So, I'm trying to remember what I did this week. During the work week, I mostly poked at some fiction, read some other fiction, and dealt with the usual work drama. On Friday we picked up some 7-day candles and watched a movie. As you can guess, it's been a thrill a minute up here.
On Saturday night, Amber and I and a couple of friends went up to Trout Lake Abbey for Rev. Thomas's fall equinox ritual. Finally back on the COoR bandwagon for my Dedicant Path! I didn't get a chance to write it up last night so it's doubling-up with my Gauge Check:
Hermes Psychopompus was the gatekeeper. Demeter was the Earth Mother, and the gods of the occasion were Demeter and Persephone. The omen was... Well, there was no omen, no birds to divine or anything notable, which Rev. Thomas interpreted as a positive omen.
In addition to the ritual itself, there was also an invocation to the winds and the gods of the air and clouds that the high pressure system currently keeping rain from the forest fires nearby would be moved and the rain would come in. (You can see the smoke from the ritual circle.)
And then there was today. Amber wanted to go to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, which I'm sure she'll talk about on her blog. We also went over to the Universalist Unitarian church in town, since they were hosting a labyrinth walk for the Equinox.
One of the things I thought about is how I pretty much always end up working with people whose path is not my own, just because "my path" is pretty small and winding and weird. The best working experiences I've had have been with groups where... let's say that I'm pretty sure what I was getting out of them was different from what other people were getting out of them. And whether that's the Heathen Sunday School where I got to retell The Adventures of Crossdressing Thor to some very manly vikings, or being the Only Baltic Hearth Culture ADF Member In The Room, well, the important thing is the company.
The times I've gotten caught up in how closely someone's beliefs aligned with mine were the times when I ended up getting hurt. What's more important, I think, is good company and people I can rely on. The guys at Heathen Sunday School had my back when I needed it. That kind of support is what I'm hoping to find up here now.