IDGAFian Reflections

Hi guys! I hope your weekend went well, whatever you did with it. Mine was pretty relaxed, all in all, and the weather was nice too - so much so that it really doesn't feel like the middle/end of October. I think I'm finally ready for that nip in the air and frosty nights that signal Samhain is drawing near. (Just as an aside, I wrote that part last night, and when I woke up this morning it was really cold - only 4 degrees Celsius. It only got up to 8 degrees today, and I just couldn't get warm at work no matter what I did...I'm sorry to all the locals that might be reading this, I may have jinxed us)

Now that I'm done going through the IDGAF initiatory process, I just wanted to blog about it a little.

Looking back on where I was before I started this whole process, I have to say, I've come a long way - but, I can also fairly say that I've still got a ways to go. I know what I need to work on now, which is a step in the right direction, and I have all the tools available to me. I kind of feel like I'm the Magician in the Tarot Cards at the moment - everything is laid out in front of me, now I just need to sort out how to use them and get to work.

IDGAF gave me the push I needed to get back in to the swing of things, and I'm really happy it got me reading again. All of the books I read, with the exception of the last one, I'd been wanting to read for some time and this was the perfect motivating force to get me to read. My list was pretty eclectic but that suits me perfectly. Of all the books I read, I think that The Way of Four (Lipp) gave me the most ideas to try and incorporate into my practice, but I think that my first book, The Wisdom of No Escape: And The Path of Loving Kindness (Chodron) left the most impression on me. I'm not saying that the other books weren't enjoyable or that I didn't get anything out of reading them, but those were the two that stuck with me a little more than the rest.

I'm also really glad I have a sacred space again, since before IDGAF I hadn't had an altar set up since I moved of my parent's house. It's nice to have a space to go to again, even if that sometimes means just standing in front of it and thinking about how I could tweak it here and there. I'll freely admit that I've let it build up a small layer of dust, but it's nothing an old make-up brush can't fix. I've also enjoyed being more connected to the outside space around us, and maintaining the bird feeders we put up.

I feel recharged again.

A Mini Update to Placate the Masses

So it would seem as though I've been away for a while again, and I once again, apologize for my absence. While I have great intentions of coming on here and updating, shit just happens. So while I have a spare 20 minutes, here is my attempt at an update.

Three of us are now initiated members of the IDGAF tradition, which is pretty cool. It was a long process with a few bumps along the way, but we made it! It feels awesome to be able to look back on it and say, "Yeah, I did that!". Our fourth soon-to-be fully-fledged IDGAFian will be joining our ranks a little later on in the month, which is also awesome. I am so glad she's gotten just as much out of this process as the rest of us seem to have.

I'd like to blog more about that later when I have more time than I do now, but I'm not sure when that will be.

Speaking of time and a lack there of, ever since Heather and I have gotten back from our cruise we've had stuff on the go every night but a few, which means that those few nights were spent doing laundry, going to appointments, and just generally enjoying being at home - hence the no updates.

Things have kind of been that way with me for a bit now though - on-the-go that is. That's why you haven't seen me on here much, because instead of blogging like I've needed to, I was checking my Facebook and looking at travel-related stuff, along with personal shit.

My knee has been acting up, and according to my doctor I have bursitis. I went in for an x-ray on Friday and he's got me on some strong anti-anflamitories at the moment, he also wants me to go to Physio but I haven't made an appointment for that yet. Hopefully that will all get sorted out soon, but I'm just thankful that my knee/leg isn't twice it's size any more!

I can't believe it's mid-way through October already...time keeps going way too quickly for my liking.  Speaking of which, today is Thanksgiving here in Canada, so to anyone reading this from Canada, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for so much I would be here for a week if I listed it all, so I'll just sum it up in saying that I'm thankful for my life as it is right now, with all the people and stuff in it!

Sadly, that's all the time I have for now. I know every time I 'sign off' I say "hopefully I'll be back again for an update soon", so instead of that, I'll just say...until next time!

