arethinn | (no subject)

A colourful bit of Scottish history/folklore/whatever related to the Campbells, which show up in my maternal genealogy at my fourth-great-grandmother (Margaret Campbell), descended from a "Black David" Campbell who lived in Ulster, and whose parents (if I've got it right) were the ones who went there from Scotland:

"When it comes to ancient curses, the best defence is a good offence. So, the next time you are in Inveraray, near Loch Fyne in north-west Scotland, which happens to be HQ for the Campbells, consider partaking in this quaint ancient custom. As you drive past their dour castle over a narrow bridge, you extend your hand towards it, with the forefinger and little finger extended and the middle fingers curled into the palm (the devil's horns sign). Then you say "buitseach" (a Gaelic curse) three-times and also spit between the fingers three times." (http://www.thetyee.ca/Views/2004/01/22/Living_With_the_Curse_of_the_Campbells/)

"Buitseach" apparently means "witch". This is meant to cause misfortune and is all on the account of a slaughter of some McDonalds by some Campbells in 1692 - but I find it, ah, rather interesting. I assume the connotation meant is just "foul" and "evil" and "Devil take you" as opposed to anything having literally to to with witchcraft (especially since the Campbells were Presbyterians at this point, if I have it right)... but still. Amusing.

I'm also rather interested in where "Black David" got his nickname...

Current Mood: curious

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===Ah, we may have some distant relation, then...seeing as my scottish blood comes from a Campbell-Forbes not to far back.

Well then I know there's a curse. ;)

This might sound odd to you, but trust me on this. Should you ever go to Scotland, do NOT admit to Campbell blood. There are people who will refuse to do business with you there if you do. I've heard of people being kicked out of taxicabs.

Yes, so I read in that same article ("We Do Not Serve Campbells" and such). Not that I have plans for travelling to Scotland...

Speaking as someone who lives in Scotland I think it's more of a joke (especially on tourists) about not serving Campbells than actually refusing to do so.

If you want more interesting folklore regarding Scottish Families, check on Clan Macgregor. Reference "The Children of the Mist" for a disheartening yet uplifting chapter in human history.

RA

PS: I can believe Rialian comes from cursed blood. When Katrina and friends crapflooded CR_R, Rialian was the first to believe the false lies and accusations made against me, namely the lie that I was responsible, without seeing even a shred of proof, (and indeed, there IS no proof, because I didn't do it) and he deleted me from his friends list.

Curses are not nearly as supernatural as most people think, in many cases- they are ways that human beings have of noticing and pointing out character flaws that appear with congruity in certain genetic lines- the same character flaws that lead to large tragedies for the community. I like to call them "Frailties".

Well, hello Little Owl, son of art. I don't believe we've met.

I'd rather a scene didn't start here.

Saying hello is starting a scene? *blink*

I wasn't starting anything Tass, merely a polite hello to another with Owl totem.

Judging his response, that's all it needs to be, and shall be left as such.

Where did you read that I had an "Owl totem"? Just curious. I do not mean this as any sort of attack. I don't know who you are, but if I was defensive towards you before, it was because you list "rialian" as friend on your journal and I didn't know you.

I see it in your eyes. I read it in between the lines of your fiction.

rialian is on my list because we have met as we live within driving distance of one another (he was intrigued by something I wrote and drove down to see me), I feel he needs to read what I have to say at times, I feel the need to keep abreast of what he is up to regarding gathers, and he has given me no personal dishonor which would cause me to drop him. I would not say that I truly know him well enough to call him friend, however.

Indeed. My sincere apologies then. I never thought he was a bad guy, I was just being ornery. The only thing he ever did to me was believe a massive pack of lies about me, without verifying the truth of it, of which there is none. Other than that, he never seemed a bad fellow- very political, he was, always posting political articles.

I take it you've seen our new website, after its redesign:

http://www.thecrookedheath.com/elder/hallpage.htm

I hope you get some use out of it. Do you have a website somewhere?

RA

Apology accepted. Shall we start again?

No, I do not currently have a web site of my own. For now, lj is sufficient for my purposes.

I shal read yours, however. Thank you.

Ah, now I see more clearly whence you come. My feeling about you was true then.

Read this book (http://www.nicholasdevere.com/), and you shall see that not all those you would label Alfar are dead, and why you surmise all Elves are only in storybooks (a lie the Catholic Church of Rome would perpetuate).

I don't believe that Elves are only storybooks. The people who are "Elfin Grey" are the dead, except that I don't believe in "dead" things in the pure sense of the word. The 'dead' are as alive as we, they exist in perpetuity within the void of the underworld, and the Underworld is at the heart of all "things" or conditions that we experience as human beings.

