July, 2007
Happy July, everyone!
June started out on a bummer, with first my hard drive going critical (the new one is still far from 100%, and I still haven't reloaded MS Office), then with my Mazda reaching the realm of escalating repair costs while-u-wait... so I was without a car for over a week while I waited for parts from California. It's official; I now own a beater.
This month's summer read is Madame Zee, by Alberta-born author Pearl Luke. During the late 1920's and early 1930's, Edward Arthur Wilson, a.k.a. the Brother, XII, was the leader of the Aquarian Foundation, a cult with roots in Theosophy that operated a colony on Vancouver Island. As the Foundation began to crumble due to Wilson's love of sex, money, and power, he appointed his mistress second-in-command. This was Mabel Edith Rowbotham, a.k.a. Madame Zee. To date, biographers have not been kind in their treatment of Zee, calling her either "a complete sadist" or "an adventuress". Luke has taken a more sympathetic view, creating a fictionalized biography. The novel begins with a childhood tragedy that awakens young Mabel's psychic gifts, and sparks a lifelong quest to understand them. While the author admits that the most difficult part of the writing was the depiction of what life must have been like in the colony, I think she pulls it off well. It's an easily-accessible perspective on part of the early occult history of Canada.
On the Second Degree bookshelf is Between the Worlds: Readings in Contemporary Neopaganism, edited by Canadian pagan scholar Sian Reid. I believe it's intended to be a textbook for Religious Studies purposes, and while most of the articles have appeared elsewhere, I certainly recommend it for those wanting advanced reading in the Craft. It contains articles by some of the early voices (Valiente, Starhawk, Fox, Adler, and Christ); an introduction to nature or earth religions; an overview of contemporary neopaganism and witchcraft (including articles by Graham Harvey, Tanya Luhrmann, and others); and articles on feminist spirituality and goddess worship (by Ronald Hutton, Lucie DuFresne, Cynthia Eller and others). The individual articles are as varied as the writers' personal styles, but Reid ties it all together with insightful introductions to each section, as well as "questions for critical thought" for each article. Of particular interest to me were Lori Beaman's article on "Wicked Witches of the West: Exploring [Canadian] Court Treatments of Wicca as a Religion", and Reid's own "Witch Wars: Factors Contributing to Conflict in Canadian Witchcraft Communities".
My thought for the month: It's one of the tenets of the Craft that each and every one of us contains the Divine spark within us. But... none of us are perfect, and, as with a votive candle, the dark and murky glass of our own weaknesses may hide our spark from others. Worse yet, the Divine spark in others is doubly-veiled to us, because in the way, we have both their dark glass, and our own. "Witch wars" often start when we stop seeing that spark in the other, and see only the reflection of our own darkness. The hard work is to try and clean our own glass to the point where that of the others begins to shine through.
July's birthdays: Madame H. P. Blavatsky (Aug. 31, 1831).
July's Events:
Note these events are listed for information purposes only. All times MDT. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me.
July 13: Pagan Night Out. Info:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CalgaryPaganNightOut/
July 14, 6:04 a.m.: New Moon. Tinne (Holly) lunar month begins.
July 14, 2:00 p.m.: Calgary Community Potluck and Deck Wrecking Party. Info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calgarycommunitypotlucks/
July 17, 6:00 p.m.: Calgary Druid Meetup, hosted by Athelia. http://druid.meetup.com/93
July 17, 7:00 p.m.: Calgary Witches Meetup, hosted by yours truly, in north Calgary. Info: http://witches.meetup.com/1322/
July 19, 7:00 p.m. Pagan Paths, at the Witchery. Info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_witchery/
July 21, 3:00 p.m.: Blood Proud – for pagan women, sponsored by Pucchotha Tribes. Info: 293-8339
July 21, 7:00 p.m.: Terra Firma – for pagan men, sponsored by Pucchotha Tribes. Info: 293-8339
July 21: COGCOA Lammas Ritual. Info: info at cogcoa dot ab dot ca
July 26-29: Calgary Folk Music Festival. Info: http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com
July 29, 6:48 p.m.: Full (Buck) Moon.
