Until the end of the end of time.
Blargh. I feel ooogy this morning. It is still morning, just barely. I slept, but the dreams. Let's have a Poe moment (Edgar Allan, not sister of Mark Z. D.): The dreams! The dreams! The acurs'd dreams! Okay, that was quite enough of that. One of the slivers of a fragment of a dream I recall was that I was living in a half burned-out mansion in New Orleans' Garden District, all alone, shut up like Merricat in this huge ruined house. And docbrite would leave me scraps from fabulous meals. She'd leave little aluminum foil swans on a pile of rubble where the back door had once been. There was a huge magnolia growing in the center of the house, and at night rats and possums and lizards would come out and dance round and round the tree to entertain me. I lived in a room on the second floor, and every time I looked out my window, the city was on fire. I kept thinking that it was my looking out the window that caused the fires, so I tried not to look. There was only one book in the whole house, William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. It was a long, unsettling dream, more sad than it was anything else.
Anyway...
A good mail day yesterday. My comp copies of the hardbacks of both The Merewife and False Starts arrived. I'm especially pleased with the cover of the former. I'm not sure if subpress has any more of these for sale, but I'll be putting some up on eBay soon. Also, I received a copy of issue #35 of Not One of Us, courtesy John Benson. I did not however begin a new vignette. I stared at the blank screen until I was angry and useless. I'm not sure how it'll go today. I've got to begin proofing the ARC of Alabaster, and the artwork for "Night" is still waiting to be done. I suspect the former is much more urgent than the latter. I've heard from neither my agent nor editor re: Daughter of Hounds, and my anxiety is becoming something less benign. I did do a little Wikipedia yesterday, trying to delude myself into believing it was Work. I wrote an article on Sauropelta, yet another ankylosaur. Sauropelta means "shield lizard," of course. Oh, I also got word from subpress that Frog Toes and Tentacles has sold out. There may still be copies availlable from a few indie bookdealers. I don't know. I'll be offering copies of the trade edition on eBay at some point.
I was somewhat overwhelmed by all the comments yesterday's post elicited, the comments in response to what I'd written about the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law. Thank you all. Even if I found myself disagreeing with much of what was said, it was still good to hear such a diversity of thought on the subjects.
A couple or three links. First, Spooky has a few shots up of the latest doll. I'm loving this one almost as much as I love Sweet William. We haven't a name for her yet, but I suspect she's a distant maiden aunt of Sweet Willliam's, and that they once worked in the same circus. She was a clairvoyant and fortune-teller. Of that I'm almost certain. A few folks have requested a story to accompany this doll. Maybe that's what I should do for the next vignette. Hmmmmm. Also, Spooky was showing me this very wonderful website, Blackbird Marmalade Creations. Some very sublime, beautiful, creepy things. Have a look. And, finally, Durtro Press will soon be releasing Thomas Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco, "primarily a compilation of stories collected between hardcovers for the first time. Each story has been newly revised, often extensively, by the author for this edition. In addition to the contents listed below, the Durtro edition also includes hitherto rare texts by Ligotti which will not be included in any future trade edition of this volume." Here's a link for details and ordering information.
sovay has asked if I would be comfortable posting the text to our Ostara ritual. I don't see why not. Personally, I think there's too much secrecy in Wicca, and that, more often than not, the secrecy only serves to perpetuate the misconceptions and bigotry. Besides, with the shelves of Borders crowded with craptastical farces like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, with every fourth witch publishing her Book of Shadows or cranking out another Wiccan "bible," yeah, sure. So, here it is, behind the cut, for those with no interest in this sort of thing. It doesn't include the casting of the circle or the call to the Quarters, and I've omitted all the somatic actions and such. Note that I'm still not comfortable with all the wording, which gets back to the issue of gender polarity and other things:
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
Behold, the Lady and the Lord of Life
and the Givers of Life.
Without his Lady,
the Lord has no life
Without her Lord,
the Goddess is barren..
Each is needful of the other
for completion and for power,
as Sun to Earth, the spear to the cauldron,
spirit to flesh.
Oh Great Mother, be with me now
in your aspect of the Maiden,
the fair one who brings joy and new Life.
Oh Great God of renewal, be with me now
in your aspect of the Lord of the Forests,
The Green Man,
The Lord of the Wild Hunt,
The Horned God who brings warmth and love.
The wheel turns.
May the strength of the old year enter into the new.
Great Lady and Lord, make all things strong
And giving of new Life.
Blessed be.
The wheel of the year turns.
The Goddess has now freed Herself from the icy prison of winter.
Now is the greening time, when rain brings the fragrance of flowers on the warming air.
The Maiden displays her beauty through the colours of spring flowers and their sweet smells.
And in the songs of birds.
And the sound of running waters.
And in the movement of all living things.
The Sun wakes from His long winter's slumber.
The Lord stretches and rises, eager in His youth and violent with the promise of summer.
I welcome thee, beautiful spring!
The wheel turns.
Spring is seed-time.
Now is the time to plant that which we wish to come to flower.
Spring brings hope and joy and release from winter’s grasp, and it brings expectations for desires realized, and it brings inspiration.
The wheel turns.
The sacred balance of Life is reaffirmed, and I am reborn with the Earth's awakening, for I am of the Earth and of the Sky and of the Waters.
I am of the Cosmos.
