.
As many of you know, this group was founded to celebrate the joining of Druidry and the Craft of the Wise in Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm with the drop-dead gorgeous artwork of Will Worthington. How many of you have actually seen this deck? Out of the 425 decks that Stephen has in his collection, he can say this is his favorite deck. A big part of this is Will Worthington’s artwork. My only complaint about the deck is that the cards are a little large for my hands to manipulate. Stephen was a casino dealer in his hounds-toothed career, so he has no trouble shuffling the cards, but I do. In Stephen’s opinion, this is the most beautifully rendered deck he’s seen. The Llewellyn Tarot is its only real rival, in my opinion. Stephen also likes the Arthurian Tarot and the Tarot of Sorcerers. Which other decks do you think belong in this category? I like the Mystic Faerie Tarot because the style of artwork is very Arte Nouveau, which, besides Pre-Raphaelite, is my favorite style of art. The DruidCraft Tarot is published by St. Martin’s Press, New York.. We recommend it highly.
There is a divination “board” made of plastic coated paper that comes with the “Legend” Tarot. Stephen is using it right now for his phone readings. The Legend Arthurian Tarot is published by Llewellyn. Try Llewellyn.com first, then Amazon.com, then Mind-n-Magick.com. Do NOT go to Ebay unless you are both rich and desperate. Stephen believes that the Llewellyn Tarot is still in print from Llewellyn. Try there first, then Amazon, the Mind-n-Magick. Why is the DruidCraft Tarot different from all other decks? It’s the artwork. The artwork is drop-dead gorgeous. Will Worthington did a masterful job on the artwork. And symbolism? It’s got symbolism up the wazoo.
There are other DruidWicca groups out there that are not us. This is a very popular group of ours. One of the things that we want to do with this group, since this is a coven, is to do rituals on PaganSpace.net. We don’t know whether that network still has its instant messaging facility, but I’ll do some research and find out. What do the rest of you think of this? We want your feedback and ideas. We tried to do it before, but that was years ago. We’d like to try it again. Follow us on Twitter. Stephen is abbottsinn on Twitter. I am Teresa Reitan@Tegwedd. We’ll also bring this up on Facebook. Stephen is Stephen W. Abbott and Stephen Abbott. Somehow he ended up with 2 accounts. The person who can teach him how to integrate his two accounts into one gets a reading or a class. If we can use the Instant Messaging, we would like to do readings on it for reasonable rates. This will be promoted on Twitter and Facebook.
This is off-topic, but I’ve gotta talk about it. Last Wednesday, we went to Luigi’s Pizza Garden to celebrate Stephen turning 61 years old undead. Luigi’s is probably the oldest pizza place in Sacramento, having been established in 1953. It’s a pleasantly funky place. The tables resemble picnic tables. Stephen had had a rough day, and was rather grumpy, but started to relax as soon as we got there. We feasted. I had a 12” Luigi’s Special, which had the toppings I like. Oink! Oink! Oink! I ate like a little piggy, just as I said I would, but I still had enough left over to have on Friday for lunch. Stephen had a large 4 meat pizza, which fed him for 3 meals. I mainly mention this event because last year I couldn’t go, since I was in the hospital with a broken ankle. When the 4th of July rolled around, and I did NOT have to go to the hospital, I knew I was going to Luigi’s two days later, and I did, and had myself a time. If you live locally, we highly recommend that you go to Luigi’s. If you want, call our toll free number and we’ll meet you there. Then 3 days later, I got him a birthday gift, the biggest darkest bar of chocolate I could find in Trader Joe’s.
