About Me
I am a druid, devoted priestess of Aengus mac Og, artist and mother in upstate NY, near to the borders of Vermont and Mass. Tradewise, I am a needleworker (esp.obscure techniques that are on the brink of extinction), lacemaker and artist specializing in figures painted and collaged on panels. I am pretty sure I have been pagan since day one, but I never put a name to it until my teens, when I began walking the druids path, over 20 years ago :) I have a small clergy practice that I have been active with over most of the past...10 years? Within that practice I handle spiritual counseling, handfastings and other rites of passage, herbalism and teaching, among other things as needed. My path is, for want of a better yet equally understood word, shamanic and I have had a clear focus of study on the nature of divinity, herbalism and the use of the arts as an expression of spirituality and magickal work. I am also passionate about dance and incorporate dance and movement into much of my spiritual work. I do have a great dislike and lack of patience for pagans who refuse to walk the walk yet insist on talking the talk ;). I find I have a distinct lack of patience for nonsense, argument and time wasting! I am happy to answer any question anyone might have about myself, my practice or whatever :)
Something fun...
Music
Ugh! Try answering this in less than a million words! Okay, here goes:
Classical - Debussy, Satie, Bach, Beethoven, Salieri, Schubert, Strauss, Stravinsky, Prokoviev, Tchiakovsky, Bizet, Lizst...the usual suspects...;
Classic Rock - Queen!!!!, Dire Straits!!, Yes, Van Halen, AC/DC, the Kinks, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, Heart, Styx, Journey, Rush, ELO!!;
Alt - Siouxsie and the Banshees (yes, I am old!), Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Cracker, Laibach, Shelleyan Orphan, Godsmack; Country - Keith Urban, Rodney Crowell, Alison Krauss and Union Station, George Strait, I love a lot of alt country - the types of bands you see on Wide Open Country; Random - John Denver!!!, Nickelback, Simon and Garfunkel, Dan Fogelberg!, Roy Orbison, Cristina Aguilera, Shawn Mullins; Guitar Gods - Brian May, Mark Knopfler,Nils Lofgren, Keith Urban,Joe Perry, Angus Young, John Williams (not my fave conductor - but amazing classical Guitarist), Charo (yes, she is a classical guitarist and phenomenal!); Orchestras - The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields!!!!, LSO, Czech Nat'l, NY Phil., Andre Rieu's Johann Strauss Orch., NYCB orchestra; Opera - the Met!!!!!! and NYC - my faves :) Samuel Ramey, Jessye Norman, Jubilant Sykes, Kathleen Battle, Denyce Graves,
Movies
V for Vendetta, 13th Warrior, Princess Bride, Clueless, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Memoirs of a Geisha, West Side Story, Practical Magic ;), Everafter!, Moulin Rouge, Animal House, Blazing Saddles, But I'm A Cheerleader, Lady In the Water, Kingdom of Heaven, Kill BilL!!!!!!!!!, Cosi, The General, Chocolat, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Golden Compass, Pan's Labyrinth, La Traviata - I am happy to watch just about anything with Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Juliette Binoche, Jim Broadbent, Liam Neeson. I love artsy-fartsy & foreign films as well...I generally avoid Disney, Steven Spielberg and anything to do with Star Wars :)
TV
Firefly!!!!!!!; Babylon 5; Charlie Rose; Garden Story; Diary of a Foodie, Nova; Nature; Live from Lincoln Center; I, Claudius; I am a big PBS fan :)
Books
I don't think I could list individual books - this profile is already long enough! But I have favorite writers and lots of 'em, too :) Here are some: Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco, Colette, AS Byatt, Ursula K. LeGuin, Patricia McKillip, Wade Davis, Diane Ackerman, Anais Nin, CS Lewis, Richard Grant, Rita Mae Brown...more to come...;)I almost never read pagan authors anymore but I do like Paul Beyerl, Isaac Bonewits and Ellen Evert Hopman
Likes
I am passionate about dance(with a burning passion for ballet), gardening, cooking, the arts, opera, hiking, conservation, the outdoors,insects and other creepy-crawlies, literature, languages, anthropology and a host of other things. I love baths - bubble or plain, writing erotica, sensuality, fragrance, cherries, Irish whiskey, pastries from Bella Napoli in Troy, things Irish, French or Danish, interesting architecture, far off places, poetry, museums,coffee, tea, chocolate, jewelry, Arts and Crafts movement design, Art Nouveau design.
