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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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! - Haunted Attraction Crew

For event happening the weekend of October 17-19, 2008

In the Orlando/Casselberry/Sanford central Florida area

Nephilim United Productions, Inc., a corporation not for profit dedicated to promoting “dark” art, fashion, literature, film and music, is planning our first event for October 2008. Volunteers are URGENTLY needed as we create a charity haunted attraction to serve as both a fundraiser and our first edutainment introduction to the community. This will be a multi-element haunted event, and we need dedicated volunteers at all levels of experience and skill sets to bring everything together.

The attraction will combine educational, historic and cultural content with classic handcrafted scares, keeping tech effects costs to a minimum while relying on artistry, enthusiasm, and old fashioned fun and showmanship to provide family entertainment value and personal service unequaled by large “mega haunts” in the area. The event is presented for entertainment purposes, and as such will call for the creation of “sideshow gaffs” and oddities created through a variety of means. Local artists will also be needed to create the event, which will showcase the work of these artists.

Funding for the event will be secured through individual donations and sponsorship by businesses and organizations. Sponsoring organizations receive acknowledgment, advertising, and promotion as outlined in our sponsors’ information packet (available upon request).

The primary theme for the guided-tour haunt is “The History of Halloween and Horror.” Scare-laden rooms will illustrate key points in this timeline: the Celtic origins of Halloween; early horror literature; a homage to the circus sideshow; classic movies; and television. The overall framing script will be the operation of a “Traveling Spook-Show Carnival” of the style popular in America from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. Rooms in the sideshow will therefore also include a spook show séance, a museum of art and oddities, a “Treasures of Egypt” room, a chamber of horrors, a freak show, and a stage area for live performances of magic and theatrics. That’s the plan. We will need a lot of help to build the sets and staff these rooms.

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Tags: Entertainment, General, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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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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Circle Casting Clinic
with Kim Wade and Vivienne D’Avalon
First Sunday of every month, from 1-3 pm, for one year
Starting Sunday, April 6, 2008
at:

Little Fish, Huge Pond
309 E. 1st St.
Sanford, FL 32771
Ph: 407-488-5331
Price: $15/month, or $125 in advance for the year, a 30% discount;
Minimum of 5 reservations required per class.
Reservations can be made at 407-895-0580.

This clinic will teach the elements of circle casting and ritual work, and train people in the community to take over facilitating the twice monthly moon circles at Avalon. No matter your level of knowledge, skill, or experience, you will leave this Clinic with the confidence to run any ritual.

Students will be expected to attend at least one circle per quarter. These should include 1 Sabbat, 1 full moon Esbat, and 2 dark moon Esbats for the year, student’s choice; students will start facilitating in September.

Our first class we will make introductions and give the circle and sabbat schedules for the next three months; outline the topics to be covered over the course of the year; discuss the Wheel of the Year and the names and times of the full moons; discuss the differences between full and new moon Esbats; go over Imbolc; and cover altar set up.
***

Kim Wade has been facilitating the moon circles twice a month at Avalon for over a year. She has also organized and presided at countless sabbat rituals over the years. Kim is a professional psychic and tarot reader who runs Avalon’s Psychic Sundays, and has been teaching classes on numerous subjects at Avalon for many years. You can contact her at blulibra9@aol.com.

Vivienne D’Avalon has taught at many venues throughout central Florida. She has served as High Priestess at initiations and several public and private rituals. Vivienne 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 teaching an 8 week course in Theatrical Techniques for Ritual, at this same location, starting Sunday, April 6, immediately after the Clinic. Advance purchase for the Clinic for the year will also come with a coupon for $10 off the advance purchase price of this class. You can contact her at Vivienne@persephoneshaven.com or call to make reservations at 407-484-2285.

Tags: Magic, Paganism, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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The PH website (persephoneshaven.com) has its basic pages up again. Magus is working on getting the full ecommerce site up and running for me, but is planning on switching over the domain to a company he can work better with. In the meantime I’ve signed up as an Amazon associate to try to get some links up to all the many books I recommend. We are signed up as associates here at Crone Seraphim too, so we can provide you links to the books we discuss and recommend. [Read more →]

Tags: General, Vivienne D'Avalon by Vivienne D'Avalon
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