I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I'm getting the stuff together to make myself a set of runes.

Last year, our landlord chopped down four of the five sycamore trees which lived at the end of our garden. Since then, I've had the idea of using the old wood for something. One of the branches is just the right size to cut up and make into runes, so despite my incompetence with any handicraft things like woodwork, I'm going to use it to make my runes.

Well, I looked up what significance sycamores have in witchcraft and I came up with this:




The Goddess Hathor


Sycamores were sacred to hathor and she is variously known as "Lady of the sycamore", The Eye Of Re", "Lady of the West", "The Mistress of Heaven", "The Lady of the Stars"

She is known as the Goddess of Sexual Love and has these poems which were used in worship:

I built a house for the Goddess,
Made of the wood of the sycamore tree.

Under the leaves of the palm tree,
I eat bread in honour of her.

Hathor, Hawk of the Sky,
Rest in the limbs of my tree.

Hathor, House of the Sun,
Live in my house forever.
(Egyptian Book of the Dead)

Mistress of pleasure, ruler of joy,
Ruler of flowers, queen of senses,
Queen of dance, mistress of music,
Mistress of choirs, ruler of song,
Ruler of ecstasy, queen of flirtation,
Queen of the harp, lady of music,
You, O Hathor! Intoxication!
Intoxication? O Hathor! You!
(Egyptian Prayer)

So basically, rather impressive. I shall make sure I bless the branch in Hathor's name before I start work.

It's Charlie's Birthday tomorrow and here's her favourite present so far. A bloody massive crystal ball!

I'm getting bored with the new look. Might do some tinkering later...

I'm getting a lot of click-throughs from Google.

Stay awhile guys, have a look around. You might even like it!

Bit quiet lately. Been a little busy and exhausted on the home front these past few days. I'll try and catch up with things tonight while I wait up for the Enterprise season finale to come in.

More comments on Rae Beth's book coming up. It's really talking to me now, plenty to talk about and think through.

And I've done away with the titles for a while, to see what looks best.

Postulating a oneness

A chat I had on MSN yesterday got me thinking.

We were talking about relationships with God. I've been studying - formally and informally - theology for at least 17 years now, and one of the things I've spent a lot of time mulling over is the nature of our relationship or interaction with the Divine.

The Bible talks about having a personal relationship with God. Prayer is our hotline to Him. We don't need the heirarchy of a church governing council dictating our every action and thought. If you believe such things, then God gave us autonomy for a very good reason - we must be allowed to make our own way, have our own minds and shape our own destiny apart from the hand of God so that our decision to turn to Him and have faith in Him is valid. Any coercive action on the part of God would mean that we would become nothing more than His puppets, the choice would not be ours and the practise of our faith becomes invalid.

One of the reasons I left the church at the age of 19 was because I saw a very marked swing away from this line of thinking. I became more aware of the Minister's and the Deacon's controlling influence over the congregation. Also there seemed to be a trend whereby the acceptance of the trinity as one was being challenged, to the point where I actually heard someone being corrected for saying "God" instead of "Jesus".

I always believed in a less structured form of belief. A more personal, private form of worship. The young people of the church, myself included were taken to see a performing troupe of evangelists one Sunday. The show was quite entertaining and funny in parts. At the end there was the usual evangelical speil, and as we stood to pray to the sound of "Amazing Grace", I felt the strangest shock, like a little lightning bolt from the top of my head all the way to my toes. As the buzz thrilled down my spine, I knew what was happening instinctively. A thought that wasn't mine entered my head, three simple words: "I want you".

"Not yet" I replied, "There's things I need to do first."

The feeling left me. I swayed a little but managed to remain in control. Since that day I've gone over the event a million times. It's greatly influenced my faith in the Divine and my attitude towards formal, structured religion. I know now that you don't need to be anyone special for Divinity to communicate with you, that you don't need the intercession of a Minister, Bishop, Pastor or any other such "holy person" on your behalf. That short conversation has left me with a first hand knowledge of just how intimately God is involved with my - with everyone's - life.

