goiriath

I have friends, who are members of CUUPS, who go to the UU Church in Tennessee which just had shooting during a service (8 shot, 1 killed, by an unknown gunman)
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/27/church-shooting-leaves-several-injured/
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOAQKzY-aOBqDspFkEAV_ZO65vZAD926EQN00

Fortunately they were not among the injured or killed, but friends of theirs were. I am so glad they are safe, and so, so sorry for their loss.

It seems likely that the UU church was targeted due to it's open and accepting attitudes, given that the gunman was unknown to church members.

Ok,
it would take faaar too long to journal all the things of interest in the last few months.

Instead, just the cards I drew after the Full Moon ritual, from the "Goddesses Knowledge Cards"

( To Know - Eve, To Grow - Morgana Le Fay, To Let Go - Sedna )

Huh.
Sometimes things work out and mesh perfectly, and very sometimes they don't.

I had a fantastic (fantastic) full moon ritual the night before last with a friend, and then last night went to the women's full moon group where I have also participated in very many lovely and insightful rituals.

So what happened?
Combination of things.
Last night, at the womens group, using the Crone as the moon symbol, we went on an underworld journey, paralleling the descent of Inanna.

So, there is attachment to ego, and de-tachment, and often we, as individuals, need different things. For many, it was an opportunity to put down burdens.
Me? Well, I think I'd be the Inanna that forgets to put on all her 7 pieces of jewellery in the morning. Sometimes I find myself in a somewhat depersonalised state, and yes I lose fear, but I also lose ego to some extent, sense-of-self, and am just... lost. In the underworld, Hel's realm. Nothing to fear, but nothing to motivate either, nothing to live joyously in.
So, it could still have been a good exercise to do, especially on focusing on what I do 'adorn' myself with. Getting dressed each morning with ego, with relationships, with autonomy, with possessions, with accomplishments.

But, the night before with my friend, I'd lit a candle for 'passion', setting intention for the Winter Sun that is about to be reborn, the new year. Nurturing and tending the flame of my desire and passion for things, for life, then little candles to represent all the things I would like to direct my desire and passion to, like relationships with friends, family, community, fulfilling work, creative pursuits, etc etc.

And then the next night, I do an underworld journey and cast everything aside, abandoned the light for the darkness. D'oh!
I didn't realise til afterwards, when I was already feeling a little distanced.

Bugger.
Not sure what I could have done about it though - realised sooner? Not gone on the journey?
It's just one of those things that happens. All in all, for all the lovely ceremonies I've had for the full moon with that group, I don't think I should have gone on *that* one. Not that night, anyway. It was a hassle getting out there, and a bigger hassle coming back, sitting in a cold train station for nearly an hour, and then walking home at the other end, getting there after midnight. I realised there was a supermarket open across the road about 10 minutes after I'd been waiting, and thought I could at least do some shopping, but it closed as I got to the doors.

I'm struggling to recall the insights of lighting the flame I had, over the insights (while valuable) I had of the dark and looking at loss. Reversed, the sequence would have been beautiful. Oh well.

Anyway, I've also volunteered to co-lead the next full moon, transformation/re-birth, so I guess I'd better get on to figuring out how.
;P

The Pagan Cheerleading jokes are pretty old by now:

Hail to the Sun God
He's a really fun God
Ra Ra Ra!

But I'm still amused to see Shamanic Cheerleaders

Taking a joke so seriously that it loops round to becoming funny again? Obviously Burners.
;D

My first ADF shrine.
I wasn't expecting to have even the beginnings of an ADF style shrine so soon, I was only going to make an offering of butter, and then realised I already had the altar cloths laid out in a triple pattern.

I'm using a triple-figured bowl on blue cloth for a well, offered in Brighid's name. Water represents the underworld to me, so while there is no specific representation there, I connect this with the Ancestors, the Beloved & Mighty Dead.

The middle, is a fire offering to the gods.

