prudenttravels

Me on youtube

2011-12-24T21:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjHyzzxKCM from Wolfy in Helvetia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx4DU3_Pp8o from Bologna, Italy.

Happy 4th day of Yuletide!

2011-12-24T21:19:00.001-08:00

Juno's back up and I'm on vacation through Monday, so maybe I'll have some more posts up soon!

Help me, Juno!

2011-12-20T16:24:00.000-08:00

Dr. Meghani & I in SF - we met in Latvia 2008

My beautiful new bathroom thanks to Daniel and crew.

Since 12/5 my Juno account has been down, so even when I had time to update this blog, I couldn't get into my files. AAAArrrgggghhh! But all is better now, and I wish all of you a Swell Solstice & Happy New Year/12th Night. We'll be celebrating Yule in SF and burning a wheat dolly that was a gift from Hammer of Thor Kindred, and we'll be having a 12th Night Party at my home in Antioch on 1/1/12. How can it have been 12 years since 2000?

House in Lithuania has been sold!

2011-11-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

New amber on display in Geneva

Just a reminder about my Amber Tea party on 12/3. Just contact me if interested.

For Sale

2011-10-26T04:03:00.000-07:00

Jonas and Inija told me that housing depression has hit Lithuania. The drunken Russian who sold me his place in 2004 moved into his father's house right next to theirs (Mine is the 3rd one on the road in our village.) He died over a year ago and they were asking 60,000 litas (about $25K). Place has no plumbing, and probably needs rewiring from Russian electric to Euro style (will cost less than $1000). Also, we don't think he cleaned or did any thing to the place since he moved in. Does have a big barn. Needs an outhouse (he used to use ours!). Average worker in LT makes $500/month so you can hire plenty of Heathen help! Inija's brother, Valdas, is an excellent handyman. He made all the improvements to their house.


House on left, you're looking at barn.

Back of barn and house

View of Trinkunas house with new verandah from front door of one for sale.

another view of house for sale

The good news is the price has been lowered to about $11K! Contact Inija if interested at inija@romuva.lt.

You could live in a Heathen village with the Krivis of Romuva as your neighbor.

Summerisle has moved to Lithuania

2011-10-25T02:45:00.000-07:00

After all that fun in Kaunas, I decided to visit somewhere new -Birstonas (also known as Summerisle from The Wicker Man - they were eerily similar).

Birstonas is a health spa like the old days more of a sanitorium than what you imagine.

A lot of people are here to convalesce, but I signed up for the weekend package. Sadly, the ONLY person there who spoke English was the Psychologist. She was very nice and helpful, but always busy with group therapy and patients. At the time I was suffering from trigger finger - a terrible inslult to my pacifistic nature. For less than $50/day I had 4 different therapeutic treatments (an EKG costs $4), private room

with balcony over the river,

board (I had to specifically ask for the Lithuanian menu - they tried to give me Euro menu),

Ravens attacking church

and ample time to search the bucolic grounds and streets. All my treatments were over by 2 pm, so I took up afternooon walks before dinner.

My first discovery was the libarary with FREE internet if you signed up for a card and paid $2. The card is a lovely green, and the O in Birstonas is a Full Moon!

Walking along the river, there is another sanitorium, and they were having a concert that night - I went after dinner. I think he's the Lithuania version of Tony Bennett, and he did a fair cover of "Those Were the Days, My Friend."

Another day, I took the FREE ferry across the river and wandered the woods over there.

I was staying at the Tulpe (tulip)Spa, and must have had too much fresh air, because I decided to start painting "two lips" while waiting for the ferry to return.

From that side I could see a huge statue which I sought out on my return. At the bottom of the hill, I discovered a maze.

The building across from the park had the name and stylized figure of the Water Goddess.

Many are there to drink the sulphur water (which didn't smell as badly as the "pluto" water in French Lick, Indiana). There is a charming little orange octagonal building with a faucet and drinking fountain.

The bus station looks brand new for 1895.

The streets are empty,

Stagliskes

but there is a flower stall next door, so I buy Inija some purple flowers I've never seen (she had no idea what they were either, and she's really good with flower identification).

