tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post7986883089059603503..comments2023-08-22T12:40:01.243-07:00Comments on Searching for Imbas: Practical incubation ritualErynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08297413089914906458noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-7016749225023130982008-01-17T16:50:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:50:00.000-08:00Thanks Shauna, I'll be looking forward to your tho...Thanks Shauna, I'll be looking forward to your thoughts and comments as the process continues. I still have another coat of stain to go before I can actually begin setting the room up for my work, but I expected that. Can't leave the house open to air things out in the middle of winter, so it's taking more time than I'd like.<BR/><BR/>If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here on this blog or over on my LJ.Erynn Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853395116924953101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-22430080978513793132008-01-17T11:11:00.000-08:002008-01-17T11:11:00.000-08:00I am completely fascinated by your process, and yo...I am completely fascinated by your process, and your intention to explore a workable incubation ritual. I can't wait to hear how things go. I'm so glad I was forwarded to your web site; I would say that until the past weeks, I didn't have the language to express that my lifelong "grail quest" has largely been about my quest to find imbas, find that elusive divine bolt of inspiration, and find a process by which I can seek it with some reliability. <BR/><BR/>I've done dream incubation rituals, and used some of my knowledge of the Celtic bardic and druidic incubations within that dreamwork, but I just didn't make the inspiration/imbas connection until now. Fascinated, and looking forward to reading more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-48325904440720680272008-01-09T14:04:00.000-08:002008-01-09T14:04:00.000-08:00*laughter and much merriment*Yeah, cuz of course J...*laughter and much merriment*<BR/><BR/>Yeah, cuz of course Jesus spoke English, don'tcha know.Erynn Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853395116924953101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-39323032963827231922008-01-09T11:49:00.000-08:002008-01-09T11:49:00.000-08:00The "as it once was" camp reminds me far too often...The "as it once was" camp reminds me far too often of the man my husband told me about who said with no sense of irony, "If the King James Version of the Bible was good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me." Goes to show that people are people, no matter how enlightened they think they are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-77869838870497151422008-01-08T18:19:00.000-08:002008-01-08T18:19:00.000-08:00I absolutely disagree with the sentiment that spir...I absolutely disagree with the sentiment that spirit-work should hurt the practitioner. It's a very narrow and self-destructive viewpoint, IMO, and I don't see a reason that we should be self-destructive in either our spiritual lives or our daily lives. The fact that spirit work sometimes <I>can</I> hurt you doesn't mean it's required and I think that should be obvious.<BR/><BR/>Innovation is always going to have to be part of a living tradition. If things aren't adapted to modern needs, they die. Hinduism is one of the oldest living traditions on the planet, yet it shifts and changes with the times. I'm quite certain that the first Hindus didn't make plastic deity statues or electric lights for their shrines. There's a lot of evidence that suggests that modern monistic Hinduism where everything is an emanation of avatar of one central deity is a medieval innovation rather than having existed from the beginning. The position of Goddesses in the tradition has shifted over time and the nature of the deities has also changed and shifted, being added to or taken from as the culture changed and shifted.<BR/><BR/>Of course, not everything <I>has</I> to change, but sometimes things just do. I'm not about to go around practicing divination by reading the death-throes and entrails of war prisoners, thanks.<BR/><BR/>It can be very hard to be an innovator in a reconstructionist tradition sometimes, as I know you're aware. I can understand the urge to do things as they "were always done", but when and where is that exact "always"? It sounds more like Eliade's <I>in illo tempore</I> than any reality.Erynn Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853395116924953101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-89073810543967544472008-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:002008-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:00Diverse, indeed. And the demands of modern culture...Diverse, indeed. And the demands of modern culture will not always be readily met by sticking to our modern interpretations of older material that was written in an imprecise fashion by people with agendas other than "make sure people will be able to repeat the behaviors in a few centuries." This requires innovation from a base of respect and careful thought, not hidebound worrying about this, that or the other bit of nonsense.<BR/><BR/>And safety so matters in this. I worry about the track I'm seeing amongst some CR spirit workers where they insist it has to hurt the body to do it right. I've spoken with some highly trained spirit workers in other traditions, including Norse, and to a one, they decried that notion as fraudulent. And my sources have training in shamanic/spirit work traditions that have a reasonably consistent chain of practice over centuries if not milennia. If we're to gain wider respect amongst the other pagan traditions, we'd best be careful what we claim is proper conduct. It's far too easy to wind up a laughingstock if we get too wrapped up in being special snowflakes. So your desire to be safe and easier on your body is one to be lauded and encouraged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-20738228583295935522008-01-07T22:04:00.000-08:002008-01-07T22:04:00.000-08:00Yeah, that's one of the practical concerns I would...Yeah, that's one of the practical concerns I would wonder about for any ritual as long as three days. What about taking a piss? Even if you're fasting from food, you still need water!<BR/><BR/>I'd not be doing anything that intensive, and if/when I do go into a multi-day ritual, it will be set up so that such things are built into it.Erynn Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853395116924953101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245968337172165533.post-45674607800037714872008-01-07T21:57:00.000-08:002008-01-07T21:57:00.000-08:00I have a practical concern. Going to the bathroom...I have a practical concern. Going to the bathroom.<BR/><BR/>Is this issue "eliminated" by the fasting? Would you need to leave the incubation chamber to go to the bathroom?sara starhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04826686885318466824noreply@blogger.com