Friday, March 30, 2007
Interviews and Outings
I got my interview done yesterday. YAY ME! Now I can really get going on my paper and presentation. Those are due in 2 weeks. EEK! I also have to get a Reading Coure proposal put together and submitted. Tonight I will email Sian Read and ask her about that. I have to prepare that for May.
Yesterday after the interview, Roo and I went to Chinatown. Usually this is a great trip, but when we got there, many of the stores were closing. I thought they would be open later since it was Thursday. We bought some tea, calligraphy stuff and had a buffet dinner. It was a great evening just the same. I can hardly wait to try out my new brush and ink. We are drooling over the Calligraphy course for Thursday evenings. It is 10 weeks and starts April 12th for $150 all materials included. I am DYING to go do this. I just have other expenses that are priotity. *cry* maybe in the summer.
Today, I have a class to sub in. I am doing grade 6 for the afternoon. It is at least a very short afternoon. 12:30-2:30pm.
When I get home, I will be doing some major spring cleaning. It is SPRING! I need to spring clean.
Yesterday after the interview, Roo and I went to Chinatown. Usually this is a great trip, but when we got there, many of the stores were closing. I thought they would be open later since it was Thursday. We bought some tea, calligraphy stuff and had a buffet dinner. It was a great evening just the same. I can hardly wait to try out my new brush and ink. We are drooling over the Calligraphy course for Thursday evenings. It is 10 weeks and starts April 12th for $150 all materials included. I am DYING to go do this. I just have other expenses that are priotity. *cry* maybe in the summer.
Today, I have a class to sub in. I am doing grade 6 for the afternoon. It is at least a very short afternoon. 12:30-2:30pm.
When I get home, I will be doing some major spring cleaning. It is SPRING! I need to spring clean.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
two days in a row!
Look at that! I am posting two days in a row. I am home today and got decent sleep today till about 10am. That is sleeping in... really sleeping in late for those who know me. Today I am going through the ritual observation fieldnotes I wrote and planning the interview i will do. Stray cats having noisy kitty nookie outside woke me up. Ahhh... the joys of living in LaSalle in the spring. This is my first spring here since I was 16... almost 17 or 18 years ago. And I still remember the kitty nookie... it is still loud and annoying. Only this time I am on the second floor and not in the sub-basement where the spray bottle could zap them outside my bedroom window. I was stuck listening this time. *Sigh*
I want to get this interview prepped and out to see M-SB as he wants to go to Ikea. IKEA!!! YAY!!! See if we can get the last 2 shelves for our livingroom. He is even thinking of a real sofa instead of the futon.
And I have been coveting a tacky chair in the store storage that the bosses mother asked me if I wanted. I love it! I love them both but don't think I can take both. I don't know where to put either of the 2 chairs. One is an antique... I love antiques. The other is a super comfy horrid pink velvet flopping chair. I could cover it with a throw and never look at the pink. It is comfy. I need to seriously rearrange things in the livingroom first and get stuff OUT of the boxes they moved there in. Ya... we are still in boxes for lack of shelving. *sigh*
Sring is finally here!!! It it just GORGEOUS out!
I want to get this interview prepped and out to see M-SB as he wants to go to Ikea. IKEA!!! YAY!!! See if we can get the last 2 shelves for our livingroom. He is even thinking of a real sofa instead of the futon.
And I have been coveting a tacky chair in the store storage that the bosses mother asked me if I wanted. I love it! I love them both but don't think I can take both. I don't know where to put either of the 2 chairs. One is an antique... I love antiques. The other is a super comfy horrid pink velvet flopping chair. I could cover it with a throw and never look at the pink. It is comfy. I need to seriously rearrange things in the livingroom first and get stuff OUT of the boxes they moved there in. Ya... we are still in boxes for lack of shelving. *sigh*
Sring is finally here!!! It it just GORGEOUS out!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Last Day... OMGs!
Today is the last day of actual class work for University. I am frantically reading through the last of the articles and working on the response paper for the class. Then all that is left is the major paper and a presentation.
in a way i am releived and in a way I am stunned. I need to arrange to do that reading course in the summer. Maybe I will ask for an appointment while at class.
Oh! gotta go! Need to write this last response and get my butt onto a bus.
in a way i am releived and in a way I am stunned. I need to arrange to do that reading course in the summer. Maybe I will ask for an appointment while at class.
Oh! gotta go! Need to write this last response and get my butt onto a bus.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
And so the world goes...
Everything is moving apace in my life... often past me at such a pace I can hardly keep up. The end of term at school is already upon me! OMGs!! I have been working at the store, working at the elementary schools, and doing university. On my free time, I have been roleplaying avatar. My fanfic is not done, I have been distracted with roleplaying. But it is not forgotten.
