BellaDonna here.
Back when Barnabus and I first considered the idea of a blog and/or podcast (one of these days, when we get the money for a good mic, we will try our hands at it), we discussed what we would name it.
He is a fan of the word "arcane" and thus declared that it must be in the title of said blog/podcast. However, the word Arcane in and of itself has its limits. It's more of an adjective than a noun and therefore needed to describe something.
I chose the word Asylum for a number of reasons. It makes the name of our blog alliterative and therefore more memorable. Asylum also can mean a couple different things: safety from prosecution (i.e. political asylum, or asylum found in a church or other sanctuary), it's also used as the name a facility to harbor the insane. Now for the uber (forgive my inability to figure out how to insert an umlaut) geeky part: Arcane Asylum reminds me of Arkham Asylum and is therefore that much more awesome.
So, this blog could either been seen as a sanctuary for the arcane arts (a place to safely seek them, if you will); or a place that cares for those driven mad by the arcane arts. I guess it depends on whether you would prefer to see yourself as a Seeker or an Inmate.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Kicking my butt into gear
BellaDonna Saberhagen here.
One of the "resolutions" I made upon moving into my new place was that I'd stop being a f-ing lazy bum and actually keep it up and not let it get turned into the disaster areas my living places tend to become. This place defied those attempts by its very existence. The woman who lived here before us died here and I guess the landlords thought it ok to leave a bunch of her stuff here. We inherited useless bits of glass, two non-working vacuums, an entire junk drawer pre-stuffed with junk and a bunch of other randown crap stuffed into the closets. Now, we don't know what all is stuff that needs to stay here for what-ever reason and what we can get rid of. That's hurdle one.
Hurdle two was the horrible heat this summer which made even moving around a horrible thing. This was combined with the steam being let out of us by Barnabus's ex being a bitch queen and saying that since their ancient court order states the address he takes his daughter to is in the city at his grandparents' house (it was where he was living when he got the court ordered visitation) that's where we've got to go, despite having a two bedroom place here that we specifically got so that we could be closer to his daughter and she could have her own damn bedroom.
The third hurdle is my work schedule. If I want to get anything done at all, I have to do it before work, which I am not used to doing.
The final hurdle goes back to the place itself, we're in a third-floor walk up and we go through a lot of cardboard (we go through a lot of soda and frozen food, I'm not much of a cook and I hate having to eat dinner at nearly 9pm so I need something quick and easy).
And both of us are just lazy. I hate doing dishes (or really, any housework, I was forced to do it as a kid and I guess I'm overly reacting to that forced labor by hating to do anything). It's not that I wouldn't love a clean house, but I want one that inexplicably stays that way, or I want to be able to Mary Poppins "Spoon Full of Sugar" everything back into its place with a snap of my fingers. Where's a house-elf when you need one?
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
One of the "resolutions" I made upon moving into my new place was that I'd stop being a f-ing lazy bum and actually keep it up and not let it get turned into the disaster areas my living places tend to become. This place defied those attempts by its very existence. The woman who lived here before us died here and I guess the landlords thought it ok to leave a bunch of her stuff here. We inherited useless bits of glass, two non-working vacuums, an entire junk drawer pre-stuffed with junk and a bunch of other randown crap stuffed into the closets. Now, we don't know what all is stuff that needs to stay here for what-ever reason and what we can get rid of. That's hurdle one.
Hurdle two was the horrible heat this summer which made even moving around a horrible thing. This was combined with the steam being let out of us by Barnabus's ex being a bitch queen and saying that since their ancient court order states the address he takes his daughter to is in the city at his grandparents' house (it was where he was living when he got the court ordered visitation) that's where we've got to go, despite having a two bedroom place here that we specifically got so that we could be closer to his daughter and she could have her own damn bedroom.
The third hurdle is my work schedule. If I want to get anything done at all, I have to do it before work, which I am not used to doing.
The final hurdle goes back to the place itself, we're in a third-floor walk up and we go through a lot of cardboard (we go through a lot of soda and frozen food, I'm not much of a cook and I hate having to eat dinner at nearly 9pm so I need something quick and easy).
