Soror Metallum

I seem to have developed a stack of reading material very quickly over the past week. I try to always have a book on the go and usually know what I am going to pick up right after but several people have lent, traded & recommended books to me just in this last week. I just finished George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons a few weeks ago and now I am on to The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell which I picked up over the holidays.

Add to the list: The Female Eunuch by Germain Greer, a gift from my amazing friends Clarissa and Jordan; Jung and Tarot by Sallie Nichols, a lending trade with my friend Ryan for my copy of Robert M. Place's Alchemy and The Tarot; Jaguar Woman by Lynn V. Andrews, a lend from my classmate Amanda; and He, She and It by Marge Piercy, recommended to me by my fellow bibliophile and partner, Simon. Not to mention some of the amazing titles Simon and I have picked up over the past year from esoteric bookseller Three Hands Press which I've only had time to flip through.

I have a fantasy: two weeks off, in a cabin somewhere near the ocean, piles of books, lots of coffee, good food, wine and beer and my favourite person with me. Pretty sure I can make it come true.

Today I found this neat Saturn Return calculator and found out that I am indeed in my Saturn return already (and it ends in October 2014)! Saturn return is something my counsellor and I have talked about over the past year (she's also an astrologer) but for some reason I wasn't expecting it quite yet as I'm not yet 29, which is when it usually comes to pass in people's lives.

Saturn return refers to Saturn's "return" to the same place in your astrological chart that it was when you were born and is typically characterized by challenges, changes, and confrontations about your place in this world. Besides the horoscopic implications, the years before turning thirty are all about expectations that you've got it all figured out. I certainly don't! But I am happy and excited about everything to come. Saturn can challenge me all it wants and I will likely whine and mope about it but I'll come out the other end more confident and happy with my life. I welcome Saturn to destroy all that doesn't work in my life and reaffirm that which does.

The new moon fell on New Year's day this month which I thought was rather lovely and auspicious. I was inspired by The Wild Unknown's instagram contest to do a 13 card tarot reading for the 12 months of the year and  one card for me in the year. It was inspiring and reassuring and I plan to make a tradition of it for New Years to come. The reading opened with the Four of Swords and closed with the Hermit; both cards about turning inward and seeking peace in that which we inherently know.

On my walk home today, I was struck by the sight of the sliver of moon and Venus rising in the evening sky. It's getting dark so early here now and the chill is setting in. Cold in Vancouver isn't cold like the rest of Canada but it is bone chilling. Considering the amazingly dry Autumn we have been blessed with, I anticipate the long months of rain ahead. Living in a rain forest is like living in a cave of clouds.

Dark of the moon is always so nice; time to put forth desires and manifest. I was lucky this New Moon to sign a lease on an artist studio to set up as a jeweller. This development is making me feel very excited and a little anxious. As I put more pressure on myself to solidify my career path and related projects, I also feel my insecurities crop up.

I did a little three card reading on the New Moon with my Wild Unknown deck (below). It is always nice to see the 4 of Wands in a reading, especially after Death and the 5 of Cups! It's one of my favourite cards. I always think of Wands as passion and inspiration and the fours as stability = passion in stability. So even though drastic changes are in the recent past (Death) and melancholy is in the present (5 of Cups), there is a bright future. I am looking forward to Solstice plans and a little break from school…

I feel like I should begin this blog with a mission statement but I don't really have one. Though I do have several reasons for starting this blog and it coincides with a few major events in my life.

In September, I started a two year program for jewellery design and silversmithing. I am feeling incredibly blessed to be learning alongside a group of talented and inspiring women (and two men). I am learning so much and getting challenged everyday, which is a big change from last year when I was in school for general fine arts.

In mid December, my partner Simon and I will celebrate our two year anniversary! I love him so. I actually didn't think I could learn so much about myself from one person. He is my collaborator in the alchemic transformation of love.

These two roles that I have taken on, partner in a practical and spiritual relationship and metalsmith, comprise the title of this blog. Soror, meaning sister in Latin, (of which I am one to three lovely people) refers to the term Soror Mystica, or the "alchemist's wife". Sister to me also indicates that I am a part of a larger family of people seeking and travelling similar paths to mine & with this weblog as my medium I hope to reach out to them (that means you!). Metallum is the latin word for metal (obviously) and refers not only to my bourgeoning passion for metalwork which was sparked last year in the Langara College metal and wood shop but also to my growing interest in that which is heavy metal. Black, Doom & Death. Dark, ambient, experimental sounds and a mournful choir of voices.

Here I also hope to share (and receive) knowledge and passion for Tarot, which I have been reading for over a decade, astrology, personal alchemy, healing, witchery, and the occult in general. This will be a repository for books I am reading or want to read, music, travels, art of other people, writing and blogs of other people and hopefully a motivation to take more photos with my good camera and not with my iPod.

Lastly, today, with the help of three of my best friends, I buried my beautiful kitty, Fatima. She had been resting peacefully in the deep freeze in our basement since she was ferried to the Summerlands nearly 4 weeks ago until such a time that we could get out of the city and find an appropriate place to intern her earthly body. She came into my life as a tiny kitten when I was only 11 years old and she has been my best friend and teacher ever since. At the ripe, old age of 17, I had to make the decision to help her cross over due to a tumour in her throat making it impossible to eat and eventually breathe. Now my sweet, beautiful lady has a lovely resting place in a fir grove surrounded by ferns and fungi.

Now I will do a tarot reading for a friend and make borscht!
xoxox