Since this is about Wicca/Witchcraft, as well as Druidry, it might behoove us to discuss some basics about Wicca, for those of you who are rank beginners. Advanced Witches can either skip this section, or use it to review. It’s your choice. How many of you have ever belonged to either a Wiccan study group, or a coven at all? How many of you have studied the Craft on your own? A show of hands. Wicca is a duotheistic (two deities) religion which reveres Nature, and practices magick as an extension of those natural laws. That was the definition I supplied whenever someone wandered into the #Wicca channel on Mirc, wondering what Wicca actually was. We go by one law or counsel, the Wiccan Rede, which goes: “Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An it harm none, do what ye will.” In Wicca, unlike Druidry, but like in ceremonial or ritual magick, there is the importance of the magickal circle as a concentrator and container of magickal energy until it is sent to its destination. You see, in Druidry, there is no magickal circle, no impenetrable boundary because all of the earth is sacred space, because She is our beloved Earth Mother. Both Wicca/Witchcraft and Druidry use herbs and plants. Wiccans/Witches cast spells and incantations much more than Druidry groups do. In Druidry it’s about the offerings and sacrifices. Druids sacrifice in the hopes that the Deity thus offered to will grant the person’s desire. Stephen claims that Druidry is closer to shamanism than is the Craft, but I disagree. I say the Craft is closer to shamanism. Basically the Craft is European shamanism. Druidry is a priestcraft, and is solar in nature, while the Craft is more lunar and stellar in nature. In the Craft, you can do things like shape-shifting, and Druidry, at least in ADF, you don’t have that, at least to the best of my knowledge. But according to Stephen, in ancient legendary Druidry, there was a plethora of shape-shifting, so in Stephen’s personal brand of Druidry, there is shape-shifting. Of course, we don’t know for sure, since the ancient Druids left no written records. I maintain that his Druidry is closer to the Craft, being essentially shamanic in nature. In the legends and myths, there were Druids who could shape shift, but bot in modern Druidry. Living in the modern world has killed our powers of shape-shifting. Stephen believes that with the right person, practicing the right disciplines, the power could be rediscovered. In the modern world, which saps our powers, we’ve lost the power to do the amazing magick. But with people discovering Druidry younger and younger and living longer and longer, who knows? we may yet rediscover the power. DruidWicca takes what’s best of both magickal disciplines, and combines them. These two disciplines are melded together to create one cohesive whole.
Both Druidry and Wicca have many deities, but in Druidry They’re all individuals, while in Wicca, there but Two, the Lady and the Lord, Who have many names. From Stephen’s perspective as a Druid, he sees many Deities. Now it’s your turn to tell how you would combine Druidry and Wicca together. What did we miss in our approach? A couple days ago we went through Stephen’s old website and selected what we wanted from it. The truth is, we want to use everything in the old site on the new site. I particularly like the mission statement that Lizet had come up with over 8 years ago about creating a nurturing environment for magickal research. Here it is: The goal of Abbott’s Inn is to provide a gentle and nurturing environment that promotes education in both the atmosphere and specific tools of magick. Gain without pain. (unless you want pain). Humankind has pursued magick since the dawn of time.
As many of you know, this group was founded to celebrate the joining of Druidry and the Craft of the Wise in Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm with the drop-dead gorgeous artwork of Will Worthington. How many of you have actually seen this deck? Out of the 425 decks that Stephen has in his collection, he can say this is his favorite deck. A big part of this is Will Worthington’s artwork. My only complaint about the deck is that the cards are a little large for my hands to manipulate. Stephen was a casino dealer in his hounds-toothed career, so he has no trouble shuffling the cards, but I do. In Stephen’s opinion, this is the most beautifully rendered deck he’s seen. The Llewellyn Tarot is its only real rival, in my opinion. Stephen also likes the Arthurian Tarot and the Tarot of Sorcerers. Which other decks do you think belong in this category? I like the Mystic Faerie Tarot because the style of artwork is very Arte Nouveau, which, besides Pre-Raphaelite, is my favorite style of art. The DruidCraft Tarot is published by St. Martin’s Press, New York.. We recommend it highly.
There is a divination “board” made of plastic coated paper that comes with the “Legend” Tarot. Stephen is using it right now for his phone readings. The Legend Arthurian Tarot is published by Llewellyn. Try Llewellyn.com first, then Amazon.com, then Mind-n-Magick.com. Do NOT go to Ebay unless you are both rich and desperate. Stephen believes that the Llewellyn Tarot is still in print from Llewellyn. Try there first, then Amazon, the Mind-n-Magick. Why is the DruidCraft Tarot different from all other decks? It’s the artwork. The artwork is drop-dead gorgeous. Will Worthington did a masterful job on the artwork. And symbolism? It’s got symbolism up the wazoo.