So, the Elfin people are (in the best animistic sense of the term) everywhere- but the condition that the mind has to be in to experience them is trickier. Extra-sensory reality is like that. Sometimes, special times of the year make perceptual "interstices" of time and space that overlap with the timeless; this time of the year is one such occurence, the Tinley-tide, Hallowmas, whatever you'd like to think of it as. I've been honored to meet the Pale People, those described (by the people I am honored to call teachers) as "Elfin Grey".

You may have other uses for the word "Elf"; I simply have my own way of experiencing it, and how I understand it. My researches, outside of tradition, have led me to the inescapable conclusion that the Alfar cult was a cult of the Dead- but bear in mind that no cult of the dead is a "mere" cult of the dead- the dead and the living are one community, twisted and spiralled through an eldritch, endless, and timeless reality, of which humans suffer a hard Fate and see a very small portion of.

The Elfin people are very much in the Land, and emerge at special loci as well- Large Oaks and Thorns are good examples.

I don't believe a word the Roman Catholic Church has to say.

RA

PS: I know the works of Mr. DeVere. You'll have to excuse me if I consider them to be fantasy without much credibility. It doesn't mean that I am bamboozled by some Catholic historical paradigm.

RA

I see it in your eyes. I read it in between the lines of your fiction.

IIRC he says it outright in a few places, but I may be mixing up actual website stuff with his open mentions of it on lists and such.

I'm kind of curious, since I see you don't read my other journal

treeofstars where I have been mumbling about this sort of thing recently, what you see in me (independent opinion, if you will, who hasn't seen what things I've been musing about, and other stuff that's in my head that I haven't put in text anywhere).

It sounded to me like you were being condescending ("little owl"). Sorry.

No, I was not intending that. He describes himself as son of the owl in his journal, so to my thinking, "little" meaning junior or "child of" is then an appropriate form of address.

My Fetch Beast was granted to me 10 days before my 23rd birthday; it appeared as an Owl; I believe, religiously, that my own ancestors in the Foretime were related to the power that has become differentiated now, in historical time, as an "owl". This belief is a very old one; reference the notion of "Dreamtime" among the Australian natives, for a good example. Humans and animals are more related than we think, on more levels than we can think. The power of the Owl is an otherworldly aspect of my own family; this is what the Puckril or Fetch-beast represents.

It doesn't mean that I am not a human, or that I am an owl stuck in a human body, nor that I am a vampire or anything like that- but spiritually speaking, it means that my own personal "fetch" or otherworldly self (Spirit, if you will) is related to the power we call "owl" now. It means we are family, in the deepest sense, and so the poetic moniker "Son".

Incidentally, if you want to see about the only book worth reading on Vampires, read "The Compleat Vampyre" by Nigel Jackson. That book I do believe, regarding what the "vampyre" means, and what it is.

You're right- we haven't met. That's because Owls and elves don't run in the same circles. Owls actually exist in the world, and elves are in storybooks, and in minds consumed by wishful thinking.

Of course, if you wish to discuss the Alfar, the subjects of the Alfablot, the spirits of the dead, that's fine; they are real. But the living and the dead don't usually meet. But you're in luck- I'm not the typical living person. I've found a few old ways of putting the living mind into a condition by which even what we call "the dead" may be experienced. But I don't think I'll have to go through that to talk to you- it seems that the miracle of Live Journal will be enough.

Owls actually exist in the world, and elves are in storybooks, and in minds consumed by wishful thinking.

Look, this is something else that isn't going to go over here. Surely you knew that I am in the same class as

ahril in terms of this (well actually we're quite different from one another, but it's irrelevant for this point), seeing as finding that out takes about 10 seconds of reading my website. If you didn't know, well, you do now. If you did know, then I seriously have to wonder what you think of me.

I apologize if I have offended you, or trod upon some idiosyncratic use of the word "Elf"- for me, Elves/Alfar are the spirits of the Dead. Living people that may use the term "Elf" to refer to themselves would have to be very... interesting... or, (and I'd hope that this would be the case) they'd have to be witches or mystics of some kind who are attempting to identify with the dead, in the way that the Hedge-crosser must if they wish to interact with the Underworld.

If there is something I am missing, please educate me, and I mean that sincerely. Again, sorry if I offended you.

Please. You are not ignorant of what "otherkin" are and what you think of them is not a secret (you explicitly say in the son_of_art list rules "Werewolves, Shape Changers, Vampires, and 'Otherkin' are not allowed here" because they are "steaming freaks"). You knew exactly what you were implying about

ahril when you said "elves are in storybooks, and in minds consumed by wishful thinking". There would have been no reason for you to pick "elves" specifically in contrast to "owls" unless you knew that this was the word she used for herself.

