happy samhain

As I got up this morning and pulled on my brown and orange striped shirt, then pulled my skull tree t-shirt over that, I remembered why I like this day. It’s joyous and sad, all at once. Today is a celebration of those who have gone before and those yet to come. Today is a celebration of the quiet in our souls and the work of our bodies. It’s a harvest festival. It’s a cup of hot tea. It’s a slice of pizza with friends. It’s a howl at the moon, sometime just after midnight.

From Wikipedia.org 
Samhain (pronounced sow-un, commonly) is the word for November in the Irish language. The Scottish Gaelic spelling is Samhuinn. The same word was used for a month in the Celtic calendar, in particular the first three nights of this month, with the festival marking the end of the summer season and the end of the harvest. A modernized version of this festival continues today in some of the traditions of the Christian All Souls’ Day, the secular Halloween, and in folk practices of Samhain itself in the Celtic Nations and the Irish and Scottish diasporas. The name is also used for one of the sabbat feasts in the Wiccan wheel of the year.

The rest of the article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

So, today, when you all don your costumes, eat a ton of candy and/or get really trashed, think of the time to come. Think of the quiet in your soul and mind. Take that hang-over or belly-ache tomorrow as a sign that its time to chill out for a couple months. Besides, we all gotta stay warm, yes?

Poem 12204

He’s figuring it out
   –slowly
   –piece by piece
But he’s looked in the mirror.

Everything is okay;
   things are as they should be.

So he’s figuring it out.
Our little boy is growing up.

on a musical workout 111704

I danced alone
   but spirits bounded ’round me!
Both my own and those otherwise,
   those that like dancing.

And sweet sounds filled the air,
   and candles lit the space.
And sweat dripped from my brow
   and my heart kept pace.

I panted, using the air,
   offering it still to those
   who need it not
And I romped and rustled
   and the flames flickered
   and the breeze swirled.

All in my little dorm room.
All in my temple.

definitions

religion

1.	a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.	a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3.	the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

4.	the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.

5.	the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

6.	something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.

7.	religions, Archaic. religious rites.

8.	Archaic. strict faithfulness; devotion: a religion to one’s vow.

theism

1.	the belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation (distinguished from deism).

2.	belief in the existence of a god or gods (opposed to atheism).

atheism

1.	the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

2.	disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

No results found for non-theism

non-
Function: prefix
: not : other than : reverse of : absence of

This is the first of a couple dilemnae that I’ve come across this evening. Oh, how my mind reels. I want to point out that a friend of mine, who is very intelligent and well-educated, has described herself as a non-theist, and not an athesit. I don’t know why, because they don’t seem to be any different to me.

Then I found these articles:
http://evangelicalatheist.com/2005/11/16/science-and-magick/
http://the-goddess.org/blog/2005/11/evangelical-atheist-science-and-magick.html
http://www.the-brights.net/

Part 2:
After reading these, I got sorta confused, and had to do some thinking, and i came to some conclusions, and came back to read some more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement
http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=11947

I was not able to finish the second link because it has two pages, and about 4 peer-reviewed-like responses on it, and it made my brain a little too squishy for one sitting.

Anyway, the more I read, the more I might have found something to support something about magick. More to come.

Meanwhile, read the funny version of everything above:
http://dresdencodak.com/

saxophonica

Yesterday, I taught my little saxophone sectional. Every Wednesday since August, I’ve been showing up and helping out the Randall High School band. The kids are pretty good, and there is enough actual desire to learn that it’s exciting.  One of the kids likes to make excuses for everything, but I know she has the ability to do some of these things.

For those interested, we are working on Ferling etudes No. 18, 19, and 30. Go Texas all-state!

I got an interesting question from Ryan. He wanted to know when to stop a trill, on the written note, or the trilled note. It took some thinking, because I’d never thought of it that way. Luckily, every trill in this set of etudes is followed by a two grace notes that lead into the next passage. It really helped sort that out, but I’m sure it will come up again. I’ll have to think about this stuff.