There are other DruidWicca groups out there that are not us. This is a very popular group of ours. One of the things that we want to do with this group, since this is a coven, is to do rituals on PaganSpace.net. We don’t know whether that network still has its instant messaging facility, but I’ll do some research and find out. What do the rest of you think of this? We want your feedback and ideas. We tried to do it before, but that was years ago. We’d like to try it again. Follow us on Twitter. Stephen is abbottsinn on Twitter. I am Teresa Reitan@Tegwedd. We’ll also bring this up on Facebook. Stephen is Stephen W. Abbott and Stephen Abbott. Somehow he ended up with 2 accounts. The person who can teach him how to integrate his two accounts into one gets a reading or a class. If we can use the Instant Messaging, we would like to do readings on it for reasonable rates. This will be promoted on Twitter and Facebook.
This is off-topic, but I’ve gotta talk about it. Last Wednesday, we went to Luigi’s Pizza Garden to celebrate Stephen turning 61 years old undead. Luigi’s is probably the oldest pizza place in Sacramento, having been established in 1953. It’s a pleasantly funky place. The tables resemble picnic tables. Stephen had had a rough day, and was rather grumpy, but started to relax as soon as we got there. We feasted. I had a 12” Luigi’s Special, which had the toppings I like. Oink! Oink! Oink! I ate like a little piggy, just as I said I would, but I still had enough left over to have on Friday for lunch. Stephen had a large 4 meat pizza, which fed him for 3 meals. I mainly mention this event because last year I couldn’t go, since I was in the hospital with a broken ankle. When the 4th of July rolled around, and I did NOT have to go to the hospital, I knew I was going to Luigi’s two days later, and I did, and had myself a time. If you live locally, we highly recommend that you go to Luigi’s. If you want, call our toll free number and we’ll meet you there. Then 3 days later, I got him a birthday gift, the biggest darkest bar of chocolate I could find in Trader Joe’s.
Since this is about Wicca/Witchcraft, as well as Druidry, it might behoove us to discuss some basics about Wicca, for those of you who are rank beginners. Advanced Witches can either skip this section, or use it to review. It’s your choice. How many of you have ever belonged to either a Wiccan study group, or a coven at all? How many of you have studied the Craft on your own? A show of hands. Wicca is a duotheistic (two deities) religion which reveres Nature, and practices magick as an extension of those natural laws. That was the definition I supplied whenever someone wandered into the #Wicca channel on Mirc, wondering what Wicca actually was. We go by one law or counsel, the Wiccan Rede, which goes: “Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An it harm none, do what ye will.” In Wicca, unlike Druidry, but like in ceremonial or ritual magick, there is the importance of the magickal circle as a concentrator and container of magickal energy until it is sent to its destination. You see, in Druidry, there is no magickal circle, no impenetrable boundary because all of the earth is sacred space, because She is our beloved Earth Mother. Both Wicca/Witchcraft and Druidry use herbs and plants. Wiccans/Witches cast spells and incantations much more than Druidry groups do. In Druidry it’s about the offerings and sacrifices. Druids sacrifice in the hopes that the Deity thus offered to will grant the person’s desire. Stephen claims that Druidry is closer to shamanism than is the Craft, but I disagree. I say the Craft is closer to shamanism. Basically the Craft is European shamanism. Druidry is a priestcraft, and is solar in nature, while the Craft is more lunar and stellar in nature. In the Craft, you can do things like shape-shifting, and Druidry, at least in ADF, you don’t have that, at least to the best of my knowledge. But according to Stephen, in ancient legendary Druidry, there was a plethora of shape-shifting, so in Stephen’s personal brand of Druidry, there is shape-shifting. Of course, we don’t know for sure, since the ancient Druids left no written records. I maintain that his Druidry is closer to the Craft, being essentially shamanic in nature. In the legends and myths, there were Druids who could shape shift, but bot in modern Druidry. Living in the modern world has killed our powers of shape-shifting. Stephen believes that with the right person, practicing the right disciplines, the power could be rediscovered. In the modern world, which saps our powers, we’ve lost the power to do the amazing magick. But with people discovering Druidry younger and younger and living longer and longer, who knows? we may yet rediscover the power. DruidWicca takes what’s best of both magickal disciplines, and combines them. These two disciplines are melded together to create one cohesive whole.
