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C A U L D R O N A N D C A N D L E #92 -- August 2008 A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum website: http://www.ecauldron.com/ message board: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/ newsletter: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ shopping: http://www.ecauldron.com/mall.php http://www.ecauldron.com/doxysbazaar.php In this Issue: [00] Editorial Notes [01] Cauldron News * Outage/Backup Board Information * New Spell Grimoire Blog [03] Interesting Recent Cauldron Discussions * A Diety to Grow Old With? * Is This Religious Discrimination? Is It Wrong? * Importance of Scholarship to Your Path * Follow up Tarot Reading When You Don't Understand a Card? * The Long And Short Of It * Can Two Different Beliefs Both Be Correct? * The Bits You Don't Like * More Than One Religion? * Closed Traditions? * Religion and Hierarchy * How Do You Re-Use? * Catalysts to Belief? * What If No One Claims Me? * Using the Gods? * Pagan Fiction? [04] Flamekeeping: Death and Life [05] Book Review: Chi Gung [06] Support The Cauldron [07] Newsletter Information (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ LOOKING FOR PAGAN SUPPLIES? Visit The Cauldron's Pagan Supply Store http://www.ecauldron.com/esesf.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [00] ========= ========= EDITORIAL NOTES ========= In an effort to get this publication back on some type of regular schedule, I'm calling this the August 2008 issue even though it is being published in late July. The main event of note in July was that our message board was down for just over a week in early July. The board died a few hours after we sent out the June newsletter on June 29th and did not return to life until July 8th. The outage lasted as long as it did because our Server Admin was moving his family across the country at the time -- and Murphy's Law did what Murphy's Law does best. Fortunately, our Backup Board over that SMFForFree served us well during the outage. I'm almost afraid to send this newsletter out for fear another outage will follow. LOL. But its going out anyway. I hope you enjoy it. As always, information on how to unsubscribe can be found in the last section of this newsletter in case you aren't enjoying it any more. Randall Sapphire Editor and Publisher, Cauldron and Candle Co-Host, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum [01] ========= ========= CAULDRON NEWS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== OUTAGE/BACKUP BOARD INFORMATION ===== It seems that a lot of people did not know about our Backup Board or even were to go for more information if the message board goes down. The Cauldron's main web site (http://www.ecauldron.com/) is currently on a separate server in a different state that our message board server. If the board goes down for any major length of time, information about what is going on will be posted there along with a link to our backup board is the outage is a prolonged one. In the event that both sites go down, we have a third server (http://www.ecauldron.org) hosted on a Google Applications server. It currently has one page, pointing to your two main sites; but if the other two sites were both down for any major length, information about the outages were be posted there. If you have never visited The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's main web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/, you should consider paying a visit as we have hundreds of pages full of articles, book reviews, spells, and more. There is much more to TC than our message board! ===== ===== NEW SPELL GRIMOIRE BLOG ===== As we are always getting requests to post more spells, we have started The Cauldron's Spell Grimoire Blog. We try to post a few new spells in this blog every month. You can subscribe to the full text feed of our Spell Grimoire Blog and receive each new spell we post in your favorite feed reader. * Spell Grimoire Blog http://spellgrimoireblog.ecauldron.com/ * Spell Grimoire Blog Full Text RSS Feed http://spellgrimoireblog.ecauldron.com/feeds/posts/default ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ PAGAN-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php Dreamhost offers high-quality, low cost web hosting with a dedication to free speech. Pagan sites are welcome! Read why we use Dreamhost for The Cauldron's web site: http://www.ecauldron.com/web/whydreamhost.php Plan Features * 500 gigabytes web space * 5000 gigabytes/month bandwidth * unlimited email boxes (POP3/IMAP) * unlimited ftp/shell accounts * host unlimited domains/subdomains * php4, php5, cgi, fastcgi, ssi * zend optimizer, ruby on rails * unlimited MySQL databases * announcement lists * discussion (aka mailing) lists * Jabber server * Crontab and Shell access * Web-based Control Panel * One-Click installs of the Wordpress blog & PhpBB forum * 1 free domain name * helpful tech support * and much more! All for $10.95 a month with a $49.95 setup fee. Pay for a year in advance (only 9.95/month) and there is no setup fee. Pay two years in advance and the price drops to $8.95 a month. (And there is a 97 day money back guarantee!) Visit Dreamhost for Affordable, Pagan-Friendly Hosting http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [02] ========= ========= INTERESTING RECENT CAULDRON DISCUSSIONS ========= Recent Discussion Topics on our Message Board ========= In an average month, over 200 new discussion topics are started on The Cauldron's message board. Here are a few of the more interesting recent discussions. It's not too late to join in. Thanks to Feedburner, you can now receive an email every night on days we post new site news items to the main page of The Cauldron's web site. These emails contain a link to the new item and the first couple of lines of the news text. You can sign up for Feedburner's free news delivery via the form at the end of the site "News and Updates" section of The Cauldron's main web page. ===== ===== A Diety to Grow Old With? ===== How important is it to you to have a deity that understands aging? Has your pantheon changed or do you think it will change as a reflection of your age advancement? For me personally, I no longer feel very connected to Goddesses of Beauty & Fertility. This is a bit of a problem because as far as I can tell the Egyptian deities, who I have always felt drawn to, are ageless or forever youthfull and fertile. There isn't one that I am aware of that changes with age. I believe in other pantheons however, this can happen. I have found I have been gravitating to the darker more shadowy beings like Neith. I don't see my age advancement as needing an underworld deity at my side (yet anyway, I'm not 90!) just one that can be sympathetic and that I can gain strength and comfort from during a new chapter in my life. I would be happy to hear of any deity recommendations for the second half of life! * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6334.0 ===== ===== Is This Religious Discrimination? Is It Wrong? ===== So lets say that someone goes to a new dentist, and while he fixes her teeth just fine, she realizes that all the inspirational/quasi-religious posters in his office and waiting room say "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" on them. Other than the posters in the office, she is not subjected to any sort of proselytism. After she goes home, and the Novocaine wears off, she googles the guy. She finds his church's online newsletter archives and find several articles written by him that espouse views completely contrary to her own...on matters such as women's rights, reproductive freedom, and so forth. The dentist is clearly very involved with his church, and claims to give more than the required tithe. Because of this, she decides to find a new dentist, despite the fact that her root canal was a stunning success. She can't stand the idea that her money is part of a tithe supporting a church with views with which she vehemently disagrees. Did she do the right thing? Why or why not? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6314.0 ===== ===== Importance of Scholarship to Your Path ===== Unlike many other religious forums, the Cauldron places a premium on research and scholarly understanding of religion. As such, we've amassed a collection of bookworms, archivists, and other people that love learning. What are some ways that you incorporate research into your religious practices? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6299.0 ===== ===== Follow up Tarot Reading When You Don't Understand a Card? ===== Has anyone ever done a second reading when something in the first one left you puzzled? How did you do it? Did you do a complete new spread? Did you do a different spread? Did you use a puzzling card from the former one as significator? More than a week ago I've done a celtic cross spread and had the 5 of swords (Robin Wood deck) in the position of 'near future'. I'm still trying to figure out what it means. The problem is that from what I know about the card it could mean disappointment or gain of something that doesn't belong to you, but it's not clear if I'll disappoint someone or someone will disappoint me or if I'll loose something that belongs to me or if I'll gain something that doesn't. I also don't know what kind of loss/gain or disappointment it might be. Will it be about relationships, a job or something else? As I've just graduated and will start a completely new job in a completely new city soon it could refer to any loss or gain. I'm confused. Maybe it's just trying to say that I'll be disappointed about something because my hopes are too big. I had the 8 of staffs on the position of 'near past', maybe indicating that I'm going a bit fast and aren't aiming careful enough or expecting too much. But I'd like to know to what aspect of life if refers to. (Maybe I should have phrased the question more specific, I just asked how my new life will be.) * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6269.0 ===== ===== The Long And Short Of It ===== I blame Koi! Quoting Koi: "Now I think we need a thread where everyone gives their long, explanatory title ... and what they typically shorten it to." Well, I have 'Kemetic