See you at Pantheacon!

There’s 3 more days until Pantheacon!

I think it should be a rather interesting Pcon for me and the Circle of Cerridwen this year. Not only do we have our Gender and Transgender Open Discussion on Sunday, but we will also have paper copies of the book available at the discussion.

Don’t forget that the anthology, Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism is available in a paper and PDF version. There’s also an ePub version for those of you who use that format.

The book was very interesting to help put together. We had 19 authors contribute and 5 editors. It took quite a bit of coordinating on my part to make sure we had things where they should be. Granted, it’s not perfect, and we had hoped to have some other voices contribute, but for now, we’re happy with it.

I’m curious to see what happens at the discussion this year, especially given what happened after Pantheacon last year. Personally, I hope we can help people come to a better understanding of gender, and especially transgender, issues in our community. The discussion on this really needs to continue if pagan religions are going to grow. Evolution doesn’t happen overnight.

So, we’ll see you at Pantheacon! You’ll probably see me with my books over the weekend, since I have papers due next week, but come over and say hello anyway!

Besides, you can’t miss me with my bright orange hair!

Spring Term

The Spring term has started this week, and it’s really nice to be back at school. It’s funny that I’m as glad to be back at school and see everyone as I was to get off the hill at the end of last term.

It took a lot of rest and a lot of crafting to get back to a point where I was ready to get back. (If you check out my crafting blog, you’ll see what I’ve made in the last month and a half.) In a lot of ways, I’m glad I’ve gotten back in to crafting as it helps keep me calm and focused. It also gives me something to do with my hands instead of fussing with my iPad during class.

It’s a win-win situation! Don’t be surprised if I give you something crocheted or some sort of jewelry for birthdays, holidays, and special events! I also got asked during class last week if I made iPad bags for sale (they really liked mine), and that’s not a half bad idea. I might be persuaded to do it on request. (Although, if you wanted a special color yarn, you’d have to buy it.)

I’m going to try and write on this blog at least once a week. I want to make this a regular practice again. It’s looking like either Wednesday or Fridays at the moment, but that may change depending on how my homework goes.

Also, my fellow ministers are now getting into the blogging thing, and so check out the sidebar for links to their sites (not all of them are up yet).

Pantheacon is in two weeks, and I’ll have announcements about the book this week and reminders about our discussion on the Sunday of Pantheacon at 3:30 pm. It should prove to be interesting, and I’m really excited for the book to finally come out! It was really interesting to put the book together, and we have an excellent collection of authors (some well-known, some not) who have contributed. Hope to see many of you there!

On a final note, I just want it to be known that I have some of the awesomest friends on the planet! If I didn’t have them to give me a metaphorical 2×4 to the head now and again, I don’t know where I’d be! I love you all (you know who you are)!

Updates to the OSA Wiki

This is just a post to say that the Open Source Alexandrian Wiki has been updated. The calendar, mailing lists, and a new section on OSA membership has been added.

Another new thing is that there is now an OSA discussion list. This list is for anyone who’s interested in Open Source Alexandrian or would like to learn more about it. Find out more information about our mailing lists on the wiki.

We’ll also be posting more about the anthology and Pantheacon 2012 in the coming months as things get finalized.

Deadline Extended for Gender and Transgender Anthology: July 4, 2011

We have received some really fantastic submissions so far, and to all those who have submitted, we thank you!

We are extending our deadline to July 4, 2011. We are encouraging all who wish to submit an essay to please do so as soon as you possibly can. We will be reviewing the ones we’ve already received, and will hope to have comments to those authors ASAP.

Click here for submission guidelines.

Thank you to everyone who is participating in this project!

Endings and Limits

The term ended on May 20, and to be honest, I really miss school. I know I’ll be back in the fall, but it was really nice to have that weekly space where I was with people who appreciated my intelligence, wanted to know what I think, and thought I was worth more than being a warm body with a pair of hands. To be honest, I’m pretty sad right now. I suppose it’s a post term drop.

I’ll be back soon, though.

I’ve been learning a lot about so many things lately, and not just from my class. I’ve been learning that there are things that don’t really bother me any more, like work politics. Specifically, work politics that involve me, or rather, what people say about me. It just doesn’t matter anymore. Now all of the pettiness of the politics just makes me laugh. It’s also kind of sad, in it’s way, especially when I see how people treat each other. I’m glad that I’m getting out of that for awhile. I have no illusions that I’ll be seeing it again, but now I see it for what it is, and can deal accordingly.

