This Saturday Dan & I attended a wonderful presentation on Hinduism by Rev. Abhi Janamanchi at Unity Unitarian. He is a minister from a congregation in Clearwater, Florida. He started out discussing religious pluralism- he defined as not just plurality but an active engagement with pluralism in all settings, taking both similarities and differences into account. Unitarian Universalists, and other liberals tend to overemphasize similarities while downplaying differences between religions.
It is more than just "tolerance"- which really means "not being hostile". I know I'm guilty of throwing that word around, after absorbing it from hearing people talk about religious/racial etc. tolerance.
He had an interesting metaphor about how we should be spiritual tourists vs. spiritual pilgrims, exploring other traditions while being rooted in our own. This is something I try to do- respectfully taking insights and practices from other religions and adapting/reframing them to my own. It's a fine line though. Spiritual dabbling is a big problem among UUs, not just Pagans!

I knew some basic info about Hinduism from reading about religions in general but this was more in depth.
He also got into some of the differences between northern & southern India, showing the different styles of temples. Not surprisingly different gods are popular in different places, but also ritual is more elaborate in the south. He showed some pictures of gods, and temples including the one in Maple Grove, MN which is actually the largest in North America!
After hearing this I think I would like to learn more about Hinduism, and visit a temple (which I've been meaning to do for a while anyway, out of curiosity).

Dan commented that while he already knew much of the info about Hinduism itself he really appreciated hearing from a Hindu perspective
rather than yet another "white liberal" as he put it. One fact neither of us knew was that the taboo on eating beef actually came from a time when Muslims were ruling northern India, and Hindus decided to not eat beef to distinguish themselves from Muslims who don't eat pork.

He also had a couple friends with him who played Indian music- Nirmala, the lady had a really old instrument called a vena (vina?) and there was guy (don't remember name) who played drums. We got a sample of what Hindu worship is like, singing some hymns and chants. I found it quite beautiful and moving.

On Sunday we went to the service to hear him preach. His sermon was about dealing with the difficulties of being caught between various religions, cultures and class/castes. His father was a lower-caste Muslim & mother a high-caste Hindu. Then add to that the awkwardness of being UU, an overwhelmingly white denomination, a Hindu and a UU minister in the Indian-American community, not just because UUism is pretty unknown among them but there aren't very many ministers either!
Though we enjoyed the sermon, we were disappointed because we thought there would be more Indian music and there wasn't. Oh well. Very glad to have him and the other folks at Unity.

Now, back to the positive-

Twin Cities Pagan Pride was for the 2nd (or was it 3rd?) year now at Sabathani Community Center. Or should I say is, it's still going on today but I'm busy with D & D -with all pagans with the exception of Dan :) I wished the location was a bit more central- I had to take 2 buses to get there oh well. Lisa and I met up on the 23 bus
The focus of this year's event is exploring our roles in the greater community.  Lisa & I attended a panel discussion on "Pagans in the World" including leaders from several local organizations. It essentially turned into a big brainstorming session for development of our community as well as ways for Pagans to get more involved in the general metro community. We had lunch, then parted ways so Lisa could go to "Daily Charms & Charming" and I went to "Building a Pagan Community Center".
This past year, since I'd joined Unity-Unitarian I became rather out of the loop with the local Pagan community- or as we call it Paganistan
I'd perhaps unfairly taken my frustrations with UPS and other groups on the general community and sought one that was better organized.
Little did I know that they were getting better organized. The long-time effort to start a community center had finally taken off- Paul & Teisha who used to run Evenstar, a metaphysical bookstore that had closed down had rented out a larger space around the corner.
They called it the Sacred Paths Center. (They have actually been closed during Pride to encourage people to go to it- and to promote themselves there!) This is the only such space I know of in the country. There was Betwixt & Between in Dallas, TX but from what I've heard they have lost their space. The SPC is very close to my house so I can bike there- as is the case with Unity.
Murph Pizza, our resident Pagan anthropologist observed that while most faith communities have churches/temples and then community centers since Pagan groups are usually too small to have their own worship spaces it's the other way around. So we are all very excited about this. We also attended a Wiccaning that was put on by the Coven of the Standing Stones- we were curious, since neither of us has ever been to a pagan baby blessing ceremony of any sort.

