I am finally home (or at least in the state) for a few months and it is soooo good to be back.  It was wonderful to see the wonderful folks in Dallas and Florida Pagan Gathering again.  I just LOVE FPG and that fabulous crew!!!  And then my son and I traveled to Tennessee and met a whole new bunch of wonderful folks at The Goddess and the Moon in Nashville and The Sanctuary for Body, Mind, and Spirit in Bartlett, just outside of Memphis.  We even got to see an almost-42 ft tall statue of Athena at the Parthenon re-creation.  Where you ask?  In Nashville!  No kidding!

But now we are home and back to homeschooling, running the wildlife rehab clinic, and ... oh yeah... I have a major book deadline.  I have to have my new shamanic healing book in to the publisher before the end of December.  So I won't be spending much time online in the next month.  Oh and did I mention the 2 birthdays, holiday parties, and classes I'm teaching between now and then, not to mention the mystery I have to write for my son's birthday party game?  Yup, it looks like it will be a fun and insane month.  Yeeha!

Or it will be next year!  I just signed the contract to have "Mabon: Celebrating the Autumn Equinox" re-released through Spilled Candy Books.  YAY!!!

Our beloved Luna passed this evening.  She was a female Northern Saw-whet Owl that lived with us for nearly 9 years. This evening, I found her dead when I went in to feed the owls for the night. Although it wasn't really a surprise, Luna and her room-mate are elderly birds, it was a shock and a wound to the heart. Luna had a way of touching all that met her and she was a big part of this family.

She was a seriously brave little soul, bringing great joy to children and amazement to all that met her. When she was young and just learning to sit on the glove, she would hang out with me while my family & I watched tv. She feared nothing: not the kid, the dog, the public at the State Fair, bigger raptors, nothing. She had the courage and spirit of a Great-horned Owl.

She was a calm but strong little owl that helped a great many learn to handle raptors. She made a huge difference in the behavior of her Western Screech Owl buddy and room-mate, with whom she shared one nest box (even though they had two) each winter. She literally changed his life and protected him when he was afraid.

She will be sorely missed and there just isn't enough chocolate in the world to make up for the loss of a loved one.

We just set the calendar for the Ardantane School of Shamanic Studies!  Our classes for next year are:

January 19        The Shadow Side (and) Leading the Journey

June 7-8           Path of the Shaman

June 28-29        Plant and Animal Medicine

July 25-28         Vision Questing

September 27    Crafts of the Shaman 


October 11-12    Death and Dying

December 6-7    Healing the Fractured Spirit

Also, we are kicking off a new druidry certificate through the School of Pagan Spirituality on October 4 with "Into the Spiral: Celtic Ancestors, Beliefs, and Wanderings"

See www.ardantane.org for more info on Ardantane, the Schools, and our faculty - but this calendar won't be posted just yet.

 

I did it! I finally lit up and spun fire!!!!

I've been spinning poi for a while and spotting my fire-spinning-god son for over a year. But I finally decided I'm ready - and the fire god kid of mine agreed. I was soooo nervous the first time. It's amazing to think that something you've done hundreds of times can make you really nervous but when it involves large balls of fire whipping around your body, somehow that changes things. But then you do it and somehow that part of your brain that intelligently wants to stay away from fire shuts down and you are more comfortable each time.