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| A bimonthly publication of Six Crows Alliance, designed to
promote and support strong community, and to remind us that we are not alone.
This newsletter is distributed to the Six Crows Community and Friends of Six
Crows in February, April, June, August, October, and December. |
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SIX CROWS ALLIANCE
for the Pursuit of
Arcane
Wisdom and Understanding |
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| OUR MISSION |
Our purpose is to
come together from
a broad
spectrum
of philosophical
perspectives
to engage with
respect,
open hearts, and
open minds, to
learn from each other,
teach each
other,
serve each other,
honor each other,
and share in
the
Beauty Way. |
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CROW CALLS
Publication Policy |
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Theme for February
TIME FOR
HEALING |
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In addition to news, upcoming
events, and a timely theme-related feature article, CROW CALLS may
contain:
– A variety of theme and
non-theme
related
articles
– A timely deity study
–
Our "Crowing" Kids:
assorted features,
projects, and articles
geared to our
youth
– Prose, Poetry, and Art
contributions from
our
readers
CROW
CALLS Minizine continues to evolve through the vision of its developers and
contributors, and the interests of our readers. Your preferences, reviews, and
suggestions matter to us. Please email us at
crowcalls@sixcrows.org.
We
encourage our community and our readers to contribute written, art, and
photographic work to CROW CALLS. We reserve the right to reject
materials not in keeping with our values and standards, to make spelling and
syntax corrections, or to work with contributors if substantial revision is
required. We may set aside unpublished contributions for possible future use,
in which case we will provide details of such to contributors.
We also actively seek knowledgeable
writers and authorities on subjects of interest to our readers to prepare
theme-based, timely, deity, and children's feature articles. If you are
interested in being called on, please make your talents known to us.
Contributors agree to the archiving of
their work on our website. Rights to all works published in CROW CALLS
are retained by the author or contributor. If Six Crows wishes to use
contributors' work in any capacity beyond CROW CALLS, we will contact
the contributors for permission. Please send contributions to the editor for
CROW CALLS at crowcalls@sixcrows.org.
In keeping with the Vision of Six Crows
Alliance to foster peaceful interaction within our community, our policy is
zero tolerance for violence in articles, artwork, poetry, and prose, as well as
zero tolerance for coercion and gossip. As this is a family publication,
sexually explicit language and artwork are also
restricted.
Permission by subjects is
required to publish true likenesses artwork, and especially photographs, and
names in written work.
Children and youths
under 18 years of age require parental permission to publish.
Written work can be embedded directly in
your email, or sent as a Word attachment. Art and photos should be submitted in
jpg format.
The deadline is the 3rd
Monday of the month prior to publication. |
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Reconnecting
with our
Whether we trace back
our genealogy or sit
in
meditation, the echoes of
our Ancestors can be felt.
They pound in
our veins. |
They twist in our DNA. Our ancestors gave us the world around
us. Their echoes date back from the first of our kind to now, whether one
believes in an Adam of the Abrahamic tradition, a Rig of the Northern European
tradition, or simply a pool of proto-human
progenitors.
We still share much in common
with our genetic forebears as well as our planet. In fact, we could say
everything that came before us is ancestor. After all, we share about 50% DNA
... » Page 2
Alchemy for
Addiction
INTROSPECTION
by
Mark Mandrake |
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The following material is excerpted from a work in development
between 2008 and the present by Mark Mandrake. "Alchemy for Addictions", Mark's
working title, is both a book and a program designed to help seekers overcome
behavioral addictions. Contact Mark at
wizard.mandrake@gmail.com with
questions, queries about developing your own 12-step program based on Mark's
work, or for information about book publication and availability.
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"Do you remember how you came into existence?
You may not remember
Because you arrived a
little
drunk."
—
Rumi
We are all insufferable addicts.
The alchemists of old were addicts too –
at least the ones who were addicted to the idea of quick wealth and fame. Those
alchemists, seduced by visions of coffers filled with gold, were known as
"puffers". They greedily researched and combed through ancient texts to learn
how to make gold from lead. The "real" alchemists were ...
» Page 4
From a Kabbalistic
Perspective
Know Thyself
by Linda Margaret Ritz |
| We all know people who work hard
at knowing themselves, possibly ourselves included. We also know people who
seem oblivious to Self, who don't care to explore their own deep mind, perhaps
even abhor doing it. In fact, when alone, they may be apt to turn on the TV or
music and drown out Self. |
Yet Self is never
oblivious.
It knows our
personality, our experience,
our identity. It offers us
pictures and insights into our
life. It senses time passing,
and
knows that we will die
to physical form. It is SELF
CONSCIOUS.
