Hello all, and welcome to the Synthesis conference.  This is a place
 to talk about any number of things that could collectively be called
 "occult."  Some obvious examples include: astrology, the tarrot and other
 methods of "divination", various flavors of paganism and how they are
 perceived by "mainstream" people and religions, as well as many things
 that I hope you will come up with in the conference.  Note that the
 quotation marks above are to remove any taint of my opinions from this
 opening message.
      I'd like this conference to be a comfortable environment for
 practitioners of the various arts and religions we'll discuss here.  This
 *does not* mean that there is no room for the skeptic.  However, as we may
 be discussing deeply-rooted beliefs for some people, so courtesy and
 open-mindedness is a necessity.  Other than that, anything goes.  Please,
 be comfortable, learn, teach and enjoy.

212 responses total.

Hail and Well met!
        As the first person to respond, I must admit being a smattering of
pagan (or for those of you who prefer: Neo-pagan) religions, though I am
primarily a Volsung (also sometimes Wallsing) which is the proper name
for the religion of the Norsemen- through research the only name for
that religion comes from the Saga of Sigurd (might be known to you as
Sigfreid).  I am usually tolerant of other peoples beliefs- until they
attemtp to force them on me... then YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW....
Alas, parting is such sweet sorrow, I bid thee all well, May ye all have
Freyja's blessing.

God Jul til alles!!

Oh well, I guess I have to put my own modesty aside for now.

My name is Richard, a/k/a Bruin or "Bruin the Bare Bear."  My interest in
neo-Paganist beliefs begain in 1989, when I began attending the Creation
Spirituality meetings that were being held at the Unitarian Church.  I had
also been involved in Native American spirituality, including the sweat lodge
ceremonies that were held at Botsford Recreational Preserve at the time.  I
had bowed out for two years beginning in 1992 to devote my time and energy
to securing a better personal living situation, but resumed my interest in
1994 when Shining Lakes Grove of the ADF was forming.  I have been a faithful
attendee of many of their functions, and it was there that I first met brighn,
kami, val, anne/mooncat, eeyore, jimhoyt, and some other Grexers whose logins
escape my mind.  As your new co-fairwitness, it is my pleasure to welcome all
newcomers, as well as long-time synthesis participants.  Peace be with you.

Hmmm...a re-introduction...how interesting...

My name is Sarah Michaela O'Connor, and I am one hundred percent Irish..pretty
rare, but possible.  I was raised Roman Catholic until I awakened to the
Celtic and Native American religions when I was sixteen years old.  I combine
the two philosophies, therefore I have a totem, but celebrate all Celtic
holidays.  Since my roots are based in Ireland, I feel more tied to the Celtic
religion.  I love discussing all aspects of religions, both Pagan and
Christian, but please don't try to change my morals or beliefs.  I respect
people's opinions if they can back them up with facts...each person is
entitled to what they believe.  

Congrats on the new co-fw job, Bruin.

Hm! Okay, haven't introduced myself in a while...
        I'm Selena Anne Barwens(-Kershaw), and I am 22, also 100% Irish,
and married <open marriage>. I'm very pagan, the product of an oppressive
Catholic household that, by age twelve, disowned me. I admit to having an
anti-Catholic bias, and I'm sorry for anything I might say along those
lines. I'm bisexual, and I believe in many kinds of magick..
        I'm not sure what else to say, so ask.

Hi!  I'm Brighn, everyone knows that.  Brighn al-Ya'alina is my full
Craft name:  Ya'alina is my spirit totem's name (also called "Mom").
Mom's a cheetah, btw.  I'm Wiccan, a member of Shining LAkes Grove
in Ann Arbor (a bard, in fact, in fact the Bard Rialta, plus as soon
as I get the formal paperwork, I might be the official Grove Fool).
Married to two of the loveliest ladies ever to grace the planet
(biased?  me? naaaahhhh....), one of whom just introduced herself.
Maybe I should go get the other one to do the same... Anyways, ummmm...
what else?  Bisexual, open marriage, principal dieties are Odin, 
Brighid, Osiris, and Isis, oh yeah, and Bast (SORRY, Mom!) ,and 
Hestia just b/c she keeps the apartment from burning down (had a
bit of trouble with grease fires before we talked to her).  
Ah well.  Anything else you wanna know?  Ask...

My name is Valerie Jane(I never really use my middle name) Hartzer
I'm an archaeology grad student at MSU and a practicing Wiccan and I
am a member of Shining Lakes Grove.  I'm of Slavic desent (75% Polishand
25% Croation) and my interests include Ancient Egyptian religion and Slavic

paganism and mythology.  I'm a practising polyamorist in an open marriage 
with Brighn and Selena (above) which has brought me great joy!  Like 
Selena, I'm a recovering Roman Catholic, but I have no animosity to 
Christians in general.  I'm a cancer (July 12) and am very close to cats
especially Noelle (my familiar) and I'm closest to the dieties Bast and
Diana. 