Inija Trinkunas with Flowers

The bus back to Vilnius stops at Trakai,

so I have a pre-view of the castle where Inija will be taking me to buy amber. On the way we went through Stagliskes where the trees had a bad time.

2010 Catchup - no mayo!

2011-10-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

When I last left you with tantalizing morsels from Lithuania,

I was on my way to Kaunas! Once again I'm in my favorite big city.

The art deco buildings are fabulous, and when interspersed with 500 year old cobblestone streets in Old Town, the effect is both enchanting and almost overwhelming.
When I was here last Sept. I visited the MK Ciurlionis museum with my 'ciurlionis,' and much to my disappointment, it was not, in the curators' professional opinions, an original sketctch by him, but it was a very fine copy by whomever did it, especially considering the painting hasn't been on display for at least 50 years. I was however, delighted to be allowed to see the original which is kept in a temp-controlled room full of his work that's not on display.

The hardest part of the trip was finding a place to stay.

Men in kilts playing football and drinking lined the streets and screamed from bars on my stroll along Freedom Lane. There was not a hotel room to be had at any of my favorite haunts. Finally, Daiva at Lintenterp, whom I highly recommend, found me a room at the Kaunas Catholic Guesthouse across from city hall in the exact center of Old Town for only 50 lt/night ($20!). It was one of two converted monk's cells with a shared bath, and view of the gardens behind the Kaunas castle on the Neris river. I hung a postcard of Birute (guardian of Jurate, the amber godess's, shrine) over the cross and was very content in my austere but comfortable surroundings.

The only catch was one wasn't allowed to have alcohol nor opposite-sex guests in the room (which was the only reason it was available with the footbal shenangians in town). It was nice to be at the other end of town during that madness. Nothing but toursts and pilgrims on my end
Other fun in Kaunas last year included stopping by to see Elvira, the curator of the Devil Museum,

attending a flea market next to the church on Sunday,

visitng kauno pilis (the old castle in my backyard),

a chocolate restaraunt in town square where every item on the menu came with chocolate in some form including chocolate steak sauce, and not buying a painting of the baba yaga house. (Baba Yaga is a "russian" fairy-tale witch who lives in a house on top of a big chicken foot, so she can move whenever she wants to do so. I guess she doesn't like Russia anymore since I visited her house years ago in the Merkine district in southern LT.

I also revisted the ancient instrument museum;

and its ancient toilet,

and went to the apothecary museum in a 15th century guild hall.

I gave them the $2 bill for their old NCR drawer!

All about amber & me

2011-10-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Will be visiting Toronto 11/2-3 and my hostess Kim has been kind enough to offer up her home for an Amber Party and show for her beading guild friends and neighbors. The links at the bottom of the invitation were unknown to me, and then my friend in Geneva posted "Freedom & Joy" from Escalade in 2009. I'm lucky to post to my blog let alone keep up with youtube, but watch for more posts soon.

Et voici une vidéo de vous ma chčre ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjHyzzxKCM

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: Kim Currie
Please contact Kim at address above if you'd like to attend 11/2 around 7-9 pm. This is at her home in Etobicoke, Ontario, about 10 minutes from Pearson Airport.

Hi Caroline,

Writing as I imgine you remember Prudence Priest from her visit here last year & her amazing amber and Jet knowledge.

She remembered the fun with you & Lee and your hard work with the beading guild. She is returning to her home in San Fran USA from Geneva and Lithuania and will be here for a day or so on the way in and out.

She offered to do a presentation regarding Amber and Jet for the guild, if you guys would like to hear her. As you know she's a well reconginzed expert/speaker/author on the subject, as well as use of these jewellery/beading items & impact in ethnic religeons. She's also tons of fun and just a blast to hang with. No matter what, there will be silly jokes and lots of humour.

Let us know what you think

Kim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx4DU3_Pp8o

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/tag/prudence-priest

http://mprc-crpm.ca/2011/05/nordic-shamanism-with-prudence-priest/

http://www.widdershins.org/vol3iss6/y9702.htm

I'll be here 7/27-8/1

2011-06-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

Austin Lawrence posted in Kaleidoscope Gathering.

