Everyone, I'm going to have to reschedule this class. I came down with a head cold this week, and I still have not recovered completely. I don't think that it would be fair for me to try to teach this class when I am not at my best, I might miss something vital and I would only be doing the Circle a disservice. I will make an effort to speak to everyone individually about the reschedule, Steph; I know that I’ve already spoken to you about this. Everyone else, expect to hear from me either today (Thursday, October 08, 2009) or tomorrow (Friday, October 09, 2009). Apologies to everyone for the late notice, I simply overestimated my recovery ability.
Danielle
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
What you need to know about Samhain
The ritual will begin at 11:59 Friday October 30th, please be here between 10:30-11:00 PM. I will need to speak to everyone individually before the rite. Please be here on time!
Bring a photo or a personal item of relatives (or pets) who have passed, there will be an altar set up and dedicated specifically to the honored dead. This is not a ritual of mourning but wear black; this is the one ritual of the year that those who have not yet attained the rank of second degree may wear black robes in Circle. For those members that resonate deeply with Eastern traditions, I will on a case by case basis, be OK if you want to wear white robes in ritual. Please communicate with me before hand if you feel strongly about wearing white at Samhain.
I haven’t made a final decision about what spell work the Samhain ritual will include. The rite is taking place on Trickster’s Night, so there will be no divination work performed. It is important that no one perform any kind of divinatory work on Friday October 30th. As it is Trickster’s Night, you will be mislead, period. If you do decide to perform a divination, be prepared to accept the lesson. You are likely to be in for a rough ride if you take the message you receive as truth.
A decision has not been a made about a Circle Meeting; we are working with time constraints for Samhain weekend which will require careful planning. Expect to hear more about this later on in the month.
The afterparty will begin either directly after the adjournment of the Circle Meeting, if we do indeed have a meeting after the ritual, or in the event that the meeting is postponed the afterparty will begin directly after ritual. I understand that some members of the Circle will have to rise early on Saturday to be somewhere, but due to the energies that we will be working with, please be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes “coming down” before leaving. It is absolutely critical for those members who have not attended a Samhain ritual before to have their energy monitored to ensure that they take no damage or start to block up after the ritual.
For the afterparty feast - please bring a dish that symbolizes the last harvest. Any dish with grains and/or fruits and vegetables that would be available during the last harvest of the year would be very appropriate. If anyone has questions about exactly what vegetables or fruits are seasonally available for this geographic region, I ask that you to make a trip to the local farmers market; there are several available in Austin. The selection at the farmer’s market is usually representative of the produce seasonally available. For anyone who still has questions, feel free to call me (Danielle), but expect to be quizzed about what you saw at the farmer’s market.
(Please remember that dishes for the feast are meant to feed everyone at the ritual, not just yourself. If you cannot contribute a dish, it is expected that you be on hand for prep and cleanup.)
If you have any questions about this post, please contact Danielle (512.989.0539).
Blessed Be,
Danielle
Bring a photo or a personal item of relatives (or pets) who have passed, there will be an altar set up and dedicated specifically to the honored dead. This is not a ritual of mourning but wear black; this is the one ritual of the year that those who have not yet attained the rank of second degree may wear black robes in Circle. For those members that resonate deeply with Eastern traditions, I will on a case by case basis, be OK if you want to wear white robes in ritual. Please communicate with me before hand if you feel strongly about wearing white at Samhain.
I haven’t made a final decision about what spell work the Samhain ritual will include. The rite is taking place on Trickster’s Night, so there will be no divination work performed. It is important that no one perform any kind of divinatory work on Friday October 30th. As it is Trickster’s Night, you will be mislead, period. If you do decide to perform a divination, be prepared to accept the lesson. You are likely to be in for a rough ride if you take the message you receive as truth.
A decision has not been a made about a Circle Meeting; we are working with time constraints for Samhain weekend which will require careful planning. Expect to hear more about this later on in the month.
