Yemaya and New Year

Around the first Full Moon of the year the Temple of the Dark Moon together The Goddess House will be hosting the annual "Blessing of the Waters" at Grange Beach, Adelaide.  This event is dedicated to the Africo-Carribean Mami Wata, the "Mother of the Waters", commonly known as Yemaya. 
 

Yemaya, or Ymoja as she was known to the Yoruban people of West Africa, was the Mother of the Ogun River. This is because she was said to have given birth to the world's waters ... and that new springs would appear whenever she turned over in her sleep, and springs would gush forth whenever she walked.

The Djanggawul Sisters

A Haiku by Luthiena o Lorien

Endlessly pregnant,

Produced the world's first sacred,

Holy artifacts

According to the Aboriginal people of north eastern Amhem Land, the human race evolved from three great ancestorial beings, known as Djanggawul and his two sisters: Bildiwuwiju (or Bildjiwuraru), the elder sister who had many children; and Muralaidj (or Miralaidj), who had just reached puberty.  Together, they lived on an island known as Baralku, the island of the dead.

One day they decided to load up their canoe with sacred objects and emblems (which they kept in a conical mat basket) and travel to Australia.  They landed on the Arnhem Land coast at a place called Yelanghara beach near Port Bradshaw.   When Djanggawul plunged his mawalan (walking stick) into the sand, a freshwater spring formed.  The stick then grew into a she-oak tree.

White Ribon Day - 25 November 2012

In 1991, a group of Canadian men initiated a White Ribbon campaign to recognise the anniversary of the deaths of 14 Canadian women massacred by a gunman in Montreal two years prior. Wearing a white ribbon was a public pledge by these men to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

Since that time, the White Ribbon campaign has spread to countries on every continent. It is now the largest organised worldwide event condemning violence against women.

Each year, 25 November marks both the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and White Ribbon Day.

More about White Ribbon Day can be found here.

November Devotional Service

As the year is quickly coming to an end, various other commitments are amounting up.  As such, a regrettable decision has been made to cancel the November devotional service that was to be held at The Goddess House this coming Tuesday, 13 November 2012. 

 

A private healing circle will still take place so if you would like a name to be added to the list, please contact the Priestess in Residence.

 

The final devotional service for 2012 to be held on Tuesday, 11 December 2012, will still go ahead.  The theme of this service will be to honour the God and Goddess of the Summer.  I hope to see you there.

Honouring the Celtic Warrior Queens

Last Saturday I was joined with 15 other women at a beautiful location north of Adelaide where we honoured a number of Celtic Warrior Queens as well as Goddesses who were renown for their displays of "feminine power" - being initiators of heroes, as well as defenders of their pride and tribal homelands.

 

The timing of this workshop could not have been any better as SBS had recently started to screen a series on Britain's "She Wolves", where historian Dr Helen Castor explores the lives of seven English queens who challenged male power and the fierce reactions they provoked.  The first episode explored the lives of Matilda, who some 800 years ago, came within a hairs breadth of being the first woman to be crowned queen of England, as well as her daughter-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine, who divorced one king, married another, only to lead a rebellion against him.

 

Contemplating the Divine Union

"Peace by being Peace"
by Willow Arlenea

With the seasonal celebration of Bealtaine just around the corner which marks the gateway to Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the next service at The Goddess House will be on the divine union between the God (the forces of the divine masculine) and the Goddess (the forces of the divine feminine).  On the 13 November 2012, not only will we be acknowledging this union externally, but also internally as well.



Swiss psycho-analysist Carl Jung was of the opinion that each of us has the ability of perfect balance in that within each man, there resided the anima (unconscious feminine psychological qualities), and similiarly within each woman the animus (unconscious masculine psychological qualities) also resided.

Blodeuwedd - "Flower Face"

Blodeuwedd by Christopher Williams (1930)

In the Welsh story of "Math ap Mathonwy", Blodeuwedd is created out of three or nine different flowers (depending on what version you read) to be the perfect wife for Llew Llaw Gyffes.  And she remains so until being left alone while her husband decides to visit Math and her magician uncle, Gwydion (Blodeuwedd's creators), who is also the son of Don (an ancient Welsh Goddess).