At around 4 I felt rather tired of workshops and decided to just browse through the vendor booths, listen to the live music and chat with people. I ran into quite a few old friends & acquaintances including some I hadn't seen in a long time, and those I didn't expect to see.
Kathy, who we used to do ritual with was running her Iguana rescue & adoption group's booth. Scancy, a former neighbor girl who I lost track of, Lisa Sanders from the Norther Lights Autism Conference (NoLAR)
I introduced Scancy to Lisa and we yakked for a while, finally decided to go back and hang out at Scancy's place with some of her friends.
We had a great time and decided we should get together more often. It turns out she and her fiance Steve live quite close by over in Frogtown (the neighborhood between mine and the Capital Hill area)
I'm thinking of having our usual Halloween party and inviting some of these goofballs as a way to reconnect with old friends.

Yesterday we had the rehearsal of Lisa & William's wedding ceremony. (I'm a bridesmaid, don't know if I mentioned that) I'm glad I was there, because it turns out the beginning part is a little complex and potentially confusing but after we went thru it twice it made a lot more sense. That is after the procession to the altar, the attendants take their places next to the bride & groom but then for calling the directions we have to process round the area so a couple of people are placed at each direction. Then we process back. After that we just stand their while the officiant, Lisa & William do their thing. Also tried on the skirt part of the dress. Lisa's mom is making our dresses- and William's sister made her dress. She is still finishing up the blouses tonight- thought we'd be able to try them on before the wedding in case anything needed to be adjusted but guess not! But since my skirt fit but was slightly loose, the blouse probably will too.

After that we all headed over to Old Country Buffet for dinner. It's usually tradition just for the wedding party to have a rehearsal dinner but they decided to include family so they could spend more time together. We all had a good time yacking and munching. Me, Dan and the groomsmen ended up sitting in the table between the two sides of the family. William's groomsmen are all his gaming buddies- and I knew Matthias from UPS, and his friend Marcus. Marcus is my "partner" for calling West. We joked around a lot. I also talked with Rev. Phil Hutchens, the officiant who Lisa and I know as the leader of Mists of Stone Forest, the longest-standing Druid grove in the area. We discussed various Druid groups- he was telling me that tomorrow the Temple of the River (of which I'm a former member) was going to have a ritual involving dipping naked in the Mississippi River! I told him about the ADF Protogrove that I'd checked out, and misc. other Druid and Pagan doings. He also mentioned his grove was looking for/open to new members. So I'm starting to think about that. But more on that later after the wedding! It's tomorrow I can't believe it- it's been sneaking up on us the whole summer! We'll get our hair done at 7:30 then head over to the site and start getting it ready at 9, the ceremony will start at 11, and then we have to be out of there by 12 noon! (not sure if that includes the reception or just the pavilion ceremony area. We shall see. Let's pray the weather is good and all goes well...

I have a book called "Earth Prayers From Around the World, 366 Prayers, Poems & Invocations for Honoring the Earth"<input ... ></input><input ... > It contains some prayers that I really like from a group called the Congregation of Abraxas. I was curious who they were so I Googled them.
It turns out that they were a Unitarian semi-monastic order in the that formed 1970s and 80s for the purpose of developing liturgy and deepening spiritual practice. This was at the height of the influence of secular humanism in the UUA. Their liturgy drew a lot from Benedictine Catholic & Buddhist sources. Apparently they published a Book of Hours in 1985, probably a pretty limited run- I can't find it. I'm going to ask around at Unity especially the Library Team to see if I can find out more about them. I think the UUs could still really use a group like that!

On a side note, I also wondered about the name "Abraxas" It sounded to me to be vaguely Greek and ceremonial magicky- I was kind of right it goes back to Gnosticism- the history of it is rather complex!

This Monday I found both volumes of Book of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess and to the God by Galen Gillotte. They are prayerbooks modeled after medieval books of hours used by monks with prayers for morning, evening, and night as well as phases of the moon, holidays and other occasions.
Despite the Wiccan style theology (Maiden/Mother/Crone) I thought the prayers were beautifully written so I couldn't resist. I started saying the prayers that night and have continued since. Sometimes I miss one or two, but for the most part I've been doing it pretty faithfully.