Austin Lawrence

6:12pm Jun 23

Random Program Teaser #6: Everyone's favourite Californian Heathen who has petitioned the Icelandic parliament, will be at KG this year. Yes, Prudence Priest, the witch, Elder in Covenant of the Goddess and The Troth, a member of the Rune Gild, editrix of Yggdrasil, and leader of Freya’s Folk. That one. She will be presenting her world famous "Dirty Ditties for Pagan Kiddies." It is a raunchy, Pagan lounge-lizard shtick ... part concert, part sing along, part sex education and scatological instruction ... and as irreverent as it gets.

9/2 in Vilnius

2011-04-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

Inija dropped me off downtown on her way somewhere, and I decided to visit the 
Lithuania National Gallery. I spent half the day there looking at a stunning display of 
Victorian outfits

Exhibit Entrance

 and a horde exhibit of 8th-11th century jewelry.

 What a combination! As 
I was heading back downstairs, I heard a harp playing and walked into another gallery to 
witness a lady playing several instruments to a crowd of high school students. I just sat 
down behind them and listened for a while. The rain was quite steady outside and I worked 
my way back to the center of town by stopping at the gift shops of two more museums. The 
LNG is the only museum I've been to that had more visitors than workers. Oftentimes, it 
seems like I'm the only person in a gallery, and I am!
Slightly famished, I crossed the street to avoid the Catholic church where they had 
a"flash mob" last month wearing T-Shirts proclaiming that "Christianity is 
Occupation!" Seems like the holy fathers won't let the Heathens visit the remnants 
of Gediminas' personal temple to Perkunas (Thor) in the basement any more. (Harry 
MacBride and I were fortunate enough to view them in 1998. It was one of the few churches 
I actually entered.)
Slightly famished, I tried the new (to me) Zoe's Bar & Grill for a BLT & a Cosmopolitan. 
Both were excellent. Mostly replete and semi-dry, I ventured out again working my way 
back via a student art gallery, and then stumbled upon an internet cafe cum bookshop cum 
teahouse. Had a restorative pot of black tea and free pc while watching it pour in 
buckets before I ventured out towards the street vendors on Pilies (Castle) Street. 
I passed an Italian !!! bakery - I guess they moved here, too. The bread smelled amazing, 
and I bought a baguette and an olive roll for the house for later. The amber dealers were 
mostly rained out, packing up, and gone by the time I arrived, but one of my favorite 
little stores which sells goods made by the handicapped was still open. I like to support 
them, and bought many souvenirs including a hand-crocheted orange chenille phone case to 
add to my "Only in Lithuania" list. I also found a small, very lightweight, 
thin pine table for my house in Dvarciskes for $12 that I lugged back, too. All this 
shopping had made me thirsty, so I stopped at Cili's for a pear shake and a small plate 
of fruit crepes (they invent their own deserts)drizzled with sauce and topped with ice 
cream. The pear shake is actually called a pear cocktail, but it's basically fresh fruit 
in watery milk. It sounds terrible, but I'm afraid it's indescribably delicious! Caught a 
bus home and called it a day. We leave for Kaunas in the morning.

DC Discoveries

2011-04-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I could only attend the Colombia, MD blot in spirit this weekend while visiting DC with kin for the cherry blossom fest this weekend. Gary the Viking invited me for their blot, but previous commitments prevented a happy reunion. Maybe we'll see you at Della & Stephen's Handfasting at Ravenwood in July?

Retrograde times provided interesting challenges, delayed luggage, too much traffic/blocked-off streets, too much to see, three different pc's with no yahoo/facebook access for four days, missed Metro stops. Even the weather was out of sorts. First day was cool - never reached 50 with endless showers and gray skies, but nothing could daunt spring bursting out all over with tulips and daffodils and myriad other flowering things. Sadly, the harsh weather had blown away at least half the blooms on the cherry trees, but there were many lovely views to be had.

With the government shutdown looming, prudence dictated that we go to our priorities first on Friday afternoon: Library of Congress, National Botanical Gardens, Museum of the American Indian were all we could manage before closing time and back to Arlington for Red, Hot & Blue BBQ.