Dislikes
Noise, apathy, laziness, bad manners, processed food, know it alls, pagan apologists!!, the religious reich, middle-class suburban mind sets - that's a long story and explanation, thoughtlessness, injustice, assumptions, duality (black/white, either/or)... and basic stupidity. I also hate wikipedia! (here is the thing: wikipedia is a good place to start but a very bad place to end)oh yeah and pretentious twats who take everything literally and have no sense of humor! I also cannot stand people who call the Upper Hudson Valley "tech valley" and people who use the term "fluff bunny" (do not get me started!), litterbugs, disposable everything, GOSSIP!(hate it hate it hate it!), celebrities-as-news, snoops, spies, self-righteousness, the death of privacy
Hobbies
I am never sure whether I have hobbies or whether I am just driven to doing a wide variety of things myself out of necessity or desire to incorporate something into my art or spiritual practice...but I guess...brewing, linguistics, anthropology, history and I tend to be a bit of a collector of "shinies" - I am a regular bower bird - I enjoy my stuff and arranging it into interesting little tableaux :) I have a pretty wide collection of rocks, plants, depression glass and books :)
Vices
Vices or bad habits and difficult personality traits? I am fairly contrary, addicted to caffeine, overcommitted and I have a bad habit of cranking the car stereo if I am alone and Van Halen, Queen or AC/DC happen to come up on the radio. I have been told I can be elitist but I am not sure if I consider it a compliment or an insult ;) I am a bit of an old fogey pagan and I tend to write off a lot of the nonsense I see in the pagan community as neophyte bullshit from people who are on the verge of knowing better, but are not quite there yet. I don't get involved in that kind of nonsense, because I tend to deliver a tonguelashing when folk start acting up about who's right, wrong or fluffy. I have a wicked temper at times, I also tend to write people off as nitwits if they are committed to being narrow and stupid - I rarely waste time arguing.
Virtues
I am passionate about true love, romance, true compassion and my work as a clergy person. I am a very fine cook and I love cooking for others ;) I am passionate, intelligent, beautiful and wise. I am audacious enough to say that :)Forgiving and very mushy.
Heroes
AmO :), My family - all of 'em, Rich, Rick, Sé & Piri, Darina Allen, Seamus Heaney, Peter Martins, Anthony Dowell, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokoviev, Salman Rushdie, Karin von Aroldingen, Willam Morris (not the Hollywood agent! One of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement.), Leonardo da Vinci,Tasha Tudor, artisans committed to bringing back excellent local craftsmanship and true artistry , even when it means income may be neither steady nor plentiful. Anyone willing to pay their dues to find their way :)
http://ihatecrocsblog.blogspot.com/
The 'What If' Meme... (swiped from Ms. Fae's mySpace :)
I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 6 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments. What is it?
1. Produce: Rainier cherries
2. Bakery: pain au chocolat
3. Meat: Top round steak
4. Frozen: Haagen Dasz Honey Bee Vanilla :)
5. Dry goods: Pistachios
6. Dairy: Lovely Irish butter
Let's say we're heading out for a weekend getaway. You're only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you... (btw, if you know, me even a little bit, you know that this is an impossibility... in theory and practice!)
1.white lace up shirt with the soft red rose print
2. black mini
3. knee highinnetonka lace up boots
If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day... What 5 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?
1. "Ariane, get down from there!"
2. "Don't put that in your mouth!"
3. "Aren't you tired yet?"
4. "Will you just stop pooping today?!?!"
5. "Bloody hell!"
What 3 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn't get to do, you probably wouldn't be in the best mood?
1. Morning devotions with Aengus.
2. Talking to my best friend in the world on the computer.
3. Play with Ariane :)
Sweet, you just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. What 5 activities might we find you doing?