The right altar cloth is more green than it appears in this picture. The small metal tree symbol, and bookmark are quite simple representations of the world tree (I honour Tane with it, so, cross cultural, but, it's important to me), and obviously, nature spirits.

It's quite minimalist, but I'm finding this shrine quite beautiful, and it came together so effortlessly, it's a... warming start.
:)

Ok, so I made a butter offering!

Bought some unsalted butter, melted a little in the microwave, and poured it into a diya (indian clay oil lamp) with a cotton wick.
I poured it all in, but if I was more careful, or used a spoon, I think I could get just the clean burning Ghee, and not any of the milk solids at the bottom.


Diya in front of a mirror, in the dark:

Ok, I've been putting a lot of thought into ADF program, and not enough into the Full Moon ritual I'm helping put on next week. I'll put my notes here, because here is where I'm going to put all my pagan notes and the things I'm thinking about...
(Oooh, and didn't manage the butter offering idea last night - for one, I need to buy some more for our house. ;P )

Theme is "The Sorceress" from The Circle of Life: Thirteen Archetypes for Every Woman.

The Sorceress--refines the alchemy of love/self-love to discover synchronicity of word and deed
The Sorceress (taking command as medicine women or shamanesses, wielding power
rather than seeking it)
The root word comes from lots, or chance, and refers to divination...

My initial thoughts I sent to the two other women I'm working on it with:
"I like having a meditation, and an 'activity', and had a vague idea that maybe we could give everyone a piece of paper or piece of wood, to make a charm or symbol on? As a symbol of the power of the sorceress - and magic.
And then have a meditation, and have people make the charm/symbol *after* the meditation(so it could incorporate insights from the meditation), and once done, go round the circle and people could talk about their meditation or their charm or both?

Or, we could do something with divination? Possibly a divination for each person and *then* a meditation? So the meditation would be a little 'individualised', as part of it would be based off the card or reading each person drew?"

Somehow we came around to the idea of using the Medusa, the Medusa as the snake-wisdom that lets us look inside, and our own fear that keeps us frozen/turns us to stone - the refusal to confront that fear, being what turns us to stone. From that, a mirror is a symbol of looking inside, integrating, overcoming that.
So, we started going with the idea of visiting the Medusa in the meditation.
To integrate what we'd learned, V. suggested we work with body paint. Fantastic!

So, plan so far...
"The intro would be to explain the Medusa, about facing fears, snakes as wisdom etc,
and to explain what we will be doing, ie
- Meditation for guidance from the Medusa
- Look in the mirror and agnowledge those hidden parts
- Symbols represented power, and that we will be drawing symbols on ourselves to represent integrating that power


The meditation would be along the lines of

Medusa sees inside you,
and challenges you to see
- power we aren't claiming
- fears that are keeping us frozen
- our illusions that keep us back
- our inner wisdom that hasn't been acknowledged

Leave everyone for a bit, and then say, when you have learned what you need to, leave the Medusa's cave, and walk back along the path, and into the room.

So, everyone can take the time they need, and when ready, they can walk to one of four mirrors in the room, where we would have said something about,
looking in the mirror, and acknowledge the power you now have, look and accept yourself, until stone has melted, and flesh is warm.

We will have drawing implements available -
Body paint?
Felt-tip pens?
Food colouring?
for drawing symbols on ourselves.


Additional idea -
" Snakes coil around her arms, legs or are entwined in her hair and are shown whispering into her ear"
We could all draw at least one snake on ourselves, or on each other, to represent the Medusa's power and wisdom, or rather, our own power and wisdom that the Medusa represents.


Additional to that...
From the stuff about the healing power of the Medusa's blood, and the connection with Dragons,
maybe, use a little dragon's blood oil, or a little of the resin in some red dye, and apply that as the eye of the snake to everyone's snake symbols?


Once people have drawn symbols, we could sit in circle, and reveal our symbols if we choose."

