Rather sad actually…

I find it rather ironic that what is so far the only offensive comment I have ever received about this blog has been written by a “good Christian”. Ok, so they didn’t want me to link to their website. That’s fair enough, and perhaps I should have asked first …my mistake for not doing so. I didn’t know they were Christian, in fact I never even considered what their particular religious bent might be. I’ve not had a problem with anyone else, and plenty of other people have also linked to my site without asking my permission, which I don’t mind. I really didn’t think it would be a problem. In any case I complied with their request and removed the link as soon as I saw their message. I meant no offense to anyone by placing their link on my site …I did it purely as a service to others who might be looking for more information about Asperger’s Syndrome because I thought this person’s site had something to offer in that respect.

What irks me the most is not that they wanted their site link removed, but rather the way in which the demand was made! What happened to a simple, civil request, especially from someone who supposedly has “seen the light” and should have risen above the need for foul-mouthed insults to get their point across?

Paganism still has a long way to go before we are ever going to be given the same respect and acceptance that other “mainstream” religions have, and this “comment” is a prime example of the ignorance of so many other people regarding Paganism and the unfounded fears and misconceptions they have about it…

hi,

while I appreciate you having a link to my site, it is better to ask me first via email… I don’t appreciate my site being with a weirdo who’s into witchcraft and paganisam and tarot cards…now that I mention that, I WANT IT TO BE REMOVED FROM YOUR SITE IMMEDIATELY!!! NOT NEXT WEEK NOW!

Are you an Aspie that believes in cults, witchcraft, paganism, tarot cards etc, YOUR AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING WEIRDO and I feel so sorry for you as you are a lost soul that doesn’t know it’s way to the light…, it’s hidden in darkness, and the only way you can come thru to the light, is to not do this, as to forgive & heal yourself with a relationship with God, and become a Christian.

WHEREVER YOU ARE WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU ARE NOT DOING THE RIGHT THING HERE, AND I CAN SEE FROM OUTSIDE IN, LOOKING AT YOU. A FRIGHTENED LOST SOUL THAT DOESN’T KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG. YOU NEED TO REMOVE ALL HEADINGS AND LINKS THAT DISPLAY WITCHCRAFT, TAROT, PAGANISM, SPIRITUALITY, PSYCHIC, AND PERSONAL READINGS, because you will frighten a lot of people who don’t believe in this sort of rubbish!! because if you believe in it, and continue on with it in your life, you will land in a place where there is fire, and whipping and knashing of teeth, (meaning Hell) and if this is where you want to land, then go right ahead, and continue on with this as your life journey because I can see where your headed…T….R…O…..U…B….L….E….!! HUGE TROUBLE! if you continue this way, you will head towards depression, anxiety and most likely suicide and then death, then you will see where you will end up for the rest of your life ETERNITY seperated from the God who created you.

And you’ve got your heading wrong as well, it should be outside in, not inside out…where you have your links. I shall check up on your site to see if my site is removed, otherwise I will contact WordPress who will remove it immediately.

Thanks and good luck with your lifetime.

As for the issue of cults …um, who here is trying to tell someone how they should live their life and what they should believe? Certainly not me or any of my Pagan friends. In general I think most Pagans have a healthy respect for other people’s right to live by religious or spiritual beliefs of their own choosing, without the need for proselytizing, coercion or indoctrination in any form. We don’t have to like or agree with what other people believe, but we should respect their right to choose what they feel is right for them (except of course if those beliefs involve violence and/or incite hatred towards others). Respect and tolerance for others can go a long way towards breaking down barriers and building friendship and understanding!

I suppose I really should thank the person who wrote this comment on my blog for actually taking the time to write and tell me how wrong I am and for giving me the opportunity to correct my errant ways. This person is obviously very passionate about their beliefs, and while I respect their right to believe as they do, I do not appreciate the self righteous, bigoted attitude behind their tirade, nor do I appreciate being called an “absolute fucking weirdo”. They lost all credibility when they typed that one! I am a polite and reasonable person, I don’t go around insulting people and I certainly don’t need to be threatened in any way, simply to remove a link. Like I said above, a simple, civil request would have sufficed.

Drum Making Weekend

Click image for more information

Colours of the Week

Ever since I was a child I’ve seen the days of the weeks as colours in my mind. I see them as if they are a strip of printed titles at the top of a calendar page, seen at a slight angle and floating in a dark brown/black void with the names repeating and disappearing off into the distance.  Each name is printed in bold type (and now with my familiarity with different fonts I realise I’ve been seeing them in Arial or Helvetica all my life, LOL) usually with the day name printed in the colour, or some with the name in white with the background coloured instead. I’ve never thought anything of it as that’s just the way its always been. I have no idea why I associate particular colours (or shapes) with each day, but here’s how I see them…

Sunday is pale pink (with a pink lace background).
Monday is white.
Tuesday is orange (with an orange coloured lemon-shaped (like the fruit) object under the word).
Wednesday is apple green.
Thursday is pale silvery grey.
Friday is a very dark purple (with a purple lace background, gathered at the top like a lace cravat or collar ruffle of ye olden days).
Saturday is dark navy blue (almost black).