During this time, a young hunter,  Gronw Pebyr, the Lord of Penllyn, passes Blodeuwedd's castle while hunting a stag.  The two fall in love and the only way they can be together is for Llew to be killed.  However, Llew is the magical son of Arianhrod (another powerful Welsh Goddess and sister of Gwydion), which means he can only be killed if he is "struck by spear one year in the making, not within a house or without and not on horseback or on foot".

Green Tara and the Buddha

 The next devotional service to be held at The Goddess House (next Tuesday, 9 October 2012) will be in honour of the Green Tara and the Buddha. 

The Green Tara is often referred to as the "Buddha of the Enlightened Activity".  She is known as the "Mother of Mercy and Compassion" and is the female aspect of the universe, which gives birth to warmth, compassion and relief from bad karma as experienced by ordinary beings in cyclic existence.

Only a Week to Go

As the Spring Equinox has come and gone, not only does the beat of the earth seem to be steadily speeding up as we approach the warmer months of Summer, but so too does the year.  Next week it will be October ... shortly after that, Bealtaine will be celebrated and then the Wheel will be moving around to Mid Summer.

I am finding myself wonderful just where has the year gone ... am I ready for long hot days of Summer yet, especially with our soaring southern heat?

Charm to Be Rid an Affliction

Gather a litre of water from some spring or stream, and pour it into a large bowl, set within a darkened chamber; by candlelight, then, take a silver knife and write with its point upon the water's surface the name of that which afflicts you.

The Independent Goddesses

This year has been a rather productive year for me with respect to my writing.  Not only am I in the final stages of completing the manuscript of my first book for printing, but I have also had a number of essays appear in various anthologies.

 

The first of these anthologies is Unto Herself: A Devotional Anthology for Independent Goddesses, edited by from Ashley Horn and Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which is now available.

 

This volume consists a collection of prayers, poems, rituals, essays, and short stories written about various independent Goddesses including Artemis, Athena, Columbia, Coventina, Freyja, Hekate, Hestia, Isis, Kuan Yin, Lilith, Mary, Minerva, the Morrigan, Nehalennia, Neith, Skadhi, Tabiti, and Vesta.   Amongst the contributions is my own essay on Neith, who was an extremely early Egyptian Goddess.

Spring has arrived at The Goddess House

Growing over the verandah to the The Goddess House is a beautiful old wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) that, with the help of my partner a number of years ago, we restrung the wire in order to "encourage" it to provide shading from the intensive northerly Summer sun we get here in Adelaide.  Alas, like anything we try to tame from nature, it showed that it had its own will and continued to grow according to that ... and not mine.

 

With Spring well and truly upon us, the wisteria is bursting into gorgeous lilac coloured flower, and on the breeze, its delicate scent is found.  Little wonder then that wisteria is associated with the element of Air and attracts to it powers of gentleness, inspiration, as well a sacred knowledge and wisdom.

Prayer to Persephone

Mother of All Things

"The Mother of Songs, the Mother of our whole seed

Bore us in the beginning.

She is the Mother of all races

And the Mother of our tribes.

She is the Mother of Thunder, the Mother of Rivers

The Mother of Trees and all kinds of things.

She is the Mother of Songs and Dances

She is the Mother of the Stones

She is the Mother of the dance paraphernalia and of all temples and the only

Mother we have

She is the Mother of the Animals, the only one

She is the Mother of the Milky Way

She is the Mother is the rain, the only one we have

She alone is the Mother of things, she alone."

Idun - Goddess of Eternal Youth

Idun (whose name means "She who Renews") is the Norse Goddess of Youth and it is her magickal apples of immortality that when a Norse God or Goddess feels old age approaching, all, they have to do is to eat one of her apples in order to become young again.

Her father was a dwarf smith, Ivalde, who was considered to be one of the older families of all the Norse Gods.  Married to Bragi, the God of poetry, Idun (also spelt Idunna or Ithun) or is also considered to be the Goddess also associated with fertilityand death.  It is possible that she was originally one of the Vanir (originally a group of wild nature and fertility Gods and Goddesses who lived in Vanaheim and who were the sworn enemies of the warrior Gods of the Aesir).