The afterparty will begin either directly after the adjournment of the Circle Meeting, if we do indeed have a meeting after the ritual, or in the event that the meeting is postponed the afterparty will begin directly after ritual. I understand that some members of the Circle will have to rise early on Saturday to be somewhere, but due to the energies that we will be working with, please be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes “coming down” before leaving. It is absolutely critical for those members who have not attended a Samhain ritual before to have their energy monitored to ensure that they take no damage or start to block up after the ritual.
For the afterparty feast - please bring a dish that symbolizes the last harvest. Any dish with grains and/or fruits and vegetables that would be available during the last harvest of the year would be very appropriate. If anyone has questions about exactly what vegetables or fruits are seasonally available for this geographic region, I ask that you to make a trip to the local farmers market; there are several available in Austin. The selection at the farmer’s market is usually representative of the produce seasonally available. For anyone who still has questions, feel free to call me (Danielle), but expect to be quizzed about what you saw at the farmer’s market.
(Please remember that dishes for the feast are meant to feed everyone at the ritual, not just yourself. If you cannot contribute a dish, it is expected that you be on hand for prep and cleanup.)
If you have any questions about this post, please contact Danielle (512.989.0539).
Blessed Be,
Danielle
Friday, October 2, 2009
Check out a blog post on chron.com
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com thought you might like to see the blog post "Satanism under attack from a Witch." on chron.Commons.
View and comment on the post.
Excerpt: " Never thought I’d see this , a “witch” spreading lies and half truths about a group of LeVey Satanists looking for new members. In the article, Kevin Carlyon, a self appointed &ldqu... "
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com also included this personal message:
"Wow... This is really messed up, and I hope not a thing that will be repeated often. We really don't need to be pecking eachother to death..."
chron.Commons
View and comment on the post.
Excerpt: " Never thought I’d see this , a “witch” spreading lies and half truths about a group of LeVey Satanists looking for new members. In the article, Kevin Carlyon, a self appointed &ldqu... "
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com also included this personal message:
"Wow... This is really messed up, and I hope not a thing that will be repeated often. We really don't need to be pecking eachother to death..."
chron.Commons
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Magick 101: Correspondences, Correspondences, Correspondences...
For instance: The East (i.e. eastern quarter in a circle) corresponds to new beginnings, spring, sunrise, the colors pink and yellow, air and wind, various air elementals, intellect, communication, incense, insight, innocence, etc. There are many many other correspondences, including specific plants, animals, symbols, tools, spirits, draconic and other sentient forms, archangels. The list can go on and on. The class will introduce you to these ideas, and show you how you can figure out what corresponds to what, and how to use the information in your growth path and in your spell work.
There will be notes for this class, available just like for class 1. Please let me know if you can attend or if you will need a makeup.
If you have any questions, please contact BrightWater (512.989.0539 or 512.567.1465).
With love and blessings,
BrightWater (Jen Harlan)
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com
hillcountrygrove@gmail.com
Updates
I am back up and working now and we should now be able to move on.
For those who haven't been keeping up, we now have 2 Dedicant's in the circle, Jonathan Peña and Stephanie (Princess Possum-Pee) Turner. Both are working towards their 1st Degree in different wiccan traditions.
We have held the first 2 classes in our Magick 101 Series, Magickal Ethics and Circle Casting 101. These classes went very well, being attended by Jon, Steph, Ashley, Ray, and myself, with Danielle leading the classes (with input from others as their speciality was focused on). Those unable to attend were given notes from the Magickal Ethics class, which were posted here if you didn't get them yet. The Circle Casting class is a hands-on class, so has no notes. If you missed this class but would still like to learn this, contact us to set up a make-up class date. Steph has finished her practical segment for this class, but we are still waiting on Jon to schedule his. As soon as this is done, we will have new people capable of holding quarters at rituals and they can begin their rotation. :) These classes are, of course, requirements of the 1st Degree.
We held Mabon on the evening of September 19th. Due to my mother being in the hospital again, my computer being broken, and Danielle not having updated contact for everyone, this was a small ritual, attended by Danielle, Ray, Joe, Steph, and myself, but it went off beautifully, and we had a nice feast of chicken and dumplings with peach cobbler and wassail to finish off the evening. For those wondering, Mabon is simultaneously the funeral/wake of the god, and the pagan Thanksgiving. It is the second harvest ritual/festival, and is a time of plenty, and joy although not untempered by the sorrow caused by the sacrifices (both of the gods and ourselves) required to have the time of plenty.