Hey, blondval. :)   Could I talk to you about Egyptian religion at
some point?  I'm interested in learning more about Bast, and there's
another goddess, can't think of her name off hand, I believe she
was a daughter of Re- Lioness goddess..  Let me know. :)

We're getting into animal symbols now, lah?  Well, I am a Leo (August 4), a
Serpent (Chinese Zodiac- 1977), a Bear (Bjorn) the son of Eagle (Arne= Eagle,
sen=son)

While we're at it...I'm Capricorn (January 9), a bird and rabbit by nature,
a mother figure in more ways than one (call on me for a shoulder to cry on,
good advice, and cookies and milk to go with it).  =)  I feel very in tune
with the Earth and all of her gifts...
Valerie, it's so nice to finally "meet" you.  Brighn talks about you endlessly
(all good things), and I've been dying to know you.  Welcome!  <hugs>

Anne:  Sekhmet is prob. the one you're thinking of.
Since we're doing animals and such, I'm a Piscean and a Monkey (March 4, 1968).
Those who know me well can see both of those, but I don't show
me Virgo rising nearly enough... good thing?  Bad thing?  I dunno... :)

<birdy feels honey dripping off of this response and is forewarning you>
Brighn...I think Virgo shows well enough.  It's said that Capricorns and
Virgos make the best friends.  =)
<curtsey>

Awwww.... *deep rouge blush*
Great, another sign tto watch out for... lately it's been scorpios.
I gave up counting at 15.
*heh*
But none can compare to my favorite scorpio.  *hug selena*

*Selena excuses herself, brighn, and blondval a moment, taking their hands,
and giggling*
Be back in a bit..

As long as we're talkin' critters...
I won't tell you my "true" name, but my mother named me something to do with
otters and laughter, because she says an otter is "a party waiting to happen"
and that has proved to be quite appropriate. My major totem is skunk, which
would take at least one full screen to explain. Otters and skunks are both
members of the weasel family, so I'm exploring that right now. The skunk's
only real natural enemy is the great horned owl (it has a lousy sense of
smell) so they are my next course of study. Not an easy bird to spot!
Feb. 28, 1961 makes me Piscean. <otter ponders the presence of yet another
water sign, gets a headache and dives>

Hi!!  I'm redval!!
This is to seperate me from blondval.  :)
At the moment I'm a little brain dead so I cannot think of anything 
to say about myself, but fortunately most of you all know me somewhat.

If we are talking about animals, does anyone know any dieties that 
have the spider as a special animal.
Oh, BTW, I'm very interested in spiders, and I'm thinking of going to grad
shcool to study them.  

Oh well, I'll be back later to give some pertinent info on myself.

Val, there's a whole song about then.  Haven't I ever played MotherTongue's
"Motet to Arachne" for you?  They name
Anansi, Minerva (?), Arachne, Moera (?),and one or two others.  Try Greek,
Native American, and African to start.  Have fun!

And don't forget my patron goddess, Athena.

Not that it has anything to do with the conferencse, but I saw a Black Widow
Spider on the first floor of Richards Hall about a month and a half ago.  Then
I left it alone and it left me alone.

You're not its type, Bjorn, not enough legs... :)

Thanks, Rob.  I thought of her but couldn't back it up with specifics, and
didn't want to talk through my hat.  Tell us a story?

Sounds exciting, Bjorn.  Glad it wasn't too much so.

No offense to anyone, but I have serious arachnophobia...even the thought of
spiders gives me shudders and makes my chest constrict.  I'm trying to get
over it though, because a dear friend of mine possesses the spider as a spirit
animal.  =)  <birdy shudders again>

I used to be completely and utterly arachnaphobic, happily
my patroness has helped me reduce that to "mildly arachnaphobic".  >8)

Re 20 - There's a wonderful story, which I'll tell later.

Birdy, try desensitation therapy.  People will charge you enormous amounts of
money for it, but you could probably do it youself.  All it involves is a 
series of escalating encounters with spiders.  Talk about them until you are 
comfortable, look at pictures, spiders at a distance, spiders close up
<behind glass>, spiders loose, to finally touching spiders.  You work
at your comfort level, and only move on when you are comfortable with the
previous step.  This is used with all phobias, from what I hear.  :)
Hope whatever you do works.

Re #20: Not that it could have penatrated my Doc. Martins if it did get
scared/angry.  Then again, it had no reason to do either.

