Tuesdays New Normal announcements
Spotlight on Workshop: Hawthorn Medicine and Magic
Hawthorn Medicine and Magic with Sean Donahue
Blossoms that beckon with the scent of sex and death. Thorns that guard the fruit. Standing atop the Hollow Hills that mark the entrance to the Faerie realm, Hawthorn is a glyph for the power of the realm whose gates it guards. We will explore the medicine, magic(k), and folklore of this tree. 90 minutes
Wanting is good
Did you ever flip a coin to make a decision and then when head or tails came up, you discovered that you really didn’t want that option? I’ve often used that technique to discover if I were hiding my own preferences from myself.
Some folks say you shouldn’t WANT things. If you don’t want anything, you’ll never be disappointed if you don’t have it, you’ll never want what someone else has. There is a problem with wanting something without having done anything to earn it, sometimes. You can follow the line of thinking to work out when it’s OK, and when it isn’t. If you take something someone else worked for when you didn’t, that’s not good. If someone gives you something because they want you to be happy and getting it makes you happy, that makes them happy, so that’s good. It’s OK to want, to admire, to appreciate beautiful, wonderful things. Better than that, if you want something, whether a bike, or a video game, or a car, or the ability to make your own decisions, that wanting, that longing for something you don’t have yet may help motivate you to doing the things you need to do to get it. You may want to fit into that dress without the seams straining, and want it more than you want those cookies. You may want to read that book enough that you stay home when others are headed for a night out- or you may want to have friends around you more than you want to read the book. One of the most important skills you can learn is to know what you want, and how much you want it. Sometimes you may have to lead yourself through a string of questions to figure out your options and test the strength of you wanting.
Don’t assume that any wanting is greed. You may be wanting someone to love you and you love. You may want money- but what you WANT is to know that you have earned that money. (Be careful not to set the intention for a wretched job because of an unexamined belief that if you don’t suffer for it, you didn’t work hard for it. Be careful, you may have picked up some really odd and untrue beliefs before you even knew you were learning them.)
Change can be very good, and your intentions- your wants- will direct them. Accept that what you want may be what is going to bring you fulfillment, and learn to embrace that energy as a way to overcome the fear of reaching for it. Fear isn’t automatically bad. Fear of being hurt keeps us safe. But want isn’t automatically bad either. Accept them as signs that help you find your way to your best life.
Consider this
Thus us an unusual graphic for the CTCW blog, but at the same time, when I tripped over it while looking for images dealing with change, it occurred to me that it might still be applicable. This year our theme is change. “Change as Opportunity: Rising to the Challenge” Change can be bad or good, although even when good it can also be scary, and I expect we will look at a lot of aspects in change in this year’s conference. Sometimes a big change is better than gradual change- if your leg needed to be amputated, would you rather do it an inch at a time?
One of the things we are trying to change with Changing Times- Changing Worlds is to help the world to accept the value of some studies (Metaphysics/ Paranormal) that have been dismissed as impossible, and incompatible with science. Alchemy is one of those studies. It argues “As above, so below” It tells us that the way things work in one system, often work similarly in another unrelated system. We can use science to help us understand change. The way science describes change may help us understand what about changes is good or hard in our lives. 
The Greek symbol delta Δδ is used for change. Entropy in general (as opposed to thermodynamics) means a tendency for things to move toward disorder and chaos. In other words, chaos is the natural state of the world and it takes energy to maintain order. I think we can see that in our lives. You may have seen people wearing the 8 pointed Chaos Star. As we are learning to look at and understand darker aspects of spirit, some people are embracing Chaos. Certainly it is one of Winter’s lessons that without winter composting and breaking down last year’s old growth, new life would be impossible in the Spring. We may enjoy and wish for the more pleasant aspects of the changing year, but all parts of the cycle are needed. So let us not look at science as the enemy of the paranormal, but simply another way to understand it.
Youth and the Perception of Magick on the New Normal
Please join Tchipakkan and Thor Halvorsen on the New Normal 8 pm Wednesday, – January 24, 2018,, 8-9 p.m. edt.
Miss the live show? Listen to the archive here:
http://tobtr.com/s/10546001
At some point many young people start noticing things we’d describe as magick, and try to learn more. Some explore on their own, some find books, others look in their community, a lucky few have family members who can teach them how it works, and how to develop their talents. (How to avoid easy mistakes!)
Everyone is psychic to some extent, with empathic or other talents. Some help comes from having a good grounding in folklore, and different religions can help or confuse the issue. Fairy tales have created stereotypes of witches as outlaws; every historical period has its own fears, whether Vikings or the atom bomb, the Black Death or AIDS, growing up is scary, and understanding magick can help you feel more in control of your world- but a misunderstanding can make you fear it.
If you started looking for magical mentoring when you were a kid (or teen) or have been a magical mentor to a youth, give us a call between 8 and 9 Wednesday 619-639-4606 (live only).
If you can’t make the live show 8-9- and have a question or comment, please feel free to write me a message and I’ll read it on the air. Want to listen later? Live Paranormal.com archives its shows by date, and I archive them by date, guest, and topic on my website: http://tchipakkan.wordpress.com/the-new-normal/directory-of-podcasts/ <http://tchipakkan.wordpress.com/the-new-normal/directory-of-podcasts/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank> Hope you can join us tomorrow night from 8-9 at the New Normal. http://liveparanormal.com/<http://liveparanormal.com/>
To listen on your computer, open a window on your computer to www.Liveparanormal.com <http://www.liveparanormal.com/>, click play.
If you can’t tune in while we’re live (8-9 pm), all Live Paranormal.com shows are archived by date, and I’ll post the link to this show here after the show. If you know you’re going to listen later and have a question you’d like answered, look on the facebook events page and leave a question there. We’ll try to answer it during the show.