Both Druidry and Wicca have many deities, but in Druidry They’re all individuals, while in Wicca, there but Two, the Lady and the Lord, Who have many names. From Stephen’s perspective as a Druid, he sees many Deities. Now it’s your turn to tell how you would combine Druidry and Wicca together. What did we miss in our approach? A couple days ago we went through Stephen’s old website and selected what we wanted from it. The truth is, we want to use everything in the old site on the new site. I particularly like the mission statement that Lizet had come up with over 8 years ago about creating a nurturing environment for magickal research. Here it is: The goal of Abbott’s Inn is to provide a gentle and nurturing environment that promotes education in both the atmosphere and specific tools of magick. Gain without pain. (unless you want pain). Humankind has pursued magick since the dawn of time.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Celtic Civilization then and Now
Welcome to the Mackay School of Celtic History 10! We’re glad you could make it! This is the tenth group in the ever expanding Mackay School constellation. You know, of course, that this group is not just about Celtic history, but also the literature, culture, magick, and mythology. Celtica forms a large portion of Europe, taking in what are now parts of Switzerland (La Tene), Spain (the Milesians), Italy (the Titian redheads), Austria (Hallstatt, the Danube), France (Gaul and Brittany), and the British Isles (Ireland, Scotland, Man, Cornwall, Wales). Abbott’s Inn Aura of Love Celtic Romance is a sister group to this one.
The Celts were one of the three waves of Indo-European tribes that came out of the Indian-Iranian region starting about 1500 BCE. The other two groups were the Teutons and the Slavs. The Celts were always a diverse people, more a loose confederation of tribes than a united people or nation. The Greeks gave them the name by which we know them today, the Keltoi, which means “artisans” in Greek because of their sculpture and metal work All three waves made their way across Europe, mingled with the native peoples, and became the Europeans we are descended from today, that is, those of us with European blood. You can’t tell who is European and who is not by the color of our skin, for there has been much mingling of blood over the centuries. If any of you have anything to offer about these origins, feel free to post here. For example, I did not mention the Doric people, who may be a fourth wave of Indo-Europeans. Were the Scythians part of this western movement? I do not know. If you have better knowledge, please do post here. I tried to find my book on the Indo-Europeans, but was unsuccessful.
The Celts gave a name to the Danube, which was Danu, cognate to the Welsh goddess Don, and the Irish river goddess Anu. Hallstatt in Austria was a Celtic center from the 8th century to the 5th century BCE. The La Tene site in Switzerland was a center from the 5th century to about the 2nd century BCE. The Celts were united only by a division of the Indo-European root language related to Sanskrit, their customs, their religion, a curious sort of one-in-many polytheism, and their use of a mysterious class of priests, magicians, diplomats, judges, lawyers, bards, genealogists, scientists, and physicians known as the Druids.
In comparing Celtic and Norse mythologies, there are similarities even though they were sworn enemies such as the many attributes of both Celtic and Norse deities. They both used herbs. But I protested, “But everybody used to use herbs!” “The Celts and the Norse both had systems for using their herbs,” “But everybody had systems for using herbs!” “Hey, I’ve got one! The Celts and the Norse were both sea raiders.” That one I could accept. They were both very warlike peoples. They also both employed the most advanced farming methods of their time. The number 9 was very important to both cultures. They were both patriarchal cultures, unlike many of the often matriarchal or egalitarian peoples they conquered. Stephen doesn’t believe that they were patriarchal peoples, but I do. Plainly he hasn’t done the reading I have. Sure, there were a few queens, mainly among the British Celts, but by and large the men were in charge. Stephen feels that there were more opportunities for women that there were among the Norse. One difference was that in the Celtic culture there was more respect for women than in the Norse. If you can think of any other ways in which these two cultures were similar, please post them here so we can discuss them.
