Magick
Somewhere in the darkness, someone or something is calling to you.
You have heard it in your dreams,
And within your quiet moments alone.
You have heard its whispers as you gazed into the crashing waves of the ocean,
Or wandered under the canopy of old growth trees.
You have seen it in the swirling waters of the babbling creek,
And in the mountain mists in the early morning light.
You have felt it with the crickets on the darkest nights,
And within the howling voices of storms and hurricanes.
Something deep inside the recesses of your own heart whispers your name.
Mysteries from within the deep and ancient places are calling to you.
Maybe it is time for you to answer that call.
February 13th -16th, 2009
(Presidents Day Weekend)
An extended weekend filled with myth, mystery and magick.
Includes 8 meals and three nights lodging along the picturesque Potomac River.
Early registration opens September 1st.
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 8:17pm.
There are many accomplishments in my life for which I am proud. My academic accomplishments and awards were the high points of my childhood.
I am proud of my engineering and computer science degrees and my eight promotions/advancements at Bell Atlantic/Verizon. And in spite of how difficult it became at times, I am proud of my many contributions within YOBU, Revolutionary Workers League, National Organization for Women, Washington Peace Center, Sojourner Truth Congregation of Unitarian Universalists, and Reclaiming.
I am proud of Dark Flame Coven, Reflections Mystery School, and my web design company, Amber Eyes Solutions. Hell, I am even proud of this blog, Katrina’s Joy.
But besides my corporate career (25 years) and my coven (14 years), my longest running project is Connect DC.
Back in 1998, Dark Flame Coven was notorious only because we were public. This is surprising when you realize that we have never had more than six members. I am not sure, but I think we had already been on the front page of the Washington Post and had been invited to do ritual at several local Unitarian Universalist churches.
But it was after I attended the Reclaiming Spring Equinox ritual in San Francisco, that I felt Dark Flame could do more. So in the summer of 1998, I cajoled Dark Flame plus members of other covens, several Radical Fairies and a few radical feminists friends such as Dr. Loraine Hutchins to join me in Eric Eldritch’s living room to plan our public celebration of the Summer Solstice right here in DC. We pulled together a ritual on a rooftop with a few small theatrics ending with the presentation of the Sun cake by my coven sister Rose and her Radical Fairy brother Nicko. It was glorious!
It was after noting the discomfort of a coven member plus several of the invited covens, that I decided to pursue my dream as a separate public ritual group. And so it was after our public Summer Solstice ritual that I began to plan for what became known as the original working of Connect DC.
Next Spring will be Connect DC’s ten-year anniversary. But yesterday’s ritual on the mall was the ten-year anniversary of my test run. Next year we will celebrate in public, but right now, I am celebrating the manifestation of a vision and the realization of a dream ... my dream … come true. And for me, this is a source of great pride.
Thank you to Dark Flame and the entire DC community, and of course, a hearty thank you especially to the ancestors and the gods.
A grateful Katrina
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 11:21am.
I am participating in a fundraising campaign to benefit abandoned children in Nigeria who have been accused of witchcraft by their families and neighbors.
As part of this campaign, I am knitting 10 stuffed bears to be sent directly to a shelter in Nigeria that works to house, feed, clothe, and educate these kids. I also have a personal fundraising goal of $5000 to donate to Stepping Stones Nigeria, a UK-based organization that sponsors this shelter.
Please help me to make my goal in one of the following ways:
- Make a one-time donation either by check or on-line
- Sponsor my bears by donating a specific amount per bear that I complete
- Donate a set amount to the cause each pay period through the remaining months of this campaign
If you would like to donate by check, please make it out to the Chesapeake Pagan Community or CPC and send it to me at the address below. If you would like to donate online, go to http://charity.becomingdc.org. You can then donate via PayPal. Please send me an email letting me know how much you donated, so I can apply that to my fundraising goal. All monies collected will be sent via Chesapeake Pagan Community to Stepping Stones Nigeria at the end of September.
Together, we can make a difference in these children's lives.
Blessings,
Katrina
Katrina Messenger
PO Box 5223
Takoma Park, MD 20913
USA
If you would like more information about this issue, there are links to articles and the organizations at http://charity.becomingdc.org/.
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 1:13pm.
May your burdens lighten
May your heart be filled
May the blossoms you love
Turn toward the spaces where you dwell
And so I walk to where she dwells, that small weeping child in the darkness. She sits huddled over and shivering. I can hear her light sobs punctuated by the movement of her tiny shoulders.
Her clothes are dirty and torn. Her feet are covered with decades of grime and filth. Her eyes, when I can see them are filled with such agony and fear.
