Make a Song Out of Your Affirmations

Source: sunstone-holistic-health-and-healing.com via Heartache Into Beauty on Pinterest

I mentioned on my Facebook page recently that I can feel a new chant percolating in the background.  I'm not sure what it will be about yet.  I've embraced several affirmations for 2013 and they've been really helpful to me.  Maybe I should try to use one or more of my affirmations as inspiration/lyrics for a chant, like the graphic says. 

The Morrigan has also been poking at me to write a chant for her specifically for use at the Conjure Dance.  I've never written a chant specifically designed to facilitate trance, but I am up to the challenge :)

So I know I haven't been posting much on here lately.  I've been living life!  Real life > the internet ;)  I've been doing things like dating, seeing my high school friend and her sweetheart get married, live tweeting American Idol, getting new glasses, and hanging out with my amazing, genuine friends at Piratz Tavern.  Work has also been keeping me pretty busy.  Trying to keep a work-life-health balance has been a bit more challenging than it was over the winter.

Wordless Wednesday

 

If you don't get the reference, it's one of the many hilarious lines from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!  There's great music, villains who often fail to be evil, a hero who's not so heroic, and the ever-adorkable Felicia Day!

Happy Beltane :)

Happy Beltane!  Today's weather was absolutely perfect for the joyful spirit of Beltane.  The sky was clear and bright blue, and the sun was gently shining.

I took a walk after work in the sunshine to pick up my new glasses.  I am so excited to finally have these.  I haven't had my eyes checked in 7 years, and my prescription changed.  Two little diopters makes a world of difference in clarity.  I can see again!!

Also, I think I look pretty cute in them :)

As the fire festival of Beltane has been approaching, I've really been in the mood for a drum circle with lots of dancing and chanting.  Unfortunately, I am at a loss as to where to go for this sort of thing or who to get in touch with.  Any DC/Maryland locals have some tips?

Did someone say fire? ;)

Monday Music Break: Der Hölle Rache (Queen of the Night Aria)

Today is an opera kind of day.  I woke up with a strong desire to listen to opera, particularly "Mi Chiamono Mimi" from La Boheme.  So on and off all day I've been listening to divas like Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Maria Aleida Rodriguez, and Valentina Nafornita.

When I remembered it was Monday and time for another Monday Music Break, I began wondering about whether any parts of opera could be considered part of the pagan music scene.  Are there pagan themes in classical opera?  Are there any modern-day operas written for a neopagan audience?

The answer to the first question is yes, there are lots of classical operas with pagan themes!  The Greenman wrote a fabulous three-part series about pagan themes in classical opera.  It's quite detailed, but fascinating!

One of the operas he mentions is The Magic Flute by Mozart.  The play takes place in a temple of Isis and Osiris, centered around a series of bizarre initiation rituals.  The Queen of the Night is another name for the goddess Isis.  An opera featuring a goddess in a major role?  It doesn't get much more pagan than that!

Source: http://garycbenson.blogspot.com/2012/05/magic-flute-costume-design.html 

I've yet to see The Magic Flute (*sadface at how expensive opera tickets are*).  However, the Queen of the Night's second aria, "Der Hölle Rache," has long been one of my favorite arias to listen to, ever since my Pop-Pop gave me a CD with this song and a number of other famous pieces opera music.  So I'd like to share this gorgeous and delightfully pagan piece of opera with you all today.  This performance is by Diana Damrau of the Royal Opera House.

I must say, I am envious of coloraturas like Diana Damrau who can sing this - it's so gorgeous, but gosh are those notes high!  Even when I was taking voice lessons I could never sing like that.

So far I haven't been able to find any modern-day operas with neopagan themes, but I shall keep looking.  If you are aware of any please let me know in the comments, or shoot me an email!

Monday Music Break: Man to Man

Wow, guys.  I am sort of speechless and so very saddened at what happened at the Boston Marathon earlier today.  I just cannot comprehend why people enact such terrible violence on their fellow human beings just to make a point.

I think pagan musician Matt Morris had such a grace-filled response on Twitter, so I wanted to share it:

Cultivate love as a response to violence. #Boston
— Matt Morris (@MattMorris) April 16, 2013

I've been struggling all afternoon about what song to post for this week's Monday Music Break, in the wake of this tragedy.   I listened to a few artists and was drawn to this pretty harp-filled song called "Man to Man" by Lorelei Greenwood.  It is from her first solo album, "Allure."

Source: lorelei-greenwood.com

I first found Lorelei's music when, many years ago, I was searching for chants to use in my practice and stumbled across her website.  She has written many truly beautiful chants that I still keep in my chant repertoire to this day.  She is currently working on two other albums set to release this year, so keep your eyes out for more of her musical awesomeness.

Monday Music Break: Swimming to the Other Side

Happy Monday everyone!  What fun things did you all do over the weekend?

I spent yesterday doing some heavy spiritual work with a friend, so right now I feel the need for a nice, lighthearted song that calls upon the energies of water.  Elaine Silver's song "Swimming to the Other Side" feels like a nice fit for that today.  She has a lovely voice that isn't the strongest, but still carries some wonderful energy behind it. 

It looks like Elaine doesn't describe herself as pagan - at least not on her website - but I can see how she appeals to many pagans because she works with faeries and her music has recently evolved into what she calls a "Metaphysical Musical Ministry."