Saturday we drove through Georgetown and out to the National Cathedral to see the stained glass and the gargoyles and flying buttresses. (Found free Sat. parking right out front!) The 360 view from the 7th floor observatory was impressive even though visibility was still poor, but not as thick as yesterday - it was also 5-10 degrees warmer. Returned to the hotel and made dinner in our 1BR apartment and had friends in. President Obama made a surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial to assure us tourists that the government would not be shutting down and we should enjoy our vacations - so we better get busy supporting the economy
Sunday, after first trying to drive 3 miles in maddening traffic to go around the tidal basin, we had no trouble at all heading back to the hotel in less than 10 minutes while calling a cab (who also got lost/obstructed twice and made 2 amazing u-turns) to take us to the Yacht Marina for a special cherry blossom "traditional" high tea and 90-minute cruise on a 1947 yacht on the Potomac around the cherry blossom islands. We had ideal weather and good visibility. That was sooo fabulous all of our previous tribulations melted away - we even met two fellow Ohioans aboard!
Sunday night we went out for dinner at Ray's the Steaks for an incredibly delicious meal with family-style sides of perfectly skinless, perfectly mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. Ray's other restaurant is even more famous since President Obama has been there twice and is charmingly named Ray's Hell Burgers. He even stopped by our table and asked how we enjoyed our dinner.

Upcoming Events & Prudence’s Appearances

2011-03-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

March 15-19 - Bouquets to Art at the DeYoung (open till 8:45 on Friday). Jade and I both have memberships and we can each take one guest every day.

19th (Full Moon) & 26th – Shield painting party at Patt’s with dawn ship offering on Sunday 3/27.

April 1st - Rites of Spring 8-10pm at Herbst Theatre – FREE!

8-11 – Prudence in DC visiting friends.

May 7th Pagan Pride in Berkeley – marching with the Besom Brigade and then will be vending amber, etc. at Daughters of the Goddess’ Beltane in Alameda.

9th-13th – Debbie & Linda visit me in Walnut Creek – South Park mini-con.

18th – 23rd – Gaia Gathering in Montreal with Alex.

24th – 26th – New York City area to visit Della in CT and see “Book of Mormon” on Broadway.

27th – 31st – Rites of Spring Fest near Boston, MA

June 18th – Pirates’ Ball at Benicia Clocktower with Tempest.

20-21 – Solstice and Birthday Party campout on Mt. Diablo.

30- July 4th – 22nd Ravenwood on Mt. Tam.

2011-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

"'We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers salaries and take away their right to strike' - Adolf Hitler, May 2, 1933."

2011-01-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Ravenwood 2011

2010-12-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

Good News - Bad News!

Once again I won the Mt. Tam lottery and booked Alice Eastwood Group Camp B (the smaller site). I tried for the larger site first, but it was already booked! Indeed, every weekend was booked by 8:11 am thanks to the age of computers. At least I didn't have to play redial on the phone for hours like I used to. Ravenwood 22 will be June 30th (Thorsday) to July 4th (Moonday) and will be limited to 25 people. Flyer and prices to follow in January.

Kaunas - the old capital

2010-11-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

I so enjoy my time here (so did Maria Gimbutas). Kaunas is an ancient city, but most of the new buildings are lovely art deco examples. The Trinkunas' dropped me off on the outskirts on their way to the coast for a wedding and other Heathen events, and I caught a bus to the city center. I was all hyped up to stay at Hotel Metropolis which is a stunning art nouveau complex right in the midst of everything (and cheap, too at 25 euros/night), but they were sold out. Perplexed, I kept walking down "Freedom Lane" and asked at an apt. rental place, and they were booked too! The streets were full of drunken Scotsmen in kilts, and the people at Litenterp said they had nothing either because of the soccer match. One of the ladies suggested the Best Western, but another one said she'd call the monastery!

Intermission

2010-10-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here I am in Canada driving Kim's Aston Martin to the Mall

 the day before we're off to Harvest Fest.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

 We're having a blast, and I'm scheduled for nine events

this weekend including a Friday Night Concert, and Winter

 Nights ritual on Saturday. The Bad Girls are also working on

 a lewd, crude, and rude event.

