Reading, reading, writing

While school is out of session, I am filling my free hours with as much reading as I possibly can. It is wonderful to have so many books sitting on my shelves, just waiting for me to reach out and open them up. I am reading fairly indiscriminately, picking up whatever comes to hand that attracts my attention. I finished: Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman, Great House by Nicole Krauss, Jack's Black Book by Jack Santos, Divining Women by Kaye Gibbons, Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott, The World Beneath by Cate Kennedy, The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg, The Listener by Bo Huston, not to mention many nonfiction titles related to the classes I am teaching. I am currently working my way through Freedom by Jonathon Franzen. It feels great to tear through a few of the volumes that have been stacking up on my shelves. Next week though, it is back to school and reading for class, at least through June!
Are you finding time to read? What is worth seeking out? What have you read recently that has proved memorable?

New Classes for the spring and summer

May and June 2011 Classes at Sacred Paths

Intermediate Tarot

This class is a further exploration into ways to interact with the rich symbolism of the Tarot. We’ll look at more reading spreads (including how to design your own spreads), as well as path working, using tarot cards in spell work and other ways to play with your deck. Familiarity with the meaning of the cards is recommended to get the most out of this class.

Six weeks        Thursday May 12^th – June 16^th                       7-9:30 pm

$120 or $20 per session                    

  taught by Nell Morningstar

Envisioning and Designing Your Dream Business

Have you always dreamed of starting your own business? Do you have a small business that needs redirection or clarity of purpose? Does writing a business plan seem overwhelming and uninteresting? Over the summer, meeting every other week, we’ll use creative and imaginative approaches to develop, map out and write our individual business plans. Using visual techniques, intuition and strategic planning tools, we’ll address how to turn passion and enthusiasm into actual business opportunities. Don’t miss this chance to embrace your most creative self and prepare for the entrepreneurial leap that can transform your dream into reality.

Alternating Saturdays:  June 4^th, 18^th, July 2^nd, 16^th, 30^th and August 13^th      1-4 pm.

$120 or $20 per session                     

taught by Nell Morningstar

The Ritual of Writing, Writing as Ritual

This workshop will explore how a writer creates their entry into the writing habit and life, finding a place that allows words to flow easily and the writer to access their creative center as well as dismissing their internal critic and the accompanying doubts and blocks.

We will also examine the idea of writing as a sacred action, looking at how to embrace this in our own writing practice. Open to all genres, beginning and more experienced writers interested in investigating their relationship to their writing. Bring notebook and pen to use during the workshop.

Saturday June 25^th                               1-4 pm

$20                                                      

 taught by Nell Morningstar

Making Portable Shrines

Using mixed media, we’ll fashion small portable shrines that can go anywhere with you. Bring any specific images or items you might wish to include in your shrine, and come have fun creating!

Sunday June 12^th                                 1-4 pm

$20                                                     

taught by Nell Morningstar

All classes held at Sacred Paths Center, 777 Raymond Avenue, St. Paul, 55114

preregistration required, call 651-644-3727.

Still Writing

I am still writing, working away at the novel I began in the novel class that I am now finishing up. 100 plus pages, and I am just beginning to feel like I might know where it is all going! But then, this is the kind of writing that I really enjoy, hold on to your seats and lets go for a wild ride kind of writing. When I know too much at the beginning, I am not likely to finish. It is too boring, heading toward and ending that I already know, that is too expected. With unknown elements still at work, I have something to look forward to each time I sit down to eek words out onto the paper. I like to be surprised, I like to be amused, I like to find myself in a new place (literally and metaphorically) and most of all, I like to see, hear, read, experience new things that are outside what I have already had the pleasure of enjoying. So, onward and upward, looking into a spring full of words and filled pages, and possibly some writing sessions out of doors eventually.

Writing the Novel

I am back writing again, this time for my class The Novel. It is enthralling, this process of watching how a novel is created from 'nothing'. I walked into class the first night with no idea at all of what I might be engaged in writing for the semester. By the time I had done the writing exercises in class, and continued to work on them that week outside of class, I found myself knee-deep in the 'dreaming' of what I now think of as 'my' novel. The characters, setting, theme, and yes, eventually plot are all unfolding themselves as I continue to explore, write, question and dream this still untitled novel. I am in a trance state much of the time as I wander around, half in the real world, and half in this world that I am just beginning to know. I still have to push myself to sit and write each day, and I am not always successful, each week I have a day or more that I don't quite get my butt in chair. But overall,  I have produced 10 to 15 pages each week, and I am deep in the birthing of a creative project that came from seemingly nowhere. I still have ten more weeks of class, so I hope to be sitting on somewhere between 150 and 200 pages of spanking fresh material. Not bad for a cold, snowy winter in the frozen tundra!