To Everything There Is A Season

I hope everyone had a happy Lammas/Imbolc!

Firstly, I have to say how sad I was to learn of Margot Adler's passing last week. I had no idea she had been ill, and I just found it really ironic that I chose her book to be my last IDGAF book. I was not expecting to enjoy it as I have been, and I think that by the time I'm done it, I will be amongst the people feeling the loss of this influential and highly respected lady.

I also have to mention that the book store I used to work at is closing at the end of this month, or when the stock sells out. I've been going back occasionally for the past year or so when they've been in a bit of a pickle for staff. I knew it was coming, or rather, had an inkling it was coming, and yet I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief every now and then. Nothing can last forever, I know this, and I also realize that everything really does have its season, but I just can't help being sad about it sometimes. I practically grew up at this store - it was my first ever job, and I have a lot of emotional ties to it. Heck, it was in this book store that I met my wife. It means a lot to me, and to see it close...well, it just sucks! I understand why it's closing, and I have to say that I am very happy for the owners to be moving on to things that they've been wanting to do for a while, but it is very bittersweet in the end. It's also a huge loss to the local community, as this is pretty much the only local store that sells pagan-related goods. There are two other stores, which is fantastic, but they just don't have the selection and atmosphere that this store does. I also don't think that the local community realizes just how much they will miss this place when its gone, and the huge gaping void that will be left in its wake. Maybe it's just my emotions talking though. Maybe, just maybe, something will rise up in its place though...the universe works in strange ways sometimes.

I also can't believe we're now in to our last month of IDGAF initiatory studies, and that we're just starting to get the first bits of veggies from our little deck garden. In fact, tonight we had the first few green beans from one of our plants. It's crazy how quickly time seems to be passing.

Super Moon

Hi guys!

Sorry I'm posting this a little bit late, but better late than never, I guess.

Anyway, last weekend was the full moon, which also happened to be a super moon. This time it was Drew's turn to plan a rit. I don't have any photos for you, but it was dark by the time we got out and nothing would have turned out, so I didn't bother to take any.

It was just a simple ritual to charge and consecrate whatever we happened to have that need a little refreshing, since it's a good time to do that on a full moon. I thought my tarot cards could use a bit of a refresher, so that's what I brought, though it took me a minute to come up with something to bring.

We were originally going to go to our spot in the marsh, but because there was only 3 of us, we didn't want to go all the way back. We ended up stopping about half way in. Drew was setting everything up when we heard twigs snapping behind us, and maybe a hint of voices, so we decided it wasn't the best place to do stuff and packed it up in favour of going to a more private spot - our balcony.

It was just a quick and simple rit, so there's really not much for me to say. It was a bit frustrating to have to move, but once we got back here and re-focused it went well.

I have to say, I really enjoyed watching the moon that night. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Anyway, we only have one more ritual left to do for our IDGAF initiation, which will be a collaborative effort if I'm not mistaken.

That's all from me for now!

Late blog prompt and IDGAF

Hi guys!

I tried to do this blog post in a vlog format 3 times now, and I just can't do it. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't stumble over my words, ramble on, and have long awkward pauses, but every time I went to shoot this video so far, that's happened. Maybe one of these days I'll be less terrible at it and one of my videos will actually make it on here. For now though, you get to read all about it instead of listen all about it.

July marks month 4 of our IDGAF initiatory process, and I have to say, I'm really happy to have made it this far. Despite my setbacks here and there, I seem to be back on track for the most part and chugging along again. I enjoy reading the books I've been reading, I enjoy my altar, and I enjoy being overall more spiritual. The rituals we've done so far have all been meaningful and enjoyable. I've been finding doing this IDGAF stuff has made me a lot more mindful of my spirituality in general and has reminded me of how neglectful I'd been prior to doing this.