At first I try to embrace her, holding her against me so as to warm and reassure. But it is not nearly enough for so many years of pain, terror and despair.
So I get up. I start collecting twigs, branches, bark and dried leaves. I drop them in a pile just a little ways in front of where she sits. She is startled each time I drop another bundle.
Slowly as I sit sorting the wood from the kindling, creating piles from the quick start to the long lasting, she dares a peek.
Yes! She is still curious, that is a good sign. She watches me now through her fingers as I begin building the tripod that will later receive the fresh fire.
I pull out my fire kit and begin striking the steel against the flint. Her eyes glow with excitement when the spark hits the char cloth, igniting the shredded rope. As I place the fire bundle into the tripod, she sits up to watch. Slowly she exhales as I blow into the building flames. Quickly but deliberately, I add twigs, then branches till finally I can add the long burning log.
She has stopped crying and now I can see her small tortured face. Her cheeks are clean from all the tears but all else needs a good scrubbing. Her hair is matted but I can still make out what had been her tender baby curls.
I pick up the ready blanket and wrap it around her narrow shoulders. She looks at me with such trepidation yes, but also I can see the glimmer of hope.
I pour water into my camp mug and offer it to her. She grabs it quickly and downs it completely. I refill the mug, holding it lightly and lift it slowly to her mouth. One sip, then another, and her eyes flicker with understanding as she sips slowly as I leave the mug cupped in her small hands.
I pull out the soup and the bread, as I begin preparing her meal. I catch her looking at me with such raw emotion that it tears at my heart. By the time I offer her the meal, we are both crying … again. But this time the tears are not so bitter.
Slowly I lay out the pad then the sleeping bag, as I help her to lie down for her first real rest in years. At daybreak, we will return home … together. But tonight she gets to finally sleep and hopefully begin anew to dream the dreams of the innocent … while I keep vigil throughout the night.
©2008 Katrina Messenger
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Wed, 05/14/2008 - 1:42pm.
This sounds like something I need to do. I hope that I can work it out.
Connect DC is TEN?? Wow. Time flies.
Did I ever mention to you that I think the impact that working had on me was to connect me to DC? I'm so hooked in here ... just call me "swamp thang."
Speaking of which ... isn't it margarita weather? Let's get together.
Much love,
Reya
p.s. So cool to see my drawing again! Thank you for publishing!
"Such beautiful dreaming! Such clear work. You sound so much in-focus just now.
I honor this work and delight in reading your words ... and I'm moved to participate in the dreaming-work, perhaps more than is appropriate.
I think I'll take the risk, and I hope you'll tell me if you'd rather I not do it again.
In the dream group I used to work with, we would read one of our dreams aloud and then go around the room, each one beginning their remarks with "If this were my dream..." and then sharing whatever the pieces seemed to illuminate for them. And then the next person might see something quite different in the same images, the same words.
In that sense, if this were my dream just now, in my dream I am surrounded by water -- my life is filled with emotion, covering and drowning everything else, so that all I can see is my feelings.
The gathering of song and all these incredible people -- my life, friendships, the harmony we make together. And in my dream, I am beginning to see myself moving on. Does this mean a change of geography? a change of emphasis? in my life this minute this could be about gradually shifting some of the focus of my everyday spiritual community from the UUs to the Yoga studio, or it could be something quite different. If I had this dream last week sometime, it would look like the impending end of an important relationship.
And in all of those possibilities, I am so present to the sadness with which I gather up what is mine to take with me, make my farewells, and lose my ability to remember the words. In all of these possibilities, even as I'm leaving I'm rethinking the choice to leave ... do I really have to? why?
In my dream, I look for my car because I want to escape ... and I can't find my car because there's no way out. As I'm searching the beautiful dark man in the hotel uniform helps me -- the hotel uniform telling me that wherever I am is only a way station, his beauty telling me that I can enjoy and appreciate his help, his darkness telling me that sometimes I need to look closely to see what is important (other times everything is well-lighted).
I keep looking for the way out even as the hotel man would make me welcome, and eventually the welcome is withdrawn as he leaves. And then I am lost and wandering, trying to find my way home -- having ignored help and support, I find I can't find the way alone after all.
And now that my dream has ended, I see there is much here that I can use in my waking life, too. So thank you for dreaming this dream, thanks for sharing it, thanks for letting me dream it, too.
Many blessings, Dear One"
"I sit staring out the window, not lost in thought, but feeling completely and totally blank inside." I have been sitting in a similar space.
Your post reminds me to trust and to listen for the song.