Aeromancy to Xylomancy- ways to divine the future
While these days we tend to think of reading cards palms, tea leaves, scrying, and astrology, over the years there have been hundreds of sorts of divination in many different cultures- we’ll cover as many as we can, also looking for what they have in common and can tell us about divination and cultural context.
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Anglo-Saxon (Early) Clothing
What did the Anglo-Saxons wear from when they invaded England to when the Normans invaded?
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Anglo-Saxon Children
This is an overview of childhood in Anglo-Saxon England including clothing, food, toys, education, activities, etc.
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Anglo-Saxon Cooking
What foods did they the Anglo-Saxons have available- locally and by trade? And how did they prepare, and store them?
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Anglo-Saxon Dress
This will be a basic overview to let you know what to wear whether as an Anglo-Saxon your persona would be fighting the Britons, the Vikings or the Normans (or not fighting at all). Not surprisingly, clothing changed in the 600 year period we call Anglo-Saxon England- and it wasn't all baggy, rough fabric either!
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Anglo-Saxon England
This is an overview covering the history of the Anglo-Saxon period intended to give context to other Anglo-Saxon studies. How far is York from Winchester? Who came first Aelflaed or Aethelred? What's a Bretwalda? a fyrd? |
Anglo-Saxon Herbs
What herbs did the Anglo-Saxons have for healing, for cooking, for magic? What did they call them, and how did they use them? |
Anglo-Saxon Jewelry
What jewelry was worn in different periods and in different regions during the Anglo-Saxon period. |
Anglo-Saxon Magick- herbs, chants, amulets
The Anglo-Saxons used spells, chants, amulets, runes, and other sorts of magick (energy manipulation) well after they were nominally converted to Christianity. This workshop gives an overview of the material that has survived- as what was acceptable changed from year to year and place to place in the first millennium as in the second. |
Anglo-Saxon Medicine
The Anglo-Saxons used herbs, surgery, and magick to deal with chronic and acute illness and injury. This discusses what they used, and what we can safely use today. |
Anglo-Saxon Pottery, Early
The pottery of grave field and the home, during the period between Roman Britain and Alfred. Special focus on the stamps used for decorating this early pottery.
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Anglo-Saxon Runes
An introduction to the history, meanings of, and uses of the Anglo-Saxon Futharc. |
Anglo-Saxon Slavery
How the slave was used in Anglo-Saxon England and how as the manoral system grew, slaves gradually gain rights, and freemen gained more restrictions upon their rights until there was little difference between the free and unfree peasant, and the medieval serf became the common worker of medieval English landscape. |
Anglo-Saxon Warriors
Weapons and armor, fighting groups and styles, with an emphasis on what a fighter would need to know for an SCA persona. From the Migration Age to the Resistance against the Normans. |
Anglo-Saxon Women
What was the role of the Anglo-Saxon woman in daily life? In law? In commerce? In Religion? |
Animal Dressing
How to dress a small animal- I demonstrate on a real rabbit- to be eaten later. Theory and practice- what comes off, what comes out, what is different about larger animals.