I'm also really happy for my "student" in Australia! (I said that in quotation marks because she hasn't really needed me a whole lot so she doesn't quite feel like a student in the sense that I don't really feel like her teacher, lol) She seems be to be coming along well and getting a lot out of the experience too, and I'm really glad that we've been able to give her an outlet to reconnect.

It's hard to believe we've only got 2 months left of this initiation process! I'm excited to see where the rest of the process takes me, as well as the other dedicants. I'm also enjoying my book a lot, and might actually try and finish it sooner rather than later just because the book I have picked out next is really "meaty" and kind of dry (from what I hear), so I'm not exactly looking forward to reading it and because of that I want to give myself a little extra time to read it.

So I'm chiming in a bit late on the blog prompt, but it was essentially about charging people for magickal services, and what we thought about that. Personally, I think it's completely acceptable to ask for payment for a class, workshop, reading, treatment, or service of some kind. You're putting your time and effort into doing something for someone so I think it's totally justifiable to ask for compensation. If you're running a class and give out handouts or tokens or something, and are renting a space I think it's totally fair to charge for that class - even if you're not giving anything out, I still think it's fair because you've had to prepare for that class and you put your time and energy into it. Now, do I think it's fair to charge $250 for a one-hour class? Not really. It would have to be one heck of a big deal for me to pay that kind of money. I also think that bartering or trading is completely acceptable as well. If you can't pay with money, why not with baked goods or a service you can provide or skill you have?

There we have it...4 months of IDGAF and a blog prompt. No video though...maybe one day...maybe one day.

Enjoy the rest of yours though! Until next time!

Midsummer

Happy Summer everyone (or Winter to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere)!!!

I hope you all had a great day yesterday, even if the weather may not have been overly summery (or wintery). I know it was much cooler than I would have liked in my part of the world, but at least we got to see the sun for a bit. 

Midsummer was the ritual I planned for our IDGAF stuff, so I thought I would share what went down last night, and my thought process behind the whole thing.

So quite a while back I did a bit of looking into traditional celebrations and customs for the summer solstice and found lots of really neat stuff. I'm the kind of person that would try to incorporate a bit of everything into a "holiday" ritual if I could (Hello Gemini), so I really hope it didn't seem too all-over-the place. The things that stuck out in my mind the most were the customs around bonfires and just fire in general. While it would have been awesome to have a huge bonfires and usher our beloved pets through them (not actually through the fire...between two separate ones...I'm not that crazy), I knew that couldn't happen. I also really wanted to do a ritual that would have been in parts...so that we would have been able to see the sun come up and go down yesterday, but that just wasn't practical for obvious reasons. I also really wanted to just do a high tea or light-hearted BBQ, but I scrapped that idea because I wanted to do something...not just mix and mingle, so to speak. So then I came up with the idea of making a sun charm. I figured the sun is at it's highest point, so the solar energy would also be at its highest, which would be great for energizing and uplifting - hence, sun charm.

I also wanted to incorporate some kind of healing spell into the ritual, because I'd come across a lot of stuff that said it was a great day for that kind of work. I'd also come across a custom to send paper boats down a waterway of some kind, lit on fire. What's better than sailing boats down a stream...sending boats down a stream that are on fire! So I ended up combining the two ideas. I also wanted to keep it a bit light-hearted and fun. The end result was this:

We each had our lanterns from Beltane, and as soon as we got to a certain point in the marsh, we lit them and walked in, sort of single-file, to our ritual spot. After getting things situated on the altar, I took a piece of bread that I soaked in a bit of milk and drizzled with a bit of honey and placed it a bit away from where we were. That way any wondering faeries would be drawn to that instead of us (essentially, I was trying placate the faeries, since was is kind of their night). 

Then I went back and started to set up the solar wheel. I took a picture of everything looked like before we went out so that you could see it in the light, since there was pretty low light outside at the time (dusk, and very cloudy). 