V. has Dragonsblood Resin (which I'm using for the first time ever... ha! It's taken this long to find something that doesn't seem too pretentious a use).
And so there's... still working out all the little details.
*sigh*

As many parts as possible will be given out everyone participating - it's about reclaiming our own power, after all.

Gatekeeper Gods are another thing I've come up against in ADF, and had a flash of - yes, that's so right.
But... in context.

From the one time I was at a Vodoun ceremony, Papa Legba - Yes, he is a gatekeeper, he opens the door, it is he who waits at the crossroads. Of course he is invited/asked/welcomed first. It would be all manner of impolite not too, and just wouldn't make sense within the context of Voudou.

From Hinduism, Ganesha, also a gatekeeper god. He is invited first, in every ritual. Being a gatekeeper is not a description of top-most rank or hierarchy, but a respected position, and necessary within the scheme of things.

Janus, again, is very obviously a gatekeeper -

"The Romans named Janus first in any list of gods invoked in prayer."
http://www.answers.com/topic/janus?cat=technology

"It was indeed Jupiter who by augury sanctioned every undertaking, but its beginning depended on the blessing of Janus; hence these two divinities were invoked first in every undertaking, and in all prayers their names were mentioned first. The fact of the name of Janus being pronounced even before that of Jupiter, and that according to tradition Janus was in Italy before any of the other gods, and that he dedicated temples to them (Macrob. l. c.; Ov. Fast. i. 70; L. Lydus, de Mens. iv. 2; Aur. Vict. de Orig. Gent. Rom. 3), is perfectly in accordance with the idea of the god, he being the beginning of every thing; but it does not follow that on this account he was considered superior or more powerful than all the other gods."
http://mythindex.com/roman-mythology/J/Janus.html

So, I'm damn convinced that there are gatekeeper Gods, and that they perform a specific function in that culture. What I'm less convinced of, is picking a gatekeeper deity if it's not completely obvious. And they seem like they are in the examples above.
If they're not the first worshipped, are they really a Gatekeeper?
I'm a little confused by the role of Manannan Mac Lir. I don't think that a psychopomp is necessarily the gatekeeper in the sense that the above deities are.
Are there other traits they have in common? Guardian of the crossroads?

Ah - I think I'm onto something with this link:
Papa Gede is a Psychopomp - the connector with the dead:
http://www.gede.org/lwas/gede.html
"If Legba was the sun, at first young, then growing old, Ghede is the master of that abyss into which the sun descnends. If Legba was time, Ghede is that eternal figure in black, posted at the timeless cross-roads at which all men and even the sun one day arrive. The cross upon a tomb is his symbol. But the sun is each year rebord. If Carrefour is the night death which attends each day, then Ghede is the night sun, the life which is eternally present, even in darkness. The cosmic abyss is both tomb and womb. In a sense, Ghede is the Legba who has crossed the cosmic threshold to the underworld, for Ghede is now everything that Legba once was in the promise and the prime of his life. [...] Ghede is, today, the phallic deity also. If Legba was once Lord of Life, Ghede is now Lord of Resurrection; and the difference between them is Death, which is Ghede." [Deren 1953]

Or this:
http://pantheon.org/areas/mythology/americas/haitian/articles.html
"Baron Samedi is one of the Guédés, related to and intertwined with Baron Cemetière and Baron La Croix. He is a Guédé of the Americas, bridging the Guédés and Legba. Both are guardians of the crossroads, the place where spirits cross over into our world. If the intercessions desired are with the loa, then Legba is saluted and asked to allow the loa to participate. If the intercessions are with the dead, then Guédé (Ghede) is the intercessor."

That, now that's really making a lot of sense to me.
The role of psychopomp, and the role of... what's a good word?
Theiopomp? Are separate, but tied.
One is beginnings, one is endings.
Mannan Mac Lir, as a sea god, seems very tied to the idea of a psychopomp for me - the sea with death, but Sea gods don't seem to leave the sea very often.