We do have another class tentatively scheduled, as you will see in the next post. Please let me know if this date and time is good for you or not.
Our next ritual, of course, is Samhain. This ritual will take place at 11:59PM October 31st. This should give you time to spend partying or trick-or-treating or handing out candy and such earlier in the evening. My recommendation is that those who are attending arrive no later than 11:30PM so that we can get prepped and begin on time. If you can get here earlier, we would love to have you but we know that Samhain is a busy night for us all.
Please remember that Samhain is one of 2 CLOSED rituals in the Wheel of the Year. Attendance is by invitation only, for circle and grove members. Should you want to bring a guest, or are unsure if you or your guest are welcome, please contact me and we can discuss it.
More info on Samhain will be forthcoming very soon. Look for an invitation in your email, as well as here on the blog, which will be full of the details lacking right now. :)
If you have any questions, please contact BrightWater (512.989.0539 or 512.567.1465).
With love and blessings,
BrightWater (Jen Harlan)
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com
hillcountrygrove@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Dedication Rite This Weekend!
Don't forget! We have a ritual this weekend!
We will be celebrating:
Jonathan Pena's Wiccan Dedication Rite
Saturday, August 29th at approximately 5:30 PM.
Please contact BrightWater or Daniela to RSVP and let us know what you will be bringing for the feast/party afterwards.
If you have any questions, please contact BrightWater (512.989.0539 or 512.567.1465).
With love and blessings,
BrightWater (Jen Harlan)
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com
hillcountrygrove@gmail.com
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Class Update!
Hi guys, sorry for the short notice on this update. I forgot to publish my post before I powered down my computer originally.Those of you that attended Lughnassadh know about this already, but I wanted a reminder to go out.
Thursday, August 20th (tomorrow), we have scheduled a class at the Covenstead (Haus zu Harlan) at 8:00 PM. This class is titled "Magical Ethics" and is a requirement for any Wiccan Dedicant or Shamanistic student.
For those who can't attend locally, we will be broadcasting on Skype. My username is jennifer.c.harlan on there. :) The class shouldn't take more than an hour and a half, so everyone she be able to get home at a decent hour. Also, no potluck this time. If you want to eat something, bring lunch money and we will order pizza. Steph - you will need to provide yourself something that doesn't have gluten in it.
Our next class will be: Friday, September 4th @ 8:00 PM, Circle Casting 101.
If you have any questions, please contact BrightWater (512.989.0539 or 512.567.1465).
With love and blessings,
BrightWater (Jen Harlan)
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com
hillcountrygrove@gmail.com
Blog Change
Hi guys,
I have gotten a lot of complaints lately about people being unaware of Circle Events and other happenings. I am trying very hard to make sure that we all have the appropriate info in our hands. I've given you all access to the calendar (except Sean - as far as I know - and I will remedy that as soon as I get a chance) as well as this blog and the evites.
For those of you complaining about a lack of phone calls, I'm sorry but I'm trying to keep up with approximately 30 people, and it would be a full-time position for me to try to coordinate circle stuff over the phone with that many people. So, if you want to know what is going on: attend events, check this blog, check the calendar, or oh, I don't know, call me... :)
I wanted to let you know that I have altered the blog slightly. We are no longer "Private", but are still unlisted and unavailable by web search. I have done this so that the Feeds will work, as well as the "Following" capability that those of us using Blogger or Google Reader can see any blog changes immediately upon posting.
As soon as RSS 2.0 is compatible with Blogger (and Google's interface), I will switch us back to private, but this is the only way to get feeds working.
If you have any questions, please contact BrightWater (512.989.0539 or 512.567.1465).
With love and blessings,
BrightWater (Jen Harlan)
jen.c.harlan@gmail.com
hillcountrygrove@gmail.com
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