Dost Seek Balance, o Libra?

Realizing that it was time for a change in my magical life, and that Aphrodite was all in favor of said change, Laurelei runs in the direction of the Forge. The scales tip wildly out of balance. (Who'd have guessed?) Almost immediately, I am flooded (pun intended) with messages regarding Aphrodite ... ("Come speak at this event about your book...", "I have a question about Her ...", etc.).

No, little Libra, you shouldn't abandon the stars and the sea to play only amongst the soot and the fire. Balance.

But don't forsake the hammer and tongs (and alchemical magic and Father Qayin) in the golden bower.

Balance.

Midwest-Southwest Tour 2011

Announcing Laurelei Black's super-fantastico tour of America's mid-section!

Okay, so truthfully, I'm going to visit my Nanny (that's "Okie" for granny) starting tomorrow. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I haven't seen her in three or four years. Shameful. Just shameful.

Then, I'll be back in Indiana for a minute and a half before heading to Louisville, Kentucky to celebrate Independence Day with Glaux and Iron Dragon. Iron Dragon's mother's birthday was on the 4th of July. She used to collect Americana decor and teased that everyone celebrated her birthday. This is the third year since she crossed the veil, and it has become the family's most important holiday together.

Either that night or the following morning, I'll be heading to Wisteria, Ohio for the 31st Starwood festival. I'm presenting 2 workshops (Creating Aphrodisia Rituals and Aphrodite's Bath: Cleansing and Creation Through Sensuality) and an Aphrodisia Ritual. Iron Dragon will be fire tending, which he's done at Starwood and Brushwood in the past. He tends fire at Our Haven all the time, but the Starwood fires are gigantic. He may be a busy boy! (I hope we'll actually get to see each other.)

I'll have one week back in Indiana before I make a return trip to Oklahoma. My second trip takes me to the border of Oklahoma and Arkansas -- the area where both my parents grew up and where I attended high school. It is very near Ft. Smith, AR., and I may even make a trip up to Fayetteville to visit some OTO Brethren there. Of course, I have a Nanny on this trip who has called dibs on visiting, so my time is going to be pretty squeezed.

July is a crazy-busy month.

Ready. Set. Go!!

A Blog, Re-Purposed

Another Babalon Rising has come and gone, and I'm finding myself in that weird, languid, reflective place that happens after a truly magical event. This is especially true for me of Babalon Rising since my closest friends, my dearest OTO Brethren, and my spice (pl. for spouse) are all heavily involved in the organization of this festival. It is an intense, challenging, playful, and ultimately very magical experience for me that always requires some processing time when I return to "consensus reality."

Two months have passed since I announced my change in magical/spiritual focus. So much has come into clearer perspective for me since that time. Aphrodite's role in my life -- my constant seeking out of Her as the Starry Queen of Heaven (Asteria) and my adoption of that moniker as my magical name -- paired with Tubal Qayn's omnipresence in my practice is so much clearer. Star Goddess and Forge God. Makes perfect sense!

I have returned very forcibly to my Witchcraft beginnings -- to the writings of Robert Cochrane and those who followed in his footsteps (especially here in America, many of whom have been my direct or indirect teachers). Glaux and I are hard at work on the American Folkloric Witchcraft blog, which shares with the world the foundations of the Tradition that we have been shaping over the course of the last several years. We have also been working on the Asteria Books OWLS (Occult & Witchcraft Learning Series), a comprehensive reference library for students of the Craft and Occult.

I'll be presenting at Starwood XXI in Wisteria, OH, USA  during July 5-11. Lovingly, I'll be presenting two workshops about my beloved Aphrodite! One is entitled "Creating Aphrodisia Rituals" and the other is "Aphrodite's Bath: Cleansing and Creation Through Sensuality."  I hope if you're in the area, you'll come and see me.

In August, I'll be presenting at Midwest Herb Fest, and I'll be with Glaux and our daughter at the Women's Goddess Retreat in September -- both at Our Haven in Indiana.

