Drudry Homework Lessons 17, 18 & 19

Lesson 17:

Triads:

New Knowledge: Awareness of the void. Filling the awareness. Sharing the fullness.

Balance of Life: Wanting what can not be, Searching for what is, Acceptance of what can be.

Pathways: The path not taken, the path taken, the fork in the road where they are one.

Lesson 18:

Download calendar from: http://technovate.org/web/coligny.htm

Did that.  It does not run on my version of Windows.  ( 64 bit I think Windows 7 - whatever was being sold about 1 year ago before 8 )   So I've gone ahead and used the Gregorian equivalents (as the two - Gregorian and Lunar Solar are 'close enough' modulo the 22 ish solstices / equinox adjustments).   

Find if more pivotal dates in your life are more "Mat" (good) or "Anm" (bad)

Mat: Jan Mar May July Sept Nov Ciallos (Intercalanary)

Anm: Feb Apr June Aug Oct Dec

Birthdays: Me, Spouse - Early January (Cold time)

We are both calm cool collected folks.

Proposal & Marriage: Feb & Aug (Stay home and Claim time)

Well if proposal of marriage isn't 'stay at home' I don't know what is!  And a vow by one is a claim by the other.

Children: Nov 22, May 25 (Seed fall, Shoots-show)

The Nov. date is close to a month end, so ought to be more carefully matched to an exact Celtic Lunar calendar, but assuming it ends up in November:  Surprising 'connection'.   Son who is "seed fall' time and Daughter who is "shoots show".  Golly.  Talk about a 'sprout'!

Lesson 19: Didn't see any 'homework' assigned.

Did play with the visioning and foretelling processes.  Not sure I've got it working yet.

So there's my homework.  At this point I think I've completed everything and sent it all in.

Several times in the lessons there is a request to participate in the forum.  Today I went back through every lesson and could not find where you state:  "The URL for the form is:.....  "

I would suggest just adding a link to the right forum topic as a way to increase participation.  Also appending a 'how to create an account / login' to one of the lessons would help too.  Make it easy, more folks will do it; far fewer will be frustrated hunting through dozens of pages of topics and links...

And you will get less homework assignments in your mail box.

Thanks for everything.

Edward Michael Smith  

ULC ordained and D.D. about 1973 at Davis California.

(Planning to start the Ph.D about March)

Wicca lesson 20 (comments)

Paganism: it is not completely accurate to say that paganism refers to all non-Christian religions (you include Judaism and Islam in the list). Paganism refers generally to polytheistic and non-revealed indigenous religions. Judaism and Islam, while non-Christian, would never be referred to as pagan as these religions are monotheistic. I would also hesitate to called Buddhism pagan, because, while in some variants it is polytheistic (in appearance at least), it is nonetheless a revealed religion with a specific founder. On the other hand, Shinto, Hinduism, animism and Native American religions can all be classed as pagan. Satan: The confusion of Satan with certain pagan deities is not a coincidence. There is no Biblical description of Satan having horns, tail, wings, etc. The idea that Satan looks this way comes from medieval Christian artists who based Satan on Pan and other pagan deities -- which went along well with the Church's policy of demonizing paganism. J.P.A.

Wiccan Studies, Lesson 14 (comment)

"Keep in mind that we are really dealing with three separate sets of mythology here, Irish, Celtic and Gaulish" It's inaccurate to include "Celtic" alongside "Irish" and "Gaulish", because Celtic applies to them all. Both Irish and Gaulish (as well as Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Breton, etc.) come under the umbrella of "Celtic". Thus, Irish mythology is automatically Celtic, in the same way that Catholicism is Christian. Therefore I'm not sure what the author meant here. J.P.A.

Consequences - Lesson 2

The consequences aspect of this course for this lesson was actually quite interesting. It was a good reminder of everything that we doing life has a positive and negative side to to it. I enjoyed doing the assignment as it basically made me step back and analyze every decision that I make. It gave me insight when I analyzed everything that I do and see how my actions, decisions and what say and spells that I cast can affect me and the people and environment around me.



Ryan L. Davis, LMBT

Wiccan Studies lesson 11 (comments)

I believe that the John Barleycorn figure is associated with Lammas, not Mabon. As Lammas is the grain harvest (and Lammas comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word for "loaves") this makes sense: the grain deity is sacrificed so that we may live (very ancient imagery of a deity sacrificed for the people -- obvious influence on Christian imagery). J.P.A.

Wiccan Studies lesson 10 (comments)

Just a few comments on a few inaccuracies in this lesson: The lesson says that Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon are the Celtic names for these holidays and that they are called "Cross Quarter" days: "The Celtic names for these holidays are Yule (Midwinter, Dec 21), Ostara (Spring equinox, March 21), Litha (Midsummer, June 21) and Mabon (Autumn Equinox, September 21). These are also known as the 'Cross Quarters' collectively" Actually, the names mentioned above are in fact of Germanic (Anglo-Saxon, German, Scandinavian, etc.), not Celtic origin. In fact "Yule" is still the word for Christmas in Scandinavia. Ostara is derived from the Germanic goddess of Spring. Litha is also a Germanic word. Of these four, only Mabon is of Celtic origin. The names of the other four holidays, however, (Imbolg, Beltaine, Lammas and Samhain) are indeed Celtic words. Also, the "cross quarter" days are not Yule, Ostara, etc, but Imbolg, Beltaine, Lammas and Samhain. The solstices and equinoxes are "quarters" and those coming midway between them are "cross quarters". This is not just according to one authority, as the text suggests, but is generally accepted. In general it is a bit misleading to suggest that all the holidays of the Wheel of the Year are purely Celtic. It's more accurate to think of it as a blending of Celtic and Germanic traditions. This is certainly particularly plausible if we recall that it was in the British Isles that Celtic culture (the Welsh, Gaelic peoples, ancient Britons) mixed with Germanic culture (the Angles, Saxons, and Danes [Vikings] who invaded and settled in Britain). J.P.A.