Yesterday I had a very GRRR day. There was a bunch of grrr news and grr feelings. I had not slept the night before since I had spent sunday snuggled and cuddly with M-SB and sleeping during the day. So I was kinda tired at work. That likely really contributed to me feeling grrr.
I have now discovered the wonders of bittorrent. OMG... How did i not live without it?
Today I have a response paper to write based on 1-4 articles I am reading about gender and ritual. Today is a school worky day. I will be reading and writing and then in class.
But after! After I will be at the cafe to chill with the Pagans who show up.
OH! Can you see spring! It was hear last week and I was getting all inspired for spring cleaning and whatnot, feeling the pull of spring. It is hard with the snow that hit us this weekend, but the sun is out and the days are longer. Ostara is tomorrow... and spring temperatures will be coming with it. YAY!
Back to reading for me. I am running out of time.
Yesterday I had a very GRRR day. There was a bunch of grrr news and grr feelings. I had not slept the night before since I had spent sunday snuggled and cuddly with M-SB and sleeping during the day. So I was kinda tired at work. That likely really contributed to me feeling grrr.
I have now discovered the wonders of bittorrent. OMG... How did i not live without it?
Today I have a response paper to write based on 1-4 articles I am reading about gender and ritual. Today is a school worky day. I will be reading and writing and then in class.
But after! After I will be at the cafe to chill with the Pagans who show up.
OH! Can you see spring! It was hear last week and I was getting all inspired for spring cleaning and whatnot, feeling the pull of spring. It is hard with the snow that hit us this weekend, but the sun is out and the days are longer. Ostara is tomorrow... and spring temperatures will be coming with it. YAY!
Back to reading for me. I am running out of time.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Torotnto Pagan Conference March 4th
It was hard waking up that morning because I went to bed at 2:30am. Rosanne called us for breakfast at 8:00am, but we were not ready. We had already sgreed to do breakfast with Hobbes at 9:00am. We were there for that. Breakfast was good in the little hotel restaurant. but expensive. Next time I have to come prepared with some of my own food. It is too expensive to eat there, when I am prepared to pay $5-6 for a meal and end up paying twice that. My thanks goes out to Rosanne who covered the cost of my Saturday breakfast.
I chose not to go to any of the morning lectures as I wanted to finish my transcription homework and pack the gear for checkout. Once packed and checked out, I stopped in at the vendors and bought a beautiful piece of jet. Now I need to find an amber piece to match it. I am concerned about the checkout. I paid them. I asked them to split the fee as my visa didn't have quite enough on it. But they told me it passed fine. I was confused. I was more confused when my visa allowed yet another $200 to be transferred from it. I think it is now frightfully overdrawn. This will be a super tight month. *sigh* We packed Hobes's car with our gear and headed back for the afternoon lectures.
I had wanted to get into Judy Harrow's Panel on Pagan Chaplaincy, but after checking out, we were too late. I slipped in for the last half hour. It sounded like they were discussing things that had been raised a bit in the PFPC talk about who can do what legally. I chose to finish the last bits of my transcription instead of listening to stuff I had written a thesis paper on. YAY! I finished the transcription. And started to post the notes I had taken to the conference in this blog.
Following Judy's talk was Hobbes's Faith, Belief & Knowledge talk. He started out real well, but the audience was very contraversial, some in particular. I though they set him off balance. I was disappointed, not in hobbes, but the closemindedness of some or the narrow way in which they tried to dominate the discussion. There were some who challeneged Hobbes interestingly, and then there were the others. I felt bad for Hobbes and even rescues him during the break between lectures from someone who would not let go of his oppositional notion and engaged Hobbes in his close-minded disagreement that had no backing. If it had backing... I would be fine with it. But he believed that in meditation all people had to have the same experience and see the same thing or those who didn't were doing it wrong and thus believed wrong. How messed up is THAT!? I cut into that talk to save Hobbes and indicate tyhat the next lecture will be starting soon.
Gus DiZerega - Learning to Dwell with the Powers of the Earth
It is clear that Gus teaches at university in a lecture or seminar style. Unfortunately, some had a hard time keeping up and seemed a bit lost or even fell asleep. It is hard to keep up with. I gave up trying to take notes. I will really need a recording of this lecture. He read some interesting quotes from books or articles about Spirit of Place and environmental ethics and related it to our spirituality and hoiw we can take control of that and express it on a personal levels.
Examples:
1- Maybe at the next conference, insist that there are some vegetarian foods available or foods that are from organic farmers and organic meat producers. It is a question of respectable choices.
2- Recycling. Many were appalled that there were no recycling options. The garbage was terrible and the paper and pop can waste was shocking. Several folks brought their garbage or pop cans home. However, it would be nice for the hotel to engage in some conservation during our conference.
3- When at home pay resepct to the spirits of your place. Gus, leaves a little offering from each of his meals outside for the spirits in his back garden. He libates with rum and other offerings. It changes the whole energy to respect those spirits and brings the place to a state of spiritually alive. I think I will try this.