I don't if this could "count" for mental discipline. I find it's easier to remember to do than sitting meditation and it's easier to focus on- more concrete. Regardless of whether it works for the DP I enjoy doing it, and find it helps me keep incorporate spirituality into my day.

For those not on the Neokoroi list- The Athanakassis (sp?) translation of the Orphic Hymns has been out of print for some time and become quite expensive. Someone had the hymns posted on a Geocities website but since Yahoo is getting rid of geocities (ah, the end of an era- of crappy websites!)
Sarah Winter has been kind enough to put together a couple of documents with the hymns, edited and reformatted. The first is the hymns in English, the PDF is in Greek.
http://www.winterscapes.com/orphichymns.doc
http://www.winterscapes.com/orphichymns.pdf

Looking thru it, I realized that it'd be a lot more user-friendly if I had a Table of Contents, so I went thru it and typed one up on Word. To save others some work, here it is:

( Read more... )

I noticed there were some unfamiliar names there, so I'm going to poke around Theoi and any books I have. I discovered, for example that Physis is a goddess of nature, one of the Protogenoi (primeval creation-era gods).

At the Freyfaxi ritual  I noticed that the book Star used for the omen was Lisa Peschel's A Practical Guide to the Runes. I hadn't heard of this book, so I looked it up. I noticed in the description of the book that it included a "blank rune"- definitely a red flag- the blank rune was an addition made by another author, Ralph Blum. It also states that Ms. Peschel is Wiccan. Not to be prejudiced against Wiccans, perhaps there are some that are well-versed in runes, Germanic mythology & cultures etc, but I take a rune book a lot more seriously if the author is either Heathen, or another scholar of Nordic/Germanic studies. While there may be some basic info here that's ok, I get the impression its more of a New Age dabbling kind of book. Next time I think I'll recommend another book to him, like Freya Aswynn or Edred Thorsson. While both have their flaws, they're certainly better than the book he's using. Heck, I can just bring them along to the next ritual. Ideally in my opinion, one should be familiar enough with a divinatory system that you dont have to stand in the middle of a ritual with you nose in a book, paging thru it. I think that kinda interrupts the flow & mood of the ritual. It might just behoove me to keep my mouth shut til I'm more familiar with runes, otherwise I may find myself "volunteered" to be omen-taker!

As for the omen itself, Mannaz inverted, I commented that some ADF-ers give more offerings when they get a bad omen, and do so until they get a good one. "I'm not suggested that we neccessarily do that, its just a thought" I said. Katie thought that was "silly". I guess there are various interpretations of the purpose of omen-taking in a rite. Response to offerings, to the ritual in general, to the Kindred's general guidance to the group at this time.

Other thoughts on divination- I was talking with Eric, and he was saying that he keeps doing Tarot readings and asking for "a sign" to help him find his "soulmate". I suggested that maybe instead he might try asking what characteristics to look for, or even if this is the right time to be looking for someone. (I'll leave aside the whole concept of a "soulmate") My take on divination, though I haven't delved that much into it- is rather than telling the future, it's more about showing you the choices you have in a situation, and helping clarify things. Of course it all depends on the system you're using and all, but that's what I've gotten out of the Tarot readings people have given me.
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So for quite some time my friend Star/John has been sending e-mail invites to Red Pine Proto-groves' rituals, and I've been declining as they are in the northern suburbs that I can't get to by bus. Granted some were in Elk River which is outside the bus system. But this time I noticed they were having Lammas in Robbinsdale, which is an inner ring burb- lo and behold I looked it up on Metrotransit and I could get there! Even on a Sunday!  I talk to Star and he said other rituals tend to be in Osseo, which is further out, but still accessible by bus. I could possibly take the bus part of the way there and then get picked up in Robbinsdale. Anyway...

