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Location: Work.
Current Goal: No coffee, cigarettes, alcohol or meat for three weeks.
Listening: "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" ~Edie Brickell.

"So, I've been told you're a priestess of Avalon?"

The conversation could have begun better. I was pulled out of my
drowsiness to stare at the smiling young Kabbalist in front of me. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you, but Dan told me that you're
a priestess--a pagan--" He stopped smiling and looked confused and concerned that he had crossed some line.

I shrugged. "Nothing so grand. I'm more of an amateur herbalist." My standard line. I've never been anyone's priestess, despite
the assertion by a psychic years ago that I had been killed in Ireland by members of the invading
Church. I suggested that he had read too many
Anne Rice novels.

The Kabbalist (whose name is Brandon) was looking at me intently. "So would you tell me more about this? What you believe? How you practice?"

"I'm the worst representative of the pagan community you could hope to find."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not Wiccan or shamanic or Druidic. I might not even be pagan. I tend to think that anyone who claims to be strictly "traditionally" one thing or another is claiming a knowledge that is historically impossible to have."

"Well, what do you believe then?"

"I believe that there is a God who manifests as man, woman, three-toed sloth--whatever it really chooses to manifest as, since it's omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. I believe that there is a portion of this being in everything existing on this planet--nature, humanity and by extension the creations of humanity, etc. I believe that when one offers some of the energy back, a bond is formed and in that shared space, one can communicate better with the God/Goddess. This is the essence of magick--not bending the God/Goddess to your will or being bent to His/Hers. Nothing is guaranteed, either."

So began a discussion of
finer points of "paganism", Kabbalistic theology, open miracles and the feats of the great rabbis. All in all, it was good and productive and
provided me with a great deal to think about over the next few days. I was asked to explain my beliefs for the first time in a long while and, in doing so, had to contemplate exactly what those beliefs specifically were. Brandon and Dan made every effort to explain some of the lower levels of Kabbalah to me while I explained some of the ideas that my views hold close. There was a lot of genuine wisdom being handed around and it was a wonderfully fulfilling few hours.

We ended on an odd, but satisfying note. Dan and Williams began discussing professional wrestling. I expressed complete confusion as to the attraction held by the "sport". Brandon shook his head and
expressed that he didn't feel it was a "path for a godly man to walk". I was amused. "All paths are godly--you just have to walk them carefully. If you ignore them and those who walk them, you only acknowledge a portion of the experience and deprive yourself and them of knowledge that could be shared." He seemed surprised, but nodded.

Yes. Good conversation.

Dan and Brandon have put together a traditional Kabbalist Shabbat dinner for the night of the third, which promises to be very interesting. I think it'll be an excellent way to start that particular weekend.

In the meantime, while talking last night, I determined to use the time while Peter is away (as any routine or dietary changes on my part won't be affecting him) to get a little more centred. Part of this will involve refusing alcohol, cigarettes, soft drinks, coffee (I considered cutting out all caffeine, but I'll
allow myself tea) and meat until the Shabbat.
I'm looking forward to this, as I haven't held myself to any disciplined course of behavior in quite a while. I'll be interested to see what changes result from this and will definitely be commenting on them here.