Grey School Summary :: September 2017

Unfortunately I didn't make much progress this month. At the start of the month I finished one assignment for each of the two classes I'm enrolled in, but then my mundane life got in the way. (Or not so mundane, as the case may be!) During the month I applied for and was accepted to exhibit in an art gallery. I am creating 5 new pieces for the exhibition, so much of my focus has been on that. I'll write more about it soon in my official announcement post.

I have to admit, too, that knowing our Lodge is coming dead last in the House Cup stakes was a bit de-motivating when it came to earning extra merits. No matter how many challenges I participated in, we weren't going to win, so I decided to conserve my energies and wait until the new term to re-double my efforts.

I managed to make some progress with meditating this month, however. After I finished the grounding meditation assignment, I decided to continue with the practice, meditating 1 - 2 times a week. It's been difficult to find somewhere quiet to practice, but I'm not letting that discourage me. I've been enjoying using the Insight Timer app.

Some non-school-related things have come my way this month as well. I decided to become a Rune Soup premium member. Since I discovered this blog at the start of this year, I've dedicated myself to reading the archive of posts -- which I estimate to be over 750 posts! While the more recent posts are mostly announcements of podcast releases and interviews, many of the older ones are blindingly enlightening. Speaking of the podcast, I've been catching up on that as well -- it consists of almost 100 episodes. I'm at the stage now where I'm more than convinced that I like what this guy has to say, so I decided to give him some money. I've been spending my lunchtimes listening to the podcast while I walk in the park, and reading a blog post or two on the train on the way home. Gordon fills my days.


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 101
✷ Wizardry 100: Becoming an Apprentice

Assignments Finished:
✷ Grounding Exercises (Core Energy Practices 101)
✷ Magickal Name Essay (Wizardry 100)

Credits:
✷ This month: 0 Total: 2

Merits Earned:
✷ Non-Academic: 1

Uncle Fester's Magic by the Month Parcel : September

September seems to have come around so quickly! Is it really a whole month since I received my first Magick by the Month parcel? This month's parcel is all about Spring and the element of Air; let's see what I received:

✧ miniature Witches Besom
✧ white feather
✧ green rainbow fluorite crystal
✧ Potpourri: angelica, cinquefoil, jasmine and lavender
✧ Mother Earth incense
✧ emu charm
✧ mini tarot card reading (8 of Cups)
✧ miniature leather journal on a keychain
✧ two information cards about September magick for my Magick by the Month binder

When I wrote about last month's parcel, I didn't realise that they all had a theme, which is detailed in the information cards. This month's theme, the Air element, is represented by the feather and emu charm (a native Australian bird which represents air). Spring is represented by the fresh green colour of the fluorite crystal, the potpourri and the besom for cleansing.

The parcel smelled divine when I opened it -- floral and uplifting -- and this was due to the potpourri. It really added to my enjoyment while examining my surprises. In general, I was happy with the potpourri, crystal and particularly the besom. The feather was a really lovely touch. I was a little disappointed though, because I received a mini journal last month as well. At least it's something I can use though.

My Divination Tools

This post was first published on I'm A Table blog in May 2016.

I've always been interested in divination, as long as I can remember. I love reading about different types of divination from all over the world, and have tried several myself, though I wouldn't call myself an expert in any of them. I recently acquired a new treasure, so I thought I'd do an overview of the sets I have and methods I've tried.

AMETHYST RUNES
I've had this set of Norse runes since I was a teenager. I chose amethyst because it's said to be the crystal most associated with psychic and intuitive activities, but mostly because I love the colour purple. At some later stage, I embroidered the runic alphabet onto the bag. At one point about 6 years ago, I was using them fairly frequently and even did practice 'swap' readings for a couple of other people in online forums. This set was packed away for a long time after I moved house, and I only found them recently. I feel I would need to cleanse the crystals before using them again.

WOODEN RUNES
This runeset is made from Ash wood. I purchased it from Green Woman Crafts on Etsy about 6 months ago. They came in a hand-sewn pouch, which made them feel even more special. I daresay I like them even more than the crystal ones. They have a warmth to them, and on a practical level they also sit flat when I lay them out. I've been getting back into practice by drawing a rune most mornings for the past month or so, and I find that I often get insights from them.

GODDESS RUNES
These runes work on a system from a book of the same name by P. M. H. Atwater. I won't comment on the claims made in the book today. At the time I bought it (again, when I was a teenager) I didn't know any of that. It just looked like interesting to try, whether the method was an ancient one or not.
I made the runes from stones I found around my parents' garden. The method is to cast all of the runes plus a blank one which represents the querent. They are then interpreted on how close they are to the querent stone, moving outwards in a spiral. I haven't used these runes for a long time, but I can say the casting method appealed to me and seemed more intuitive than drawing them out of a bag.

I recently discovered that Norse runes can be cast as well, and I want to find out more about that and try it.

I CHING
I Ching (The Book of Changes) is a Chinese book of divination. As I learned it, three coins are tossed. The heads-or-tails outcome is either yin or yang. The coins are tossed again and the second outcome either stays yin/yang, or changes to the polar opposite. (Hence the Book of Changes). Together, the two results form a six-part hexagram which corresponds to one of 64 poems in the book.
It's been years since I've used this method, so forgive me if I remembered some of the details incorrectly! As you can see, I used some ordinary 10c coins, which I marked with texta for clarity. I do keep them in a nice box, though. Dice, sticks, marbles or various other tools can also be used.