His talk then shifted gear to a different topic where he discussed seeing and sensing energy. He lead everyone through a couple interesting exercizes that had decent success.
He is a great speaker. I look forward to Deo's MP3 CD of the lecture so I can get all the things I missed. The lecture went a bit late.
Closing ceremonies were brief and simple. Hugs went all around! I snuck out to be sure I paid for my cd from Deo's Shadows. May everyone have a safe drive home and take with them as much or more than I did from this incredible experience! And next year... BRING A FRIEND!
Our drive home was late and long. So very long. We stopped for dinner at a place called Casey's which was delicious for a late supper as we all skipped lunch. However, it made us much later. Thank you Karyn for covering the cost of that meal. I was ready to pay for McDonald's and not a fancy dinner. We got home much much later. 2:30am. Thanks Hobbes for driving. Next year, though, I think I would like to be the driver. It makes me less nervous. And, I drive faster. We also have to keep cheaper meals in mind. This trip, on the whole, was too expensive for eating. Next year, I bring a loak of break, peanut butter, honey, mustard and canned meat... maybe some cans of chef-boy-r-dee that I can eat cold out of the can.
I chose not to go to any of the morning lectures as I wanted to finish my transcription homework and pack the gear for checkout. Once packed and checked out, I stopped in at the vendors and bought a beautiful piece of jet. Now I need to find an amber piece to match it. I am concerned about the checkout. I paid them. I asked them to split the fee as my visa didn't have quite enough on it. But they told me it passed fine. I was confused. I was more confused when my visa allowed yet another $200 to be transferred from it. I think it is now frightfully overdrawn. This will be a super tight month. *sigh* We packed Hobes's car with our gear and headed back for the afternoon lectures.
I had wanted to get into Judy Harrow's Panel on Pagan Chaplaincy, but after checking out, we were too late. I slipped in for the last half hour. It sounded like they were discussing things that had been raised a bit in the PFPC talk about who can do what legally. I chose to finish the last bits of my transcription instead of listening to stuff I had written a thesis paper on. YAY! I finished the transcription. And started to post the notes I had taken to the conference in this blog.
Following Judy's talk was Hobbes's Faith, Belief & Knowledge talk. He started out real well, but the audience was very contraversial, some in particular. I though they set him off balance. I was disappointed, not in hobbes, but the closemindedness of some or the narrow way in which they tried to dominate the discussion. There were some who challeneged Hobbes interestingly, and then there were the others. I felt bad for Hobbes and even rescues him during the break between lectures from someone who would not let go of his oppositional notion and engaged Hobbes in his close-minded disagreement that had no backing. If it had backing... I would be fine with it. But he believed that in meditation all people had to have the same experience and see the same thing or those who didn't were doing it wrong and thus believed wrong. How messed up is THAT!? I cut into that talk to save Hobbes and indicate tyhat the next lecture will be starting soon.
Gus DiZerega - Learning to Dwell with the Powers of the Earth
It is clear that Gus teaches at university in a lecture or seminar style. Unfortunately, some had a hard time keeping up and seemed a bit lost or even fell asleep. It is hard to keep up with. I gave up trying to take notes. I will really need a recording of this lecture. He read some interesting quotes from books or articles about Spirit of Place and environmental ethics and related it to our spirituality and hoiw we can take control of that and express it on a personal levels.
Examples:
1- Maybe at the next conference, insist that there are some vegetarian foods available or foods that are from organic farmers and organic meat producers. It is a question of respectable choices.
2- Recycling. Many were appalled that there were no recycling options. The garbage was terrible and the paper and pop can waste was shocking. Several folks brought their garbage or pop cans home. However, it would be nice for the hotel to engage in some conservation during our conference.
3- When at home pay resepct to the spirits of your place. Gus, leaves a little offering from each of his meals outside for the spirits in his back garden. He libates with rum and other offerings. It changes the whole energy to respect those spirits and brings the place to a state of spiritually alive. I think I will try this.
His talk then shifted gear to a different topic where he discussed seeing and sensing energy. He lead everyone through a couple interesting exercizes that had decent success.
He is a great speaker. I look forward to Deo's MP3 CD of the lecture so I can get all the things I missed. The lecture went a bit late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Closing ceremonies were brief and simple. Hugs went all around! I snuck out to be sure I paid for my cd from Deo's Shadows. May everyone have a safe drive home and take with them as much or more than I did from this incredible experience! And next year... BRING A FRIEND!