I know now, better than I ever could have before it happened, that Divinity is all around us, in everything you do and see.

How does this tie in with my Paganism? It's very simple.

I know there is a God. At the time, God was the only word I had for the Divine, and it remains the title I'm most comfortable with. Church does that to you. I know, however that the christianity practised today is wrong for me. It is not a belief system I can be comfortable in, it doesn't allow it's followers to praise or worship as I want to. it makes the act of worship something separate, something special and distinctly apart from your daily life.

I knwo this isn't so. I know this isn't right. Every minute of every day you are in contact with God, you are surrounded by Divinity constantly. There fore we have no need to set aside times of day, or perform special actions or rituals in order to communicate with It. Your relationship with God can be as informal and as natural as talking to someone on the phone, or talking to yourself, or muling somethng over in your head.

This is why I'd make a lousy Wiccan. The Wiccan faith concentrates to a greter extent on Ritual and consecration. This is not for me.

The More I read of Rae Beth's book, however, the more i see how compatible that path is for me. It's not like it's some great revelation want to subscribe myself to straight away, it's more like she's describing the way I've felt and thougth about things for a long long time.

I'm not "going to be" a hedgewitch, I've been a hedgewitch for a long time but didn't know that's what it was called.

USS Enterprise finally flies!

From This report on Slashdot:

Model builder Kaname of Kumamoto, Japan has built a flying radio controlled model of the original Star Trek's USS Enterprise.

There's even a rather cool 4Mb MPG video of it flying!

Enterprise!

The Tuesday pre-air wildfeed's back. It doesn't hit the TV till 8pm Central US time, so if you use the Bittorrent link below, and you've got a fast enough connection, you can watch it a good few hours before that.

Damn sure I will be!

Things are looking good for a pre-empting of the Finale next week.

And UPN are due to confirm Enterprise's renewal for Season 4 tomorrow.

Next week we have the "24" finale. The final ever "Angel" is on tonight. "Dead Like Me" starts in a month or so's time, thank god "Friends" is finally over, the "Frasier" finale rocked and I've got a "Controversial" episode of The Simpsons to watch.

Oh and Big Brother 5 starts next Friday.

yes, I am being a little TV-focussed right now.

Memories

I remember being about 14-15 and being able to concentrae on my girlfriend and being abble to tell what she was doing, where she was, what she was thinking.

I used to hear voices just as i was dropping off to sleep, recognisable as people I know, calling me, or at least speaking my name.

I used to think nothing of these things - a nice trick, or my dabbling with Sherlock Holmes' "Deductive Reasoning" paying off.

But reading through "Hedge Witch's Way" makes me wonder. Rae Beth says: "What makes a Hedge Witch...? An ability to sense the spirit in things...simply to feel that they are there, along with a strong sense of all psychic atmospheres...The authentic Hedge Witch can feel the effect psychically, because they have a fey spirit. So they live in more than one dimension: within the mortal world, yet with an awareness of psychic energy fields and the links between these and life."

I've always had this romantic notion tht there was something slightly psychic about some of the tings I've done or been aware of. I once felt a very obvious energy field coming off a table full of crystals.

Now I have a kind of aim. I'm going to try - at some point - to meditate or do some relaxation techniques in order to try and get that telepathic/clairvoyant feeling back again.

Welcome Back Summer

Sarehole Mill in Birmingham is said to be one of JRR Tolkien's greatest influences. This weekend Sarehole Mill stages a celebration of the author's life with swordfight demonstrations, a saxon village exhibition, archery range, horse rides and other attractions.

We went for a while yesterday, and despite it being far too hot for Charlie, we had a lovely time.

To see pictures and a video of our visit, look here. It's my experimental website so it looks pretty horrible, but the stuff's there now and I don't feel like moving it.

We're in the garden today, getting soaked.

Six weeks to our holiday!

Labels

I just worked out why I've been out of sorts lately, why I've been questioning and wondering about what I'm doing, why I'm trying to get involved with the Pagan community around here.