Goddesses of the Zodiac

Arise, Goddess of Spring

Here at The Goddess House it is almost September, yet the long reaching fingers of the Cailleach, the Gaelic Goddess of Winter, can still be felt.  Whilst my Dutch irises have been out for a number of months, very few of the traditional Spring flowers can be seen - one grape hyacinth appeared a few weeks back, as if to test the weather, and only now are the freesias starting to appear.  This time last year the garden was boosting a wonderful display of daffodils and jonquils, especially around the sacred circle.  This year however it is a different story.

Honouring Bast and Anubis

The August service at The Goddess House carried an Egyptian theme Bast (the cat headed Goddess associated with women and the moon) and Anubis (the jackal headed God associated with guiding the souls into the Underworld) were honoured.

Probably the most famous Egyptian Goddess after Isis, Bast (or Bastet) was believed to have originally been a Sun Goddess, but during the Greek rule of Egypt, she became associated with Artemis and the Moon.

Spring has arrived at The Goddess House

I came back from a weekend away to find that amongst an increasing display of purple, one white iris has emerged.  My purple Dutch irises have been delighting me since late June when they started to spike ... but now, with other colours emerging, this is certainly a sign that Persephone is returning from the Underworld and Spring is on its way.

Almost ironically however my other Spring flowers, the jonquils, daffs and freesias have yet to make an appearance. 

As the weather warms, I am reminded of a poem about Demeter's quest penned by the late Shekhinah Mountainwater ...

All golden now

She springs to the earth

And alights to turn the brown grasses green

Her Mother's tears mix with Her own

And fall to make the green more green ...

 

Bright Eyed Warrior Maid, Athena

Within Greek mythology, according to Hesiod, the first wife of Zeus, the leader of the Olympians, was Metis who was considered to be "the most knowing" (as the word metis is interpreted) of all beings. 

Prior to Metis giving birth, Zeus deceived his pregnant wife with cunning words and assimilated her into his own body.  Both Mother Earth and Father Sky had advised him to do this as such an action would prevent any of his descendants from robbing him of his kingly rank, as this is what happened to both his father, Cronus (who he overthrew) and his grandfather, Uranus.

Honouring Red Catherine

There is an amazing woman who lives a couple of hours drive from me whose passion and drive is an inspiration.  She is not a young woman, but on her property in the Angus Valley, she runs an animal refuge by herself.  This property is aptly named "Artemis" and contains a menagerie of animals at any one time.  And this woman is the one and only Red Catherine Johns.

A published author, artist and healer, Red Catherine is known as being the last Romani woman to still "goes on the drom" or travels around Australia in a horse drawn "Vardo" (caravan). 

A Morning Prayer for Freya

Freya is the Norse Goddess of Love and Beauty, as well as fertility, war, and wealth. The daughter of Njord, and sister of Frey, Freya lived in Folkvang (battlefield) where each day, she chose half of the slain warriors (with the other half going with Odin).

Norse legend tells of Freya, whose chariot was pulled by two black cats. Some versions of the tale claim they became swift black horses, possessed by the Devil. After serving Freya for seven years, the cats were rewarded by being turned into witches, disguised as black cats. The cats also played around her ankles as a symbol of her domesticity.

Spell for Healing Colds

This spell is useful for healing colds and other minor, common diseases.

Supplies:

6 small green candles,

healing oil (see below)

matches

Picture of sick friend (not necessary, visualization will do).  On the first day of symptoms, take the green candles, anoint them with healing oil in the direction of banishing for getting rid of illness and meditate your purpose over them (healing for a friend), and then light the candles one by one for six hours (one on each hour), chanting the following 3 times for each candle while visualizing your friend's face (or looking at the photo):

The Goddess is very much alive

What a wonderful Goddessy week this week has been.  It commenced with the first devotional service for 2012 that was held on Tuesday night in honour of the Bone Mother and the Child of Winter.  Then I received notification on Wednesday that one of the anthologies I had submitted essays for, Unto Herself: A Devotional Anthology for Indepent Goddesses was now available to purchase.  This anthology contains my essay on the ancient Goddess Neith.  I am also eagerly awaiting notification as to when the other anthologies that I have also submitted essays to will be available, and have blogged about this on my Musings of a High Priestess blog.

