Whispers from the Myth Teller

After jumping through a few hoops, I found myself invited to speak on a panel at Can-Con in Ottawa this past weekend. The panel wasn't exactly what I expected, especially since the topic of it had changed from what I had originally agreed to speak on to a topic I knew virtually nothing about. Rather than bolting, I figured I could wing it just by listening and eventually adding my own two cents, although I had the distinct impression I was flashbacking to my CEGEP days in Seminar class when I hadn't read the material that was to be discussed.

So the topic had changed from "Paganism in Canada Today" to "Pagan influences on Speculative Literature". I know... quite the shift in focus, eh? The panel was to discuss how pagan culture and themes had influenced modern sci-fi and fantasy literature. Of course, we had to spend a good 20 minutes defining paganism, which if we had not reigned it in, could've taken over the entire hour and maybe even part of the next day. The worst part of that panel was when on of the panelists turned to me to ask "So Hobbes... who are your favorite pagan fiction authors?" To this, I completely blanked (although I was tempted to say Gerald Gardner and Aleister Crowley, just for the shock value) and babbled that I didn't read fiction based on the religion of the authors or if the book had pagan themes in it. I could see the audience questioning what the hell I was doing on this panel in the first place, which at that moment was an excellent question.

But as the discussion moved on, I did get some insight on the topic which allowed me to disagree with the other panelists. It was unfortunate that it took almost 40 minutes of this hour-long panel to figure this out, so just as we were getting into the meat of it, the next panel was chomping at the bit to get their talk started.

Personally, I don't think that the modern pagan culture influences mainstream fiction in the slightest. Our community is still too much on the fringe to have that much impact on the mainstreamers, as much as our collective egos would enjoy it.

That's not to say that sci-fi/fantasy literature doesn't employ pagan themes, but I don't think they come from our us. Unlike many other religions that have a central doctrine that radiates outward, pagan culture is de-centred, constantly in flux, and reflects the concerns of the generation. It employs a healthy amount of cultural appropriation which allows its practitioners to explore and incorporate themes, symbols, and traditions from a culture they cannot call their own.

If there are any pagan themes in modern sci-fi/fantasy literature (and there are most definitely), they come from other ethnic cultures and philosophies that are centrally defined by geography, race, and environment. Modern sci-fi/fantasy literature and modern pagan culture both borrow (and at times grave-rob) from these established ethnic cultures and philosophies to define and explore their topics and ideas.

While a pagan can read a book and recognize themes that are common within pagan community culture, those ideas are not coming from a modern, North American, neo-pagan culture, but rather from the same source that the pagan himself is either cherry-picking directly or indirectly from other pagan authors.

Montreal Witches Masquerade Ball 2009
Friday, October 30th 2009
6pm until 1am
Ritual: free (donations encouraged)
Party: $10

In lieu of a costume (although a costume is optional), bring out your wildest masks!

6870, rue de Terrebonne, NDG
Take 105 bus from Vendome to Rosedale,
walk up to Terrbonne

6:30pm: Samhain Public Ritual led by Mark H. (1 hour) -- 18 years +
8pm: Samhain Dance Party (DJ and a drumming circle) -- All Ages
All night: meditative celtic labyrinth (outside)

http://www.paganuniverse.com/mprc/
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This is a little pagan community shindig that I'm putting together with Mark H. for Samhain/Halloween. I really hope we get a good turnout 'cause the hall rental was ... well, let's just say we need about 100 people to turn out to cover our costs.

Please pass the word along!

The 2nd Annual Scotch Tasting party that we held last night was a resounding success. Thanks need to go to the lovely and talented sarahcarotte who prepare a delicious spread to accompany the multitude and variety of Scotch we had. Also, a heartfelt shoutout to knotty_mark who held me move some extraneous stuff into the basement.

After everyone showed up (there were about 20+ people in the end), our Scotch table consisted of the following Scotches and some not so Scotch:

Jameson 12 year
Scapa
Glenmorangie
Highlander Park 25 year
Laphroaig
Lagavulin 16 year
Ballantyne
Sortilege (Canadian whisky mixed with Maple Syrup)
Jura Superstition
Talisker

At the end of the evening, we had a vote and the Scapa won as the best Scotch of the evening. My thanks to the Gryphon Cafe for the pound of shortbread they donated for the event which we award to Jim and Laurie for their Scotch contribution (the Scapa).

There were also a few bottles of fine red wine and Porto floating about as well. Mr. Wheeler arrived with some cigars which were consumed on the balcony (I didn't participtate). Also, Ms. DragonMoone showed up with my newly adjusted kilt, which I wore immediately and wowed the party-goers.

Everyone was dressed-up in full regalia, especially the Franco bros. who looked exceptionally snazzy. I was pleased to see my friends bastdanica and moniqueg, as well as Jim, Laurie, and Dave who trekked in from the Ottawa area to join us. My apologies to photogeek_mtl because some of their party-goers stayed later at my party before going to his. We really need to stop competing like this...

All in all, it was a tremendous success. I'm defnitely making this an annual event. I really needed this evening after the horrible week I had just gone through.

Remember when I told you all about the Montreal Pillow Fight last week? I didn't go because it was raining and I figured no one would show up with soggy pillows.

It turns out that I was wrong! Many people did show up and Pillow Hilarity ensued! Drat! Such a missed opportunity.

Fortunately, sfllaw was there and took photos to immortalize the event. You can see the photos of it at sfllaw Flickr site.

I wonder if you could turn a Pillow Fight event into a charity-based event?

I spent the weekend in TO with Ms. Carotte and we attended her parent's church in Woodbridge. Once again, I disagreed with most of what the pastor had to say during his sermon (grumbling to myself all the while), but there was one particular part where I really wanted to jump up.

The pastor was illustrating a point about believing in the right God and making a decision on what to believe (instead of believing in everything). He then spoke of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and of the foolish people who stayed in their homes, watching the floodwaters rise higher and higher, until they were forced to move to their rooftops. He was half-laughing as he wondered aloud why they stubbornly refused to leave their homes, despite the danger. The people around me nodded, smiling and shaking their heads at the insanity of it all.

After having lived through the ice storm, I can completely understand how people can want to hunker down in their homes, wanting to wait out the disaster. I had visited the congress centre and I had no desire to live in a large room with hundreds of others, no privacy, no safety, and lots of noise. If I could suffer through that natural disaster, then I was going to suffer through it in the comforts of my own home. It may seem like an illogical conclusion, but when faced with a natural threat, most people will think they can face it.

Before Katrina arrived, I'm sure folks thought it would be some wind, some rain, a few uprooted trees, a few flooded basements, and that's all. No need to leave their homes completely unprotected from looters for that! Even when the tsunami approached the beaches of Indonesia, people stood with their feet in the sand watching it come in, unaware of the danger they were in.

I'm sure if the people in that Torontonian community were told that, next Thursday, Toronto was at risk of becoming a target for meteorites and that they should leave the city for their own safety, a good chunk of those people would not pencil it in to their schedules, much less abandon their homes for a sudden visit to Montreal. They would surely stay in their homes, umbrellas open, reading the Globe and Mail.

Okay, so maybe asteroids sound outlandish (although it isn't really), but do you really think Torontonians would evacuate their city because of reports of severe weather?