January, 2010

The calendar turns again (and already has, if you have one of the published ones that starts at the solstice). To quote John Lennon, "another year over, and a new one just begun". A time for nostalgia for the year and decade just past, and anticipation for the future. I wish you all health and happiness in the months ahead!

Here are some events and festivals you might want to mark on your calendar, or not... Note that some dates are tentative, as promotion has not yet formally begun.

The Calgary Witches’ Meetup will be having a special meetup on Thursday, January 7, to welcome Helen P., a Witch from Australia, who’s expressed an interest in meeting some of the local people. It will be at the Humpty’s at Macleod Trail and Bannister Road, by the Greengate Garden Centre, starting at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

COGCOA’s Winter Mysteries runs this year on the long weekend of Feb. 12-14, on a Russian Mythology theme. Email: info at cogcoa dot ab dot ca

The Aquarian Tabernacle Church is running its 25th Spring Mysteries Festival, a reconstruction of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Greece, somewhere west of Seattle from April 1-4. Info: http://www.aquatabch.org/spring-mysteries-festival

Gaia Gathering, the sixth Canadian National Pagan Conference, runs May 21-24 (Victoria Day weekend) at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Info: http://www.gaiagathering.ca/

PanFest runs July 30-August 1 on a lake in central Alberta. Info when available at http://www.panfest.ca/

The Gathering for Life on Earth runs July 30-August 2 on a mountain lake an hour north of Vancouver. Theme: “The Enchanted Forest”. Info: http://www.gatheringforlife.org/

BC Witchcamp should be running from August 28-September 3 for a full-week immersion in the Reclaiming Tradition. Info: http://www.bcwitchcamp.ca/

Con-Version 26, the Calgary SF convention, is scheduled for the weekend of October 15-17. Info: http://www.con-version.org/


The coveted No-Prizes this month, for catching the monthly typo, go to Anne W. and Bernie M. They receive free copies of my forthcoming book, when and if I ever write it...

Thanks to Kary Lee and Bill G. for joining me on December 21 for sunrise. The Sun God was hiding his face, but His presence was still felt.

January's Birthdays: Jackie R., Angela R., Henry K., Gayle, Paulie, Margie F., and probably some of my Facebook friends. Also Sir James Frazer (Jan. 1, 1854), Dorothy Clutterbuck-Fordham (Jan. 19, 1880), Robbie Burns (Jan. 25, 1759), and Z. Budapest (Jan. 30). Let me know if I’ve missed yours.

January Events:
Note these events are listed for information purposes only. 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.

Dec. 31, 12:13 p.m.: Full (Long Night’s) Moon.
Jan. 2: COGCOA Coffee Cauldron. Info: info (at) cogcoa (dot) ab (dot) ca
Jan. 7: The Eclectic Circle, led by SpiritnSoul. Info: http://www.meetup.com/The-Eclectic-Circle-TEC
Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m: Calgary Witches’ Special Meetup, hosted by moi, in south Calgary. See above.
Jan. 15, 12:11 a.m.: New Moon. Beth (Birch) lunar month begins. (Solar eclipse).
Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m.: Calgary Witches’ Meetup, hosted by moi, in north Calgary. Info: http://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Witches
Jan. 29, 11:18 p.m.: Full (Wolf) Moon.
Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m. sharp: COGCOA Imbolg Ritual.
Feb. 2, Groundhog Day Breakfast at Balzac Community Hall. Info: http://www.balzacbilly.com/


Blessings,
Hergest

By Any Other Name...

Happy December, everyone.

Just a reminder that in honour of the Winter Solstice, I’ll be leading the solstice sunrise vigil on Monday morning, Dec. 21, on the hill in SW Calgary. Only five more solstices before the “End of the World” vigil at Winter Solstice 2012… collect them all!

I was taken to task this month for rejecting the renaming of the “Roundup Centre” to the “BMO Centre” in my calendar. With apologies to employees of the Bank of Montreal, I wasn’t singling out your employer specifically. It just exemplifies a couple of the things that bother me about our current society.

First is the seeming need for corporations to completely erase any previous associations someone may have with a building. Skydome in Toronto was a perfectly good name; even “Air Canada Skydome” is acceptable to me. But “Air Canada Centre” is just an office building. Even the Olympic association with Calgary’s Saddledome disappeared when the now-defunct Canadian Airlines took it over. Now sponsored by Pengrowth, it keeps the Saddledome name but with a different prenom. The Roundup Centre is a recent building, but its name was appropriate to the Stampede Ground location. Again, even “BMO Roundup Centre” would be somewhat acceptable to me, but “BMO Centre” should be that building across from the Devonian Gardens downtown.

Second is the internetization (or perhaps stock tickerization) of businesses and institutions, i.e. replacing names with acronyms. The Royal Bank becomes RBC, Bank of Montreal becomes BMO, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce becomes CIBC. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, long known as SAIT, has to append a redundant “Polytechnic” after its acronym so it can be found in a Google search. Even YYC, once confined to the designation of the airport, is beginning to be used as a shorthand for the city itself.

I can appreciate that for many entertainment and sporting events/venues, lack of public donations and government funding is forcing them to rely on corporate sponsorship, but the way branding is being handled seems to deprive the branded of any character or humanity. It’s the old adage, “money talks”. But money also smells, and in the business of corporate sponsorship and branding, it’s really starting to stink.


December's Birthdays: Jessica, Searia, Andrea P., Ziggy, Azrael, Heather Dawn, Dianne W., and probably some of my Facebook friends. Sorry if I’ve missed yours.

December Events:
Note these events are listed for information purposes only. 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.

Dec. 1: World AIDS Day.
Dec. 2, 12:30 a.m.: Full (Cold) Moon.
Dec. 3: The Eclectic Circle, led by SpiritnSoul. Info: http://www.meetup.com/The-Eclectic-Circle-TEC
Dec. 3-9: Parliament of World Religions, Melbourne, Australia. No, Jack Van Impe, they’re not electing the Antichrist… http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/
Dec. 5, 6:00 p.m.: Yule Community Potluck. Info: zara 1204 (at) gmail (dot) com
Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.: COGCOA Coffee Cauldron. Info: info (at) cogcoa (dot) ab (dot) ca
Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m. sharp: COGCOA Yule Ritual.
Dec. 13: Geminid meteor shower.
Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.: Calgary Witches’ Meetup, hosted by moi, in north Calgary. Info: http://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Witches
Dec. 16, 5:02 a.m.: New Moon. Ruis (Elder) lunar month begins.
Dec. 21, 8:00 a.m.: Solstice Sunrise Vigil. Contact me for location, or RSVP.
Dec. 21, 10:47 a.m. Winter Solstice.
Dec. 25: Holiday Day, a.k.a. "The Day That Must Not Be Named".
Dec. 31, 12:13 p.m.: Full (Long Night’s) Moon. (Blue Moon).

Have a happy Yule, and a prosperous 2010!
Hergest