In our world today, the
term
self-conscious is used
commonly and mistakenly to
suggest hyper
critical of self, or
even embarrassed by self. Strike |
this
definition from your vocabulary. Far from being a curse, the ability to look
inside our ...
» Page 4
In Ritual and
in Community
by
Shauna Aura Precourt |
Imagine both the best and
worst rituals
you've ever
attended, or even
facilitated.
What makes some rituals
good? What makes others
bad? |
For many participants, a
successful ritual features intense, deeply emotional, and spiritually
transformative experiences. However, when it is unsafe, the very intensity and
emotion of a transformative ritual may be what makes it a negative experience.
With sound principles and practices in place, rituals can be both potent and
safe for participants. In fact, the same principles and tools that facilitate
safe ritual promote a safe and ethical community environment within ...
» Page 6 |
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| SIX CROWS NEWS |
Talented Six
Crows Board continues to grow — A warm welcome to Tim
Schneider and Nicole Ross, both appointed to the Six Crows Board of Directors
during our monthly meeting last week.
[APPLAUSE]
Tim
is knowledgeable in board procedure, interpersonal relations, cyber skills,
writing, design, and program
development.
Nicole is seasoned in research,
mythology, teaching, and program development. She also brings writing, design,
and cyber skills.
As we move toward
non-profit incorporation, our directors have been re-evaluating talents,
interests, and needs among our board members and in line with our multi-faceted
services to our community. C. Rogers moves from Treasurer to Promotion and
Publicity Chair; Tim has taken on the Program Chair. Nicole comes on as Editor
for CROW CALLS.
If you identify with
our mission and are interested in the Six Crows leadership, please download,
fill out, and return our board
application, or contact
Adrienne Gasperoni with
questions. We are eager to meet and work with passionate, like-minded seekers.
Due to the geographical distance between
members, board meetings are held online in the Six Crows Chat Room from 7-8:30
pm the first Tuesday of each month. We also gather in West Michigan
periodically for planning and board development. We will gather again in late
January for part two of our 2011 planning meeting, and report further in the
February issue of CROW
CALLS.
Six Crows
Gathering
2011 ice cream social and OJAJA talent shindig
— Six Crows Gathering 2011 (August 18-21) introduces our OJAJA (Ojibwa for
Shine) Talent Shindig, featuring some of our own talented community members,
combined with an ice cream social, on Friday evening. If you would like to
strut your stuff for us,
register here or contact OJAJA Shindig Coordinator
Jerod Rinkus. All family style acts
are welcome, and the more variety the merrier.
If you have an ice cream maker and are
willing to bring along the supplies to make a batch, contact
JoAn Ross.
See the
October Issue of CROW CALLS for full
details. |
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| Philosophers On: CONSCIOUSNESS |
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by Linda
Margaret Ritz
Discourse on the nature of
consciousness and self span the globe and the ages. Philosophers (and later
psychologists) of mind have explored the topic at great length. The result is
that today, we think of consciousness in many forms and formats.
Consciousness might signify simply,
sentience, that is, the ability to sense and respond to one's world, which
applies not only to man, but to all life, animal, vegetation, etc. Or it might
imply simply, wakefulness or alertness within one's surroundings, as opposed to
a sleep or coma state.
Far more demanding is
self-consciousness, a state of being aware, and not only aware, but aware of
being aware, as discussed in another article this issue, Know Thyself.
...
» Page 3 |
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Make
Easy, Beautiful
Crystal Snowflakes |
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Here's a creative bit of seasonal
fun for you, crystal snowflakes to make and decorate with this holiday season.
You can start with this basic formula, and then enhance, embellish, or
otherwise adapt the concept to turn your surroundings into a true winter
wonderland.
Here's what you'll need for the
project:
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Borax (cleaning agent) |
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Blue or white pipe cleaners (or any other color for colored
crystal results) |
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Blue food coloring (or any other color for colored crystal
results) |
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Fishing line or colored thread or fancy string |
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Wide mouth jars |
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Scissors |
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A tablespoon |
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Boiling water |
Start by making snowflake shapes
with pipe cleaners. For a simple snowflake, cut a pipe cleaner into three equal
sections and twist them together at their centers to create a six-pointed
shape. Or get fancy and add extra points, wrap/enclose the snowflake by
twisting the tips around another pipe cleaner, etc. Experiment and have fun
making different shapes. Just make sure the snowflake fits inside the jar
without being squished or touching the edge or bottom of the jar. Remember that
you'll need to pull it out without ...
» Page 2 |
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