Feri Discordian' in my short line, which is a decent summation, I suppose; those are three things with names. I actually mostly just say 'Kemetic', as that's the basis of where I'm coming from, but it doesn't help communication much 'cause most people haven't heard of it. If I were being comprehensively descriptive I'd probably have to go with something like: Secularly-raised Setian Kemetic neo-reconstructionist ecstatic mystic heretic pledged to Hethert, dedicated to Wepwawet, and beloved of Khnum, student of the Anderson Feri tradition (Morningstar line; hoping to train in Blackheart line as well) with a heavy kitchen-witch and hearth-guardian sensibility, heavily leavened with ancestral influences (particularly Slavic folk customs, some Irish lore, and a ladleful of dwojwierny), part-time disciple of the Discordian saint Sri Syadasti, dabbler in spirit dealings drawn primarily to Bluejay, with half-assed influence from a variety of sources that illuminate my personal understanding of Egyptiana, including particularly a smattering of Judaism, Hinduism (especially Shaivite Hinduism), Shinto, and West African Traditional Religions and the African Diaspora Religions. With eclectic shared practice with primarily-family, thus heavily neo-recon-Celtic influenced. If the thing that's distinctly dual-trad at the moment manages to synthesise into a syncretic jobbie, its name will be something like Ab Khem. And this is why I wrote the Cauldron article on how not to screw up eclecticism! * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6248.0 ===== ===== Can Two Different Beliefs Both Be Correct? ===== This is something that I have been contemplating for some time now, but unfortunately I feel I am going to be just as incoherent in my words now as I would have been a couple of weeks ago. Please bear with me! When it comes to matters of religion, people hold very different and often conflicting beliefs to one another. For instance, my MIL believes that Judgement Day is just around the corner and her god is going to choose a select number of people to rule with him in heaven. She believes this to be the absolute truth, and she believes it with every fibre of her being. She even refers to her religion as 'the truth'. I on the other hand most certainly don't believe this! That belief just doesn't work for me, and thus my religious beliefs are completely different. And thus conflicting. Although my MIL would not be happy to hear what my religious beliefs were and would try to convert me to her beliefs because that's what she believes she is supposed to do, I am fine with her holding her beliefs. I don't care that they conflict with mine. I believe that religion is a very personal thing, and thus would never try to convert anybody to my own beliefs. Just because they work for me, it doesn't mean they're going to work for someone else. Yet when all said and done, I feel as if this train of thought has a very serious flaw. How on earth can do completely different, completely separate, completely conflicting religious beliefs both be right? My MIL would clearly state that only her beliefs are right, and that everybody elses are wrong. One thing I like about TC is that the majority of people here respect an individual's religious freedom. Including myself. And yet does this mean that I'm secretly thinking to myself; only my beliefs are right, and everyone elses' are all wrong? Because I'm not thinking that in the slightest... but how can I say that two beliefs are both the truth? I can't. To me, it defies logic. And so, I'm confused. If anyone has any musings whatsoever on this subject, I'd like to hear them. Sorry for the long-winded post. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6243.0 ===== ===== The Bits You Don't Like ===== There are a lot of people who want to walk a pagan path, and want it to be a 'historical' path, but basically disapprove of parts of it and simply discard them. They are usually advised to do this, in fact, with phrases like 'take what you like and leave the rest', 'if it makes you uncomfortable it's not for you', and, basically, 'if it feels good, do it'. This leaves a lot of paths looking unbalanced, usually towards the 'white light' side, but also occasionally towards the 'dark fluff' end of things. There are Wiccans who reject binding and scourging in initiations, 'shamans' who rail against the use of entheogens, practitioners of sacrificial religions who disapprove of sacrifice. They seldom change the name of what they do, but if one assumes that a person using the name of a religion actually embraces all the parts of it, one is often wrong. My question is, what have you rejected in your chosen path, and why? Did you spend any time trying to follow the practices you don't like? Do you feel that if you had, you would have understood them as integral and embraced them, or would have ended up excising them anyway? Do you seek to understand the 'uncomfortable' bits before rejecting them, and do you feel your religion is missing that elusive 'something' due to sanitization? I often find modern religions to be superficial when described by their pratitioners, but I can't figure out if that is because those practitioners have discarded half their humanity (and half of their gods' reality), or because those practitioners simply don't talk about those aspects in public. F'ex, I read a post on another forum where the person wanted to try augery and wondered if her local butcher shop would be willing to sell her 'a mess of entrails to read'. To me this seemed worse than useless, but suggesting that she ritually slaughter her own bird or beast, with appropriate ceremony and dedication, and read its entrails in the context of the ritual itself, was met with a superior/condescending version of 'ewww, gross!'