(optional- with 3 months warning, I can bring rabbits for the class to practice on- this will also require a 2 hour workshop period, and $8 per rabbit- this cost could be passed on to the feast cook along with the dressed rabbits) |
Baking over a Campfire
You can have pies, fresh bread, cookies, cakes- some is done with special tools, some by changing the way you think about cooking. Baking in the coals, steamed breads, dutch ovens… |
Basic Embroidery
It looks great, it’s not expensive, and allows you to stitch in magickal intent. But how hard is it? Most techniques aren’t that hard. I’ll show you several easy stitches, and warn you against some of the more difficult ones. We’ll also cover materials from DMC to silk as well as good and bad places to use embroidery. Includes cloth and flosses
$3 materials fee
SCA version:
It looks great, it’s not expensive, and allows you to decorate as well as mark everything you've got that's cloth. It's also not hard or dangerous- my daughters started at 3 years old. (I would like parents to come with and work with younger children.) I’ll show you the easiest and fastest stitches, and warn you against common problems. $3 materials fee includes cloth, flosses and handout |
Basic numerology
Each number has it’s own meaning, and using the meanings of numbers and various techniques you can discover what your name, your birthday, your address and other seemingly unimportant details in your life can tell you. How to change some to improve your life. |
Beginning Palmistry
Reading palms is not hard- in one hour you will walk away with enough of the basic skills to read your own palm, and those of your friends (not that you shouldn’t keep studying!). The most useful aspect of palmistry is learning about yourself, and thus gaining control of your future- and it's fun too! |
Campfire Cooking
I’ll try to show as many techniques for cooking as time allows (boiling, roasting. Baking in the coals and in pots, grilling, steaming,) as well as give the pros and cons of different equipment and techniques. |
Candle making
Dipping candles and pouring them in molds. Materials from paraffin to gel to beeswax. How to choose the material for your wicks. How to include herbs, oils and other items in for magickal effect. It’s not as hard as you thought. |
| Cooking up your own Traditions see: Food Traditions |
Creating your own family traditions- going beyond the book holidays
While group festivals are great, they often aren't close enough- and families aren't liable to want to travel for every holiday. Most holidays will be celebrated at home with just the family. (Some may be peculiar to your family alone, as our Broom Day celebration is.) This is a discussion on how to pick what days you want to celebrate and how- foods, decorations, personal small rituals... We create the patterns our kids follow (or rebel against) every day- doing it consciously allows not only more control, but great joy and a chance for family communication- with the Gods and each other. |
Dealing with Pagan Parents and Children
How to deal with many of the aspects of parenting, and dealing with kids in a mixed neo-pagan and mainstream culture. Some thoughts on running classes for pagan kids. Including kids in adult rituals (or not), and designing rituals for kids. Issues for pagan parents and their kids- passing on traditions and not forcing our choices on our own kids. Dealing with groups who don't have kids and understand the needs of families. Dealing with non-pagan parents and underage pagans who come to you for mentoring; some traps to avoid. |
Demystifying Mead
See Simple Mead Brewing |
Divine Cookies
Making special cookies with divine inspiration- with samples from my book. How to play with your own food- adapting recipes to make them fit with magickal and traditional useage. |
Dowsing Games and more- playing with energy .
Pendulums, bent wires, kinesiology- using your the way your subconcious speaks through your body to tell you the things you don’t know that you know- from diagnosing illnesses to finding lost items. We also play with wands, Mana plates, pyramids and other “toys” that increase or channel bioenergy. |
Dream Interpretation
There are many different types of dreams, precognitive, OOB, telepathic, visiting other lives, as well as symbolic. Even with symbolic dreams, you can’t just open a book and read what the symbols mean to other people. Learn how to spot different types of dreams and how they should be treated differently. |
Dreams and Omens- reading the future without special tools
We don't need special cards or tiles or sticks or even books to get a good idea of what's coming up- it's all inside of us. Learn some simple and basic techniques to start picking up on the clues that the Universe is constantly throwing at us. Dreams and Omens are externally initiated methods of divination. If the gods tap you on the shoulder and clear their throats, it's best to pay attention because if you don't, they won't hesitate to whack you with the cosmic two by four. |
Dynamind
This is a simple healing technique developed by Serge King which can be used for most situations with no tools. If you have an ache or a chronic condition- or want to help people who do, come in and add this to your healing "workbox". |
Early repression of Paganism
In the 4th century Constantine decreed that Christianity by tolerated. By the 5th century it was becoming dominant, and by the 6th, it started to push to become the only religion. What measures did early Christians really take- and what is literary fiction? |
Energy Practice:
This is a practice session for moving energy around your body- passing it from person to person, grounding, making thought forms- basically lots of techniques to practice when you get home. |
Ethics of magick
Wiccans have the Rede- “An you harm none…” but not all who use magick are wiccan, and yet we all have morals. When should we use magick, and when should we use other ways of making the world “conform with our will”. When should we not try and make the world over in our own image? Come ready to discuss your point of view. |
Fairy Tales as Spiritual Expression
Studies have shown that fairy tales in childhood result in adults who can cope with reality better. What is it about fairy tales that reaches our inner beings, and maintains our contact with the invisible realms even in our modern technical world. We explore ancient and modern concepts of fairie, and why it’s important; we also look for ancient gods disguised as denizens of fairy land. |
| Fairy Tales as a reflection of the Goddess Myths |
Feast and Fast- balance of spiritual celebrations
Neo-Pagans have embraced many of the ancient celebrations, festivals and feasts of our ancestors. However most religions included both times of excess, and times of restriction or privation to facilitate spiritual development. This is not to embrace asceticism and privation, but to create a balance. Let’s look at ancient practices and how we can incorporate that wisdom into modern life.