Our drive home was late and long. So very long. We stopped for dinner at a place called Casey's which was delicious for a late supper as we all skipped lunch. However, it made us much later. Thank you Karyn for covering the cost of that meal. I was ready to pay for McDonald's and not a fancy dinner. We got home much much later. 2:30am. Thanks Hobbes for driving. Next year, though, I think I would like to be the driver. It makes me less nervous. And, I drive faster. We also have to keep cheaper meals in mind. This trip, on the whole, was too expensive for eating. Next year, I bring a loak of break, peanut butter, honey, mustard and canned meat... maybe some cans of chef-boy-r-dee that I can eat cold out of the can.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Toronto Pagan Conference: March 3rd, 2007: Part 2
Helmut - Panel: Pagan Community Communication: Are we effectively getting the word out?
To build a community, you need communication and networking.
The community is becoming strongly two-tiered: the computer literate and the non-computer literate. Those who are online have become those who are in the know, but seem out of touch with basic etiquette and the intimacy of personal engagement. Thos who are not computer literate are out of touch with what is going on. How do we reach them?
The argument is that back before computers became the main means of fast communication, we used to have in print communication. So, now, we need to have both online AND in print notices of events and activities.
OFFER @ Tuesday Pagan Cafe Moots
There is also the issue of at events there might be protest by those ignorant of who and what we are and what we are doing. We need to have people ready to handle that protest. We need to use the protest as a poritive opportunity to educate. This starts with getting local authorities involved and informed. Then we have to have people ready to meet and talk to the public.
What is the purpose of communication?
Who is the audience?
Market research is necessary in order to communicate and advertize.
NOTE TO MPRC: UPDATE YOUR BLOODY INTERNAL STUFF!!
AN idea would be to have a postal (snail-mail) mail list, where mail of announcements and stuff can reach those who want physical stuff as reminders. The concern is postal fees.
I will think more on this. It is an interesting idea.
People at Toronto Pagan Conference do not know about the WynterGreene Magazine. FIX THIS FOR NEXT YEAR!!! Scarlet promises to bring some next year.
Another important thing is information tables and information events... like the old MPRC's Samhian Fair which was information tables and a few short lectures and stuff. A mini event/comference. I will look into having the upstairs of the MORC once again available for these. There are other subcultures and events that we can have information tables at: goth, roleplaying, universities, gay community, medieval/renaissance, environmental, alternative health, health food, interfaith, etc.
Judy Harrow - Spritual Mentoring
A mentor serves others and guides others.
It is part of the "helping profession."
- therapists
- social workers
- counsellors
- healing
- teaching
- etc.
Counsellors need to be knowledgeable and be able to provide information so the client can make informed decisions for themselves.
Pagan Pastoral Care
Spiritual guidance is all about how we connect to deity. There is a triad (see a triangle) where each point is Deity, Seeker, and Mentor. This is not the Christian Model where it is vertically linear with Deity on top, Mentor in the middle (as mediator rather than mentor), and Seeker on the bottom.
What does a mentor do?
They help seekers connect to resources. This leads us to another couple points: Lore and Community. Now connect the dots and you have a pentagram! AHA! Everything is in service of the seeker seeking deity.
Note brought up in the lecture:
* We are not the people of the BOOK.
* We are the people of the Library (LORE)
Advice on being a spritual counsellor can be found HERE. Much of the talk hereafter followed notes from this and from her book Spiritual Mentoring.
Hobbes brought up the curiosity of how to deal with reciprocation or payment for service. Judy was of the mind of not accepting payment as there is the risk of money corrupting the counsellor to want to keep the seeker dependant. Lucie countered with the idea of reciprocating for the respect of time and energy spent. This is not addressed for very long not adequately enough. It is an issue that is of great confusion. Oh well. It is a "HOT" topic in any Pagan circles. The conversation soon glossed over to other topics.
Judy advised us about something called Fowler's Stages of Faith. I didn't know what she was talking about. So... here is a link to what she mentioned as she did not really describe what this was.
Another notion Judy brought up was Cumulative Tradition. This is the notion that tradition grows and evolves. But also, Judy did not expound on this much. (Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion [New York: Mentor Books, 1962], 74. ) There was little I could think further on it and the link I have on it is HERE.
As this lecture came to an end and there was some time, I asked Judy to talk a bit Cherry Hill Seminary. I am personally highly interested in this for the Public Ministry sections. But I will look more into it later... when I am done my MA.
Dinner was a wonderful buffet that was expecially delicious. There was no "entertainment" as there was last year. But that is ok. The Norse folks all went outside to howl and throw stones at the moon. WHY?! Well there was a lunar eclipse and in that tradition, the wolf (Fenris) is devouring the moon to destroy the world during a lunar eclipse. People were to yell and make noise and throw stones to scare Fenris away from the moon. I didn't go to this. I chose to relax in my room and work on my MA paper some more.
Then there were the Dragon Ritual Drummers. Their concert was amazing! It was much shorter than last year and didn't have all the wonderful explanation to each music piece. Now I have completes goal #4. What was #2 and #3? Goal #2 was to get teachers interested in doing a reading course with me. Goal #3 was to get Sian Reid's book. Goal #4 was to get the CDs for Dragon Ritual Drummers. YAY!!!