I'm trying to do something I've always avoided, I'm looking to pin my colours to the mast, to stand up and be counted as a part of something. That's something I've avoided for a long time. I never wanted to have a label. I'm not comfortable standing up and saying "I am a..." whatever.

You see, I was forgetting the thing that defines me, that, in one way or another sets me truly apart from most people. I was reminded of it when I read a thread on the Paganbrum forum.

I'm happy with who, with what I am. I've come to terms with my faults, my hipocrisy and my contradictions. I'm comfortable in my soul. I like me.

So what am I? A dabbler. The Listener. An leader, an organiser and a doer. I cope, I achieve. I see good when all is bad. I'm calm in a crisis because I know it's within my capabilities. My greatest asset, the thing I'm most proud of, which led me to this point in my life, with so much to be proud of, when I've reached a balance inside myself, is my mind. It's mine and I choose to use it.

Those people I meet, those I will tell my thoughts, aims, goals and ambitions will give me labels. They may call me Hedgewitch, Novice, Dabbler, Pagan, Solitary, weirdo, timewaster. That's their choice. They decide to label me the way they see fit. It has no effect on the truth. The truth being that there is only one label that fits me, only one banner my colours are nailed to.

I am me.

Robin Lithaborn

On reflection, I feel I may have been a little hasty in calling this my "Craft Name". Makes an excellent descriptive online alias when "Hedgewitch" feels too generic though.

I've been reading through the message boards at Paganbrum.co.uk (link's in the Blogroll) and there seems to be a general sense that a person's Craft Name is something personal and secret to be shared between the practitioner, coven and the Sprits. Never having been in that situation, I can only bow to their greater experience.

As a solitary "novice", I have thoughts of my own on the subject:

Names, those private titles we share with the Divine, have a certain power. Knowing the name of someone gives you a powerful sense of familiarity and responsibility to that person or entity. A name is a special thing you only give out to those who really deserve to know it.

It's also been said that certain practises and titles help to set the Witch apart from the world around them and helps prepare them for the Pathworking or Spellworking they are to embark on.

Fair enough. My feelings - and these are only my particular feelings on the subject and not a judgement on the way others practise their Craft - are somewhat different, or at least similar, but from a different angle.

I hold the world around us as being a vessel for the Divine, each thing, animal mineral or vegetable contains an element of Deity within it. When I want to commune with the Divine, the last thing I feel like doing is shutting part of that Divinity out of the conversation. I embrace the World as my temple and Deity. As a result, I don't feel I'd be doing the right thing to alter the conditions or settings when I want to conduct a ritual, celebrate a Sabbat or Esbat or meditate on a subject.

I'm fascinated by how much or how validly one can integrate Pagan practises into one's daily life: For example, I hadn't gathered the materials I wanted to build an Altar at Samhain last year, so instead, we carved a pumpkin together and I made a display of candles and Pagan-themed objects on the mantel and kept it there (minus the pumpkin after a week or so) until Imbolc, when I swapped the display for fresh flowers, pot plants and blossom scented incense. I'd look at these displays, light the tealights and big candles and sit thinking about the meaning of the festival it was supposed to represent.

As happens in an imperfect house, the mantel now is a little cluttered, but I've reserved a shelf in our living room for our Pagan supplies - Tarot Deck, Divination cards, books on interesting subjects and a symbol of each of the elements. This kind of thing appeals to my distrust of formality and ritual.

Call it a crisis of faith, but the longer I go without finding like-minded people, the more I find myself questioning whether I should be using the title of Hedgewitch, even though it's the one I find most comfortable using.

Roots

Had a think this morning and I came up with this as my first exposure to the Celtic/Pagan world.

Slaine Mac Roth of the Tuatha De Danaan, first High King of Ireland and Defender of the Earth Goddess Danu.

And an excellent Pat Mills cartoon series!

So here I am, 21 years later, still learning.

Been Shopping

The Hedge Witch's Way Rae Beth

Quite an interesting read. Only a chapter into it so far, but so far it's quite engaging and informative. A few of the Pagan/Witchcraft websites in my links cite this book as reccommended reading, so let's see how it goes.