Ghosts, fairies, pixies and other intangible folk
Some ways to figure out whether it’s a fairy, a ghost, an elemental or your imagination, and how you should deal with them. |
Fluffy Bunnies vs. Demon worshipping Maniacs (the perception problem)
Let’s talk about how the rest of the world gets the idea that we are annoying (at very least)- is it the media? A vocal Christian minority? And let’s talk about how we may be contributing to the problem. |
Food Magick/ Magickal Cooking College of Brigantia
Natural Magick is the science of the natural properties of materials, times, and actions, and we can learn to use the properties of different foods along with the energetic effects of what we do when processing them to create the magickal effects we want. This is an introduction to that process.
You don’t need to make strange potions to create magickal effects. Every food has magickal properties, and you can use them to both enhance your health, and your life. If you know, or can “divine” the properties of the foods you already use, you can make magick without having to resort to “Eye of Newt” or “Dead man’s toe”.
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Food Traditions
Food is intrinsically sacred, and Traditions are the cement that binds us to the Wheel of the Year. Most religions have special foods associated with their holidays- the fried foods of Carnival and Channuka, Mince pie and Plum Pudding for Christmas, Hot Cross Buns for Easter... As many first generation Neo-Pagans and Paleo-Pagans begin to celebrate our holidays with our children, the foods we make year after year will provide the traditions that will ground them and carry them through their sacred cycles. This is a hands-on and mouths-on workshop, with edible examples of how we can consciously choose and adapt our favorite recipes into the real magick that traditions can make. |
Halloween Traditions
Pumpkins, Witches with green faces, pointy hats and striped stockings, black cats, costumes, trick or treating, fortune telling...
Where did the traditions of modern Halloween start, when and which culture introduced them, and how do we make them meaningful today?
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Hard Choices- saying "No"
Sometimes we run into times when helping one person means not helping another. It may be refusing to be an "enabler or "co-dependant", or learning to recognize what is more than one is able to do. At this point in our magickal evolution, we can't fly, we can't raise dead, and sometimes we can't support a dozen people who we'd like to support either. We'd all like to have the ablitiy to do all that we see needs doing- but that level of magick isn't available yet, and maybe it shouldn't be. There is no one right answer, but we'll discuss the hard lesson of doing less: how and when to refer family, friends, or coveners to those who may be able to help them mor (and sometimes just saying: "your presence in this situation is too damaging to be allowed; sorry, but you have to go"). We'll talk about ways to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, and dealing with the frustrations of not being able to know for sure. |
Healing for Parents
Tool kit for dealing with the joys of raising kids covering everything from homebirth to herbs, energy healing, homeopathy, acupressure, Rescue Remedy, allergies, invisible friends, and more. |
Healing for families
This is a "tool kit" for dealing with healing small ills that occur in daily life for both kids and parents. I cover herbs, energy healing, simple homeopathy, acupressure, Rescue Remedy, allergies, & invisible friends. |
Healing without Tools
Various energy healing techniques which you can use to heal with no tools. Includes acupressure, Reiki, RunValdr, Dynamind, Quantum Touch, Silva Mind control, Theraputic Touch, Polarity, as well as covering chakras, and meridian theory. |
Herbs for kids
This is a basic class on beginning herbalism to get kids started safely in knowing that what grows in the back yard can be good for soothing bug bites, poison ivy, tummy aches, and zits. We cover how to begin finding and using herbs- poultices, oils, ointments, & tinctures (none of which need cooking) as well as teas, and syrups (for those who may cook). Also good for parents as it's aimed at the basic bumps and scrapes of daily life. |
High Magick in the Middle Ages
What kind of magick was actually practiced during the dark and middle ages? Most people have a general idea of medieval witches and wizards from fairy tales, and stories of the “burning times” (which was actually after the Renaissance). What types of magick were really used from the fall of Rome, through the Renaissance? Sources from the pre-Christian era to the new “natural science”. |