. As if wanting to read entrails was uber-pagan and impressive, but doing the prep-work oneself was simply barbaric. How much do you discard as barbaric or uncivilised, and do you feel that it undermines or enhances your authenticity as a modern day pagan? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6232.0 ===== ===== More Than One Religion? ===== While I'm not a complete newbie to Pagan Religions, there is still a ton I need to learn, and I'm getting there... slowly. Especially lately where I have more time on my hands to read, search, etc. But I'm slightly confused on something.. I have not read too much into this but I am hoping to get some opinions from people who know this stuff better than me because I don't really know if there is a right or wrong answer. I have seen people who are Pagan, who consider themselves as being part of more than one Pagan religion. For example, I see several people who, in their list of beliefs list things such as Druidry, Shamanism, Wiccan, Heathen. While I know these are all Pagan, I know that a lot of Pagan religions are quite different from one or another, would believing in more than one Pagan religion be contradictory to the others? Mind you, I don't yet know a lot about other Pagan religions other than the ones I'm reading up on, so whether or not they contradict one another is quite over my head. I have also seen posts on other forums regarding Druidry vs Celtic Recon and people who claimed to be into both. Some of the Pagan religions are similar, some are different, but is it 'wrong' or contradictory to study/practice more than one? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6224.0 ===== ===== Closed Traditions? ===== So I'm really not sure what to think of this. I was on a site I frequent called gaiaonline. It's mostly teens and young adults, with a thriving message board and a few games and such to play. One of the forums is called Morality and Religion, or M&R for short. There are a few Pagans on the site who are very well read and knowledgeable, but I'm starting to think that they are just making some things that they personally believe into fact and telling people who are trying to start out in Paganism that it is the whole truth. Other than this they are nice people and have a private forum for helping newbies along. The main think they seem to be able to rant on about is something they call 'Culture Rape', claiming that most ancient Pagan traditions are closed and if you weren't raised in, say, Ireland, then you have absolutely no right to attempt to worship Celtic Deities. Some people try to defend themselves by saying that they are of Irish descent but they still cry culture rape. They get pretty mocking when people say that they have anything to do with Native American spirits or Deities if they aren't Native American themselves. I've googled the terms closed tradition and culture rape many times and only ever found it from this small group of people... I'm just curious of ANYONE has come across this? I'm just really confused, and I'm not the type to get into a confrontation with them because, honestly, if I go up against them I'm going to get mocked since I haven't read all the keys of Solomon or something... And having been 'thwapped' by both Celtic and Native American Gods, it's pretty much a sure bet they would have a lot to say to me that isn't productive at all... * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6219.0 ===== ===== Religion and Hierarchy ===== Hierarchy is something that crops up in many religions. I?m not referring to the relationship between humans and the Divine, but rather the relationships that occur between humans in a religious structure/organization. For instance in Catholicism (the only reason I?m using this example is because I find it to be the easiest) there is the Pope, various Archbishops and Cardinals, bishops and bishops of a diocese, priests, and pastors. And of course then there are the lay people. And so I have been thinking: what is the purpose behind such hierarchy? If one was to come from a fairly Marxist perspective, their reason may be that it is a form of social control. And yet other religions beside those ?dominant? ones such as Catholicism also have some sort of hierarchy within them. BTW for instance, has the High Priestess and High Priest of a coven. So, do you believe hierarchy is an important aspect of a religious organization? Why do you think many choose to have a hierarchy? Does