If you’d asked me that question 20-25 years ago, the answer would have been no. At that point in time the only connection I had with tattoos was a co-worker who was ex-military and an ex-state trooper…and he was COVERED. Not in intricate sleeves but random designs that ran into one another from his wrists to his shoulders. I suspect he had even more than I, as a co-worker, was privy to.
Then I got out in the world more
Which is kinda funny because by the time I’d met said co-worker, I’d already sowed my ‘wild oats’ via partying, bar hopping, etc. by age 21 (I was legal where I lived due to a law change and my date of birth falling under the grandfather cause). I’d been introduced to a gay bar, where my sister was thought to be my date, LOL. And closed the honky tonk bar more times than I can count…the truck stop had the BEST breakfasts! No DUI for me.
Sorry…where was I?
Right. Getting out into the world. Or maybe getting older? Perhaps the stigma lessened. Danica Avet even posted about the tattoo debate recently (which is similar to an experience I had over Easter weekend, LOL). Or seeing sexy men with hot tattoos. There’s something of the ‘bad boy’ in a man sporting a tattoo. Whatever the reason, I started liking tattoos. I started thinking of tattoos as SEXY.
As a person of Scottish decent I am drawn to all things Celtic. As a woman I am drawn feminine symbolism, such as the Triple Goddess. Is it any wonder that a Maiden-Mother-Crone tattoo is first on my list?
Of course, tattoos are hugely personal. Certainly not something to enter into lightly. In the end, I think a well-thought out tattoo is SEXY.
How about you? Do you find tattoos sexy? Do you have one? Or do you want to get one?
According to the book, the structure is Newgrange which has a central chamber illuminated by the sun at dawn on the winter solstice, and gives me a sense of death and rebirth. The man is open while surrounded by community. The image screams Druids to me. I see a solstice celebration, a celebration of life, a renewal of spirit. Cranes are the Japanese symbol of honor and peace. The Lotus a Buddhist symbol of enlightenment and awakening. The swirls and circles show continuity and the rhythm of life. According to the book, that face looking down on the man is Kwan Yin, a goddess of compassion and mercy. The symbols on this card are amazing!
Light (upright) Reading:
An open heart lets go of judgments and criticisms.
Keywords: Turning Point, Reformation, Rite of Passage, and Rebirth.
Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:
It may be difficult to let go of old beliefs, if only because they are familiar.
Keywords: Judgmental, Regret, Disillusionment, and ‘Bad Karma.’
Plots:
Just the title of this card gives me ideas. Awakening. A coma patient waking up. Someone waking up in another time or place or in another body. Spiritual awakening. Someone finding faith. Or someone being initiated as a Druid or shaman.
How about the legend of whoever folds a thousand cranes is granted a wish? Perhaps a retelling of Kwan Yin, “She who hears the cries of the world.”
Newgrange and the swirls definitely point toward the Celts. You could explore ancient peoples of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. But don’t stop there, the Celtic civilization was bigger than the Roman one. (Kate Wood offers up posts on the Celts during her Tursan Tuesdays.)
Themes: Personal Awakening, Peace, Think Globally and Act Locally, Liberation, Awareness, Rebirth, or Inner Calling.
Characters:
Emerge from darkness and open to life.
Archetype: Herald, Liberator, Mystic, or Judge.
Heralds provide motivation, offer the hero a challenge, and get the story rolling. They alert the hero that change and adventure are coming. ~The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler
Mythical Figures: Kali, Phoenix, Archangel Michael, and Horus.
The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building.
Judgement is E2: Helper and/or Giver
Self Image — I help
Passion — Pride
Virtue — Freedom
Narcissistic Trap — Service
Avoids — Needs
Speaking Style — Flattering or Advising
E2 people are relationship oriented. They are concerned with what others think of them, image and prestige. They see themselves as being for others and often believe they know what’s best. They dislike being alone and may feel sad or inadequate.
Additionally, look up one of the Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) for personality traits.
When the Judgement card makes an appearance in your writing practice, it may be time to breathe new life into an old idea — one you thought was dead and gone. ~Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner
Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide
Can you believe it’s April already?! Happy Sunday everyone, today we kick off the blogiversary :throws confetti:
My MIL sent me this link, the video had me at Scotland but this cyclist is ah-mazing!