History of Magick and Witchcraft (A very short one) (aka HoM&W)
Magick is a way of making effects in the real world through poorly understood techniques, generally understood through each cultures unique perspective. I concentrate on the last 3 millennia in Europe, and attitudes toward magick and witches. and especially note traditional techniques that are not used as often my modern practitioners. |
History of Soothsaying
Soothsaying has been done in many forms in many cultures. Some cultures gave great honor to their soothsayers, others were despised; in some divination was looked upon as matter-of-fact, in others, not accepted as possible, in others seen as part of religious practice. This explores many aspects of the ways we’ve attempted to learn more than is available by ordinary means. |
History of paganism and witchcraft
This is, of course, a brief (hour and a half) overview. What I'm hoping to do is give modern pagans a more accurate historical background than is often bandied about in modern neo-pagan circles today. There is a reason that there is so much pagan tradition thoroughly mixed into modern Christian religion- some of it was intentionally incorporated, some just couldn't be wiped out. Modern Christianity is a synthesis- and continues to evolve even now. I'll be exploring some of the many ways the "people of the Book" worked to convince worshippers of other Gods and Goddesses that their way was better- from the earliest times of the Christian cult to 19th century missionaries. |
| History of the Pagan Conversion |
Honoring our Ancestors
Ghosts and near death experiences convince people all over the world of survival after death. Religions all over the world have rites honoring those who came before us. As we develop our own practices let’s look at some ways different cultures honor their ancestors, and how we may want to. |
How Not to Shoot yourself in the Foot
Most of the magickal mistakes people make are self-inflicted, although generally not intentionally. This is a discussion of how to avoid common magickal errors. Also covers various methods for shielding, putting up wards, and dealing with pesky corporal and non-corporal annoyances. |
How to Dress Like a Prostitute in Period aka Period Prostitution
This is an overview of how to dress as and otherwise play the part of a lady (or gentleman) of the evening-or spot them walking around the war! |
How to Heal from a Cold (and the Flu)
Just in time for the latest Influenza Pandemic Scare a discussion on how to deal with illnesses- not just herbal and energy techniques to help heal, but also how to benefit from getting them. |
Huna Healing
The Huna of Hawaii had many systems from herb lore, bodywork, and energy work for healing that can be used for fast, simple, effective healing. We assume understanding of the basic huna concepts, gods and terms, and will cover some basic energy healting techniques. |
I'm not a Witch, I'm not a witch! They dressed me up like this!
("well, we did do the hat...") Not everyone who has decided to listen when the Old Gods is a Wiccan or even a witch. the last half century has seen an explosion of "pagan" religions, and while Wiccans have led the charge for freedom of religion, they aren't the only ones out there. It's time to acknowledge that all pagans don't share the Wiccan Rede, the Charge of the Goddess, and worship at Sabbats and Esbats. The emerging discipline of Pagan Studies has concentrated on Witches, but many of us follow less well known paths. Let’s take a look at some of those others. |
In or Out of the Closet? DCYS, work, etc.
We’ve all heard the stories, but what are the real risks, and if they come knocking on the door, what’s the best course of action? |
Intro to Huna Healing
The Huna of Hawaii had many systems from herb lore, bodywork, and energy work for healing which can be used for fast, simple, effective healing. (These systems are described in Serge King's books.) This workshop will introduce some of the basic concepts like the way of describing the body/mind/spirit (using the names of the Gods Kane, Lono and Aumakua, as well as basic concepts like Mana, Ika, and Aloha, and will cover some basic techniques. |
Intro to Tarot
You’ve got your first deck, but there are SO MANY different cards! And the books don’t seem to agree! How to get past the initial nervousness and get reading. A few basic and simple spreads, and hints on how to combine the card with the position in the spread.