*much later*
Yawn, nope, now I'm all confused again. Ellegua seems to be from Eshu, who seems to be gatekeeper in both senses according to some of what I read, but maybe not, as Oddua is orisha(?) of the dead.

Janus is the God of beginnings, but Hermes still seems to be a messenger of the gods as well as a psychopompos.

This is unrelated, but more points about crossroads/gateway gods:
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/saadaya/Ianus.html

I'm still feeling like it's very much something to do with crossroads, and that in the end, a gateway god is the one you might find when you're walking one night, maybe at the crossroads.
By that marker, I do see Wodan/Odin as a crossroads god.

Possibly I just shouldn't be looking for cross-cultural similarities when there aren't any, and I'm back to thinking there don't have to be gatekeeper/crossroads gods for every culture.

Just... if Hermes is a gatekeeper/crossroads god, and Mercury is a crossroads god, and Lugh is Mercury in Religio Romana, then...
Does Lugh make more sense as a Gatekeeper than Manannan?

I don't know, but I kind of feel like this:
"When he looked back on leaving, Lugh saw[9] "his foster-father's noble figure standing on the beach. Manannan was wrapped in his magic cloak of colours, changing like the sun from blue-green to silver, and again to the purple of evening. He waved his hand to Lugh, and cried: 'Victory and blessing with thee!' So Lugh, glorious in his youth and strength, left his Island home."
Is almost looping back to my thoughts and readings on Papa Legba and Papa Ghede.
One as the morning, the other as the evening.

I wonder if gatekeeper Gods might be somehow more... brittle in being remembered/historical record? They perform such a useful function, but it's not a glamorous one, and so if people start to worship less, or stop worshipping, they might not remember them as well as the really 'big name' gods, because they're important in the proper order or conduct of ritual, and so if ritual isn't being done, that connection is lost. And that overall connection between divinity and humankind is lost a little because of the lack of the gatekeeper.
Janus, Hermes - they're not the most remembered Gods. Possibly Papa Legba wouldn't be either if it wasn't a living tradition.

I'd love to know which Celtic or other Indo-European gods, had their names or symbols carved on gateways, doorways, bridges, and crossroads. That'd be a good hint, if they were there.

Thinking about other ways to relate to deities, it's a relief to think about deities associated with fire.
My ideas on that are, that you don't need a gatekeeper for fire related gods like Agni, or Brighid, they are present in the flame itself, or flame itself, and the scent of offerings or incense acts as the conduit.
So maybe I should just go home and offer some butter in my diya, and see how that goes. :)

Right, I'm already off-track with my plan!
'Wisdom' is really a virtue I should leave til the end, not the beginning. So instead, I've started with 'Vision'. Although, haven't I actually mostly explained my concept of Wisdom there? Hmmmm... feels fitting to come back to it at the end.


I see Vision as insight into how we see ourselves as in the future, what we see our future achievements as, and our future values.

Using Vision is asking, is my vision of my future self in line with my current values?
If not, can I continue on the path I am on?
Sometimes we have goals that are not integrated into who we are and want to be as a person - unless we can integrate them, perhaps that goal is not for us.
And contained within that is, are my current values and actions in line with my future self?
Our vision of our future self is often the person we truly desire to be, and feel we could be. If our values are not in line, perhaps our challenge step forward into those values.
And finally, using our Vision is making sure our current actions are in line with our vision for the future.

Example: When I moved to my current city, I had a vision of myself as a 'local'. A denizen of this city who was active and involved.
I would buy veges at the local vege market, I would visit parks and cafes with friends. I would go to concerts, gigs, and various free events. I would be able to show visitors to that city the things I truly loved about it.
Several years later, I realised with a jolt that I was not doing those things.
I still had a mental view of myself as having 'just moved' to the city, and being 'new', and that idea of myself was holding me back from interacting with the city, and people, as I wished too.
I realised that I wasn't new, I was a local by then, and that if I wanted to hold true to my vision of myself, my idea that I could be that person, then it was time to start living it.
(incorporate example better?)