Um… yes, I know …its a bit weird, LOL.

Some time ago, while Googling yet again for info about Asperger’s Syndrome,  I came across a description of a condition called synaesthesia, “which is a perceptual condition of mixed sensations: a stimulus in one sensory modality (e.g., hearing) involuntarily elicits a sensation/experience in another modality (e.g. vision). Likewise, perception of a form (e.g., a letter) may induce an unusual perception in the same modality (e.g. a color)”. More detailed info can be found here.

It is interesting to note that there is a link with autism, as synaesthesia and autism occur together more often than chance predicts.

I decided to do an online test to see if my weekday/colour thing is really classed as synaesthesia. From my test results below, its looks like I am definitely a synaesthete, at least with regard to days of the week. There are a lot of other types of synaesthesia which I do not consciously experience so I didn’t do the tests for any of those.

A standardized test battery for the study of synesthesia (pdf file)

While doing the test I found I felt distinctly uncomfortable in my solar plexis area about the “look” of the day name until I got the colour right, or as close as I could to what felt right. I had the most trouble with “Wednesday” as the green seemed harder to pick than any of the other colours.

Witchcraft & Colour Correspondences

All this got me wondering about the origins of the colour correspondences commonly used within witchcraft & paganism. Why are particular colours associated with planets, days of the week, and different attributes such as money, healing, banishing etc. How did all these associations originate and was synaesthesia involved in the selection process? Something to ponder perhaps.

Just out of curiosity I decided to compare my weekday colour choices with some of the correspondences commonly used. I found a lot of different sources, both online and from my books, for colours associated with the planets, which are in turn associated with the days of the week. There seems to be a great range of colours for some of the days of the week, and a general consensus on only a couple of colours for others. Hmm… it all comes down to people’s individual perceptions of course (synaesthetic or not), but interesting none the less. I managed to come up with matches for 5 out of the 7 days.

So does this mean I was tapping into the collective unconscious or some other great unknown source of cosmic correspondences when I was just a child and first discovering that days had colours? A bit far fetched perhaps …who knows? Does my little exercise prove anything? …no, not really. But I had fun wasting a morning while writing and discovering stuff. I’d better get back to some real work now, LOL.

Edit: (a few hours later…) This is really wonderfully intriguing stuff!
It seems I have other family members with synaesthesia …I just asked my kids a few questions!

The Horse Boy

I found this story especially interesting as it brings together two of my interests: autism and shamanism…

In late 2004, Rupert Isaacson, a human rights activist, brought a delegation of African bushmen from Botswana to the United Nations. Among the men were traditional healers, who offered to work with Isaacson’s autistic son Rowan.

Isaacson says he was skeptical, but he had experience with the bushmen and allowed the healers to lay their hands on his son.

“I was kind of flabbergasted at Rowan’s response. For about four days while they were with him, he started to lose some of his symptoms. He started to point, which was a milestone he hadn’t achieved,” Isaacson said.

When the tribal healers left, Rowan regressed.

Isaacson says he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he were to give Rowan a longer exposure to the two things that he seemed to have responded well to: horses and shamans.

Read more here (and see photos and a video)…

A link to the article quoted from above was posted recently on an autism forum, but at the time I quickly glossed over it and only saw the horse part, not the bit about the shamans. Then this morning a friend sent me a link to last night’s ABC Radio National interview with this boy’s father, which put a lot of emphasis on the shamanism aspect of the story, so I thought I should take more notice of it. You can go to Late Night Live to download the interview as an mp3 file. It’s definitely worth listening to.

Rupert Isaacson – author and journalist; human rights campaigner; former horse trainer – has also written a book called, The Horse Boy: a father’s quest to heal his son (Text Publishing, 2009).

And there’s also the film, The Horse Boy (formerly titled Over the Hills and Far Away).