Now the cold darkness of Winter and all the past is cast behind me.
I look only to that which lies ahead and to what I wish to bring forth.
Lady and Lord, Great Mother and Father, receive this seed.
Let it germinate in my mind and in my heart.
Let it thrive and grow into its full maturity,
For I will care for it and encourage it in Your honour.
This seed, which has come from the Earth, I return to the womb of the Earth,
That it may become a part of this Earth again,
A part of all life and a part of me.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
Anyway...
A good mail day yesterday. My comp copies of the hardbacks of both The Merewife and False Starts arrived. I'm especially pleased with the cover of the former. I'm not sure if subpress has any more of these for sale, but I'll be putting some up on eBay soon. Also, I received a copy of issue #35 of Not One of Us, courtesy John Benson. I did not however begin a new vignette. I stared at the blank screen until I was angry and useless. I'm not sure how it'll go today. I've got to begin proofing the ARC of Alabaster, and the artwork for "Night" is still waiting to be done. I suspect the former is much more urgent than the latter. I've heard from neither my agent nor editor re: Daughter of Hounds, and my anxiety is becoming something less benign. I did do a little Wikipedia yesterday, trying to delude myself into believing it was Work. I wrote an article on Sauropelta, yet another ankylosaur. Sauropelta means "shield lizard," of course. Oh, I also got word from subpress that Frog Toes and Tentacles has sold out. There may still be copies availlable from a few indie bookdealers. I don't know. I'll be offering copies of the trade edition on eBay at some point.
I was somewhat overwhelmed by all the comments yesterday's post elicited, the comments in response to what I'd written about the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law. Thank you all. Even if I found myself disagreeing with much of what was said, it was still good to hear such a diversity of thought on the subjects.
A couple or three links. First, Spooky has a few shots up of the latest doll. I'm loving this one almost as much as I love Sweet William. We haven't a name for her yet, but I suspect she's a distant maiden aunt of Sweet Willliam's, and that they once worked in the same circus. She was a clairvoyant and fortune-teller. Of that I'm almost certain. A few folks have requested a story to accompany this doll. Maybe that's what I should do for the next vignette. Hmmmmm. Also, Spooky was showing me this very wonderful website, Blackbird Marmalade Creations. Some very sublime, beautiful, creepy things. Have a look. And, finally, Durtro Press will soon be releasing Thomas Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco, "primarily a compilation of stories collected between hardcovers for the first time. Each story has been newly revised, often extensively, by the author for this edition. In addition to the contents listed below, the Durtro edition also includes hitherto rare texts by Ligotti which will not be included in any future trade edition of this volume." Here's a link for details and ordering information.
sovay has asked if I would be comfortable posting the text to our Ostara ritual. I don't see why not. Personally, I think there's too much secrecy in Wicca, and that, more often than not, the secrecy only serves to perpetuate the misconceptions and bigotry. Besides, with the shelves of Borders crowded with craptastical farces like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, with every fourth witch publishing her Book of Shadows or cranking out another Wiccan "bible," yeah, sure. So, here it is, behind the cut, for those with no interest in this sort of thing. It doesn't include the casting of the circle or the call to the Quarters, and I've omitted all the somatic actions and such. Note that I'm still not comfortable with all the wording, which gets back to the issue of gender polarity and other things:
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
Behold, the Lady and the Lord of Life
and the Givers of Life.
Without his Lady,
the Lord has no life
Without her Lord,
the Goddess is barren..
Each is needful of the other
for completion and for power,
as Sun to Earth, the spear to the cauldron,
spirit to flesh.
Oh Great Mother, be with me now
in your aspect of the Maiden,
the fair one who brings joy and new Life.
Oh Great God of renewal, be with me now
in your aspect of the Lord of the Forests,
The Green Man,
The Lord of the Wild Hunt,
The Horned God who brings warmth and love.
The wheel turns.
May the strength of the old year enter into the new.
Great Lady and Lord, make all things strong
And giving of new Life.
Blessed be.
The wheel of the year turns.
The Goddess has now freed Herself from the icy prison of winter.
Now is the greening time, when rain brings the fragrance of flowers on the warming air.
The Maiden displays her beauty through the colours of spring flowers and their sweet smells.
And in the songs of birds.
And the sound of running waters.
And in the movement of all living things.
The Sun wakes from His long winter's slumber.
The Lord stretches and rises, eager in His youth and violent with the promise of summer.
I welcome thee, beautiful spring!
The wheel turns.
Spring is seed-time.
Now is the time to plant that which we wish to come to flower.
Spring brings hope and joy and release from winter’s grasp, and it brings expectations for desires realized, and it brings inspiration.
The wheel turns.
The sacred balance of Life is reaffirmed, and I am reborn with the Earth's awakening, for I am of the Earth and of the Sky and of the Waters.
I am of the Cosmos.
Now the cold darkness of Winter and all the past is cast behind me.
I look only to that which lies ahead and to what I wish to bring forth.
Lady and Lord, Great Mother and Father, receive this seed.
Let it germinate in my mind and in my heart.
Let it thrive and grow into its full maturity,
For I will care for it and encourage it in Your honour.
This seed, which has come from the Earth, I return to the womb of the Earth,
That it may become a part of this Earth again,
A part of all life and a part of me.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.
The wheel turns.