your religion have any form of hierarchy? (A latter thought I had: how do you feel about the hierarchy of men and women in certain religious organizations? If there is one in your religion, how do you feel about it? And if there isn?t, do you think there should be one?) * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6171.0 ===== ===== How Do You Re-Use? ===== A lot of us try to be "green" in a variety of ways...recycling, composting, conserving energy, etc. One of my favorite ways to be green is reusing junk and making it into usable stuff. What are some of the things you do to reuse? Here are a couple of my favorites: 1. Turn soft plastic containers (e.g. yogurt containers, sour cream cartons) into seedling containers. I heat the tip of a Phillips screwdriver to poke drainage holes in the bottom, and then put the container lid underneath as a drip tray. If you can get your hands on larger containers (e.g. Panera's cream cheese containers) this works well for large houseplants as well. 2. Turn cereal boxes into magazine holders. I never have enough magazine holders because I hate to pay the exorbitant cost for a cheap piece of plastic. I recently found that I can make serviceable holders out of cereal boxes. Once the cereal is gone, just remove the plastic bag from the inside and cut it into the magazine holder shape. Here is a pic of a few completed ones: http://replayground.blogspot.com/2008/04/diy-organizing.html. If you get really fancy, you could cover and decorate it. Mine are more au naturale, 'cause I'm lazy and not very Martha Stewarty. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6120.0 ===== ===== Catalysts to Belief? ===== I thought of this question while reading some of the other topics. I was wondering what brings people around to believing, or disbelieving certain things. I'm not talking about 'callings' or anything like that, I want to know the sort of life changing events that bring people around to go from one set of beliefs to another. Or from believing in something, then changing their minds. My own experiences have been a bit odd, mixing what is logical to me with experimentation, and seemingly random experiences. I'm talking about specific beliefs, not just the religous paths. For example, why you believe in magic (or not), rather than why you follow Wicca (or not). Anyway, my curiosity just happened to get the better of me, and I thought it would be an interesting and possibly lively discussion. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6108.0 ===== ===== What If No One Claims Me? ===== I do not believe in picking your own Deity. To me that is like falling in love with someone who has never even noticed you are alive. So what if no Deity ever claims you? What if you have done all the meditating and rituals and introspective journeys and still no one steps forward? I mean like after 15 years? Where do you go? Atheism? I am friends with many spirits and what could be called gods, but no one has ever been interested in my worship or offered their patronage. So what do I do? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6101.0 ===== ===== Using the Gods? ===== Often in reading people talk about the Gods I keep finding a prevelant theme. "I dedicate and/or pay homage to whatever God can get me what I need". It seems to put the Gods in a servant to man type of role as opposed to developing a relationship with them. Its like the reversal of the Christian "serve God or burn in hell" concept. Why can't there just be a relationship rather than usery? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=6100.0 ===== ===== Pagan Fiction? ===== I would say the closest I have gotten to 'pagan fiction' is the Avalon trilogy by Marion Zimmer Bradley (which I absolutely loved). Historial fiction is my favourite genre. Philippa Gregory, Anya Seton and Jean Plaidy are the three authors I have the most regard for. But I had a recommendation on my Amazon account of a book called Confessions of a Pagan nun by Kate Horsley, and the synopsis sounds fantastic so I put it in my cart. It's about one of St Bridget's nuns in Kildare. So I decided to search for other books grouped with this one, and have found a few books by Elizabeth Cunningham that sound rather interesting. I'm going to give one a try and see what I think. Anyway, I was wondering; do any of you read pagan fiction? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/index.php?topic=5984.0 [03] ========= ========= FLAMEKEEPING ========= DEATH AND LIFE ========= by HeartShadow ========= HeartShadow is following her own religious path. She calls it FlameKeeping. This regular column will present articles on FlameKeeping, many taken from HeartShadow's FlameKeeping blog at: http://flamekeeping.blogspot.com/ ===== ===== Death and Life ===== We are born only to die, only to cease to exist as we are. Knowledge of that ending, of a time to come without us, is terrifying to many people. So we search for immortality, guarantees, anything to predict what will come when, and how to plan for or against it. But our daily life offers no guarantees, no promises of the future except that it will come. Promises of the future can only come from faith. How we handle the knowledge of mortality defines us in many ways. We spend our lives striving for immortality, hoping for survival against all reality. Yet in truth many of us desire certainty even more than immortality, desire to know the date and time of our death, and to know how it will happen and how to pass painlessly and with grace. Such knowledge cannot exist, of course, because even if we knew our own body's original time limit, we constantly do things to change that and shorten and lengthen our timeframe. This uncertainty and brevity of life, far from the apparent curse people see it as, is actually a great blessing in disguise. Only because we do not know the time of our death can we risk it, always in the hopes that it won't be this time, won't be us. We strive and struggle against the unknown, to learn, and grow, and become better than we were. This drive for immortality, not in the body, but in the minds of others, drives both the best and the worst of human behavior. We seek the immortality of opinion, of remembrance, and that seeking can guide us in many directions of life. We exist, and strive, for a reason. As part of the Divine, we are separately-willed individuals that work to improve ourselves and the Universe around us when we are at our best. These drives to strive, to grow, to change and improve ourselves and others, push us only because we have a time limit, because we cannot put these desires off indefinitely, but must work at them from a young age if we hope to achieve them. All words, however, are cold comfort when faced with mortality and the mortality of our loved ones. The Divine can seem cold and uncaring compared to personal pain and hardship. Yet, the Divine suffers, as we do, with each death, and rejoices with us in each life. Our Flame is that of the Divine, never lost or forgotten, even when we leave our bodies and cease to be separate, and are again one with the Universe. The loss of ourselves, of our individuality, is scary to many people. We value our identities, our separateness from each other, even as we bemoan it. Anything that threatens our separateness, our knowledge of self, is a potential threat even as it is a potential gift. And so we fear death, knowing that we will no longer be ourselves when we do not wear our bodies, and fearing what we might be without them. We try to find ways to save our individuality even beyond death, beyond all knowledge into the realm of hope and faith. But the Universe does not conform to our will and desires, much as we wish it did. Our lives end, but we are never forgotten or lost, but instead returned to the greater Universe. ===== ===== Questions: ===== * What do you do in fear of death? Does it help? Hurt? * What blessing has mortality brought to your life? * How can you live without certainty? Would life be better if we knew of how we would die? [05] ========= ========= BOOK REVIEW: CHI GUNG ========= reviewed by QuietOne ========= Chi Gung: Chinese Healing, Energy and Natural Magick Author: Lily of the Valley Carnie Trade Paper, 288 pages Published: Llewellyn, September 2002 ISBN: 1567181139 See this book at Amazon: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=1567181139 Chi Gung (also spelled QiGong or Chi Kung) is the practice of cultivating one's internal energy and promotes benefits like improved health, healing, flexibility, endurance, intuition and overall well-being. My favorite book on the subject is by Lily of the Valley Carnie who I feel introduces a fresh perspective to this ancient practice. Plus the cover art is really cool... pine trees silhouetted against a sunset sky turning a delicious purple/orange with just a sliver of the moon showing... just awesome. The first part of her book introduces the fundamental principles and concepts needed to develop a Chi Gung practice and covers topics like: Nei Dan vs. Wei Dan training; Meridians and Cavities; the principles of Yin and Yang; the philosophy of the Five Elements; the Regulation on Mind, Body and Breath; and the Fire, Wind, and Water Paths of Chi Circulation. In addition, she presents a series of exercises intended to help you become more familiar with the way Chi flows through your body that provides an excellent foundation for the explorations to follow. The remainder of the book provides many, many examples of ways to apply Chi Gung to a wide variety of activities. Some are physical (like swimming underwater, fly-fishing, or working with weapons). Others are mental (like developing intuition, increasing your awareness or learning to visualize). While others are craft oriented (like painting, playing music, or drawing). This is what I feel sets it apart from other Chi Gung books I've read. Since Chi is a universal energy then you are able to sense and apply it everywhere and I like the way she encourages you to learn to include Chi Gung in whatever activity you are engaged in. This allows you to make the practice of Chi Gung a personal expression of you and your art, whatever that may be. The other thing I really like is the way she encourages