This has carried over into my own private lessons, as Lefevre had me think about which notes I was putting vibrato on. Not something I usually think about, which was good. He’s excited for me, and I’m excited for me. I don’t know what it was, but my stuff just clicked a little bit better today. Even when I was rushing the Ibert over 15 bpm. Scary! I didn’t think I could do that that fast.

Just having taught these few lessons, I’ve learned quite a bit about myself, and its a little frightening. When I’m running around the marching field clapping and counting, trying to get kids in step, trying to get postures good, I realize that maybe I’m a bit too intense. But they (the education systems) encourage intensity in the classroom, so maybe it’s not so bad. And I’ve learned that my sarcasm needs to lighten a little, and I could stand to work on the stuff the kids are learning. I am having a good, harrowing time.

reginajoshadamregina

I am currently listening to, at the very moment, Regina Spektor’s “Us.” I am in love with her. Her music reminds me of Tori Amos + Ani Difranco, without so much bitchiness or political ranting. Though I might be missing the point. Anyway, her music is delightful, and it makes me happy hearing it. I think she has a video on MTV for “Fidelity,” which is a good song also.

I first learned of her when singing with my friend Gina and Adam in the car. It was bliss. I love singing with them. Also with Josh. We were singing to the Lion King soundtrack later that day, and we had some good three-part harmony going on, which was wonderful.

If you don’t sing much, start. If you do sing, sing with friends. If you do that, do it more often. It is highly recommended, and probably condoned by the Surgeon General. Or the Dali Lhama.

 By the way, that is what Regina Spektor looks like. Listen to her. Love her.

my turn.

Earth exodus. Malfunction. Time to think.

mm mm good

As per instructions and advice from people like Mick Bradley, Chris Miller, and other gaming/philosophy podcasters, I checked out Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth. Though there is a printed form, this particular edition is a 6-tape conversation series between Campbell, and a colleague, Bill Moyers.

At first, I decided to just listen and see what I learned. But as the conversations continued, I was nodding my head a little, seeing some of my own ideas reflected in what Campbell was saying. Some of these ideas were about things like life after death, or the nature of existence in the world, however, some of them I’d abandoned long ago. So maybe I wasn’t all that far off.

Then, I noticed I was gasping a lot, because he was saying things that were sinking in, and making sense. I can’t believe I haven’t read this stuff already, or at least listened to the tapes. I’m only two tapes into the series, so its hard to know for sure what everything I’m going to learn is, but for sure, it will be good to know it.

Thanks to those that recommended it.

kilt kiltiness

I went to the Celtic Faire this last weekend.
I bought a kilt.
I wore it to a fraternity ritual.
People called it a skirt, which it is not.
I love my kilt.
I may never wear pants again!

beginning again for the first time.

For those that have heard my little recent diatribe in person, or on the phone, or IM, or generally any method other than here alone, you know that it ranges very far, and very far into my past. I’ve been talking about things like this since I was in elementary school, because it fascinated me to no end that there were people out there who thought like me. It still does. Everyday, I’m finding more and more people who are able to turn their minds into something more critical to make sense of the world around them. And when I find them, I almost immediately have to talk to them. But that’s not for now.

My recent rants have led to me dead ends. Sure I’ve written and spoken a lot on civilization, magick, science, religion, personality, personal action, responsibility, blah blah blah, but none of it is reconciling. I’m holding a bunch of loose ends, still trying to find ways to put it all together.

So, I’ve decided to back up a little bit, get away from the details, and go back to a starting point that can help me get into all the different strings at once. I have some ideas about where I will go to do that, and hopefully, I’m right. If not, I’ll back up and try again, until I can find a path that I both understand and can use to reach an answer to my questions.

If anyone has any tips about books to read or things to listen to, etc., that I could use, please, mention them, and I’ll check them out.