10th PFI Conference Netherlands

Last Saturday I went to the 10th PFI Conference in Lunteren. I left home early to be in time for the opening ritual. At arrival I already met a lot of friends and other acquaintances and that went on throughout the day. It's a great opportunity to meet people!

The opening ritual was performed by Frigga Asraaf and Michiel from the Asatru network Het Rad. Central in the ritual stood three branches that represented the PFI Netherlands: one for Lady Bara (National Coordinator PFI and organizer of the Conference), one for Morgana (International Coordinator PFI) and one for the PFI in general. We all brought ribbons to decorate the branches. I hung mine in Lady Bara's branch. The result was placed in a special place during the day.

All day workshops were given in different rooms in the building; sometimes it was very hard to make a choice! Workshops I attended:
*** The Wild Hunt by Gardenstone (lecture with music and pictures)
*** Powersongs by Frigga Asraaf & Michiel (singing powersongs together)
*** Feeling the energy of the landscape by Linda Wormhoudt (info, experiencing, trance journey)
*** Polarity in Wicca by Boann & Dagda Segais (Gardnerian HPS & HP guided us in connecting with the Goddess and God)
I enjoyed them all very much: interesting and fun to do!

In between the workshops I had time to explore all the stalls. I restrained myself and only bought 2 books and some beautiful cards. From Frigga Asraaf I bought her book "Asatru - een naslagwerk" (Asatru - a reference book), one of the most extensive Dutch books on asatru. At the table of bookshop De Wijze Kater I bought The Wicca Herbal by Jamie Wood.

In the closing ritual the branches for Lady Bara and Morgana were given to them. Then it was time for dinner: a delicious Indonesian buffet. Very yummy!!! Around 8PM The Lowland Paddies started playing in the big room. Great music and very good to dance. There had been a balfolk workshop in the afternoon and this was the perfect moment to get some exercise. I enjoyed watching! :)
Around 10PM I said my goodbyes. I dropped two friends in Amsterdam and drove home.

Witches Cafe Haarlem

Yesterday I've been to the Witches Cafe in Haarlem for the first time. It is organised by George and Sander of Mandragora in De Groene Godin, a lovely little shop I got to know a few weeks ago by doing a workshop there.  It is a nice place with great ambience.

This month Jungian therapist Annemarie Peters held a short presentation about her book "Dochters van de Maan" (Daughters of the Moon). In the book she shows the link between women's monthly cycles and the moon. She told us about how the book came to life, shared the essence of the book and did a wonderful guided visualisation with us. Very interesting! In between and afterwards I chatted with Annemarie and the other visitors while we enjoyed herbal tea and yummy cake. A wonderful evening that bears repetition!

Numen, the nature of plants

Today I watched an excellent documentary: Numen, The Nature Of Plants. It was an exclusive screening for HerbMentor-members. Numen (defined as the animating force in nature) is a 95-minute documentary film focusing on the healing power of plants and the natural world. It is for herbalists, gardeners, medical practitioners, plant lovers - and everyone concerned about human and environmental health.

The film is built around interviews with a series of experts and individuals that in turn share their opinion about a lot of topics. In between they show beautiful footage of medicinal plants. That works very good. It is educating, moving, awakening, inspiring, compelling, and so much more. I can really recommend it to everyone!

Here's a 10 minute preview, enjoy!

Beltane Blessings

Have a wonderful Beltane!!!

(Samhain Blessings to my pagan friends in the Southern hemisphere)

The leaves are budding across the land

on the ash and oak and hawthorn trees.

Magic rises around us in the forest

and the hedges are filled with laughter and love.

Dear lady, we offer you a gift,

a gathering of flowers picked by our hands,

woven into the circle of endless life.

The bright colors of nature herself

blend together to honor you,

Queen of spring,

as we give you honor this day.

Spring is here and the land is fertile,

ready to offer up gifts in your name.

we pay you tribute, our lady,

daughter of the Fae,

and ask your blessing this Beltane.

Elf Fantasy Fair 2010

Elf Fantasy Fair 2010

Last Saturday Ron and I went to the Elf Fantasy Fair in Haarzuilens, a fantasy event for pagans, fantasylovers and everyone else. On the grounds of Castle De Haar around 25,000 people come together to enjoy medieval music, dancing, lectures, theatre plays, sales booths and parades.
The entrance was badly organised. We arrived around 10am, but stood in line for almost two hours!!