Hibernation

Between snowdrifts of a monumental size, and air temperatures bordering on torture, this time of year in Minnesota is a great time to hunker down and work at all of the indoor hobbies you mean to get to, but don't always. I am pulling out my sketch book and pencils, I am going back through lots of photos that have been languishing in my camera and on my computer, and I have been reorganizing my workroom. The dog doesn't think this is much fun, although we have equipped her with new chew toys to while away the time. She would so much prefer the leash brought out, and the door to the great outer world opened, until she gets her paws onto the icy snow, and then she is lifting one paw after another and looking longingly at the house.
I am loving Traci Bunkers' daily challenge of rubber stamp carving, accompanied by a sketch or two each day. www.tracibunkers.blogspot.com
I like the idea of a daily challenge, and think that may be just what I need to help me get through the hardest month of the winter - February. What are you challenging yourself with this winter? How is it going?

The Muse pays a visit

It is always fascinating to me where ideas and inspiration comes from. The muse seems to find the most interesting times and places to show up. On
my last night visiting with my mother, I was taking a long, stress-reducing bath, enjoying a few moments of calm and the lavender scented bathwater. Suddenly, as I floated with my head partially submerged, listening to the sounds of the pipes and water flowing in other parts of the building I saw/felt/knew a story I needed to write. When an idea comes to me like that, suddenly and out of the blue, my first response is to stay as still as possible, when the channel is open, I want to make sure that I am getting all the information there is to receive. Staying as still and silent as possible seems to be the best way to do this.
For the last few days then, I have been writing, working on taking that glimpse of an idea, and making it into a story. It is fun, though as with all expressive art forms, challenging and work. I have the opportunity to take almost nothing, just a hint of an image and a ghost of a feeling, and make something from them. I feel lucky to have at least the occasional brush with that mysterious force I call the muse. Now, if I can just write a story that is even one one hundredth true to the original flash I experienced, I will be satisfied.

Visiting Mom

I have been visiting my mother, and her dogs. She currently has four (down from five a month ago). These are dogs that she has chosen to bring into her home, or that have been left here by previous roommates, and now she can't bear to give away. She just turned 82 a few days ago, and my sisters and I are slowly scooching her toward a different living situation (she is becoming forgetful, and it is too dangerous for her to live alone much longer). But of course, one of the hardest parts of this imminent change is all these dogs. My mother's heart is as big as Texas when it comes to dogs, it always has been. Growing up, we had multiple dogs, and then litter after litter of puppies. She is happiest when she is sitting (sometimes sleeping) in this big chair, a football game on the TV (preferably the Green Bay Packers, once a Wisconsin girl, always a Wisconsin girl) and all of her dogs around her. I guess it can be this simple, sometimes.

Deep Freeze

It is getting colder again here in the north land and Ana Purna, my kitty has the right idea. The lovely radiators pump out heat that is irresistible right now. Fortunately, after seven years in our house, we have finally found where to hang curtains, and learned which windows must be covered with plastic. Now, no matter where I am in our wonderful home, I am cozy and warm. One of the best places to be right now is sitting at my desk, shoulder to shoulder with the radiator. It makes it easier to look out the window, watching the people and vehicles struggling with the ice and snow, observing the deepening snow piles and the new snowflakes beginning to fall. Why do we stay here? Bragging rights! And there is nothing better than crawling under the down comforter to snuggle and dream through these longest nights of the year, listening to the gurgle of our faithful radiators.

Tarot Class

In a few weeks I will be teaching my Tarot and the Kabalah class at Sacred Paths Center here in Minneapolis. It is a class that I originally designed and taught with my friend Loui Pieper. We taught the first session of it in the early 1980s, back when tarot was relatively obscure and mysterious. There were only a few books out on tarot, and only a few decks available. Now, tarot is everywhere, books are published weekly, new decks (and reprints of old ones) appear monthly. Teachers, and information abound, and that is not to even mention what can be found on the internet. And yet, when I taught the class last spring for the first time in years, I found myself and my students still captivated by what there was to explore in the material and in our decks. The layers and depth of the symbol systems associated with the tarot are astounding (or, to use the terminology of the year, epic)! So it is with great enthusiasm that I offer this course, looking forward to the journey and those who will join me on it this time around.

Tarot & The Kabbalah

The following four classes cover the entire Tarot deck and various reading techniques. The information will take a student from beginner to reader. Both those new to Tarot and experienced students will find this course reveals more of Tarot's layered mysteries and offers new perspectives.

Each class can be taken separately, but a discount applies to students taking the full set. Prepaid discount price is $300. Repeat students are welcome and may take the class at a 20% discount.

Minor Arcana

Basic Kabbalah and elemental knowledge presents the students with an understanding of the numbered cards of the suits and insight into how the meanings of each card were derived.

4 Session beginning Thursday, January 20th, 7-9:30 pm $80

Major Arcana

All the rich symbols and archetypes associated with the 22 trump cards will be discussed and correlated to the Tree of Life as well as the paths and transformative changes in our own lives. Both esoteric and practical day-to-day meanings will be explored.

6 sessions beginning Thursday February 17th, 7-9:30 pm $120

Court Cards

Representing the people in our lives as well as aspects of our own personalities, these 16 cards can be tricky to get a handle on. We will look at them in depth in this 2 week session.

2 sessions beginning Thursday March 31st, 7-9:30 pm $40

Introduction to Reading

Covers basic card spreads, reading techniques, communication styles, ethics and responsibilities of reading for others. Knowledge of definitions and familiarity with the meanings of the individual cards are required.

4 sessions beginning Thursday April 14th, 7-9:30 pm $80

These classes taught at Sacred Path Center, 777 Raymond Avenue, St. Paul

Call 651-644-3727 for more information or to register. Preregistration is required. Taught by Nell Morningstar.

Nell Morningstar has studied and read tarot professionally for over 35 years. A lifelong journal keeper, writer and artist, she is also a doll and puppetmaker and devoted to studying myth and mystery.

Portals

We stand today at the end of the calendar year, tomorrow is the beginning of 2011. I think of this time of year as a portal from where and who I have been to who I am becoming. There is intention and conscious decision making involved, but also there is the Mystery to engage. We can aim at our future, and participate willingly, but we do not control it, there are so many factors involved. That is what makes it so fun!
Today, home, time to clean and cook and be with family. In the back of my mind I am musing on where I am headed. It has been a challenging but good year, and moving forward, I don't think that I could ask for anything else. I like to stretch, reach and grow, as well as I like the rewards to be found in doing so.
Here is to the best year that we can imagine, with a little more thrown in, for the good of all.
Namaste.

Several months ago I was in a local coffee shop and to my surprise and delight, saw this. It is one of my handmade dolls riding atop a toy motorcycle (and seeming to enjoy it at that). I make these dolls out of natural fibers (wool, silk, cotton) that I have dyed in natural dyes from marigold blossoms and onion skins, leaves and tree barks. The blue is from indigo, and the bright orange hair here is from onion skins. I haven't made any of these dolls for sometime as I have been so bus with school and other parts of my life. but just running into it unexpectedly made me want to get back into the studio and make a bunch more. It felt good to see it in a new location, having adventures and being seen by people I will never meet. What a nice surprise. When we wake up and venture out into our worlds, there is always a possibility of something amazing happening. It feels good to be reminded of that from time to time.

Solstice - 2010

Snow, cold, dark and yet, there is a brilliance about Solstice that feeds the soul. We need this time to curl into ourselves and rest. We need this time to sleep, to recover and heal and then dream the world back into being as the light strengthens and the days gradually grow longer and brighter. I think sometimes I would like to live somewhere that winter was not quite such a survival test, but then, winter without the challenge seems hard to imagine. I am finishing my tea, planning to shovel my car out yet again so I can rejoin the world of business and commerce. But there is a part of me still tucked under the comforter and blankets, head under the pillow, dreaming the great dark of the year, waiting for spring to pull me out of my hibernation. Blessings to us all.

Creative Journaling Class

Introduction to Creative Journaling
Explore the potential of written and visual journaling techniques to create your own work and play space in any blank notebook.
Beginning with basics, we will then venture deeper each week. This four-week course will give you the tools to continue journaling on your own.
Bring a journal in progress or a blank notebook to work in, and a favorite pen.
Saturdays beginning February 28th
1 to 4 pm
At Sacred Paths Center
777 Raymond Avenue, St. Paul
651-644-3727
$50 (or $15 per week) includes all supplies.

Workshop I am teaching

Story Boarding Your Life

Saturday February 21st

1 to 4 pm

at Sacred Paths Center
777 Raymond Ave.
St. Paul
651-644-3727

Using visualization, writing and found images, we will create a visual map for our futures as well as a sense of clarity about how to start living it.

$15 includes all supplies.
feel free to bring a journal or notebook

Time to think about getting back

A wealth of part time jobs have filled my life, almost too much.
working 60 to 75 hours a week has kept me busy and unable to get to much of anything else. I am grateful for the work, although I am longing now for a day off, and for a "real" job where I can make enough money in just 40 hours, and where I can use my talent. It has been some time since I've been able to get into my studio, or even spend much time thinking about what comes next. There will be time for this soon, and I hope to find the time to post more regularly as well.

