Update on the Sanford/Casselberry Vampire and Shadowlore Meet Up

I’m so happy about how well this meetup has been developing over the last several months!  We’re getting more and more people in attendance and pulling in people from around the country and around the world through the talkshoe conference call set up!  (I’m so happy I went to the effort of getting that set up and so grateful that I have such tech savvy members to help me keep it up and running and continually improve the sound quality.  Thank you Magus and Kirra!)  The comments people have been making about the quality of the content are also quite encouraging.  So far it is everything I hoped it would be, and that makes me even more ambitious for what we can achieve for our members in the future.

Panera Bread worked out quite well last meeting.  It was indeed quieter for our recordings, and the microphone Kirra brought worked wonderfully well.  We had Doktor call in from Kansas — before his cordless phone died.  Let’s all remember that technology doesn’t always work well around vampires and try not to drain the batteries on our communications equipment, shall we???

We also had a guest call in from NORWAY!!! We have gone international!  And so dedicated was our guest Folksome that he stayed up until 2:20 a.m. his time (quite a time difference between Florida and Norway).  Yay, Folksome, and yay Doktor for making the effort to join us in the midst of moving.  (Sorry about your friends’ phone!)

I hope we have more and more national and international members and guests joining us in future; please do encourage any friends you have online around the world to join us for a meet up whenever they can.  Talkshoe chat is free, and skype is relatively inexpensive for calling in over long distances.  Please also make use of the downloadable recording of the meeting at the talk shoe site; July’s meeting is MUCH easier to hear and has lots of interesting information.

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Tags: General, Magic, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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A few highlights:

“No philosophy or political party has a monopoly on patriotism.”

“What makes America great has never been its perfection, but the belief that it can be made better…. [W]e can be governed by laws, not men, …we could be equal in the eyes of those laws; …we could be free to say what we want and assemble with whomever we want, and worship as we please; … we could have the right to pursue our individual dreams, with the obligation to help our fellow citizens pursue theirs.”

“Patriotism is always more than just loyalty to a place on a map, or a certain kind of people…. It’s also loyalty to America’s ideals…. It is the application of these ideals that separates us from… Zimbabwe… Burma…. or Iraq….”

“Patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader, or government, or policy. As Mark Twain… once wrote, ‘patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.’ That’s what patriotism is. That’s what patriotism is.”

“When our laws, when our leaders, or our government are out of alignment with those ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expressions of patriotism.”

“Recognizing a wrong being committed in this country’s name, insisting that we deliver on the promise of our Constitution, these are the acts of patriots, men and women who are defending what is best in America, and we should never forget that, especially when we disagree with them, especially when they make us uncomfortable with their words. That’s part of the American tradition. That’s part of why we are proud to be Americans.”

“It is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to instill that history in our children, both at home and at school. The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are or what they did, or the significance of the founding documents that bear their names. Too many children are ignorant of the sheer effort, the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations to ensure that this country survived war and depression through the great struggles of civil and social, and workers’ rights. it is up to us then, too teach them. It is up to us to teach them that even though we have faced great challenges and made our share of mistakes, we have always been able to come together to make this country stronger, and more prosperous, and more united, and more just. And sometimes to teach them that America has been a force for good in the world, and that other nations and other peoples have looked to us as the last best hope on earth.”

That’s what patriotism is. That’s what patriotism is.

Happy Independence Day, everyone.

BB,

Vivienne

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I’ve now got an ebay store set up for Persephone’s Haven. I’m still only selling my old miscellaneous books, thus far, but I’ll be adding some Persephone’s Haven merchandise soon. I’m also working on getting the web pages set up to enable me to offer “On the Care and Feeding of Spirits” as an ebook, at ebay and at my store website. As soon as that’s ready I’ll let everyone know.

I’ve added a lot more books, music, and some movies to my Amazon store, and have lots more to add as time goes on; the page is working through the Persephone’s Haven site, above, and also through this link.

We now have an Amazon Associates store set up here at CroneSeraphim, as well.