And both of us are just lazy. I hate doing dishes (or really, any housework, I was forced to do it as a kid and I guess I'm overly reacting to that forced labor by hating to do anything). It's not that I wouldn't love a clean house, but I want one that inexplicably stays that way, or I want to be able to Mary Poppins "Spoon Full of Sugar" everything back into its place with a snap of my fingers. Where's a house-elf when you need one?
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Dreams
BellaDonna Saberhagen here.
I've wanted to be a Witch since I was a little girl (I used to copy down spells from movies, such as "Tragoona Mekoidies Trecorum Satis Di!"). It's a dream that came true once I found out you actually COULD be a Witch.
The second dream came from my first trip to Salem, I went into a real Witch shop (I actually found out about Wicca at the store, getting a copy of Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner...my mother actually bought it for me thinking it was some book on the history of Witchcraft...I think she rues the day now). Since then, I've wanted to have my own store and once I learned they could exist outside of Salem, so much the better (I love visiting Salem, but I doubt I would enjoy living there due to the tourism).
There's a pretty good shop in the area (I say pretty good because they have too narrow a focus and are a little bit fluffy...most of the books they carry are by Silver Ravenwolf but I guess that's understandable because its run by a Black Forest Clan Coven); however, the owner lives an hour away and does not feel like running it anymore. She tried giving managerial duties to someone else, but they nearly ran it into the ground in less than a year. So the store is up for sale, after twelve years in business. It's cheaper than other Pagan shops I've seen for sale (when Divine Light was on the market, the guy wanted $300,000 for a dilapidated building with no parking and merchandise I knew had been on the shelves for at least over a year), but it's still a pretty hefty purchase: $159,000 and then I would need to borrow more than that to stock the shelves again (they've been selling items without getting more inventory for awhile now so it's getting pretty empty). Aside from it having too narrow a scope, there were other issues with how the store was run: they didn't have a web-site to purchase items through, which could have bolstered the over-all income; they didn't hire employees, just expected coven members to volunteer their time running the store (meaning it was often closed when it should have been open), and they had stupid hours: Tues-Sat 12-6 meaning that if you actually worked, you'd be unlikely to be able to make it to the store before it closed so you could purchase anything unless you tried on a Sat....if they were open).
I've had a sound plan for running a store for several years: you can't just be a Witch store. Especially in a more rural community, you have to cater to many different paths so that if your local Buddhist (for example) can't get down to the Buddhist Center in the city, he can get some supplies through you. You also have to be willing on catering things you don't like (I'm not the biggest fan of the Christian religion, but I would certainly carry things for Gnostic Christians as they aren't likely to get things for their path at the local Christian Store). I would also incorporate "green living" supplies so that I could get revenue even fro people who have no spiritual persuasion but wish to help the planet (the closest shop for most green living supplies is about a half-hour drive).
One of the things that made the store great was that it was the local coven-stead (I'm not Wiccan and if I were I still probably wouldn't join a BFC coven, but they still need a place to meet) and held open circles for the community. The last one there will be Yule this Thursday. I would continue that, and the work-shops they used to have (though hopefully with more than just Silver, who was their go-to "expert" for obvious reasons).
But the first thing is figuring out how to secure a loan, having no collateral (I rent, my car is a 13 year old near POS). My friend in Alaska thinks I may be able to incorporate the store and get a corporate loan using the store itself as collateral, but with the current loaning market, I'm not sure even that would work.
It feels like the dream is so close to reality that my fingers are just about to touch it...and keep missing...which is somehow worse than having it be so far away and nearly unattainable.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
I've wanted to be a Witch since I was a little girl (I used to copy down spells from movies, such as "Tragoona Mekoidies Trecorum Satis Di!"). It's a dream that came true once I found out you actually COULD be a Witch.
The second dream came from my first trip to Salem, I went into a real Witch shop (I actually found out about Wicca at the store, getting a copy of Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner...my mother actually bought it for me thinking it was some book on the history of Witchcraft...I think she rues the day now). Since then, I've wanted to have my own store and once I learned they could exist outside of Salem, so much the better (I love visiting Salem, but I doubt I would enjoy living there due to the tourism).
There's a pretty good shop in the area (I say pretty good because they have too narrow a focus and are a little bit fluffy...most of the books they carry are by Silver Ravenwolf but I guess that's understandable because its run by a Black Forest Clan Coven); however, the owner lives an hour away and does not feel like running it anymore. She tried giving managerial duties to someone else, but they nearly ran it into the ground in less than a year. So the store is up for sale, after twelve years in business. It's cheaper than other Pagan shops I've seen for sale (when Divine Light was on the market, the guy wanted $300,000 for a dilapidated building with no parking and merchandise I knew had been on the shelves for at least over a year), but it's still a pretty hefty purchase: $159,000 and then I would need to borrow more than that to stock the shelves again (they've been selling items without getting more inventory for awhile now so it's getting pretty empty). Aside from it having too narrow a scope, there were other issues with how the store was run: they didn't have a web-site to purchase items through, which could have bolstered the over-all income; they didn't hire employees, just expected coven members to volunteer their time running the store (meaning it was often closed when it should have been open), and they had stupid hours: Tues-Sat 12-6 meaning that if you actually worked, you'd be unlikely to be able to make it to the store before it closed so you could purchase anything unless you tried on a Sat....if they were open).
I've had a sound plan for running a store for several years: you can't just be a Witch store. Especially in a more rural community, you have to cater to many different paths so that if your local Buddhist (for example) can't get down to the Buddhist Center in the city, he can get some supplies through you. You also have to be willing on catering things you don't like (I'm not the biggest fan of the Christian religion, but I would certainly carry things for Gnostic Christians as they aren't likely to get things for their path at the local Christian Store). I would also incorporate "green living" supplies so that I could get revenue even fro people who have no spiritual persuasion but wish to help the planet (the closest shop for most green living supplies is about a half-hour drive).
One of the things that made the store great was that it was the local coven-stead (I'm not Wiccan and if I were I still probably wouldn't join a BFC coven, but they still need a place to meet) and held open circles for the community. The last one there will be Yule this Thursday. I would continue that, and the work-shops they used to have (though hopefully with more than just Silver, who was their go-to "expert" for obvious reasons).
But the first thing is figuring out how to secure a loan, having no collateral (I rent, my car is a 13 year old near POS). My friend in Alaska thinks I may be able to incorporate the store and get a corporate loan using the store itself as collateral, but with the current loaning market, I'm not sure even that would work.
It feels like the dream is so close to reality that my fingers are just about to touch it...and keep missing...which is somehow worse than having it be so far away and nearly unattainable.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Periodically, I look at the Elements *G*
BellaDonna here.
So, I thought of something silly today:
Water is composed of hydrogen (a highly flammable gas) and oxygen (also, a highly flammable gas), somehow when two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom form a molecule....it becomes something with which we can put out fires....I just find it mildly amusing.
That's all for now.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
So, I thought of something silly today:
Water is composed of hydrogen (a highly flammable gas) and oxygen (also, a highly flammable gas), somehow when two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom form a molecule....it becomes something with which we can put out fires....I just find it mildly amusing.
That's all for now.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Friday, November 25, 2011
Words
The word of the day is invalid.
adjective
However, pronounced differently, it becomes:
adjective
1.
2.
3. void or without legal force, as a contractdeficient in substance or cogency; weak.
However, pronounced differently, it becomes:
noun
1.
an infirm or sickly person.
2.
a person who is too sick or weak to care for himself or herself: My father was an invalid the last ten years of his life.
3.
Archaic . a member of the armed forces disabled for active service.
This would insinuate that an invalid is an invalid human being. Would you think they are? It's a little harsh, but one of the nine noble virtues of Asatru is self-reliance; an invalid certainly cannot be self-reliant. By the very definition, they are reliant on someone else for their care. In ancient societies, having an invalid to care for may have been a such a liability that no amount of love or compassion could overcome it. If the choice was to feed your child or your dying grandmother, you'd want to give the food to the one most likely to survive. We like to think we no longer have to make such rough choices, so we leave it up to charities and the government. Barnabus has been fighting for disability for 5 years, he has almost no cartilage in his right knee and is too young for a knee replacement (this means it is too painful for him to be able to even sit in one place for more than three hours without needing to lay down to stretch out his leg and his pain medicine makes him space-out; this means he cannot work). Now, due to relying on his cane, his right arm is becoming damaged, making him even less capable of work (or even helping out around the house). It's hard.