Introductions? Ah well, since I occassionally post hereit's only fair I
de-lurk long enough for y'all to know something about me.
I'm another fish (March 6th), a sheep, and a "9". Was lofted onto the
Pagan Path in 1987 CE and am currently solitare Wiccan and not-so-secret
instigator in Shining Lakes, the ADF Grove in Ann Arbor. I'm poly as
a consequence of my spirituality though can/have walked a mono path as
part of life's experiences. I work at the U of Mich Library as a 
computer geek and have just been admitted to grad school in plant
biology. (I expect to have even *less* time for this conference starting
next month!) I'm an insatiable networker and have been accused of knowing
everyone -- which is unfair, there's at least *two* of you out there I
don't know ;-)

Hi all! :)   My name's Cormac and its been awhile since I've been on grex
But since I love Synthesis so much and like to post occaissionally I thought
I'd do this introduction thing
I'm a practising solitary generic pagan since 1985. I'm  a cook at Syracuse
University and so the lovely darlings give me this free ( Free! Free! Free!)
computer account .
My interests are Magic and Dreaming and uniting the Syracuse area pagans
I feel an atraction to Eris and the Dagda.My power animal seems to be Mouse.
I dream that I'm sleeping with them sometimes.
I'm a reformed catholic and I have a pretty low opinion of christianity and
I'll never be Christian again don't bother. But I have manners,can be polite,
and am willing to discuss it.:)

Cormac!  You're still around!  Gee, I thought you'd given up and wandered
away.  Sorry about dying out on you in the Lang. conf, but time's short and
I'm lazy.
Have you run across the local ADF Grove in your area?

Mice are cool.

Cormac!!!!!!  <hugs him and welcomes him back>  I agree...mice are cool.  =)

Well, I know I gave an intro already, but seeing as how everyone is
going into animals I should too... ;)  I'm a capricorn, goats are
cool ;) and by chinese astrology a tiger. :)  The last makes me very
happy. 
Oh, and Brighn, I was thinking about Sekhmet, I just couldn't quite
remember her name...

I'm a Cappy by stars, and a snake by chinese astrology...

i'm chris, or igor/iggy. i'm 31, married. <actually first met my
hubby on mnet in 1986>. i used to live in the flint area, then ann arbor
for several years. then moved to bloomington indiana for a few, and
am now currently residing in seattle.
i was a generic pagan for a while, but then discovered the
norse pantheon. now i am very asatru. my patron dieties
are odin and hel.
<this has a lot to do with a near-death <or a total hallucination>
experience i had when i was young.> 
anyway,you could consider my one of those 'wounded-healer' types.
sometimes i delight in jerking people's chains. i cannot resist
poking at people who take themselves too seriously.
i'm also a reiki II.
i used to be a vet tech, and helped heal a lot of critters. mostly
by modern medicine, but sometimes with reiki, soul retrieval,
appealing to a local gardian diety, or just escorting them to
the otherside. it is really sad when the critters have to die
alone when their owners didnt want to be there to comfort them.
<or they were lost pets and owners couldnt be located>

Gee, Anne, when's your birthday?  And you Birdlady? Mine's in about two
weeks.  Who's gonna be around Thurs the 28th?  I want to have a Hobbit
party, since I'm turning 33.

Iggy, you've moved to Seattle?  Bummer, it's a long hike just for a Grexwalk.
Good stories, glad you found your path.

Kami, I'll be back in town on 12/26/95 (visiting family in Adrian), so if you
do have a Hobbit party, please give more info via this conference or Email.
BTW, my birthday is February 8.

A Hobbit party would be well worth attending.  I'll still
be here.  (What, me get time off in December?  HA!)

Kami- My birthday is Jan 11, 75.. That's right, I'm almost 21... ;)
i might be back in town on the 28th, but I don't know.  And I may
be bringing my sister back to town for a few days...

Look forward to seeing you, old lady...<g>

  Awww Shucks *Blush*
  Well I did kind of wander off and get seduced by the newsgroups!
  They're much better than the soaps! has anyone been following alt. pagan?
  They're also not very polite sometimes. Can somebody tell me what
'Spam/Spammy/Spamming means?
 
  Kami,,No problem, I was getting towards the end of my Berlitz phrasebook
anyways ;)

  Here in the 'Cuse us Pagans hibernate for the winter. I'll start seeing
people again around May. The local A.D.F. folks seem to be doing well, at
least if their quarterly 'Muin light' is to be believed.

  Well I guess to say we hibernate is misleading. We just don't have any of
our ecumenical gatherings in the wintertime and wintertime it is. Two feet
of snow.

               And so on I blather
               Nice to be back!
               :* Cormac

spamming means innundating the net/list with repetitive, meaningless, or
irrelevant messages.

say hi to the Muin Mound folk for me.  Enjoy the snow, we don't have any
to speak of (sniffle)

None to speak of?????  There's too f***ing much snow as it is!!!

(I grew up in Michigan, y'know, really I did...)

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss