Triple-Goddess Pantacle

I was just accepted into the artisans guild of Ár nDraíocht Féin and so, as my first project, I created something for the goddess of the arts herself.

I used three different colors of metallic paint for this one, each relating to one of the three main divine attributes of Brighid. Copper being a metal associated with Venus is for Brighid the muse of poetry, bronze, relating to Mars, is for Brighid the lady of smithcraft, and gold, the metal of the Sun, is for Brighid the healer.

The color correspondences are obviously hermetic, but hermetic correspondences have been so bored into my psyche that I just feel comfortable using it with other belief structures. I guess sometimes we just have to sacrifce a bit of integrity for the sake of art.

Basbasan Nawa!

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Little Tokyo

I've been craving for authentic Japanese food for quite some time. And as far as I know, there is only one best place to visit as far as authentic goes. Without having to get a visa that is.

This is what I came here for. Kagura's okonomiyaki. I ordered their "special" one, and gods was it heaven.

Irasshaimase! The place is quite hard to find. Just look for this gate along Amorsolo and Chino Roces Avenue and pass through the long corridor to find yourself in little Japan.

 Weird-looking signage.I can read the hiragana but I couldn't make sense out of them.

I chose to dine al fresco. The flies, the smell of cooking yakitori, and the Nihonjins talking beside me add to the ambiance.  

Kagura, which specializes in okonomiyaki, is just one of the restaurants in the compound. Look for this banner to find them.

Kagura, Little Tokyo
Chino Roces St., Makati City
Tues-Sun, 11:00-2:30PM, 6:00PM-10:00PM

Basbasan Nawa!

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Negative Singularity

I overstuffed myself with Chinese food. And so while my stomach was taking its sweet time to settle down, I made some little art with what's left on the table using my phone camera.

I'm having fun with the phonecam's negative effect. The photos I came up with reminded me of those obscure images of microcellular organisms and quantum particles in science textbooks. So I added a touch of geekiness with random, obscure science texts I found through Google.

The Phagothrophic Origin of Eukaryotes and Phylogenetic Classification of Protozoa

(Hongkong noodles)

Stefan-Boltzman Constant

(chili sauce)

 Aereodynamic Conservation

 Rate of Change as a Limiting Value

(straw in a drinking glass)

  

Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion.

(scratchy table surface)

Basbasan Nawa!

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Elemental Tools of High Magic

My Golden Dawn-inspired ceremonial magick elemental tools and the Enochian Holy Table. This is the first time I photographed them altogether. Now that I thought of it, they kinda look like toys.

LVX!

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Medicine for Gaia 2011

I'm back at the Peacemakers' Circle office in Katipunan with the rest of the Medicine for Gaia folks. Ishilta has got some exciting plans for our URI circle this year - lectures on Babaylanism, drumming workshops, Balinese new year, trips to local Buddhist temples and Islam mosques, etc. I just hope all of it will push through, and that I may be able to attend most if not all of them.

I also got assigned as web keeper and documentor. Which reminds me, I really got to work on our logo. Where the heck is inspiration when I need it?

The meeting begins with an agnihotr, and a multi-faith prayer.

Multifaith altar.

How to get people together: food

Basbasan Nawa!

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La Fheile Brighid: A Solitary Imbolc

I truly enjoyed and learned so much from my little Imbolc feast. This time, I cooked the ritual food by my own. What better offering to the muse of creativity than something you created yourself? I actually spent more time in the kitchen than in front of the altar. But then, the kitchen is the modern hearth. Here is the true altar of Brighid.

Brighid's Flames

Imbolc food: bannocks with raisins, honey-sweetened milk with a pinch of nutmeg, and clarified butter. Too much dairy for poor lactose-intolerant me, but I had fun making them

Eight candles partly submerged in a pan of water representing the Fire and the Well, to call upon the blessings of Brighid.

Boiling butter. Mmm, smells good!

Adopted the ADF practice of using augury to determine the message of the Kindreds. True to the spirit of the season, the first rune that was drawn was Cen - "Fire".

Butter. And butter clarified.

It's all about fire and creativity. So it makes more sense to cook my own food.

Beannacht oraibh!

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