Of course, who here doesn’t like Celtic music? My first exposure to Celtic music was thirty years ago when I was exposed to the Chieftains. I loved it at first listening. Since my guild mostly does Scottish games, I get many opportunities to listen to live Celtic music. We get the Jolly Tinkers, the Molly Browns, and other assorted bands too numerous to mention. Stephen’s first exposure to Celtic music was also the Chieftains. The album of theirs I want to get on Rhapsody is one they did of Spanish Celtic music. Stephen also promoted Horslips for several years, and was exposed to Celtic music that way. I went to Rhapsody today, and downloaded scads of Horslips. Man, was that good. It’s evocative of Grateful Dead, the Chieftains, Country Joe and the Fish, and John Entwhistle. Stephen thinks they sound like no one but themselves , but they remind me of other groups all mooshed up and spun out..
Literature is replete with Celtic names such as J.M. Synge, James Joyce, Eugene O’Neill, W.B.Yeats, and Oscar Wilde. Two more are Lady Gregory and Bram Stoker. One of my personal favorites is Robert Burns, but that may be just because I share my birthday with him. John and Caitlin Matthews have contributed much to Celtic culture. Actually, they’ve done much to promulgate Celtic culture, especially in the realms of mythology and legends, religion, divination, and Celtic shamanism.
I mentioned before that the name Keltoi from which we get the name Celts means artisans. A case in point is the Gundestrup Cauldron, which far from being Germanic or Nordic as most people think is actually Celtic in manufacture. It features the God Cernuunnos, beloved Horned God of many Wiccans (I own a statuette of him as he appears on the cauldron), surrounded by animals, and on the other side, Ceridwen, beloved Goddess of the Cauldron of Inspiration. One of the reasons most people think that it is Norse is that it was found in a mostly Norse area. But it was captured, and is not indigenous to the Gundestrup area where it was found. The Norse didn’t have cauldron Goddesses, but the Celts did. It was found in a bog, where it was probably thrown as a sacrifice as a substitute for a human being. But it was more than likely taken in a raid by the Norse against the Celts. They were deadly enemies. Celtiphiles are pretty pissed off that the Celts are not given credit in most places for the cauldron. Two authors—authorities on Celtica who agree with us are Proinisias MaCana and Duncan Norton-Taylor.
If you know anyone who wants a fairly cheap housing situation with two congenial Pagan magickal housemates in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Sacramento, contact me at tezra.reitan@gmail.com or Stephen at abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or Stephen at his phone number 916-455-2267. Also, we desperately need donations to keep Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick afloat. You can send donations of any size to either Stephen’s Paypal account at abbottsinn@gmail.com or abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or my Paypal account at tezra.reitan@gmail.com. If it’s for at least $32, you’ll get either a reading or a class from our vast collections of divination decks/methods/tools or for the class, pick a topic from our vast repertoire in the field of magick. For $60, you can actually have both a reading and a class. I don’t have my webcam hooked up yet, or my mic, but with Stephen you can have sound and video on Yahoo IM, Windows Msgr or Skype. With me for a short while, it’ll be just phone or typing on Yahoo IM or Windows Msgr. Thank you for using and disseminating Stephen’s Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. Stephen1580. It helps ever so much when you use it instead of the regular number because you don’t pay any more, but he makes three times as much. We’re both on SSI, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger drastically cut both of our checks, and Keen isn’t coming up with the paying calls. I haven’t made one cent since signing on with Keen. My clients all demand free five minute readings, and refuse to go over that five minutes for a paid reading. In fact, it’s cost me money to bid so altogether, Keen has been pretty much of a total loss for me. If you need money, kids, mow lawns or babysit, don’t join a psychic reading service, because it’ll just suck in what little money you do have.
Do check out the PaganRadioNetwork.net It’s free, although they certainly do accept donations. Doesn’t everyone? Seems like everyone has his hat out nowadays, and we’re sorry to be part of that, but the situation is dirt. We almost lost our power yesterday. In these times of smaller SSI checks, a bankrupt state, and practically non-existent paying KEEN calls, the prices just seem to be rising all the time for less and less service or quality.
In order to keep his computer alive, or perhaps get a new computer, Stephen needs a new battery and Windows 7, because Vista is just too unreliable. Vista is the worst operating system since 98. But first Stephen has to pay off his rent, and so do I. Don’t buy a Dell or do business with Wells Fargo. They’re both ripoffs.