Goals for Round 2 are:
Writing: So I have a fantasy MS to finish a first draft on, a sci-fi MS to revise, a shiny to brainstorm and plot, and a contemporary MS that needs edits I really want to get back to. Instead of limiting myself to working on one or two, my goal for this Round is to write/revise 250 words (approximately a page) per day.
Reading: I have a yearly goal of 100 books. Of course, reading goes in cycles depending, to a degree, on the writing. I want to read two books on craft this Round, perhaps even plotting the shiny based off one.
Blogging: My blogging goals worked well for me in Round 1 so I’ll continue them in Round 2: write two blog posts in addition to a weekly check-in post, comment on three blogs per day, and comment on two new blogs per week.
Social Media: This is a struggle for me :sigh: For the most part, I think the goals I had last Round work, I just need to apply myself better. So my goals are: three updates (not including blog posts) to Twitter and Facebook each week, share ten blog posts each week, and have at least one conversation. (Started this week with @MarjiLaine and a fun Coke vs. Pepsi conversation, LOL)
Health: My overall goal this year is to get healthier. The plan was to add/change/lose one thing per month. Yeah, that worked last Round…not. Still I think it’s the right approach. January was to be water. February, dog walking. March was sugar reduction. In April I wanted to add yoga or something similar. Well, I need to go back and focus. For this Round my goals are to be drinking 8 glasses of water per day by the end of the Round, be walking the dog 7 days a week by the end of the Round, and to continue with the sugar reduction. If I master the dog walking before the end of the Round I’ll revisit the addition of yoga or similar exercise.
To support the awesomeness that is ROW80, go HERE.
I come by my love of tea honestly, heck, it’s probably coded in my DNA. It is all that Scots and Welsh blood flowing through the veins. Even the wee beasties developed a love of tea at an early age. Nothing beats a cold morning like a warm cuppa.
Do you enjoy tea?
To brew that perfect pot of tea:
It’s easy. Even if you use :shudder: a tea bag. LOL, no I’m not that bad. Close
The kettle is what you boil the water in. The pot is what you steep the tea in, then pour from.
To properly prepare the teapot, you want to fill it with hot (as hot as you can get from your tap) water, to warm the teapot, while you boil the water.
Heat water to appropriate temperature in a tea kettle. Teas steep at slightly different temperatures. A White or Green tea at about 175 degrees; a Black or Oolong tea at 195 degrees; and an Herbal at around 200 degrees.
If you aren’t using tea bags, you’ll want to have a steeping ball or strainer basket/infuser for your teapot. Don’t worry if you don’t have a strainer basket or steeping ball, you can use a hand-held strainer as you pour to remove the leaves (unless you plan to read the leaves but that’s a whole other post).
Measure out your tea. On average, you need 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of loose tea per 8 oz of water. If you’re making an entire pot, don’t forget to add a teaspoon for the pot. (Remove the warming water before adding the tea.)
Pour the hot water in your teapot and steep for the recommended steep time.
Longer brewing does not equal stronger tea…just bitter tea. If you want a stronger tea add more tea. Teas steep for slightly different lengths of time to avoid bitterness. (Yes, I have the secret.) A Green or flavored White only needs about a minute. Black or Oolong need 2 to 3 minutes. A non-flavored white or herbal need 4 to 5 minutes.
And if you want to get fancy you can cover your teapot in a tea cozy, or place on a teapot warmer, to help keep the tea warmer longer.
How you drink your tea is up to you. A little lemon. A little honey. A little milk or cream. A little sugar. Some combo?
Now, don’t you just want to curl up with a slice of yesterday’s Apple Pie and a cuppa tea?
Believe it or not, brewing a cuppa was not the original plan for this post. This Tea Towel was.
I grew up with a very English Nana, Grandpa’s second wife, and despite what I said at the beginning of this post I owe my love of tea to them. My parents are coffee drinkers through and through, only breaking out the teapot when Grandpa and Nana came to visit. Nana’s kitchen displayed a number of printed Tea Towels. Some she’d picked up before WWII. Decorated Tea Towels and England just go together in my mind. All because of Nana.
But I’d never owned one. Strange when I think about it. I was in London and surrounding areas, yet failed to pick up one as a souvenir.