the spirit of play when practicing Chi Gung. Since the flow of Chi through the body is hindered by tension and stress then being too serious in your training is a guaranteed way of limiting your potential. Ms Carnie recommends a fun approach to training that allows an awareness of the Chi flow to develop naturally. She teaches in a conversational way that is both informative and fun and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this ancient art. [06] ========= ========= Cauldron Info ========= SUPPORT THE CAULDRON BY VOLUNTEERING TO HELP ========= The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum was founded in December 1997 to provide a friendly but serious discussion area for Pagans on the Internet. We've grown a bit over the years. We now have an active message area, a large web site with around 700 pages of information (including over 300 book and divination deck reviews), and a monthly email newsletter. To continue to provide and expand these services, The Cauldron needs lots of volunteer help from our members and supporters. Here are some of the things members and supporters can do to help The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum thrive: ===== ===== Actively Participate In Our Message Board ===== While our new message board welcomes readers, we encourage members to actively participate by posting their comments and views in our discussions. One of the easiest ways to help The Cauldron is to actively participate in our message board. The staff especially appreciates members who start new topics for discussion based on their own questions, opinions, or interests. http://www.ecauldron.net/forum/ ===== ===== Articles! Essays! Tutorials! ===== We are in constant need of original, well-written and accurate articles, essays, tutorials, and other written items for both our web site and for our Cauldron and Candle newsletter. There's no real limit on length for web site articles. Here are a few areas in which we always need articles: * information on the beliefs and theology of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * information on holidays and festivals of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * recipes for oils, incenses, and food for the various Pagan holidays * magick, spells, and ritual information * herbal information * positive articles on dealing with other faiths * information on historical pagan cultures * editorial/opinion pieces Non-Wiccan material is stressed not because we don't want Wiccan material but because good non-Wiccan material has been hard to find. We have a web form you can use to submit an article for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbarticleform.php ===== ===== Book Reviews ===== While The Cauldron receives some review copies from a couple of Pagan publishers, there are many books that can only be reviewed on our web site if a member has a copy and writes a good, objective review. The Cauldron is interested in reviews on the more academic books used by reconstructionist Pagan religions as well as on the books one finds on the Pagan/New Age shelf in the bookstore. We have a web form you can use to submit a book review for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbbkreviewform.php ===== ===== Graphic Assistance ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum is purposely a low graphics site as we value page download speed over flashy graphics. However, we are always willing to talk with artists who have ideas for well-designed small graphics (small in both physical dimensions and file size) that might enhance a specific article or page. ===== ===== Invite Your Friends ===== If you have friends or acquaintances who you believe would find The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum useful, please tell them about our site. If you are active in our message board and have friends who might enjoy them or have information to contribute, please invite them. ===== ===== Link To The Cauldron ===== If you have a web site where linking to The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum would be appropriate, simply providing a link to this web site is a big help. Our Link to this Site page explains how you can do this if you need help or want some simple graphic buttons to use: http://www.ecauldron.com/linktous.php ===== ===== Donations ===== As The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum uses as many free services as possible, our need for money to operate our site is currently lower than our need for the many items we list above. However, if you have a few dollars to spare, we would be honored to have your help in paying for our web site. You can donate by using either PayPal or the Amazon Honor System links below (we get about 85% of what you donate). Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN ===== ===== Amazon Purchases ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum also receives a small percentage (usually 5%) from most items purchased from Amazon.com when you go to Amazon.com from one of the links to Amazon on our web site. If you purchase a lot of books, CDs, and other items from Amazon.com as many members do, going to Amazon.com through one of our links when you are going to make a purchase there is a painless way to help fund this web site. http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazon.php If you are a regular user of the US version of Amazon, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit Amazon.com. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find Amazon in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard Amazon url -- probably http://www.amazon.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. If you use Amazon UK, you can use this address http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonuk.php If you use Amazon Canada, you can use this addess: http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonca.php ===== ===== Ebay Purchases ===== Are you an Ebay user? Ebay has a new program that pays affiliates a small percent of the winning bid if the winning bidder enters ebay from an affiliate link (some like how our Amazon.com affiliate program works). So if you visit the US version ebay via the following link, the Cauldron will get credit for your bids: http://www.ecauldron.com/zebay.php If you are a regular user of the US version of ebay, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit ebay. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find ebay in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard ebay url -- probably http://www.ebay.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. ===== ===== Have Questions or Suggestions? ===== If you have specific questions, proposals or other ideas we haven't mentioned here, please email them to rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFEME.com. (Unfortunately, Randall has to answer general "Tell me more?" type questions with a request for a more specific question. He's not trying to be rude, he just can't think of anything general and useful to say that isn't said here.) [07] ========= ========= NEWSLETTER INFORMATION ========= (Including how to subscribe and unsubscribe) ========= Cauldron and Candle is a free publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. The Cauldron intends to publish this newsletter once a month and often actually succeeds in doing so. We tried to publish it twice a month for a while, but real life interfered too often. This issue of Cauldron and Candle as a whole is copyright (c) 2008 by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. Copyrights on individual items in this newsletter are retained by their author, please contact the editors if you need to contact an author for permission to reprint an article and the editors will do their best to put you in touch with him or her. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of newsletter, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum, or its staff. Publication of an article in this newsletter is not an endorsement of the authors position or any products and companies mentioned therein. No one involved in producing this newsletter has any money to speak of so suing us if you don't like something we do is a waste of time and money. ===== ===== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE EMAIL ADDRESS ===== You are receiving a copy of this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter via your web browser at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cauldronandcandle/join Or you can unsubscribe via email by sending a blank message to cauldronandcandle-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Be sure to send this message from the email account actually subscribed to the newsletter. If you have trouble unsubscribing by email, please use the web browser method mentioned above. If you need to change your subscription to a new email address, unsubscribe your old email address and subscribe your new email address. Note that you have to make these changes yourself. Yahoo Groups does not allow the list owner to make them for you. ===== ===== NEWSLETTER WEB SITE AND BACK ISSUE ARCHIVE ===== The Cauldron and Candle web site contains information on this newsletter and an archive of back issues. http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ ===== ===== PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE ===== If you have Pagan friends who you believe would be interested in Cauldron and Candle please invite them to subscribe. You can either drop them a note yourself or -- better yet -- send them one of The Cauldron's email postcards with the information. You are also welcome to forward a copies of this newsletter to interested friends and associates provided you forward the entire newsletter. ===== ===== SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME ===== Don't forget that your suggestions for this newsletter are always welcome, either posted on the message board or via email to LyricFox (lyricfox01@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com) or Randall Sapphire (rssapphire01@.ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com). Typos are, as usual, courtesy of the Goddess Eris.

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