May 2009 Archives

Folklore lecture by Afsaneh Metaluna
Sun May 31 1pm - 2pm
Tinyville Library, Caledon Tanglewood,
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Tanglewood/23/214/23/

Sponsored by the Caledon Library, and produced by Radio Riel. Those who can't join us in Tinyville are invited to tune in at http://music.radioriel.org

Folklorist Afsenah Metaluna will guide us in a new exploration each month; with illustrative stories and her own commentary she'll expose to our understanding some facet of the rich and varied folklore of the British Isles. In the Storyteller's Own Words…

"Rather than a repository of Märchen (wonder tales more or less of the "Grimm's" variety) much of the folklore of England is comprised of local legends that combine references to beliefs and customs and aspects of daily life, particularly rural life. This is contrasted with English ballads and broadsides, which have a strong tradition of their own, as well as the folklore around customs, dance and belief. The wonder tales exist too, though more in the Celtic regions."

This month, as the second part of our Introduction, she will tell, and comment on, short tales from Ireland and Scotland:

Irish Lore
To explore this tradition means to follow the threads in a perfect Celtic knot of history, myth and folklore and Christianity and Celtic belief. One place to begin is with the stories of The Children of Lir. As our series continues, Afsaneh will put The Golden Fly (which her fans heard last month at the West of Ireland Library) in context for us as a forerunner to the the story cycle of Conary Mor.

Scottish Lore
A Selkie story, of the kind we will encounter in future discussions. This time, Afsaneh will explain why she sees this tradition as exemplary of Scottish lore, with its ties to the environment, and its status as a cautionary tales where actions in one realm are mirrored in another.

Schedule of Lectures for the remainder of 2009
Tuesdays 4:30 pm slt
June 9th
July 7th
Aug 4th
Sept 1
Oct 13
Nov 10

Welcome to Adocentyn Tower and the H. P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch of the Caledon Library!

Currently, we have around 250 aetheric texts in the branch--books, articles, letters--spread over 30 volumes in seven bookcases.  Feel free to peruse the stacks or take copies home with you.  Bookcases are organized by theme.  Volumes are generally by a single author.  Books in each volume are arranged alphabetically to allow for easier scanning and selection.

Though we opened the first week of May, Adocentyn and the H. P. Memorial Branch of the Caledon Library continues to grow.

Don't look now, but the River Witch of the Caledon Firth has returned and set up her camp on the shores of Wellsian at Adocentyn.  Snoop around her grounds and tent to find interactive informational notecards and books on herbs and lore.  Don't worry, she's been nice...so far...

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/240/32/2


_____________Coming Soon______________

Adocentyn Creag na Fithiche (Raven's Rock) has been installed west of the main tower and will be filled over the coming months with the Victorian Horror Collection.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/145/23/31

To the east, for those wanting even more spooky, Adocentyn Cemetary, might look like the usual "final resting place," but there's more than meets the eye to this graveyard.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/213/36/42

______________________________________

Keep checking back to this board for futher updates.  We've started off a bit small, but we have plenty of room to grow!

Happy reading!

And again, welcome to Adocentyn!

~Ms. Aevalle Galicia, collection curatrix

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/175/19/44

The Caledon Library is very pleased to introduce its most recent addition, the H.P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch Library, located at Adocentyn Tower, in Caledon Wellsian.  The Blavatsky branch, under the very able curation of Miss Aevalle Galicia, houses works on 19th century Spiritualism, along with sundry related materials. 

H.P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch Library
Adocentyn Tower, Caledon Wellsian
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/175/18/43

Currently, the collection rejoices in some two hundred and fifty aetheric texts, including books, articles, and letters, spread over thirty volumes in seven bookcases.  Visitors are cordially invite to linger and peruse the stacks, or take copies home with them.  Bookcases are organized by theme, and volumes are generally by a single author.  Books in each volume are arranged alphabetically to allow for easier scanning and selection.

I made so bold as to ask the Curatrix for a brief introduction, which I have the pleasure of presenting below:

When Sir JJ asked me to write a few words on why I was interested in building the spiritualism collection and H. P. Blavatsky Memorial Branch of the Caledon Library, I was in a quandary to put words to paper. The idea just seemed to happen. In breaking apart the motivation, however, two reasons jumped out. First, it surprised me that there wasn't already a collection of this type. In looking around for something I could do to contribute to Caledon, this community I've grown to adore, I found a subject that fascinates me and one that wasn't previously represented. It seemed a natural fit for someone who has spent her life digging about for answers that others scoff at would pull together a collection of works by people who spent their lives doing the same thing.

That brings me to the second reason I wanted to put together the collection—the spiritualist movement itself (and the subsequent movements around it)--was so entwined in the Victorian landscape, yet so often now overlooked. The society pages of the day were filled with séances and spiritualist lectures. Preachers lectured from church pulpits and wrote to their parishioners on the dangers of traipsing nonchalantly and blithely into the spiritual world. Even so, many of the most brilliant writers and artists of the time were believers of spiritualism. Historians now also directly tie the fact many spiritualist leaders were female with the growth of the suffragette movement.

And love it or hate it, the spiritualist movement really came down to two ideas/questions that are heartfelt for most people, in any age. Thanks in part to the massive amounts of death related to the Civil War in the United States, many people wanted to know that their loved ones still existed, somewhere. The age-old question of what there is besides the existence we now know was another main theme running throughout spiritualism. As much as yours truly tends to keep her head in the clouds, these two very human themes are part of what makes the topic of the spiritualist movement very important to me—it isn't the excitement of potentially talking to ghosties from the other side, it's the timeless search for genuine answers that affect humans of all cultures.

