Monday, January 23, 2012

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon!  I consider this an auspicious sign for the creation of my Trad, Dragon Spirit Tradition.  In DST the Dragon is next in hierarchy after the gods and the most powerful and wise of the other mythological spirit creatures.  Dragons in some form or another are found in nearly all cultures around the world.  Some are depicted as being almost serpent like and others more reptilian.  Dragons are said to be found in the air, the earth, and the water.  They are associated with various elements (earth, air, fire, water, spirit), celestial entities (moon), treasure, wisdom, strength, and even natural phenomena (winds, earthquakes, fires, rain, etc).  Like most other mythological creatures, there's no proof that they ever, physically, existed.  Some speculate that the concept arose from primitive man's encounters with dinosaur bones.  Others that it's the combination of several things that might have been feared by early man:  crocodiles, large birds of prey, large snakes, and other large predators.  For modern man, dragons continue to be a fascination.  They are popular motifs and symbols in literature, movies, video games, art, and religion.  They run the gamut of human imagination.  They are depicted as being very large, small, tiny, winged and wingless, good/evil, fearsome and gentle, and every color of the rainbow.

My Personal Experience with Dragon Spirits
Being so versatile, dragons are useful to work with in a variety of workings and meditations.  But dragons are very straightforward and no-nonsense.  So, make sure that you are sure of your intent before asking their aid.  For meditations, be prepared for stark, honesty.  Dragons are not needlessly cruel, but the truth can hurt.  This is not to say that some are not also playful, affectionate, and comforting, but they take their work seriously.  Dragons are very clan or family oriented and consider humans that they "adopt" as being part of that family network.  They are very supportive, but won't let you hide from yourself. 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Sure it would.  And if it were called something else, we would associate that word with something positive, just like we do the word rose. 

So, What's in a name?  Well, there are the literal meanings of names.  I had an English professor at Purdue named Dr. Dino Franco Felluga (he had a fondness for name meanings and during our intros we talked about our name meanings).  He told us his name meant terrible, crooked lizard from France.  It's hard to describe Dr. Felluga.  On the one hand discussions with him were very entertaining.  On the other hand, he was a bit of a hardass, when it came to grading.  During my semester with him I alternated between feeling very fond of him and wishing him to go to.......  Anyway.  My landlady's legal first name is Edna.  It's Hebrew for "renewer."  Her mother told her it was a beautiful name.  She didn't see it that way and goes by her middle name Elizabeth.  Today one doesn't find many babies with old-fashioned names like Edna, Edith, Beatrice, Lucile, Chester, Norman, Walter, or Eugene. 

Adolf means noble, majestic wolf.  Is that the first thing you thought of when you saw the name?
Names also bear the associations people have built up over history.  It's a rare person who names their son Adolf, now.  What about Gaylord?  It means "high-spirited, boistrous."  How about Richard?  No problems there?  How about a nickname of Richard, Dick?  Plain Jane?  Practical Sarah?  What about Rose?  I don't know about you, but the name Rose conjures up a vision of a good-hearted, but dimwitted elderly woman from St. Olaf, MN.  Now that one's just me, I think, though.  :P  I objected to my husband's choice of Sophia for our second daughter together because it made me think of a tiny, sharp-tounged elderly woman (maybe I just watched too much Golden Girls as a child?) and because I wasn't thrilled with choosing a name that is currently the most popular since I'd wanted names that were unique but not "out-there."  He, and everyone else, appears to think of the beautiful Sophia Loren first.  At least it has a pretty sound and an acceptable meaning, "wise."

Turns out, there's a lot in a name.  While we are often able to overcome any stigmas or associations with our names, it can effect first impressions.  And all of this is more or less dependent on pop culture.

So, why have I chosen the names I have for my Trad/pen name?  I'll start with the middle and last names because they've actually been with me the longest.  I developed a fondness for the name Victoria as a child after my mom told me that it was one of the other names she'd considered for me.  Somewhere in my Let's Pretend games, I devised the name Victoria Michaels.  She was British.  I even managed a bit of an accent to go along with this idea.  If I had any reasons for choosing "Michaels," I've long forgotten it.  Many years later I looked at a lot of names between trying to choose a name for the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism)  and when I read that many Pagans have special names for themselves, for privacy and/or dramatic flair or some other reason.  I came across the name Gwenhwyvar, which is the Welsh precursor to Guinevere.  It fit my interest in things Celtic, had an acceptable meaning:  white/fair/holy(depends on translation) and smooth/soft, and was associated with a woman who loved more than one man.  At the time, I hadn't heard of polyamory, but there were one or two ex's from my past that I still felt a great deal for despite having moved on and being happily married.  When I did discover polyamory, it just made the name even more meaningful.  (Perhaps later I'll go into my views on polyamory, but it's not the point of this post, so I'll leave it for now.)  One full name that I associate with myself is Gwenhwyvar verch Mnemosyne:  Gwenhwyvar daughter of Mnemosyne, using the Old Welsh naming pattern. I've an above average memory.  But when it came up that I needed a pen name, it seemed a bit awkward.  So, I remembered my old alter ego.  But then there's that little thing about associations.  My ex-husband's name is Michael.  Now my real name is the feminine version, Michelle.  Michael/Michelle is Hebrew meaning, "Who is like God?" and the name of one of the Biblical archangels.  Another objection since I've tried to avoid using names associated with the Judeo-Christian world.  But, it is my name.  So, after much thought, I used a French version of the name.  And that's where Gwenhwyvar Victoria Michels came from, what it literally means, and what it means to me.
 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Getting to know me: Why should you want to know me?

This is a question that I've struggled with nearly my whole life.  I grew up with verbal and emotional abuse as a child and young adult; a restrictive religion; a small, closed minded town with a lesbian mother; a sensitive nature; and features that were described as plain at best and ugly at worst.  I grew up either not able to gain positive attention or trying really hard not to draw attention to myself.  On the rare occasion that I did garner any positive attention, I didn't know how to deal with it, even to this day it makes me feel a little awkward.  Having said that: I'm not looking to start a pity party.  My experiences as an adult have improved my views of myself and gradually given me more confidence to put myself out there.  This blog is being created in conjunction with a website devoted to a Pagan Tradition that I am also developing, Dragon Spirit Tradition.  This blog will be a place for me to have a web presence, so that friends, old and new, can get to know me better though my writings.

That brings me to the title of this blog:  Why should you want to know me?  I don't come highly credentialed in either academic degrees or religious titles/degrees.  I don't have much of anything on paper that says, "Yeah, I can prove I know what I'm talking about here."  But I do.  I've researched more books and websites than I can remember.  I've explored religious groups in person.  I've meditated and pondered on a great many subjects.  And in talking to people not only about things that are, but things that aren't, I've come to the conclusion that just by being me, I have a unique perspective of things that may be of use to someone.  Maybe even lots of someones.  That's another important point in my growth.  I no longer rate my value on whether "lots of someones" would benefit from my views or even be interested.  If only one person's life is improved by association with me, that's good enough.  Being of service to one person is better than none.  After all, "lots of someones" is just more than one individual, some-one.  And it's the individuals who are the most important.

Why should you want to know me?  I don't know.  This will vary by individual.  :)   Let's see how it goes!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Getting to know me: Favorite Quotes

Making a go at creating a blog to put some of my thoughts out there.  For my first post, in honor of MLK Day, I've posted a few of my favorite quotes.

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968); Minister, Civil Rights Activist

 “Fear is the original sin. Almost all of the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that some one is afraid of something.It is a cold slimy serpent coiling about you. It is horrible to live with fear; and it is of all things degrading.”
― Lucy Maud Mongomery, The Blue Castle

“All knowledge is worth having”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart

“That which yields is not always weak.”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart

“Love as thou wilt”
― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart

"The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make this station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are star-stuff. We are the Universe, made manifest, trying to figure itself out.
-- Delenn, Babylon 5