This morning I went with Dan to Lake Harriet Christian Church. He is doing some "church-shopping" and thought the Disciples of Christ might be a denomination that would fit his values well. It was pretty small but friendly congregation and there was a good sermon about bridging across theological differences. The DoC like the UU's is creedless, though obviously a lot more Christian in orientation. Afterwards we went to Quang restaurant for lunch, a Vietnamese place which is inexpensive but has great food. We ended up with way more food than we could eat, so there were 3 boxes of leftovers! I ordered an appetizer- they have these delicious fried yams w/ shrimp in them. I think they'd make a great State Fair food. Then Dan drove me over to Robbinsdale.

It was hosted at Tom's house, and written and performed by Katie, who turned out to be the same Katie I knew from the University Pagan Society! I had lost touch with her, and didn't even know if she was still in Paganism, but now she's an ADF member. She's doing well, is a senior now in Environmental Science (good druid profession) and was giving Tom some tips on tree care. There were 6 people at the ritual, myself included- Katie, Jen, Star, Tom, and Eric. Star said there were other people that didn't make it. It's nice having a ritual with more than 3 people!

Katie's Freyfaxi ritual was well-written and performed. I volunteered to do the Outsiders offering, then she invoked Nerthus, the Earth Mother, and Heimdall as Gatekeeper and  Freyr & Freyja were honored as Deities of the Occasion.
For the Return Flow, she decided to use bread for the harvest rather than a beverage, and that seemed to work. Star read the omen- it was an inverted Mannaz, according his book signifies that a group of people means us harm. We weren't sure what to make of that.
I thought the ritual was quite poetic and moving, it would've been better if different people had read the parts though.

Though I was certainly fine with having a Norse ritual, I felt I should honor Lugh. So I poured him a libation of apple juice, and asked his guidance on the way back home, going through an unfamiliar neighborhood on the bus. Perhaps that helped, as Star asked Eric to give me a ride since he was going thru St. Paul anyway.  So now that I've found I can actually get to Red Pine's rituals, I'll be going more often. Yay, I have a grove!
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So awhile back, I discovered a hole in a mesh window screen on the enclosed sun porch in the non-master bedroom.  A squirrel made a nest in between the two windows! Recently, I got a call from the next-door neighbor. She had seen a hole in the side of our house, on the porch. Now we already knew the wood there was going to need to be fixed, as there was some rot, and holes we think were caused by woodpeckers. (We did see one pecking away!) But this hole is quite big- large enough for a softball to go through. Later it turned out the problem was much worse than we thought. One day I was in the bedroom and heard some scurrying noises. I went over to the porch and found that the hole had gone all the way through the wall, and that the squirrels had made a nest of leaves & chewed up insulation (newspaper) in the corner! Apparently, the window squirrel liked our place so much, that he invited his friends over!  Now Dan throws rocks whenever he sees them, yelling "Get off my property!" He says it's not to hit them but to show them they aren't welcome. ( reminds me of a grumpy old man shooing kids off his lawn!) Not sure how much they actually *learn* from this, however.

So now, before we even can get the hole fixed we may need to hire an exterminator. If anyone knows of a more humane/eco-friendly way to get them out, please let me know. It's going to be hard to repair that hole too, because on that side of the house it's right next to an electrical wire. We'll have to get the power company to turn it off temporarily. Now of course, I try to be as humane to animals as possible and avoid killing them, but they've invaded the house, so they have it coming. Nature is fine so long as it stays outside! Another anecdote about squirrels- after I told this story at work, one of my co-workers told me & some residents that she once hid some plastic Easter eggs with candy around the yard. After returning from church, her kids were going to hunt for the eggs, when they saw some rather colorful items up in the trees. The squirrels had stolen them!

So on a spiritual level I had some thoughts. I try adapting rituals to my locality, and by this point the squirrels have definitely demonstrated that they are outsider/trickster spirits for our household! Last summer (or longer ago) my mother & I found a concrete statue of a squirrel buried in the front yard. I set it up under the crab apple tree in the backyard, to be a shrine to the nature spirits, and left offerings from rituals there for critters and birds to eat. So I wonder if by doing that, I encouraged the squirrels' presence and attracted them to the house. Maybe I'm reading too much into things.