Visitors to the branch may notice that there seems to be multiple themes in the selections. Spiritualism and Theosophy are to be the two main collections. These two systems are related though separate in that, while both used spiritual guidance from those on other planes of existence, spiritualists believed that these people were deceased, while theosophists believed they corresponded with ascended masters. Using these two main collections as a “hook,” I'll also be delving into some of the related texts on “otherworld” or “paranormal” topics that also became popular up through the turn of the 20th century.  The Blavatsky branch may very well become its own entity, growing and changing, adopting and adapting, just as the spiritualist, theosophical and other occult movements of the 19th century did.  And, I must say quite humbly, I'm positively giddy at the prospect.

The Curatrix is also in the habit of issuing regular bulletins on the branch and its doings, the which shall in the future appear in this space under the title of “News from Adocentyn”

gentlebeings, your servant

JJ Drinkwater

A Discussion led by Dame Kghia Gheardi of the works of Walt Whitman

By Whitman, Biweekly!
Tuesday May 19th at 4pm SLT
Caledon Library, on the Hub in Victoria City
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/160/117/23

Discussion led by Kghia Gherardi

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is one of the works at the foundations of American poetry. Its expansive attempt to capture the spirit and landscape of the 19th century United States has influenced an entire culture's self-concept, and its rich language continues to inspire readers today as it has for the century and a half of its existence.

"By Whitman, BI-Weekly" will provide an opportunity to look closely at this beloved work. Each time we'll spend an hour discussing its context and examining the poetry of the 1855 first edition.

The series will also give those who love Leaves of Grass, and those who would like to learn more, an opportunity to explore Whitman's vigorous and heartfelt poetry together.

This week, we will continue our discussion of "Song of Myself," the first poem to Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." We'll begin with the stanza

"The smoke of my own breath,
Echos, ripples, and buzzed whispers . . . . loveroot, silkthread, crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration . . . . the beating of my heart . . . . the passing of blood
         and air through my lungs,
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and darkcolored sea-
         rocks, and of hay in the barn,
The sound of the belched words of my voice . . . . words loosed to the eddies of
         the wind,
A few light kisses . . . . a few embraces . . . . a reaching around of arms,
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag,
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hillsides,
The feeling of health . . . . the full-noon trill . . . . the song of me rising from bed
         and meeting the sun. "


Schedule:
May 5 & 19
June 2 , 16, & 30
July 14 & 28
August 11 & 25
September 8 & 22
Oct 6 & 20
Nov 3 & 17
Dec 1, 15, & 29

Listening party for The Wind in the Willows, and  Special Lecture
Saturday, May 9,
10am - 12pm SLT
Tinyville Library, Caledon Tanglewood
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Tanglewood/23/214/23/

Come as a character from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, and join us as we listen to a discuss a new chapter each week of the adventures of the shy but loyal Mole, the poetical Water Rat, the brave Otter, the gruff but kindly Mr. Badger, the vainglorious Toad, and all the other creatures of wood, stream, and field who populate this much loved story.

This month, the story continues as Mole, returning from day's outing with Rat, is suddenly overcome with nostalgia as he hears the call of his old home, "Mole End". Mole shows Ratty his digs and they light the place up in time to receive the visit of the neighborhood Field Mice, who have come a-caroling. Mole's hospitable nature prompts him to invite them all in for supper, and a jolly party ensues.

The scenes at Mole End are some of the most affecting in the work, and have been a favorite with many of the work's illustrators

After the Listening Party, please join us for a special Lecture as Folklorist Afsaneh Metaluna explores the folkloric elements, motifs, and references in Wind in the Willows and in Grahame's world.

Big People may join us in Tinyville, or repose in comfort at the Oxbridge Library in Caledon Oxbridge
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/196/96/24

Those who can't be with us in-world are invited to tune in at http://music.radioriel.org

Sponsored by the Caledon Library and Rachelville, and Produced by Radio Riel

Schedule
Jan 10:   The River Bank
Feb 14:   The Open Road
March 14:  The Wild Wood
April 11:  Mr. Badger
May 9:  Dulce Domum
June 13:   Mr. Toad
July 11:  The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Aug 8:  Toads Adventures
Sept 12:  Wayfarers All
Oct 10:  The Further Adventures of Toad
Nov 14:  Like Summer Tempests came his Tears
Dec 12:  The Return of Ulysses
Jan  9,  2010:   All Day Programming of the entire book

By Whitman,  Bi-Weekly!
Tuesday 5 May, 2009
4pm - 5pm
Caledon Library, Caledon Victoria City
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/160/117/23

Discussion led by Kghia Gherardi

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is one of the works at the foundations of American poetry. Its expansive attempt to capture the spirit and landscape of the 19th century United States has influenced an entire culture, and its rich language continues to inspire readers today as it has for the century and a half of its existence.

"By Whitman, BI-Weekly" will provide an opportunity to look closely at this beloved work. Each time we'll spend an hour discussing its context and examining the poetry of the 1855 first edition.

The series will also give those who love Leaves of Grass, and those who would like to learn more, an opportunity to explore Whitman's vigorous and heartfelt poetry together.

At this, our forth meeting, we will begin to consider the poem "Song of Myself"

We'll focus on the first 100 lines - from

I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

 through
 

Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.

Schedule for 2009:
May 5 & 19
June 2 , 16, & 30
July 14 & 28
August 11 & 25
September 8 & 22
Oct 6 & 20
Nov 3 & 17
Dec 1, 15, & 29