tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73292270539485022092024-03-13T01:28:57.433+00:00Pagan Writers Community- the magic of writing -Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-15282363732184934242019-08-01T17:26:00.000+01:002019-08-01T17:53:47.119+01:00Q&A Pagans Against Plagiarism<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NoFiMSrzwy4/XUHXLCwysjI/AAAAAAAAFsc/zrmxWzrlKggWClvzod0RbQz7vWd8mitfACLcBGAs/s1600/Graphic%2BPAP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="739" height="155" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NoFiMSrzwy4/XUHXLCwysjI/AAAAAAAAFsc/zrmxWzrlKggWClvzod0RbQz7vWd8mitfACLcBGAs/s320/Graphic%2BPAP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Boudica Foster is a co-founder and member of <a href="https://web.facebook.com/pagansagainstplagiarism/?_rdc=1&_rdr" target="_blank">Pagans Against Plagiarism</a>. She is co-owner of <i>The Wiccan/Pagan Times</i>, has written articles for Llewellyn’s almanacs and has six published non-fiction books on spells and reiki topics, one published fiction novel and is working on the second book in the series. Boudica identifies as a witch and has been Pagan in some form or other since the late 1970s. She has been an active member of the pagan online community since the early 1990s. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How did Pagans Against Plagiarism come about? </b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">About twelve years ago, a friend of mine put me in touch with a publisher with an unusual story. Seems they had a book that had failed the 'Plagiarism Test'. Publishers had software they could run a percentage of the book through, and the software would search the web and compare the content. It would then report the amount of material that they found in the book that was also found on the web. Twenty-five percent plagiarized is considered unacceptable by the publisher. This book went higher.<br /><br />The author had been so pissed off they had gone onto the internet and were badmouthing the publisher. The author then took the book to another publisher and published it there. The first publisher asked if I would mind reviewing the book and maybe doing some research.<br /><br />One of our other friends had already taken sections of the book and found the exact websites where the material was originally published. The instances of theft were mind-boggling. There was a blog the individual owned where the instances were eventually all laid out. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The author’s book was pulled by the second publisher. The author then self-published. I did publish a review, as I was a regular reviewer on Amazon at that time. Amazon eventually pulled the book. <br /><br />The research we did, the information we had gathered and the experience we had gave us a background and was the reason we went into what came next.<br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>When did you realise there was a need for it? </b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We know many authors and artists in the Pagan community. I was reviewing Pagan books on Amazon at the time and was a top reviewer. I had many contacts with publishers and authors here in the States. Many of my friends involved in this endeavor are from the UK. They also had contacts with artists and authors.<br /><br />While plagiarism was what brought us into this, it was copyright violations that became the focus of our group. We noticed Facebook groups offering free copies of books that had been published recently. This really annoyed us. Here we are, some of us authors or artists, with books by people we know being given away for free. This shortchanges authors, who lose sales because someone is giving away their books. Why pay for what you can get free? <br /><br />This started us down the road of, "What is our recourse if our work is being stolen?" <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We started sharing </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">what we learned over the course of a couple of years </span></span>with people who knew us and had similar issues. We finally started a Facebook group as a place where we could gather and exchange information.<br /><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Can you explain what plagiarism is? </b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Plagiarism, as defined by the dictionary, is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing it off as one’s own. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, I wrote an article for an online ezine, and a few months later it appeared on another site, word for word, with a different author's name. What was so funny was that I put <i>Boudica </i>at the end of all the articles I was writing at that time. The person who had copied my article had included my name. Never proofread it, just copied and posted it on their website, with a different author byline.<br /><br />This has happened not just to me, but to a few of the other members of our group. Either their art or their written work has been taken from their blogs or their websites and attributed to a different artist or author.<br /><br />It is the common denominator for most of the founding members of Pagans Against Plagiarism, and it's what gave us our name. But what we eventually became known for was the more common issue that so many authors and artists have in common – copyright violations.<br /><br /><b>What is copyright?</b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The best definition I have found is from <a href="https://techterms.com/" target="_blank"><i>Tech Terms Computer Dictionary</i></a>: </span></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Copyright is a legal means of protecting an author's work. It is a type of intellectual property that provides exclusive publication, distribution, and usage rights for the author.</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Copyright is a legal instrument. Not just here in the United States. The <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf" target="_blank">Digital Millennium Copyright Act</a> of 1998, referenced as DMCA, is an international treaty between countries who have elected to uphold the copyright standards set out in that document. <br /><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Can you explain what copyright infringement is?</b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Authors, writers, artists and musicians - hereafter referenced as creators - are covered by copyright laws. These laws dictate when a work is copyrighted, what rights creators have over their work, what is a violation of their rights, and gives them the legal tools needed to enforce those rights. These laws are based on the country of origin, or come under the DMCA.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Copyright infringement is when someone violates the rights of a creator. Country laws give the creator legal standing within their own country, but the DMCA gives the creator legal standing internationally, and specifically on the internet.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />The DMCA enacts processes where the creator can claim their property, and, with proper identification, request the removal of their property from any place where it appears illegally. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, an author finds their book being given away without their permission. The book is copyrighted. As a matter of fact, the book is copyrighted as soon as it is in tangible form, which means even the manuscript is copyrighted. So, the author has legal standing at this point. The take-down notice that the author files with the individual, website or social media platform is called a DMCA. It is a form that the author or their agent files to have the violation of their work removed.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />All social media sites have an online form that can be filled out. They have it written into their terms of service that violations of copyright will be removed by them, without notice in most cases. In severe cases, the social media site will remove the group or individuals responsible at their discretion, without notice.<br /><br />Most website hosting services also have online DMCAs and include the same kind of verbiage in their terms of service. As do Dropbox, web storage sites, online shopping sites and more. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The only exceptions are services that are in countries that have not signed the DMCA, which include Russia, China and some small countries in-between.<br /><br />The reason I have spelled this all out is because this information becomes the tool we can use to educate and to enforce the rights of creators in the Pagan community.<br /><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How widespread is the problem? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b><br />At the start, about ten years ago, and two years after the first plagiarism issues we encountered, we started seeing PDF versions of copyrighted books appearing on the web. First they were on websites, then, as social media started to expand, the illegal copies of these books started appearing in the file areas of various groups.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We would notice one book here, one book there. Websites were the biggest offenders, as some of them were distribution sites for many illegal copies. Creators were losing money. For authors, it was illegal PDF copies of their books. For artists, it was downloadable copies of their art. They were either stealing the material from the artists' websites or making print copies and selling them. The artists were hit worse because people were actually selling their art on sites like eBay and Etsy. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Watermarking was the original way for artists to prevent the theft of their work. But, as people became savvier with Photoshop and were able to remove the watermarks, it became harder and harder for artists to make a living off their work. Who was going to purchase nice prints of their work when they could get them cheaper on eBay and Etsy, or free by right-clicking and saving? </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Artists started disappearing from the web. Whatever art was out there, there was no way to control it anymore. Some artists spent days filing DMCAs with various websites and social media platforms to get their work removed. How can an artist create when they have to spend days at a time protecting their work? And, of course, there was always a copy that escaped notice and would get passed around again, the cycle repeating itself.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With authors, it started with illegal copies of their books in PDF format. Some industrious souls would copy entire books and issue the finished product in PDF format. Later, with the advent of e-books, we started seeing other formats, which were obviously pirated from e-readers. No matter what technology we create to safeguard our work, there are those who think it is their job to breach it, and they do.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It became obvious that this was getting worse when copies of authors' books surfaced before they were even published. Thousands of copies were either sold or given away for free before the publishers could release the book. This resulted in loss of sales for both the publisher and, more importantly, the author. Pirating of books reached an all-time high. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The results were pretty much the same as with artists. Authors removed themselves from the web and discontinued writing. If you can’t make a living doing what you love, then you have to turn to something else to provide for your family. And the Pagan community lost some very bright and well-loved artists and authors because of this.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Know two things: </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ol style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are very few artists and authors who make lots of money off their works. These people are household names. Stephen King, David Hockney. Pagan authors and artists make about $1.57 per book, on average. That will depend on how popular the author is and how many books they have circulating at any time. That means they have to sell over 15,000 books per year to make a salary of $25,000 per year.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pagan artists will sell a work here and there, but mostly make a living off selling prints of their works. Our Pagan artists have lost much. So much that you don’t see many Pagan artists unless you are at a festival. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Only one artist was at a </span></span>festival I went to last weekend. I remember several dozen back in the day. If they cannot feed their families on their work, they have to go elsewhere to make a living.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does PAP do to help combat this? </span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the beginning, there wasn’t much we knew we could do. We would request the material be removed. That usually ended in a shouting match and getting us banned from many groups. No one likes to be told what to do with their group. They like it even less when you suggest they are stealing money from creators. And when you tell them, 'OK, we are going to report you to the creator or his agent,' the conversation deteriorates to name calling. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had to learn the laws. What are the options that creators have? Finding the DMCA process was key. We educated ourselves in that, and then passed information along to the creators. We provide links to copyright violation forms. We keep extensive files of sites that provide legal information and online resources for creators.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">See, the key to the process is that only the creator, or their agent, can file a DMCA. It must be the creator or their legal agent who files. So, we found ourselves being the education point for all the creative members of the Pagan community.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We also offer education via our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pagansagainstplagiarism" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/pagansagainstplagiarism/" target="_blank">group</a>. We offer information to Facebook admins, so that they understand what they are doing when they offer free artwork or books to their members. We offer information. We do not mob a group and demand removal. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the group was young, someone would stumble across a stash of illegal PDFs, request that they be removed, and get booted immediately. That angered many of the members. Some of them would join the group and try to talk to the admins. This resulted in more shouting matches, and we were accused of trying to mob groups to get them shut down.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Actually, we have nothing to do with groups being shut down. We can’t do that. We can report it to the creator or their agents, but the actual filing is done by them. What happens is directly associated with the people who own the rights.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some social media sites have a very low threshold for copyright violations. You see that with YouTube and Facebook. They do not want to deal with it. A single violation, the item will be removed. But if they have to hunt thru tons of violations, they would rather just shut the site. They have no desire to get involved in legal suits.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have restricted ourselves to Facebook and a few side sites on an individual basis. A group that stores their copyright violations on Dropbox or sells the material on Etsy, we will report those to the creators and leave it up to them to follow up. But most of what we deal with is Facebook. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having seen the extent of copyright violations, we are not nearly large enough to involve ourselves with it all. We have lives, we have jobs, and believe me when I say that it can be a full-time job if we decided to expand beyond Facebook. Some weeks it seems that it is a full-time job.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you had any successes in the past? </span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have requested the removal of material that violates an author’s copyrights, and Facebook's terms of service. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Occasionally, someone will be, 'Oh, sorry, didn’t know that,' and the material is removed quickly. We have tried various ways. Via comments. Via private messages to group admins. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most times, we get booted for our effort. Sometimes it is preceded with verbal abuse, or you get a private message after you are booted, again streaming with verbal abuse. Many of us have gotten used to it. But to be honest, we would rather not deal with that. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing we need is proof. That is required by the DMCA. Besides the link to the material, we also provide visual proof of the violation. Usually a PDF copy of their file area with all the books listed.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> This also makes it easier to identify the books, and the publisher can pick all the titles and report them. Most books are handled by the publishers, who are the legal agents for the authors.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What happens next is between the publisher and the website. Facebook has dedicated staff handling DMCAs. There also appears to be more than just the pagan community filing DMCAs as it can take one or two weeks for them to respond to the publishers, sometimes a bit longer if additional information is requested. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is totally up to Facebook as to what happens. They decide how much work they are going to put into the response. Most responses are canned. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hi, Thanks for bringing this matter to our attention. We removed or disabled access to the content you reported for violating the Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. We understand this action to resolve your intellectual property issue.</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Almost all responses are like that.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have seen them remove books, remove groups and remove individuals who are consistent offenders. We feel we have had a measure of success. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two of the largest successes are groups that were strictly up for book exchange. One group had over 900 books, the other had over 400. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Copyright violations are more numerous than plagiarism. We have had one or two more instances of blatant plagiarism in books. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Someone published one of Gerina Dunwich’s books with a new cover and author byline. It was offered as an e-book for free as a promo. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From my days reviewing books, I have learned various authors' voices. Ms. Dunwich has a unique voice, and reading the first couple of pages, I went to my own library and pulled down a book, and sure enough it was the same book, the same graphics, the same font. All he did was change the cover and left off the title pages. Amazon did pull the book when they were notified.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We just report what we find. The rest is up to the creators and their agents. If they report the violations, whether plagiarism or copyright violations, Facebook will take action. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What should someone do if they think their work has been plagiarised? </span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For plagiarism or copyright violations, they have to file a DMCA. As I said, most sites have online DMCAs. You will need to provide the location of the violation, where the file is located, and you have to provide proof of ownership. Most times, all you need is where your book is on your publisher’s website, or where your art is presented, with a date. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes they may ask for more proof. A screen capture of where the violation is located, with some identifying evidence of the website, and your work. That works for the publishers most often. It is a simple process. Depending on the website or service, it may take a couple of weeks. Remember, they are dealing with hundreds of notices each day. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you need assistance, Pagans Against Plagiarism is here to help. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How can people get involved? Where can they find out more?</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Being part of the solution is the way to go. We accept members who want to learn more, as well as those who want to help. We will always answer questions. <a href="https://web.facebook.com/groups/pagansagainstplagiarism/?_rdc=1&_rdr" target="_blank">You can join our group here</a>. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Additional information and resources:</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.copyright.gov/title17/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">US Government website on copyright laws</span></span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary" target="_blank">UK Government website on copyright laws</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00180" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Australian Government website on copyright laws</span></span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 PDF</span></span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.copyright.gov/reports/studies/dmca/dmca_executive.html" target="_blank">Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 </a></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-36606811849730552132017-07-09T10:52:00.000+01:002017-07-09T17:31:44.346+01:00Q&A Otherworld Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iNbnCldbkA8/WWHnDZ_t5dI/AAAAAAAAmSc/J9CYzseGWBgk7tSHJfM-4tQEiIysocPmgCLcBGAs/s1600/DSCN0807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iNbnCldbkA8/WWHnDZ_t5dI/AAAAAAAAmSc/J9CYzseGWBgk7tSHJfM-4tQEiIysocPmgCLcBGAs/s320/DSCN0807.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Otherworld Books</a> is a newly established Pagan and Occult bookshop based near the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The shop aims to offer all books to all paths, whatever your experience level. They even supply <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/book-prescriptions" target="_blank">book prescriptions</a> if you're not sure what to read next. You can also find them on <a href="https://twitter.com/OtherworldBks" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="https://web.facebook.com/OtherworldBks/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and they have an extensive <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/shop" target="_blank">online store</a>. Founder, Claire Proctor, talks about the inspiration for the bookshop.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How did the idea for Otherworld Books come about?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was about three years ago at the annual <a href="http://www.scottishpf.org/" target="_blank">Scottish Pagan Federation</a> Conference. Christina Oakley Harrington, who runs <a href="https://www.treadwells-london.com/" target="_blank">Treadwell's</a> in London, was the keynote speaker, as well as hosting a workshop. There were various conversations throughout the day about what a shame it was that we only got the opportunity to do these kinds of things once a year and how poor the selections in some of the more mainstream bookshops had become. Most of the remaining occult shops couldn't really support a wide range of books and didn’t have the capacity for events, and we couldn’t think of a single 'dedicated' bookshop in Scotland at all. At the time, I was vaguely considering a change in direction but, while the idea intrigued me, I didn’t really think of it as a serious notion. However, the more time went on, the more I found myself doodling ideas, checking things out and discussing it with people until one day I came to the realisation that it was something I absolutely wanted to do without really noticing! After that, I threw myself into it and the shop opened on 1st March 2016.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How do you choose what to stock?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It varies greatly. There’s a huge chunk of ‘recommended reading,’ those existing works that by general consensus you should make a point of getting through at some point. So, for instance, most of <a href="http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/en/persons/ronald-e-hutton(3db1ba2d-46a5-4387-8705-a6a3091b14ac).html" target="_blank">Hutton</a>’s works on the academic side, <a href="http://www.philipcarr-gomm.com/" target="_blank">Philip Carr-Gomm</a> and <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2017/01/q-emma-restall-orr.html" target="_blank">Emma Restall Orr</a> on Druidry, <a href="https://neo-paganism.com/history-of-neo-paganism/janet-and-stewart-farrar/" target="_blank">the Farrars</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivianne_Crowley" target="_blank">Vivianne Crowley</a> and <a href="http://www.doreenvaliente.com/#sthash.3zQZ4v3j.dpbs" target="_blank">Doreen Valiente</a> on Wicca, <a href="http://www.raebeth.com/" target="_blank">Rae Beth</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Green" target="_blank">Marian Green</a> on solitary witchcraft. The same is true on the occult end of the spectrum – works by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley" target="_blank">Aleister Crowley</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Gray" target="_blank">William G. Gray</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Regardie" target="_blank">Israel Regardie</a>, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2016/05/a-witchs-guide-to-dion-fortune/" target="_blank">Dion Fortune</a> and so on.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s trickier when it comes to newer works. I feel like if you’re investing your time in reading a book it needs to add value – it should be well researched, considered and offer ideas or practical guidance that will help you on your path.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sadly, there’s still a lot of what I consider commercialised nonsense doing the rounds. I try to avoid things that are simply repackaging the same material with little added value. There are a great many brilliant titles coming out at the moment though, particularly the Moon Books' <a href="http://moon-books.net/blogs/moonbooks/portals-and-pathways/" target="_blank"><i>Pagan Portals</i> and <i>Shaman Pathways</i></a> series, which I think are the ideal blend of being informative and useful. They are written by authors who really know their stuff. Personally, I have a major soft spot for fiction and quirky titles. The ones that really challenge your thinking about your own beliefs and practice by presenting it in a different context or framework. Anything by <a href="http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/" target="_blank">Terry Pratchett</a> or <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman</a>, or random offerings like <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/our-gods-wear-spandex-chris-knowles" target="_blank"><i>Our Gods Wear Spandex</i></a> and <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/cat-magic-patricia-telesco" target="_blank"><i>Cat Magic</i></a>.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>You’re based in Edinburgh, which is a city with a lot of history and folklore. Has anything spooky ever happened at the shop?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I used to joke that there was a poltergeist in the shop. During the first few months, I’d come in to find random individual books had fallen off display shelves with no apparent rhyme or reason. Then, equally as inexplicably, it just stopped. So, I began to wonder! It happened again just the other day, for the first time in ages. One of my regular customers was in and it took us right to a book she had been looking for on behalf of a friend.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Do you think your location helps business?</b></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think being in Edinburgh helps insofar as it’s an amazing place to be. Somewhere that draws people who are potentially interested in diverse paths. The fact that I’m reasonably central and easy to find doesn’t hurt, but just as important to me is to be a trusted resource for the community wherever they are, which is why I always wanted to have the online side available too.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>We love your <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/book-prescriptions" target="_blank">book prescription</a> idea, where people tell you a bit about themselves and their interests, and you recommend a book to them. What’s the most recent book you've recommended?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you. There are many people who come into the shop looking for assistance, no matter how new to the subject or experienced. There are a lot of books available, after all! I wanted a simple way to be able to offer that assistance further afield.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sadly, I’ve had no takers for the prescription service yet, though admittedly it’s only been up a few weeks and not extensively marketed.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Where’s the furthest place you have sent a book?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So far, California. Santa Clarita, to be exact, which I’ll probably always remember because my media-junkie brain automatically thought, “Oh, where the diet’s from.”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Is there a strong Pagan community in Edinburgh? Any events you’d recommend during the year?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I would say that there’s an extremely strong Pagan presence in Edinburgh, and Scotland more generally. Perhaps not the strongest community, in the sense of lots of regular groups and events. I don’t think that’s anything negative, just a combination of the demands of modern life and that many who are drawn to paganism actually prefer a solitary path. We have great links as part of the local Interfaith community, though. We have representation as part of the <a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy" target="_blank">Edinburgh Uni Chaplaincy</a> and, as previously mentioned, the annual Scottish PF conference is held here. <a href="https://beltane.org/" target="_blank">The Beltane Fire Society</a> produce their spectacular parades at Beltane and Samhain and, with so much during the August festivals, there’s usually something pagan-themed available. There’s a monthly informal moot group, and I’ve been running monthly workshops since the start of the year. I'm always open to hosting more!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Can you offer up three recommendations on Scottish Paganism, occultism or folklore for people who would like an introduction?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I would say that the best books on the subject allow you to work with your landscape, wherever that may be. While there’s nothing particularly Scottish that I would recommend on that score, as general introductions go, you can’t go too far wrong with: </span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/pagan-paths-pete-jennings" target="_blank"><i>Pagan Paths</i> by Pete Jennings</a>, on the practical side </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/paganism-short-introduction-owen-davies" target="_blank"><i>Paganism: A Very Short Introducton</i> by Owen Davies</a>, on the slightly more academic side, and either:</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/?s=Stonewylde+&post_type=product" target="_blank"><i>Stonewylde </i>series by Kit Berry</a> for a fictional intro to pagan themes or </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dion Fortune’s works for more ritual magic aspects, particularly<i> <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/sea-priestess-dion-fortune" target="_blank">Sea Priestess</a> </i>and <a href="http://otherworldbooks.co.uk/product/moon-magic-dion-fortune" target="_blank"><i>Moon Magic</i></a>.