Then my beautiful mother-in-law sent me this one! Aw, she knows me so well
It is now hanging above my desk. I look at it and smile. I smile for my Scottish ancestry. I smile for the memories a printed Tea Towel invokes.
Curling my fingers around a warm cup of tea and listening to stories from another generation’s childhood/young adulthood. Grandpa’s cherry tobacco as he puffs away on his pipe. Nana puttering around in the kitchen, canning the best Pickled Beets and Bread-n-Butter Pickles from the veggies Grandpa grew in the garden. Gathered around their kitchen table, staying up late, so they could teach me how to play Bridge, a skill sadly gone rusty since they passed. I owe my teapot collection to Nana too, but perhaps that is a post for another day
As I seem to be on a Scotland, men in kilts, thing this week I figured I’d share this fun ditty. The first time I heard this song was on an early morning commute to work — let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t have a drink in hand — and it has been a favorite ever since.
Enjoy!
By the way, can you name all the movies in this video?
There’s something about Scotland that just screams romance to me. And I can’t be the only one. Have you seen the number of scantily clad kilted men gracing the covers in your local bookstore lately? Yum. It’s not just historical or time-travel anymore, we’ve got paranormal and fantasy too. One day I’d like to write a Scottish romance. Whether setting it in Scotland or just having Scottish characters. Is it the land, or the people, or the accent? (They think ours is delightful I’m told.) I just get a tug for all things Scottish, and I don’t think it’s the ancestry.
I used to be a contributing member of my local Highland Games association before kids and the day-to-day overwhelmed me, a move out of state didn’t help either. Watch rippling muscle on the athletics as they fight to balance a telephone pole then toss the thing so it lands at 12 o’clock to the competitor’s 6 o’clock — true sport, it’s called a Caber Toss — and tell me you don’t find a Scottish man sexy. Or, a bonnie lass kicking up her heels dancing a Highland Reel to the bagpipes.
Aw, the bagpipes. Y’all can call me crazy but bagpipes are haunting and beautiful. To hear Amazing Grace played at sunset on a boardwalk will bring tears to your eyes whether you are religious or not, Christian or not. And what’s more romantic than walking arm in arm with the one who makes your heart sing at sunset, on a boardwalk?
Kilt, n. – a costume sometimes worn by Scotsmen in America and Americans in Scotland. ~Ambrose Bierce
The land. Sigh. The land is magical. I have no idea how a country roughly the size of the state of Oregon but with three times the population can retain such an untamed quality. It’s ancient. It has a presence of its own. And I haven’t even stepped foot on it yet. I will one day. Wonder if I can talk That Man into a trip :taps finger against chin: After all, I could claim the trip was for research. It would be a tax write off, right?
I’d love to hear what land or people scream romance to you?
This is another one of Jenna’s spreads I’ve not done before. So we’re doing this live. Shuffle, cut, deal. I’m using my Celtic Tarot deck.
Based on Jenna Reynolds’ Creating a World Spread
Starting at 12 o’clock we have:
Religion/Magic — The Empress — This card reminds me of Druids. I’d start by researching Druids, creating the beliefs and mythos around that.
Economics — 3 of Chalices — Water is the currency. Salt water is the third (or lowest) tier, fresh water is the second, and rain water is the first tier.
Arts, Play, and Fun — Reversed 9 of Pentacles — That bird stands out to me. Pets are a huge part of the people’s lives. When I think of birds I think of singing and music which remind me of dancing. The Pentacles appear gold but that’s not a currency to the people rather it’s the metal with which they craft their statues and sculptures. The card has a water color feel which is another art medium for the people of this world.
Military/Warfare — 9 of Swords — The people of this world fight with swords and fire. Their warfare is medieval.
Language — 5 of Wands — This card reminds me of Native American Indians dancing around a fire to tell of stories of the hunt, the battle victories, etc. I’d research one of the nations to create the language.
Urban and Rural — 4 of Wands — Again this card reminds me of Native American Indians. I would focus my research in that area.
History — Ace of Swords — That looks like a crown on the sword. The background is fiery. The history of this world is rife with hostile coups for the monarchy.
Biome (Climate and Geography) — The Magician — The majority of the world is lush and fertile for growing crops. The man is wearing a hat and very little clothing, there are periods of intense heat, perhaps like the high desert or the surrounding mountains.
