More Spring Cleaning

I'm so effing excited for Spring that I may just barf glitter and sunshine.

I apologize for the slew of fluff posts. My commitment is to post, not to post a magnum opus every night. Many times I refer to posts-in-progress. Some of these will remain private. I'm not exactly going to post on the specifics of Mysteries. Hello, they wouldn't be Mysteries otherwise! Since this is a public blog, I'm not exactly going to get into oathbound stuff. I've been sorting through my notes, and my brain, and there are things that I do want to post about but they're a long time in coming. They deserve proper attention, I learn something new whenever I investigate the topic, and I have to edit myself for public posting. There are things about tarantella that lead into Women's Mysteries that I'm not at liberty to post, and have to find a way around that while still being as complete as possible.

Here is a list of what I've been working on as well as brief descriptions:

Tarantella: It's a wedding dance, it's a carnivale celebration, it's a women's mystery. It's Italian trance dancing and has roots common to the entire Mediterranean as well as Africa. I've posted on this a bit, but as I explore the topic and update my workshop, I've delved further into it than before. Doesn't hurt that I've taken up the tamburello. The drumming side is a whole other aspect!

Leland/Aradia: I've been asked my opinion on his books and his "informant" Madelena. While he didn't get anything that was secret (ie: he talks about them doing the eyes, but has no idea what was said or how it was done), that doesn't mean what he received was made up. I'm tired of those who aren't in the know harshing on the info he did get. I've said it before: My Grandmother never read Leland but I still knew almost everything in that book before I picked it up at age 20. I like the work Mario Pazzaglini did in translating the original Italian. It shows the mistakes Leland made and takes some of the christianization out of it too. There's another retranslation coming out by a different author. I look forward to reading her thoughts too. That said, there's a difference between common folk healing, spells, and a religious practice.

Grimassi: Can't swing a black cat without bumping into a question about Raven Grimassi when someone hears I practice Italian Witchcraft. My opinion on him? He gets props for putting La Vecchia on the modern Pagan map. Not so much for mixing Italian folklore with Golden Dawn and calling it Italian Witchcraft. I put him in the category with Leland: Publishing common folk healing and spells and adding ceremonial magick doesn't mean this was the Old practice. However, each Family has their own ways. What the ways of his family were are beyond me as is why he mixed his book with things straight out of Golden Dawn. Perhaps he was protecting family secrets or told as much as he was prepared to in a few books. Anyway, props for bringing it into the light and for continuing research and for taking the brunt of the skeptics re: showing that it is possible to have an unbroken lineage.

Martello: I only wish I'd met him in person before he passed. He is a hero of mine. And an anti hero all at once! He organized the first "legal" gathering of Witches in NYC and fought for the rights of Witches to gather and be treated as any other group. NYC Pagan Pride wouldn't happen without his efforts so long ago. I wonder what he'd think about the NYC Parks Department calling me up to tell me they were holding our date even before our application was in. Thank you, Leo Martello!

Aeneid: Who cares? Virgil wrote it for his pal, Caesar, to hep promote him as prophesied heir of the Gods. Virgil travelled the Republic, gathering stories of the Gods, weaving long standing folklore into his tale. I find it interesting that he wanted it burned when he died and didn't get to edit it. I wonder what he'd think of it. I still prefer The Odyssey and Ovid.

Oracle at Delphi: I've been to Delphi and it's effing amazing. Yes, there's a fissure of gasses coming up from the ground. The pythia sat over it. Skeptics claim that she inhaled the stuff and her prophecies were just chemical induced ramblings. I say they were fucking brilliant for setting her over the smoke before they understood such things and the natural gasses were like the other drugs used to achieve gnosis or oneness with deity.

Labyrinths: The snow is off my lawn and it's nearly time to resume digging and lay in the bricks. So effing excited to work on it!

Ancestor work: I don't do enough of it. I want to do it nightly, but you have to strike a balance between the magickal and mundane aspects of life as well as living for the present and living for the past. We stand on the foundation our Ancestors laid, but we must continue to discover and create and integrate and grow.

That's what I have for tonight. Thanks for following along with my ramblings. If there's a topic or question you'd like me to address, go ahead n let me know :)