A Visit to Twa Corbies Hollow

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to have a good friend over to get her haircut. In exchange for the haircut she brought me some clothes that no longer fit her (bonus) and she did an Intuitive Art Reading for me. This meant that she would hold my hand for a bit while getting visions. She then would interpret those visions through her art. On the 5"x7" card she painted as she looked at me telling me of what she saw. One thing she mentioned that has relevance to this note was about my upcoming trip to Twa Corbies for a Spirit Journey Workshop. I was told that something of importance would happen to me that would blow me away. What did that mean, I asked. She just smiled in her cute way that I would have to experience it to know it. I had been planning on going up to my friend, Cliff's place for a bit and was excited to get out of the city & breathe for a change.

As the weeks rolled by, the anticipation grew. A couple of days before the long weekend, I received a group email from Cliff. He wanted to know who was coming or not to his place so he could make the necessary arrangements. I was the only one who responded. Was that a sign of things to come??

I took an early bus ride from the city to arrive around noon at part of my destination. I was picked up by Cliff & his daughter, Natalia. After running a few errands, we went to a cute Pagan stored in New Glasgow, The White Lotus. There I found some interesting herbal teas (Faery , Vervain, Oolong & Jamaican Spice), a few more crystals for my ever-growing collection, and a Goddess figurine (I can never have enough of Her). I also got a small hand-carved stone owl, my totem animal.

We took the scenic route back to Twa Corbies Hollow. I hoping to meet others that were also invited to come. Now, for those of you who know me well, I am quite a talker, but I got the case of the shyness (hard to believe, I know) I listened to Cliff talk to me about his horses, Aval, Acorn & Sidhe Bheg. Then, I saw them as we rounded the curve in the road approaching the Hollow. Wow, they're huge!! That was my first thought As we pulled up the driveway, I could see a black dog running happily towards the truck, I got a bit nervous, as my old fear of dogs came back to me. But this dog was a playful boy who wanted to play stick. he jumped up at me & proceeded to goober up my hand with dog kisses.

I was shown the gardens, where Lady Daphne & Ariel were working on making rows for planting. I saw Claire the cow grazing in the field nearby. She's not very social for a cow. After putting my backpack up in my room, I went outside & helped (as best as I could) with whatever work they needed me to do. Natalia took me down to the barn where I met the horses close up. Aval & Acorn were the gentle giants, I fell in love with them at first sight. Sidhe Bheg, what can I say about her?? If she were human, she would be the diva of all divas. Natalia warned me that she likes to nip people, so my hands stayed in my jacket pockets, nice & safe.

After a quick lunch, we got back to work. There was no word from anyone else who were supposed to be coming for the workshop. I had a feeling that I was the only one. After playing stick with Willowisp, Cliff got Sidhe Bheg ready to go for a carriage ride, while his oldest daughter, Ariel cooked supper. Daphne, Natalia, Cliff & myself took a long winding ride through the countryside. We saw a few deer, lots of apple trees and houses with stars on them (is this a trend or are they wannabe witches?). When we arrived back to the Hollow, no one had called or showed up for the workshop. Their loss was my gain, as I was thoroughly enjoying my time. After eating a hearty potato cauliflower soup with bread & homemade cheese, we watched the Simpson's episode where Lisa meets with the Wiccans.

The next morning, after a restful sleep, I was awaken by a somewhat large furry being in bed with me, licking my hair. That could only mean one thing, my new playfriend, Willowisp was with me. I got dressed and headed downstairs to see what was on the plan for today...planting in the garden. I got to plant parsnips, get eaten alive by blackflies (still recovering from them) in spite of wearing long sleeves, bug repellent and no deodorant. They saw me as their "all you can eat buffet" and they feasted. I also went & visited with the horses, saw the goats and played stick with Willowisp. Ariel & I also pruned the apple tree next to the house. For being a city girl, I think I did alright...going without makeup, hair not done and not caring how dirty I got. I was having a blast!!

I ate homemade cheeses, organic food, drank mead for the first time (yum!), tried new things, watched a few movies, gardened, learned new things about myself I really didn't know. I didn't get to ride a horse, but maybe on my next visit I will. I even tried...miserably...archer

y and played croquet (how did I go from 2nd place to 5th so fast?) Even though no one showed up for the workshop, it was well worth the 3 hr trip from the city. I even gave Lady Daphne a haircut, using a broken hairbrush & kitchen scissors. Next time I'll bring the real scissors with me.

I would write more, but my calamine lotion needs to be reapplied, as my arms are raw from the scratching. All in all, I had a wonderful time & I can't wait to go back to the Hollow very soon. My hosts were the best!! I can always come back in time to harvest my parsnips...

Avatar

Have you ever had a movie that moved you so much that you cried?? Of course, we all have. I did this quite recently at the theatre. I did get a few looks from other movie-goers. Not because I was bawling during the movie, but I was still crying as I walked out. "Avatar" was this kind of movie for me, as well as many other Pagans out there who have seen it.

I did have the unfortunate opportunity in seeing it just regular, but I'm going this Wed. to see it again the way it was supposed to be seen...IMAX 3D!! Oh yeah!! I'm going to back to Pandora and treat myself to the visual wonder of that planet (and Sam Worthington). I also think it's a good movie for those new to Paganism for the whole visualizing of the Earth's energy when you ground & meditate. Am I telling too much?? Let's just say, I want a halo, too.