This one involves balls and chocolate mousse.

It's the First & I Haven't Even Thought about My Building till Now

2010-09-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Great day to do nothing and catch up on everything. Rimgaile, Arturas, and baby Skomantas (who will be one year old 10/24) were due in tonight from Kaunas (about 90km away) for a banquet Arturas would cook!


From the left: Inija, Czech lady, Vetra behind Jonas, Arturas, Rimgaile

Moved to the Living Room so they could have the bedroom, and went out around 4 pm for coffee and a walk. Dinner was typically Lithuanian - lots of good food, and we tried an Italian wine Inija had brought back as well as one of the 4 bottles of California wine (Charles Shaw)I had brought as a gift. Jonas likes CA best.

Now you can see Vetra

(we have better pizza, too!) Maybe all the good cooks left Italy. At the South Park Convention last May, Uncle Jimbo made us a wonderful Italian pasta dinner, and there are fantastic Italian restaurants all over the Bay area; I just wasn't able to find one in Italy.

Annoucement from the Congress

2010-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Old Baltic Gods

The following is the official statement (which I helped edit) from our recent Congress in Bologna, Italy, August 25-29, 2010.
The WCER delegates who gathered in Bologna, Italy (2010.08. 26-29) at our yearly conference came to the decision that hence forward our name should be changed to the European Congress of Ethnic Religions. The word "World" shall be "European" instead. Why did we decide to focus only on Europe? Thirteen years have passed since the creation of the Congress in 1998 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Every year, conferences were organized in various European countries, and it turned out that that the Congress actually unites only people of European indigenous traditions, even though the congress is open to all other traditions.
This year Bologna saw a gathering of representatives from Italian, Danish, Norwegian, German, French, Greek, Lithuanian, Latvian, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian ethnic religions. It was decided that the main concern for us all is Europe's ancient spiritual traditions. There is a lot of unity among us, and we feel the need to come together. The main point in all our discussions has been that Europe suffers the most because of its traditions' weakness, especially in the spiritual sense. As oriental cults thrive, European traditions are seen as obsolete, which can exist only in a museum. However, we have now begun to understand and cherish the importance and value of our own indigenous traditions. We also decided to strengthen our ties with the Parliament of World Religions, and to work together with India's cultural and religious organizations.

Off to the Baltics at Last

2010-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

   Taxi was early and so was I. Girl at hostel had said it would be 20 euros. It was 25 - whatever! I was at the gate by 6:15 for a 7:40 flight, and was too tired for coffee, but I was on my way.
   There were lovely cotton ball clouds over Austria with gray blanket clouds covering them and well-ordered earth below. I was astounded by the number of swimming pools I could see. It was cloudy, cool, and rainy in Vienna, and the plane was delayed a half hour, but we all climbed on a bus to the middle of a field and climbed on board. I was actually chilly.
   It's been two years since I was in my beloved Lietuva (which literally means "land of rain.") Globalization is everywhere, and they even have a KFC! The quaint cafe they used to have in the grand hall with the chandelier at the airport has been replaced with a pizza joint. The beautiful fixtures and building are still there, though. Inija had given me the keys to the house since they were going to Venice for the day and coming back Tuesday, and told me which stop to get off the bus. Every bus stop has a name. Isn't that a great idea? (However, my favorite guide magazine, In Your Pocket, states that proper bus etiquette when getting off or on a bus is to push anyone in your way into the gutter.)
   For a dollar I rode a spotless, comfortable bus which stopped 1-2 blocks from where I was going. I was so happy to be back, and my Lithuanian is much improved. Hauled everything upstairs, said "hi" to Vetra (who helped with the bags - she's the youngest daughter, and the same age as my youngest niece - the class of 2014) and took a nice 3 hour nap.

That's a lovely Rowan tree to the left of the entrace to their flat.