At least in modern society, he's not an invalid human being...well...until the Zombie Apocalypse, I think he would agree that his usefulness then might best be as a strategist...until the stronger are forced to leave him as a tasty distraction...
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Been a While
Sorry, sorry sorry.
Oh yeah, this is BellaDonna, by the way.
First, our interwebs went bye bye, then I got a new job...working all day at a computer screen (this always impacts how much I write.. I need to remind Barnabus that he can write entries too.)
Anyway, since I left you last, two more articles have come and gone on Witchvox. One on Samhain (my goal is to write a series on the holidays...best get crackin' on Yule) and one on my experiences as a fluff-butt wacko in my early Pagan days.
I have more articles pending on Witchvox. Man, I seem to ruffle feathers...which is a good thing. I like making people think.
I would like to also acknowledge our two new followers, thank you for following us!
I have one article started on the use of modern technology in a ritual setting (why its useful and why you still might not want to use it...this one is proving harder than I thought because I can't seem to think of any modern technology I would use in ritual beyond an electronic music player) and one almost finished on The Elements (needs polished and citations need added, and it needs a good conclusion). I suppose I should polish my elements paper and work on researching Yule.
As for my craft, I am currently working on runes, I used to know them a good deal better than I do now, but lack of use makes one forget (like my German, I can remember the word for ball-point pen, but not for fork); and I am working on a mini-course for Traditional Witchcraft. I'll probably get the full course once Yule is past, money always gets tight this time of year. I am putting in real effort to DO THE STUFF, something I wimped out on in the past.
Anyway, guess I've rambled long enough.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Oh yeah, this is BellaDonna, by the way.
First, our interwebs went bye bye, then I got a new job...working all day at a computer screen (this always impacts how much I write.. I need to remind Barnabus that he can write entries too.)
Anyway, since I left you last, two more articles have come and gone on Witchvox. One on Samhain (my goal is to write a series on the holidays...best get crackin' on Yule) and one on my experiences as a fluff-butt wacko in my early Pagan days.
I have more articles pending on Witchvox. Man, I seem to ruffle feathers...which is a good thing. I like making people think.
I would like to also acknowledge our two new followers, thank you for following us!
I have one article started on the use of modern technology in a ritual setting (why its useful and why you still might not want to use it...this one is proving harder than I thought because I can't seem to think of any modern technology I would use in ritual beyond an electronic music player) and one almost finished on The Elements (needs polished and citations need added, and it needs a good conclusion). I suppose I should polish my elements paper and work on researching Yule.
As for my craft, I am currently working on runes, I used to know them a good deal better than I do now, but lack of use makes one forget (like my German, I can remember the word for ball-point pen, but not for fork); and I am working on a mini-course for Traditional Witchcraft. I'll probably get the full course once Yule is past, money always gets tight this time of year. I am putting in real effort to DO THE STUFF, something I wimped out on in the past.
Anyway, guess I've rambled long enough.
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
New Week, Another Article
BellaDonna Saberhagen here.
Check out witchvox for my latest article. I have two more pending and am working on another, though that one I seem to have having a hard time organizing. I hope it won't come off as being all-over-the place, but I'm having trouble elucidating my opinion. Maybe I will bring it up to one of my friends tonight, get another opinion on it.
Had an interview today, another comes tomorrow. Still hoping to here back on the one I had last week.
Anyway....not much else to say here...maybe I should work a bit on my fiction pieces for now
Maybe one of these days Barnabus will have some input...
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Check out witchvox for my latest article. I have two more pending and am working on another, though that one I seem to have having a hard time organizing. I hope it won't come off as being all-over-the place, but I'm having trouble elucidating my opinion. Maybe I will bring it up to one of my friends tonight, get another opinion on it.
Had an interview today, another comes tomorrow. Still hoping to here back on the one I had last week.
Anyway....not much else to say here...maybe I should work a bit on my fiction pieces for now
Maybe one of these days Barnabus will have some input...
May you be blessed by whichever gods you fancy,
BellaDonna Saberhagen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)