As for why such a statement annoyed me personally, as I said, if it's truly news to you that I am one of "them" as well, then I really don't know how you've managed to not come across this fact in the years that you've known me. I don't just out with it everywhere (e.g. son_of_art, for reasons that should be obvious) but neither is it hard to find out. If you did already know, then... then I don't know what to think.

If my comments about "Otherkin" have bothered you, then consider this: I have had very bad experiences with people claiming to be "shapeshifters" and "Otherkin". I can only go with what I know- but you have a sterling opportunity to "right" my opinion. If I've missed something, here is the best chance anyone will ever have to make me update my opinion, and even change those list rules. Teach me about what this "otherkin" word means to you. I'm interested in hearing it, and I respect you, so I'll listen.

RA

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I found your earlier response to me here in direct opposition to the honor you request of those who would befriend your journal, and I wasn't going to pursue my original feeling about you further because of it.

I do, however, welcome pportunities for education (both mine and others'), if one makes the sincere assay with an open mind and a loving heart. If that is true of you, I would then encourage you to read carefully all of the links posted in my user info. It will take you some time to get through all of the material there, but you may find at least some of it worthwhile.

From your earlier response to my greeting, you have either encountered previously those who claim to be Otherkin, but are in fact delusional humans, or you remain at least partially stuck in the dominant Judeo-Christian western cultural paradigm. That is not meant as an attack to provoke defense on your part, it's just an observation I'm making from what little I've read of you.

I can tell you, that currently I search for an answer to the question of what I am, specifically the genetic make-up of the body I currently inhabit. I research many directions to that end. I have some past life memories and knowings both past and present, but I still search for scientific genetic proof of any "Otherness". That may come, or not, as the Gods Will it.

I can also tell you that in the past, I have passed through all 3 degrees of traditional Witchcraft as taught by one who was an initiate of both the Gardnerian and Sicilian Stregheria traditions. Should you require the lineage information thereof for proof, I can provide that to you.

At this time, I find the practice of Witchcraft as I learnt it rather limiting. Therefore I would call myself simply "Sorceress" which is more encompassing, and leave it at that.

To avoid hi-jacking my friend Tass's journal any further, whose patience wears more than thin at this point I am sure (sorry Tass), please email any questions you may have for me after reading the above mentioned material to ahril at comcast dot net.

I've never said anything to you about what I require of people befriending my journal, so I don't know what you mean by that.

For the rest:

1. I'll read your user info.

2. The fact that you talk like you are not a human is not doing good for your case. I can assure you that you are a human. If you think you are not, you will have to excuse me if I don't take you seriously.

3. The "Body you inhabit"? Look, I think we have reached a point where our conversation can pretty much tucker out.

4. I'll still read your info, but I don't think we'll be talking much. I need you to understand that there are many reasons for people to want to believe that they are something that they are not, but the true human being is infinitely greater an entity than you could imagine. Escapism is not the point of spiritual life; wholeness is. You won't be whole until you accept what you are, and the extreme level of fantastical escapism that you are showing in this one entry shows me that you are far more entrenched in the human-hating judeo-christian paradigm than I ever could be, so far so that you have to imagine that you aren't even a human being.

If you read ANYTHING by me, you'd see that I'm the least "judeo christian" person you'll be likely to find. I wish you well in your growth, and happiness when you finally allow yourself to be the human being that you are.

RA

Nah, far from it - I was just worried an actual argument was going to break out. Civil discussion is perfectly fine.

Seeing your last reply to

ahril, I don't think there's anything I could say that could "right" anything. I also believe there's something nonhuman about me (and am curious about a genetic component, although I would consider it the same as "witchblood"), although I don't use the word "elf", and I'm from Earth and not from another place as she is. That's basically what an "otherkin" is, although there's various degrees of interpretation of it. It seems your take on this sort of thinking is (in essence) "wow have you got problems", and I don't think I can convince you otherwise. But there's room for that anyway - there's basically four categories of friends in my life with relation to this: 1) they're otherkin themselves 2) they're not, AFAIK, but they seem to be cool with it and it comes up occasionally 3) They know, but we don't discuss it (so their opinion may be negative, but it doesn't come up) or 4) they don't know (not everyone needs to - the folks I watch MST3K with every week for example).

There is something timeless and immortal about you, and insofar as the human is bound by time and is very mortal (as we know it) this power can rightly be called "non-human". I don't dispute that and never would.

The witchblood is a spiritual "gene" for lack of a better would, a spiritual "influence"- a Fate strand- that impacts you and all the events in your life. Some people are awake to this "power" as it affects them.

I don't doubt that it can be interpreted in many ways, as can the "fetch" belief. But belief in spirits, fetches, Fate, witchblood, none of that denies our essential humanity; it perfects our humanity, expands it into eldritch and otherworldly spaces, into true wholeness. We don't have to be elves or vampires- what we are is so much greater, even if being a human or a mystic may seem less glamorous. It isn't.