We met a lot of our friends there. I ran into Kit Berry and her husband again; she's the author of the Stonewylde book series. One of my favourite artists was present too: Josephine Wall! I love her paintings, but forgot to bring my book to let her sign it.
The entertainment was good as always. We listened twice to stories told by Donderelf. Bifi from Greenthingz was crowned Queen of Elfia. There was LARP-play, re-enactment, music and so much more.
In the evening we went home. The fair was open until 10pm, but we were pooped! It was a lovely day, we enjoyed ourselves very much.

(click on the picture above to see our pictures in a webalbum)
(more pictures here)

Ron entered the Elf Fantasy images contest.
Please vote for his pictures:
1: Aandacht
2: Donderelf
3: Elfenbankje

I'm back!

Wow, it has been looooooong since I posted a blog. The reason..? Hmmm. The easiest answer would be "I'm busy", but that's not all true. I often thought about posting, but it just didn't end up here. Ah well, whatever the reason... I'm here! :-)
I have been doing some things during the 'silent time' that are worth mentioning; here are some (not in any particular order).

April 10th I attended a workshop with Linda Wormhoudt about Seidr. She has written a great book about it: "Seidr, het Noordse pad", so I was looking forward to learn more. We were asked to bring our staff or another stick, as the theme of the day was to work with the staff and with energyfields. Apart for some theory it was a lot of action; not hearing about it, but trying it ourselves. Very interesting and worthwhile!

I discovered a lovely bookshop in Haarlem called De Groene Godin (The Green Goddess). I often shop in Haarlem and I even lived in the city centre long ago, but I didn't know it. It's a little shop with a large table in the back where you can sit, drink tea etc. and workshops are held. I did a workshop there with Mandragora some weeks ago. We made an ointment and a tincture. I learned new things and had a great evening!

I was asked to tell my personal experience story and talk about depression in a theme group of a day-care program in a hospital. I went there twice. The first time I told my story and answered questions; the second time I answered more questions and we discussed it further. The supervisor/counsellor was very content, the group was positive and for me it was another good experience with this work!

The Tuesday before Easter Evert and I went to the Matthäus Passion in Breda. It was a great performance with wonderful soloists. My favourite part are the bass voices and they were very good! In the afternoon we went to 'my tree' in the Mastbos. It had been some time since I could be there. We also visited the burial mounds (around 1700-1000 BC) on De Regte Heide. There are six of them, but a little one in the back caught my attention. It felt very strong. There was a tree nearby and I couldn't resist climbing in it...

More later! :)

Morning Sun

Robbie Williams has given his new single “Morning Sun” to Sport Relief as their official charity single for 2010. The song will be released on March 8. He said: “I am very happy to donate my time to help Sport Relief and I thank my co writers for doing the same. Please join us in helping this very worthwhile cause”. All of the record company profits and artist royalties from digital single sales of the track in the UK will go to the charity, as will income from the writers and their publishers.
You can donate to Sport Relief by visiting their website.

The music video is directed by Vaughan Arnell, director of classic Robbie videos including Angels, Feel and Bodies. Watch Robbie rocket out of space on an intergalactic voyage through the stars here or here.

How do you rate the morning sun
After a long and sleepless night
How many stars would you give to the moon
Do you see those stars from where you are
Shine on the lost and loneliest
The ones who can’t get over it

And you always wanted more than life
But now you don’t have the appetite
In a message to the troubadour
The world don’t love you anymore
Tell me how do you rate the morning sun

Stuck inside the rainbow years
And you could happen to me
‘Cause I’ve been close to where you are
I drove to places you have seen
It all seems so familiar
Like they’d been sent to kill ya

It doesn’t take an astronaut
To float into space is just a thought
The morning brings a mystery
The evening makes it history
Tell me how do you rate the morning sun

And the village drunk
Sadly passed away
It was a shame
I never knew his name
I wonder if he sat there every morning
And watched the sun rise

How do you rate the morning sun
It was just too heavy for me
And all I wanted was the world
If you are the starlet in the sun
Don’t go wasting your time
‘Cause there is no finish line

And you don’t see anything
Not even love not anything
The night could take the man from you
A sense of wonder overdue
The morning brings a mystery
The evening makes it history
Who am I to rate the morning sun

Written by R. Williams, D. Spencer, K. Andrews, R. Scott, S. Ralph, D. Black

Passport

Today we finally applied for new passports. They expired in September 2009, but first we didn't have the money (2x €50,90) and then we couldn't find them... They have a fixed place, but somehow weren't there anymore. We searched the house several times, but alas... This week we decided to report them missing. That would have meant extra costs, but we really didn't know where else to look. Before we did inform the police we decided to search one more time. And o wonder... we found them, in Ron's photography bag! At first we wondered why, but suddenly we knew. Ah well, they have been found.