</span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Who is the most memorable customer to ever walk in off the street?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve actually had the privilege of meeting the only person ever to achieve enlightenment! Apparently, Buddha didn’t actually manage it, or, at least, he’s never seen him on any of the spiritual planes.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He had seen <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Copenhaver" target="_blank">Brian Copenhaver</a>’s <i>Magic: Antiquity to Enlightenment</i> in the window and, while he had apparently misunderstood the meaning of the title, he wanted to afford me the opportunity of arranging workshops for him, so that he could share the truth with the good people of Edinburgh. In fact, he’s the person who invented adult colouring books but, because everything he thinks of is automatically shared to the universal consciousness, it was stolen and commercialised before he could do anything with it. Despite an extensive letter writing campaign, he has yet to receive any royalties.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I explained that it might be counter-intuitive to hold events proclaiming One Truth in a shop dedicated to the pursuit of lots of different paths and pursuits, but he seemed to lose interest around then – it could have been because he had finished his can of cider.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In all seriousness though, while the above is all true, I’ve had some genuinely amazing conversations with truly wonderful people in the relatively short time I’ve been here. From the sublime to the ridiculous - the best are usually a combination of both - and I love that anyone of any path can come in, share their ideas, find new ones and hopefully leave richer for the experience.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-72627672277041062072017-06-26T15:26:00.000+01:002017-06-26T15:26:14.642+01:00Guest Post: David Halpin<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gbL4-ByWemg/WVEQ_r8klhI/AAAAAAAAmJ8/YF7cCQDtdkgI1IHBVIsSGSiO4QMAvMCHACLcBGAs/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">David Halpin is a writer originally from Dublin, now living in Carlow. He presents the YouTube series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3j9uYsQd8T-gfgYj3m556w" target="_blank"><i>The Occult Book Review</i></a> and regularly writes articled on esoteric history, Gnosticism and mythology for publications including <a href="http://www.ancient-origins.net/user/36994/posts" target="_blank"><i>Ancient Origins</i></a>, <a href="http://wildhunt.org/" target="_blank"><i>The Wild Hunt</i></a> and <a href="http://occultum.net/" target="_blank"><i>Occultum</i></a>. He has also appeared as a guest speaker at the Irish Festival of Magic and Spirituality, <a href="http://www.feiledraiochta.com/" target="_blank"><i>Féile Draíochta</i></a>. His children’s book, <i>The Girl Who Spoke to the Wind</i>, has been optioned for film by Irish director Maurice Joyce. You can find him on <a href="https://web.facebook.com/occultbookreview/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/OccultReview" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. </span></span> </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Witch is Dead, Long Live the Witch</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">David Halpin </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She was the gatekeeper at the edge of the world. The Final human hymn before all fell to wind and shadow and the strange creaking of stars. She was a pagan chorus. An older song. - <i>The Good People</i> by Hannah Kent. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During a recent conversation it was suggested to me by a prominent pagan spokesperson that in light of human carelessness and recent American environmental decisions, that perhaps it would be best for the planet if human beings destroyed themselves and allowed the earth to evolve without us.<br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While one part of me understood what this person meant: <i>the overwhelming fatalistic dismay at what our world is becoming</i>, another part was disturbed at what I was hearing. I felt compelled to ask whether or not everyone had a collective responsibility to the next generation, even if they didn’t have children themselves. As a parent, I want to believe that human beings have an instinctual compassion that extends not just to their own families but to all human beings. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The response from this person was that even if the world was destroyed, everything is connected and so ultimately all would be well and destruction would not be such a bad thing. <br /><br />For days after I tried to reconcile this person’s outlook to what I understood paganism to mean. I know that the current rise of eco-scepticism and the influence of the fossil fuel industries can be disheartening, for example. I also know, however, that there is a tremendous effort by pagans and non-pagans alike to bring attention to the pollution of planet. Surely this should motivate and engage us, another part of me argued, not dishearten and create a spiralling sense of complacency. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A bigger question for me was the ethical and moral responsibility that comes with being a pagan and witch in the first place. Don’t we believe that all life is part of something bigger than ourselves and that we are not only connected to that which we know and love but also those we do not know but still have a responsibility to help? <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the father of two daughters, experiencing an attitude that can lethargically accept the extinction of millions of children as being inevitable and not worth fighting for seems just as psychotic as the actions and policy decisions that have created our catastrophic environmental predicament in the first place. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, as a pagan, rightly or wrongly, I expect my community to feel more empathy and connection with life outside of our immediate circle and personal environment. Surprisingly, as I sought out opposing viewpoints and a more hopeful and inclusive response from pagan influencers and speakers, I instead began to notice a very insular outlook. I began to see a trend which was the opposite of everything I believed paganism to represent.<br /><br />In an attempt to dispel my growing fears, I began to examine the most immediate window into the current state of witchcraft and paganism, namely the various social media platforms I was connected to. I felt that I would be able to gauge, through observation, the contemporary and evolving attitudes and interpretations of paganism. I believed I could find others, like myself, who did not want to walk away from the future, but to protect it. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I found instead were pages and pages of ‘selfies’, blogs focusing on ‘Witch’ apparel and a surprising lack of differentiation between being a pagan as opposed to being seen to be a pagan. I also discovered a trench mentality which seemed to redefine paganism to the extent that it was normal to have little to no connection with the environment or communities outside of one particular tribe or culture. There seemed to be no awareness that by creating a ‘new’ witchcraft imbedded in monoculture and superficial symbolism there was a cutting off from the roots and actual practice of witchcraft and paganism in the first place.<br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was reminded of what Peter Grey wrote about rebellion as a marketing device in his ground-breaking work, <i>Lucifer: Princeps</i>: </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is part of a deliberate strategy to create consumers, subverting the drives of social and sexual dissatisfaction by channelling them into brand loyalty and consumption, rather than questioning the values of the corporate state. It avoids the crisis of initiation to keep the population dependent and uncertain in an extended ‘kidulthood’, whilst simultaneously breaking social cohesion in favour of the individual as production/ consumption unit rather than as sovereign.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This extended ‘kidulthood’, as Grey writes, is more devastating in consequence than might first seem. By attaching such importance to youth-image and clinging to one stage only in the cycle of life we are destabilising the very wheel itself. Renewal comes only from the passing of the old. Refusing to acknowledge the wisdom and further initiations which come with later life also abdicates the responsibility to the future and from this an attitude of apathy and selfishness is born. <br /><br />Today, there is often a knee-jerk reaction to a non-indigenous pagan of one particular culture pointing out commonalities with another, which is a shame, considering the common roots of archetypes once we go back far enough in history and time. The fear of being seen to ‘commit appropriation’ might account for some of this, of course.<br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But there is another effect when we are bound by psychological and cultural borders and when we are pressured to keep only to our own gods and goddess forms, and this is the growing racism within contemporary paganism and witchcraft. It is ironic that those most willing to (with usually good intentions) call out appropriation might also be contributing to the resulting insular and xenophobic conditioning that can often follow. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paganism has passed through many crossroads. Moving further into the 21st century we are perhaps approaching another which might have the greatest consequences of all. Never in human history has it been so easy to destroy ourselves and yet never in history have there been so many available avenues of escapism in order to avoid facing up to this. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The path we end up taking will be directly influenced by how many pagans and witches begin to take responsibility for an integrated future. The sooner we understand that this involves more than our own life-spans and more than our own specific cultures the better chance of survival we will give the next generation.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-19127794641206540402017-05-23T11:31:00.002+01:002017-05-23T11:42:41.827+01:00Q&A Trevor Greenfield<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JV6xHFQAN2M/WSAjfq64roI/AAAAAAAAlvw/8N9Hu7r7uzAx3dWXFuu3jiB-Q1KCcSrlQCLcB/s200/Trevor.gif" width="149" /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trevor Greenfield is Editorial Manager for <a href="https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/" target="_blank">John Hunt Publishing</a>, and founder of <a href="http://www.moon-books.net/home.html" target="_blank">Moon Books</a>, a subsidiary press of JHP focused on Pagan nonfiction. Trevor holds an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Sussex, and an MA in English Literature from the University of Southampton. He is also the author of <i>An Introduction to Radical Theology</i> and teaches Religious Studies for the Open University. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hi Trevor. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us about Moon Books, we see your titles regularly on <a href="https://twitter.com/MoonBooksJHP" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="https://web.facebook.com/MoonBooks/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. It's nice to get the chance to learn more about the publishing house and your role there.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How did you get involved with Moon Books?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />I published a book with <a href="https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/" target="_blank">John Hunt Publishing</a>, the company that owns Moon Books, and I had just taken early retirement from an IT multi-national company, so I started doing some copy editing for them. I was asked to take over the management of copy editing and then I was asked to manage editorial and production. We’re a small publisher, it’s not as grand as it sounds! Back then we only had two imprints, <a href="http://www.o-books.com/" target="_blank">O-Books</a> and <a href="http://www.zero-books.net/" target="_blank">Zero Books</a>. However, the number and variety of titles we were publishing forced us to consider breaking up into a number of specialist imprints. I asked if I could start a Pagan/Shaman imprint, which I called Moon Books. We opened for business in 2012 and since then we have published over 150 books. <br /><br /><b>What do you most enjoy reading?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />I mainly read nonfiction history books, especially ancient history. I don’t read much fiction but I do like the novels of Robert Goddard. What’s life without an unexpected plot twist?<br /><br /><b>You work on the publishing side for Moon Books's imprint. Can you talk us through the process of how a book goes from submission to shelf?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />An author sends in <a href="http://www.moon-books.net/jhp-get-published.html" target="_blank">an online proposal</a> and attaches the manuscript or part of it. If we like the look of it, we ask the author to send in a more detailed submission, which includes the usual things: book description, market plan, competing books, possible endorsers, etc. The submission and the manuscript are then looked at by three readers who comment on whether it’s suitable for us and say yes or no to offering a contract. These reports are sent to our publishing director, who makes a final decision. The process takes a little over a week. <br /><br /><b>Can you tell us a bit about your own work?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />I wrote a book about radical theology and I’ve contributed to a few anthologies, but as publisher of Moon Books I see my role as more creating an environment where writers of all levels can contribute. So, as well as publishing established and new authors, and there’s huge pleasure in seeing a new author develop into a best-selling one, Moon Books also has a writers group and we publish anthologies of their work. Our most successful anthologies to date have been <a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/paganism-101" target="_blank"><i>Paganism 101</i></a>, which had contributions from 101 Pagan writers and practitioners, and <a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/naming-goddess" target="_blank"><i>Naming the Goddess </i></a>which had contributions from over 80 Goddess writers and followers, and which was well received throughout the Goddess community.<br /><br /><b>You teach religious studies for the Open University and you have studied this field at post-graduate level. Can we ask a bit about your own beliefs? What drew you to study this subject, and has it influenced your work at Moon Books?</b><br /><br />I’ve always liked religion. I liked the stories I was taught in Sunday school about Noah and Job and Moses. All the old sword-and-sandal movies from the 1960s, Greek mythology. I always thought the past was more interesting than the present, and the past as I imagined it was pretty much battles and kings and interfering gods. How exciting is that! At eighteen I studied Religion at A Level and then went on to university to study Religion. I encountered other religions there such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. <br /><br />I can’t really tell you about my own beliefs as they’re a perpetual work in progress. I became a Christian at university, but there’s only a certain amount of times you can say the <i>Nicene Creed</i> in church on a Sunday before you start to question it. Anyway, I came to the conclusion that it was something you could only really believe if you had a first-century worldview and I ended up drifting away. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">By chance, I heard <a href="http://www.philipcarr-gomm.com/" target="_blank">Philip Carr-Gomm</a> was talking about Druidry at my college, so I went along. Up until listening to Philip, I had assumed Druids were people who liked dressing up and keeping old customs alive, and who probably had friends who were Morris dancers. Well, I got that wrong! I discovered that Druidry is a non-dogmatic, subjective and deeply creative spiritual worldview. What else should religion be? So, for the last few years I have identified myself as Pagan. But, well, you know, what’s life if not a journey? Recently my daughter wanted to find out about Christianity and so I went along with her to an Alpha course. I wouldn’t say it felt like home, but I didn’t feel out of place, so I’m thinking about writing a book on Christo-Paganism, perhaps that’s the next step, exploring the creative fusion between both traditions.<br /><br /><b>Is there any aspect of Paganism that is strongly underrepresented on the market? Any books you would like to see written?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />I’d be interesting in publishing books that are contemporary political and social critiques. I personally think you can view the prophetic and wisdom religious traditions as temporary expressions, interruptions, if you like, in the hundred thousand year old tradition of Earth Religion. It would be interesting to understand what appears to be people's developing cynicism towards all things corporate and global as a modern expression of Earth Religion - the past and the future as Pagan. Similarly, I think contemporary activism, eco-activism, animal activism, etc. can be seen as expressions that bespeak a re-visioning of nature. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Can you tell us about some of the best books you've worked on? What would you recommend reading?</b><br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Interesting question. What would I recommend? Well, I’d recommend you read a Moon Book! But going on beyond that, I think Paganism lacks a narrative, a story, a sacred literature. Some people I speak to think that's a good thing because literature equates to doctrine, narrative results in dogma. I disagree. I think the sharing of foundational mythologies, codes of conduct, expressions of belief alongside new expressions and rituals would be a great thing for Paganism to achieve. So, I’m not going to suggest we get together and read something. I’m going to suggest that we get together and write something. Share our myths and our aspirations. Create a sacred text for the Pagan peoples.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yrCNrO9r20c/WSA4IH0rpNI/AAAAAAAAlwE/gZ81OLn2fTcUto5WQUc3CaELxMA-SZ_XQCLcB/s1600/61GUkK5g1lL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fBcmhMeTKsA/WSA4HxORzdI/AAAAAAAAlwA/P9dZFJ-_Q5MMgPVP8vyh_KbCM3bdWfFlwCLcB/s320/51Tj3WoMA9L._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="208" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yrCNrO9r20c/WSA4IH0rpNI/AAAAAAAAlwE/gZ81OLn2fTcUto5WQUc3CaELxMA-SZ_XQCLcB/s320/61GUkK5g1lL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-88134999831764612292017-01-14T07:14:00.001+00:002017-05-23T11:50:33.806+01:00Q&A Emma Restall Orr<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhB785-tKCs/WHkuJvotPlI/AAAAAAAAkGI/gd3XGeoQmiUcT4rzBm3MBHU-T9WEx5C9gCLcB/s1600/Emma%2BRestall%2BOrr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhB785-tKCs/WHkuJvotPlI/AAAAAAAAkGI/gd3XGeoQmiUcT4rzBm3MBHU-T9WEx5C9gCLcB/s320/Emma%2BRestall%2BOrr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Emma Restall Orr is one of the best-known names in British Druidry. Joint chief of the <a href="http://www.druidry.co.uk/" target="_blank">The British Druid Order</a> for nine years and founder of <a href="https://druidnetwork.org/" target="_blank">The Druid Network</a>, Emma has published more than a dozen books on Druidry and Paganism. She now focuses much of her time on <a href="http://www.honour.org.uk/" target="_blank">Honouring the Ancient Dead</a>, a project promoting the respectful treatment of ancestral remains. Find out more about her <a href="http://emmarestallorr.org/index.html" target="_blank">on her website</a>.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Hi Emma. Many people know you from your work with the <a href="http://www.druidry.co.uk/" target="_blank">British Druid Order</a>, the <a href="https://druidnetwork.org/" target="_blank">Druid Network</a>, and the <a href="http://www.druidry.org/" target="_blank">Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids</a>. In your biography, you say that you no longer term yourself a Druid. Would you mind talking a little about that?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for starting with such a sharp question: straight to the heart of it. To state publicly that I no longer consider myself a Druid took serious thought, and I have received responses from some whom it upset and unsettled. The majority of responses were, however, from people eager to understand. The truth is that it was not about a change in my beliefs. My spiritual, my religious and my philosophical perspective is no different from what it was. Indeed, I would say that my beliefs are deeper than ever, my practice more profound. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, for me, the word Druidry does not describe a specific belief system. My beliefs are animistic, pantheistic, deep green, polytheistic, and I have met Druids who are Christian, who are wholly polytheistic, who are anthropocentric. Druidry, I think, describes instead a path of service. The work of the Druid is to be a teacher, a priest, a leader, a guide. You cannot decide one day to be a Druid. It not only takes years of serious study, but also the acknowledgement and acceptance of your peers and your community before a person should consider taking the word to describe oneself. Of course, we can study Druidry, and practice within the traditions of Druidry, without ever taking the word Druid, but I was known as a Druid. I worked as a priest and teacher for some twenty years. When I stepped away from those roles, I laid down the word as well. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The reason I stepped away has another answer. The deeper mysteries were pulling apart the structure of my being. The universe was breathing its dark emptiness into my soul, calling me to explore places that are formless, wordless, timeless. My ability to hold space, gently and with wakeful responsibility, was eroding. Furthermore, as a person who was widely known as a writer and teacher, the sense of my self was becoming unbearably uncomfortable. People wanted me to be who I had been, who they needed me to be, who they expected me to be, rather than what I was becoming. In the end I had no choice but to let go, to run with the wind on soft paws, into a silence where there was no I.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Now that you no longer term yourself a Druid, how do you feel towards your earlier works, such as <i>Living Druidry</i> and <i>Druid Priestess</i>?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now and then, someone will ask me about some particular point that I wrote in one of my earlier books, and I will dig out a copy to reread it. “On page 127 you said… What did you mean by…”. More often than not, I am surprised at how much I am still wholly in tune with what I wrote, albeit 10 or 15 years ago. Of course, you must give me the possibility of having matured in my thinking, and at times the perspective does seem to hum with a youthful energy and naiveté that I may no longer have; at times embarrassingly so. I don’t know how much of that is obvious to the reader! Certainly, the anecdotes that are scattered throughout those two books are from a life I no longer live, but that isn’t to say that I don’t have warm feelings about those days. The stories make me smile, reminding me of people and places I knew, many of which I loved deeply.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A direct answer to your question would be: yes, I am still the person who wrote those early books – just a little wrinklier, quieter, more peaceful; a little further down the same old track. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The London 2012 Paralympics included a reading from a gorsedd ritual written by yourself and Philip Shallcrass. Did you know about that at the time, and how do you feel about it now?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, we knew. I was contacted some months before by one of the team creating the closing ceremony, and asked if they might use the gorsedd ritual. We spoke about options and I went to Philip to see what he thought. It was important to me that the magical spirit of the ritual was allowed to feed into the ceremony they created, so that – performed as a piece of community art, not a religious ritual – it retained that magic. However, in the end, Philip and I signed the forms to allow them to use it without knowing what the end product would be. We had to have faith that our words would hold their power, and in many ways I think they did.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was an honour to be involved in the event. The Paralympics are such an expression of human strength; individuals rising through and above such tangling challenges. Furthermore, Philip and I had worked so very closely for so long with the British Druid Order, it felt like a wonderful gift to that magical relationship, and I am grateful for that. I believe he is too.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Can you tell us a little about your writing process? Where do you write, do you enjoy writing, and how organised are you?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love writing. Words fill me with delight and wonder, in the same way that others are delighted by little children or butterflies. As an animist, I perceive words as creatures: spirits, patterns within nature, coherences within the whole that have evolved over time, that arrive in moments then slip away, leaving the world quite changed. As powerful creatures with the power to affect relationships, they need to be respected. I write in part to play with words, as we might blow bubbles on a summer’s day, or splash paint upon a canvas, but far more importantly I write to explore the bridges of communication. Not all of my words are set down, or offered as communication to other human beings. If not, they are still part of the experience of communication, as I converse with the gods, my ancestors, the spirits of the landscape around me. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I am writing a book, I tend to write for an hour or two a day, often on a laptop, on the sofa, on my bed, or outside; seldom at a desk. I have prepared the structure of the book carefully in advance, and sketched the structure of each chapter in a dozen lines or so – then I write. I may sit for twenty minutes, finding a word or sentence, but I don’t edit much. Once a book is finished, I might rewrite the first few thousand words, bringing it in line with the character of the completed text, but otherwise I don’t edit. I’ll give it to a few key readers, and take note of their suggestions. Usually there are sentences that sound archaic which I bring into modern English. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wholly detest the marketing process. When I worked as a Druid I did book tours and lectures, TV and radio. Now I tend to hand a book over to the publisher and let them do what they wish. The occasional talk or interview is all I concede to. Once a book is done, my soul moves on fairly quickly, immersing myself in the next project. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>In your article <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2004/mar/14/magazine.features7" target="_blank"><i>This Much I Know</i> for <i>The Guardian</i></a>, you mentioned that Asterix first sparked your interest in Druidry as a child. Do you still look back on Asterix with fondness? Do you think the things that fascinate us as children often shape what we pursue as adults?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I still love the Asterix books. My brother was given them as a child and we’d sit and read them together for hours on end, not just in English – I’m quite sure we had versions in French, Spanish, Latin. As a child, I was fascinated by the Getafix/Panoramix character. As for how much childhood heroes shape us, I would guess that would depend on the individual and their hero. For myself, I was not strong physically as a child and I loved to read about this funny old man who kept the whole Roman Empire at bay with nothing more than, what seemed to me to be, soup. I can make a pretty good soup…</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>In the write-up for your book <i>Kissing the Hag</i>, it says that it brings us face to face with the raw elements of womankind, and ‘all that makes [women] unacceptable and badly behaved.’ Do you consider yourself badly behaved, and has writing this book changed your own relationship with the Hag?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Badly behaved? - not any more. I was an angry soul through my teens and into my twenties, dealing with physical pain, but the study of nature that is at the heart of Druidic practice includes human nature, our own nature. I find it almost impossible to behave badly now, when I have the slightest inkling that it may be so. I tend to freeze until I can reconfigure my perspective. As human beings, the emotional and instinctive drives can be so powerful, it is a task to learn what these are, how they rise within us and propel us into action, and how not to allow ourselves to be flooded, behaving badly as a result. Emotion should be a guide, another source of information, not a decision-maker. I think most bad behaviour is based on emotionally-fuelled reaction. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unacceptable is another matter, though. In terms of social conventions, there are still a good many elements of my life that are unacceptable. In many ways the book, <i>Kissing the Hag</i>, is about understanding the distinctions between social rules, human woman nature, honourable interaction and disrespectful actions. The lines can be fine at times.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Of all the ancient places you have visited, do you have a favourite?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The places that inspire me most are those where human impact is minimal or absent. Being in the Amazon rainforest, with untouched forest for many hundreds of miles in every direction, was a formative experience. Of human-made ancient places, as I pause to consider an answer, dozens of images and memories slip into my conscious mind, of many places across Britain: chanting in trance through the night at West Kennett Long Barrow, at Stonehenge, at Rollright, at standing stones in Dartmoor, glorious moments, and so many of them. Then there are places rich with history where I have spent time around the world, ancient Shinto shrines in Japan, Mayan temples in Guatemala. I have no favourite, just a fat pocketful of memories.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you during a ritual? (That you are willing to share).</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your parenthesis helps me answer, because most ritual is private and to share stories would be to break confidences. Having said that, the elements of ritual that I have most enjoyed for the unexpected have mainly been moments of divine presence. I’m sure most of your readers will have experience of ritual where gods are invoked, and nothing happens. In most open ritual the prayers are of appreciation not invitation, and there are many whose prayers of invitation are never answered. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I recall being at Stonehenge at a Christian Pagan Druid ceremony. I had brought with me two friends, a Druid who worked with the dark gods of the Welsh tradition, and an evangelical Christian. It was delicious to feel their invocations, both empowered by utter devotion and sincerity. To stand in that old temple with Yahweh and Ceridwen was rather cool. Not so cool was the conference, the organisers of which I will not disclose, where a roomful of people were asked to invoke their own particular deities to bless some aspect of the event. Most people called out their liturgy, then sat down in ignorance, but some invoked their gods effectively as if it were an almighty contest of strength. The room was suddenly seething with gods of every era and pantheon, most of whom had no desire for peace. I left, along with a fair few others.