(I'm not saying that you have any of these issues, but I've read and seen some scary things- and that is even scarier coming from me, with the things I HAVE seen, and the people I have talked to.)

I believe in the "Fetch otherself", the "elven" pole of our existence, the Sidhe-self, the Faery Co-Walker of the Faery Faith; its all the same thing. But we cannot neglect our human selves "Above the Land" while Fate gives us birth as humans- we are here for a reason. Even the integrated human, who has intercourse with the Otherworldly self, knowledge of the Elfin Other, is not an "elf", but a human with that special knowledge of wholeness.

Perhaps they are (quite) different ways of looking at something which has a single "point", which is the intercourse with the "other". One of the questions that often comes up in otherkin forums is "Why now? We can point to a few things in history which might have been similar folks, but the terms aren't the same, so it's almost impossible to tell. So why is this phenomenon which seems to be quite new, happening now? What is important about it?" I have thoughts that it may be a manifestation of Primal Land and various things associated with it either coming closer to, re-emerging into, something with the ordinary surface realm. In other words that Faery refused to be "kept down" and so started popping up "inside" humans like weeds in the cracks of concrete (if you will). Thus it can seem escapist but obviously it is Fate that such people exist, so the question is is there actually some deeper reason, or what.

You are quite right. There is an "upsurge" in mental expressions of this phenomenon, which you have rightly, I think, linked to the "Primal Land", and its emergence through the minds and bodies of humans.

Of course, we are not apart from the Primal Land; we are it.

You know, I think that all these things- these impulses towards the "Other" and towards "animal otherselves" and "Shape shifting"- and by "shape shifting" I mean mental and spiritual transformation/merging with other strands of power, be they conditions, animals, plants, whatever- I think that ALL of these phenomenon have always been with us; but they could not be safely expressed during the time of christian control of government.

A shamanic/animistic society would have no trouble with people who believe themselves to be "shape shifters", or who believe themselves to be part animal. It took until right now, just the last few generations, for these things to be able to be safely expressed by people.

So here you and your friends are, expressing something that is ageless and a part of humankind. It only makes sense that after 1600 years of lack of animistic connection, we are reduced to a very clumsy time expressing ourselves- we look for outlets naturally- and we latch on to the icons and images that we see in our lives that resonate- the beauty of the Tolkien elves, the fantasy tales that stir us, religions and "magic systems" that we hear about, that make our hearts leap with a sense of half-remembered familiarity.

We want so badly to express what is going on- but what we NEED is an extreme turning inward- to come face to face with the timeless that our "inner self" acts as an eternal bridge to.

The Cavern of the Otherworld, the Meadow of the Goat, this is the immense and dark, timeless metaphysical "location" wherein occurs our thoughts, dreams, and feelings. There in that timeless space is something intangible; something that cannot be considered or understood as though it were an "object" apart from us- but it is what we want and what we need; it is the secret heart, the Truth. It's the grail-stone, Earendil's Light, (Not the Tolkien Earendil, but the original Anglo-Saxon), the object of our questing.

No matter what language we use, we are all the animistic orphans of a lost world. Fate IS bringing back a land-based awareness. There is no reason other than Fate; none other possible and none other needed. For the survival of the world, land-based awareness is about survival, but more than that, realization- spiritual realization, which prepares us for a greater participation in a greater reality, that will outlast this physical world-form.

Kay, I don't need drama here in my personal journal. Rialian is among the people I've known for the continual longest amount of time. Whatever your differences with him they don't need to be played out here.

Tass, I'm not trying to play any differences out. Your friend Rialian did something very wrong to me, and he colluded with others who wronged me, and who spread lies about me. That is a fact; it is played out and done with now. I don't want to re-awaken the issue.

I was merely pointing out that curses operate on more than one level; "As a foulness shall ye know them", I believe Lovecraft wrote- that makes sense; a curse is no curse at all if the misery isn't shared. When one person suffers, many suffer because all are connected. If we didn't have to suffer the curses of others, we would hardly care about curses at all.

I always look for "multi-dimensional" explanations for everything; negative, irresponsible, uncalled for, ignorant, and irrational behavior of the kind displayed by the moderators of CR_R and your longtime friend have more than one "level" of explanation: an essential quasi-spiritual flaw makes a good grounds for the start of a "depth" explanation.

The reality, of course, could be more mundane: A quick glimpse at Rialian's friends indicates that some of the moderators of CR_R are on his list. They ignorantly believed (without proof) that I Was behind that attack on their group; they told him, and he chose to believe his friends (again, without seeing proof).

That might not be wise, but it is very human. Heck, we have things like christianity because of this very human ability to ignore reality, or to refuse to dig deeper into the reality of things. So I apologize and withdraw my curse comment.