I Ching is a little different to other methods, as instead of an individual interpreting the outcome, the book is consulted. The text is a Chinese classic and has remained unchanged for 2,500 years. The intuitive part is not so much in interpreting the results, but applying the advice in the poem to the querent's particular situation.

JIAOBEI
In English these are known as moon blocks or kidney blocks. The pair of wooden blocks are flat on one side and curved on the other. They're a quick way to determine the answer to a question. Often people will use them to determine whether it's an auspicious time to consult the I Ching as well. The blocks are held in the hand, then dropped to the floor, and the answer stems from whether they land both curved side up, flat side up, or one of each.
I bought the set from an Asian grocery more out of curiosity than anything else. I haven't used them very much so far. The method is so simple and the outcomes so few and clear, it almost seems like cheating!

LENORMAND CARDS
These are my newest treasure, and I haven't used them yet. Lenormand Cards are named after Madame Lenormand, a famous French fortune teller of the early 19th century. I only heard about this method a few months ago. There isn't a lot of information about them out there, and I haven't done a lot of research yet, but as I understand it, the method is this: the cards are shuffled and then all 36 cards are laid out in a grid. One card represents the querent, and the rest of the cards are interpreted depending on how close they are to the querent card.

The Lenormand Cards may seem similar to Tarot cards, but they have some important differences. I could never relate to Tarot, I don't know why. I was given a set as a teenager, but never used them very successfully, and ended up giving them away. The Lenormand method seems to use more intuition, almost like a card-based version of rune casting. As I don't know much about them so far, I'd love to hear opinions from anyone more knowledgeable than I am!

I wasn't thinking about purchasing a set, until I saw these Viking Lenormand cards, designed by BC Artworks. I couldn't resist. I also purchased the optional pouch to keep them in. I'm looking forward to giving them a try.

Anime -- Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear

Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear (くまみこ) is a 12-episode anime created in 2016, based on the manga of the same name. Machi is a 14-year-old girl and miko (shrine attendant) of a shrine in a small, remote village. The shrine is no normal one, however -- it is dedicated to kuma (bears) and uniquely, is attended by a talking bear, Natsu. Machi has no immediate family or friends and Natsu acts as her friend, guardian and protector.

Machi is sick of her life of constant ceremonies, dances and the practice for them. Her life is dictated by the structure of tradition and the whims of the villagers that she serves. In one episode the villagers even create a selection of new shrine maiden outfits for her, each more risque than the next. Then there's her cousin Yoshio, who works for the local council and is passionate about increasing tourism to the village. He manipulates Machi into ever more awkward situations in the name of promoting the village.

Machi wants to get away from all this and go to high school in the city. Natsu is understandably worried that she won't cope, and devises a series of challenges for Machi to complete. These include buying clothes from a department store and buying a DVD from Village Vanguard. Other endeavours that she takes on herself, such as using a rice cooker, also end in disaster.

There are lots of cute details and funny moments throughout the series. The people and situations found in a remote town are parodied. Imagery of food and mountain scenery was plentiful enough to satisfy Mori folk and others who like this aesthetic. The depiction of the miko lifestyle and Shinto religion was also interesting. The episodes veer between different genres and defy categorisation as a whole. One episode focuses almost entirely on Machi's creation of a cold rice dish for dinner, turning it into a slice-of-life recipe story. Another has Machi trying on scanty outfits shown from angles reminiscent of a schoolgirl anime (close to being panty shots but still tame enough for younger viewers). The opening and closing songs are cute and catchy.

I loved this series and wished it didn't end so soon. The relationship between Machi the miko and Natsu the talking bear is so unusual and sweet; I found it very memorable. I had the theme song stuck in my head for a long time afterwards. I can see myself watching it again one day.

Grey School Summary :: August 2017

Unfortunately not much happened this month as I've been sick with a virus. I'm pretty sure I also suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). So this month's summary isn't a very eventful one.

My copy of Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard arrived in the mail early in the month. It's overwhelmingly jam-packed with information, as befits a textbook that covers such a wide range of topics. I'm tempted to read the whole book at once, but I've restricted myself to only reading the introduction and the sections relevant to my classes so far.

Class-wise, I've nearly finished the last assignment for Wizardry 100, choosing my magical name. Then there's only the exam to go. For most of the month, I was too sick to work on my Core Energy Practices assignment -- I just couldn't concentrate on the meditation. This week I've been feeling a little better and have made a renewed effort to work on it.

End of semester is coming up soon (the semesters run from equinox to equinox) and the House Cup is awarded at the end of each semester. My house is coming last so I made an effort to participate in as many challenges this month and earn as many merits as I could. Challenges involved divination, a practical activity or creative endeavour. Some of them might appear as blog posts soon.

Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 101: Centring, Grounding and the Senses
✷ Wizardry 100: Becoming an Apprentice

Credits:
✷ This month: 0 Total: 2

Merits Earned:
✷ Non-Academic: 6