Wisdom aids Vision, or perhaps Vision is what turns knowledge into Wisdom - we may be confronted with a specific problem, Vision is understanding a situation well enough, looking at future effects, and current values well enough to know that the immediate problem might not be the problem that really needs solving, and instead, what problem, and which knowledge really needs to be applied. Knowledge is allows us to solve a problem, but vision helps us know what problems need to be solved.

Vision is necessary for Integrity, and for true Oathmaking.
It drives our perseverance, is our motivation for piety, for courage, for moderation, and it is the well-spring of our future fertility & creativity.

When we ask the Gods for vision, we ask them to aid us in knowing who we will, or could be.
In return, we have to ask ourselves for the courage to walk that path.


It's almost feeling like this should lead into 'courage'.
And, I need to find and type up those notes on 'Hospitality'...

An interesting note on the religious potential of Wikipedia...

Last October 30th, 2007, a wikipedia user known only as Copeland2119 added some text to the Wikipedia page on Halloween, before going on to vandalize several other pages.

The text was thus:
" The Festival of Halloween is a celebration of the end of the fertile period of the Celtic Goddess Eiseria. It is said that when Eiseria reaches the end of her fertile cycle the worlds of the dead and the living interlap. This happens on October 31. Masks are worn to show respect for the Goddess Eiseria who, like most Celtic deity's does not wish to be seen with human eyes. The day also preceeds All saints day, which was at first the celebration of the start of a new cycle of fertility for the celtic Goddess Eiseria. Couples incapable of producing children thus tried their luck on All saints day."

It was up for less than 24 hours, but the damage appears to be done.
A google search for "Eiseria" brings up about 532 results, including several articles in newspapers (and nothing dating from before October 30th!). I only found out about this because I received an email forward, with the incorrect information...

Feel free to add your UPG assessments of Eiseria!
I'm sure she'll be showing up in poorly edited pagan book near you, any day now...

(Feel free to copy this across to other journals, communities & websites etc. I'd rather be a little bit of a spoilsport, and have this as *known* misinformation - Goiriath)

At first glance, the Study Program Draft really is only a draft, but it still does not cover much of the Spiritual, Cultural, or Magic related aspects of being a Warrior in today, or past society. Er, my conceptions that is. ;)
I'm just noting what my first impressions are of what I think it could include, before I forget:

Respect for Teachers and Masters
Living or Dead, at least a discussion of respect shown to teachers, masters, and experts of your particular martial discipline, and given that many martial arts actually have altars or 'ancestor' photos of that particular discipline who are given reverence before starting, it would be a good practice to have one for any on the warrior path.

Ceremony before & after starting / practice
Many martial arts have set procedures for starting and ending practice - kneeling and bowing to ancestor and master photos of that particular discipline, then to teachers of the dojo/etc, and a few breaths of meditation before starting and finishing.
Good practice for a pagan or druid warrior.
(this is not Eastern only practice, it is fairly common tradition - just laying out one form of standard practice).

Center of Gravity
Working from the belly, and moving as center of gravity. I'll have to detail it later, but having a lower center of gravity is useful for every martial discipline, but also seems to have religious/spiritual connotations in many cultures, including indo european (see hara, dan tian, 3rd/4th chakras, Coire Goiriath). Working with your center of gravity is a good cross-discipline practice.

Same for breathing, actually.

Warding
Warriors are the guardians of a community. Discussion on establishing boundaries or 'wards' as they are known in other magical traditions, for protection of an area, would seem relevent, and provide an aspect of guardianship of community. (Ie boundary stones for an area etc)

Discussion of your Warrior Practice
I'd expect some kind of discussion as to what particular physical discipline a warrior was taking or had done in their Warrior path. And I *would* expect there to be a discipline - not having one would be akin to being a Bard, without doing any Bardic arts (poetry, song, story, even visual art...).

Received membership confirmation email, now have access to members section and meditations etc.  Awesome.

