Laughter

You'd think, being on Long Service Leave, that I could come up with a better smiley face than the one in the photo below, wouldn't you? - The one where I am completely devoid of a smile. I mean I do feel very smiley about being a leisurely student. (It's not going to be leisurely though, I'm quite sure). I don't have any laughing-face photos of myself, but here's a very pretty laughing skull. Or is its mouth just lolling open? Those Mexicans sure know how to make death decorative.

The Romance of the Classics

Well I'm now starting to focus my "Sauron's gaze" intensely on my two uni subjects. I went and got the reader for the Homeric Hymns subject today, looks really interesting. Major focus on the four long Homeric Hymns: to Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite and Demeter, and a little bit on Dionysus. Then onto the Epic Cycle: the fragments of Troy stories - what happened before and after the Iliad. I don't know much about them, so that'll be interesting I suspect. Plus it's all an excuse to get jiggy again with Greek myth and ritual.

I'm on long service leave!

Hooray, after ten years of slogging it out as a professional craftsperson I've finally earned my long service leave! My craft is difficult, hence I need a real break to rest my body and refresh my mind. During my LSL I will be starting my Post Graduate Diploma in Classics and Archaeology at Melbourne Uni. I have to do five subjects and one 12,000 word thesis. I'm starting off with two subjects: Current Issues in Aegean Archaeology and The Epic Cycle and Homeric Hymns. Should be great. My major interests are gender and religion, often in combination, and I can explore both these areas within these subjects. Oh, I'll also be sitting in on the Roman Religion subject in preparation for taking it next year. I start next week. Wooo. (Yes, I am a nerd who loves study!)

A well-adjusted child.

Here are two pictures of my son Jasper. The first is him as a baby, having his first flying lesson. He's pretty good at it now. The second is him as a 7-year old school boy. This one was taken by the artist Polixena Papapetrou who is well known for her large photos of her own children in various guises. As you can see Jasper is completely normal - like mother like son.

Twins, Separated at Birth?

Scoop! These twins were separated at birth!

Catweazle and Gerald Gardner;

Christopher Lee and Alex Sanders;

Caroline Tully and Liam Cyfrin.

It's a fact.

The Australian Wiccan Conference 2007

So... Who is going to the 2007 Wiccan Conference then? I am. I've decided to un-hermit myself and go and meet up with all the people I haven't seen for yonks. I'm also going to present two workshops - one on Ancient Greek Love Magick which will include a section on Aphrodite, and the other which I will co-present with Tim Hartridge, is on The Star Goddess: Past and Present.

Look into my eyes....

I have put this swirly image here solely to hypnotise you. Read this blog... read this blog... read this blog...

Scarlet Woman

We're big book buyers here at Necropolis Now. Some may say we are worshippers of the scribal god, Thoth, and they wouldn't be wrong. The latest book I got - just today - was a fab one called "Damned: An Illustrated History of the Devil" by Robert Muchembled (Seuil/Chronicle 2002). It's big format and glossy, but I got it quite cheap from Clouston & Hall Booksellers - they are based in Canberra. Here's a pic I like from the book called "The Devilish Temptress" by Cecilio Pla Gallardo (1900). It originally graced the cover of a publication called "Blanco y Negro". If you're interested in this sort of sinister depiction of women, I recommend checking out Bram Dijkstra's book "Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-De-Siecle Culture" (Oxford University Press 1986).