Woke up starving at 8 pm and headed out the door and about 5 blocks down the street to a huge grocery with a restaurant upstairs with great sunset views. As I walked in, they told me they were closing early at 9 pm. I said I'd eat quickly, and a "large capucino, please!" The coffee and view were great. The lasagna was okay by LT standards, but a B+ by Italian standards. Only 6 euros for all, and it was the first hot meat I'd had since leaving America.
I took the escalator downstairs (they're really cool, and are flat, and will hold your shopping cart) to stock up on all my favorite Lithuanian things as there was no telling what was at the house since the Trinkunas' had been gone for a week as well. The biggest news in Lithuania is how well they're doing in the World Basketball Tournament - it is their national sport. When Russia beat the US in the olympics, it wasn't the Russians, the team was 80% Lithuanian! So it'll be a close match if they play the US.

Photo Update

2010-09-10T13:37:00.000-07:00


Here I am having gelato in Rome

Worked for about an hour uploading and messing with photos, but I have them on Jonas' desktop, and will start the label and sort process. Apparently I can only upload one photo at a time, and there are only 400 photos, so this may take a while.

Rome Is Not My Cup of Gelato

2010-09-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

Wake up call at 4:44 am. Made instant espresso and out the door singing the "Birthday Dirge" to Jonas and the Danes as we walked over to the main hostel together to climb on the bus to Roma. If you don't like reading negative things, delete this post now. Almost everything about the trip to Rome and Rome was pretty terrible. The bus was completely full, and the seats were tighter and smaller than airplane seats. Also, there was no toilet on board.

Staring out the window at the waning gibbous moon conjunct Jupiter was lovely, and driving through the Tuscan Hills at dawn reminded me of driving down the California Coast with a little SF fog thrown in in patches along the way. As dawn broke and the Moon set over the hills and fields of grapes, corn, olives, even sunflowers and pear trees, I thought it might be a good day.

But then we pulled into an "Autogrill" for breakfast. They even had a Burger King - whopper and fries for only 7 euros, but they weren't open yet. The line for coffee was 20 people deep, and the bathroom was on the other side of the airbridge over the freeway. I bought some lemon shortbread cookies from the magazine side with no line and headed back to the bus. Passed the time editing the Latvians paper for correct English and grammar. I did a lot of that for people. Had NO idea it was a 5 hour ride (again, the Italians said it was only a few hours!)!!!

On that happy note, I was even more overjoyed to learn it was going to be at least 35 degrees (That's almost 100 F. - I'll be using the metric system - it's fun to complain in it.)

Just outsided of Rome, they told us we would be stopping at a Temple of Minerva for a short ritual. There was a small restuarant nearby, too, and they told us it was half the price of what it would cost in Rome. O joy. Capucino and cherry gelato. I spent time entertaining people with stories of Athena (whom they call Minerva).

By the time we arrived in Rome it was sweltering and crowded. The Indians all wanted to follow me after the Italians dropped us off the bus under what they said was a statue of a man in a chariot, and I told them it was the chariot of Apollo. (You can see where my day is going.)

They traipsed us over to the Forum and told us we'd have plenty of time to buy souvenirs later (another lie). I found out it was going to take 2-4 hours to look at the Forum and the Coliseum in the blazing Sun and we only had to pay 12 euros each for the privelege. About a third of us said, "no thanks," and decided to walk around the Coliseum and arch of Constantine on our own (and do our own shopping). Well, of course they spent too much time in "Death Valley" as Jonas called it (he and Surinder are over 70 and were admitted for free), so the places to go in the shade were greatly curtailed. We only spent 10 minutes in the Pantheon since they were closing, and less than an hour at ruins of the cult place of Mithras under San Clemente church (that's because we were all starving and fled to the nearby cafes across the street for the worst Italian food I've ever had). Andras had told me about the best gelatto in Rome near the Pantheon and we went there instead of the Trevi Fountain. I had 3 scoops of the best ever including Andras' favorite Blood Orange.

It's good we didn't go to the fountain. One of our party actually did go in the fountain and was almost arrested and those of our group who went were all treated like Mexicans in Arizona. While waiting for everyone to show up at the meeting point for the 5 hour journey back, Andras took me around the corner to show me some beautiful statuary and an ancient bust of Isis. It was a quiet and somber ride back, and just to make it even more memorable, once again we stopped around midnight at another Autogrill.