At the foot of the mountain, a small boy sits wriggling in his father’s arms, giggling at the strange figure dancing before him. Wearing a deer-skin coat hung with ribbons, pieces of antler, arcane symbols forged in iron, on his head a masked, feathered headdress, the shaman dances to the rhythm of his own drum, chanting and intoning; lost in trance. All of a sudden, he sits down and beckons for the boy to be passed to him. Still laughing, but also nervous, the small boy is put under the drum, the thundering rhythm loud in his ears. Father and mother look on worriedly: will this be too much for their child? Read more here…

A Frog Blog

Every so often my “inner zoologist” needs to be indulged, so I thought I’d post a Frog Blog for a change. I photographed this little fellow at the SOL Samhain Weekend Retreat (held at Otford in southern Sydney) that I attended a couple of weeks ago. Xavier found the froggy (I forgot to ask exactly where) and brought it out to show people. Below are the photos I took of the frog (one of them showing it on Foxy’s shoulder & in her hair) before it was carefully returned to its hiding spot in the garden. Naturally I had to try to identify the little beastie… turns out it’s probably a “Peron’s Tree Frog” – Litoria peroni – although it could possibly be a “Tyler’s Tree Frog” – Litoria tyleri – which looks very similar. It’s difficult to accurately identify it from the photos alone  – even other online photos supposedly of the same species look very different to each other. But the various descriptions I’ve read seem to point more to this little fellow being a Peron’s rather than a Tyler’s tree frog, especially with the colouring under the thighs and arms which is only just visible in my photos.

Peron’s Tree Frog

Scientific Name: Litoria peroni

The general colour of the Peron’s tree frog is a mottled brown or grey with a bright yellow and black pattern in the groin and inner surfaces of the thigh and small green specks on the dorsal surfaces. This species can change colour in seconds depending on temperature, light exposure and moisture. The Peron’s tree frog is approximately 50mm in length.

Habitat: The Peron’s tree frog is found in many types of habitat, often a long distance from water. It remains undercover during the day, emerging on warm nights to forage and breed. It occurs from southern Queensland, south to eastern Victoria and west along the Murray River catchment. This species is also very common in suburban gardens and carries out a useful role in controlling insect pests.

Diet: Most frogs are known as generalized insectivores. This sounds technical but it really means that they will eat virtually any small insect or invertebrate that comes along. Peron’s tree frog is no exception to this rule, being stimulated to feed by the movement of any spider, beetle, fly, moth, etc.

Reproduction: Peron’s tree frog is almost indistinguishable from a close relative, Tyler’s tree frog (Litoria tyleri). If they look so similar how do the frogs know which ones to breed with? This is achieved by each species of frog producing a distinctive call that is specific to that type of frog. Peron’s tree frog has a loud machine gun rattle-like call, whereas Tyler’s tree frog has a more high-pitched cackle. This was also the method that zoologists first used to tell these two species apart.

From www.reptilepark.com.au/animals.asp?catID=5&ID=144

What kind of Dragon are you?

Water Dragon

You are the wisest and the most intelligent dragon. Your lifespan is usually much longer than any other dragon’s. You prefer not to fight, but to resolve problems peacefully, however you are very skilled in ancient magic, that helps you protect yourself. You sometimes share your knowledge with humans or other dragons.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quiztron Quizzes and Personality Tests

Samhain

Time for another of my artworks, and with the arrival of Samhain I thought this particular drawing was quite appropriate…

“Death”

This sketch was done using my favourite artistic mediums: ballpoint pen, coloured pencils and water based “textas”. As for what the inspiration behind this one was, I can’t remember exactly but at the time I think the skeleton represented an aspect of me. In some ways that still holds true for me now, but perhaps for slightly different reasons. In any case I’m sure you can find lots of deep, dark symbolism hidden within the drawing.

Samhain ~ April 30th – May 1st

Samhain (pronounced sow-een) is the Witches’ New Year, and it is from here that the Wheel of the Year is traditionally counted. It is a time for fireworks, sparklers and night-time celebrations, and a time to both say farewell to the old year, and to welcome in the new. Thyme (associated with departed souls), rue (the flower of repentance), and rosemary (for remembrance) are traditional herbs burned at Samhain In Australia, smudge sticks of eucalyptus leaves are also burned, and homes are ritually cleansed and purified.

Samhain is associated with Shadowfest (Italy/Latin/Strega), and Martinmas (Celtic/Scottish) and is commonly known as Halloween. The veils between the worlds of the dead and of the living, and of the realm of faery in between are very thin, and that at this time souls that are leaving this physical plane can pass out and souls that are reincarnating can pass in.

At Samhain, the darkness increases and the Goddess reigns in her powerful aspect of the Crone. The God, as Dark Lord, passes into the underworld to become reborn again at Yule, and his presence all but disappears for a time. It is common for Witches and common folk alike to prepare a Feast for the Dead on Samhain night, when offerings of food and drink are left for the spirits. Candles or lanterns are traditionally burned at each window of the house to guide friendly spirits home and keep away unfriendly souls.