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Introduction to Northern European Paganism
Modern Pagans who follow the Northern path (often known as Heathens) are as diverse as other pagans. This workshop will attempt to give some basic descriptions of the Gods and Goddesses of the North: like Thor and Freya, cover some of the world view, symbolism (the Runes), as well as touch on some of the major branches of Heathens today: the Troth, the Asatru, Theodish, etc. |
Introduction to Runes
Runes are a system of writing that is now best known as a tool for divination, but has been more from basic communication to magickal practice. This workshop will give an overview of what the runes have been, and can be and give you direction on how to proceed in your studies. |
Kitchen Witchery
You don't have to be Wiccan to be a "Kitchen Witch". Kitchen Witches are the folk of any faith who care more about getting the job done- taking care of family and friends- than they do about process. They use herbs, or energy, or modern materials, crafts or Craft, what they pick up in books or on the internet or from what their grandmother- or someone else's Gran- said works. Come on in and I'll share my favorite "spells" and techniques for everything from healing to repelling unwelcome guests, and hope others will share theirs too!
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Low Magick and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages
What kind of magick was actually practiced during the dark and middle ages? This is the other half of the High Magick workshop; in this I cover the magick of the common people, and attitudes toward witchcraft and witches and the magick people used that wasn’t considered witchy.
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Magick without tools
Sure wands, and herbs, and crystals are cool, but sometimes you need to get something done and all you have is yourself. Simple techniques to cast basic spells with only what you have on you.
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Making your jewelry work for you
When you find yourself attracted to a gorgeous ring or pendant, do you know why? What are the properties of various gemstones and metals and how can you use these to help your grounding, concentration, mood, and luck. We’ll also explore various traditions, such as why is it unlucky to wear opal if it’s not your birthstone? Why are diamonds popular for engagement rings?
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Making your own Rune Staves
Rather than just laying out tiles or stones in a pattern, if you make tines (sticks) and toss them, you get greater depth in a reading. How to either split, cut, carve, and color your own tines.
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Making your own Tarot deck
There are hundreds of decks out there, each with its own appeal- but no deck works quite as well as the one you make yourself. How to get started with nothing more than a set of markers, and a pack of blank index cards. We discuss how to pick symbols, UPGs, as well as practicality.
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Making your own book of shadows
Sure, you could do it on your computer or in a three ring binder. But don’t you want a cool book you can pass down to your kids? A simple way to take separate pages and bind them together in a book with a hard cover (we’ll cover the benefits of various materials) and simple calligraphy, so years from now you’ll be able to read what you put in it.
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Making your own robes
Demystifying sewing for the person who’s never done it before, with techniques for cutting and sewing, decorating including (simple embroidery). Also discussing the practicalities of style, materials, etc are appropriate to what you are going to be doing in the robe, so you aren’t too hot, too cold, without pockets, or catch on fire. |
Mead with Bread Yeast aka Simple Mead Brewing
Brewing mead is an art that one can spend a lifetime exploring, but you can make good palatable mead in two weeks with what you probably have in your kitchen now (and then improve from there). Bread yeast won’t result in long mead, but makes a fine sweet, bubbly quick mead to drink right away.
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Medicinal Herbs
This is an introduction to herbal healing - things you'll be able to use right away - for bug bites, poison ivy, headaches, tummy aches, and other common problems. These are not plants you have to go to the health food store to get- you get these from your yard or the woods or your kitchen cabinet. You'll be surprised to find out how easy it is. I'll cover making simple teas, poultices, ointments, oils, and foods that heal, and of course - cautions about what you'll want to be careful about. We wouldn't be using herbs if they weren't effective - and that means potential risks. Kids as well as adults welcome.
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Medieval Medicine
An overview of how our medieval ancestors used herbs, surgery, and magick to deal with chronic and acute illness and injury. What they learned from Rome and Islam, and how the modern medical system developed- up to the early modern period.
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Methods of Sortilege
Sortilege is the umbrella term for tossing various items (stones, bones, dice, seeds, dominos, rune tines) and predicting the future through interpreting the patterns of how they fall. Pulling items marked with various symbols at random is also a form of sortilege, as are some forms of card reading and bibliomancy. It’s even possible to create a unique form of sortiege yourself.
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Most Precious Ointment
A workshop preparing the famous 36 ingredient bruise remedy.
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New England Pagan Peasant Tradition
This is a description of our family pagan tradition. NEPPT has a lot in common with many other forms of Neo-Paganism and Neo-Heathenism, but differs in other ways. It's also a rural rather than urban oriented path. Many of our rites and holidays center on work- washing dishes, cleaning the stove, feeding the animals are religious acts, Broom Day and the Feast of Brothers and Sisters are holidays. Even if you don't want to "sign up", hearing about this may make you feel better about developing your own traditions.