Wow, I hadn't realized this journal was last updated in January! Well, my focus has really been elsewhere trying to find a job. Originally I was trying to find a nonprofit office job, admin assistant type position, but after months of that I realized there was too much competition with folks with more credentials. So I broadened the search to retail, temp agencies and call centers. Recently I started doing more networking, talking with old colleagues from the campaigns I interned with, using LinkenIn more, etc. I was getting desperate and just want *a job* that I could live off of, to tide me over til the economy improves and I figured out what I wanted to do with my career.
Fortunately I had the help of my parents, but there's something very..undignified about being 27, capable of working, and living off your parents!

The job I found turned out to be right under my nose! Don't think I've mentioned this before, but Dan works as Activities Assistant at a Senior/Assisted Living facility. His aunt, who owns the company, told his mother, (who also works in Activities!) that she needed to hire another assistant, and she knew I was still looking for work. So I heard about this and applied last Wednesday, was offered the job on Friday, and started this Tuesday! Whew, that was fast! It's been going quite well. The first couple weeks I am shadowing others on the job, to learn how to work with the residents and do various activities with them. I've always found seniors to be very interesting to talk to and also find my experience working at an autism camp really helps with understanding folks in various stages of dementia.
I am also really glad to have a job where I can be creative. Honestly, I could make better money in a call center which would be quite mind-numbing.  I find this so much more satisfying. Later on, it could also help with a career in social services or health care related fields.

Lisa & I have put a bunch of work into this year's Imbolc ritual, meeting several times to go over it and keep revising it. Tonight we got together to do a run-through to see how it sounds and if anything else needs to be changed. We added a part about a World Tree along with the Fire and Well. I got some ideas of traditional seasonal customs to incorporate from Seren's Scottish Reconstructionist site. We'll go outside to tie pieces of cloth to a bush in the yard, and then later take them home as healing amulets. In another part we'll ask Brigid to bless our creative projects. cedarravenna , an ADFer posted a beautiful long invocation to Her, which she said was fine for others to use, and I suggested we add it in. Lisa liked it- it has 9 parts, so we will take turns reading it.

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On a sad note, William's mother just passed away. We were all expecting this sooner or later- she'd had a 2nd bout of cancer, then it got better, then worse again. She was getting sick of the chemo- sick of being sick from it, so she essentially chose quality of life over prolonging the inevitable. I have not met her, but I was sad to hear of it.

I can already tell 2009 is going to be a good year. Not that 2008 was bad, it was just full of many difficult transitions- trying to get a job, my family moving to Montana etc. But anyhow, today my dad, uncle and brother finally left for out west after several delays. Now the majority of their stuff has been packed into the U-Haul- we actually can see the floor of the garage! They took some furniture and household items that we'll have to replace- we retrieved a vacuum cleaner (she had a spare) and Dan's crockpot from his parents house, and went out to Saver's a thrift store to get some dining room chairs.

After resting up after the craziness I noticed the Winter/Spring course catalog for St. Paul Community Ed that had been delivered to our house. I perused through it, there are classes on everything from cooking and home maintenance to arts and sports. Gaeltacht Minnesota, the local organization that teaches Irish offers a beginning Irish Gaelic class that they now require you to take before going on to their regular classes. I tried registering for it last semester, but it filled up too quickly! A rather good problem to have. I hadn't realized that they were offering it this semester as well, and noticed that today online registration was open. I also thought an Excel class would be good to take, as I know the basics of how to use it, but more in-depth knowledge would really help with making me more employable.
I showed the catalog to Dan in case there was anything he might be interested, and he mentioned the idea we'd discussed earlier of taking dance classes together. Finally settled on a salsa class- even though some others were cheaper because they were per couple and this was per person, it was at the same high school after the Excel class, so that would make it more convenient, esp. considering this high school would be an hour-long bus ride for me. So now I'm signed up for all 3- Excel and Salsa start on Wednesday January 28th and go for 6 and 5 sessions respectively. Irish is in April starting the 13th (day after Easter) and runs for 4 sessions. Yay! I'm excited!

Lisa & I  had our ritual last night, Dan was there as well- the same as last year, involving telling the story of Rhiannon & Pryderi. We lengthened it a bit by singing a couple of Paganized carols which I got from the CoG Yule celebration last year- Silent Night & the Solstice Child.  Lisa liked them enough that she wanted to photocopy them. Then we said prayers for our various concerns for the health of family members, gratitude for what we have, help for those who are less fortunate and hope for the future of our country.