Samhain is a time to reflect on the mortality that inevitably confronts us all, and to learn to deal with the fears that surround death. It is a time to reflect that life is cyclical, and that change is the natural order of things. It is a time to confront our own inner demons, and learn to face fear, and to grow stronger by acknowledging the fears that we have.

Wreaths are commonly found on Witches’ doors at Samhain, as a marker to wise ones that a Witch dwells within. Wreaths at this time traditionally contain eucalyptus leaves and rosemary spikes. The powers of divination, the Sight, and supernatural communication are strengthened on Samhain night, and it is considered a powerful but dangerous time to communicate with lost loved ones.

For altar decoration, Jack-o-lanterns, gourds, and autumn foliage are ideal, as are the barks of trees that are awake (non-deciduous/native Australian trees), and the resins and oils of trees that are awake during this time of the year.

In the Southern hemisphere, Samhain in celebrated on the 30th of April and the 1st of May, and in the Northern hemisphere it falls on the 31st of October.

From: Akasha Witchcraft (website no longer available).

Autism, Psychic Abilities, the Paranormal and Paganism …is there a connection?

I wrote this article for the April Axis Mundi eNewsletter. It’s based on some of my previous writings here,  which have been “tweaked” and improved a little, with some new content added.

(Edit: 1/5/09 My article now also appears in the May edition of The Cosmic Cauldron Newsletter.)

April is Autism Awareness Month in some countries, including the UK and the USA, and April 2, 2009 was the very first World Autism Awareness Day. Here in Australia May 1-31 has been chosen to be Autism Awareness Month each year. Autism touches the lives of all sorts of people, including witches and pagans, so I thought it would be appropriate timing to post some information about it in this edition of the Axis Mundi.

An Eggsercise in Creativity

Yes I know the egg jokes on my Facebook page are wearing a bit thin, quite eggsasperating really but as it’s Easter I thought it was a good eggscuse to add a few here and post these pictures here as well. The first photo is an oldie but a goodie – it shows the Easter Bunny’s parents in what should have been a more private moment… 

Aries/Libra Full Moon

The Full Moon was out in all her splendour last night so I tried taking some photos with my little Canon Digital IXUS 950IS as the clouds cleared. The results weren’t very exciting, partly because they were done without the aid of a tripod, but also because the camera is not quite “adjustable” enough for night photography of luminous objects such as the moon.

The moon was surrounded by a large golden-brown halo, which unfortunately did not show up well in the photos, but at the time was quite spectacular. Typically if the moon shows a halo, it means that rain is threatening for the next day – today has  certainly been overcast and rain is predicted by the weather bureau for the next few days.

The astrological influences of this Full Moon, in brief from Kelly Surtees’ Astrology Blog, are…

Full Moon April 10 0:55am AEST Libra 19 degrees

The Full Moon in Libra is one of two lunations each year that highlight balance in partnerships. The ‘me’ vs. ‘we’ debate arises as you explore new strategies around equality and fairness with others while maintaining your sense of self. Discussion and debate help forge new paths forward as this Full Moon illuminates the Air (mind) element. Energy planet Mars aligns with Uranus encouraging single minded pursuit of personal goals. It’s ok to be a rebel with heart now; positive passion is hard to refuse, even if it shakes things up.

What’s also important about this time of the month is the fullness of emotions everyone experiences. Intuition peaks as the Moon, symbolizing emotion, feeling, nourishment and your inner world stands equal opposite the light of the Sun (consciousness, ego, identity). It’s easier to get clarity around your feelings as your emotions swell and your head finally gets what’s going on in your heart. Insight is within reach.

Another very illuminating site (excuse the pun, LOL) is Astrowisdom.com by Lisa Dale Miller. Her interpretations are much longer and more detailed and often show amazing synchronicity with the current events in my life. Here’s an excerpt from her article about this Full Moon (go to her website to read the entire article)…

Libra rules Karma (action) and it is Libra’s job to give us the ability to pursue “right action”. What is this principle of right action?

1. Seek justice with fairness and balance.
2. Embrace your differences without being attached to them.
3. Work to understand viewpoints other than your own.
4. Remember “the truth” is relative and based upon one’s perception.
5. Initiate compromise, the basic building block of all solutions.
6. When we give a little we get a lot. When we give a lot, we get more than we can imagine.
7. Negotiation can always be the first and last response to conflict.
8. Violence is not a viable way to bring peace. Violence only begets more violence.
9. Insist on peace and non-violence.
10. When you cause pain and suffering to others, you destroy yourself in equal measure.
11. Saying and doing everything with love, compassion and respect is the only way to win.

These principles are applicable to all our relationships, be they intimate, familial or professional.

I’m always amazed at the accuracy of the astrological interpretations by both Kelly and Lisa, and by the fact that astrology actually works (in spite of not being “scientific”), LOL.