Had a little trouble given it didn't suggest your website username should be wiki-format CamelCase, so couldn't use TWikiRegistration.

Also, may want to re-record two powers meditation. Would also be a good way of getting acquainted with it...

I celebrated Mabon on Sunday 23rd of March, at The Grove of the Summer Stars (The Woolshed), out in Pukerua Bay.
We had 20-30 participants, I took the role of East.
Ritual script to be attached.

It is an OBOD grove, but we've tried to incorporate aspects of Maori mythology and New Zealand heritage (see references to Kahu, Pohutukawa is a tree, etc).

I was given dress etc - perhaps irrelevant? Felt lovely.

As it was a sunny day, we processed down to the grove we have been working on for the last couple of years, Steph playing the Bodhran was a very good accompaniment. It's fantastic having her down here, in our city, and part of our grove.
I assisted by carrying a couple of folding chairs for anyone who would need them, and setting out the mats to sit on once we got there.
I saw one of the kids going to sit in one of the chairs, and for a split second thought of asking them to leave it for someone older, before realising they had a broken leg (poor kid!) - that's exactly why we bring a few chairs down.
I wish I'd gone down before the ceremony, I think just a little weeding around the central point would have 'looked' a little better - not just looked better, but demonstrated the care and effort we do have, and have put in towards the grove. In future, I'll make a note of going down there before the ceremony to help out.
For this ritual, volunteers were asked for and the script sent out a couple of weeks in advance, as a result, all the speakers were quite 'strong' experienced speakers, good at holding their space.
Deep, rich voices, clear in their words, pausing appropriately to give breathing room for 'experience', and really giving a feel of *doing* what they were speaking, rather than just 'saying'.
Will continued to face Earth well after he had invoked, his way of 'holding earth' I realised, and he did it strongly, and next time I'll move us round more smoothly afterwards.
When we go out to the grove, we always seem to forget how hot it gets if it's sunny. From now on, I will also be making a note to ask people before hand to bring as many hats as we have available, and bring a few extra hats and scarves to hand out when we're there.
The other point, we already have fire and water bearers, to bless the circle (not too much of a leap to ADF practice there ;) ). What about the more practical application of being a water bearer? We need a water bearer to bring water, and cups, for the <i>people</i> in the circle. I'll ensure this happens at future grove ceremonies.

During the ceremony, we have an Eisteddfodd.
The previous Friday, I had gone through a priestess initiation at the women's full moon celebrations we hold there, and a number of realisations had come out of that, including a connection (for me anyway) between the Taoist practice of Inner Alchemy, and the three Dan Tian, and the 15th century text commonly known as 'The Cauldron of Poesy'.
I wasn't intending to discuss it at our Eistedfodd, given that I'd talked about it on Friday with a couple of others, and I wasn't sure whether a discussion of Taoism would really fit, but then Bill told the story of a Chinese minister Bigan, and it seemed a sign, so I did, and it seemed to be received very well.

The tables are usually well laden with food for our feast afterwards, but this time even more so, given that we had been given even more dishes of food that were excess from a wedding at the site the day before - delicious, and a lovely celebration for a harvest festival.

I haven't gotten my ADF package yet, but I'm just taking a look at the work requirements for the Dedicant Program.

The word-count total = (125*9)+(125*8)+(325*3)+150+300+800+500+(100*8)+(333*3)+500+351 = 7500
(Using 350 words for requirement 10, the account of dedicant program)

Total number of essays = 9+8+3+8+3+6 = 37 Essays

*Gulp*
Oh... fiddlesticks.
I was terrible at getting essays in at Uni. On a general note, I hope there's accommodations available for people who aren't particularly scribe-ly oriented (voice or video recordings?).

Ok. But if I am doing this. How to structure it?
I'm looking at approximately 150 words a week, or one essay every week and a half.
To structure it a different way, 8 seasonal festivals a year, approx 6.5 weeks apart.
Say, 5 essays per seasonal festival / 950 words.

