Ritual @ MindSay 
we have a few little bedtime rituals here. For him it involves doing his teeth which takes a long time because the right music must be selected before beginning. My husband has three Bose Wave radios ( no we don't work for them) one in the kitchen, one in the master bath and one in our bedroom. I like the snooze feature; he likes the remote; we both like the sound quality. After his teeth are done he reads in bed for about ten minutes.
My rituals are similar but have a different focus. I floss and brush but more quickly than he and then I like to take a linden flower scented bath. Hot in winter and tepid in summer. I usually use the jacuzzi jets on my shoulders. I also like to read before bed but for a looooooooooong time.
Our bed is like a down forest. the pillow bed and then three head pillows each plus jim's knee pillow and a tube bolster I call the hindenberg that he likes to use as an arm support.
Abi's ritual is the sweetest of all. I hide little bits of dry kibble throughout the four room suite that is our bedroom and she can hunt for them during the night. Once all the pieces are placed--- she follows me to see where they are but doesn't eat them right away--- she jumps on the bed for some play time or to eat from our hands. But one night Abs didn't find all her treats and in the morning one of shelves in my dressing room was awash with teensy black ants carting bits of dry kibble from under a shoe to the nearby window. Now I understand why Jim asked me not to hide food in his dressing room.
The weather here is much cooler and I was ablt to make chickenmarengo and a blueberry pie. Chicken Marengo is supposedly the food Napolean's army ate after the battle of marengo- made with what they could forage: chicken, white wine, tomatoes, olives, lemons and mushrooms. we eat it over rice. The pie is an american classic....... blueberries, lemon juice, cinnamon, cornstarch and mace encased in a two crust shell. just a sprinkle of course sugar on top of the pie. Oregon blueberries don't need any sweeteners. That's true.
call me perverse but i love living in a world where everyone is preparing for a specific day- sometimes stressing no end out those preparations - while i kindly watch the mishegoss and think "how nice that this is just an ordinary suday for me." it means that stores are emptier and airports less crowded and at 2 pm the cars are off the streets.
what's really interesting is how much we jews are forced to learn about the christian world while there is little that compels them to learn about our year. like lunar months, rosh chodesh, the meaning of the sabbath, why I don't go to the theatre on friday nights. that chanukah isn't really a big deal at all, and so many of their symbols were taken from jewish useage, and while of course we accept the historical jesus we stop at that line. that seders are not somber somber events where we eat dry crackers and horseradish and talk about death. and we are more likely to buy new clothing for rosh hashanah than pesach. and spring cleaning has it's root in kashrut. baptism in the mikveh, or mardi gras in purim. but enough. i like chocolate bunnies as much as the nice guy. just don't start eating them by chomping off their heads. talk about venial sins. oh man.
Isn't this such a great line with which to start a blog entry? Isn't it... shocking? I mean, I'm pretty open about the marriage I have with another Mindsay blogger and our four-year old son. And now this? It sells. Even if it's not true, it sells.
However, I really did bring home divorce papers. Jewish divorce papers -- that is, the procedural documents which are often associated with the delivery of a Get, which is a traditional Jewish divorce decree.
Growing up Jewish with a strong, substantial Jewish education has really been something I've held dear. Some of my first memories have to do with Jewish life cycle events which come with their own special, unique traditions. I'm also fortunate enough to have been able to have many friends and associates with whom I can share these traditions, as well as learn about new ones.
And that's one of the perks of a Jewish education -- you get to learn about Jewish life-cycle events as well as live them. It's pretty commonplace to learn about the brit milah (ritual circumcission) which takes place for a boy at 8 days old. Or the Simchat Bat, a similar ceremony for a baby girl which doesn't involve circumcission whatsoever but also welcomes the child into the Jewish community with a Jewish name. Bar / Bat Mitzvah ceremonies and parties? Pretty commonplace in my community. A coming of age ceremony for kids as they approach adulthood. And, of course, there are numerous traditions involved in a Jewish marriage ceremony. As I've learned in the past as well as recently, there are also different customs to recognize death, burial and mourning. I've been able to experience all of these life cycle events through family and friends throughout my life.
I haven't, however, experienced a huge amount about the Jewish divorce process. There's an entire tractate of the Talmud called Gittin which is dedicated to this subject, and I've learned some of the basics about how it was handled several hundred years ago. But I've never really had the opportunity to see the details of how it's applied within a modern setting.
Which is specifically why I jumped at the chance to take a look and bring home some of the papers our rabbi was using for a class at our synagogue. Rabbi Jack had a form letter which he used in divorce cases, as well as a form which is filled out in advance to the issuance of the Get. Furthermore, there's a sample transcript of the procedure in front of a Beit Din, a religious "court" which oversees the process. It's all quite fascinating -- a part of the life-cycle process I really hadn't seen up close before. I'm always fascinated at tradition and how it's applied today which conserving the original intent.
My enthusiasm, however, was a tad careless -- as I left a form letter from our rabbi about the procedures for divorce on our dining room table. Where socKs found it. Without the context of me just being curious.
Oops.
At first I didn't know why she was so concerned and asked me "if there's anything we need to talk about." And the few times she shouted from downstairs "Are you sure?!?" I ultimately realized what she was talking about and reassured her that this was simply educational in nature. But by then it was still a lot for her to process, I guess. I think it's kind of funny. Hopefully socKs sees the humor in it as well -- or will in the near future.