(yes, that is the bottom of a springform pan :P)

So now that everything was all set up, we cast a circle and called the elements and whatever deities we wanted, and then I lit the wheel and we did our charm bags, energized the boats, and talked a little bit about the dark and light halves of the year, and that was that! Except that on our way back, we let our little boats go down one of the offshoots of the stream in the marsh. We tried to light them, but because they're made from folded computer paper (thick), and it was damp, they didn't really want to stay lit. Here are a few more photos I was able to quickly snap during the ritual, but the light was fading so I couldn't really take any more than these.

We cast the circle with sparklers!

I thought it would be kind of fun

The solar wheel all lit up - yes, those candles in the middle have coloured flames. 

So all in all, I think it went well. It was my first time single-handedly planning and running a ritual involving other people, which was kind of neat. I've collaborated and co-run stuff before, just not by myself. I just hope everyone else took something meaningful from it and also had a good time. 

I'll also note that when we were leaving the marsh, we noticed tons of fireflies, which we've never really seen there before. I thought it was really cool not only to see them, but that the first time we've ever seen them there was on the solstice. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not? Regardless of the appearance of the fireflies though, there was most definitely something enjoying the energy of the night in the marsh - we could all feel it. 

So that pretty much sums it up. I hope everyone had a great weekend, and blessed solstice, whichever one you were celebrating! 

Another Life Update

For anyone that's interested, here's a brief life update...

I know I mentioned a little while back that it felt like I was in some kind of a weird time warp and I was loosing months, maybe because the weather had been so shitty...well, I'm happy to report that the weather here has been much better lately! We've finally had a few great warm sunny days, now we just need a few more and we'll be all set! 

A few weeks back I was doggy sitting for my parents, which was great in some ways, but overall it was a very trying week. I also got food poisoning the day after I got the dog, so that was terrible timing, and then once I got over that, I had a migraine. All in all, that week was pretty shitty.

I think I mentioned earlier that I was a bit stressed about work-related stuff. While I can't say too much here in case someone from my work happens to stumble upon this, that's gotten better as well.

So on the whole, things are looking up!

Something that's really exciting for me is that I've got 2 upcoming vacations booked - both in the month of September. The first one I booked was going to be the only vacation for me this year, which I was totally fine with and very happy about, but then I had a really great opportunity open up and I couldn't let it pass me by. I originally booked a cruise for my wife and I, because she's never been one one before and my brother and his partner were booked on it already. I think they're a great way to see a few places in a relatively short amount of time, and since my wife hasn't done a lot of traveling outside of Canada, I thought it would be a great for us. I'm really excited about this one...it's at the end of September and into October (well, I suppose it's more in October, but still). The second one I booked is a trip to Disney World in FL. I'm a HUGE Disney World freak anyway, having been there a few times before, so when my parents said they had booked a trip I was a bit envious, to be honest. I was over at their place one night when my mom had to call them to update something, so just for fun, she asked how much it would be to add another person on to their reservation. To our surprise it was actually very little, so they told me that if I wanted to come with them I would just have to pay the extra money for them having the extra person on the reservation! So I'm essentially paying half price for a week in Disney World. I wish my wife was coming too, but because of our original vacation, I don't think she could get the time off, which does suck. This one is the last day in August into the first week of September. 

My IDGAF stuff has taken a bit of a back-seat to my travel planning - which is kind of what happens whenever I book a trip...I usually focus on that as opposed to what I'd been doing prior to. I know it's not good, but like I mentioned in my previous posts, I've not completely abandoned IDGAF. I'm planning a Solstice ritual for next Saturday, so hopefully that goes well. At the moment I don't have a clear-cut vision for the 'meat' of the ritual, which is kind of troublesome seeing as how it's in less than a week. I did some research though, on what's traditional for celebrations at that time of year, so hopefully I can come up with something fun yet meaningful. I also need to get back in to the swing of reading, something I'm hopeful I can do this week. 

I think that's all from me for now though. I'm really sorry I haven't been around much lately, but I'm hopeful I can change that now that I've gotten up-to-date on the blog prompts and am more in the mindset for doing stuff. Until next time!