1. Walking in the woodland. *i am leaving this response! I am soooo there:)*
2. Needlework
3. Making interesting stuff
4. Drawing people
5. Eating a sensuous feast of middle eastern food ;)
We're going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it'll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to? (again, if you know me, even a little bit, the zoo isn't happening)
1. Aquarium
2. Primates
3. Insects
You just scored two tickets to the taping of any live show that comes on t.v. of your choice. They are to....
1. Charlie Rose (though he doesn't have an audience...I would politely perch on a nearby couch :) )
You're hungry for ice cream. I'll give you a triple dipper ice cream cone.
(from top to bottom)
1. Pistachio
2. Chunky Monkey
3. Black Cherry
Somebody stole your wallet. In order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it.
1. Library Card
2. Moths
3. Lint
4. A black hole
5. mini lipgloss in avon "Tickled Pink"
If you could go back and talk to the 'old you' when you were in high school, and inform yourself of 4 things, what would you say?
1. Living a dirt poor existence in Scotland will be totally worth it
2. The goth look is not good on you dear... stick with gypsy-chic
3. Be careful what you wish for.
4. You have serious issues with anemia - fix it before it wrecks you.
You are the Wind Faery, creator of weather, and the guardian of travel. You like to play the catalyst, affecting those around you. Graceful and playful, you are fun to be around.
Indeed, you are 88% erudite, 100% sensual, 88% martial, and 46% saturnine.
Maeve was once thought of as a historical queen but is now considered part of the Celtic mythology. She is usually depicted as either a winged sprite, a beautiful elf, or a human woman dressed in only the finest robes.
She was said to carry two tree-dwelling creatures on either of her shoulders; the squirrel and the raven, resembling her closeness to nature and mysticism. She also frequented the area which was said to hold the entrance to the Otherworld, which is now called the Cave of the Cats.
Maeve is known for an insatiable sexual appetite and boasting openly of sleeping with thirty men in one day. Once she meets the hero Fergus Mac Roich, 'Son of Great Horse' who himself has a sexual appetite large enough to satisfy her, the tale says that 'She used to know thirty men every day or go with Fergus once.' So thats good for her. :3
She is most famous as a protagonist in the story of the "Cattle Raid of Cooley", which tells of another dispute between her and her husband, the Connaught chieftain Ailill, with whom she would constantly quarrel.
Edit: Males, here is the ideal name to register with on OKCupid. Upon getting this result, kellie wrote: Fergus Mac Roich - Where can I find him?? lol
Don't let that chance pass! ;)
The Fifteen Goddesses
These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in
It's been an insane week here :) I have lots of new projects under way and hopefully will have some of them finished within the week and maybe some pics :) Been working on getting Ariane's cool weather stuff made - crocheting mittens, hats, scarves and making her a wee cloak, a coat and some clothes, as well as some for myself and a new coat and cloak for me :) and a few new clothes for my husband too - lots of stuff. We are harvesting tomatoes, green beans, carrots, beets, tons of herbs and getting ready to do fall plantings of peas, carrots, beets, greens, broccoli raab, and other stuff :) the blackberries are taking their time to ripen, but they look plentiful!! I got out a bit too late for getting enough raspberries and blueberries to make jam buuuuuut, we have lots of other stuff coming nicely! My elecampane needs dividing and I am hoping the divine Ms. Heather might take some off my hands (hint!)...This is going to be a super busy fall!!! Got a huge batch of whole grain bread started for tomorrow's Lughnasadh HVPN event and I am going to be making some pretty braided loaves as well as some swirly herbed rolls out of that. And possibly some apple turnovers with the gorgeous apples I just got from one of our neighbors :) Tomorrow is also some clergy business ;) so that's a bit involved. I am already planning our Equinox Thanksgiving (we celebrate our Thanksgiving at the Equinox - for us, that is the most appropriate time) . So it's been all around busy here. I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend!! I also hope to have something up on the philosophy group - I beg patience with that!!
Russia lost more than a literary great. As he was called, "Russia's conscience" wrote with great courage and integrity, using his art to the fullest to bring a picture of his Russia both to his own countrypeople and the rest of the world. He suffered for his truth and gave others reason to defy.
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