It's roughly 2h40min, but you get so immersed in it, that you feel by the time it's over, you just got there. Besides Pandora being a visual wonder, the animals & creatures are just as stunning. In fact, it's the animals that give you the first inkling of how Pagan this movie is...Oops, did I do it again?? I know that there has been a lot of rave reviews, but there have been a lot of negative backlash from those crazy-ass right wingers, but I won't get into it here.

I do have one more thing to say: Go see it if you haven't or Go see it again if you have.

Love & Light from the Na'Vi
Rowan
)O(

A Slow Week for Rowan

Hey there!! I know I haven't been on as much, my bad. There's nothing new going on right now with me, except that I joined the unemployed yesterday. But don't worry, I'm a resilient gal who always bounces back, like a red rubber ball.

Found a really cool site that you all may like. A friend on Facebook recommended it to me. It's the Pagan Radio Network. You can stream it from Windows Media Player, Quicktime, iTunes, etc. It's all Pagan music. There are podcasts there, as well. I'm listening to it right now as I blog.

I've been noticing already that some of the other blogs I follow are decorated for Yule. It's hard to believe that the Solstice will be upon us in a few short weeks. I started putting out my outside icicle lights on my patio, since the weather here is uncommonly mild for November. This time last year we were under 30cm of snow. Speaking of Yule, I had designs on getting myself a really nice Yule basket that I saw at the Sacred Mists Shoppe. It's a basket filled with yummy goodies to help you this Sabbat. There are incenses, an altar cloth, candles, a mini besom, etc. But now as I am jobless, I will hopefully get the Imbolg basket instead. They offer baskets for the 8 Sabbats.

Ok, if you haven't figured it out, I am a Twihard. I'm a 35 yr old Twilight freak!! I saw New Moon on Thursday night, it was a sneak peak showing. All I have to say is: "Holy Crap, Batman!!" It is a little over 2 hrs long. Lots of bare chests (Note to self: Don't look at Taylor Lautner, he's old enough to be your son) and a sparkly Edward. The movie has a good pace to it and it follows the book about 90%. I did have to laugh at the girlfriends dragging their boyfriends to this movie. There was a huge group of gay guys who gasped everytime you see Jacob shirtless.. I had a really good time. Now I can't wait for it to come out onto DVD this spring.

Oh, before I forget, I became a member this week of the Black Hat Society. Yay!! Thanks, Jennifer for accepting me. From what I can see, there are a few other Canadians there. It's a great group, I've been on joining groups, reading posts, getting to know the group of wonderful witches there. I love it!!

Blessing to you all,
Rowan

My So-Called Life

Well, I haven't been blogging that much this week. There's been a lot of things going on. At work, I got my notice yesterday that I will be getting laid-off. Saturday will be last day at the salon. It hasn't been busy, so I haven't been making commission, so they're letting me go. I should be upset, losing at job this time of the year when I have a little boy to think about for Christmas, but I feel confident in whatever the Goddess has in store for me. I know what I learned from this job and I take that knowledge with me when I move onto my next job. Mark's all boughten for Christmas, so he's covered in terms of gifts...I'm one of those anal-retentive people who hates shopping during the holidays, so I do it throughout the year.

In other news, I had a stressful weekend. My 2nd set of house keys went missing. I suspected my neighbour's roommate, Jeff, of taking them. He came by on Saturday for a chat. He smokes, so he went out on the patio but kept the door open so we could still talk. He asked for a glass of water, so I went into the kitchen & got him one. That was the perfect time for him to take them.
Back Story: his roommate has been selling drugs out of his townhouse next door, as well as pimping out prostitutes. All this came to light to me on Sunday when I reported my missing keys to the Super. I knew about the drugs, but not the girls. He's being evicted at the end of the month, he hasn't paid rent for 3 months.
So, I had thought that the roommate who came by, took my keys so they could break into my place & make off with my stuff. I told the Super about what happened, he called a locksmith to come by 1st thing Monday morning. When I came home from work on Monday at suppertime, the Super came by with my lost keys. He found them on the way to the laundry room. I had done laundry on Sunday, forgot my keys, got Mark to get them for me. He got them, but he also got the 2nd set and dropped them, not knowingly, on the way to the laundry room. I was so relieved!! So Jeff didn't take my keys at all.

On a positive note, I have my tix to go see the Twilight Saga: New Moon on Thursday night at the midnight showing of it. I can't wait!! I've been waiting since March for this movie when they started filming it (Mar 23). I pre-bought them, so I will get to the movie theatre really early to wait in line with everybody else. It's going to be a mad-house with a bunch of excited teenage girls (& their mothers, probably) They are also screening the 1st Twilight movie before New Moon, I may see that, as I didn't see it last year when it was in theatres, but sitting for 4 hours will be rough on my butt, not to mention my bladder.

Anyway, that's what's been going on this past weekend with me. Oh, I almost forgot...I'm now a member of the Black Hat Society. Thanks for accepting me into your online hearth. I'm still getting my page together, adding photos, joining groups, adding new friends. I think I will have a great time with them.

Blessings to you all,
Rowan
)O(