So? My work, now? Writing and magic. I guess that hasn't changed. Only my perception of it has shifted. I now see that I am the star-forged steel ... and the anvil ... and the star itself.

New Direction

For well over a decade, I have openly served Aphrodite as a devotee and priestess. I've done work and written essays, blogs and books that I am simultaneously humbled and proud to have shared with fellow travelers on this path. I believe in the work I have done -- it was (and will always remain) genuine and meaningful to me, and it has brought me to the place where I am now.

Strangely, though, that place is different than what it has been. I've been born into a new phase my spiritual life.

Aphrodite and all that she represents will always hold a special place in my heart and life, but I am going to take a step back from the work that I have done that has put her as my constant and only focus. It is time for others to take up that work, I think -- and indeed, they've already begun.

My star guides me elsewhere on these seas.

Kharisma: A Sense of Grace (Podcast)

I'm trying out something new here, dear ones.

Several months ago, I was required to create a podcast for a class I was taking. I made one about the Graces. It is intended to be a part of a series of audio materials for the Lykeion of the Red Doves, a self-paced training program for men in women in service to Aphrodite. The Lykeion is (or rather, will be) associated with the Temple of Aphrodite project that I began work on last spring.

The Lykeion is ready yet, but the podcast has been collecting dust for months, which saddens me. So, I thought I would share it, get some feedback and see how it goes.

Kharisma podacast

Voting for Pandemos

Today is Election Day in the US. I know (and am thrilled) that this blog has a high international readership, so please believe me when I say that this post will not become laboriously encumbered with US politics. Rather, I'd like to take a brief moment to talk about Aphrodite in her role as Pandemos.

The epithet PANDHMOS means "common to all people." In his Symposium, Plato interpreted this guise of Aphrodite as a vulgar, common-place Aphrodite due to her associations with the flesh; whereas OUPANIA, or "heavenly" Aphrodite was above such mundane, physical matters. Truthfully, the reverse was probably true. Aphrodite Ourania is the  oldest known epithet of Aphrodite, the one that most clearly links her with her eastern predecessors whose worship was so intimately linked with sexuality, fertility and cult prostitution. Aphrodite Pandemos, who was honored in Athens, Cos and only a few other locals, was very distinctly associated with abstracts ideals dealing with the city/state.

Aphrodite Pandemos was honored in the Athenian agora so that, according to many scholars, the assemblies who met there to discuss the issues of the city would remember their love for Athens and each other and act in kind. She was a particular patroness of Athenian magistrates, who made sacrifices and inscriptions to her, asking for her guidance in the performance of their duties.

I voted today and prayed to Aphrodite Pandemos that the men and women who take office based on today's results will serve their cities, counties, states and nation from a place of love for the people and place that they represent.

Backlogged but Happy

Hear my pledge, Zeus and my most beloved Kypris, that I WILL get back on track with the portions of my life that are not directly related to school!

Okay, so my last post was about how I was looking forward to starting the first of the work toward my MA in Religious Studies. I am solidly past mid-term in my first semester, and I think I am finally finding my feet. Returning to campus when you've been away for 13 years is a ticklish business. Trust me.

And I LOVE, love, LoVe it, but I have been out of commission for nearly everything else that I am supposed to be doing. No freelance work, no social time, very little exercise (except for the outrageous amounts of walking that happen on this huge and hilly campus). I've even completely let the publication of the Agon Literary Review slide -- after we had such wonderful submissions, too!

I have hope, though. Yay! My carrel is full of delicious books in the library (which is where I'm sitting now, actually. It's one of my new happy places.) I have a to-do list for all of my non-school projects, and I am going to start today. In fact, this blog entry is my first task. (Check!) Next: recruiting a co-moderator for the Thiasos Aphrodite yahoo group -- someone who will spur on some discussions and such.

More than that, though, I know that we at Asteria Books need to get the Agon Literary Review in publishable form. We owe it to our contributors, and I know that the community will be delighted to read their submissions regrading "The Beauty of Hellenismos."

I'll post soon about some of the research I am doing. I am very excited about it!