I retreated after a bit to the room to keep working on my transcription. I gave up around 2:30am. Sleep claimed me.
To build a community, you need communication and networking.
The community is becoming strongly two-tiered: the computer literate and the non-computer literate. Those who are online have become those who are in the know, but seem out of touch with basic etiquette and the intimacy of personal engagement. Thos who are not computer literate are out of touch with what is going on. How do we reach them?
The argument is that back before computers became the main means of fast communication, we used to have in print communication. So, now, we need to have both online AND in print notices of events and activities.
OFFER @ Tuesday Pagan Cafe Moots
There is also the issue of at events there might be protest by those ignorant of who and what we are and what we are doing. We need to have people ready to handle that protest. We need to use the protest as a poritive opportunity to educate. This starts with getting local authorities involved and informed. Then we have to have people ready to meet and talk to the public.
What is the purpose of communication?
Who is the audience?
Market research is necessary in order to communicate and advertize.
NOTE TO MPRC: UPDATE YOUR BLOODY INTERNAL STUFF!!
AN idea would be to have a postal (snail-mail) mail list, where mail of announcements and stuff can reach those who want physical stuff as reminders. The concern is postal fees.
I will think more on this. It is an interesting idea.
People at Toronto Pagan Conference do not know about the WynterGreene Magazine. FIX THIS FOR NEXT YEAR!!! Scarlet promises to bring some next year.
Another important thing is information tables and information events... like the old MPRC's Samhian Fair which was information tables and a few short lectures and stuff. A mini event/comference. I will look into having the upstairs of the MORC once again available for these. There are other subcultures and events that we can have information tables at: goth, roleplaying, universities, gay community, medieval/renaissance, environmental, alternative health, health food, interfaith, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catherine Starr - Healing Community through Ritual
This is just a tidbit gleaned from someone else's notes:
Live Tarot Dramatic Ritual
Members each take a major arcana card and spend 3-6 months getting to know the persona of the card, then perform being that card in a ritual drama. They roleplay their persona and can be asked questions by participants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judy Harrow - Spritual Mentoring
A mentor serves others and guides others.
It is part of the "helping profession."
- therapists
- social workers
- counsellors
- healing
- teaching
- etc.
Counsellors need to be knowledgeable and be able to provide information so the client can make informed decisions for themselves.
Pagan Pastoral Care
Spiritual guidance is all about how we connect to deity. There is a triad (see a triangle) where each point is Deity, Seeker, and Mentor. This is not the Christian Model where it is vertically linear with Deity on top, Mentor in the middle (as mediator rather than mentor), and Seeker on the bottom.
What does a mentor do?
They help seekers connect to resources. This leads us to another couple points: Lore and Community. Now connect the dots and you have a pentagram! AHA! Everything is in service of the seeker seeking deity.
Note brought up in the lecture:
* We are not the people of the BOOK.
* We are the people of the Library (LORE)
Advice on being a spritual counsellor can be found HERE. Much of the talk hereafter followed notes from this and from her book Spiritual Mentoring.
Hobbes brought up the curiosity of how to deal with reciprocation or payment for service. Judy was of the mind of not accepting payment as there is the risk of money corrupting the counsellor to want to keep the seeker dependant. Lucie countered with the idea of reciprocating for the respect of time and energy spent. This is not addressed for very long not adequately enough. It is an issue that is of great confusion. Oh well. It is a "HOT" topic in any Pagan circles. The conversation soon glossed over to other topics.
Judy advised us about something called Fowler's Stages of Faith. I didn't know what she was talking about. So... here is a link to what she mentioned as she did not really describe what this was.
Another notion Judy brought up was Cumulative Tradition. This is the notion that tradition grows and evolves. But also, Judy did not expound on this much. (Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion [New York: Mentor Books, 1962], 74. ) There was little I could think further on it and the link I have on it is HERE.
As this lecture came to an end and there was some time, I asked Judy to talk a bit Cherry Hill Seminary. I am personally highly interested in this for the Public Ministry sections. But I will look more into it later... when I am done my MA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner was a wonderful buffet that was expecially delicious. There was no "entertainment" as there was last year. But that is ok. The Norse folks all went outside to howl and throw stones at the moon. WHY?! Well there was a lunar eclipse and in that tradition, the wolf (Fenris) is devouring the moon to destroy the world during a lunar eclipse. People were to yell and make noise and throw stones to scare Fenris away from the moon. I didn't go to this. I chose to relax in my room and work on my MA paper some more.
Then there were the Dragon Ritual Drummers. Their concert was amazing! It was much shorter than last year and didn't have all the wonderful explanation to each music piece. Now I have completes goal #4. What was #2 and #3? Goal #2 was to get teachers interested in doing a reading course with me. Goal #3 was to get Sian Reid's book. Goal #4 was to get the CDs for Dragon Ritual Drummers. YAY!!!