My new toy

A Calimba

Thanks to the good people at Shared Earth in Birmingham City Centre. The sound it makes is simply enchanting. I've been after one for months now. Bethan can get a decent tune out of it too!

Robin Goodfellow

Some information on Puck

(By the way, this is my 100th post! Woo me!)

Craft Name

I've been spending the last couple of days variously pulling my hair out, dealing with revelations from in-laws and reading and thinking about my attraction to Paganism, Witchcraft and particularly my "right" to use the title "Hedgewitch", trying to discover what that path entails, or what I've signed up for by calling myself such.

Basically, I've been trying - well - not so much to validate myself, but to discover whether or not I'm still making the right choices and not kidding myself.

I've discovered a few things on my travels through books like Kate West's "Real Witches Handbook" and various websites.

Something that comes across is that most practitioners prefer to use copious tools, such as the long, black handled knife (the Athame) and a wand, pentograms, altars, and the like. They mark the Sabbats (solstices and quarter-days) and Esbats (Full moons) with rituals of varying intricacy.

The problem I have with this practice, and full-on public displays of worship or ritual is that after fourteen years in Church, my immediate reaction to formal worship is to pretty much balk at it and reject any kind of structured religious practise.

I know where the problem stems from. In church, I saw hypocrisy disguised and glossed over with ritual and dogma. I withdrew to a place inside myself in order to explore my faith - I turned to books and courses in order to investigate the deeper meaning of the verses and theology I was being taught. And I found the Church sorely lacking. It didn't fulfill my spiritual needs. I was pretty confident that whatever spirituality I felt would never be fulfilled under the auspices of the Christian God - although my personal understanding of Deity revolves around the Judeo-Christian definition to this day.

The problem is that anything I associate with religious practise, I tend to reject as a symbol of a past life which didn't suit me and didn't answer my needs or address my beliefs.

So I don't think you'll be seeing me at a Midsummer Moot.

So how do I practise my Hedgewitchery? Well, for me it's a far more cerebral journey. I read and I think and I discuss. I visit calming, blessed, sacred places and take in the atmosphere. I immerse myself in the nature around me and take care to get as much fresh air as is practical. I adore filling the house with natural light and flinging the doors and windows open. Thrilling in a thnderstorm, but not much fun when living with a recluse that would happily live on artificial light alone! As I said before, the first thing I did with my wonderfully private flat was to rip doors and curtains down.

I brew herbal teas, cook and bathe with natural ingredients and try to recycle where I can (shorthand for not wanting to throw anything away!). I don't meditate through trance-like alteration of conscience, but rather I spend days at a time working through reference material and concentrated thought until I come to a decision regarding the subject I'm concentrating on. Rather a prosaic way of tding things, but one which suits me and which fits around my lifestyle, where quiet, private time is at a premium and interruptions are frequent.

I do intend to construct a small kit I could use as an alter eventually - a cloth - probaby one with a pentogram as focus of the design - a joss-stick to represent air, a pebble for earth, candles to represent the God and Goddess and to represent fire (The deity candles standing in candlesticks - sun & moon design perhaps - and a tealight for the elemental fire), a seashell to represent water. I'll need a box to keep them in, wooden of course. For a wand, I'll use my hand!

I've been looking at Craft names - some people use these to distance them from their regular life when performing their rituals or mixing with other Witches/Pagans. As I'm not keen on my name, this has quite interested to me, and I've been awaiting inspiriation regarding one I could use. I've used the phrase Litha-Born before, as my birthday is only a week away from the summer solstice, the Litha festival. Something I looked up today has decided me on the completion of my Craft Name. One of my favourite Shakespearean charcters is Puck, spirit ofthe woods in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck is also known as Robin Goodfellow. In folklore, Puck, Robin Goodfellow is associated with Pan, who was the son of Mercury, messenger of the Gods and the planet associated with my birthsign, Gemini.

So, if you should ever meet me at a Pagan Moot or at an Open Ritual, don't be surprised if I introduce myself as Robin Lithaborn...