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The strangest, however, was perhaps a public rite held in the middle of a large English city. I had been asked to create an opening rite for an event that was to showcase different kinds of Paganism. Not knowing many in the crowd, I was guided by locals, and found four different groups, each of whom would honour a cardinal direction. I don’t recall the details, but I seem to remember that there were fairly traditional Wiccans to honour the west, sturdy great Asatru to honour the north, a shamanic band in feathers and fur to honour the south, and in the east a group who followed Star Trek. I shrugged and agreed, keen not to offend the locals. There were a few hundred at the rite, and there was an awkward moment when the police, who were roaming the perimeter, were somewhat unsettled by the well-armed Heathens assuring their gods of their commitment to feasting and fornicating. What unsettled me, though, were the Trekkies. They made their prayers in Klingon, and they had more of a magical vibrational response that any of the others. I might emphasise that I had requested no one invoke anything, but simply honour with appreciation. I don’t know what these silver-painted folk said, but they called upon something, and that something arrived.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are so many stories, and many are far more strange than amusing. There was drumming up power at a concrete Stonehenge replica on the Columbia River gorge in Washington, there was an event with Brian Blessed and a helicopter, there was Blackpool - but the Klingon always makes me smile.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Are you still involved in organising festivals? Have you noticed any difference in the types of people attending over the years, or has the community stayed fairly steady?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No, I no longer organise festivals, nor do I attend many. My journey has taken me from those huge people-full gatherings to quieter paths of service. However, from what I have attended, and news I hear from others, it seems a key difference is that there were many more youngsters in years gone by. It seems that those who were young have grown and remained faithful, but there is no longer such an inflow of new youth coming into the traditions as there was. Where are they? Playing make-believe on the internet, perhaps. I think the truth is that most come into spiritual and religious traditions for the community, not the mystery. The mystery requires hard work, commitment, devotion, and that means the ordinary things of life are set aside. Few are willing or able to make the necessary sacrifices. The majority who came to gatherings, festivals, public rituals and gorseddau, came to be with other like-minded souls, to share all the fun of the fair within a magical Pagan context – they didn’t come for the intense ecstasy of mind-blowing communion with the gods. Young folk now get their community online, and those that want it can find the magical element in games written with those realities. Who knows, perhaps the would-be priests amongst them are finding their divine encounters in digital ways that I am not versed in.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No doubt, when this younger generation are in their fifties and sixties, they will be wondering what on earth their children are doing...</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>In the <i>Philosophy </i>section of your website, you talk about ‘wakeful respect without prejudice or assumption.’ Are you particularly engaged with politics in Britain at the moment? Do you have any thoughts on the current climate which seems to favour disrespect and prejudice towards others? Is this a storm we will weather, or a sign of something deeper and harder to remedy?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Politics is a fascinating aspect of human nature, of human culture. Politics entered into my awareness in the mid 1970s, having been brought up in fascist Spain, coming to England as punk exploded, developing a strong socialist belief, which in turn has gently fragmented into a co-operative anarchism. What troubles me most is bullying. It seems to me that there is a tide rising once again. The US has just voted in a capitalist thug as president, Russia is led by another capitalist bully. Such thugs run pharmaceutical, energy, media, financial and other vast corporations. Broad human society is captivated by its various screens. People witness such bullying in factual and fictional stories, day by day in a thousand contexts: in the news, on social media, in movies and TV shows. It becomes increasingly more normal to bully. It becomes easier to bully. It becomes common. It becomes OK. And it becomes OK for the victim to respond by becoming the bully themselves. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The question is, how should one face a bully? How can we honourably respond to someone who expresses their own fears and a consequent need for power by stirring up fear, anger and hatred in others? How can we communicate with someone unwilling to listen or reason? It is often easier to give in, just adapt, bruised and disempowered but still alive. The reasoned path of peaceful resistance can be far harder. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>We know that Asterix was a big influence as a child, but what have been the three most important books, or authors, in your adult life?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is not possible to choose three. I can give you a scattered list of books that come to mind. Books that I have most loved and valued through my life:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ethics </i>by Spinoza</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ethics </i>by Peter Singer </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Walden</i> by Thoreau</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Meditations </i>by Marcus Aurelius </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Tao te Ching</i> by Lao Tzu</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Confessions </i>by<i> </i>St Augustine</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Anarchism </i>by Peter Kropotkin </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not to mention Kant, Schopenhauer, Seneca, Chomsky, Bergson, David Abram, Whitehead, Mary Midgely, the poetry of Yeats, Emily Bronte and Wordsworth. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you had a magic pen capable of forming your lost thoughts into a story, what would you like to write about that you haven’t already?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Death.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Could you tell us a bit about <a href="http://www.honour.org.uk/" target="_blank"><i>Honouring the Ancient Dead</i></a>?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HAD is an organisation that asserts a very clear and simple perspective: that there should be no difference in the way we treat someone who has died whom we have personally known and loved, and someone who died many years ago. Whether a Saxon skull exhumed in a road development, a medieval king searched and found, a body preserved in peat, a box of bones found in a collector’s attic, an ancient thigh bone or urn of ashes, a soldier from 20th century Ypres or 14th century Crecy, whether the individual’s name is known or not, each and every ancestor is no less a person than our own mother, spouse or child. We should treat each with no less respect than we would treat the body and bones of our immediate family, of those we ourselves dearly love. For HAD, that means allowing each person to be laid to rest in peace, and remain at peace.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are hundreds of thousands of ‘human remains’ in museums and other organisations, boxes of bones with no associated information, bones on display as if they were simply sherds of pottery, skeletons manipulated into poses for gory exhibitions, bones held in store for scientific research for which no funding is ever likely to be found. Of course, there are some who simply don’t care, whose metaphysical standpoint is such that they would be happy for this to happen to someone they love most profoundly. HAD’s remit is not to judge or attack others people's beliefs, but to work for those whose values and interests in the dead accord with its own. From that position, it calls for consultation about ancestors when decisions need to be made. It gives guidance where asked to those whose path brings them into contact with ancestors. It creates best practice guidelines for reburial, for display, for the housing of ancestral bones, and it has what we believe is the most comprehensive current list of ancestors in museums across Britain. Like many charities, its aims far exceed its funding and capacity, but it tries! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What are you working on at the moment?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My day to day work is the creation of a nature reserve and natural burial ground. Like many whose work is with nature, it’s a full-time job, seven days a week, all year through. As a writer, I have spent a year documenting the natural history of the nature reserve; a gentle book of daily observations that will be published online with photographs in time. My hope is that it will be a book that inspires others to notice the moments of beauty, and do more to care for this precious planet.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My next writing adventure, however, is one I’ve been thinking about for some time. A book that follows on from my Pagan ethics, <i>Living With Honour</i>, and my animist metaphysics, <i>The Wakeful World</i>. It explores the politics of human society and religion, how decisions are made and societies formed. Essentially, it is a book about god and anarchy from an animist perspective. However, at the moment, the call of silence is often far stronger, so it may take some time. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Om8zynxeYo/WHkwaCIdYhI/AAAAAAAAkGQ/hi74eS_BsaUN_lGXWfv0spPojQPB6MeDgCLcB/s1600/The%2BWakeful%2BWorld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Om8zynxeYo/WHkwaCIdYhI/AAAAAAAAkGQ/hi74eS_BsaUN_lGXWfv0spPojQPB6MeDgCLcB/s640/The%2BWakeful%2BWorld.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-70120460431080670452017-01-13T19:00:00.000+00:002017-01-13T20:05:20.552+00:00New Year Reflections<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pa8lv2Z0rJs/WHkiSsIM08I/AAAAAAAAkF4/sYDq_7VmDvc2-c1OBhoI43TAgqR-QMb3wCLcB/s1600/wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pa8lv2Z0rJs/WHkiSsIM08I/AAAAAAAAkF4/sYDq_7VmDvc2-c1OBhoI43TAgqR-QMb3wCLcB/s1600/wheel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After posting a link to a <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.com/2017/01/new-year-autobiography-exercise.html" target="_blank">New Year autobiography exercise</a>, we invited PWC members to share their own reminiscences of 201<span style="font-family: inherit;">6</span>. River Mourningstar answered that call.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/6befUR--W5gZe9eZZXxXf3DmJX--DbopwCPcB/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/6befUR--W5gZe9eZZXxXf3DmJX--DbopwCPcB/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And Then, She Stepped Off of the Edge</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was high summer, last year, when my life took a ninety degree turn
and I, not expecting it, stepped gleefully over the edge of the sheer
cliff face and into free fall. His easy manner and kind eyes tripped me
up in the most beautiful manner and I found myself having to trust my
all too broken wings.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had been friends for some time, years. We enjoyed each other’s
company tremendously, but life never allowed us to have time alone,
until that point. He believes in being a gentleman. He believes life is
to be explored. He believes the unknown should become the known. He
believes to be fully human is to live fully. He believes that he is not
human, but other.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The two of us, coming together, two halves of a whole, yet complete
unto ourselves created ripples in the aether. Without a word spoken, we
know what the other needs. Without a painful word, we know what the
other thinks. We came together last summer, two children of the night,
recognizing in the other that kindred spirit.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our hearts had been shattered by others. Our souls splintered and
afraid of what was to come. Our bad days outnumbered our good days. Our
lives were full of people, yet we stood on the periphery, watching,
listening. Individually, we stood and looked at those we loved and
admired and we looked at those who loved and admired us. We couldn’t
understand why. We couldn’t understand why they loved us, why they
insisted upon being in our company. As individuals, we could see and
feel just how different we were from them, but we wanted to belong. We
wanted the friendship. We wanted the camaraderie. We wanted to be seen
and appreciated for who and what we were.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It wasn’t until our coming together did we understand that what makes
us different also makes us a beacon for others. It wasn’t until our
coming together did we understand that we do not, necessarily, need
those around us, at least no in the same way that they seem to need us.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our romance was whirlwind. In two months, we spent nearly every
spare moment together. We gave to each other the things we knew,
instinctively, the other needed. He brought me gifts unlike any I’d ever
received: incense, robes, a sword. I gifted him body jewelry and (my
pride as a southern woman) hearty, home cooked meals. We shared
knowledge we had gained on our individual spiritual paths. We opened up
latent gifts within each other.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As children of the night, we peered curiously into each others abyss.
We gazed into that darkness, always the same, yet different, and
embraced it. We looked into each others oft tortured souls and
acknowledged the pain and hurt there, soothed it with the balm we each
so terribly needed. Without judgment, we opened ourselves to each other.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In another month, we began planning a wedding. A month after that, we
wed. In less than six months time we realized that each other was what
our life had been missing.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Becoming the Sacred Fool, stepping over the edge of the cliff, has
opened a great many doors. The only trouble now has become deciding
which door to walk through. No matter the shadows, no matter the light,
no matter the obstacle, we work as a team. Life is not easy by any
means, but it is easier because we work together.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I let my demons out to play with his and they began a dark and
macabre dance. He and I reveled in their joy. We reveled in their
happiness. We reveled in their bloodletting. We still do. We stand in
awe of each other, flanked by our demons, accepting each other for who
we are. Oh, we still butt heads. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. Yet,
when our demons decide to not play nicely together, we manage to find a
way to tame them.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last year of my life, 2016, did not even begin until June. My own
eyes were closed to life and living until that moment. It was only when
my darkness touched a kindred dark did I begin to see. When I began to
see became the moment I began to live again. It took another child of
the night to remind me that sometimes we must waltz with the shadows to
be fully awake.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--qcK32tUf38/WHkfh1rtpRI/AAAAAAAAkFk/XL4ubjGmWQYUQF5bJ9iVfwhuucDPqoz0QCLcB/s1600/River.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--qcK32tUf38/WHkfh1rtpRI/AAAAAAAAkFk/XL4ubjGmWQYUQF5bJ9iVfwhuucDPqoz0QCLcB/s200/River.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">River Mourningstar is a writer, wife, and Priestess of the Craft, among other things. She has been writing most of her life because the people in her head just won't shut up. She tends to be a jack of all trades, prankster, and a mystery to those who meet her. She lives in the Midwestern US with her husband, cat, and an aquarium of aquatic oddities. You can find her on her blogs <a href="https://hekatesdaughter.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><i>Waltzing with Shadows</i></a> and <a href="http://confused-muse.blogspot.com/?zx=e9693c2633bbd5f3" target="_blank"><i>Ramblings of a Confused Muse</i></a>, and on <a href="http://facebook.com/journeythroughthedarkness" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-55962506082117397242016-07-25T14:24:00.000+01:002019-02-11T17:49:22.487+00:00Q&A Juliet Marillier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJTTcgqz0Us/V5UR2P9_evI/AAAAAAAAi3c/790H-dlRm4o361SiYIdMwu3wTYXU4J8DgCEw/s1600/JM%2Bwith%2BHarry%2Bsmaller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJTTcgqz0Us/V5UR2P9_evI/AAAAAAAAi3c/790H-dlRm4o361SiYIdMwu3wTYXU4J8DgCEw/s200/JM%2Bwith%2BHarry%2Bsmaller.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Juliet Marillier is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a multi-award winning <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">author of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">historical and folklor<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ic</span> fantasy<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. She li<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ves in New Zealand <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and </span>has travelled extensively in p<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">u</span>rsuit of a good story. </span></span>J<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">uliet is also a member of </span>The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can find her <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">vi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.julietmarillier.com/" target="_blank">her website</a> (which includes her blog) and on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliet.marillier" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We are so excited to be interviewing Juliet Marillier today. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you to all the PWC members who sent in questions, we've tried to get through them all. We've also got a sneak preview of the cover for Juliet's latest novel, <i>Den of Wolves</i>, out later this year. We've included it at the end of the interview.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Hi Juliet. One of our members cited you as the influence behind her own story, <i>The Enchanted Swans</i>, due out later this year. Christy wanted to ask what first inspired you to novelize fairy tales?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I didn’t make a conscious decision to do so. When I was writing my first novel, mainly as therapy after a particularly challenging period in my life, I was drawn to the fairy tale of <i>The Six Swans</i> – one of my favourites from childhood, and a story with a strong woman at its heart. The theme was particularly relevant for me at that time. I asked myself what would happen if the devastating events of that story – the brothers changed into swans, and their sister set a terrible task to win them back their human form – happened to a real life family. Who would stand strong? Who would fall apart? How would the experience change them? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I have loved traditional stories all my life, from the time before I could read, when my parents read to me or told me made up stories. Myths and legends, folklore and fairy tales contain deep wisdom. Many of them were first told around the fire at night to make sense of the world’s challenges and to give people heart. The lessons in them are still relevant today – they teach us about love and loyalty, strength and courage, faith and honour. They teach us how to live our lives more wisely. <br /><br />Out of my 19 novels, only four are built around particular fairy tales (<i>Daughter of the Forest</i> – <i>The Six Swans</i>; <i>Wildwood Dancing</i> – <i>The Twelve Dancing Princesses</i>/<i>The Frog Prince</i>; <i>Heart’s Blood</i> – <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, and more recently <i>Dreamer’s Pool</i>, which owes quite a bit to <i>The Goose Girl</i>.) I do include uncanny elements in all the books, though, even the more historically-based stories, and there are many folkloric or fairy tale motifs and ideas in them. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve also written two shorter stories based on fairy tales: the award-winning <i>By Bone-Light</i>, a modern take on <i>Vasilissa the Fair</i>, and a novella called <i>Beautiful</i>, an unusual version of <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>, which will be published later this year. <br /><br /><b>You do it so well, do you have any hints on your creative process?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />My background as a musician helps. I studied music to honours level at university and worked for quite a long time as a singing teacher and choral conductor as well as being a composer. Alongside my love of traditional storytelling, that background has helped me develop a particular rhythm and flow in my writing. In terms of process, I plan everything out in advance, initial idea and research first, then an outline, a synopsis, probably a chapter plan before I begin actually writing the book. I keep on editing the previous parts of the manuscript while writing the later parts, so it gets a lot of polishing and refining along the way. I don’t do a series of complete drafts, it’s more like one continuous draft over many months. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />That may sound quite rigid, but of course rules can be broken and plans can be changed in the interests of better storytelling. It usually takes me a year from initial idea to finished polished manuscript. Writing is my full time day job, though I also look after five needy dogs, all rescues, and they gobble up both time and emotional energy. But I love them!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>You are a member of <a href="http://www.druidry.org/" target="_blank">The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids</a>. Can you tell us a bit about your path to joining, and what part your spirituality plays in your writing? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />When I was writing my first novel, <i>Daughter of the Forest</i>, set in early medieval Ireland, I needed to include a druid character. I started researching ancient druidry, rather a challenge since it was strictly an oral tradition and extremely secret, so there are no reliable historical records. It happened that Philip Carr-Gomm, chief of OBOD, was visiting Australia at that time. I attended a talk he gave in which I found out about modern druidry and the wealth of lore and knowledge available on both contemporary and ancient druidic practices. I was delighted to find a spiritual path that chimed with so many of my existing beliefs. I completed two grades of the OBOD correspondence course and I am still learning – it’s a lifelong path. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />My spiritual beliefs influence my writing strongly. I don’t mean writing about druid characters and druid ritual, though I have done that a few times. It’s a more general thing. The underlying values of my spiritual path are likely to permeate everything I write. Three beliefs are particularly important to me: that storytelling has a great power to teach and to heal; that god, goddess or spirit is not set above us, but resides within all living things and links them together; and that we need to live the life we have as wisely and well as we can, rather than dwell on what might come afterwards. I never hammer home moral lessons in my stories, and I’m happy if people read them solely for entertainment. But there are some deep-down values and some wisdom there for readers who choose to look for them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>There are six series to your name. Do you always know how many books will be in a series? Do you plan it out beforehand, or do you only know how many books there will be once they're written?</b> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">These days
I submit a proposal to a publisher, not a finished book or series. That
is, I sign a contract before I write the series. So I do have to know
in advance how many books there will be, and have at least a rough plan
for each one. The exception was the <i>Sevenwaters </i>series, originally
intended to be a trilogy. I was asked by a publisher to write three
follow-up novels, so it became a six book series. </span></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Do you find it hard to close a series and let go of the characters?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Yes, it can be very hard to say goodbye to characters I love. For me, the characters live on after the end of the series.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Do you have a favourite childhood fairy tale or folk character?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Lots! These days I would choose Baba Yaga, the fearsome old woman who lives in the forest in a hut on hen’s legs, and who possesses the gift of fire. As a child I might have chosen a strong young woman from a fairy tale, either the girl in <i>The Six Swans</i> or the brave young wife in <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>. Admirable role models! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Which authors do you admire? Who helped to shape and inspire you?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Without a doubt, what shaped and inspired me as a writer was traditional stories: fairy tales, folklore, myths and legends. I admire many authors across a wide range of genres and styles. I love accomplished writing that pushes the boundaries but I also love great storytelling, so my favourite writers tend to be those who combine the two. For historical fiction I really admire the late <a href="http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dorothy Dunnett</a>. I re-read Dorothy L Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels every year, and also Daphne du Maurier’s Cornish novels. All those writers are great stylists. As a young reader I adored Charlotte Brontë’s <i>Jane Eyre</i>. That novel helped give me my romantic streak.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>You have travelled a lot in pursuit of research for your books. Is there anywhere you haven't been that you still want to explore? Is there anywhere you would like to return to? And please could you tell us a bit about Transylvania and <i>Wildwood Dancing</i>?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Yes, I’ve been very fortunate in being able to travel quite widely for research purposes, thanks to the kind readers who buy my books and allow me to earn my living as a writer. There are plenty of places I haven’t visited and would love to see, for instance Brittany, Cornwall, Russia, South America. It’s becoming harder to get away now that I have so many dogs! I would love to return to Orkney, where my Viking novel <i>Wolfskin </i>is set, and indeed I am intending to do so in mid-2017 for a writers’ retreat. I’ve visited Orkney three times before and it remains one of my favourite places for all sorts of reasons. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />My visit to Transylvania was memorable! Most of my novels are set in my own ancestral territory – Scotland and Ireland – and writing a story set in such a different culture was challenging. I was lucky enough to find a Romanian guide who was a history buff and very ready to take me to out-of-the-way places in search of what I needed for the book. With a regular guide, I might have ended up just doing the well-trodden ‘vampire tourism’ route; and on my own I would have struggled with the language, not to speak of the driving. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The landscape and historic buildings in Transylvania are stunningly beautiful and full of character. We stayed in local B&Bs. People were not very keen to talk about folk traditions – I would have had to stay much longer and win trust to bring that sort of information out. Rural Romania was a place of stark contrasts: we’d be travelling past flower-dotted fields where workers were cutting hay with scythes, and right next to them there would be a huge derelict factory, stark evidence of the mismanagement of the Ceausescu era. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I did use a lot of what I learned on that trip in writing <i>Wildwood Dancing</i>. And I’m sure I still built many errors into the book! It’s a fairy tale story rather than a historical novel. I hope I conveyed a general flavour of the Transylvanian setting, at least. And then, of course, it was off to Turkey for the sequel, <i>Cybele’s Secret</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">You have won multiple awards for your writing. Is there one that is especially memorable or dear to you?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I appreciate them all! The Prix Imaginales deserves a special mention. This award is for best fantasy novel in French translation – I won it for <i>Soeur des Cygnes</i>, which was the French title for <i>Daughter of the Forest</i>. The memorable part was the trophy: a large, bright red statuette of Puss in Boots. Puss is too big for the trophy shelf so he lives on top of a bookcase. Most dear to me: a tie between my first major award, an Aurealis for <i>Son of the Shadows</i>, and my only short fiction award, another Aurealis for <i>By Bone-Light</i>, my contemporary version of the fairy tale <i>Vasilissa the Fair</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>How different do you find it writing short stories to novels?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b><br />Each has its own difficulties. With short fiction you need to refine and refine again, pare the writing down to the perfect words, the perfect turn of phrase, the most economical, effective and powerful way of telling your story. I find writing short fiction rewarding but difficult, and I am very slow at it. Novels come more easily to me, even though they still take a while to write! But some writers find it hard to create a workable structure and to maintain focus in a longer work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>We recently <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2016/05/q-folklore-thursday.html" target="_blank">interviewed the co-founder of #FolkloreThursday</a>, to ask about the success of their hashtag on global folklore. Over the time that you have been writing fantasy and historical fantasy, do you feel there has been a resurgence in reader interest in folklore and fairy tales? Did it ever go away? </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t think it ever went away completely, but I agree there’s been a recent resurgence in writing based on fairy tales in particular. It shows up in novels and short fiction, as well as in movies and television series such as <i>Once Upon a Time</i>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Have the marketplace and reader interests changed much since your first book was published?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The marketplace has certainly changed in the 16 or so years since I wrote <i>Daughter of the Forest</i>. The publishing business was hit badly by the global economic downturn; publishers had to rethink how they functioned with the rise of the e-book; and then there was the proliferation of self-published work that digital publishing made possible. As a result, publishers are far less ready to take risks and writers have to do far more of their own publicity and marketing, with a lot less support than before. There’s a trend currently toward a darker, grittier kind of fantasy, exemplified by writers like Joe Abercrombie. The fantasy genre is very broad, though; there’s room for romantic historical fantasy alongside hip urban fantasy alongside so-called ‘grimdark’.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Is the feeling different getting your twentieth book published to getting your very first book published?</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />It is still exciting when a new book comes out, especially if it has a beautiful cover like the ones Arantza Sestayo has done for the Blackthorn & Grim series. But nothing beats seeing your very first book out there on the bookshop shelves. </span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">How much say do you get on the cover design for your books?</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />It
ranges from zero to quite a lot! With some of the foreign language
editions I didn’t even get to see the cover art until the book was
published, and there were some highly inappropriate covers as a result.
