KC and #4

So before I even got a chance to write about the 3^rd ordeal in more detail than “It sucked, I lived” I had to complete the fourth one. The 4^th took place as part of Keeper’s Crossing, which is for any who don’t know, a tiny international gathering of spirit workers, shamans and god spouses that is held at Cauldron Farm once a year. The last ordeal needed to be held in the presence of my community, and while I enjoy being a part of Asphodel, the gang at KC is more clearly a community of my peers.

This ordeal was administered by Lydia Helasdottir who was out from Europe for the weekend. I am not going to go into any great detail here, at least not right now. I will say that the ordeal involved being hoisted up off the ground on flesh hooks through my back while members of my community watched and/or assisted in the process of my being essentially ritually consumed while I hung screaming. Yeah, fun.

That said, I do feel better now in some ways than I have since the serious shaman sickness started just about one year ago. I don’t know if it is fair to say that I am done with shaman sickness or not. I do know that I have cleared an incredible set of hurdles and that now I suspect I will really have to get to work.

Keeper’s Crossing is a pretty darn private event and I will not be relating much about it here out on the internet. I will say on that score that it was another incredible experience, as it was last time, and it was wonderful to renew friendships and make new ones. Boy that makes it sound even more like “shaman camp” as one participant described it.

Now I get the fun of figuring out where to go from here with my spooky life. I do know that I am going to be administering ordeals for people and I need to get the tools together for putting hooks in people for pulling for starters. I also know that I am going to need to figure out about doing readings for strangers instead of just for friends and friends of friends. The Lady has made it pretty plain that Tashlin is going to be becoming more of a public entity in the next while and that is going to really take some getting used to.

Plus we are now officially back in the market for one or more full time students if not apprentices. If any of you all know anyone you think need to talk to us or to me, whether about readings or teaching stuff, have them drop me a line. eltashlin@gmail.com