I retreated after a bit to the room to keep working on my transcription. I gave up around 2:30am. Sleep claimed me.
Toronto Pagan Conference: March 3rd, 2007: Part 1
We (Karyn and I) caught breakfast and started the mania known as the conference. She went to many more things than I. I was focused on certain lectures and focused on homework on the side. My Saturday plans: Sian's Panel Discussion, the PFPC Panel Discussion, lunch, Gus DiZerega's Religion as Sacred Performing Art, Judy Harrow's Spiritual Mentoring, The fancy dinner, and the Dragon Ritual Drummers concert. Sian's was the actual lecture I was focusing my attention on. I brought my laptop and multitasked listening to lectures and jotting notes while transcribing my assignment for my MA course.
Sian Reid - Panel: Under the Academic Eye: Is Pagan Studies Good for Pagans?
On the panel are Brendan Myers, Gus DiZerega, Sian Reid, and Judy Harrow.
Brendan Myers: PhD from Ireland in Environmental Studies where he researched civil disobedience in environmental activities like alternative spiritulaity. He has also worked on ethical philosophy of climate change issues. He mentioned that the Wiccan Rede is an example of Utilitarianism.
Gus DiZerega: Studied sciences and ended with his PhD in Political Science. He started to look at Paganism in Traditional Academics.
Sian Reid: PhD and teacher in Sociology & Religious Studies at Carleton University. She has done the Canadian Pagan Survey and just recently published an academic anthology. (which I am no the happy owner of!!!)
Judy Harrow: MA in Psychology and Counselling. She tried to bridge the secular and spiritual counselling arenas, especially in the Pagan realms. She is also the chair (prez) of Cherry Hill Seminary. Pagan studies is emerging as an interdisciplinary study: -religion -anthropology -sociology -environmental studies -myth & literature -politics -etc.
In 1981, there was practically ZERO academic treatment of Paganism. Shortly after was Tanya Luhrmann's book on her research. This was a ground-breaking bit of research, however she pissed off a great many people as she did her studies unethically. Her work is amazing and well done, but presented herself to her subjects falsely and then published her experiences and studies with them without their permissions. This has spurred the need to properly identify yourself and your purpose. Also the need for ethical rules for research conduct. This then spurred the challenge for researchers of Paganism. There is a need to separate one's self more precisely to create a clear boundary between the practitioner and the researcher. It can sometimes have difficult and painful repurcussions on the researcher.
On the academic side of this research, the academic world is not friendly to Pagan religion/philosophy and there seems to be some serious missing tools that have yet to be developed for this kind of research and writing. The Pomegranate is a semi-academic journal focused on Pagan Studies now available as other academic journals tend to not accept materials that are Paganism based as though there is no respect for those who research it, as though the researchers competance is under scrutiny and question, as though their work and effort is invalid. This is a difficult challenge that current students and academics working their way into Pagan Studies are encountering. To be a validated and recognized academic, you must be published in a recognized academic journal.
Researchers are faced with being either the Practicing Pagan or the Academic. How do we bridge that gap? Lucie Dufresne suggested doing work as almost autobiographical. That is an interesting notion. I did not know one could even do that in this field of academia. This pulling back feels like you have dropped out of the Pagan community. It can hurt the researcher and can hurt the community. Hopefully there will be some sort of way to bridge this gap.
Sian Reid mentioned a term I may look into: Spiritual Discourse.
The Journal of AAR (American Academy of Religion) has just now started to be interested in Pagan Studies. They are now hosting a smaller conference attached to their main conference meetings. This new conference is called the Conference of Contemporary Paganism. Researching Paganism is running into the insider/outsider issues.
One of the panelists (sorry forgot who) said this:
Who are you working for?
Not who pays you... but who is going to use and benefit from your work?
What is the cost of research? Yes, it is a financial cost and you might need a spouse that can support you. But the bigger cost is... a crisis of faith.
Here I am brought aware of the question: Who is the Pagan community? This reminded me of Sonia Zylberberg's theory of "belong-sense". (Sonia Zylberberg, "Seeking a Place of Belonging", Transforming Ritual: contemporary Jewish women's seders. Montreal: Concordia, 2006 [PhD Thesis] pp. 1-19.) Pagans seem to seek a sense of belonging and this leads to the development and growth of a community.
The advise for people in the field of Pagan Studies is to WRITE both IN and OUT of the academic publishing field, also DO CONFERENCES. This helps you to get known in the academic field. It is a difficult and brutal to engage and endure these with the possibility of rejection, but do it anyways. Also, get letters of reference from both the academic field and the community. This helps with both the academic field and with your research. It helps build your credibility.
At the end of Sian's panel discussion, I managed to speak to her and she agreed to help me put together a bibiography for my comprehensive exam. She also agreed to help me with a reading course. *SQUEE!!!* I also touched base with Lucie Dufresne. Lucie also agreed to host a reading course with me *SQUEE SQUEE!!!* That will be TWO credit courses!!! YAY!!! I am so relieved. Ok... next lecture. Here I was less focused on the actual lecture as I was multitasking at it. I did take some notes.
Gus DiZerega - Religion as Performing Art
Sian Reid - Panel: Under the Academic Eye: Is Pagan Studies Good for Pagans?
On the panel are Brendan Myers, Gus DiZerega, Sian Reid, and Judy Harrow.
Brendan Myers: PhD from Ireland in Environmental Studies where he researched civil disobedience in environmental activities like alternative spiritulaity. He has also worked on ethical philosophy of climate change issues. He mentioned that the Wiccan Rede is an example of Utilitarianism.
Gus DiZerega: Studied sciences and ended with his PhD in Political Science. He started to look at Paganism in Traditional Academics.
Sian Reid: PhD and teacher in Sociology & Religious Studies at Carleton University. She has done the Canadian Pagan Survey and just recently published an academic anthology. (which I am no the happy owner of!!!)
Judy Harrow: MA in Psychology and Counselling. She tried to bridge the secular and spiritual counselling arenas, especially in the Pagan realms. She is also the chair (prez) of Cherry Hill Seminary. Pagan studies is emerging as an interdisciplinary study: -religion -anthropology -sociology -environmental studies -myth & literature -politics -etc.
In 1981, there was practically ZERO academic treatment of Paganism. Shortly after was Tanya Luhrmann's book on her research. This was a ground-breaking bit of research, however she pissed off a great many people as she did her studies unethically. Her work is amazing and well done, but presented herself to her subjects falsely and then published her experiences and studies with them without their permissions. This has spurred the need to properly identify yourself and your purpose. Also the need for ethical rules for research conduct. This then spurred the challenge for researchers of Paganism. There is a need to separate one's self more precisely to create a clear boundary between the practitioner and the researcher. It can sometimes have difficult and painful repurcussions on the researcher.
On the academic side of this research, the academic world is not friendly to Pagan religion/philosophy and there seems to be some serious missing tools that have yet to be developed for this kind of research and writing. The Pomegranate is a semi-academic journal focused on Pagan Studies now available as other academic journals tend to not accept materials that are Paganism based as though there is no respect for those who research it, as though the researchers competance is under scrutiny and question, as though their work and effort is invalid. This is a difficult challenge that current students and academics working their way into Pagan Studies are encountering. To be a validated and recognized academic, you must be published in a recognized academic journal.
Researchers are faced with being either the Practicing Pagan or the Academic. How do we bridge that gap? Lucie Dufresne suggested doing work as almost autobiographical. That is an interesting notion. I did not know one could even do that in this field of academia. This pulling back feels like you have dropped out of the Pagan community. It can hurt the researcher and can hurt the community. Hopefully there will be some sort of way to bridge this gap.
Sian Reid mentioned a term I may look into: Spiritual Discourse.
The Journal of AAR (American Academy of Religion) has just now started to be interested in Pagan Studies. They are now hosting a smaller conference attached to their main conference meetings. This new conference is called the Conference of Contemporary Paganism. Researching Paganism is running into the insider/outsider issues.
One of the panelists (sorry forgot who) said this:
Who are you working for?
Not who pays you... but who is going to use and benefit from your work?
What is the cost of research? Yes, it is a financial cost and you might need a spouse that can support you. But the bigger cost is... a crisis of faith.
Here I am brought aware of the question: Who is the Pagan community? This reminded me of Sonia Zylberberg's theory of "belong-sense". (Sonia Zylberberg, "Seeking a Place of Belonging", Transforming Ritual: contemporary Jewish women's seders. Montreal: Concordia, 2006 [PhD Thesis] pp. 1-19.) Pagans seem to seek a sense of belonging and this leads to the development and growth of a community.
The advise for people in the field of Pagan Studies is to WRITE both IN and OUT of the academic publishing field, also DO CONFERENCES. This helps you to get known in the academic field. It is a difficult and brutal to engage and endure these with the possibility of rejection, but do it anyways. Also, get letters of reference from both the academic field and the community. This helps with both the academic field and with your research. It helps build your credibility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of Sian's panel discussion, I managed to speak to her and she agreed to help me put together a bibiography for my comprehensive exam. She also agreed to help me with a reading course. *SQUEE!!!* I also touched base with Lucie Dufresne. Lucie also agreed to host a reading course with me *SQUEE SQUEE!!!* That will be TWO credit courses!!! YAY!!! I am so relieved. Ok... next lecture. Here I was less focused on the actual lecture as I was multitasking at it. I did take some notes.