I enjoyed the ritual but on some level felt dissatisfied as I have with our rituals lately. We didn't put a lot of planning into it and think we'll do it more ahead of time for Imbolc/Fheile Bride. We realized that maybe we are that motivated to put that much effort when there are so few of us- though we are grateful to have each other. We were talking about trying to expand to more people, it's just a matter of a finding ones who are interested and fit well. We may also try other ritual formats- it's too short, and perhaps a 3 realms cosmology would be better than 4 directions/Settling at the Manor of Tara style. (This is a format we got from Aedh Rua)

A winter solstice ritual is being held tomorrow evening at Unity and I'm going to try that out. They said it was "Celtic-inspired and contemplative" though it might not be specifically Pagan. Katy Taylor, the singer/musician who performed some lovely music in services is putting on the ritual.
I bought one of her CDs "Welcome Brighid" which has songs for Brighid and other goddesses (well and Mary) and it's wonderful.

Keep forgetting to post about this but I'm excited to announce that my old CR teacher, Aed Rua has finally gotten his book published! It's through a print-on-demand publisher, iUniverse but hey whatever works. I've been waiting for this for a long time and I wasn't sure if he'd publish at all. It's probably a lot of the same material that I already have from his old class handouts, but I'm glad to see it in book form so there is a source to cite and so others can benefit from the information. I'm also curious to see how he'll present the info and if there is anything new.

What I am disappointed by is how it is being rejected by a lot of people in the CR community. Funny, when someone publishes a book in the Hellenic Recon community or elsewhere people are happy about it, but among CRs despite the lack of books all they do is criticize when something *close* to CR shows up, like Kondratiev's the Apple Branch. The whole time I was taught by him he presented his stuff as CR, and that is still what I consider it to be, just because it's a little different from what the CR "in crowd" does, does not mean it falls outside of the tradition necessarily. It seems like he is not calling it CR because other people have kicked him out of the community. Stupid politics.

Anyways regardless of whether it's officially CR(tm) or not, it's sure to be a good book. I haven't ordered it yet, but I'm waiting for my checkbook to recover from holiday shopping.

This Friday was supposed to be  Hyperborean Demos' Libation to Dionysos- Hellenion in general has the custom of holding libation rituals to a different god on the 2nd Friday of each month, and Dionysos is in December, as the Lesser/Rural Dionysia is around that time.
I took the bus over to Eye of Horus only to discover that they were not meeting- Victory had called to cancel. That was frustrating- but I realized it was my fault- I just changed my cell phone # & hadn't told everyone yet, and didn't have an answering machine set up for our landline (as we previously had a voicemail set up) I later found out from Michael that he hadn't heard from Victory either had gone over there after work and left before I did. So we could've had it without Victory. Oh well. I chatted with Chuck, a staff person there who was doing Tarot readings- about the traditions we follow- apparently he was trained in something called the Iris Glen tradition and also discussed the difficulties of organizing Pagan groups and attracting more people. Dan was nice enough to "save" me from the situation ( He joked "So, do you accept me as your personal savior?")  and to assuage my frustration, I engaged in some shopping therapy, picking up Brendan Cathbad Myers' the Mysteries of Druidry (more on that later). So I was tired and resolved to do the libation myself the next day.

I'm usually bad about actually taking the initiative and doing a solitary ritual that I plan on doing- don't know why. Procrastination I guess? Laziness? Anyways I did it :) I looked up a few hymns- for Hestia to begin with, for Dionysos, and for Hephaistos to thank him for helping find the Jo-Ann job and continued help looking for another. I lit a candle, and offered some grape juice and wine, turned on some music- I felt some bellydance music I had was rather Dionysian ;) read the hymns, prayed to each of them, and danced a little to the music. That was lovely, fun and meaningful and I'm glad I did it.

I feel a little self-conscious talking to gods when I'm alone- not sure why but I guess as I get more into the habit it won't feel so odd. Hopefully I'll start to get the feeling that someone is listening.