It even feels natural to type it! Excellent!

New Look Blogger

Woo! Like it!

Dividers

Hard to miss the dividers between posts, isn't it?

They come from a free selection of very nice clipart on pagan artist Cari Buziac's site

I might add a few more bits of her clipart to the site. It's definitely inspiring.

BNP councillors set a shining example

Sarcasm, by the way.

This article, a bit of a long one, details the abysmal and completely expected behavour of the BNP's new wave of political representatives on Local Councils.

You'd have to go far to find a more contemptuous bunch of tossers.

Brilliant Pagan website

Paganbrum. Loads of good articles, pics & links about witchcraft and pagan groups and resources in Birmingham. Gold dust.

There's a few craft fairs and interesting days coming up, so you can probably expect some pics and posts about them in good time.

Gotta rush, time for shopping.

My favourite Politician

Boris Johnson




The man defines the word "Buffoon" and he's just been given a frontbench job as Shadow Minister for the Arts. Me, I think it was misheard.

"Boris, you're an arse" Vs "Boris, you've got Arts"

Easily done...

Yahoo Chat

Haven't bothered with Yahoo Messenger for ages, but I've just downloaded Trillian and figured I'd get myself a new ID and stick the Status icon on the site. Just for the hell of it really.

Busy day today, gotta rearrange the kitchen furniture to make way for the new fridge.

More later.

Green Energy

I've been fascinated by environmentally friendly living for a few years now. I'd love to make the house as eco-friendly as possible. From looking around the web, I've discovered that it's possible to use solar power and a wind turbine to generate all the electricity you'd need, and of course, we could get a water butt to conserve rainwater for feeding plants and flushing toilets and so-forth.

I used to have a link to a website which detailed all the steps you'd need to switch your electricity supply over from the National Grid to solar/wind power but it's gone missing. Basically the costs involved were astronomical. I think we worked out that it would take about 20 years for an autonomous system to start saving us money!

The one thing I think we could possibly do is get a tankless water boiler. This is basically a box on the wall which only heats the water as and when you need it, saving a load of space in the house and cutting down the cost of running a fuel-guzzling immersion heater. If the boiler ever breaks down and needs replacing, I might suggest it to the landlord - probably have to offer to pay for it, but it'd be worth it.

I've always said that if we ever win the Lottery, I'd get us an eco-friendly house built, or convert one. I'd love to live in a Roman Villa, or even a Hobbit Hole! I'd love to buy something like two acres of land and create an artificial hill with our comfy cosy hobbit hole running underneath it! I can't draw for the life of me, but one thing I've done from an early age is very roughly sketch my dream home. I once toyed with the idea of a house built into the side of a cliff - the very idea of having gigantic full length windows which looked directly out over the sea! The majesty! Oh just imagine the view!

Most of the houses I designed were underground, which is odd considering my adoration of natural light. When I lived in a flat in the City Centre, one of the first things I did (mainly thanks to being on the 6th floor and pretty much completely private) was take down all the window coverings, and the bedroom door, replacing the door with a long blanket and leaving the windows, which were satisfyingly large, naked.

The flat was east-facing, so only really got the evening light, but what light it got was excellent - and it was entrancing to watch a storm arriving. We once had a huge thunderstorm whil I was living there. I spent the whole storm standing mesmerised on the balcony, just revelling in the incredible light show!

The three years I spent there were my halcyon years. The summers were balmy, the winters were cosy, my life was ful of friends, pubs and clubs. I took my first solo holiday - to the Phoenix Festival in 1996 to see David Bowie, Skunk Anansie, Cypress Hill, and best of all, The Sex Pistols! I had everything I wanted and nothing I didn't. I didn't even get a fridge or a cooker until six months before I moved out. I covered the walls with posters or (in the bathroom) silly underwater-type doodles.

It was my batcheor pad and I miss it to this day. I went to see it demolished, which was spectacular and moving. If it wasn't for the fact of the vast dustcloud which enveloped us thirty seconds later, I may have shed a tear.