Gus DiZerega - Religion as Performing Art
Paganism is decentered hierarchy.
Deity is immanent which seriously changes the perspective of studies.
No single action is considered meaningless.
Religion uses art as symbol (see Clifford Geertz's notions of Thick Description). Art is beauty. Performance is a form of art and this religion is about beauty. Performance is also action. Ritual is action, too. Ritual is the essence of spiritual/religious performance.
Question came up about solitaries. Solo ritual is still performance art, thoughthe audience is the gods instead of people.
Books by Jordan Paper that Gus recommends:
The Deities are Many ISBN: 0791463885
The Mystic Experience ISBN: 0791462501
Through the Earth Darkly ISBN: 0826410502
Toronto Pagan Conference: March 2nd, 2007
This has been as amazing as last year's. I am so very excited!! I didn't push myself to try to attend evrything. So I had some time to relax and just work on some homework. I have discovered that I do real well for my homework when I am somewhere else with interesting stuff going on around me. ALSO! YAY! SQUEEE!!! Sian Reid and Lucie Dufresne BOTH agreed to do a reading course with me! YAY! That is TWO!!! I so need to work it out with my school. Sian will do hers with me this summer. She is also helping me put together books for my comprehensive. Now I have hope once again for school. I had reached a point this week where I was so demoralized and no longer interested in finishing. I ran out of steam. This conference has rejuvenated and envigorated me, re-inspiring me to continue.
And so... here are the notes I took from some of the lectures I attended. HERE! Toronto Pagan Conference!
I missed all the workshops on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 due to road conditions slowing our leave of Montreal. We settled into our room and attended the Opening Ceremonies. Amy and Deo and Jim welcomed us wonderfully. I have taken home a small piece of Iron Pyrite that they charged in the Openeing Ceremonies. I must get Jim Findley's contact info so that I can maybe make someMontreal changes. I want Montreal to have a conference like this. I just have no idea how to do this. ~~~TEACH ME!~~~ The ceremonies ended with a concert by Heather Dale. She is AMAZING! I have a few CD's burned from the store. Now I have one of my own. This was goal #1 to attending complete. I also got a chance to network some and reconnect with folks I rarely see.
And so... here are the notes I took from some of the lectures I attended. HERE! Toronto Pagan Conference!
I missed all the workshops on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 due to road conditions slowing our leave of Montreal. We settled into our room and attended the Opening Ceremonies. Amy and Deo and Jim welcomed us wonderfully. I have taken home a small piece of Iron Pyrite that they charged in the Openeing Ceremonies. I must get Jim Findley's contact info so that I can maybe make someMontreal changes. I want Montreal to have a conference like this. I just have no idea how to do this. ~~~TEACH ME!~~~ The ceremonies ended with a concert by Heather Dale. She is AMAZING! I have a few CD's burned from the store. Now I have one of my own. This was goal #1 to attending complete. I also got a chance to network some and reconnect with folks I rarely see.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Storms & Conferences
We have a storm... a doozie of a snow storm. Maybe that is why my hip(s) have been hurting so much. I had a day... yesterday, where they didn't hurt. And then... woke this morning in TONS of pain. *sigh*
Hobbes is coming to get me at 9:30am to drive through this crap to Toronto. I usually much prefer being the driver. The control freak in me is freaking out.
We are going to the Toronto Pagan Conference. I am so excited! Hobbes is a speaker there on the Sunday. I am so proud of him. Karyn is coming with us too. Rosanne will meet us there. I so wanted to bring Roo. Next year. I am hoping to meet up with a teacher there who will be willing to do a summer reading course with me. *crosses fingers*
I am all packed: clothing (including something fancy for the dinner), laptop and stuffs for homework (including the bloody huge and heavy reading pack... ugh), notebooks and journals for the seminars/drumming/roleplaying ideas, camera & its printing centre, ritual stuffs (OH! need my Zafu), toiletries (after I grab my shower in a sec), food and snackies.
Goodbye everyone! See you all Sunday night!
Hobbes is coming to get me at 9:30am to drive through this crap to Toronto. I usually much prefer being the driver. The control freak in me is freaking out.
We are going to the Toronto Pagan Conference. I am so excited! Hobbes is a speaker there on the Sunday. I am so proud of him. Karyn is coming with us too. Rosanne will meet us there. I so wanted to bring Roo. Next year. I am hoping to meet up with a teacher there who will be willing to do a summer reading course with me. *crosses fingers*
I am all packed: clothing (including something fancy for the dinner), laptop and stuffs for homework (including the bloody huge and heavy reading pack... ugh), notebooks and journals for the seminars/drumming/roleplaying ideas, camera & its printing centre, ritual stuffs (OH! need my Zafu), toiletries (after I grab my shower in a sec), food and snackies.
Goodbye everyone! See you all Sunday night!