Over the years my US publishers in particular have commissioned some
beautiful covers by distinguished illustrators such as Kinuko Y Craft,
John Jude Palencar, and more recently Arantza Sestayo, and I count
myself very lucky in that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How
do you feel about your earlier works now that you have written so many?
Do you ever wish you could go back and change anything?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />There
are certainly many things I would change if I were writing some of
those books now – in particular, I’d fix the errors I made with the
history in my earliest books, back in the days when it never occurred to
me that readers would expect historical accuracy in a story that was
full of magical transformations and Otherworld beings. And I would pare
the wordage down in some of the longer books to improve the pacing.
Only, of course, I wouldn’t actually do it because I’d much rather write
new stories, not revisit the old ones. I hope I keep on learning from
my errors.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>If a black hole opened up in the middle of the room and you only had time to save three books from your bookshelf, which three would they be and why?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b><br />What a terrible question! It would have to be the books I couldn’t replace: my mother’s edition of <i>The Golden Staircase</i> (an anthology of classic poetry with colour plates, published in the early 1900s); her edition of <i>Grimm’s Fairy Tales</i>; and her hand-written diary.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>What are you working on now, and what can we look forward to in the near future?</b><br /><br /><i>Den of Wolves</i>, book 3 of the Blackthorn & Grim series, comes out in September here in Australia, and in November in the USA. Look for my novella, <i>Beautiful</i>, later this year in an anthology called <i>Aurum</i>, from <a href="http://ticonderogapublications.com/" target="_blank">Ticonderoga Publications</a>. And I’m currently writing a proposal for a new adult fantasy series, but as my agent hasn’t seen it yet, I can’t give you any further details. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyone interested in finding out more could keep an eye <a href="http://www.julietmarillier.com/blog/" target="_blank">on my blog</a>, where I will post news when I have it.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kVJFfKPmNRE/V5UeFcIwHLI/AAAAAAAAi3s/iVESek6td94vpueZVVmJI-9BuE1D_gJXwCLcB/s1600/Den%2Bof%2BWolves.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kVJFfKPmNRE/V5UeFcIwHLI/AAAAAAAAi3s/iVESek6td94vpueZVVmJI-9BuE1D_gJXwCLcB/s1600/Den%2Bof%2BWolves.jpe" /></a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-57149737612791577322016-06-02T16:59:00.000+01:002017-05-23T11:49:52.508+01:00Q&A Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bvFpQWUW-LY/V07E5ulmBmI/AAAAAAAAh0U/DVD7BlXWQl0v0bQN-7UJe5Hy5EQBRWbuQCLcB/s1600/museum-of-witchcraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bvFpQWUW-LY/V07E5ulmBmI/AAAAAAAAh0U/DVD7BlXWQl0v0bQN-7UJe5Hy5EQBRWbuQCLcB/s320/museum-of-witchcraft.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are really lucky to welcome Judith Hewitt, Co-manager at Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, here to answer questions posed by PWC members. You can find out more about the museum via their <a href="http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a> and <a href="http://museumofwitchcraft.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a>. They are also on <a href="https://twitter.com/witchmuseum" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://web.facebook.com/museumofwitchcraft/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and have a <a href="http://museumofwitchcraftfriends.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Friends Of</a> site.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Hello Judith. Thank you so much for taking time out from running the museum to come and talk to us about its artefacts. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Perhaps we could kick off with a little history? How did the museum begin?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Museum was founded in 1951 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Williamson" target="_blank">Cecil Williamson</a>. He had been interested in witchcraft from childhood and collected many items during his travels. He also took in items which people didn’t want as they saw them as taboo or cursed. Cecil was a practising witch and when he died the Museum inherited much of his personal collection.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Museum moved around a great deal in the early days. Early locations included Bourton on the Water, Windsor and the Isle of Man. For a time, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Gardner_(Wiccan)" target="_blank">Gerald Gardner</a> was the “resident witch” at the Museum but Gardner and Cecil differed on many issues and the two men went their separate ways. Cecil brought his collection to Boscastle and opened the Museum here in 1960. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is the oldest item in the collection?</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The oldest object in the collection is probably Harriet the skull. This tarred human head was kept in a box. Recent research suggests it is a mummy from Ancient Egypt.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>And the newest?</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The newest items in the collection would be the objects we collected for the Halloween exhibition which is running for 2016. The newest of all are probably the sweets in our Halloween food section.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is there an item you don't have at the museum that you would really like to add?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">So many things but we have so little space! The collection is always growing due to donations and acquisitions. In the near future, we will try to acquire a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toadstone" style="font-size: large;" target="_blank">toadstone ring</a><span style="font-size: large;">. We would also like to collect more written charms. We would like to expand our ritual magic collection to include some older examples – something owned by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee" style="font-size: large;" target="_blank">John Dee</a><span style="font-size: large;"> would be amazing!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Have any strange things happened at the museum? Is it haunted?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have worked here for over two years and I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything but we are always hearing accounts from people who have seen or felt things in the Museum. One lady said she felt like she was being pinched, another described experiencing a strong headache, other people have said they have seen a woman wearing a long dress. In the early days, the Museum housed an entire human skeleton which was known as <a href="http://www.museumofwitchcraft.com/displayrecord_mow.php?ObjectNumber=24" target="_blank">Joan Wytte</a>. This has now been buried as it made many people feel uncomfortable, the owner at that time was convinced that Joan was unhappy on display in the Museum and that she was making her unhappiness felt in various ways. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Why are people still so fascinated by witchcraft?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To many people witchcraft means mystery, it intrigues them and they don’t know why. We don’t really want to take that away and think an element of mystery and the unknown is an important part of the Museum’s identity. The appeal of Witchcraft as a religion is probably easier to explain as it is so unlike other world religions. It is rooted in the natural world and the seasons, it has a place for a female deity, it is non dogmatic and enables people to connect with the ancient world and their ancestors. Many people like the Museum because they find it “dark” and seemingly timeless and they find the modern world too “light” and technological or transient.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Boscastle was flooded in 2004. Do you still worry about that? How do you protect the displays?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We do worry about it sometimes when the rain is really heavy or the tide is really high but Boscastle now has first rate flood defences which seem to be protecting us - touch wood! On the ground floor, none of the displays touch the ground so if there were a minor flooding, they wouldn’t be affected. We have flood boards and sand bags just in case! We also have a comprehensive insurance policy and an emergency plan with a “pick list” of objects to save if the worst came to the worst. Ultimately, we can’t eliminate the risk of flooding in our current location but we have no plans to move so we have to make the best of it! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What have been the biggest changes to the museum over the years?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since its move to Boscastle in 1960, the Museum has had three owners. I think the change of ownership and the different styles and approaches of the different owners has probably been the biggest change. Cecil Williamson was the first owner and his displays were based on his relationships with local witches and also his experiences in the film industry. Some of his displays were deliberately intended to shock and confirm rather than challenge visitor stereotypes of witches. When Graham King took over the Museum in 1996 he wanted to make it more of a centre for Paganism and a site of pilgrimage for practising witches so the tone of the Museum changed a great deal. Graham also introduced more museological standards such as the online catalogue. In 2013, Simon Costin took over the Directorship of the Museum and there have been many changes in the look and feel of the displays. The Museum is bigger than any one person, some people view change with trepidation but change is a sign of life and the Museum is definitely thriving! </span><br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Do you get any strange feedback from visitors?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, people are very interested in telling you anything odd that has ever happened to them. Most people react very positively to the Museum and go away impressed with the collection and happy to have visited. One lady told me a long story once about a child who levitated and whose mother was persecuted by the police and accused of abuse because of her child’s paranormal behaviour. We also get sent things people don’t want in their house any more and receive letters from people who feel themselves to be cursed. We really are much more than just a Museum.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are there any books you'd recommend for people interested in the history of witchcraft?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, lots. If people are interested, they are very welcome to make an appointment to visit the Museum library or <a href="http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/search/" target="_blank">search its contents online</a> for book ideas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I would recommend:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Keith Thomas, <i>Religion and the Decline of Magic</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">James Sharpe, <i>Instruments of Darkness</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Owen Davies, <i>Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736-1951</i></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are there any books you'd recommend for people interested in modern witchcraft?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re interested in the history of modern witchcraft try Ronald Hutton, <i>Triumph of the Moon</i>. If you’re more interested in practice and an “inside view” then Gemma Gary’s <i>Traditional Witchcraft</i> or Levannah Morgan’s <i>A Witch’s Mirror</i> are both great. A personal favourite which gives an overview of all aspects of magic, sacred sites and folklore is Cheryl Straffon’s <i>Between the Realms </i>which focuses on Cornwall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Do your curators feel a particular attachment to any of the displays? Do they have favourites?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, definitely. Peter particularly likes the corn dollies which are deeply embedded in the British magical tradition as symbols of fertility, life and death, and goddess worship – latterly they have been made by witches in the 21st century. Simon likes the Richel Collection a great deal, although I don’t know if this is his favourite. The Horned God section also resonates strongly with him. My favourite object is a stone altar which was used by witches on Dartmoor. It is small and made to be portable. It is made from three different types of stone found on Dartmoor. They used to burn a fire in front of it and drink their own brewed mead on the moors at night while they communed with the spirit world. It is so simple, beautiful and timeless, to me it represents the essence of witchcraft in the West Country.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Do you get many international visitors? Are there similarities between witchcraft in the UK and in other countries?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We get a lot of international visitors and also international researchers and film crews. People are always pointing out similarities between customs and rituals in Britain and in their part of the world. Many of the objects in the collection are from far flung places and we are always delighted to know more about them. Last year, a visitor from Israel identified some Hebrew words which were written on an object. We are always learning more about the collection.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>If you could meet any witch from history, who would it be and what would you ask them?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Tough question! I think it would have to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc" target="_blank">Joan of Arc</a>. She is now a saint but she was burned as a witch. She seemed to have such power and charisma, she was so young and so different to other women at that time. I don’t know what I would ask her - I would just like to meet her and see what she was like. Maybe I would ask her if she really could perform miracles? Or how she feels about being considered a saint now?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What do you think the future of witchcraft will be? What might you be adding to the display in twenty or thirty years time?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That is an impossible question to answer, I predict that witchcraft will always be unpredictable! Whatever happens we hope to represent the changes and continuities in an engaging and accurate way. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In terms of collecting, I predict big things for the Museum. Simon Costin, the new director, has already added some diverse yet hugely significant objects: from an original Goya etching to ritual artefacts from the Order of Artemis. We also welcome donations from practitioners as the Museum will sympathetically interpret and care for items and preserve them for future generations to understand.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>How can people get involved and support the museum?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The best thing is <a href="http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/visit" target="_blank">to simply visit us</a> as we rely on visitors to keep us open and the bills paid. You can also <a href="http://museumofwitchcraftfriends.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">join our Friends organisation</a> which is a charity and these membership fees help to pay for new cabinets, conservation of objects and so on. If you are local or have time to spare you can also offer your time – just recently we have had a group of volunteers photographing the collection, another helping us to clean the museum and collections in the off-season, another doing some cataloguing – there is always lots to do!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-87373394039930803332016-05-05T11:09:00.000+01:002017-05-23T11:50:04.513+01:00Q&A Folklore Thursday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xtg7m2NbmoA/Vx3bI2zgarI/AAAAAAAAhro/IZOx3d84-qoVbvaaFfwcneikvo4KqxWfwCLcB/s1600/oT-U6Rnk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xtg7m2NbmoA/Vx3bI2zgarI/AAAAAAAAhro/IZOx3d84-qoVbvaaFfwcneikvo4KqxWfwCLcB/s200/oT-U6Rnk.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you're on Twitter, you can't help but notice the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23folklorethursday&src=typd" target="_blank">#FolkloreThursday</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs" target="_blank">@FolkloreThurs</a>). It's become something of a phenomenon, even attracting <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35930479" target="_blank">BBC attention</a>. There's now an <a href="http://folklorethursday.com/" target="_blank">accompanying website</a>, helping to bring together folklore from around the world. This week, Dee Dee Chainey (<a href="https://twitter.com/DeeDeeChainey" target="_blank">@DeeDeeChainey</a>), one of the founding members of #FolkloreThursday, dropped by to answer some questions.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hi Dee Dee, thanks for joining us. Thursdays are perhaps our favourite day of the week since #FolkloreThursday took off.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For those who don't know, please could you tell us what #FolkloreThursday is and how it came about?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">#FolkloreThursday is a weekly hashtag day on Twitter where people can share all things folklore related! Willow and I had been chatting on Twitter for a while, and thought it would be really great if there was a place to go to find out all about folklore. We were already taking part in a lot of the hashtag days, and then the idea came to us that a hashtag day would be a great way to get people together talking about folklore! We planned it for a while, set a date for the launch, and it all went from there!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Why is folklore important in the modern age?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Great question – I really do think folklore is important! I think, in the past, it was a great way to convey social norms and expectations – as well as important lessons – from generation to generation. While many of our social rules today have changed to the ones we see in folklore, narrative folklore really does act as a system of archetypes that give a focus point for us all to reflect on the issues that do still affect us today, particularly through examining the symbols and memes many of us take for granted. Narrative, and other types of folklore, are a great way of connecting to a shared heritage, and an excellent way of learning about cultures: our own and other peoples, allowing us to negotiate ideas, not only about how we’re different, but about how we are all the same; the passing on of traditions and stories are intrinsically human, and something we can all come together to share.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What's been your favourite piece of folklore posted by a participant?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My absolute favourite? Well, that’s a difficult one! I do love ‘body parts’ folklore... so I suppose I have a particular penchant for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory" target="_blank">Hand of Glory</a>: the ‘guilty’ hand of a hanged murderer that can be lit like a candle, and then be used for all kinds of mischief. Some sources say it will paralyse anyone who sees it, others that it will open a locked door.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Why did you decide to start a website?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We thought it would be great to have a place to gather a lot of the stuff shared on #FolkloreThursday, and have a ‘hub’ for the hashtag that everyone could come to throughout the week. A lot of people said they wished everyday was #FolkloreThursday. I suppose, with the website, it can be!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Does #FolkloreThursday predominantly focus on British folklore, or is it global?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It’s definitely a global thing. We have people from all over the world joining in each Thursday, and they share folklore from all over the place. We’d love to see more diverse folklore each week. We love seeing folklore from people and places we’ve never heard of before!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Have you noticed any similarities in folklore around the world?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Definitely! A lot of the stories shared have very similar themes and plots, particularly those from across Europe and Scandinavia. Some folklore that does stand out to me personally is some of the Japanese stuff, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dkai" target="_blank">Yōkai </a>for example. It’s so unique... reading a Japanese folktale is like an adventure – you never know where it’s going to take you!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What's the scariest folklore monster so far?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ooh, great question! I think I’d have to choose the Encantado from the South American folklore. Legend tells that they are spirits that take the form of dolphins from the Amazon River, then take on human form at night, leaving the waters to seduce unsuspecting human women. They sometimes kidnap humans, and can cause illness, or even death... creepy!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have any theories on why #FolkloreThursday has become so incredibly popular? What is it about folklore that attracts people?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I think maybe it’s different for everyone. We see people using folklore in so many ways: academics, writers using it for inspiration, artists, people relating to it as part of their belief system, others engaging just for fun or escapism. I do wonder how much the interest might be in response to the increase in technology in our daily lives, and things like that. Historically, you do see people turn to the past, as well as to myth and story, for a sense of grounding and reassurance at times of political and social instability.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Personally, I think the current political climate and the trend towards globalisation might have something to do with the resurgence in story, but also with reconstituting a sense of identity and heritage for people. From a #FolkloreThursday perspective though, I would say we’re just pleased that people love it as much as we do, and we’re happy they’re engaging, whatever their motivations! We keep saying it, but we firmly believe that folklore belongs to everyone – it’s a treasure trove of information, and really quite magical at the same time – it’s a way of bringing wonder and awe back into everyday life, and it’s important to have that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Is folklore in danger of dying out?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">From what we’ve seen on the hashtag day, I’d definitely say no! It’s amazing how many things are going on around the world using folklore – from books, to films, theatre productions, as well as a host of local community projects working to get people excited about folklore! I think the popularity of folklore and legends must have risen over the last few years. I’m not sure whether books, films and TV shows like <i>Harry Potter</i>, <i>Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell</i>, <i>Song of the Sea</i>, and the like, have led to the increased interest or have been made because producers realised it’s popular, but you can certainly see a definite trend. And people have responded to that. Folklore has become something that most people are aware of now, in varying degrees.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What are your hopes for the future of #FolkloreThursday?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At the moment we’re still working on getting the website filled with top-notch folklore articles. After that? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned and wait and see...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">How can people participate?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23folklorethursday&src=typd" target="_blank">#FolkloreThursday</a> runs every Thursday on Twitter, from 9am to 8pm British time (with a few short breaks in the middle!). To participate, people just need to post their tweet with the hashtag on the end: that means just type the hashtag symbol followed by the words ‘Folklore’ and ‘Thursday’ with no spaces. The tweet will appear in the hashtag feed publicly and everyone will be able to see your post if they’re following the hashtag!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We do have a <a href="http://www.folklorethursday.com/faq/" target="_blank">detailed guide explaining how to get involved and what to post</a> for #FolkloreThursday. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-47226813489707085962016-04-11T22:25:00.000+01:002016-04-12T11:39:05.575+01:00Guest Post: Rayne Hall - Writing About Love Spells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ABlYT900M0/VwvnUtM5eKI/AAAAAAAADNM/AR2XjLOn8Sk41FUI_5eNx9d4_hBmg6LLQ/s1600/%253D%253D%253DRayneHall%2Bwith%2BSuluCat%2B%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ABlYT900M0/VwvnUtM5eKI/AAAAAAAADNM/AR2XjLOn8Sk41FUI_5eNx9d4_hBmg6LLQ/s200/%253D%253D%253DRayneHall%2Bwith%2BSuluCat%2B%25281%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rayne Hall has published more than sixty books in several languages under several pen names with several publishers in several genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is the editor of the </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten Tale</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s fantasy and horror anthologies (11 titles so far, including </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Spells: Ten Tales of Magic</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Seers: Ten Tales of Clairvoyance</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) and the author of the bestselling </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Writer’s Craft </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">series (17 titles, including </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing Fight Scenes</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing Scary Scenes and</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing About Magic)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, Rayne has settled on the south coast of England in dilapidated seaside town of former Victorian grandeur. She enjoys gardening, reading and long walks along the sea front.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rayne has worked as an investigative journalist, museum guide, apple picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, belly dancer, magazine editor, publishing manager and more, and now writes full time. Her black cat Sulu – adopted from the rescue shelter - likes to snuggle between her arms while she writes, purring happily.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can find Rayne’s books on<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Rayne+hall" target="_blank"> Amazon</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To find out about new releases, special offers and writing contests, subscribe to her </span><a href="http://eepurl.com/boqJzD" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Writer’s Craft newsletter</i></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For writing and publishing tips, as well as cute photos of Sulu the book-loving cat, follow Rayne on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RayneHall" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3rqGQMbvDM/VwwWg54_i5I/AAAAAAAADNs/XMs8lU7gnTwAaCCiabd23fVNoLZIMhbpA/s1600/TwitterPic%2BSulu%2BMagic%2B04.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3rqGQMbvDM/VwwWg54_i5I/AAAAAAAADNs/XMs8lU7gnTwAaCCiabd23fVNoLZIMhbpA/s400/TwitterPic%2BSulu%2BMagic%2B04.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Love spells make great fiction, full of secrets, conflict, drama and passion. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Your character can cast her own love spell, or she can seek professional help from a magician (from a witch, a ritual wizard, or other type of mage). </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>RITUALS</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The most common ingredients used in the ritual are roses (often red or pink), something from each of the two people (usually a lock of hair, and in modern times, a photograph), red candles, a fruit (for example, an apple), a crystal (rose quartz is a favourite), herbs (such as dittany or balm of gilead), spices (especially cinnamon), red wine, and a ribbon (red or pink). </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">However, the ingredients vary between different types of magic. For example, an Enochian may use different ingredients from a Wiccan. Also, individual magicians have their own preferences. The actual ritual also differs. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Typically, the magician may cut the fruit in halves, insert the locks of hair, and tie the fruit back together with the pink ribbon. Or she may brew a love potion which involves red wine simmering in a cauldron with rose petals, herbs and cinnamon. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If both people are present, the magician may link their hands and tie them with a ribbon or scarf. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If only one person is present, the spell won't be complete until the second person has become involved, for example, by drinking the love potion.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>CLIENTS</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Most clients are besotted with someone who doesn't requite their feelings. They are convinced that this person is the one for them, that they're meant to be together, that they will not be fulfilled and happy until that person is theirs. They also believe that the love spell is in the best interest of that person, and that the relationship will be a happy one if only the person would return their love. They are desperate, can't bear the pain of their unrequited passion any longer, and are willing to pay almost any price for a love spell. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Other clients are lonely and looking for love. They want a spell to help them find a mate. These include teenagers whose self-esteem is low because they don't have a boyfriend, single women whose biological clock is ticking, and men who can't get a date.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On rare occasions, a couple may seek a magician's help to save their crumbling marriage.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In historical fiction, parents and politicians may resort to love spells to bring about an advantageous match, or to bring affection to an arranged marriage.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>CONFLICTS</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Most modern magicians consider it unethical to interfere with a person's free will. Although they will happily help the couple who wish to strengthen their bond, and the lonely heart in search of a mate, they will refuse to force a specific person's feelings. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">However, not all magicians have the same qualms, and in earlier period, many made good money from love potions. Even today, many magicians advertise on the internet, promising to deliver one's heart's desire.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Some magicians compromise by creating spells which work only if there is already some affection between the couple. For example, the desired person must drink wine from the same cup as the client, immediately after he has drunk from it - something she wouldn't do if she hated him. An ancient Egyptian love spell required the man to anoint his member with a potion before having intercourse with the woman of his desire - and for that to work, she already had to fancy him quite bit.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Other magicians try to dissuade the client from focussing on a specific person. Instead, they recommend a general love spell, one which will help the client find a suitable mate.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For the strictly ethical magician, requests for love spells can lead to terrible dilemmas. Here are some ideas you may want to play with:</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the client is suffering terrible pain from unrequited love, and the magician wants to ease his suffering? What if the desperate client is her own sister, her best friend, her son? What if turning down the request for a love spell causes a rift between them?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if if the client won't take no for an answer? What if the client is the king, the chief inquisitor, or other powerful person? What if the client threatens to punish the magician for her refusal?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the client is rich and willing to pay a lot for a love spell? What if the magician desperately needs money to save her lover or to feed her starving child?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if a ruthless magician agrees to waive his principles and grant the heroine the love spell she craves ... but only if she pays a terrible price for it?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the magician herself suffers from unrequited love? What if her ethics forbid her to manipulate someone's will, but she is convinced that it is for that person's own good? What if her need overrides her conscience?</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>CONSEQUENCES</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Love spells interfering with someone's free will can lead to disaster. Here are some plot ideas:</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the love spell works at first, but wears off after the wedding? What if the person finds out that their spouse had trapped them with a love spell?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the two people love each other, but their relationship is desperately unhappy - and they can't get out of it? What if they blame the magician for their misery?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the client loses interest and wants to end the relationship - but the other person is still obsessively in love and won't let them go? What if that person stalks the client for the rest of his life?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the client regrets his action, and wants to undo the love spell - and it can't be reversed?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if a paedophile uses love potions to seduce minors? What if a serial killer applies magic to lure victims to their doom? </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if a fortune hunter tries to trick an heiress into drinking the love potion? What if she's been alerted to his intentions, and has to be constantly vigilant to thwart him? </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the family hires a bodyguard or detective to protect their heiress daughter from love spell assaults?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the victim's family find out that the girl has been the victim of a love spell, and try to save her? What if they make great sacrifices to enable the spell to be undone - but she doesn't want to be saved?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What if the heroine discovers that her best friend's intended is a ruthless man who forced her feelings with a love potion - and the friend refuses to believe it? What if the victim of the love spell is a man whom the heroine has secretly loved all her life, and now another woman has ensnared him with magic?</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The fiction potential of love spells is endless. I hope this article has inspired your creativity.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Will you write about a love spell? Or have you already written about one? Have you read any exciting books involving love spells? Leave a comment, and I’ll reply.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D5leQyp3NLY/VwwWuAS_zhI/AAAAAAAADNw/CdYUoqrhnesrkCRDESf4b8h3Xrfd6pBow/s1600/WritingAboutMagic%2BRayneHall%2B2014-01-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D5leQyp3NLY/VwwWuAS_zhI/AAAAAAAADNw/CdYUoqrhnesrkCRDESf4b8h3Xrfd6pBow/s400/WritingAboutMagic%2BRayneHall%2B2014-01-07.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-62936790316779719102015-09-22T11:46:00.000+01:002015-09-22T11:46:30.803+01:00Four Little Witches Book Trailer<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EoeLddqf08g" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Post a link to your favourite Pagan children's book below.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-63713885156306944602015-09-14T20:06:00.002+01:002015-09-14T20:06:56.569+01:00Poem: She is My God<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My religion is found in love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My church rests peacefully under this fig tree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My rituals are found in the change of the winds, the phases of the moon, the rise of the tides, and the whispers of night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My prayers are sent to the sun, and my priests are amongst the branches of this old tree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I confess to the roots, and they lend me their wisdom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My strength is found flowing from sacred springs of living water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My hymns are in the song lines of this beautiful earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My communion is found in my lovers embrace.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My Bible is written neatly within the constellations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My soul finds peace in the rhythms of nature- she is my God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBR1F1p4nJ4/VfcZj_ZtKxI/AAAAAAAAdkk/K-G6c0DMIbs/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBR1F1p4nJ4/VfcZj_ZtKxI/AAAAAAAAdkk/K-G6c0DMIbs/s200/unnamed.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brooke Hampton is the guardian of three wild and wonderful little earth warriors. She is a defender of light, Mother Nature, unconditional love, magic and beauty. Author of the Waldorf-inspired children's book <i>Enchanted Cedar: The Journey Home</i>. She considers herself an earth warrior, living food lover, organic gardener, wolf mama, wild water huntress, plant Goddess, love's mistress, book reader, home apothecary/kitchen witch, tea addict, love-maker, naked moon dancer, sun gazer, herbalist, barefoot mama. If you would like to get to know her better, you can visit her cyber-tribe <a href="http://www.barefootfive.com/" target="_blank">online </a>or on <a href="https://instagram.com/barefootfive" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.</span></div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-52483996402052773012015-06-02T13:12:00.000+01:002015-06-02T13:12:14.268+01:00TNA Logo Competition - Book Prizes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ney1D_RIsj0/VW2ZlHDbXJI/AAAAAAAAbgY/kSX06ff-aFM/s1600/callanish_standing_stones_1028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ney1D_RIsj0/VW2ZlHDbXJI/AAAAAAAAbgY/kSX06ff-aFM/s640/callanish_standing_stones_1028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We've had a request from <a href="https://megalithix.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Northern Antiquarian</a> for help designing a logo. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) is an educational nonprofit organisation which engages people of all social backgrounds on the rich diversity of prehistoric and early Christian remains in the British Isles, from Mesolithic times (c.7000 BC) until the coming of the written word in the Dark Ages... In these ever-changing times, TNA believes that it is important to preserve our ancient heritage for future generations, and to work with organisations around the world to find out how our little piece of history links in with other ancient monuments and cultures across the globe. - (<a href="https://megalithix.wordpress.com/tna/" target="_blank">read full description</a>)</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They are looking for a logo for their website and letter heading and we're inviting you to send in designs by <b>July 10 2015</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The top five designs will be put to a public vote here on PWC and the winners will win beautiful books!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">1st Prize</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H3BrPU9ZJkI/VW2bDKRwnLI/AAAAAAAAbgk/u2nJ4rnWtQc/s1600/2015-06-02%2B14_00_47-Document1%2B-%2BWord.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H3BrPU9ZJkI/VW2bDKRwnLI/AAAAAAAAbgk/u2nJ4rnWtQc/s400/2015-06-02%2B14_00_47-Document1%2B-%2BWord.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands</i> by Anne Ross and <i>The Twelve Apostles Stone Circle, West Yorkshire</i> by Paul Bennett</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">2nd Prize</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9XyLF8Gwlw/VW2bFheJmoI/AAAAAAAAbg0/uJoDP23mo4Q/s1600/unnamed%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9XyLF8Gwlw/VW2bFheJmoI/AAAAAAAAbg0/uJoDP23mo4Q/s320/unnamed%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>The Silver Bough</i> by F. Marina McNeill</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To enter, scan your drawings or produce them in .jpg or .tif format and e-mail to: <b>info@paganwriters.net</b> by <b>July 10 2015</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">By entering you give permission for TNA to use your design if selected.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You can find The Northern Antiquarian <a href="https://megalithix.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">online</a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/northernantiquarian/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/NAntiquarian" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-31073458580998598272015-02-04T13:16:00.000+00:002015-02-04T13:16:37.655+00:00Marion Grace Woolley - Q&A<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws9twP6hC3I/VLeeuRitm2I/AAAAAAAAYDA/w6Mzy2y5wus/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws9twP6hC3I/VLeeuRitm2I/AAAAAAAAYDA/w6Mzy2y5wus/s1600/unnamed.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marion Grace Woolley is a multi-genre author published by <a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/" target="_blank">Ghoswoods</a>, <a href="http://www.netherworldbooks.com/" target="_blank">Netherworld</a> and <a href="http://www.greensunsetbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Green Sunset</a>. She currently lives in Rwanda and is the Manager of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her latest release, <i><a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/those-rosy-hours-at-mazandaran.html" target="_blank">Those Rosy Hours at Mazandarn</a></i> is due out on 14th February 2015. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marion-Grace-Woolley/215153611833763?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorMGW" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, via her <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a> and <a href="http://www.authormgw.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. She also has a <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/p/get-news.html" target="_blank">bi-monthly newsletter</a>. There is a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThoseRosyHours?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> for <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month we're shining the spotlight on PWC Manager, <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2015/01/marion-grace-woolley-in-january.html" target="_blank">Marion Grace Woolley</a>, ahead of her forthcoming release <i><a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/those-rosy-hours-at-mazandaran.html" target="_blank">Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</a></i> on 14th February 2015. We've put your PWC questions to her and demanded honest answers!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CvKAFDKN_tI/VFHx8bMWSWI/AAAAAAAAWOk/hhts3cIfQIo/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CvKAFDKN_tI/VFHx8bMWSWI/AAAAAAAAWOk/hhts3cIfQIo/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJyHZXRXT6E/VNIWmxbF24I/AAAAAAAAYQI/kIK8Ka64d50/s1600/7827001_orig.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJyHZXRXT6E/VNIWmxbF24I/AAAAAAAAYQI/kIK8Ka64d50/s1600/7827001_orig.gif" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who is the girl on the cover of <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i>?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's actually a photograph called <i>To The End</i> by Iranian photographer <a href="http://babakfatholahi.hambr.com/" target="_blank">Babak Fatholahi</a>. He's incredibly talented, as is Hungarian cover designer <a href="https://twitter.com/gaborcsigas" target="_blank">Gábor Csigás</a>, who put everything together. I'm not entirely sure who she is, but there's an article online <a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/blog/cover-story" target="_blank">all about how they made the cover</a>. To me, she is the perfect depiction of my main character, Afsar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ee-E5dgt8KY/VNDYJvaon1I/AAAAAAAAYPk/t_1rYplAOZQ/s1600/8786147_orig.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ee-E5dgt8KY/VNDYJvaon1I/AAAAAAAAYPk/t_1rYplAOZQ/s1600/8786147_orig.gif" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Have you ever been to Iran?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, sadly not, though I feel as though I have. The closest I ever got was a job in Armenia, which borders Northern Iran, and once, on my way to East Africa, I flew directly over Sari where the book is set. I was so excited, I took a screen shot of the flight path!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gUiJAclcAJo/VNDZJY63_fI/AAAAAAAAYPw/EGZmRF9eNAM/s1600/l8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gUiJAclcAJo/VNDZJY63_fI/AAAAAAAAYPw/EGZmRF9eNAM/s1600/l8.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I've heard this is about <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>. What made you choose this subject?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The inspiration for <i>Rosy Hours</i> did come from <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>, but you don't need to know that story to enjoy this one. <i>The Phantom of the Opera</i> was originally a serialisation by French writer Gaston Leroux, for a daily newspaper. Within the story, Leroux hinted at another story involving the Phantom, one in which he spent his youth travelling the world and eventually ended up in Mazandaran, Northern Iran, as the playfellow of The Little Sultana.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People have written about this before, perhaps one of the best know is Susan Kay's 1990 novel <i>Phantom</i>. However, I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to tell it from the Sultana's perspective. She shared the future Phantom's lust for darkness, and I wanted to explore what could make a young girl, born into ultimate privilege and power, so twisted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In so doing, the novel became a historical intrigue which stands alone in its telling, but which links to many of the characters and events hinted at in Leroux's original.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is your writing process? Do you plan your novels?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, my writing process is fairly haphazard. I like to be surprised by what happens.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With <i>Rosy Hours</i>, I've actually <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/p/novel-idea.html" target="_blank">blogged the entire process</a> from writing it to finding a publisher and all the pre-release work that goes into launching a novel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What was the hardest part about writing the book?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing Historical Fiction is always hard, knowing when to stop cramming facts and start writing a story. Thankfully there are so many helpful resources nowadays, such as picture archives, YouTube documentaries and academic articles available online. I like to spend the first few weeks immersing myself in the culture and history of the time, then let my fingers start tapping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another part that was difficult was recreating a half-told story by a cult author. <i>Phantom of the Opera</i> has a large following, and it is a delicate balancing act trying to remain true to the original characters whilst taking them to a place and time many might not imagine to find them. As with any story that has a large following, readers feel a strong sense of ownership over those characters. Some will follow you to fresh territory, whereas others prefer to remember the characters as they were first told. I'm prepared for mixed reactions from Phantom fans, but I hope that the book hits its mark with new readers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2015/01/guest-post-marion-grace-woolley-day-of.html" target="_blank">your guest post</a>, you talk about the religions of Iran whilst you were researching. How influential is religion on this book?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Religions are as influential on this book as they have been on the history of Iran. Though, for me, the book is more about the stories of religion, the folklore. All religions are built on stories, on heroes and villains, creation myth and colourful retellings. The history of Persia is particularly blessed on this count, with Ferdowsi's <i>Shahnameh</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a writer, I love stories and the way stories affect psyche and shape nations. Many of those stories have found their way into <i>Rosy Hours</i>, and hopefully they add a certain richness to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is your involvement with Pagan Writers Community?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took over PWC in 2013, after its original founders at <a href="http://paganwriterspress.com/" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Press</a> felt they didn't have enough time to administer it. I'd been a Facebook moderator for a while, and it was an honour to be offered the chance to take it on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some reason the Facebook algorythms favoured us, and with a group of volunteers we took the page from 14,000 likes to over 62,000 in a matter of months! Then the pace slowed down and we've rested at that number for a while now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also added this blog, plus an <a href="http://pwcauthorspotlight.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">author spotlight</a> and <a href="http://pwcbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">book review</a> section. I love <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a>, but we could really do with some more volunteers to help manage it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you would like to know more about Marion, check out her guest blog <i><a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2015/01/guest-post-marion-grace-woolley-day-of.html" target="_blank">The Day of Chaos</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be launching a writing competition to win a signed copy of Marion's novel <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZtT6xfSEMU/VNIWbCLMLnI/AAAAAAAAYQA/iL2_uHjC3PU/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZtT6xfSEMU/VNIWbCLMLnI/AAAAAAAAYQA/iL2_uHjC3PU/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-31327836749836465852015-01-15T12:31:00.000+00:002015-02-08T20:02:33.225+00:00Marion Grace Woolley in January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vhOHEZDM7F8/VLewvf8fImI/AAAAAAAAYEA/4oMrK4rC4hk/s1600/Marion%2BGrace%2BWoolley%2BPWC%2BBanner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vhOHEZDM7F8/VLewvf8fImI/AAAAAAAAYEA/4oMrK4rC4hk/s1600/Marion%2BGrace%2BWoolley%2BPWC%2BBanner.png" height="236" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This month at Pagan Writers Community we are celebrating the release of Marion Grace Woolley's novel <i><a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/those-rosy-hours-at-mazandaran.html" target="_blank">Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</a> </i>on <b>14th February 2015</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Marion is a multi-genre author published by <a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/" target="_blank">Ghoswoods</a>, <a href="http://www.netherworldbooks.com/" target="_blank">Netherworld</a> and Green Sunset. She currently lives in Rwanda and is the Manager of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You can find her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marion-Grace-Woolley/215153611833763?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorMGW" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, via her <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a> and <a href="http://www.authormgw.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. She also has a <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/p/get-news.html" target="_blank">bi-monthly newsletter</a>. If you'd like to keep up-to-date on the release of <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i>, you can join this <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThoseRosyHours?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In honour of the occasion, we are bringing you a whole heap of goodies :-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEK ONE</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Have a read of <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2015/01/guest-post-marion-grace-woolley-day-of.html" target="_blank">Marion's guest post</a>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have a question for Marion? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">E-mail it to <b>questions@paganwriters.net</b> by <b>Friday 30th January 2015</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEK THREE</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We will select the best of the questions and <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/marion-grace-woolley-q.html" target="_blank">publish Marion's answers</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Marion has agreed to give away a signed copy of her book and two ebooks! We will be holding a writing competition to select the winners.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEK FOUR</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At the end of the month we'll announce the winners of the goodies and publish their entries online.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We'd really like to thank Marion for being a guest author at Pagan Writers Community and for generously donating her work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1IP5Us5Mvjo/VLerZ3-p8AI/AAAAAAAAYD0/CK_w7VXbRgI/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1IP5Us5Mvjo/VLerZ3-p8AI/AAAAAAAAYD0/CK_w7VXbRgI/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-14038548395170551192015-01-15T11:52:00.002+00:002015-01-30T14:52:19.428+00:00Guest Post: Marion Grace Woolley - The Day of Chaos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws9twP6hC3I/VLeeuRitm2I/AAAAAAAAYDA/w6Mzy2y5wus/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws9twP6hC3I/VLeeuRitm2I/AAAAAAAAYDA/w6Mzy2y5wus/s1600/unnamed.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marion Grace Woolley is a multi-genre author published by <a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/" target="_blank">Ghoswoods</a>, <a href="http://www.netherworldbooks.com/" target="_blank">Netherworld</a> and <a href="http://www.greensunsetbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Green Sunset</a>. She currently lives in Rwanda and is the Manager of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her latest release, <i><a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/those-rosy-hours-at-mazandaran.html" target="_blank">Those Rosy Hours at Mazandarn</a></i> is due out on 14th February 2015. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marion-Grace-Woolley/215153611833763?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorMGW" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, via her <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a> and <a href="http://www.authormgw.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. She also has a <a href="http://deckledged.blogspot.co.uk/p/get-news.html" target="_blank">bi-monthly newsletter</a>. There is a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThoseRosyHours?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> for <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ahead of the release of <i>Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</i> on 14th February 2015, Pagan Writers Community is turning the spotlight on Marion, to find out more about her work and interests.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We are starting with a guest post, looking at the influence of Persian history on modern Paganism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If you would like to ask Marion a question, e-mail us at: <b>questions@paganwriters.net</b> before <b>Friday 30th January 2015</b>. We will be putting the best questions to her, and demanding answers!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My forthcoming release, <i><a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/those-rosy-hours-at-mazandaran.html" target="_blank">Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran</a></i>,
published by <a href="http://www.gwdbooks.com/" target="_blank">Ghostwoods Books</a>, has perhaps been the most demanding I’ve ever
written in terms of research. It’s set in 1850s Northern Iran, exploring the
world of The Little Sultana, a character first mentioned in a classic novel
by French writer Gaston Leroux.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When I start to write historical fiction, I tend to spend
the first few weeks immersing myself in the time. I flick through picture
archives, listen to music, watch documentaries on YouTube, and scour Wikipedia for information.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It’s less of a fact-finding mission, more a way to set the
tone. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Most of the real fact-checking comes in later, as I start to
write. If you become too obsessed with facts and historical accuracy, you start
to lose the power of your story. Once I have a sense of time and place, I
tend to look up the rest as questions arises: What did people wear?
