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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Jolandra's LiveJournal:
| Sunday, March 3rd, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:54 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, March 2nd, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:45 pm | How many of the Major Arcana does it take to screw in a lightbulb? All of them! The Fool has already started before anyone else is ready... ( Read more... ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, March 1st, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:42 am | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:30 am | Exegesis on the Wiccan Rede http://www.holysmoke.org/wicca/exegesis.htm This is an excellent article on the Wiccan Rede by Judy Harrow. I find it sad that every Wiccan author spouts the Rede but so few try to give any in-depth interpretation to it. There are a few parts of the article I disagree with, such as "Taken by itself, "DO WHAT YOU WILL" would produce a nastily competitive society, a "war of each against all" more bitter than what we now endure..." I don't think it's a simple as that. Yes human nature is aggressive and petty, but if we actually followed our will/instinct we would be living by the laws of nature we now work so hard to deny. I don't think it would be any more warlike and bitter than the communities of the animal kingdom who manage to survive without civil code and legislature. I think the above is a cultural reaction to fear of instinct, coming from an otherwise wise and aware elder of the Craft. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, February 28th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:30 am | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 27th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11:04 am | The ongoing saga...why do I always get the stalker bitches pissed at me? Well usually because they can't take a joke :-) This time I actually started out defending her/him, but it degenerated quickly. It's a long thread so I've used the cut tag: ( Read more... ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:47 am | Now that  00goddess is talking about cravings I find myself with one :-) the last two days I've been practically living on subway veggie sandwiches....Asiago Cheese bread, lettuce, extra onions, extra pickles, extra bannana peppers, olives, and hose it down with red wine vinegar...maybe my body is finally sick of not getting veggies so it's overcompensating :-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:16 am | Perfect Love and Perfect Trust Many traditions of Wicca hold a concept where one enters the circle in "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust." I was in a conversation this weekend at Convocation (all the good conversations went on in the smoking suite!) and heard basically two interpretations on this concept that all pretty much made sense. I then offered number three as an alternative having been to an interesting exegesis of it in a class earlier, and after much discussion found that do happen to be somewhat compatible: 1: When you enter the circle, you need to have Perfect Love and Perfect Trust of those around you, which means you shouldn't circle with strangers. In order for group dynamics to work in a magickal setting, you need to know and trust those you're working with. (note this could also incorporate the fact that to some extent you are karmically responsible for the actions of the others you are in the circle with). 2: When it says Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, that means that you need to set aside differences of opinions, jealousies, grudges, etc. when you enter the circle. Someone may not be trustworthy outside of circle (i.e. Joe schmoe can't keep a secret) but in circle you know his strengths and trust Joe to BE Joe, and draw on his strengths and that of others to compliment each other magickally. 3: When you enter the circle, anything you do or are is reflected upon all others in the circle. Therefore, when it says you must enter in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, it means you must Love and Trust YOURSELF. Self-doubt or Self-hate can impede or even send astray the workings of the circle. It is your responsibility as a member of a working circle to do all you can internally to insure the success of the working. That means love and confidence in yourself and the success of the working. Thoughts? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, February 26th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:08 pm | Well as odd as my interests are, they manage to balance out :-) so for a non-Pagan topic of discussion....the Geek Group in Kalamazoo Michigan is hosting a Teslathon at Maple Hill Mall in Kalamazoo, MI on March 23rd, all day. We'll have coils, caps, discharge banks, etc. Interpretation for the non-HV geeks: lightning generators and things that go bang in really impressive ways :-) for more information please see http://www.thegeekgroup.org/Flash/Demos/Winter%20Thon1.htm If you go to the home page we'll have pics of last year's thon, where we fried a computer with a 15 ft lightning arc. This is a safe and fun event for the kids, we're a non-profit group working to make science fun and interesting for the next generation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, February 25th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11:21 am | Well I'm back from Convocation and working at getting back to mundane life. Maybe it's where I'm at or maybe just that they have to appeal to new folks but I only had one workshop that I learned anything from. But that's not to say I didn't have a blast! I think I actually managed to get in all seven deadly sins in one weekend (if you count that bug I squashed as murder, the girl next to me sure did!) I met a truly cool group of Pagans from Lafayette, Indiana that I hope I run into at other events, and there were a few folks I'm used to seeing and didn't :-( I pretty much hung out in the smoking suite all weekend, since all my favorite people ended up in there sooner or later! Just a point of advice....never have a Sumbel ritual with Tequila... This year I might even make it to Invocation in Chicago, since it's actually reasonably close to where I live (Kalamazoo, MI) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, February 24th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:09 pm | Well I'll just fill in the days I was at Convocation with topics relating to it. It was rather sad being at an event like this, I'm somewhere in between the point where I benefit by the knowledge disseminated in the classes in workshops, and where I feel the need to take on the amazing responsibility of actually teaching others. I have no wish whatsoever to set myself up as an authority on anything, and have no need to stroke my ego by having a room full of people taking what I say to heart. Eventually I will have to get used to the idea, when my HPS leaves I'll be the only one ready to take over the teaching coven. I suppose it's better to have someone who shies from the mantle of authority leading a group than one who covets it, but either extreme can be harmful to group dynamics. I would just feel amazingly arrogant (what, me, arrogant? no comments from the peanut gallery!!!) actually setting myself up as a teacher. The closest I could comfortable come would be to lead a discussion session, where everyone shares ideas and the only authority I have is to keep the discussion on topic. I have great confidence in myself and my abilities, I just have no desire to make others believe the same thing I do, which to me seems the point of the lecture-teaching I've observed. Yes there's teaching techniques designed to simply guide the student into their own channels of thought without actually giving them rote ideas, but how do you do that in a two-hour class setting? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, February 23rd, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:22 pm | An interesting discussion in the Smoking Suite at Convocation....Many people/traditions refuse to circle with strangers or people they dislike/distrust because their tradition cites that they must enter the circle in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. One group of folks brought up the point that even if they don't trust someone implicitly (i.e. say Joe can't keep a secret), they can still trust Joe to BE Joe, knowing his faults and trusting in his strengths. But I brought up a dissenting point..what if the love and trust did not apply to the others in the circle at all? When you enter the circle to work magick, everyone in that circle takes on a small piece of karmic responsibility for you for the course of that working. This makes it essential that when you enter that circle, you do so in perfect love and perfect trust in YOURSELF....any individual's self-doubt will impede the group's working. One interpretation of the line is to remind you that any negativity affects all, and it is your responsibility as a member of the group to have love for yourself and what you are doing, and to have confidence in your abilities and the success of the working. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, February 15th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:03 am | ongoing saga of valentine's day: If you'd like to read about a catfight, click below. If you don't want that kind of negativity in your life, skip this, that's why I cut it. just don't read it, then bitch at me for being negative, k? :-) ( Read more... ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, February 14th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:28 am | In response to someone who objected to my jokes about V-day, and what sort of sick and/or anarchistic ways you can anti-celebrate: Oh please, just chill, it's all about geeky humor and I'm sorry if you just don't get it :-) I for one am just rather amused at the way we cater to mass-consumerism and as a society encourage the determination of self-worth by the worth of the person you're with. Valentines day is about love? superficially....really it's a statement that our society (in general) needs an official day where they are supposed to express love, because we are unable to do so every day. It is a band-aid on the underlying issues that may crumble our society, that of prioritizing an ideal state of being that we are unable to obtain or sustain. Through this cycle of expectation, disappointment, and self-flagellation we overcompensate through "programs"....V-day, sweetest's day, Christmas, etc. We try to establish archetypal symbols to counteract the selfish survival instinct at work in our psyche. But they are too powerful. Is there a solution? We can, instead of forcing people to conform to an ideal, reform society itself to reflect our real strengths. But what then if our real strengths lay in the prioritization of power? Our survival instinct will always lead us to being the fittest, defined as the one who succeeds in their environment, either jungle or corporate. If we could define a society where tangible success comes only from our idealized methods of love, trust, and generosity, that would be a society that works. In the meantime, take a F'in joke already...nobody's going to take a semi up a clock tower...if the day depresses them they'll sit at home and amuse themselves, or go out with friends. But you can't take someone who is raised by mother culture to believe they must have a relationship to be somebody and just tell them not to believe it....you will be shouted down by the proof surrounding us in every TV ad, department store and sale. I turned down two dates for today simply in protest that corporate america is holding a gun to our heads over this. It is a constant reinforcement of the idea that you are judged by who you are with, and accordingly if you are with no one. Being independant can't possibly be a bad thing, yet part of the reason we have such a high divorce rate is that our society pushes people into thinking they have to be in a relationship, or married, to be a worthwhile person. That's why married people can get better loan rates, adopt children, are generally considered more acceptable people. You constantly hear people say they want a significant other. Not that they find a certain person interesting and would like to spend more time with them, just that they want a b/f or g/f, no matter who. Then they wonder why their relationships fall apart. You shouldn't date just anyone simply because the world tells you you should be dating, anymore than you should buy them a present on this particular day simply because the department stores tell you to...We have free will and are theoretically capable of independant action. Let's start taking control of our own thinking instead of allowing corporate america to do so for us. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 13th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:15 pm | "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success...Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." -Nikola Tesla, 1896 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, February 12th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1:08 pm | erp, I almost feel guilty that it's been so long since I've updated this. Then again, I've gone longer before, and tend to just fill up empty days when I have an interesting quote. Right now I'm in a happy scramble....We're putting together plans for a huge LAN party (pLANet Geek) that in a few years might turn into a roving geek-rave.....we'd have Geek Group members who jump to a different city each month in the Geek Group LAN Van and set up a LAN party with the local Geek Group chapter hosting. It'd be a lot of fun, but we need more outstate chapters. I'd give it at least two years at the present rate of growth, but seeing as how Duck is a mad genius, there's always the remote possibility that we'll find some sort of corporate sponsorship (Best Buy?) and be up and running with it in six months. Right now we're just hunting for warehouse space somewhere in SW Michigan to hold this next one. What else...There's the Teslathon. We're sick of dealing with WMU's red-tape and are looking for a new place to hold it. I'm busy researching all the local schools, youth organizations and community centers to see if we can get a good place donated. Then I have to lose quite a few pounds this year in order to get my next degree in the coven. It's not an appearance thing, I had to choose to do something that was challenging and required personal growth, preferably in areas of self-discipline or responsibility. I chose weight loss, since that mental/physical discipline is something I need to develop further. I lost a lot of weight over the last year, but have been stagnating at a size 22 for the last five months. I set my 2nd-degree challenge at a size 14. That's as low as I can probably healthfully go, considering I'm 6'1 and built like a viking :-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, February 11th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:43 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, February 10th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:45 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, February 9th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:48 pm |
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| Friday, February 8th, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:56 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