Of course we needed passport photo's. I never like pictures of myself, but the requirements for a passport made it even worse: ears visible, 100% front view, no smile. Ron had to take his glasses off. The photographer made an extra set of 'normal' pictures. Mine are both horrible, on the 'normal' pic I have slit-eyes because he made me laugh. At least Ron's pics are nice. :-)
Since a short time there are fingerprints on the Dutch passports. I thought about ink, the old-fashioned way, but none of that! It worked with a scanner, nice and clean. Next Friday we can pick up our new passports!

Weekend in a yurt

Two weeks ago the Lowland Systers spent the weekend (Friday to Sunday) in a yurt in Otterlo. There are 5 yurts (or gers as the Mongolian people call them) on a field, and a tipi with electricity where you can cook. In the yurts there is one electric point, no water and a central stove to heat. Like the yurt itself the interior is authentic and made in Mongolia. You can see pictures in my Facebook photoalbum (no need to have a FB-account).

We got together to make a fresh start. We dealt with the Ara-stuff and are moving on. We all are doing our own thing, but we decided to stay together as a group. Ara Lowlands has changed into Lowland Systers. One woman decided to step out and go her own way. We are with 6 women now. This weekend was to reconnect with each other.

We did a beautiful pathworking on Friday evening and a ritual on Saturday night. We did our ritual bading in the hottub in the snow. First we had to remove a thick layer of ice and then heat the tubstove for hours. When we finally got in, the water was still a bit chilly and near the bottom quite cold. We didn't stay in very long, but we did it anyway. Great for teambuilding! :)

Anyway, the weekend was a big success and we had a lot of fun!

Winter Olympics closed

Wow, what a two weeks we had! I really need to kick the habit. I especially followed the speedskating, which was mostly at an unearthly time for me. Perhaps it's not the wisest thing to go to bed around 2-3AM and later almost every day when you're chronicly fatigued, but it was worth it.
The Netherlands didn't do bad; we are 10th in the medal count:

• GOLD Nicolien Sauerbreij - Snowboard - Ladies' Parallel Giant Slalom
• GOLD Ireen Wust - Speed Skating - Ladies' 1500 m
• GOLD Mark Tuitert - Speed Skating - Men's 1500 m
• GOLD Sven Kramer - Speed Skating - Men's 5000 m
• SILVER Annette Gerritsen - Speed Skating - Ladies' 1000 m
• BRONZE Bob de Jong - Speed Skating - Men's 10000 m
• BRONZE Laurine van Riessen - Speed Skating - Ladies' 1000 m
• BRONZE Speed Skating - Men's Team Pursuit

The Dutch men's bobsleigh turned out to be a disappointment; the 4-men sleigh didn't even start. The 10000 m men's speedskating should have been gold for Sven Kramer, but the much-discussed wrong lane-switch caused a disqualification. He didn't take his revenge on the Men's Team Pursuit. Bad communication cost the men the final. Although they are the best by far (note the olympic record in the bronze final), they failed to prove it.

Nevertheless there was a lot to cheer about and party in the Holland Heineken House, where all the medallists were honoured. The double gold on the 1500m (men and ladies) was a surprise. The gold by snowboarder Nicolien Sauerbreij was the onehundredth gold medal for The Netherlands in olympic history. The first one was for the men's sailing in Antwerp 1920. :-)

I know I have neglected blogging during the olympics. I'll post about some "old" things in the coming days.

Firechild by Maxine Sanders

This weekend I finished "Firechild", the autobiography of Maxine Sanders. It was a very fascinating and highly interesting book. Of course I knew who she was and that she was married to Alex Sanders, King of the Witches, but that's about it.

This book is an open, honest and brave account of her life: the abuse by her father, her life with and without Alex, her successes and failures, her views on witchcraft now and back then, her role as child - mother - priestess - wife - teacher and more. Still it's very readable, almost like a novel. I'm glad I read it and learned more about this inspiring woman and her extraordinary life. She is so much more than 'just' the (ex-)wife of Alex Sanders!

Next to the personal part I'd say this is a must-read for witches/wicca anywhere. This is part of our history. The things witches had to go through in those early days are shocking; for example being stoned (literally!) or having their house set on fire... It shows the way things were done, what changed and what didn't. Of course it is a personal account, people will disagree with her views, but that's okay. This is her story.

"This is one of the most important books ever published on modern paganism: a full and candid autobiography by one of its most influential, and charismatic figures."
Professor Ronald Hutton - Author of The Triumph of the Moon

TwitterTink

I've been putting off Twitter for a long time, but I finally gave in. ;-) I've been following some people on Twitter, but didn't open an account. A friend convinced me it's easier to follow by having my own account. That's true, so... I'm twittering!
Want to follow me? Click on the button in the sidebar or right here:

A. Vogel workshop

The last week I've been in and out of bed / couch. At first I just had a sore throat, but later the rest of a nasty cold or flu was added. In between I've been doing things. :)

Last Friday I was invited to do the workshop "In balance" at the A. Vogel / Biohorma headquarters in Elburg. It was quite a drive and I wasn't feeling that well, but I really wanted to go! I arrived around 10am. One by one the participants came in. The welcome was very friendly and warm. All the Vogel people we encountered that day were like that. You could feel they really like their jobs and vouch for the Vogel products. The whole atmosphere felt very good.

After the welcome we were divided in two groups. My group first got a presentation about the company, how they work, the philosophy, some products and A. Vogel himself by a very enthusiastic man called Marcel Brienne (he starts talking when you visit the Dutch Vogel website). I already know and use Vogel products, but it was very interesting nevertheless. He had also brought some little jars with raw materials.

When he was finished a nice lady explained and helped us to make our own oils. There was a lot of stuff to choose from. I made two oils: the first from 80% almond oil / 20% jojoba oil with lavender, camomille and marigold, the second from 100% jojoba oil with thyme and rosemary. It was a lot of fun!

Next stop was the factory to take a look there. We got white coats and hats for hygiene. We have seen all the departments from processing to bottling with information and explanation by factory personnel. In another room a public health inspector was checking things.

Then it was time for lunch! The tables were full of delicious dressed rolls and other yummy things. After lunch we watched a short film, an introduction before we drove to the A. Vogel gardens. Everything was still covered in snow, but the gardener made the fields come alive while he told us all about 'his' gardens. I definitely want to go back in summer to see the gardens in bloom! The gardens are in a protected country estate, but always open to everyone. In the shop on the nearby farm we drank hot chocolate (or glühwein) before we drove back.

There were drinks and snacks to welcome us back. We sat for a while before it was time to go home. To my surprise we got a bag full of Vogel products and a Vogel umbrella as a goodbye gift. Wow, what a day! I really enjoyed myself and learned a lot in the process. The long drive home full of traffic jams couldn't even spoil the fun, although I was sooo glad when I got home!

Windmills

My country is a land of windmills. Of course you all know the old-fashioned beautiful windmills, but we also have a lot of the modern wind turbines. And there will be more to give us more energy in an enviromentally friendly way.
Last Friday I participated in a citizen's panel, that looked into locations to place a lot of new windmills (and replace old ones) on request of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. It is an ongoing project which started early 2009. The project manager gave an introductory talk about the plans and what was expected of us. Then we split up in groups to discuss four of the possible locations from a citizen's prospective. Several experts were present and available for questions. Wind energy is a good thing, but of course there are pros and cons. Our country isn't very big and when you rule out areas of dense population, nature reserves, airports and flight routes there isn't that much left. It was a very interesting afternoon and it feels good to be a part of all this. Nothing is decided yet, but we and our suggestions were taken very seriously.

End of the aftercare group

In August I started an aftercare group for people with an eating disorder with Chantal in Haarlem. Unfortunately we had to call it quits last Monday. The group we started with said goodbye one by one and we couldn't find enough new participants to keep the group going.. We did all we could think of to promote the group and to make it known, but the response wasn't enough.

In December we had 3 people. Then one of them stopped to get more intensive therapy. One other was very enthusistic, but after one cancellation we didn't hear from her again. I tried to contact her by mail, sms, phone... nothing! I really don't understand; I hope nothing serious happened.

And so we ended up with only one participant. When I contacted Chantal about it, she had more bad news. She has to stop because of health issues of her own. I know another woman that wants to step in, but into what...? The foundation of the group is gone. We could only pull the plug...

I feel disappointed. Everyone always says there aren't enough aftercare groups in our area, but when there is one there aren't enough participants. I know I did my best, but I'm sad about it nevertheless. It was the right decision to stop, but it feels wrong...