The Story of Creation - Creating Ritual

In Pelasgian (and later Greek) myth, the Goddess Eurynome danced the world into creation from the dark void of Chaos.  The following is based on that ancient story which has been transformed into a way of calling in the elemental quarters when creating a sacred space.

For those who are not based in the Southern Hemisphere, or who use different placements for the elementals, feel free to adapt.

Bone Mother and the Child of Winter

The mid Winter solstice may have gone and this morning the fragile sun is warming the land, but this is an illusion ... Winter is far from over as the weather can quickly change within a blink of an eye.

This time of uncertainty is ruled by the Bone Mother, the Goddess of Winter.  Often referred to as the "Unknown One", the Bone Mother is often considered to be older than time itself for it was she who created time - to the Hindus, she is referred to as Kali.  She is also considered to be of the land, yet as she walked, she created the land.  To the inhabitants of the British Isles and Ireland, and in particular of the islands off north west Scotland, she is known as the Cailleach.

Egyptian song to the Sky Goddess

Before you were born, when you were a spirit,

Nut, sky goddess,

Dark body with its mighty heart,

you grew strong in the belly of your mother Tefnut.

Somewhere within you, even then, was perfect knowledge of your selfhood.

Somehow you recognised your perfect name.

You stirred in your mother's womb when that name was spoken,

Nut, daughter more powerful than your powerful mother,

Nut, great goddess who became the sky, the arching sky,

Nut, goddess so beautiful your beauty fills the earth

which you embrace with your powerful arms,

which you hold like a mother,

like a queen,

like a woman in love.

The Season of the Cailleach

Mid Winter may have herald the rebirth of the Sun/Son however it is very much the season of the Cailleach (the "Veiled One"), as the worse of Winter's weather descends upon us. 

The ancient Goddess of the lands we today refer to as Scotland, in particular the islands of its coast, as well turning up in Irish mythology and folklore, the Cailleach is often referred to being the land itself.  According to myth, it is from her apron that the stones fell that created the mountains, and it is from her touch that the bare earth is covered with snow and frost.

Dark Night, Dark Fears

With the Mid Winter Solstice almost upon us as well as the dark of the Moon, I thought I would share the following poem written by Beth Clare Johnson.

DARK NIGHT, DARK FEARS

It was a dark night, and cold.
I found myself in a strange landscape
Light gray clouds floating in the sky,
Barely lit by the moon.

Words of Inspiration

As the Wheel slowly turns around the Mid Winter, the time of the rebirth of the Sun, here are some words of inspiration to get us through the Winter months until the Sun's rebirth can truly be felt:

For the last few morning it has been extremely chilly in the morning, yet where The Goddess House is located, we have not yet experienced a frost ... yet.  That has not stopped me however contemplating whether there are any Goddesses who are especifically associated with frosts.   Naturally my thoughts turned to Norse mythology where Frost Giants can be found.

Frau Holle - Germanic Goddess of Winter

Long ago, when the Germanic religion still honored Nature's power, both her blessing and devastating aspects, she was the rain-giving clouds, the spouse of the God of Storms.  

Later, she became a Sky Queen who, besides mastery over clouds and winds, she also had the power of granting sunshine and prosperity to the fields, and also, as the motherly protector of women's life, she controlled feminine work, namely favoring spinning, and, as Frau Holda or Holle, she kept the souls of the unborn or dead children.

Using Devotional Beads



Triple Goddess Devotional Beads

The use of beads as a devotional tool can be found within many spiritual paths and traditions.  Known by various names, the purpose of using devotional, prayer, mala or even rosary beads is largely the same -that of being a counter when prayers, mantras or chants are repeated.

Sacred Strands is a wonderful site that outlines the use of such beads.

Lunar Eclipse in a Sagittarius Full Moon

At tonight's Full Moon Gathering, the moon will not only be in the astrological sign of Sagittarius, but it will also be under the influence of a partial lunar eclipse.  This is when the Earth lines up between the Sun (in the astrological sign of Gemini) and the Moon so that it blocks the Sun's light from fully reaching the Moon. 