If you’re ever in Sacramento, look up Walter Rhoads and Julie Maahs. Together they own Gallery 14 at 14th St. and 60th Avenue. We’re promoting them big time. Walter Rhoads has a very interesting and different approach to art. He compares himself to the late great Jackson Pollock but there are two main differences: Rhoads is still drawing breath with a healthy 98.6 degrees temperature (except when he’s sick, in which case it’s somewhat higher) and I think Jackson Pollock was gay, and Rhoads is, like us, hopelessly hetero.
We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Sorry about my negativity up there, but I’ve been very depressed by this economy lately, and wishing I were with Doc in the Summerland.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky my BFF (BoyFriend Forever)
Little (Big)Boy
Oreo (the Mouser)
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Frikki & Frakki
Dr. Livingston I. Presume aka Prince Henry the Navigator
The Celts were one of the three waves of Indo-European tribes that came out of the Indian-Iranian region starting about 1500 BCE. The other two groups were the Teutons and the Slavs. The Celts were always a diverse people, more a loose confederation of tribes than a united people or nation. The Greeks gave them the name by which we know them today, the Keltoi, which means “artisans” in Greek because of their sculpture and metal work All three waves made their way across Europe, mingled with the native peoples, and became the Europeans we are descended from today, that is, those of us with European blood. You can’t tell who is European and who is not by the color of our skin, for there has been much mingling of blood over the centuries. If any of you have anything to offer about these origins, feel free to post here. For example, I did not mention the Doric people, who may be a fourth wave of Indo-Europeans. Were the Scythians part of this western movement? I do not know. If you have better knowledge, please do post here. I tried to find my book on the Indo-Europeans, but was unsuccessful.
The Celts gave a name to the Danube, which was Danu, cognate to the Welsh goddess Don, and the Irish river goddess Anu. Hallstatt in Austria was a Celtic center from the 8th century to the 5th century BCE. The La Tene site in Switzerland was a center from the 5th century to about the 2nd century BCE. The Celts were united only by a division of the Indo-European root language related to Sanskrit, their customs, their religion, a curious sort of one-in-many polytheism, and their use of a mysterious class of priests, magicians, diplomats, judges, lawyers, bards, genealogists, scientists, and physicians known as the Druids.
In comparing Celtic and Norse mythologies, there are similarities even though they were sworn enemies such as the many attributes of both Celtic and Norse deities. They both used herbs. But I protested, “But everybody used to use herbs!” “The Celts and the Norse both had systems for using their herbs,” “But everybody had systems for using herbs!” “Hey, I’ve got one! The Celts and the Norse were both sea raiders.” That one I could accept. They were both very warlike peoples. They also both employed the most advanced farming methods of their time. The number 9 was very important to both cultures. They were both patriarchal cultures, unlike many of the often matriarchal or egalitarian peoples they conquered. Stephen doesn’t believe that they were patriarchal peoples, but I do. Plainly he hasn’t done the reading I have. Sure, there were a few queens, mainly among the British Celts, but by and large the men were in charge. Stephen feels that there were more opportunities for women that there were among the Norse. One difference was that in the Celtic culture there was more respect for women than in the Norse. If you can think of any other ways in which these two cultures were similar, please post them here so we can discuss them.
Of course, who here doesn’t like Celtic music? My first exposure to Celtic music was thirty years ago when I was exposed to the Chieftains. I loved it at first listening. Since my guild mostly does Scottish games, I get many opportunities to listen to live Celtic music. We get the Jolly Tinkers, the Molly Browns, and other assorted bands too numerous to mention. Stephen’s first exposure to Celtic music was also the Chieftains. The album of theirs I want to get on Rhapsody is one they did of Spanish Celtic music. Stephen also promoted Horslips for several years, and was exposed to Celtic music that way. I went to Rhapsody today, and downloaded scads of Horslips. Man, was that good. It’s evocative of Grateful Dead, the Chieftains, Country Joe and the Fish, and John Entwhistle. Stephen thinks they sound like no one but themselves , but they remind me of other groups all mooshed up and spun out..