Source: elainesilver.com

Life After Google Reader

Now that Google Reader is going the way of the Dodo, and Google Friend Connect is rumored soon to follow in its wake, I guess it's time to start exploring alternative ways to follow your favorite blogs.  I think I've settled on Feedly, but there's lots of other good options out there.

I thought I'd compile a quick post to help you figure out how to follow Heartache Into Beauty after the demise of Google Reader.

Bloglovin'
Bloglovin' is a way to follow other blogs and see them all in one place.  It's like a cross between GFC and a feed reader.  With Bloglovin', bloggers claim their blogs on the site, and then people follow them.  It's got a bit more privacy for followers, because as far as I know I can only see how many people are following me, but not who.  Click the button below to follow me on Bloglovin':

Networked Blogs
Networked Blogs is similar to Bloglovin' in that bloggers claim their blogs, and then others follow them.  And like Bloglovin', you can read all of the blogs you follow from your profile page.  In this case you follow blogs using your Facebook account.  You can follow me on Networked Blogs using the widget below:

Follow this blog

Feedly and other Feed Readers
If you are already using Google Reader, Feedly will automatically migrate your Google Reader subscriptions if you switch over before July 1 when Google Reader shuts down.  Check out their article with tips for Google Reader users migrating over to Feedly.  It's super easy to migrate, and only requires logging in with your Google account.

Most of the other feed readers that I've encountered will require you to download your subscriptions via Google Takeout, and then upload that file to your new service. 

If you're not already following me on Google Reader and want to add me to your RSS subscriptions, you can use the RSS feed for my blog to subscribe with the service of your choice:

Facebook
In case you missed my post a few days ago, I just created a Facebook page for Heartache Into Beauty.  I would love it if you "liked" my page!  I set up my posts to syndicate to my Facebook page, so when  I post on here it will show up on in your Newsfeed. You can "like" my Facebook page using the widget below:



Twitter

And of course, I am on Twitter. My posts are syndicated to Twitter via dlvr.it, and I also post lots of other fun stuff during the week, like live-tweeting during American Idol :)

Follow @xedri

More Reviews of Sacred Space

Hey ya'll!  I am so excited to tell you that my blog was quoted on Witchvox recently.  Caroline Kenner, one of the organizers of Sacred Space, wrote a fantastic overview of this year's conference.  With my permission she quoted from my review of the conference,* as well as several other folks' reviews.

A few other bloggers have written reviews of this year's Sacred Space Conference as well.  Some of these reviews are quoted in Caroline's article.  Go check them out and leave them lots of comment love!

• The Pink Pagan Priestess talked about how the conference helps break through the "Wiccan wall" and had a number of take-away thoughts from the workshops and rituals Sacred Space, many of which were also pretty key lessons for me as well.

• Literata over at Works of Literata gave a pretty well-rounded review, with a nice discussion about each of the workshops and rituals she attended.

• Maria over at It's All Elemental wrote about our roles as lifetime students, and how wonderful it was to see students learning from teachers, teachers learning from other teachers, and teachers learning from students.

• Lonely Coyote over at Tales of a Shamanic Healer posted about her experiences at Sacred Space and how the energy of Coyote was particularly powerful for her this year.

*Caroline refers to me in the article as a member of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, but if you've been following me for a little while you'll know I left the Assembly a year ago and am now a solitary.  I've requested a correction, but I'm not sure if that's possible on Witchvox.  Just wanted to mention that in case anyone was confused.

Bloggiesta Spring 2013: Wrap-up

Well, Bloggiesta officially finishes up tonight.  I didn't complete all of my goals, because my social calendar got very busy and real life is more important than the internet :)  I still had a lot of fun and definitely added to my blogging tool kit.  Here's how I did!

• Create a graphic banner for my Monday Music Break weekly feature - It didn't happen, but I'd like to do this soon.

• Re-record my Brighid chant so that both parts are in one recording, and then schedule a post with the chant and lyrics  - and....still didn't happen.  I'm giving myself until the end of the month to do this, but I may just give up the ghost on this one and post both parts as separate files.

• Schedule a post about where to find me after Google Reader dies - done!  Look for my post on Friday morning.
  

• Get all of my photos from the last few months off my camera and onto my computer, sorted and edited - mostly done.  The photos are off my camera and sorted into folders.  I think I will leave editing to when I actually use them in my blog, etc.

• Look into starting a Facebook page for my blog - done!  My new Facebook page is here, please "like" it, and feel free to share it with any of your friends who may also enjoy reading my blog!

• Participate in at least one of the Bloggiesta Twitter chats - I took part in Saturday morning's twitter chat and learned a whole lot :)  I also gained a few new twitter followers and followed some cool new people in return. 

I also participated in the Promoting Your Blog on Facebook mini-challenge hosted by Liza of Sockets and Lightbulbs.  This challenge was from a previous Bloggiesta, so I did it purely for learning's sake. 

How did you do in completing your Bloggiesta goals?  Did you have fun?

Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: Facebook

Liza over at Sockets and Lightbulbs just updated a great mini-challenge from last year that also accomplishes one of my Bloggiesta goals.  The challenge was to use Facebook to promote your blog, either by adding a "Like" button at the bottom of every post, or by creating a page for your blog.

My goal had been to create a Facebook page.  I actually made the page on Thursday night and invited a few friends to like the page.  I also set up Networked Blogs to syndicate my blog to the page, to make it easier for folks to be alerted to new posts.

So, for the grand introduction, here is my new Facebook page for Heartache Into Beauty!!  Please "like" it if you are so inclined by clicking the button below :)