Honestly, my focus has shifted from my spiritual life in the past few months- to basic material needs just trying to make a living. Think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I thought by this time I would've found a full-time decent-paying job, but I haven't. I'm glad for my Jo-Ann position, even though it's temporary. But not having a lot has made me all the more grateful what I do have- a wonderful fiance, a nice house to live in, enough food, good friends and community. I hope in general we can use this recession as an opportunity to give us (esp. those from middle/upper class backgrounds) perspective, and help us realize what is really important. People say that every holiday season, but it's all the more poignant this year. I remember one Christmas a couple years ago when the money was stretched a bit thin (my dad was unemployed) my parents brought out a couple of family heirlooms to share as gifts- it was all the more precious (I don't mean in a monetary sense, though they were- I was given a ruby ring) because of their history than anything that could be bought in a store. I think this year is a lot like that.

For mental discipline- I was meditating pretty regularly throughout the summer and fall, going to a nearby park to do so under a tree. I'm not always good about journaling though. Since October I've gotten back into yoga, thanks to a free class offered by my local public library each Tuesday. Though today I was so tired I forgot about it- (this week I have shifts starting at 6am!) I really have been enjoying and growing from the experience, the yoga instructor is a great guy, and I finally bought myself a mat at Target. (before I was hauling around a bulky inflatable camping mat, the kind you put under sleeping bags.

I realized I am a month behind on updating this journal- I have good news though, I found a job in early November! It was really serendipity, after meeting with my job counselor at the Workforce Center, I went over to the Midway Shopping Center to pick up some craft supplies at Jo-Ann Fabric. While looking through the embroidery section I noticed that some of the threads were in disarray, so I picked them up and put them away where they belonged. (DMC embroidery floss colors all have identifying numbers) It bugs me to see this out of place so I from time to time will arrange shelves a bit. (Yes I'm a little obsessive-compulsive..) Usually employees don't notice, but this time a sales lady came by and saw me. "Did you put away the thread?" "Yes, I did" I told her. "Thank you! Boy, do I have a job for you!" She kidded me. But I said, "Well, I am looking for a job."  "Oh! Well we are looking to hire for part-time seasonal positions. Go to the front of the store ask for an application and then come look for me after you fill it out and I'll interview you."  So I went up and bought the stuff, and got an application and filled it out.
I found her again- her name is Michelle and she is the assistant manager. Since I was just job-hunting, I had my resume and references so I gave her those too. She took me in the back room and interviewed me- hiring me right on the spot!

Even if it's just temporary I'm grateful to get _some_ kind of job, especially one in a business that interests me. It's hard work, and while there are some aspects that are unpleasant (like 6 am shifts!) I'm overall enjoying it. I thank Michelle for giving me this opportunity, and I also think I owe the craft deities an offering- you never know, I might have been led in this direction ;)

P.S. I just got my first paycheck last Friday!

For quite a while as we have been clearing out my parents' stuff from the house it has felt more like we were house-sitting than actually living there. But throughout October we have  decorated and arranged it to our liking and it is now really feeling like it is our home. We are making much more effective use of the space now that it's been decluttered. It kind of feels like symbolically and literally banishing the chaos of our lives.

Last weekend Dan & I had a housewarming party to celebrate our moving in together (a cohabitation celebration I called it!) It was a lot of work to get ready but it was worth it. Between the weather being sleety and cold and a highway being closed which made getting there confusing for some people, not very many people showed up but those who did had a good time and we enjoyed seeing them. A few of Dan's co-workers came, Lisa & William, my uncle Doug and my friend Diana Rajchel who I know from UPS & her boyfriend, Mike. I hadn't seen her in a long time so it was nice to catch up. She said she'd like to invite Dan & I over to their new place for dinner sometime. We were pleasantly surprised with the gifts some people brought- Di gave a smudging scent (she's a perfumer) also received a couple bouquets of flowers, a bottle of champagne and a candle & holder.