During a lunar eclipse the Earth cuts the energy between Sun and Moon, dissolving the energetic structures on Earth and within us.  This opens a portal through which we can release old complexes, habits, ideas, beliefs and wounds that no longer serve our life.   

The Goddess of Avalon

Rhiannon

The Goddesses of Avalon are the heart and soul of the Sacred Landscape, each weaving a transformational energy into the matrix of the archetypal realm. Once we have successfully made contact with the landscape areas and established a good working relationship which each of these places of power, we can use them to connect with the Ladies of Avalon. These five Divine Ancestresses will further our quest for positive change, personal Sovereignty and the wisdom that comes from drinking deep from the cauldron of our souls.

Bloudeuwedd

The Avalonian Tradition draws its inspiration from British, rather than English, culture. Wales was able to maintain and preserve the culture, language and traditions of Celtic Britain far longer than the rest of England, so we look to Welsh language, literature and folklore to understand the beliefs of the Britons.



Hymn to Isis

I call upon you, Isis, most graceful and high of the High Ones
Hear your lowly servitor and grant your blessings
Most full and gentle
You whose crescent moon and stars
Encompass the world.

Wave your arm, and strew the glittering dust of many worlds
Like seeds to be planted in the vast blackness of space
Step gently across the bridge of many colors
And rest in the mountains of flowers I wish for your offering
That they may shine.

Swell the fruit of the land, make mother with child
Cause flying birds to nest, and bees to swarm
Make the endless procession of life grow full and bountiful
Bring water to the well and rain to the clouds
Cause your veils to fall upon barren earth
And make it holy.

Working with the Dark Goddess

The darker aspect of the Goddess can be a rather strange and unsettling figure who has been inhabiting a corner of our minds since the beginning of time.  Within written memory, she was merged in ancient Greek drama and literature, she appeared in fairy tales, myths and songs; and she has also made herself known amongst the pages of sacred text, such as the Bible.

Tykhe - the Goddess of Luck

Within Greek mythology, the Goddess associated with fortune, providence and fate is Tykhe, who was also honoured as Eutykhia, the Goddess of good fortune, luck, success and prosperity. 

The daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite, Tykhe was represented with different attributes.  Holding a rudder, Tykhe was conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she was called one of the Moirai (or Fates); with a ball she represented the varying unsteadiness of fortune - unsteady and capable of rolling in any direction; with Ploutos or the horn of Amalthea, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune. 

Prayers to Inanna, the Queen of Heaven

Mighty, majestic, and radiant,
You shine brilliantly in the evening,
You brighten the day at dawn,
You stand in the heavens like the sun and the moon,
Your wonders are known both above and below,
To the greatness of the Holy Priestess of Heaven,
To you, Inanna, I sing!

When a Language Becomes a Mother/Goddess

I came across a rather interesting essay about Tamil, a language spoken by over 70 million people in India and Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, as well as other parts of the global South Asian diaspora.

Rivaled only by Sanskrit, Tamil inspired the praise and adoration of many of its speakers from its early recorded literary history.  In the later half of the 19th century in colonial India, this admiration intensified to the point that the language was imagined as a mother/goddess variously referred to as Tamiḻttāy, Tamil Aṉṉai, and Tamiḻ Tēvi.

Over the course of the first half of the 20th century, the veneration of and devotion to the Mother/Goddess Tamil variously fueled powerful movements for religious revitalization, the deepening of linguistic pride and love for Tamil literature, a vigorous assertion of Tamil identity, even a separatist movement for independent statehood free of India.

Prayer of Becoming

May clarity grow within me
Open my eyes to life's many wonders
May I feel the pulse of all creation within me
Open my spirit to Awareness
Fill my heart with deeper Understanding
May my life be of service to Earth and the Goddess

Open my ears to the needs of those around me
Make my hands strong, sure, & gentle in your service
May I remember always, the Goddess works through me

~ Abby Willowroot © 1999

Hekate: Her Sacred Fires

Since 2010, occurring around the May Full Moon, an international event occurs in honour of the Goddess for the Three Ways, Hekate.  Originally coincided with the launch of a wonderful international anthology Hekate: Her Sacred Fires (edited by Sorita d'Este), literally thousands of people took part in this rite, including the Temple of the Dark Moon, with even more attending in 2011.