I miss those days, a simpler, freer life than the one I'm leading now. I suppose we all do at some point or other, we all look back at our formative years and reminisce about a time before kids, before responsibilities and duty tied us to a life we wouldn't have chosen otherwise.

One day I hope to get that freedom back. I just hope I'm not too old to enjoy it when it happens. Meanwhile, I'll just keep putting my two pounds a month on the Lottery and crossing my fingers.

Here's something I can relate to

A site you can find when googling for Hedgewitch. Apart from the personal history, this is pretty much what I believe too:

From Realm of the Hedgewitch

I was brought up a Christian, but as I grew older I started to feel uncomfortable with the restrictions that the clergy put on the faith. Everything was black and white to them. Good and evil, God and the Devil, an item and it's opposite with no middle ground and no room for discussion. Pray for your salvation or you will face an eternity of torment in Hell. When will they learn that Hell is not a place. The real Hell is to be removed from the sight of your God.

I have never understood why people should want to shut themselves away in a church to pray and give thanks. When they look upwards they see only the roof that man has created but if they were to stand outside and look upwards then they would see what the Goddess has created. Still, it is their choice and if that is how they choose to worship then so be it.

I remember asking as a child if animals go to heaven and being told that they have no spirits and only people go to heaven. Even at that young age I knew that all living things had a spirit.

Many of the 'Tree Spirits' that I have met on my journey have become old friends and visit me often and have been of comfort to me in my times of trouble.

I also seem to get "feelings" about places as well. They come to me as emotions such as happiness, sorrow and loneliness etc. I know that some past event has caused the emotion that I am feeling, but as yet, I have not been able to visualise the past event in my minds eye. I know that one day I will see it because it is there waiting for me. I only have to open my mind a little more for it to enter.

There's a little more on that page, but otherwise the Site's been shut down. Bit of a shame.

Unitarian Universalism

Aha! No wonder I hadn't heard of it! An American association!

This seems to be their main website.

Seems to be an "everything to everyman" kind of organisation. Not something that would appeal to me. I can imagine quite an emphasis on individuality, to the point of looking down upon any form of conformity.

Institutionalised individuality! Only in America!

What Faith are you?

Beliefnet has a good quiz with some interesting wuestions on it, which spits out a list of the Faiths/Religions which best suit your answers.

Here's mine (in order of compatibility by percentage):
1. Liberal Quakers (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (98%)
3. Reform Judaism (88%)
4. Neo-Pagan (88%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (80%)
6. New Age (79%)
7. Mahayana Buddhism (79%)
8. Secular Humanism (74%)
9. Bahá'í Faith (69%)
10. New Thought (66%)
11. Taoism (65%)
12. Theravada Buddhism (65%)
13. Jainism (64%)
14. Sikhism (61%)
15. Orthodox Quaker (56%)
16. Scientology (53%)
17. Orthodox Judaism (52%)
18. Hinduism (50%)
19. Nontheist (48%)
20. Islam (44%)
21. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (38%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (26%)
24. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (25%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (17%)
26. Roman Catholic (17%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (6%)

_______

Now what's fascinating is how many shades of Paganism are in my top ten there. It's quite reassuring that Mormonism, which I simply cannot take seriously comes below Islam.

I have to admit, I know nothing about Unitarian Universalism, but it reeks of PC doublespeak for something which doesn't really need a label, in the same way as Secular Humanism can be summed up by the word "Atheist".

We are too ready to label things, to compartmentalise and segregate. This is what draws me to Paganism - the freedom of spirit, the emphasis on personal choice, on being expected to decide your own path.

A friend of mine made me laugh like a drain recently: She's rekindling her interest in witchcraft - she's already bought herself her cauldron, and is upset because she can't find a decent broomstick! What's more, she didn't have a clue about the importance of Deosil vs Widdershins, or the importance of marking the festival days. She's found herself an "open circle" of local witches to join with her highly catholic friend. Good luck to her I say. The only thing I've got to do is stop Charlie getting all self-righteous and condescending every time. She's not as comfortable with the "let them get on with it" approach. Unlike her, I can recognise it as a fad, and I can comfortably sit back and watch her make a pigs ear of things. In a month's time, we'll phone up and ask how their coven's going and get told she's not bothered going because they did things all wrong. LOL!