I guess the point of this all is to remind you all not to leave educational material out of context lying around. That and the declaration that now I know more about Jewish divorce ritual -- just in case anyone wants to know any of the specifics.
I'm very different from how I used to be. It's weird how things change like that and you don't even realise it until one day something happens which brings your attention to the huge change that has taken place in your life so quickly.
In some ways I am better, but I think also, in some ways I am worse.
I think this will the prime focus of my Samhain ritual.
When I think back to how I used to be at certain places in my life, those Mes feel like home. Then I feel very scared and lost as who I am now. Strange...
I will possibly write more on this later, but now I have to get ready for school. We have a short week this week, no Friday. :)
Peace
-Liv-
I usually don't share this kind of stuff, but I think this is such an interesting and informative interview that touches on so many topics which aren't only interesting and beneficial to pagans and witches, but anyone interested in spirituality/religion/science as well. I think all of us could learn from these things, despite our differences in religion/spirituality because it deals with basically having control of our lives, and from a real, scientific view, not just faith.
As I mentioned, he touches on a lot of interesting points in the interview. One thing that really struck a cord with me was when he talked about his view on karma. Personally, I've had this struggle with the idea of karma in the back of my mind. I've never thought about it too much, though, and it remained valid in my mind. Even though, something always seemed to be askew in the explanation of the philosophy of karma and I was never able to put my finger on it, so I wrote it off and forgot about it.
But Penczak hit in right on the nail in this interview. The first thing that I liked was how while he was talking about something, he used a phrase saying something along the lines of how people "draw difficulties to them" rather than saying "things that happen to people." Deo (the host of the show) asked him about what he meant by the idea that people draw up their own experiences. He asked about someone getting hit by a bus, how we would use the same logic to explain that. Penczak responded by saying that this is where many believe karma comes in, and he explained his view of karma. He said he sees it not as a system of reward & punishment (this is where my own problem with it lied). When we say "good karma" and "bad karma" we are putting it in either category because it is either something we like or something we do not like. But karma is just a law of physics, like gravity. See what I mean now by how I love his more scientific take on things? My problem with karma is now resolved. heh. It's all in perspective, really. And if you look into quantum physics at all, you'll see how this all makes more sense scientifically. The idea that we create our own reality.
I also mentioned in the other post that I like his approach to witchcraft. Not just in how he looks for validity through science, but also how he sees the importance of learning to work with and understand the esoteric of it before getting into the exoteric things like ritual and magic and all. Of course this all incorporates the esoteric too, and balancing the two is what is to be learned, but you can't even start learning about the exoteric practices and expect to have a true appreciation for it until you undrestand the inner worksing. That means working with ourselves.
Personally, I'm not too big on magic as it is often thought of in the community. I don't mean that I don't like it or don't believe in it, because I do. But I have said before that I actually don't perform ritual magic much at all. By this I mean that I won't ever do an elaborate spell to get a laptop (however badly I would like to have one...) or a car or lots of money. I wouldn't even do a spell really to make big chances in myself, which is what many who don't do spells for material things do spells for instead.
The reason is that I think the whole point in doing spells is to get in touch with the Divinity within us and focus it towards an intent. That is what we are doing, no? The key part of that is getting in touch with Divinity. We believe that the Divine is within everything, including each and every one of us. So I think instead of jumping into doing spells for everything, one should instead work on getting in touch with that Divinity within and staying in touch with it constantly, or at least having that connection readily available so we can access it instantly when we need it. When you are in constant contact with that part of yourself, what is the use of spells? There is no use for it, really. You already have a clear intent, you already realise what is best, you already are drawing to you what is best because you have connected to that infinate Divine source of truth and wisdom. This is by no means an easy task, though, of course. But it is this task that I chose to focus on rather than the task of perfecting my ability to write perfect spells.
I'm not belittling the meaning or importance of spells, because I have often turned towards it as an option to handling things in my life, but very seldom am I not able to find an alternative to handling it. I know a lot of witches would argue me this saying, "of course we need to find solutions and work towards developing the intent in this world, but spells serve as a way to push it forward." I agree. But I guess what I'm saying is that personally, magic just isn't something I see as a solution to everything. Small acts of magic like charms, affirmations or charging of objects are things even I use regularly. However, I preffer to simply use the power of my pure will and mind to deal with other things. That's just me and what works for me - what works for others works for them. In either case, the importance of clear intent can not be stressed enough.
Like I say in the other post, what I really appreciate is his scientific approach to witchcraft. I mean, we know that witchcraft is a science amongst other things, but I like the way he really embraces science and brings it into witchcraft instead of doing like so many others do: looking at witchcraft alone and saying whatever is, is just because it is logically. In the past I have to admit that I've been erked by the way that some people only use logic in witchcraft and say, "well, it works in theory, so we'll use it" and call that being scientific. I came across Penczak and his books that gave a voice and explained these ideas I had been struggling with on my own. I realised I wasn't so out-there in my ideas afterall and having these ideas and objections did not make me any less of a witch or Wiccan.
Anyways, I really enjoyed the interview and I'll probably listen to it again a few more times just to fully comprehend everything he said (I'm kinda slow... heh.). It was nice to hear someoen else saying these things and giving voice to them, because usually the only voice I hear on these topics is my own voice, in my head.
Goodnight Everyone.
Peace Love & Respect
-Liv-
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