I’m also learning about limits. I recently received a very hard limit about what magick I can and cannot do from the goddesses I work with, especially now that I’m actually doing the work of my vocation. It was rather jarring, since I’ve never been given this kind of limit by deity. Not that it limits my power, or that any of my powers were taken away, it’s more that there’s certain types of work I can no longer do because of being someone who is a midwife for the dying. I understand why, though, and ethically, it’s completely right.

I have a lot of spiritual work to do around this, particularly learning more about this limit, and about the goddesses who gave it. I’ll be chronicling some of that here, as appropriate.

But now, for the summer, I have two months left of biotech, a month off, and then back to school. I think, outside of that, it will be mostly doing spirit work and working on the anthology. This doesn’t sound so bad to me, actually.

Reminder: Gender and Transdenger Anthology Submission Deadline: June 21, 2011

This is a reminder that the submission deadline for the anthology, “Gender and Transgender in the Pagan Community” is June 21, 2011. We are encouraging all who wish to submit an essay to please do so.

Click here for submission guidelines.

Again, the submission deadline is June 21, 2011 at midnight PDT.

Blessed Ostara!

It’s been a busy few weeks here, and in some ways, all of this is a little overwhelming. I’ve been doing a good deal of spiritual work in relation to all that we started at Pantheacon, which has helped a great deal. I’ve also tried to remember that, as an introvert, I need a lot more time to myself. Sometimes, fully unplugged. With Japan, Libya, and all of the other things happening around the world, it can get a little overwhelming for me.

Empathy, while very useful, can also be hard.

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So, most of you know of our book project, and we are now in the process of sending invites to specific authors and community leaders. If there is someone you think we need to invite, let me know. We have quite an extensive list of folks, but do know that this won’t discount any other submissions. I’m really looking forward to reading the submissions we get.

Remember, the deadline for submissions is Litha, June 21, 2011.

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School is going very well. The time I’m spending in class and with my fellow students is just incredible! It’s nice to be in a space where my intelligence is both honored and sought after. This week is Reading Week (aka Spring Break) and I’ll be doing that today along with all the other things I need to do. But I must say, the readings that we are doing are really interesting, especially the book on Islam. The book is “No god but God” by Reza Aslan. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially if all you know about Islam comes from mass media.

I’m also pondering a certificate in Sexuality and Religion, which is offered through PSR, in addition to my M. Div. Given the passion I put into the work we started at Pantheacon, I think it might be a good idea. It’s something I’ll talk to my adviser about when I start in the fall.

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I’ll be doing more writing of spiritual stuff soon, I promise. The biggest problem is having too many things to write about. However, if any of you have something you really want me to talk about here, let me know. I’m open to suggestions.

Hope you all had a great equinox and are looking to bring in lots of good things in the coming season!

Call for submissions:

The Circle of Cerridwen is please to announce an open call for submissions for a collection of essays that is tentatively being called “Gender and Transgender in the Pagan Community”. We are encouraging all who wish to submit an essay to please do so.

Click here for submission guidelines.

Submission deadline is June 21, 2011.

An important note about Circle of Cerridwen/OSA information:

In my wanderings on the web, I have found an instance of outright plagiarism of Sarah’s essay on the events that happened at Pantheacon. At the time of this writing, the owner of the blog I found it on has not yet attributed the section she pasted into her blog, nor has she replied to my request to give proper attribution.

The Open Source Alexandrian wiki is under a Creative Commons license. This means you MUST give proper attribution to the Circle of Cerridwen and the authors listed in any of the articles on our website. Typically, what we like to see is a link back to the article in question. Minimally, you should at least cite the author and/or the Circle of Cerridwen. This serves two purposes: first, you, the person who quotes us, does not get branded a plagiarist, which is another whole can of worms, and second, it allows people to read the source of your quotation so that they can read for themselves what the original author intended.

Also, this is common courtesy. Most of us were taught in school that plagiarism is wrong, and, in most schools, it is punishable up to,  and including, expulsion. With Creative Commons, at least all we want is to be linked back to. I don’t think that’s too much to ask of anyone.

Thank you.