This beautiful devotional rite was written by Sorita who has generously shared it, together with providing extensive background information, on the Sacred Fires web site.  The appeal of such a rite is obvious with it having been translated into many languages with devotees from over 60 countries around the world, openly sharing their experiences, from elaborate group rituals, to intimate and personal solitary ones.

Winter and the Hag

The sacred Wheel of the Year has turned again and now Autumn has now given way to Winter. The hours of daylight are noticeably shorter and temperatures lower. The leaves are falling steadily from the trees, leaving them as bare skeletons. We have entered the time of the Death Hag, She who rules the barren earth. The following is an excerpt from The Gaia Tradition: Celebrating the Earth in Her Seasons by Kisma Stephanich that is most appropriate to share at this time of the year.

In the Winter, all life slows down, breathing is laboured, silence. Everywhere the stark land stretches. All is dormant, awaiting the rebirth of the Sun, awaiting the gentle touching fingertips of the solar rays when they reach down and caress the land, planting their essence of warmth to germinate the seeds burrowed deep in the Mother’s womb.

Prayer to the Goddess

A Healing Altar

When I started writing this posting, I hesitated due to one word - that being the word "prayer".  I wondered where it was an appropriate word to use due to the heavy Christain associated with it, however other associated words such as "plea", "desire", "request", "hope" or even "petition" (a word I do personally tend to use) just simply did not have the right sounding.  According to an online dictionary, the word "prayer" does mean "religious observance" which is the context of the word I am after, so "prayer" it is.

The following is the first of a series of prayers that can be said to the Great Goddess, the Divine Feminine, during sessions of honouring and worship.  If there is a particular Goddess that you personally align with, then their name (and title) can be included wherever appropriate.

Invocation to Sekhmet

The Lion headed Goddess, also known as the "Eye of Ra", is one of the five Goddesses who we will be working with during this year's "Encountering the Dark Goddess" workshop.

As it was at Memphis,
So be it now!

Hear me, I beseech Thee, O Powerful One!

Lady of Rekht,
Lady of Pekhet,
Lady of Set,
Lady of Rehesaui,
Lady of Tchar and of Sehert!

Ride of the Valkyries

Ride of the Vakyries by Kirsten Preston

The Wheel of the Year is constantly turning and as Summer reluctantly making way for Autumn, a rather poignant day is fast approaching for those of us who reside in Australia and New Zealand - that of ANZAC Day which occurs on 25 April every year.  I wrote about the history surrounding this day last year on my other blog.  Instead, I thought I would write about the Valkyries, the Norse deities who would roam the battle fields deciding which soul will die and which would live.

Tanit of Carthage

Tanit was a Phoenician Goddess and the patron of Carthage in northern Africa as well as throughout the western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades (Cadiz in south western Spain), into Hellenistic times.  Associated with the moon, from the 5^th BCE onwards she is associated with Baal Hammon where she was given the epithet of  pene baal ("face of Baal"), along with the title of rabat, the female form of rab (chief).

In North Africa, where the inscriptions and material remains are more plentiful, aside from being the consort of Baal Hammon, Tanit was also depicted as the Heavenly Goddess of War, a virginal “mother” goddess, and less specifically, a symbol of fertility.

Her shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that identified her for the first time in her homeland and related her securely to the Phoenician Goddess Astarte (who was also identified with Ishtar).  The worship of Tanit was also uncovered at Kerkoyane in the Tunisian Cap Bon peninsula.

Blessings of Ixcacao and the Cacao Tree

Easter often equals chocolate in the minds of many people as opposed to it's religious significance held by those of the Christian faith.


The Cacao Tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation of Central America and Southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin, cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning "God Food" hence the tree's modern generic Latin name 'Theobrama Cacao' meaning ‘Food of the Gods’. 

The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the seeds of the cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize and capsicum (chilli) peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a cacao porridge.

Touched by the Muse



Gefjon

I seem to have been touched by the Muse this week, having completed two essays this week (and having started a third), as well as making a start on a powerpoint presentation that I will be giving in August as well as undertaking some additional reading with respect to the upcoming workshop that I will be presenting on the Dark Goddess (in May).  All of this has been fitted around work and other "normalities" that occur in my life.