Which languages did they speak? What did they eat? Who was in power?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Sometimes the question you ask simply leads to more questions. This happened quite specifically with <i>Rosy Hours</i> in relation
to Paganism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The mid-1800s in Iran was a time of huge political and
religious turmoil. A sect had arisen called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism" target="_blank">Bábí</a>, followers of a
religious leader called the Báb, claiming to be The Gateway to Truth. The Báb was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_the_B%C3%A1b" target="_blank">executed on the orders of the Shah</a> in
1850. It was a significant event that eventually led to the expulsion of the Bábí
from Iran and the establishment of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith" target="_blank">Bahá'í</a> faith. It was such a significant period in history that I knew I had to include something of it in my story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Okay, so what did the Bábí believe? What did they look like?
What did they wear?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">During my research, I stumbled across a talisman that the Bábí
wore to distinguish their faith. It is called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_symbols#Five-pointed_star" target="_blank"><i>haykal</i></a>, and I’m sure you can
understand why it piqued my interest. The word is borrowed from Arabic, meaning
<i>temple</i>, relating to the Temple of Solomon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w9YkQbNSLBk/VLelTJOCz9I/AAAAAAAAYDQ/8J_wZzSm1l4/s1600/Haykal2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w9YkQbNSLBk/VLelTJOCz9I/AAAAAAAAYDQ/8J_wZzSm1l4/s1600/Haykal2.gif" height="200" width="139" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Haykal</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Whereas this was interesting to me, as it is a shared
symbol, if not a shared meaning, between modern Paganism and Persia, there was another
avenue of research that quickly became utterly absorbing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>Those Rosy Hours</i> is steeped in folk stories and legends from
Persia. This steered my awareness to a much older religion called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism" target="_blank">Zoroastrianism</a>. Established in the 6<sup>th</sup> century BCE, it is thought to have influenced the
iconography and theories of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. A crossover point between neolithic beliefs and modern worship.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The more I researched, the more my eyebrows started to rise.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Throughout Persia and much of Transcaucasia, New Year is
still celebrated on the Zoroastrian date of the Spring Equinox, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowruz" target="_blank">Nowruz</a>, when
light returns to the world. Their altars are made to the seasons, representing
the four elements as well as humans, animals and plants. Eggs are painted, as
in the Easter tradition, The Guardian of the Fire, the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajji_Firuz" target="_blank">Hajji Firuz</a></i>, dances with
his face blackened like traditional morris dancers, and people <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaharshanbe_Suri" target="_blank">jump the fire</a>,
casting their sickness into it and taking its strength, much like Beltane.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FxiznWKlWBo/VLenSuEbgwI/AAAAAAAAYDg/YYmblUU22Xk/s1600/DSCF0681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FxiznWKlWBo/VLenSuEbgwI/AAAAAAAAYDg/YYmblUU22Xk/s1600/DSCF0681.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Painted Eggs for Easter</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Then there is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizdah_Be-dar" target="_blank"><i>Sizdah Be-dar</i></a>, the Day of Chaos. This is the
thirteenth day after Nowruz, and is considered to be the day between years: the
old year has finished, the new has not yet begun.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On this day it is said that the only way to stay safe from
chaos, is to create even greater chaos yourself. People stay outdoors so that the chaos
does not come into the house, they lie to each other in the fashion of April
Fools, and create all sorts of noise and mayhem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is perhaps where the idea of 'unlucky number thirteen' comes from. What struck me was how much of European Paganism shares its roots
with Persian Zoroastrianism. It seems far greater than mere coincidence. Having grown up with Pagan tradition all around me, I felt as though I had
perhaps stumbled upon an ancient ancestor, the grandmother of all that is familiar.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>Those Rosy Hours</i>, quite unintentionally, yet perhaps auspiciously,
has thirteen chapters. A tribute to the chaotic forces which play out within
its pages. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1IP5Us5Mvjo/VLerZ3-p8AI/AAAAAAAAYDw/B6068i7izyQ/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1IP5Us5Mvjo/VLerZ3-p8AI/AAAAAAAAYDw/B6068i7izyQ/s1600/RH%2BDraft%2BCover.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-67059613781405597122014-12-15T14:10:00.000+00:002014-12-15T14:11:04.084+00:00Spirit Vine Winner Daisy Davis<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Congratulations to Daisy Davis who won our Spirit Vision <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/11/ross-heaven-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Ross Heaven writing competition</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A copy of <i><a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/shamanic-plant-medicine-ayahuasca" target="_blank">Ayahuasca, The Vine of Souls</a></i> is on its way to you.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwY/yVGfioxK1Xk/s1600/b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwY/yVGfioxK1Xk/s1600/b1.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Settle down beside me and I’ll tell you the part of the story you didn’t know. The part no-one knew. They always think the worst of the stepmother, always. But she was an accomplished mystic. When she looked into the mirror she would whisper its name like a lover, “Spiegelein.” Each day she would implore it, ‘Show me the beauty in this land, show me hope,’ but it showed her only the darkest places, the things no-one should have to see. Each time, she trod silently through the pathways of despair.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then one day, the mirror showed her the face of her stepdaughter, Schneewittchen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘Little Snow Witch,’ murmured the Queen, ‘our hope.’</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She took Schneewittchen to the forest, following the trails the Frost Maiden had left. They walked in silence past glittering conifers whose boughs dipped and rose. Their feet crunched on the frozen leaf litter of silver birch and they saw the last few autumn berries sparkling on bare bushes. They rested by a stream that didn’t flow, stilled by the passing of the Ice Maiden. Frost crystals dusted the surface. The Queen bent down and brushed them away. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘Look into the glass with me, Schneewittchen, what do you see?’ </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘I see the two of us.’</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘Look more deeply,’ said the Queen and so she did. ‘Before the snow comes,’ said the Queen, ‘you must build a shelter in which to lie. Make it from branches and cover it with leaves. When the snow comes, I will give you an apple. You must eat it, then go to the shelter. You must stay there for seven days and seven nights and eat nothing. The snow will keep in the warmth from your body. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The little snow witch did what she’d been asked. With the first fall of snow, she ate the apple, went down to the stream, drew some water and sheltered in the hide. It looked like a barrow or a deep snow bank. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Inside, Schneewittchen lay as though dead as the poison from her stepmother’s apple entered her blood. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the first night, a hare came to her and sat on her chest. It twitched its whiskers and said, ‘Little Snow Witch, as you lie there, are you afraid? Do you fear you’ve been tricked?’ But Schneewittchen could neither move, nor speak. ‘I will moisten your lips,’ said the hare. It dipped its muzzle into the water and let the water fall onto her mouth. As though in a dream, Schneewittchen saw the Queen speak to her mirror, ‘Spiegelein, Spiegelein…’ She watched as the Queen wandered through the desolate realm, weeping for the people and the land. Then Schneewittchen knew the Queen was true.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the second night, a fox came. It sat beside Schneewittchen. ‘Do you know why the kingdom is ruined?’ it asked, but Schneewittchen could neither move nor speak. The fox moistened her lips then showed her own father, the King, closing his doors to the people, so that he neither knew their desolation, nor could do anything to change it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the third night, came a badger. It thrust its snout close to Schneewittchen’s face and without a word, moistened her lips. Then it showed her why the land was blighted. Her father had not heeded his reeve who told him the land was being too harshly farmed until it could grow no more.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the fourth night, a great wind arose. Lying in her snow-covered tomb, Schneewittchen feared she might be uncovered and lie there, unable to move, looking at the stars until she froze. But the wind brought more snow and it spoke to her. It whispered in many voices how she could save the kingdom, what she must learn, to whom she must listen and to whom she must not. Then it let drops of water fall onto her lips.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the fifth night, no beast nor wind came, but she felt deathly cold as though she were indeed lying in her grave. Then she knew that her father was dead. As his soul passed through her tomb, tears dropped onto her lips.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the sixth night, she saw once more her stepmother looking into the mirror. But this time, the mirror was the stream and she herself was there. The Queen turned to Schneewittchen and said, ‘You are the hope, but people do not give up easily their old ways, even when they are harmful. We must work together, you will bring in the new, as I shall ease out the old.’</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the seventh night, she slept.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the morning, she pushed aside the leaves, twigs and snow. She stood up. Pushing through the snow by the side of the stream was a single snowdrop. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Schneewittchen knew it meant hope.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>---</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h4LKqf7j2dE/VI7rKf2uA3I/AAAAAAAAXzg/VzVdZM1aJV8/s1600/Daisy%2BDavis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h4LKqf7j2dE/VI7rKf2uA3I/AAAAAAAAXzg/VzVdZM1aJV8/s1600/Daisy%2BDavis.jpg" height="200" width="156" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daisy Davis is an educator, writer, dog and cat lover and an avid avoider of the culinary arts. It turns out you can’t make a living from the last two, but she refuses to give them up. Daisy lived for many years on the south coast of England but now calls the west coast of Canada home. She's not sure whether her Pagan leanings come from the Grimoire that sat on her grandmother's desk – but which on closer inspection turned out to be a Welsh dictionary – or from studying Mediaeval French. This, rather oddly, led her to The Mabinogian and thus into other realms. Daisy's fiction writing features Celtic, Norse and Saxon Pagans and European fairy tales.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-81281996165799137572014-11-08T09:44:00.000+00:002014-11-08T09:44:59.765+00:00Ross Heaven Giveaway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Uv7YOxFhhw/VF3jVs2CzDI/AAAAAAAAXSo/VIu-hhRFpyo/s1600/pablo%2Bamaringo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Uv7YOxFhhw/VF3jVs2CzDI/AAAAAAAAXSo/VIu-hhRFpyo/s1600/pablo%2Bamaringo.jpg" height="272" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We have <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/ross-heaven-in-october.html" target="_blank">been featuring</a> shamanic author <a href="http://www.thefourgates.org/" target="_blank">Ross Heaven</a>. Check out his <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/guest-post-ross-heaven-death-by-martian.html" target="_blank">guest post</a> and <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/ross-heaven-q.html" target="_blank">interview</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ross has kindly offered to give away a signed copy of his book <i><a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/shamanic-plant-medicine-ayahuasca" target="_blank">Ayahuasca: The Vine of Souls</a></i>. As usual, we're turning this into a writing competition to give PWC members a chance to showcase their talent.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>PRIZE</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwY/yVGfioxK1Xk/s1600/b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwY/yVGfioxK1Xk/s1600/b1.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">*</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To enter, send us your short stories (up to <b>800 words</b>) on the theme of <b>Spirit Visions </b>to <b>competition@paganwriters.net</b> before <b>Sunday 30th November 2014</b>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Entries are put to a public vote and the winner will be published here on the blog.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">--</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Ross Heaven is a shaman, healer, international workshop leader and the author of nearly twenty books on shamanism, spirituality, healing and plant spirit medicine. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Find him on <a href="http://www.thefourgates.org/" target="_blank">his website</a> or email ross@thefourgates.org to receive his free newsletters and updates.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXXZ8aehAPM/VC_Rmb7eZlI/AAAAAAAAVwA/4xdMh4lZI6w/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXXZ8aehAPM/VC_Rmb7eZlI/AAAAAAAAVwA/4xdMh4lZI6w/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" height="196" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-17738955091178326672014-10-30T08:57:00.000+00:002014-10-30T08:57:23.418+00:00Ross Heaven - Q&A<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Ross Heaven is a shaman, healer, international workshop leader and the author of nearly twenty books on shamanism, spirituality, healing and plant spirit medicine. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Find him on <a href="http://www.thefourgates.org/" target="_blank">his website</a> or email ross@thefourgates.org to receive his free newsletters and updates.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">As part of our <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/ross-heaven-in-october.html" target="_blank">Ross Heaven feature</a>, we've put your PWC questions to Ross for his honest answers.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CvKAFDKN_tI/VFHx8bMWSWI/AAAAAAAAWOc/tvaj2drGjLc/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CvKAFDKN_tI/VFHx8bMWSWI/AAAAAAAAWOc/tvaj2drGjLc/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>What was your first experience with entheogens?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Mushrooms. I grew up on the borders of Wales in the UK, where some of the best mushrooms on Earth grow. In profusion. And I was first given mushrooms ceremonially by an old shaman/sin eater when I was still a young teen (an experience I wrote about in <i>The Sin Eater’s Last Confessions</i>). I got a bit <i>blasé</i> about it actually because there were so many mushrooms around. So, just to complicate my life, I decided at some point that I better get on a plane to Peru to drink ayahuasca, then another one to Mexico to work with salvia because those were obviously the ‘real’ medicines. It took me about thirty years to realise there was nothing wrong with mushrooms in the first place and all I needed to do was step outside my front door! I can be a bit slow like that. But I’m a huge fan of mushrooms again now, run ceremonies and workshops with them and am writing a new book on them. I suppose I could have written it thirty years ago but, like I say, I can be a bit slow on the uptake.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>What do your family think of your path, do they share your shamanic outlook?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">My kids have no interest whatsoever in taking any teacher plant or coming to any of my ceremonies. Apart from normal teenage dabbling with a bit of pot and ecstasy etc. they’ve never been interested in ‘drugs’ at all in fact and hardly even touch alcohol now. Their friends think they're nuts incidentally: “Do what? Your dad’s an ayahuasca shaman? And san pedro? And salvia? And mushrooms? And he offers them to you? And you say no??? My dad would kick my arse all over London if he ever even caught me with a joint and your dad’s offering you aya and you're turning him down??? I may want to kill you.” But, as far as I can tell, every kid on Earth thinks their parents are morons, their work is boring, and they know best. That’s one of our jobs as parents in fact: to give our kids something to rebel against, so my kids rebelled against me and became boring straights. What you gonna do? Seriously, they do respect the work I do because they see the results and read the comments from people healed by these plant ceremonies (of cancer, diabetes, paralysis, etc – which they know is serious stuff) but they have absolutely no interest in doing this work themselves.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>What's your opinion on relaxing drug laws in countries like the UK and USA?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The ‘Just Say No’ and ‘war on drugs’ policies by the governments of some of those countries has succeeded brilliantly in increasing drug use, addiction and the wounding and killing of their own citizens by ensuring, for example, the continuance of inferior street drugs cut with toxic crap and the criminalisation of those who use drugs for taking part in a completely victimless crime which, by and large (compared to the number of deaths from drunk driving, cigarette smoking or prescription meds for example), harms no-one at all. It is the criminalisation in fact of the human mind and your God-given right to peacefully explore your own, so that everyone remains at the same dumb level as those who create such idiotic laws in the first place.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">But, of course, those governments will continue their ridiculous campaigns and create more suffering for the people they are supposed to be serving because politicians are more concerned with saving face than doing their jobs and because their own drug running operations (through the CIA for example) produce the money they needed to fund their black ops. So it’s important to keep the street prices high, which legalisation wouldn’t help. What amazes me, actually, is that our politicians are so dumb that they really believe that we are too dumb to see what they're really doing and why.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">My view on this issue is very simple: not only should all drugs be legalised immediately in all countries, but anyone who wants to be the boss of us (legislators, judges, politicians, teachers, etc.) should be required, as part of their election campaigns, to take a ‘drug’ like ayahuasca at least three times live on public television or they don’t get elected at all. Then they might actually know what they're talking about, be worth listening to and more inclined to do their jobs as public servants in the first place.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Is there any entheogen you haven't tried that you would like to?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Yes. I want to do some work with ketamine and I’ve been wanting for a few years to diet opium, which is a brilliant teacher from the limited experience I’ve had with it. I’m trying to grow the poppies now. And I haven’t yet made it to a Huichol ceremony with peyote.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Can you achieve spiritual and self-enlightenment without drugs?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Short answer: no, you can’t even grasp what real shamanism is or what a real ‘spirit world’ looks like without taking teacher plants in ceremony. If you want a longer answer <a href="http://www.capricornmembers.com/apps/videos/videos/show/18740119-177-capricorn-radio-ross-heaven-cactus-of-mystery" target="_blank">there’s a radio interview here</a> where I go into the whys of that statement more fully.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>What do you consider your own purpose to be as a shaman?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">‘Purpose’ makes it sound a bit grand. I’ve always said that being a shaman is no different from being a plumber or a bricklayer or doing any job. Does a plumber have a ‘purpose’? It’s simply the work we do. My job is to heal some people and to introduce or initiate others into shamanism through the teaching I do. So I suppose that’s my purpose.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Do you think your practises come from any one tradition – like vodou, do you still practise that? Or are you a mixture of different traditions?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The great shaman Bob Dylan put it nicely for me when he wrote (in <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP4XP8CaX7k" target="_blank">Subterranean Homesick Blues</a></i>, I think) “Don’t follow leaders, watch your parking meters”. Almost by definition, that is, anyone who actually wants to be the boss of us isn’t qualified or capable of doing that job and anyone who’s got a ‘bona-fide true-blue copper-bottomed real tradition’ to follow (like Simon Buxton’s ‘<a href="http://www.sacredtrust.org/path-of-pollen.php" target="_blank">Path of Pollen</a>’ for example – LOL) is almost certainly peddling you horseshit. The reason for that is simple: all traditions evolve, grow and adapt to human and cultural needs over time and space; nothing remains static if it wants to survive. Besides which, every shaman from any tradition puts his unique stamp on its practice, which reflects his own personality, understanding, continued development and experiential knowledge of what works for him. So there is no ‘tradition’ to follow. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">My approach is, I think, commonsense: I’ve explored a number of different ‘traditions’ and I use the methods, techniques and medicine that works, wherever it comes from. The results are what matter to me – ‘does it grow corn’, as the expression goes; i.e. does it actually heal? I think it’s rather pointless to carry around a lot of garbage that has no useful effect whatsoever just for the sake of doing so. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Incidentally, I have never practised Vodou. I studied it and initiated into it because I got frustrated by reading uninformed accounts by anthropologists and/or sensationalists who had never been to the secret ceremonies (which only initiates take part in), just the public events which anyone can attend and contain no real information at all, and who were therefore repeating incorrect, incomplete and sometimes deliberately misleading ‘facts’ just to sell a few books. I initiated and became a priest so I know what Vodou really is but I only ever ‘practised’ it insofar as (apart from a lot of standard Catholic components laid on top of the more animistic African traditions) it’s pretty indistinguishable from any other shamanic approach in its beliefs and ways of healing, working with spirits etc.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Are you afraid of death?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Scared shitless. And at the same time rather looking forward to it. A bit like that feeling you get at the top of a roller coaster ride: ‘Do I really want what’s coming next? Noooooooo. I mean yeeeeeeees’. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Life really ain’t all that, after all (especially looking around at the world right now and seeing the mess our glorious leaders have made of it, as well as the stupidity of a lot of the people who live here) so I’m quite looking forward to the next adventure. At the same time though I have grown rather fond of the comical shining idiocy of most of the human race. It’s a really engrossing comedy show, which I know I’ll miss, along with some other things. Like peanut butter. But then I think ‘ah, the hell with it. Move on, move on.’</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Do you think you need money to access spiritual enlightenment? Like ayahuasca retreats cost a lot, what about people who haven't got money to get on a plane?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I really have no idea what ‘spiritual enlightenment’ is. I mean seriously. I see the words used a lot in new age books but I don’t know anyone who’s actually bothered to define (or perhaps even knows) what they’re on about when they write about stuff like that. I can’t even tell you what being ‘spiritual’ is in actual real life practice (is it doing yoga? Being nice to dolphins? Walking past a homeless person while chanting <i>om</i> instead of dropping a quid in his hat?), yet alone being ‘enlightened’. They seem like empty garbage words to me. But if you know what they mean (for you at least) and can find some way or getting, doing or being those things without spending money on them then I guess the answer to your question is no you don’t need cash. But, again, I'm the wrong person to ask because I really don’t know what we’re talking about here. I work with plants to help me be a better human (not a spiritual) being and so I can do my best for others from the position of a very un-enlightened, stumbling-through-it, trying-to-find-some-answers, pretty clueless, all-too-human dork like everyone else I know on this planet - including a lot of the people who write about ‘spiritual enlightenment’ and how to achieve it in their books, and are some of the most screwed up individuals I’ve ever met. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Aya retreats can cost a lot, true, if you're exclusively concerned with price. If you’re interested in the value you get from them however, you might find them pretty cheap. I mean, if you really need healing, for example, well what’s your life worth to you? I tell you what I find curious though: the people who tell me aya retreats are expensive and at the same time spend a couple of hundred pounds a week buying processed crap to pollute their bodies from supermarkets, a hundred or more every month getting their hair and make-up done, slapping toxic slime all over their kippers, and a thousand a year on their stress-inducing package holiday nightmare to Benidorm, and who see no irony at all in telling me why they simply can’t afford the “huge expense” required for their healing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Your cover designs are awesome, do you get any say in the design?