I was thinking of performing a house-blessing rite but I realized the party was really the modern culture's way of blessing a home with a rite of hospitality.
Recently Dan & I both set up our shrines and that makes it feel even more like home. I'd been putting off setting mine up until things were more settled (and there was some space cleared off!) My shrine's new location is on my mom's dresser facing the north wall. I found a lovely violet & navy blue scarf with autumn leaves on it in the dresser while clearing it out and have made that the altar cloth. Put some fake leaves on there and I should put some real ones too, as well as the candle, chalice and tree. Above we hung my triskele slate plaque and fairy poster.   It's smaller surface-wise than the cabinet I had it on before (which has been moved to the basement) and higher up but it works fine.I am also thinking I could put down a solid surface like a thin board on the wire shelves next to it for additional shrine real estate.

I also have decorated the built-in buffet in the dining room with a harvest motif and with the family pictures already on it makes a natural Ancestor & Samhain altar. (Pictures forthcoming...)

So yesterday I took the final class in the series Unity Church offers to visitors & prospective members, Committing to Unity.
After I signed up for the class at the beginning of the month, I thought about it. Am I ready? Is this the right time? I thought about what it meant to belong to more than one spiritual community and my commitments to each of them. I have realized that I get different things- spiritually, socially, intellectually and emotionally from different groups. That perhaps no one community can fulfill my spiritual needs- and some of those needs can only be filled by myself and my connection to the sacred & the divine.
I realize that while I have some doubts about UUism and Unity in particular, overall they feel right to me. I feel at home here.

Anyhow at the class we talked about what it meant to become a member of the church and the responsibilities of membership. We each signed the membership book, which dates back all the way to when the church was founded. It felt pretty powerful, being a part of that history.

Today at the Sunday service there was a New Member Recognition ceremony, and we pledged our commitment to the church, its people and principles, and the congregation welcomed us in. We each received a yellow rose with a copy of the "Bond of Fellowship", a traditional prayer Unity uses that we recited:

"As those who believe in religion,
As those who believe in freedom, fellowship and character in religion,
As those who believe that the religious life means the thankful, trustful, loyal and helpful life, and
As those who believe that the church is a community of helpers, wherein it is made easier to lead such a life;
We join ourselves together, name, hand and heart, as members of Unity Church"

-William Channing Gannett, (adapted to be nonsexist)

On Sunday I attended my first Merging of the Waters service. It is a Unitarian Universalist tradition held in the fall, in which church members bring samples of water from places they have gone over the summer. Then the waters are poured together into the same vessel, to represent diversity unifying and bringing the community together. It was held at Harriet Island on the Mississippi River. I asked Rob Eller-Isaacs, one of the ministers if that's where they usually have it, but he said this was the first time they'd held it outside of the church. So I am I got involved when I did, it was wonderful having it outside next to the river.

It was a lovely and fun ceremony- as usual great music- a band called the Eclectics (how apt for UUs) and a singer/musician named Peter Mayer. Most of the hymns related to rivers and water- Down by the Riverside, (which had the line "I ain't gonna study war no more" real subtle there after the RNC convention here in town ;) God is a River by Peter Mayer which I really liked. There's also "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" which must be a fairly standard one, as I believe I've heard it several times at Unity. I love UU hymns, they are so poetic, in fact I think I am going to buy myself a hymnal sometime. Anyways they also had a puppet from Heart of the Beast processing through the aisles to represent the river, a pageant and when the time came for the merging, there were four pitchers for each of the directions, and each pitcher carrier in turn read off the places that the water came from their direction and then poured it into a bowl. I thought that they would pour the water back into the Mississippi, return it to the source but it turns out as the minister explained that the water would be purified, blessed and then used for baby dedications and anointing the dead. I thought that was a neat idea too.

I have signed up for the "Committing to Unity" class to join the church.
I find that UUism and Unity in particular complements my personal spiritual practices and theology quite well. It gives me opportunities for fellowship, experiencing more music in worship, and working with children/young people and social justice.
It's ironic- an ADF friend of mine, dubhlainn is leaving his UU church in Akron, Ohio while I am joining mine in St. Paul. I thank him for his encouragement of my exploration of UUism, and wish him blessings on his journey. I'm glad to have you in ADF as well.
I find that no one religious/spiritual community can necessarily give me all I need. I like participating in different groups, I get different things out of each of them. This may change in the future, I may commit to one group over all the others. But for now I remain a point in a complex web of affiliations ;)

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