I chose the pseudo-label of Hedgewitch because I feel naturally drawn to nature - as I've said before, I'd be happily settled if I lived in a cave or a wood hut somewhere. I watch things like "Meet the Ancestors" and "Time Team" as they investigate some iron-age site and reconstruct the mud and sticks dwellings and I'm filed with a sense of "home".

Maybe it's just a hankering for a simpler, less complex life - the only worries being where the next meal's coming from, keeping the fire going and avoiding usually ignorable but now possibly fatal illnesses like food poisoning.

The wilderness is definitely my natural environment. If I didn't live near as much greenery as I do, I'd go spare. The one time I have lived in the concrete centre of this sprawling metropolis, I got on a bus and searched for my own bit of greenness.

Umm

When I clicked on the Edit Blog link, I knew what I was going to write here, but it's gone now.

I think it was something about the Wiccan and Pagan websites I've been looking at this morning, but my mind's gone completely blank.

Oh well, I've been to some decent sites including College Wicca which has quite a good range of information and sources.

...Just found an interesting questionnaire, stay tuned for my results and a link...

Happy Beltane!

This weekend marks the Pagan celebration of Beltane.

One of the ways of marking this celebration of the coming summer season is to make love outdoors.

As it's freezing, raining and my IBS is playing up, we're going to give that a miss this year.

That's not to say the bedroom won't see some frenetic action once my belly's recovered however...

Teachers "Live in fear" of Pupils

This report on BBCi hints at some of the problems faced by British teachers these days.

It's a kind of bugbear of mine, as I wanted to be a teacher once, and still would love the chance to do it.

Teaching has become way too political though, and way too dangerous. Slowly, teachers have had so many rights stripped away from them, and have been so lumbered down with new work and the demands of an ever-changing syllabus, that they have lost control in the classroom. They ca no longer demand respect, or follow up a threat with effective action.

I'm not in favour of corporal punishment, but I do think teachers should be defended for making and acting on the decisions they make during class time. There are situations you can't legislate on, and a busy classroom is one of those situations.

I was given another example this week too. As my savings from my last job (the one with the Bitch Assistant Manager) have run out, and as we've got a holiday booked for the start of July, and as Charlie's CFS is bad again, I've had to sign on for benefits. Well part of the signing-on process now is a simple test - the reason for which (I was told) is to spot and offer assistance to the more incapable people.

I pointed out that this was perfectly obvious to the "Claimant Advisor" conducting the interview. My Advisor agreed. I also pointed out that it was thoroughly ridiculous. My Advisor emphatically agreed. I continued by predicting that this faddy waste of time and resources wouldn't last very long beofre being scrapped in favour of common bloody sense. You can guess the reaction to that one.

There is a disturbing, sly, quietly increasing tendency by government to control every aspect of our lives through more and more complex legislation and harebrained schemes like this. I don't tink, however that things would get better under another government - I think it's the trend of the moment, and the desire to have desperately accurate figures to turn into meaningless statistics so that someone in an ivory tower somewhere in Whitehall can look at them and work out exactly how many idiots it takes to change a lightbulb.

Odd thing to notice

My eyebrow hair grows incredibly long.

Stress

Been a bit busy today and yesterday - then thoroughly knackered at night, so not much time for blogging.

More tonight I think.

Or whenever I can get a moment between people shouting "Daddy!" or "Feed me!".

A bit odd

Every time I've clicked on my Favourites link to this page, I've been getting a search page instead - usually the thing I get when a page isn't found.

When I eventually got here, it looked like it had reverted to a look I was toying with on Thursday. Can't remember saving it though. Ah well, these things happen.

Well, I've had a fiddle with the page code and hopefully things are OK now.

Saturday Morning TV

Is not improving!