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Sometimes. My UK publishers give me far more input that the Americans. The Brits pretty much let me design my own; the Americans never do, and they almost always change the titles I give them as well – which sometimes get me (and them) into trouble, though they rarely listen when I tell them what’s going to happen. A classic was <i>The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja</i>, which was originally called <i>The Four Gates to Freedom</i> and was (and still is) about the medicine wheel as a tool for healing and self-understanding, illustrated with examples from the ‘warrior traditions’, including the Toltec, Samurai and, yes OK, the Ninja too. The Americans decided that Ninjas would sell more books however, so changed the title because the book had a few Ninjas in it. I told them the outcome would be that only martial artists would be really interested in a title like that and we’d then get it in the neck from the pissed-off Ninjas who bought it and really didn’t want to hear about Mexican bloody shamans, while the people we actually wanted to reach (those interested in shamanism and healing) would miss the point entirely. So guess what happened? Cue a load of letters from pissed-off Ninjas moaning about the book and reviews at Amazon from people saying they’d read more about actual Ninjas on the back of a cornflake packet. Well, duh; I could have told them that (and tried to!). The book’s doing OK in terms of sales, as it happens, but more by luck than design (or title). Having said that, their last couple of covers (for <i>Cactus of Mystery </i>and <i>Shamanic Quest for the Spirit of Salvia</i>) have been pretty rocking so I was pleased with those. Mind you, for the latter, I did have to correct a pretty glaring error when, at one point, they put the image of a Peruvian rainforest ayahuascero on the cover of a book about Mexican shamanism.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Do you find it hard to express yourself in words when you're talking about things you've seen and experienced in trance or on drugs? How do you find the language?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Yes, it’s almost impossible and even if I really try hard to describe my visions, then read it back to myself, I quite often end up cringing anyway at what a self-indulgent self-obsessed prick I sound. “Wow, ain’t I all that; look at my rocking visions!” At best, as I put it in a radio interview once, trying to explain an aya trip to someone who’s never drunk it is a bit like describing yellow to someone who’s never seen it. At worst I just sound like a knob who’s taken too many drugs (which is also true, I guess!) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">What I try to do now instead is draw some useful conclusions – the teachings or the possible meanings – from the things I’ve seen or been shown in the trip so they might be helpful to someone else.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b>*</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If you would like to know more about Ross, check out his guest blog </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><i><a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/guest-post-ross-heaven-death-by-martian.html" target="_blank">Death by Martian Shaman</a></i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We will be launching a writing competition to win a signed copy of Ross' novel <i>Ayahuasca: The Vine of Souls</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ebJnFp-ckJg/VFH84SCuFzI/AAAAAAAAWPo/up8sO9XzpDQ/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ebJnFp-ckJg/VFH84SCuFzI/AAAAAAAAWPo/up8sO9XzpDQ/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" height="196" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-80468076910773656072014-10-04T12:13:00.000+01:002014-10-30T08:58:24.848+00:00Ross Heaven in October<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GvU_VCKotMI/VC_TmyucLPI/AAAAAAAAVwI/L5tsGNW-gnQ/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBanner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GvU_VCKotMI/VC_TmyucLPI/AAAAAAAAVwI/L5tsGNW-gnQ/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBanner.png" height="236" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This month at Pagan Writers Community we are celebrating the release of Ross Heaven's <i><a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/shamanic-plant-medicine-ayahuasca" target="_blank">Ayahuasca: The Vine of Souls</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ross is a shaman, healer, international workshop leader and the author of nearly twenty books on shamanism, spirituality, healing and plant spirit medicine. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ross is published by <a href="http://www.o-books.com/" target="_blank">O Books</a>, and you can find him <a href="http://www.thefourgates.org/" target="_blank">on his website</a> or email ross@thefourgates.org to receive his free newsletters and updates.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In honour of the occasion, we are bringing you a whole heap of goodies :-</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEK ONE</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Have a read of <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/guest-post-ross-heaven-death-by-martian.html" target="_blank">Ross' Guest Post</a>. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have a question for Ross? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">E-mail it to <b>questions@paganwriters.net</b> by the end of <b>Saturday 11th October 2014</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEKS TWO - THREE</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We will select the best of the questions and <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/ross-heaven-q.html" target="_blank">publish Ross' answers</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ross has agreed to give away a signed copy of his book! We will be holding a writing competition to select the winner.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>WEEK FOUR</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At the end of the month we'll announce the winners of the goodies and publish their entries online.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We'd really like to thank Ross for being a guest author at Pagan Writers Community and for generously donating his work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwU/hMtFRSkpv7E/s1600/b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CnCaKhewnAg/VC_VRUqzCpI/AAAAAAAAVwU/hMtFRSkpv7E/s1600/b1.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-42873607473443301672014-10-01T11:55:00.000+01:002014-10-04T12:13:33.843+01:00Guest Post: Ross Heaven - Death by Martian Shaman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkrTdxmlUfc/VC_KLf9StfI/AAAAAAAAVvs/g1NupHRF8Iw/s1600/Ross%2BHEaven.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Ross Heaven is a shaman, healer, international workshop leader and the author of nearly twenty books on shamanism, spirituality, healing and plant spirit medicine. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Find him on <a href="http://www.thefourgates.org/" target="_blank">his website</a> or email ross@thefourgates.org to receive his free newsletters and updates.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">All this month at <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/10/ross-heaven-in-october.html" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a>, we're celebrating Ross Heaven's most recent release <i><a href="http://www.moon-books.net/books/shamanic-plant-medicine-ayahuasca" target="_blank">Ayahuasca: The Vine of Souls</a></i>, which came out in January this year with <a href="http://www.o-books.com/" target="_blank">O Books</a>.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We are starting out with a guest post from Ross, which is an extract from his book.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">If this post inspires questions, either related to entheogens or shamanism, e-mail those questions to: <b>questions@paganwriters.net</b> before the end of <b>Saturday 11th October 2014</b>. We will be putting the best questions to Ross, and seeking answers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Death by Martian Shaman
and the Ego of Western Do-Gooders: <br />Cautions for Western Seekers Drinking
Ayahuasca<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ross Heaven<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">A boy died in a jungle. Alone, on
ayahuasca. It isn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last, although
the circumstances of this death were more unusual and tragic than most. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“There was a death recently at
Shimbre [an ayahuasca centre in Peru],” writes Inspeyere at <i>Evolver</i>. “An 18-year-old kid passed away
during ceremony… and it looks as though there was an attempt to cover up the
tragedy and pretend he just ‘disappeared’. Mancoluto [the Shimbre shaman] and
two others were put in police custody and the future of the retreat centre is
at risk.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Shimbre was notorious before it
even opened – a multi-million dollar hi-tech dream-centre funded by Rob, a
millionaire Wall Street financier who (in a familiar drama with Westerners) had
drunk ayahuasca a few times in Peru, decided that his life was changed, that he
was now ‘enlightened’, and that he was going to ‘save the world’. Work began on
Shimbre almost immediately afterwards, as a vehicle for Mancoluto, Rob’s
‘guru’, to begin his job as our saviour. Mancoluto was not free of controversy
- less ‘enlightened’ people might say transparent and easily-seen ego-riddled
bullshit - either. He claimed, among other things – in a new age crap-spout
familiar to me and, Im sure, to many others at this blog - to be descended from
Martians by way of Atlantis and Lemuria, and to have the status (along with
just four other people on Earth) of ‘First Level Shaman’ (note: there is no
such rank among shamans). As such, he said, he had seven senses including ESP,
telepathy and intuition, and was a pure-blooded Martian. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Inspeyere continues: “[This]
maestro also had an extremely avant-garde approach to administering the
medicine. Rather than prepare the brew himself… he bought it second-hand. He
also didn’t sing icaros, but instead sang the same song about Las Huarinjas
before sending the ‘ceremony’ participants alone out into the jungle. I repeat,
<i>alone out into the jungle</i>. Yes, there
were several minders, apprentices (oftentimes also under the influence of
either San Pedro or ayahuasca) who were supposed to keep an eye on people.
However, [participants] were spread out across at least an acre of raised
walkways, each in individual tents on raised platforms… Mancoluto claimed that
he was able to monitor everyone from up in his scaffold tower using his ESP and
telepathy. [However] After sending all of the ceremony participants into the
jungle he climbed into his room and would watch Peruvian soap operas while
sitting on a bank of batteries. He said they didn’t need the circle, the group
intention, the icaros, or his guidance to get the most from the medicine. In
his own words, all that was just ‘therapy’ and therapy was for the weak. He
wanted people to evolve, to awaken their DNA. To that end, he said ayahuasca
was only useful as a purgative, a reset button, and that San Pedro was the true
medicine… </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“For experts
and experienced psychonauts, such an experience alone with the medicine and the
jungle could be a really beneficial thing, we rationalized. Maybe his goal of
administering this brew to Wall Street would help influence the trajectory of
global finance. Maybe he’s living the shaman dream? Now, in light of the death
of an 18-year-old kid from Northern California and the subsequent cover up, I
feel the need to come clean. Ayahuasca and San Pedro are incredible medicines
with complex rituals and ceremonies developed over thousands of years of
co-evolution between man and plant. They also contain various admixtures,
depending on the preparer, and ayahuasca in particular is frequently mixed with
potentially dangerous other plants. That is part of the reason so many
practitioners stick to the dieta and the ritual, including the circle, the
darkness, the group intention, and the icaros. While I am not experienced
enough to tell anyone whether or not they should participate in a particular
ceremony or with one shaman or curandero or another, I think it’s absolutely
essential for people to do their homework. Find out what is in the medicine.
Ask if a ceremony is traditional or avant-garde, and decide if it’s right for
you. Make sure you’re not taking any medication or eating any food that is
contra-indicated. The dieta is not just superstition, it can save your life! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“Hopefully this
doesn’t create a backlash against the medicine, this is the first death I’ve heard
of related to ayahuasca since I was introduced to it, and someone dies in
America from a prescription drug overdose every 19 seconds. (<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3.htm)"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3.htm)</span></a>.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mancoluto was eventually convicted
for his part in this death, after trying to cover it up by dragging the body
into the jungle and burying it in a ditch. The last I heard, he was given three
years’ probation and the parents of the dead teenager were still trying to get his
body returned to the States. Rob, the centre owner – once, and still, a Wall
Street financial player – having invested millions in Shimbre, closed it and it
is now a rich man’s folly waiting for the jungle to consume it. Two years before
this incident Rob was apparently warned by the ayahuasca community about the
unorthodox and dangerous approach of his shaman but he chose to ignore their
concerns. Now he publicly condemns his guru as “evil”. But let’s remember that
he once regarded him as the saviour of mankind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There is nothing we can do for this
dead boy now, but there are lessons we can take from this incident which might
prevent the deaths of others – yours for example if you are tempted by the idea
of ayahuasca. For, while I am certainly not excusing the shaman or the centre
owner for their parts in this, they are not the only ones at blame. The whole
episode was, in my view, preventable if only Westerners would get over the
projections they all-too-freely make onto shamans. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Rob built Shimbre at a cost of
millions primarily for Mancoluto, with whom, having drunk ayahuasca just once
or twice, he claimed a ‘life-changing experience’. He lost it all and ended up
lucky not to be facing manslaughter or murder charges since his dream – or delusion
– cost the life of a young man barely out of childhood. And all because an
otherwise intelligent man, possibly with good intentions, really believed in
his Martian shaman. But he was not alone in this. The participants in
ceremonies must surely have believed the hype as well or they wouldn’t have
been there. What on Earth possesses us in the West that we are prepared to give
away our power and commonsense on such a level as soon as the word ‘shaman’ is
mentioned?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Here are the lessons I took from
this event, and they are points to be aware of when considering any ayahuasca
journey of your own:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">1. Before joining <i>any</i> ceremony, at least know <i>something</i> about the centre you will be
visiting – it’s history, its speciality if any (for example, my own centres in
Iquitos and Spain, while offering ayahuasca healing in general, also had a
special interest in helping people overcome addictions), its philosophy (does
it believe that we are all from Atlantis, for example, or that its shaman is
from Mars?), its successes or otherwise in dealing with the issues that you’d
like to look at, and its reputation, as well as the reality. For example, one
centre operating now in Iquitos has an international reputation, based solely on
its own claims, of being all about ‘the light’ – ‘finding your light within’
and ‘expelling darkness’ etc. This is actually quite meaningless, if you think
about it, and really says nothing. It is more of a pander to Western ideas and
tastes. The reality, however, is that this centre is also well known in Peru because
another ‘enlightened Westerner’ opened it by effectively stealing the land it
sits on from a native shaman who had owned it for years. So much for following
the light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">2. Find out about the shaman too –
in <i>facts</i>, not flowery language. How
long has he been an ayahuascero, who trained him, what plants has he dieted,
and so on. Ayahuasca can be an extreme experience and to balance this and
ensure your safety you need an experienced shaman who can hold and direct a
ceremony. Any hint of flakiness from the person you are asking to take care of
your body and soul, or intimation that he may lack experience, should be cause
for you to think about looking elsewhere. In the case of Shimbre for example,
the shaman thought he was from Mars and he wasn’t even an ayahuascero, he had
trained as a huachumero, working with San Pedro, which is a totally different
plant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">3. What’s in the ayahuasca? Most brews
are simply a mix of the vine and chacruna leaves, sometimes with a little
tobacco, sometimes with an admixture plant or two, such as chiric sanango, but
some also contain brugmansia, which is an extremely powerful visionary plant in
its own right. Some shamans also believe that it is directly associated with
brujeria – witchcraft. I have drunk ayahuasca with brugmansia in it and, in
itself, found nothing harmful in the plant (although it is essential to get the
quantity right as it can be toxic at higher levels). It was a very intense and
fast-moving experience, but I knew what I was getting into. I can imagine that
someone unused to it, though, even if they have experience with ayahuasca, would
have found it difficult and unnerving. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">4. Who makes the ayahuasca may also
be a factor. At Shimbre the shaman did not make his own brew but bought it from
another (or, rather, an actual) ayahuascero. In itself that may be no problem
since quite a few ayahuasca centres buy in their brews at one time or another,
but it’s still a good idea to know who made it and what his or her relationship
is to the centre you’re joining. Brujeria – sorcery, or shamanic power plays - is
far from uncommon in Peru and it is sometimes the case that one shaman will
deliberately try to sabotage the ceremony of another by magical (or other)
means in order to steal his clientele or because of jealousy, revenge or some
other cause. A brew with a few unadvertised added ingredients would certainly
be one way to do this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">5. Make sure your shaman drinks
too. If he won’t drink his own ayahuasca or drinks from another bottle to the
one he uses for you, there may be something going on that is not quite right.
All ayahuasceros should drink their medicine in ceremony – it is their plant of
power and it enables them to see what is going on for you and to heal your
illnesses. If your shaman claims not to need ayahuasca because he has ‘Martian
ESP’, it is probably better to just walk away. By the same token, if he drinks
from a separate bottle it is likely that he is getting a different medicine to
you and again it’s worth asking why. At the temple I wrote about earlier, for
example, the one concerned with ‘light’, it was common during my stay for
participants to be given one brew and the shamans, centre owner and other
members of the ‘elite’ to drink from another bottle. Having established during
the first ceremony that our brew was weak, I asked what was in the second
bottle. It turned out that this was ‘special brew’ (or what I would call normal
strength, effective ayahuasca). I ‘urged’ the shamans to give this to my
participants as well and when that was done people actually got what they
needed and had paid for – but it had to be ‘requested’; it was not given
willingly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">6. How is the ceremony conducted?
In the case of Shimbre, the shaman simply gave people ayahuasca and then sent
them out into the jungle alone. I cannot emphasise strongly enough how crazy
and dangerous this is. The jungle at night (and sometimes even in daylight) is
no place to be wandering alone. It is easy to get lost, to trip and fall, to
walk into a tree and hurt yourself or disturb a colony of stinging ants and
suffer pain that lasts for days – and that’s without having ingested a strong
psychedelic and, in this case, one which also contains brugmansia. I’m just
surprised that there were no accidents at this centre before. The shaman is the
protector of the ceremonial space and of participants. Once you are out of his
sight he cannot safeguard you effectively and nor, it goes without saying, can
he work on your healing, which is what you came for in the first place. At my
ceremonies I advise people to remain in the maloca unless absolutely necessary
and if they do leave it, to stay within range of my icaros, then return to the
ceremonial room for the ritual closing of the event. I certainly don’t send
them out alone and I don’t know any shaman who does, apart from those who claim
a Martian lineage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">While it is a good idea to ask
these questions, of course also keep common courtesy in mind. You want to make
a good impression on your shaman too, before you put your life in his hands. If
I receive an email from someone who seems to be <i>demanding</i> answers to a long list of questions (particularly if they
include nebulous and un-thought-through ones like ‘What will I see?’ or ‘Can
you guarantee that I will be healed?’) I have learned now just to hit the
delete button since my experience with people like this is that they are too
‘in their heads’, the prisoners of rational thought who want concrete answers
from somebody else, as if there is somehow a ‘right’ way to have an ayahuasca
experience, instead of doing the work for themselves. On the other hand, I have
no problems at all in answering sensible questions asked for genuine reasons,
and nor do the shamans I work with.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Perhaps the key take-home message
from examples like Shimbre is that shamans are not Saints and gurus, and I really
wish that Western participants would get this message. It would make life so much
easier for everyone, including themselves and the shamans they have come to
work with. Shamans are not gurus or saints – <i>but nor should we want them to be</i>. For sure, we want them to be
sane and safe, but by projecting our other illusions onto them – that they have
all the answers and are the only ones who can save us – we give our own healing
power away. By regarding them as ‘holy men’ who are ‘spiritually advanced’ and
‘enlightened’, we deny them (and <i>ourselves</i>)
their greatest healing gift: <i>that they
are ordinary men and women who have been through their share of trials and
found a way to heal by working with their spirits</i> - and so therefore, with
their guidance, can we. Beneath, or aside from that, they are just people like
us, and they do not (and should not) claim to be ‘ascended masters’ or whatever
other new age title the Western imagination wants to dump on them. The Lakota
Sioux medicine man, John Lame Deer, put it well when he said that: “A medicine
man <i>shouldn’t</i> be a saint. He should
experience and feel all the ups and downs, all the despair and joy, the magic
and the reality, the courage and fear of his people. He should be able to sink
as low as a bug and soar like an eagle. You have to be God <i>and</i> the Devil, both of them. Being a good medicine man means being
right in the midst of the turmoil not shielding yourself from it.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There is nothing in that
description which says that the shaman will do your job of healing for you;
only that he knows what you’re going through and has some ideas and techniques
that can help you because they have helped him too. In this sense it’s no
different from going to your doctor with a health problem. He understands your
condition and, if you believe in his pills and potions, he may have some drugs
that can help you, but he’s not going to take your disease on himself – it’s <i>your</i> problem and <i>your</i> responsibility to cure it with his assistance. Nor is it his
job to tell you how to live or preach a gospel at you. He’s just there to help.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">You probably wouldn’t throw
yourself at your doctor just because he gave you a flu jab – so why do so many
Westerners (mainly women, I have to say) offer themselves to shamans, almost,
it seems, at the drop of a hat, just because he gives them a cup of aya? I have
seen this process so many times in Peru, and the outcome is never pretty. The
shaman, being a human being (and never claiming to be anything else), may very
well accept your advances, but the likely result of this is only trouble. The
Westerner is no doubt motivated by ego or some other less-than-useful drive:
‘to have the Master’. The shaman gets a pretty woman for the night, but he’s
from a different culture where ‘relationships’ are not the same as in the West,
and he may think that’s it: that you understand that you have been healed and now
you are thanking him in ‘the way of Western women’ - but that you <i>have</i> actually been <i>healed</i>. Westerners, meanwhile, seem unable to separate the two and,
raised in a consumer society, almost seem to want to possess and own the shaman
and when that proves impossible, reject their healing too, sometimes crying
‘rape’ into the bargain. I have seen it happen countless times and the result
is always the same: someone who had once been healed, through wanting too much,
now leaves the jungle with nothing: not the shaman they wanted to own and no
faith in their own healing either. Maybe that’s the Western way: all or
nothing. But who is really exploiting who? And if the outcome is that you deny
your own healing, then honestly, why even go there?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">That is not to say either that
there are not unscrupulous ‘guru-shamans’ who will take advantage of vulnerable
Westerners, but it’s often a two-way process and it stems from the desire to
turn our healers into our saviours and give away our power. Daniel Pinchbeck made
a related and relevant comment on his Facebook page (September 24, 2012),
remarking on, “How naive we [in the West] still are about what we call
‘shamanism’.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He says: “In the Amazon, mastery of
ayahuasca was an ambiguous skill, as the power gained from its use could be
used to heal or kill. In many tribes, ‘shamans’ or sorcerers would drink
ayahuasca to shoot magical darts at their enemies. Power – gained in any realm
– always has this potential for dangerous ambiguity. Our language and concepts
are not sophisticated enough yet to fully articulate the layers of ambiguity
and complexity in practices that may ultimately be more magical than spiritual.
In fact, the concept of ‘spiritual’ is a major problem for us. ‘Spirituality’
becomes an avoidance mechanism for many people. Personally, I don’t think
someone is ‘spiritual’ if they meditate, do yoga, talk about Buddhism or drink
ayahuasca – even if they do ‘energy work’ or ‘Tantric healings’ or whatever.