Bright blessings,
Hergest
June started out on a bummer, with first my hard drive going critical (the new one is still far from 100%, and I still haven't reloaded MS Office), then with my Mazda reaching the realm of escalating repair costs while-u-wait... so I was without a car for over a week while I waited for parts from California. It's official; I now own a beater.
This month's summer read is Madame Zee, by Alberta-born author Pearl Luke. During the late 1920's and early 1930's, Edward Arthur Wilson, a.k.a. the Brother, XII, was the leader of the Aquarian Foundation, a cult with roots in Theosophy that operated a colony on Vancouver Island. As the Foundation began to crumble due to Wilson's love of sex, money, and power, he appointed his mistress second-in-command. This was Mabel Edith Rowbotham, a.k.a. Madame Zee. To date, biographers have not been kind in their treatment of Zee, calling her either "a complete sadist" or "an adventuress". Luke has taken a more sympathetic view, creating a fictionalized biography. The novel begins with a childhood tragedy that awakens young Mabel's psychic gifts, and sparks a lifelong quest to understand them. While the author admits that the most difficult part of the writing was the depiction of what life must have been like in the colony, I think she pulls it off well. It's an easily-accessible perspective on part of the early occult history of Canada.
On the Second Degree bookshelf is Between the Worlds: Readings in Contemporary Neopaganism, edited by Canadian pagan scholar Sian Reid. I believe it's intended to be a textbook for Religious Studies purposes, and while most of the articles have appeared elsewhere, I certainly recommend it for those wanting advanced reading in the Craft. It contains articles by some of the early voices (Valiente, Starhawk, Fox, Adler, and Christ); an introduction to nature or earth religions; an overview of contemporary neopaganism and witchcraft (including articles by Graham Harvey, Tanya Luhrmann, and others); and articles on feminist spirituality and goddess worship (by Ronald Hutton, Lucie DuFresne, Cynthia Eller and others). The individual articles are as varied as the writers' personal styles, but Reid ties it all together with insightful introductions to each section, as well as "questions for critical thought" for each article. Of particular interest to me were Lori Beaman's article on "Wicked Witches of the West: Exploring [Canadian] Court Treatments of Wicca as a Religion", and Reid's own "Witch Wars: Factors Contributing to Conflict in Canadian Witchcraft Communities".
My thought for the month: It's one of the tenets of the Craft that each and every one of us contains the Divine spark within us. But... none of us are perfect, and, as with a votive candle, the dark and murky glass of our own weaknesses may hide our spark from others. Worse yet, the Divine spark in others is doubly-veiled to us, because in the way, we have both their dark glass, and our own. "Witch wars" often start when we stop seeing that spark in the other, and see only the reflection of our own darkness. The hard work is to try and clean our own glass to the point where that of the others begins to shine through.
July's birthdays: Madame H. P. Blavatsky (Aug. 31, 1831).
July's Events:
Note these events are listed for information purposes only. All times MDT. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me.
July 13: Pagan Night Out. Info:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CalgaryPaganNightOut/
July 14, 6:04 a.m.: New Moon. Tinne (Holly) lunar month begins.
July 14, 2:00 p.m.: Calgary Community Potluck and Deck Wrecking Party. Info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calgarycommunitypotlucks/
July 17, 6:00 p.m.: Calgary Druid Meetup, hosted by Athelia. http://druid.meetup.com/93
July 17, 7:00 p.m.: Calgary Witches Meetup, hosted by yours truly, in north Calgary. Info: http://witches.meetup.com/1322/
July 19, 7:00 p.m. Pagan Paths, at the Witchery. Info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_witchery/
July 21, 3:00 p.m.: Blood Proud – for pagan women, sponsored by Pucchotha Tribes. Info: 293-8339
July 21, 7:00 p.m.: Terra Firma – for pagan men, sponsored by Pucchotha Tribes. Info: 293-8339
July 21: COGCOA Lammas Ritual. Info: info at cogcoa dot ab dot ca
July 26-29: Calgary Folk Music Festival. Info: http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com
July 29, 6:48 p.m.: Full (Buck) Moon.
Bright blessings,
Hergest
posted by Stephen Hergest at 10:24 pm
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