Opening Day of WCER in Bologna, Italy

2010-09-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Woke up to find out that breakfast was not in our hostel, but in the main one 500m away, so ran back upstairs to collect everything for the day at the conference site, and strolled on over. It was already at least 80 degrees. I was rewarded for my efforts with a tray with two pieces of bread, a packet of jam and a packet of brown stuff (it said it was chocolate, but I didn't believe it). One could help oneself to juice and coffee out of a machine. Duly underwhelmed, I ate a piece of the bread and thought that the bologney sandwiches they used to serve the prisoners at the Cincinnati workhouse must have been at least this good. Jury's still out.

The conference was supposed to start at 10, and a bunch of us traipsed over to the bus stop just after 9, but when we realized it was going to take a loooong time (Geza the German said we must change buses in town), Andras went and called 3 cabs at 18 euros each. So we all paid around $10/person to arrive on time for a conference that didn't start till 11 am. While hanging out with Inija, we both set up a small area on one card table to vend. My ankles were still swollen from the heat and the plane so I took my shoes off and put them up on a spare chair. Boy, were we in trouble! First Marina said only books could be sold and we must put all else away, and I had to put my shoes back on. My bad! One of the Danes warned me the 10 euro lunch buffet was all vegetables, so I went out exploring. Found my first gelato for 3.5 euros (including the glass) and a delicious ham & cheese calzone for 1.6. They also had some free samples, but what I had was better. Still had an hour so headed toward the center of town and ran into the Latvians who offered me peaches and some lemon-sized green-skinned fruit with a red mushy center - very tasty, but I still don't know what it was.

Found "Orpheus Street" and headed along it back to conference center - we had the use of what appeared to be an old chapel in a 16th century building. It was sooo hot, I just headed back and was too full for the gelateria and burger joint (which I never saw open again) I passed on my way. Thursday was the individual group presentations where every tradition had 5-10 minutes to talk about theirs. The most interesting were from the Danes and the Russians, and there were over a dozen Indians attending. A very nice lady named Rita let me use her cel phone to call Patty Costa (of Pasha & the Pagans) who was staying in Bologna for the summer with her son's family. We were supposed to meet around 5:30, but at 6:30 Rita and her companion were the last ones out, and saw me, and insisted that I could not stay by myself, and that if Patty didn't show up (she got lost) by the time their cab arrived I was going with them. I was very grateful for the ride back, and figured I'd sort it out with Patty on Saturday.

It's amazing how Californian everything looks - same oleander and silk and palm trees everywhere. The only option for dinner at the hostel was to purchase frozen pasta and nuke it or order a pizza for 5 euros with free drink and delivery. I ordered mushroom and cheese. It was about a C-, but it was hot and I was hungry. Off to bed and Roma tomorrow.

Off to Bologna

2010-09-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Those who know me know I am not a morning person. I can

 stay up till 5am easier than I can rise then.

Nevertheless, I popped out of bed, and was out the door and on my way to 
the airport by 7:45 am. A neighbor gave me a ride to the BART station, and I only had a 
few minutes wait for the train to SFO. It was supposed to be the hottest day of the year 
with temperatures over 100, but it was only 77 when I left. As we neared the airport, I 
dug around my bag looking for my alarm clock (since I wasn't taking my cell phone nor pc 
to Europe)and discovered I'd left it behind. Oh well, if that's all I forgot, all will be 
fine. Trip was pretty uneventful, but very long: over 17 hours. Fortunately no weather 
nor volcanic ash delays. Andreas and Manuella met me at the airport holding a small 
"WCER" sign and drove me to the hostel in the countryside outside Bologna. 
Although I'd escaped the CA heat, it was in the 90's! 

I remembered to ask to be on the 1st floor (and not the top floor which is where they 
usually put Americans) and was. I later spoke with an Indian family of five who were 
bitterly complaining about being on the top floor. To be charitable, the organizing 
committee did their best. Unfortunately, they had little idea what they were doing.

After having spent almost a full day in transit, I was pretty exhausted. I was relieved 
to find out that the hostel was only 85 euros for the whole stay instead of 85 euros a 
day (which is what they first told me - just one of many mistaken perceptions - by the 
end of the week, I felt like a mushroom - kept in the dark and fed a lot of fertilizer). 
I did have a lovely room, and the other two ladies who were supposed to share it never 
showed up (one misperception about which I was very happy). They also told me there would 
be a meeting to explain all the details and and an "Opening Ceremony" at 7 pm.