All of that can be done to bring pleasure to the ego or enhance narcissism – in
any case, these days it is not hip to not be ‘spiritual’ in some way. I also
feel that ‘spiritual’ as a concept presupposes a dichotomy or dualistic split
between spirit and matter that is an error in our understanding. The ‘true person’
of the Tao would be one who had integrated spirit <i>and</i> matter – the split only exists in our minds in any case. If we
are forced to use the term ‘spiritual’ I would reserve it for those who have
dedicated themselves to service in the world, and whose daily lives reflect
their inner intention. I would measure their ‘spirituality’ by tangible
results, by their impact on other people and on the physical world, not by
avowed ideals. Clearly we need to become less naïve about shamanism – as well
as spirituality in general. Shamans are not all good-hearted healers…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I agree. But then, nor do most of
them claim to be, and nor should we try to make them that by projecting our
needs and illusions onto them. Ultimately, the facts of life are that we are
responsible for ourselves. Remembering that could save you a whole lot of
trouble if you ever make the journey to Peru (or seek shamanic healing of any
kind) and, swept up in the romance and possibility of it all, decide to throw
away everything that you’ve gained. “It is good to keep an open mind,” as the
psychonaut and scientist John Lilly remarked, “but not so open that your brain
drops out.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xXXZ8aehAPM/VC_Rmb7eZlI/AAAAAAAAVv8/xEJecBamMq8/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xXXZ8aehAPM/VC_Rmb7eZlI/AAAAAAAAVv8/xEJecBamMq8/s1600/Ross%2BHeaven%2BBooks.jpg" height="196" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-69850590839652605142014-08-22T21:48:00.000+01:002014-08-22T22:23:04.646+01:00Memoir Writing with T. J. Burns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBQ6wO3v6qU/U_TLul_JTmI/AAAAAAAAVIg/VdcFU7bhxIc/s1600/Tammie%2BBurnsed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBQ6wO3v6qU/U_TLul_JTmI/AAAAAAAAVIg/VdcFU7bhxIc/s1600/Tammie%2BBurnsed.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T. J. Burns is a long-standing member of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community </a>team. She is also the author of <i>Writing Wild: Crafting the Pagan Memoir</i> and <i>The Ones Who Dance Alone: Full Moon Celebrations for the Solitary Witch</i>. She is currently working on <i>Slow the Wheel: A Crone’s Guide to Savoring the Seasons</i>. T.J. loves supporting other writers as a writing mentor and spending time at the crossroads where creativity and spirituality meet. She lives in California with her husband, three dogs and one cat. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visit her <a href="http://www.writertjburns.com/" target="_blank">on her website</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammie-J-Burnsed/186349074741249?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To celebrate the release of <a href="http://www.writertjburns.com/#!books/cnec" target="_blank"><i>Writing Wild</i></a> with <a href="http://paganwriterspress.com/" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Press</a>, T. J. Burns will be running a free six-week memoir writing course from <b>8th September 2014</b>. To sign up, simply <a href="http://www.writertjburns.com/#!free-writing-course/c3m2" target="_blank">register on her website</a>. There is also a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/736673226397099/" target="_blank">dedicated Facebook group</a> where you can connect with other memoir writers.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">More details about the course at the bottom of this post, but first a little about T. J. Burns and her reasons for writing memoirs.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Memoir is a Misfit but so am I</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Memoir is a literary misfit. Part tell-all and part self-examination, it lacks the gravitas of an autobiography or the scintillating plot lines of a novel. <i>The New Yorker</i> compares memoir to the drunken wedding guest who makes its rounds from table to table, exposing family secrets and embarrassing all the sober relatives. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Considering the trouble it may cause the author, the shadow-thin chance it will ever be published why should anyone bother writing a memoir?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Because they want to learn more about their family history.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Because they want to learn more about themselves.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Because they’ve gained wisdom through their experiences and want to share it with others.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Because every person’s story matters. Everyone’s.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I first became interested in memoir while earning an MFA. I admit I hadn’t read a single memoir prior to 2006 when my term advisor put <i>Another Bullshit Night in Suck City</i> by Nick Flynn on my reading list. Somewhere along the line I’d formed the opinion that memoirs were self-indulgent books famous people paid someone to write for them. In fairness, some are, but most are not.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At the time he wrote <i>Another Bullshit Night</i> Flynn was an emerging writer, but not yet famous and his story, though compelling, wasn’t glitter-frosted or packed with exotic adventure. His writing was well-crafted and thoughtful. His background as a poet was evident in the pages of his prose. With that one book I learned how beautiful, how real and interesting a memoir can be.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">After reading Flynn, I sought out memoir authors who mixed literary styles, who played on the page, who told their story their way. Rebecca Brown, Carol Guess and, of course, Mary Karr are among my favorites. Memoir hooked me, and good. Everyone should do this, I thought. Everyone.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My time in ritual circles enlightened me to the power of the personal narrative. In circle I met incest survivors, people who grew up in active war zones, gay men and women who risked everything to live an authentic life, travelers, artists, activists and parents of special-needs children. In face-to-face situations I had ultimate respect for the idea that everyone had a story. I firmly believed if we all knew the challenges other humans faced most of the prejudice and hate in the world would fall away. Yet somehow I didn’t connect that belief with memoir until I read about Flynn’s struggle to care for his homeless, alcoholic father without getting lost in the world of addiction and depression. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">As a Witch I think it’s especially important for Pagans to write their story, even if they don’t consider themselves writers. As a community, we are too often marginalized and stereotyped. If more of us shared our stories and the experiences that brought us to our specific spiritual path, I believe we would, as a group, gain more respect from, and build bridges with, mainstream society. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">However, the biggest reason to write a memoir isn’t to tell someone else about your life, it’s to examine it through the practice of self inquiry. Writing is a personal ritual, rich with opportunities for growth and living a more meaningful life. Writing my memoir provides me with an outlet to heal past wounds, understand my experiences and expand my gratitude. True, no major publisher is likely to publish my memoir; I’m not famous and so far my life doesn’t include any super amazing adventures. My story is one of survival, but I understand that surviving fundamentalism is not as marketable as, say, surviving an ill-fated trek through the Amazon. But that doesn’t mean my life or my memoir is less valuable than someone else’s because the value lies in the process of writing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If I want readers, I can self-publish or find a start-up publishing company that’s hungry for manuscripts. I can print out a few copies for friends and family or publish my memoir as a blog. Whether or not lots of people read a memoir doesn’t negate its importance. Did I already say the value lies in the process of writing and not in the product? I think I did, but I’ll say it twice because it’s true.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Memoir is a literary misfit, and as such it’s the perfect genre for we who walk a non-traditional path. Write your story because the process is cathartic, because your story is interesting, or inspiring, or funny or because you’ve always wanted to write, and memoir is an excellent place to hone your craft. Write your story because your story matters.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>*</b></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>The Course</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">T.J. is currently offering a free six-week memoir ecourse to PWC members. The <i>Your Story Matters</i> ecourse discusses:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Understanding Memoir</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Selecting a Theme</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Personal Inquiry</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Creating a Spine for your Story</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Fact Checking</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Revision</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The course starts on <b>8th September 2014</b>. To participate, simply <a href="http://www.writertjburns.com/#!free-writing-course/c3m2" target="_blank"><b>REGISTER FOR THE COURSE</b></a> on her website. There is also a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/736673226397099/" target="_blank">dedicated Facebook group</a> where you can connect with other memoir writers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21HdU3LaV4E/U_TQ7BmcuDI/AAAAAAAAVIs/le7LgIGIDZ4/s1600/Writing%2BWild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21HdU3LaV4E/U_TQ7BmcuDI/AAAAAAAAVIs/le7LgIGIDZ4/s1600/Writing%2BWild.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Writing Wild</i></b>: Crafting the Pagan Memoir was created especially for new writers and non-writers who identify with an earth-based spiritual path. T.J. combines writing assignments and prompts with suggestions for personal ritual, guided meditations and other exercises to help budding memoirists connect with their written story on a deeper level. There are many books available on the craft of memoir writing, but <i>Writing Wild</i> is unique; it’s practical, approachable and magical. Do you have to be a Pagan to write a Pagan memoir? No, but it can’t hurt. </span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />Excerpt</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Tell me where the road has taken you and what you ran to or from. Tell me what you’ve learned. Share your wisdom because you have some, and the world sorely needs it. Give birth to your spiritual memoir because it may be the seed from which someone else’s healing is born. Write with wild abandon, secured in the center of your own sacred circle.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-52961878376331538852014-08-17T08:00:00.000+01:002015-09-14T20:08:09.265+01:00Don't Tell the Vicar!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RN8sY67GXS4/U-oJCW4BB7I/AAAAAAAAU70/7FhfUjTCXhk/s1600/potholes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RN8sY67GXS4/U-oJCW4BB7I/AAAAAAAAU70/7FhfUjTCXhk/s1600/potholes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Never Mention the Apocalypse to the Local Vicar.</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Being asked to write poetry to fill a spot in the local Parish news was, to me, a way to get views. Even though it was run by local churchgoers. It was always known as the 'normal mag', what you read, like, to find out what’s on, init. No one ever read the church bit, but glanced over it to see if the fish and chip shop was around on Thursday. <br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The editor asked me for a poem for a slot in August. I had a rather humorous poem about potholes. Anyone living in the UK would know the general nuisance of potholes. I thought that it was a great topic for this month’s poetry spot. When I wrote it, I didn’t have the parish magazine in mind. It was a general poem about a make-believe village, written for a day during National Poetry Month which takes place every April.<br /> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course it needed the odd tweak for village life.<br /><br />I sent the poem off, and a few days later I received a reply:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Stormy. Thank you for the poem, it is very good but I think the vicar may find it offencive with regards to your line about the apocalypse and the reference to the devil. She may not find it too kindly of you to suggest this idea.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />How would you like us to go about this? Maybe if we change the vicar from a female to a man, or remove it?</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">* </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Editor. First, tell the vicar to get a sense of humour. Secondly, when I wrote the poem it wasn’t even about the local vicar, it was a make-believe vicar from the village of Twitten. Thirdly, I am offended that you have been offended by a poem that isn’t at all offencive.</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was laughing when I typed it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Stormy. Oh, please don’t take offence. I am sure it will be fine, we will meet the vicar and see if, with some changes, the poem can be printed.</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">* </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Editor. I have decided to retract the poem, I do not think my poems are suitable for your mag. This is a shame as I have a wonderful ditty about a lesbian bell ringer and a wonderful sonnet about a Vicar in a strip club which I was going to send to you but due to both works featuring the word hell you may take offence. </span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I haven’t heard back. But that may be because of BT. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">---</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagan-Writers-Community/155620099232?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pagan Writers Community</a> are pleased to present the offending poem:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Potholes</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a problem to have now in England<br />A blot on the our land we call fair<br />The existence of a new type of pothole<br />a warning to drivers beware<br /><br />A road near the village of Twitten<br />has now vanished without much of a trace<br />The cyclists are annoyed at this problem<br />because now they have no place to race<br /><br />From the church to the top of the high street<br />a crater appeared from the blue<br />They are missing some tourists from Demark<br />and a couple who came down from Crewe<br /><br />The people are all in an uproar<br />at the state of the road near the mill<br />There is no way to get pass the river<br />Since the waters been flowing up-hill<br /><br />A sink hole appeared down the village<br />The vicar isn’t doing that well<br />She thought the apocalypse was a coming<br />And that sinkhole went straight down to hell<br /><br />She heard the devil a crying<br />he yelled, help I am stuck down this hole<br />with my pet dog, a cow and a tractor<br />And a ruddy big telephone pole</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>---</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y1LlPSr7oz8/U_TEd2_MzhI/AAAAAAAAVIU/y-QcauAXYW4/s1600/Stormy%2BHaney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y1LlPSr7oz8/U_TEd2_MzhI/AAAAAAAAVIU/y-QcauAXYW4/s1600/Stormy%2BHaney.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stormy Haney lives in England with a selection of furry animals. Her poems and art have been published in a number of books, magazines and blogs. She participates in National Poetry Month. Her friends think she is delightfully bonkers. Follow along on her blog, <a href="http://perennialpoetry.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><i>Perrenial Poetry</i></a>.<br /><br />Stormy’s poems also used to appear on a monthly spot in her local parish magazine... not anymore.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-49020099564028902452014-08-12T11:53:00.000+01:002014-08-12T11:53:04.534+01:00Fangfiction Winner Erin T. McMillon<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The following vampire story by Erin T. McMillon won first place in our <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/07/jane-lovering-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Jane Lovering Fangfiction competition 2014</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Congratulations Erin on winning signed copies of <i><a href="http://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/vampire-state-of-mind/" target="_blank">Vampire State of Mind</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/falling-apart/" target="_blank">Falling Apart</a></i>.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9SmDR0pY7wg/U8VCF1v4C3I/AAAAAAAAUXc/VPcauTfkdII/s1600/duo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9SmDR0pY7wg/U8VCF1v4C3I/AAAAAAAAUXc/VPcauTfkdII/s1600/duo.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My name is Alexander. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It used to be Tony, but who cares?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I like to change it every twenty years or so to keep up with this whole “obsession with being anonymous” crap “the ones like us” always complain about.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I never could say I truly hated anyone before this whole thing started, but I truly hate all of them – except for my Father Gregory, of course. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They have this ridiculous sense of entitlement; this air of superiority over the human race that makes me want to flay them and lock them in the biggest room of my house. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But as it stands right now, I’m not strong enough and haven’t gotten rich enough to accomplish this.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If I’m patient my time will come, Gregory says, when I will be able to do whatever my cold, black heart desires. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But if I go by the whisperings of the others in our clan, he’s an insane low-born who drank the blood of rats until he turned me, which was apparently an accident. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In the meantime, I’m forced to sit around and listen to their stories.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">According to them, “the ones like us” are responsible for everything from the “discovery” of America to winning the Civil War (which I swear they got from some crazy movie about Abe Lincoln that came out a few years back). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But on our many days alone, my father tells me about how we were also responsible for sending those girls to those burning stakes in Salem. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“We had to do something. It was us or them. We sat down at our annual conference and collectively decided a few of their girls would be the martyrs for our cause.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“And what cause was that?” I asked, brow furrowed in gross confusion. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“Peace! You Fool!” he growled as he banged his tiny fist into the large wooden desk in front of him. “There are times, there will always be, when we have to do unspeakable things to keep living in the shadows. Things didn’t end well between our kind and the Salem covens, but everything that happened was in the name of peace.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I told him I understood, but I didn’t. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I just know I have to do what I am told. After all, he is older than me and he feels so strongly about it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I learned a long time ago, back in my mortal days, that old people don’t talk just to hear themselves. They’re telling you things because they care about you and don’t want you to make the same mistakes they did. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It was hard for me at first. I was still holding on to my mortal life. I wanted to be with my family, my real family, and I did until it became obvious they were aging and I wasn’t. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When I “died” they all came to my funeral. I laid in the casket as the parade of people came up and laid flowers around me. There were a few times when I wanted to giggle, like when my cousin Alberta’s wig fell off in the middle of her uncontrollable crying. I couldn’t understand for the life – for the death of me why she was carrying on like we were best friends. I hated her and the punches to my jaw when we were kids told me she felt the same. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They buried me that afternoon and Gregory and some of the more athletic members of our coven came to dig me up that night. I tried to thank them for their help, but Father silenced me with a cold stare and sent me to the car. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“Don’t ever thank them for anything, my child,” he warned as we drove back to the house. “They are paid men. Paid men do no favors that require gratitude.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We went home that night to balloons, streamers, and bottles of the finest, warm blood money could buy. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“Happy Birthday, Son!”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">*****</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I stayed in mostly after that and the days dragged on, turning into months. People think they get bored, but they have no idea what it’s like not having anything to do when you have forever to live. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The dullness of my life after death began wearing on me. I started talking to myself and spending hours staring at the wall. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I had to get out. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So I began slinking around in a local nightclub for anonymous entertainment. That’s where I met her. And the alley behind it is where I ripped her throat out with my adult fangs and let her life run smoothly down my throat. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">She writhed with pleasure until the last drop. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I dropped her and ran, afraid because her death brought me so much joy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I tried to hide it from my dad, but he came to me as I lay in bed the next morning. He told me he was there with me, like he is everywhere I go, that he loved me, and that he would take care of it. Now, you see the importance of privacy, he said into my head from his bedroom. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I can still smell her death on your lips from my room.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I stopped going out. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I don’t do much of anything anymore. I wake up at night, go to the coven meetings, listen to their ridiculous stories and go back home with fists full of bottles of warm blood. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We have enough money to live ten life times, my dad says, so I mostly hang out around the house talking to him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“It may seem like a boring life, My Son, but it’s the best way to live when you’re like us.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I want to believe him, but my pit is telling me I can’t. It gnaws at me, waiting for the right time to happen. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I swear I can feel it closing in on me as each sun sets. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I’m afraid. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>---</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbptRM00zFQ/U-nuOmnTzsI/AAAAAAAAU7U/FEMTVCGzJKk/s1600/Erin%2BT%2BMcMillon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbptRM00zFQ/U-nuOmnTzsI/AAAAAAAAU7U/FEMTVCGzJKk/s1600/Erin%2BT%2BMcMillon.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Erin T. McMillon, MSM entered into the publishing industry as an advertising copywriter. She has written for numerous magazines and online media outlets in the U.S. and abroad, including an award-winning music magazine. She was most recent featured in the Summer 2014 of <i>The Horror Zine</i>. Erin is the author of <i>The Becoming of Us</i>, Vol. I and II. Her first collection of short horror/suspense stories, <i>What’s Hiding in the Dark?: 10 Tales of Urban Lore</i>, is due in the summer of 2014. Find her <a href="http://www.facebook.com/theladywrites82" target="_blank">on Facebook</a> at and on <a href="http://www.theladywrites82.com/" target="_blank">her blog</a>.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7329227053948502209.post-23263614142124690542014-08-11T11:34:00.000+01:002014-08-12T13:22:44.937+01:00Fangfiction Winner Tiffany Anderson-Taylor<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The following vampire story by Tiffany Anderson-Taylor won second place in our <a href="http://paganwriterscommunity.blogspot.com/2014/07/jane-lovering-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Jane Lovering Fangfiction competition 2014</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Congratulations Tiffany on winning a signed copy of <i><a href="http://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/hubble-bubble/" target="_blank">Hubble Bubble</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K8tfKlaBMhI/U8VCnC8L6mI/AAAAAAAAUXk/typ0bQhWU-M/s1600/HubbleBubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K8tfKlaBMhI/U8VCnC8L6mI/AAAAAAAAUXk/typ0bQhWU-M/s1600/HubbleBubble.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuApvAU5o5k/U7AX5g5XTnI/AAAAAAAAT7s/TVQqKGmS6UI/s1600/swirl.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The stillness of the night was abruptly shattered by the sound of rapid footfalls and the scent of rage and fear on the wind.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Cassie Callahan gasped for air, but didn’t dare stop as she ran down the deserted sidewalk. One minute, she was living her normal, predictable life as she headed to her car after a routine late night at work. The next, she was running down an abandoned street after hearing a growl and looking up to see a pair of red eyes glowing with murderous intent in the darkness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Come on, come on, she urged her tiring legs. Turning a corner, she ran faster.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Suddenly, a huge black shape dropped down from the sky onto the sidewalk before her. Screaming in fright, she tried to dodge this new threat, catching a glimpse of wicked-sharp fangs, but was swept up into a pair of arms that felt like iron bars.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Settle, little one. I mean you no harm. A deep voice whispered the words into her mind as Cassie struggled to get away from her captor. She froze in shock as the large male wrapped his cloak securely around her, then rapidly took to the sky.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">She heard the thing that had been chasing her scream its rage as it was denied its reward. Cassie clutched the male, shuddering, as the lights of the city fell away beneath them. She was not normally a coward, but this whole horrifying night was starting to take its toll.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Zylek breathed a sigh of relief as he carefully held the female in his arms. He pulled her closer, taking care that her fragile skin was protected against the cold chill of the night sky.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">His Lifemate.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Zylek had first seen Cassie in a coffee shop late one night about two weeks prior. Something about her scent had called to him. As he got closer, he had stilled in disbelief to see the birthmark on her nape beneath her upswept golden hair, in the shape of wings holding a pentacle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Only Lifemates, the human females fated for the Cognatio, the Vampire Nation, bore that mark. Vampires were born, not made, and only Lifemates could bear the seed of a vampire. And there had not been a Lifemate found for over 500 years.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For centuries, the Lifemates were hunted by the Lost, the monsters created when a hell-demon poisoned a vampire. The Lost wanted to destroy the Cognatio, the guardians of the mortal world, so they could rule instead and enslave all humans.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Destroying the Cognatio Lifemates also meant that no more vampires could be born. For over half a millennium, it was believed all of the Lifemates had been lost.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Until now.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Zylek had brushed against her in the coffee shop, using the contact to scan her mind. Her name was Cassandra Callahan and she was an accountant. At age 16, she had left the foster care system where her abandonment as a baby had placed her, and worked while she finished high school. She then put herself through college and had been working at her present company for six years.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">A strong and fitting mate for the King of the Vampire Nation.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Thank the Goddess Zylek had embedded a tendril of his life force within her that night and had been able to sense her fear. It hadn’t been his intention to capture his Lifemate like this, in a haze of fear and fury, but the Lost had forced his hand tonight. Now, she was safe in his arms where she belonged.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He brought Cassie to his lair, a beautiful Victorian at the edge of town. He landed on the top balcony and carried his Lifemate through the French doors into his dark bedroom. As he unwrapped her, he lit candles with his mind, watching as the illumination turned her hair to spun gold.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Cassie stilled when she looked up at the huge male holding her, recognizing him as the man to whom she had been uncharacteristically drawn in the coffee shop several weeks ago. He was well over six feet tall, with raven hair pulled back with a tie and amber eyes that looked at her with heat and purpose.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since. What were the chances he would be the one to save her from that … that thing? She looked at him with questions in her blue eyes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“My name is Zylek, Cassie,” he said gently. “I am King of the Cognatio, the Vampire Nation. You were being pursued by one of the Lost.” He searched her face, relieved to see no fear of him.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“How did you know my name?”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“You have called to me since I first saw you, little one. You bear the mark of a Lifemate on your nape, a human female who is destined as mate for the Cognatio. You are the key to our existence and you are mine. Those things, the Lost, want to destroy us and our Lifemates so they can rule the human world, which is why one was pursuing you tonight.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He touched her face softly. “You are the first Lifemate to be found in over 500 years, Cassie, which means there are more of you to be found. I know this is unbelievably fast, but I need you to search your soul for the truth and to trust me. Let me claim you now as my Lifemate and I will explain everything to you. Rule the Cognatio with me as my Queen as we search for your sisters to bring them home.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Cassie knew the truth. She knew. She was fated to help save the mortal world. What else could explain the feeling of destiny that had steadily grown within her from the minute she first saw Zylek? She looked at him for a long moment, then tilted her head back and bared her neck to his fangs.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"Claim me, my dark King. We have work to do."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">---</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6kazScRg47Y/U-iaozJr0EI/AAAAAAAAU6s/MCyXgbbzWn8/s1600/Tiffany+Anderson-Taylor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6kazScRg47Y/U-iaozJr0EI/AAAAAAAAU6s/MCyXgbbzWn8/s1600/Tiffany+Anderson-Taylor.JPG" height="200" width="175" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiffany Anderson-Taylor is a hairdresser and noted curly hair specialist who has written popular advice articles for numerous naturally curly hair sites, as well as published an acclaimed book on curly hair care. Her love of story writing for friends and family over the past two decades has led her to spread her wings to explore the world of fiction. Tiffany and her partner of almost 20 years live with their nine-year-old daughter, Katherine, in Gulfport, Florida.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0