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Non-violence and Paganism
Is it possible that neo-pagans can take violent action? Is there anything intrinsic in the concept of pagan life that means one must be a pacifist? The Wiccan Rede does mitigate against violence, but not all pagans are witches. What about heathens? When is it OK to fight (back)? |
Palmistry and Health
This workshop is specifically about the things palmistry can tell healers about their clients. Not only is there what you can learn from the health line, but also the nails, and health signs in the head, heart and life lines, as well as color, spots, and other marks.
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Perceptions of Witchcraft
Negative Stereotypes versus Reality. Bad tempered hags and seductive temptresses are the ways witches are generally seen in stories, but what is the "witch next door" really like? What can they really do, and what DO they do? And how can we present ourselves better to calm those still caught up in the stereotypes?
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Period Prostitution (aka how to dress like a prostitute)
This is an overview of how to dress as and otherwise play the part of a lady (or gentleman) of the evening-or spot them walking around the war!
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Practicing magick- it’s how we get better
Should magick be something that’s only used when you have exhausted other options? How are you going to get good enough to do what you need to do in emergencies if you don’t practice? A discussion.
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Real Witchcraft, Magick and Soothsaying in the Middle Ages
This is, of course, a brief overview. What I'm hoping to do is give a more accurate historical background than is often bandied about in modern circles today. Magick was found throughout SCA period. Divining (and trying to effect) the future, whether dousing for water or ore, finding a thief, or charting the astrological charts of kings and nations, has always been a part of life in all levels of society. We must mention the whole idea of witchcraft as a heresy, and the accuracy of modern myths of the "burning times".
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Reiki I
The first attunement and instruction on Reiki to start self healing by the Usui method. Also a general overview of the history of how Reiki was started and has spread, and what you can do with it.
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Role of the Soothsayer in the Community
Divination can provide information not otherwise available, but often the method of getting this information changes its reception. It can be taken as the Word of God, tricks taking advantage of the credulous, just another source of information, or even the work of the devil. Both cultural attitudes as well as the behavior of the practitioner has an impact and need to be examined.
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RunValdr (used to be called Runic Reiki)
This is a system of energy healing like Reiki, but using Runes and another set of symbols given to Rodney Cox by Odin and Freya. This includes the attunement (there is only one in this system) and instructions on how to go out and heal using Runes. Includes attunement so you can do it immediately. While I mostly use it for healing, it is also good for many other magickal practices. You don't need to know Runes before you start, but you will need to learn them to use it. (also available- Introduction to the Runes)
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RunValdr II
The Runic Reiki system I presented last year has evolved into RuneValdr. There are some new symbols and techniques, and this workshop is both for those who came last year and totally new folk. RunValdr is a system of energy healing like Reiki, but using Runes and another set of symbols given to Rodney Cox by Odin and Freya. This includes an attunement (there is only one in this system) and instructions on how to go out and heal using Runes.
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Runes
Runes were used for magick more than divination- surviving runic inscriptions and descriptions of how the runes were used in history tell us both about the runes themselves, and the peoples who used them.
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Runic Palmistry
The lines are the same for those in the North as they are for those from the Mediterranean, but for those who are more familiar with the northern gods and symbols, this system of palmistry describes the lines or branches on the palm as Frigga’s, Loki’s, or Thor’s branch. You’ll be able to get basic information on your life path by the end of the workshop.
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Rune Magic for Kids
Historically runes were used for magick more than divination. This covers rune techniques for healing, studying, protection, and other areas where kids want to increase their control. We also cover why and why not to use runes (or any kinds of magick), as well as how. This is based on my series of articles in the Blessed Bee- pagan family magazine.
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Rune Basics
The basic Elder Futharc is presented, with history of the magickal and non-magickal uses. The three aitts, and a basic description of what each rune represents, as well as how they have and can be used.
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Runic Diagnosis
Using runes to discover what health problems you or another is dealing with, and the energy patterns that lead to the problem, as well as what runes you can use to help fix the problem.
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Sabbat Cooking for the Allergic
Sharing food is designed to connect individuals to a community, but when special diets are required, the may seem to intensify divisions. But it’s possible to create celebration menus that won’t exclude those who have special dietary needs.