Event Update:

The Grand Opening festivities for Little Fish Huge Pond  are this Saturday night, March 29. I’ll be dancing around 7 pm; there will be a live band starting to play around 8 or 9. The owner is full of extremely creative, eclectic, and fun ideas for the venue. It will be a very Bohemian hang out and I’m looking forward to lots of great times there with all our different activities.

Our next Sanford Vampire and Shadowlore Meet Up  is Friday, April 4, at 7 pm. The topic is “energy manipulation.” I uploaded a file containing links to energy related books and articles to the files section  as reading material, so people can come to the meeting with questions and comments. I’m also trying to arrange a conference call so that out of state members who can’t otherwise attend will be able to participate over the phone or computer. If I can get it set up I will post details.

The circle casting clinic is starting a week from this Sunday, on April 6 at 1 pm in Sanford, at Little Fish, Huge Pond . The clinic will train people to take over from Kim as monthly moon circle facilitators and will be held on the first Sunday of each month from 1-3 pm. The Theatrical Techniques for Ritual course will start the same date at 3:15 pm, at the same location in Sanford, immediately after the first clinic and every Sunday thereafter for 8 weeks, from 3:15-5:15. You can email me for details on either of these classes.

Sherri’s Thelema Meet Up  is going strong. The last meeting discussed “Liber CCVII,” an explanation of the four categories of thelemic documents and texts. The next meet up is Sunday, April 27 at 11 am and will be discussing “Liber OZ” by Aleister Crowley. You can download these and many more documents here.

Finally, my friends and I will not be able to make it to Dragon Con this year. Hotels are sold out, our ride got sick and had to use up her time off, etc., etc. Maybe next year.

As any other news and updates become available I will post them in my blogs. BB, Vivienne

Tags: General, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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Theatrical Techniques for Ritual
With Vivienne D’Avalon
Every Sunday for 8 weeks, from 3:15-5:15 pm
Starting Sunday, April 6, 2008
at:

Little Fish, Huge Pond
309 E. 1st St.
Sanford, FL 32771
Ph: 407-488-5331

Price: $15/class, or $100 in advance for the full 8 week course – a more than 15% discount
Minimum of 3 reservations required per class.
Reservations can be made at 407-484-2285.

This class will teach techniques used by actors and other performers that are useful for intensifying magickal work and performing effective and powerful public rituals. Anyone at any level of knowledge, skill, and experience will walk away from this class with a whole new arsenal of tools and skills. Lessons will include: Breathing and vocal exercises; projection and enunciation; movement, posture, and finding character center; visualizing with 5 senses; intention; focus; improvisation; script analyses; makeup and costume; hair and jewelry; props and charging ritual tools; working with masks; energy work; grounding and centering; chakras and auras; opening intuition; working with spirit guides; adopting personas, archetypes and roles; astral body work, astral travel, and god form assumption; raising and storing power; elements of ritual; and uses of music and dance. As a final exam students will create and perform a full ritual.

Students taking the Circle Casting Clinic with myself and Kim Wade will find this course to be an excellent complement and supplement. Students paying for the full Clinic year in advance will be given a further 10% discount coupon off the advance price for this course.

***

Vivienne D’Avalon has a degree in Music and Theatre from Hunter College, CUNY, and acted for many years in New York City. She has performed most recently as a gypsy dancer at the Gypsy Heritage Festival and here at the opening of Little Fish, Huge Pond. Vivienne has taught at many venues throughout central Florida, and has served as High Priestess at initiations and several public and private rituals. She is the author of “On the Care and Feeding of Spirits” and “The Patriot’s Spell Book,” and runs Persephone’s Haven, a business serving Goths, Pagans, and all others who walk between worlds. She will be co-teaching a monthly clinic on Circle Casting with Kim Wade for 1 year, at this same location, also starting Sunday, April 6, immediately before this class from 1 – 3 pm. You can make reservations for the Clinic at 407-895-0580. You can contact Vivienne at Vivienne@persephoneshaven.com or call to make reservations for this class at 407-484-2285.

Tags: Magic, Paganism, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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