Education — Reversed King of Swords — The reversed nature of this card talks about cruelty and/or barbarity which makes me think about the way the sons of Sparta were trained in the movie 300.
Societal Roles — Reversed Knight of Swords — This card screams warrior to me. I think there would be a warrior cast, a merchant cast, etc.
Science and Technology — 6 of Swords — This card gives me the feeling of Vikings invading. I’d research their science and technology and combine it with the Druid information.
Law, Crime, and Ethics — 2 of Chalices — This card give me the impression of a feudal lord, no idea why, and that works for the legal system on this world so I’d go with it. Ethics is harder to nail down. (Matter of fact, I’m drawing a blank as I type this. Remember I’m doing this live. So, I’d probably draw a qualifying card to help pin down the ethics if I was creating this world for a story I was actually writing.)
Marriage, Sex, Kinship — Ace of Wands — That looks like a tree branch which makes me think of family trees thus I’d say family is tight-knit, often many generations living in one home. The single hand makes me think of the old Scottish custom of Handfasting, and I love that! (Couples would marry by Handfasting — basically that means they would live together for one year and a day then if a child is born or at least conceived within that time the couple would be legally married.) And the sex I’ll leave to Maria Zannini as she’s got a way with alien sex and this is feeling like a fantasy or alien world.
Political System — 6 of Pentacles — I already mentioned a monarchy so I’ll stick with that. Additionally, this card shows a set of scales and the six Pentacles are very prominent which says the monarchy is advised by six counsel members to keep things in balance. For kicks and giggles, I’m going to add that those six counsel members can veto the monarchy.
At the center is the Name of the World (an optional card draw) — Reversed Knight of Pentacles — I called this an optional card draw because you may already know the name of your world before you do the spread. I didn’t know the name so drew the card. That looks like a dragon. Loving dragons right now. However, it’s late and my mind is turning to mush. The name on the card is Cavaliere di Denari. How about Dragari? Or, Dengon? Just plain Cavaliere is kinda cool too. So many choices
What about you? What world did you see in the cards? I’d love it if you shared in the comments.
There’s been some interest in a Q&A and/or Tarot 101 post. What I’ll do is gather up all the questions y’all note in the comments on any of the Tarot posts and write up a post at the end of the series. Thank you for the interest and support of this series.
That is the question according to good ol’ Shakespeare.
Ancient Barclay Hunting Tartan
I’m very proud of my Scottish ancestry. (Yes, I can claim Barclay.) I like saying I’m three-quarters Scottish and one-quarter Welsh, just to keep things interesting, and I have the family tree to prove it. I love my tartans, all three clans. The Barclay hunter tartan is a beautiful and subtle mix of blues and greens, which is appropriate when you consider a hunter needing to hide amongst the heather and broom of the Scottish moors. I wish I spoke with a Scottish brogue or could at least fake a decent one. That Man is worried I’ll never come home if I ever set foot upon Scottish soil — he’s probably right to worry about that.
Barclay Dress Tartan
Alter Ego. Pen Name.
Nom de Plume.
Pseudonym. Alias.
Yep, Raelyn Barclay is all of those.
(Yeah, I don’t know what they were thinking with those bumblebee colors either, LOL)
I got amazing advice from Joely Sue Burkhart, Maria Zannini, and Kait Nolan, friends and mentors. After a lengthy game of Pros and Cons, I decided Raelyn Barclay would be born. I’m a long way from publishing that first story. However, donning Raelyn Barclay has made me serious about this writing dream in a way I haven’t been before. I feel my writing has become a career instead of a hobby.
There are a lot of blog posts on the subject and whether an author should write under an assumed name. Most seem to advise sticking with your own name. The mentality that a pen name offers the author privacy is old school in this fast paced, online world. On the other hand, authors often take a different name for a new genre.
Modern Barclay Hunting Tartan
Writers: Do you think the old adage of different pen names for different genres still holds true?
Readers: If you are following an author, would you prefer they stick to one name? Or is branding different names important so you know what you’re getting when you see a certain name?
There’s this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It’s the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me.
by Christopher Vogler
by Corrine Kenner
by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide
but this cyclist is ah-mazing!
— and it has been a favorite ever since.
deck.
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