I was soo happy to see again my Lithuanian homeys, the great Danes, Geza from Germany, 
and Andras Corben from MA, but was soo tired I thought I'd take a nap. The Italians give 
a whole new meaning to the term Pagan Standard Time. Although I awoke before dark, and 
had nice chats with friends, everything kept being delayed. I decided to go back to sleep 
and recuperate, and Inija promised to wake me for breakfast.

World Congress of Ethnic Religions

2010-08-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well, Here's what Marina sent me. I edited the most glaring mis-translations, but wanted all of you to know where I'll be for my next adventure. I have never been to Italy, and when I asked all my friends, not one had been to Bologna. The only two things I know about it is when I watch the "Coliandro" mysteries on PBS (the mHz International Mysteries) and they show its environs as they do on "Streets of San Francisco"; and that some church there has the largest extant zodiac sundial.

25 - Arrival day

During this day we will accompany the delegations to the hostel. There will be document registration and payment for the hostel for all the days.

Please, for those who didn't before, tell us the arrival time of arriving and the place where you will arrive (airport, train station, etc), or if you are coming directly to the Hostel. Then you will be accompanied to the hostel. In the hostel there will be a small welcoming buffet during the afternoon (not alcohol, wine or meal before the rite). In the evening there will be a briefing about the program and logistics, and after this the opening Ritual.

The Hostel address is: Via Viadagola 5 (Bologna, near San Donato Quarter)

26 - Presentation day
Before all there will be the accreditation of members. During the accreditation people pay also for the buffet and the dinner of the evening. This will be done every congress day.

We need a short presentation from every delegation, with logo, name and data (mail, link, etc) for paper copies.

During all the days there will be the possibility to use the computer for video, slides, etc.

The Congress place is Via Santo Stefano, Sala del Baraccano.

27 - Travel Day to Roma
Starting place in Bologna Hostel at 5.00 am. The payment will be done the 25 (or 26 for those who arrive later) and we will tell you the exact cost (there are every day more participants, so the cost is getting down). The lunch will be give in Roma, by Pietas association and it will cost around 7 euro.

There also will be a rite in Roma: this is an ancient ritual (it was made also around 2500 years ago) that used to be done by Romans with friend "countries". So please, bring a little piece of your land (sand, ground, etc) for this rite.

28 - Congress work day
It will start at 10.00. Information same as the 26. (the discussion summary will be given there).

There will be free time after lunch and in the evening. Everybody will have a reference person number to contact in case of need.

29 - Conferences Day
It will start at 9.00. Information same as the 26. Please, for those who want to do a conference, send us an abstract in english, the conference title and name of the relator (for who didn't before). Every conference will be for maximum 1 hour. We need it as soon as possible to prepare the paper document.

There will be free time after lunch and in the evening. Everybody will have a reference person number to contact in case of need.

All the Congress days will be transmitted LIVE STREAMING at this link: http://www.livestream.com/paganesimo

When we have all the documents, we will prepare the final program.

For answers, comunications or any need, don't hesitate to contact me.

My telephone number is +39 (for Italy) 392 999 8832 or 392 999 8831. (the +39 could be used also in Italy to Italy with mobile phone) - english or french languages. If you talk in german, contact me by mail and I will send you the name and the number of those who speak in this language.

VALETE OPTIME IN PACE DEORVM [Well met in the peace of the Gods (if I'm remembering my Latin aright)]

Marina Coloni, Vice-President
Gentilitas - SpiritualitÃ Italica
http://www.gentilitas.org/

July 23-25, 2010

2010-08-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely and relaxing time last weekend at the NROOGD's 42nd in-gathering. It was held at Four Springs resort in Middleton, CA and was founded by three female disciples of Carl Jung. In August I'll be off to Indiana for MerryMeet and Bologna, Italy for WCER. Here's Greg relaxing near the pool in "amber" slippers.

2010-07-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Beginnings

2010-07-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

A journey to Google resulted in this.