divination
Speaker Spotlight
Jane T. Sibley, one of the founders of CTCW, also created the New England Conference on Mithraic Studies (Mithracon), happening in New Haven this weekend. Jane and Tchipakkan met in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval recreation group, where Jane’s persona is that of a Norsewoman from the pre-Viking period, Arwen ferch Rhys (Tchipakkan’s is an Anglo-Saxon, also from the 7th century). That was where Jane created Auntie Arwen’s Spices, where she sells herbs and herb mixes both culinary and healing. If you can’t wait until the conference check them out on line. In the SCA she worked with Lois Fitzpatrick in the Soothsayer’s Guild, being awarded the Order of the Laurel for historical divination. Among the techniques she shared in this medievalist group were reading runes, casting seeds, and her work in utsetta (oracular seidhr).
She was taught a lot of this by her Norwegian grandmother, and, being an historian, is hesitant to claim that these techniques go back farther than can be documented; however, these are traditional techniques, and really work. Jane passes them along outside the family because they shouldn’t be lost, and none of the next generation has shown interest. Among these is the very intense Norseworking healing ritual, which she’s done for a few years. (If you come, be sure you know how to ground your energy!)
Jane’s degree was in folklore (her PhD in runes), and her work was with an electron microscope- as with much of CTCW, she combines mind and spirit, history and science, healing, divination, myth and humor, each informing our understanding of the others.
Her books, “Norse Mythology…According to Uncle Einar”, “The Hammer of the Smith”, “The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods”, and “A Different Dragon” and The Way of the Wise (Traditional Norse Folk Medicine and Magic.)
Speaker Spotlight: Rebecca Oubouzar
Rebecca Hamilton-Oubouzar is an artist, writer, and Kabyle-by-marriage. She has been a practicing pagan for more than 15 years, and has studied and worked with Kabyle culture and symbology for more than a decade. As the co-founder of Raven’s Own, a unique collectibles shop, Rebecca helps to create unique jewelry, tools, and figurines that reflect her eclectic quirkiness. Irreverent and sarcastic, especially with her deities, she spends most of her time herding cats.
This year she’ll be doing two classes:
Walking the Liminal Spaces
As our path unwinds, sometimes we find ourselves in the shoes of Robert Frost, taking “the one less traveled by.” These less-worn avenues often take us between the well-drawn lines of society. We will briefly explore the in-between places in which we walk. (This class will include guided meditation; passing familiarity with pagan and queer terminologies will help, but is not required.).
and
Get Action Rebecca Oubouzar
Life is beyond demanding, and “wine-and-bubble-bath” method of self-care is a booming business. But all the STUFF is still lurking outside your candle-lit soaking sanctuary. How do we handle it? How do we do so mindfully, without burning ourselves out? How do we do it when we’re overwhelmed, exhausted, depressed? Let’s find out together. (This class will include guided meditation.)
Happy Walpergis Night and May Day!
Walpergis Night- May Eve is April 30th; May 1st is May Day.
Many Pagans get together to show solidarity with each other and our ancestors by building bonfires, and dancing around May Poles.
Some remember that, as at Samhain, the veil is thin at this point in the yearly cycle, and it’s easier for our ancestors to visit this side. In Ancient Rome the Lemuria was held for three days in May. The family ancestors would be welcomed and fed, but then at the end (on the 13th) they would be sent away by tossing beans around the house and saying: “I send these; with these beans I redeem me and mine” (Haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis.) nine times. 
As with live relatives, sometimes we are glad to have them, sometimes we are glad to have them leave. While the benevolent dead became Manes or household spirits, the malevolent dead became lemures, spirits who would harm the living. These are the ones they wanted to banish.
In Northern Europe towns would erect May Poles and dance around them, and we still recreate the old ways- the dancing, the plays, with the hobby horse and Greenman. We welcome the coming growing season and the cycle of change, while at the same time, trying to connect with the past.
We no longer drive our cattle between two bonfires (or at least I don’t know anyone who does, there may be some who do), but we do recognize the need to purify as well as celebrate, to break with those parts of the past we want to let go, while holding onto the ones we love. Change usually includes choice, and sometimes taking responsibility for those choices is the hardest part of change. So let’s celebrate when we can, and enjoy the company of others who know what a magickal time this is!
Thought for the week:
Another way to think of it is going with the flow. If you use all your energy trying to stay where you are, you aren’t going to have any left to direct your movement. Go with the change and ride the wave to a farther or higher place than you could reach without the wave pushing you along. Think of the line from Macbeth: “There is a tide in the affairs of men that taken at the flood leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”
When you find yourself in the midst of change, learn to feel for the flow of the energies around you. This is one of the reasons we use divination, to find the paths of least resistance, so we may flow easily in a profitable direction rather than exhaust ourselves fighting the tides of time and the universe. 
Sale along the crest of the tide of time, rather than fighting it, and getting it up your nose.
Divination with Runes on the New Normal Wednesday
Please join Tchipakkan with her guests Jane Sibley and Thor Halvorsen on the New Normal 8 pm Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 8-9 p.m. edt.
Miss the live show? Here’s the link to the archived show.
This is going to be a chat about using Runes for Divination. Runes were used for writing, and for magick, but since Ralph Blum came out with his little rune divination kit, many people seem to think that this is what Runes are for. Well, they sure work, so let’s talk about it. Jane Sibley is an expert on Norse folklore and Runes, and Thor is a Rune reader and student of pagan sociology (as is Tchipakkan). This should be a fun conversation. Feel free to call in at 619-639-4606 with questions or comments.
Listen to the show on http://liveparanormal.com/ , live Wednesday 8-9 eastern time. If you miss the live show, we’ll share the link to the archive as soon as it’s done on fb, and the CTCW.net site, as well as https://Tchipakkan.wordpress.com Hope you can join us!