Dreaming

A very busy week. I had spring break from school, but spent half the week looking for work, and fortunately, the second half of the week working. I did a 5 day freelance job that was really fun and helped me remember
what it is I am actually good at. Unfortunately, it is not very likely that I will be able to continue working freelance, unless more jobs come in soon. On the other hand, I have accepted a seasonal job selling plants and other gardening items. this is not a bad job, little dress code, I am selling things I can feel good about, and I am not chained to a cube!! Life could be worse. And, the best of all, I am expecting 50 degrees tomorrow!!!! Yes, Yes, Yes!!!! I'm ready to dream of the shade of green trees and long, lazy summer days. It is coming soon!

Good Day Sunshine

Even though we are still on the receiving end of snow, at least we are also getting sunshine. This is the time of year when it is hard for me to be patient. Spring teases us and I am ready to walk barefoot, sit outside in my backyard, garden and grow colorful flowers. Instead, it is still too cold to be out without a coat, and the earth lies buried under white snow. So, I'll dream about gardening and play with colourful fabrics to keep my spirits up.
I am job interviewing, not always a painless task, but after almost a year of no job, I am ready to put my shoulder to the wheel again. Yesterday, i had a pleasant interview with a woman close to my age, and much of the time it was almost more like a conversation between friends rather than a job interview. Nice.
I am also on break from classes this week, which has given me a bit of time to think about what I want to do. I've begun work on a new writing project that i am pretty excited about, and unless I end up with a possible freelance job for the rest of this week, I'll be back in my studio stitching up new designs that I have been doodling all over my journal pages. There is nothing like a new pen (especially in a fun colour like turquoise or emerald green) to bring some energy into my journal pages. I've been enjoying it immensely. When I finish the prototypes of the new designs, I'll be sure to post them. In the meantime, I think I'll find some fresh flowers to put on my desk, and clear out some of the clutter that the cold weather has left in my brain. Think Spring!!

My Dolls are Listed

I've begun to stock my etsy store with my dolls. I have a few listed, and will continue to list more as I have time to do the photography, and finish up with new designs. It feels great to see them filling up my store. I love how colourful the fabrics are, and I still enjoy their faces (my favourite part of making the dolls I think). I hope yoou'll stop by and check them out.

Snow and Cold

We're still in the midst of snow and cold, I know, it is still winter. But this is the first winter in several years that has been 'normal'. I for one have become accustomed to warmer weather and less snow over the last few winters, and most especially, thaws and unseasonably warm weather ona regular basis in January and February.
This winter has been more like a 'real' winter, lots of snow, lots of cold,and in between, ice and more snow. On the other hand, being stuck indoors can be good for the work ethic and creative work. I've been writing quite a bit and enjoying time to read. I am preparing to teach my Visual Journaling workshop this Sunday, after a very busy Saturday that includes my Natural History class (4 and 1/2 hours in the morning), two birthday parties, one for a 50th, one for a 40th, and my youngest daughter's Kungfu demonstration with a large Chinese New Year feast and celebration afterwards. It should be fun, and excellent food also. Enjoy whatever is happening outside your window, whether it is cold and snowy or warm and sunny.

More cold weather in my neck of the woods, and this makes me want to stay in bed, drink cup after cup of tea and read the stack of books that have migrated to the side of my bed. Mornings feel too early (and really really cold) and evening comes quickly and is colder still. Every winter I wonder to myself about my choice to live somewhere that the temperature actually stays below zero for days on end. Fortunaely, the pay off is the fact that spring and summer, and even fall are so magnificent, they more than make up for the brief deep freeze that we endure most years. Around this time of year though, the skies are often grey, the snow that we have had is dirty and frozen into icy ruts and hills, and the heating bills are feeling monumental. I treasure the time to spend indoors daydreaming (one of my favorite activities I realize), and reading, writing or watching movies and tv. But after a few months of it, we're all abit squirrely and feeling the need to get out of our houses. Valentine's Day in climates like mine is made into a big deal, not so much because we are romantics, but because it is an excuse to dress up and get out for a few hours. I had my Valentine dinner with my sweetie on Saturday, steak and other lovely items, a red rose that managed to survive the twentyseven below zero windchill that night, and an irish coffee nightcap with good friends before we all said 'Goodnight" and hightailed it to our warm houses. Thank goodness for car heaters and gloves and boots.
Happy Valentine's Day to all of us, keep warm!