Literature is replete with Celtic names such as J.M. Synge, James Joyce, Eugene O’Neill, W.B.Yeats, and Oscar Wilde. Two more are Lady Gregory and Bram Stoker. One of my personal favorites is Robert Burns, but that may be just because I share my birthday with him. John and Caitlin Matthews have contributed much to Celtic culture. Actually, they’ve done much to promulgate Celtic culture, especially in the realms of mythology and legends, religion, divination, and Celtic shamanism.
I mentioned before that the name Keltoi from which we get the name Celts means artisans. A case in point is the Gundestrup Cauldron, which far from being Germanic or Nordic as most people think is actually Celtic in manufacture. It features the God Cernuunnos, beloved Horned God of many Wiccans (I own a statuette of him as he appears on the cauldron), surrounded by animals, and on the other side, Ceridwen, beloved Goddess of the Cauldron of Inspiration. One of the reasons most people think that it is Norse is that it was found in a mostly Norse area. But it was captured, and is not indigenous to the Gundestrup area where it was found. The Norse didn’t have cauldron Goddesses, but the Celts did. It was found in a bog, where it was probably thrown as a sacrifice as a substitute for a human being. But it was more than likely taken in a raid by the Norse against the Celts. They were deadly enemies. Celtiphiles are pretty pissed off that the Celts are not given credit in most places for the cauldron. Two authors—authorities on Celtica who agree with us are Proinisias MaCana and Duncan Norton-Taylor.
If you know anyone who wants a fairly cheap housing situation with two congenial Pagan magickal housemates in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Sacramento, contact me at tezra.reitan@gmail.com or Stephen at abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or Stephen at his phone number 916-455-2267. Also, we desperately need donations to keep Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick afloat. You can send donations of any size to either Stephen’s Paypal account at abbottsinn@gmail.com or abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or my Paypal account at tezra.reitan@gmail.com. If it’s for at least $32, you’ll get either a reading or a class from our vast collections of divination decks/methods/tools or for the class, pick a topic from our vast repertoire in the field of magick. For $60, you can actually have both a reading and a class. I don’t have my webcam hooked up yet, or my mic, but with Stephen you can have sound and video on Yahoo IM, Windows Msgr or Skype. With me for a short while, it’ll be just phone or typing on Yahoo IM or Windows Msgr. Thank you for using and disseminating Stephen’s Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. Stephen1580. It helps ever so much when you use it instead of the regular number because you don’t pay any more, but he makes three times as much. We’re both on SSI, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger drastically cut both of our checks, and Keen isn’t coming up with the paying calls. I haven’t made one cent since signing on with Keen. My clients all demand free five minute readings, and refuse to go over that five minutes for a paid reading. In fact, it’s cost me money to bid so altogether, Keen has been pretty much of a total loss for me. If you need money, kids, mow lawns or babysit, don’t join a psychic reading service, because it’ll just suck in what little money you do have.
Do check out the PaganRadioNetwork.net It’s free, although they certainly do accept donations. Doesn’t everyone? Seems like everyone has his hat out nowadays, and we’re sorry to be part of that, but the situation is dirt. We almost lost our power yesterday. In these times of smaller SSI checks, a bankrupt state, and practically non-existent paying KEEN calls, the prices just seem to be rising all the time for less and less service or quality.
In order to keep his computer alive, or perhaps get a new computer, Stephen needs a new battery and Windows 7, because Vista is just too unreliable. Vista is the worst operating system since 98. But first Stephen has to pay off his rent, and so do I. Don’t buy a Dell or do business with Wells Fargo. They’re both ripoffs.
If you’re ever in Sacramento, look up Walter Rhoads and Julie Maahs. Together they own Gallery 14 at 14th St. and 60th Avenue. We’re promoting them big time. Walter Rhoads has a very interesting and different approach to art. He compares himself to the late great Jackson Pollock but there are two main differences: Rhoads is still drawing breath with a healthy 98.6 degrees temperature (except when he’s sick, in which case it’s somewhat higher) and I think Jackson Pollock was gay, and Rhoads is, like us, hopelessly hetero.
We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Sorry about my negativity up there, but I’ve been very depressed by this economy lately, and wishing I were with Doc in the Summerland.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky my BFF (BoyFriend Forever)
Little (Big)Boy
Oreo (the Mouser)
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Frikki & Frakki
Dr. Livingston I. Presume aka Prince Henry the Navigator
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