Chenille
This past weekend was the Spring 08 Chenille Retreat at Tredara & it was a blast. I love hanging out with the other women of ADF & talking about what all of us are working on. Last time I went, I got drafted into drawing an illustration of a Hallows for use to send to prisoners. This year I didn't come out with any new projects other than a drive to get more ADF-specific jewelery done so I can start selling it.
Had a number of really interesting theological discussions about how some of us see different elements of the COoR & different elements of cosmology. One was inspired by illious's "outsiders" rite & the idea I've had ever since he posted about that I'd like to try doing rites where we didn't do an Outsiders thing. Largely, this is because forces of chaos & darkness don't scare me. With all the crap I've been through in life, I've found that the idea that spirits might come & cause trouble doesn't rate to high on the concern-o-meter for me. Maybe it helps that I grew up with the ghost of my great-grandfather wandering around the basement; I don't know. I *do* know that I've basically got an Outsider living in my brain & no amount of appeasements & spilled beer is going to make him keep his damn mouth shut (although it's amazing how much easier life is with the meds keeping him fairly well gagged & bound).
But one thing I did make a point to bring up is that I've felt a number of times that when people were trying to force the Outsiders out, that they were considering me one of the Outsiders & that I've known other people who've felt the same thing (some of whom read this blog). I commented that in some cases, I think it was wording & in others it was definitely attitude. Folks were surprised.
We did a lot of chakra work, which is not something I've done much of. It was interesting. I made a set of chakra symbols on colored paper & a chakra bracelet of glass beads on some fake leather thong. I have no idea what I'm going to do with either of them. We were also all given candles that one of the other women made which were pretty cool. I was certain I'd destroyed mine today when I took stuff out of the car & I dropped the bag right on the concrete sidewalk but it was fine. The sage is another story, though. We were given sage seeds that we planted in some metal flowerpots that say "Fortune" on them & I managed to dump mine over twice. Sage seeds are kinda small so I have no idea if the seed's still in the pot or not. For a Pagan, I'm amazingly bad with plants.
Even had some nice conversations with the women from my former grove, which was a pleasant surprise. Which reminds me- I owe one of them an e-mail with some info...
The best part had to be the hot tub, though. It's amazing how relaxing they are... I told R we need to rent one for our big work weekend out at M's farm. Seriously. *Sooooo* nice. If I ever have a place I own, I think I might have to get one. It'd be a great way to unwind after a long day in the studio.
Had a number of really interesting theological discussions about how some of us see different elements of the COoR & different elements of cosmology. One was inspired by illious's "outsiders" rite & the idea I've had ever since he posted about that I'd like to try doing rites where we didn't do an Outsiders thing. Largely, this is because forces of chaos & darkness don't scare me. With all the crap I've been through in life, I've found that the idea that spirits might come & cause trouble doesn't rate to high on the concern-o-meter for me. Maybe it helps that I grew up with the ghost of my great-grandfather wandering around the basement; I don't know. I *do* know that I've basically got an Outsider living in my brain & no amount of appeasements & spilled beer is going to make him keep his damn mouth shut (although it's amazing how much easier life is with the meds keeping him fairly well gagged & bound).
But one thing I did make a point to bring up is that I've felt a number of times that when people were trying to force the Outsiders out, that they were considering me one of the Outsiders & that I've known other people who've felt the same thing (some of whom read this blog). I commented that in some cases, I think it was wording & in others it was definitely attitude. Folks were surprised.
We did a lot of chakra work, which is not something I've done much of. It was interesting. I made a set of chakra symbols on colored paper & a chakra bracelet of glass beads on some fake leather thong. I have no idea what I'm going to do with either of them. We were also all given candles that one of the other women made which were pretty cool. I was certain I'd destroyed mine today when I took stuff out of the car & I dropped the bag right on the concrete sidewalk but it was fine. The sage is another story, though. We were given sage seeds that we planted in some metal flowerpots that say "Fortune" on them & I managed to dump mine over twice. Sage seeds are kinda small so I have no idea if the seed's still in the pot or not. For a Pagan, I'm amazingly bad with plants.
Even had some nice conversations with the women from my former grove, which was a pleasant surprise. Which reminds me- I owe one of them an e-mail with some info...
The best part had to be the hot tub, though. It's amazing how relaxing they are... I told R we need to rent one for our big work weekend out at M's farm. Seriously. *Sooooo* nice. If I ever have a place I own, I think I might have to get one. It'd be a great way to unwind after a long day in the studio.