Each festival breakdown:
* 1 high day essay
* 1 account of a Rite
* 1 Virtues essay
* 100 words on meditation practice
* One Kindred essay OR 1 book review (6, so two 'spare' festivals)
* And then a pick of one of 5 other essays, spaced out over the year (piety essay, shrine, specific meditation, working with nature, account of dedicant path, and dedicant Oath Rite)

Ok, recalculation, 150 Words is only a few minutes writing, but, the number of little pieces makes it intimidating.

Ok, I'll work on having the High Day essay and virtues essay done *before* each High Day, record an account of the High Day during the week after, and... just space the others out as it happens?

Or, if I'm starting here at Mabon, then finishing around Samhain next year seems appropriate (wait, travelling? Oh well, we'll see how it goes), so that gives me two extra festivals in which to meet requirements

Virtues:
Mabon description/rite - hospitality
Samhain description/rite - wisdom - Kindred: Ancestors essay
Yule description/rite - vision - 1/5 Nature essay - specific Meditation essay
Imbolc  description/rite - integrity - Book Review 1
Oimelc description/rite - courage - 1/5 Nature essay - Shrine
Beltane description/rite - fertility - Kindred: Nature Spirits Essay
Litha description/rite - moderation - 1/5 Nature essay - Book Review 2
Lughnasadh description/rite - perseverance - Kindred: Gods Essay
Mabon description/rite - account of dedicant path - 1/5 Nature essay
Samhain description/rite - dedicant oath rite - Book Review 3 - 1/5 Nature essay

Have most things completed before celebration, and draft a Kindred Essay (at least 150 words)
After celebration:
Rite account, Finish Kindred essay.

1. Written discussion about each of the nine virtues: wisdom, piety, vision, courage, integrity, perseverance, hospitality, moderation, and fertility. Other virtues may be included. There is a 125 word minimum for each of the essays.

• Vision

2. Short essays should be completed about each of the eight ADF High Holy Days. A discussion about the meaning behind each of the feasts should be included. The suggested size for the essays is 125 words minimum.

3. Short book reports should also be written. The book reports should fall under each of the following categories: Indo-European Studies, Ethnic Studies, Modern Paganism. The titles for these book reports can be selected from the suggested reading list provided by ADF. It can also include titles approved by the Preceptor. There is a requested 325 words (minimum) per book report.

4. There should be a brief description of the Dedicant's home shrine. Photos should be included if possible. Plans for future improvement should also be included. The suggested length of this essay is 150 words minimum.

5. An essay should be written on the Two Powers Meditation or another grounding and centering exercise. The essay should include both impressions and insights gained from the experience. The suggested length of this essay is 300 words minimum.

6. An essay or journal should be kept describing the Dedicant's progress in building mental discipline, through meditation, trance, or other systematic techniques. The journal should cover a period of at least five months. The suggested length for the journal is 800 words.

7. An essay should be written describing the Dedicant's efforts and work with nature, the honoring of the Earth, and the impact of choices on the environment and the local ecosystem. The essay should reflect on the impact an individual can and should make on the environment at the local level. The suggested length for this essay is 500 words minimum.

8. A brief account and reflection about each High Holy Day attended by the Dedicant during a 12 month period. The rituals do not all have to be ADF. At least four of them should be following the ADF ritual format. The suggested length of the essays is 100 words minimum per event.

• Mabon

9. One essay should be written concerning each of the Kindred groups (ie. Deity, Ancestors, Nature Spirits). The essays should focus on ones relationship to those Kindred groups and ones understanding of Them. The suggested length of these essays should be 300 words per Kindred group and 1000 words in all.

10. A brief account of the Dedicant's spiritual growth and development through personal and Grove-centered application of the Dedicant's program. The essay should draw from a specific culture or a combination of cultures. There is no suggested length give for this essay.

11. Finally, the text of the Dedicant's oath and a reflection on the Dedicant's performance of the rite should be recorded. The suggested length for this essay is 500 words minimum.