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Seashell Crystal healing
Just as various crystals can help move, smooth and stimulate the energy body, so can seashells. How to use shells for healing.
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Simple Mead Brewing
You can do it, with honey and tools you probably have around. We’ll cover both quick and slow meads, but you can even make a potable brew in 10 days with honey and bread yeast (better stuff with special yeast and long, slow fermenting, but let’s start simply). We’ll also talk about melomels, hydromels, rysomels, methaglin and a huge range of other meads. |
Soap making
Making your own soap allows you both to have more control over what you can put into the soap, both physically, and energetically. It also puts you in contact with our ancestors who made their own soap. Simple techniques and cautionary tales so you can avoid usual mistakes.
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Some new Tarot Spreads-
and how to design your own. Tired of using the same old celtic cross spread? Want something more specific? Something deeper, more specific? How to get the answer you are looking for.
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Soothsaying Ethics
This should be an open discussion of a wide range of the ethical questions that come up when one has access to “reading the future”: what not to say, what to say, and how, whether and how to charge, who to teach, what it is reasonable to claim about your readings. Come prepared to ask questions and think about answers.
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| Starting a Fire with Flint and Steel |
Stop it, you’re Embarrassing me!
(subtle pagans and stories of nearly Darwin Award worthy sabotaging of freedom of religion by well meaning, self centered and sometimes woefully stupid people representing pagans to the rest of the world.
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Subtle Pagans
Academic research on the Neo-Pagan movement has been based on research done a gatherings of pagans, this is a discussion of the differences between that population and the pagans who rarely or never go to gatherings- based on interviews, their views on their religion, and the portrayal of pagans in media and academia.
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Teaching your kids on dealing with Fairies
Does your kid have imaginary friends that you aren't quite sure are in their imagination? Kids often are able to see elemental spirits, ghosts, pixies, and other beings that adults can't. But they can be harmless, or pesky or even scary. I will share some first and second person experiences that may help you know when to intervene.
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Thaumaturgy vs. Theurgy
Can you, or should you do magick without the gods? Is it always the gods energy that you are channeling or is it something else? What is your responsibility to the gods? To the crystals and other animals you are using?
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The Burning Times
“Never again the burning” is the cry of modern witches- were 9 million burned? What really happened during the Inquisition, and what lessons should we really take from that history? |
The Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
There is such a thing as religious conversion for an individual- modern pagans know about that. But what influences large numbers of people to change religions? When historians talk about the “conversion” of a country- what do they mean? Did the people think they had converted? Economic, political and human reactions all contribute. |
The Evil Eye
Witches were often accused of "overlooking" or casting the evil eye on their victims. While reason sees this as nothing but a justification for abusing powerless women, recent studies show that there may be more to it than hysteria. Want to counter or avoid such "gazing", or if you're just curious, welcome! |
The Riddle of the Sphinx
The modern American (“youth”) culture has shaped the way the Neo-pagan movement sees aging, and how it has been wrestling with the concept of Crone and Sage.
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The War on Cancer
This is a description of how the disease Cancer has been dealt with by the modern medical community, and the alternative health community during the last century. This will be heavily colored by my personal experiences during the time between when my husband was diagnosed with Leukemia and his death- what I experienced, what I learned from research, and what I learned from our experiences.
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Votive Offerings
Our ancestors made offerings of treasure, food, candles, and symbolic images of everything from tools to body parts at sacred places. How can we incorporate votive offerings in modern practice- suitable to our own path?
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Wand making for Children (Olivander's style)
While it's fun to buy fancy expensive wands, not only is this not an option for most kids, it's also not needed. Wood is one of the best carriers for bio-energy, and a wand made by the user is generally more powerful than one made by anyone else. (Luckily, the Harry Potter books have made this more acceptable to kids.) Come make a wand and learn about using it - and learn what's really possible in our world.
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Witches and Cunning Folk in the Middle Ages & Renaissance
Cunning folk and wise men and women provided the magickal services of healing, divination, finding things, and lifting curses for those with no magickal knowledge or talent. How did these folk differ from witches?
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Yule Traditions
How was Christmas (and before Christmas, Yule) celebrated in the Middle Ages? What were the customs? What foods did they eat? What songs and dances did they do? How you can incorporate these in your families celebrations?
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