Here's a look at the June line up of workshops:

PSYCHIC SELF-DEFENSE FOR BEGINNERS (Scarlet)
Learn about different problems and forms of attack that hinder our lives. These may be interfering spiritual entities, or may be people consciously or unconsciously attacking us with psychic or magical energy. Either way, you will learn how to banish, cleanse and purify your self and your home. You will learn how to set up protections. AND you will learn energy shielding. It is recommended that you take the Introduction to Energy Work course as this class assumes you can center and ground on your own.
Monday, June 2^nd 7-9pm ($30)

MEETING YOUR SPIRIT GUIDES (Catharine)
We all have spirit guides around us that can help us. This workshop will lead you through meditative exercises to help you see, feel and talk to your guides. Message ciurcle with Catharine will follow—see what is in store for you. Thursday June 12th, 7-9pm, $30

PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT (Catharine)
Being able to tell the difference between intuition, prediction, clairvoyance, predictive dreams, deja vu, gut feelings etc. is essential to developing your abilities. We will discuss the various ways psychic abilities manifest and do hands on exercises to test your present level. At the end we will have a message circle where each participant will receive messages from Spirit with Catharine.
Saturday, June 14th :
Level one 1-3pm $30
Level two 4-7pm $30

INTRODUCTION TO THE TAROT (Robyn)
Sometimes it takes more then a tiny little pamphlet to know how to read your cards. In this basic level course we will be discussing the archetypal meanings of the trump cards as well as the general functions of the minor arcana. Please bring your own tarot deck to study with.
Saturday, June 14th, 1-3 pm, $30

METHODS OF MEDITATION (Robyn)
Have you ever wanted to meditate, but are not certain which technique will work best for you? Meditation is a means by which people work toward a sense of balance, stress relief and inner harmony. Join us for an afternoon of relaxation and together we will explore several different meditation styles and theories to help you find the way that feels most right for you.
*There will be some practical exercises, so please wear loose and comfortable clothing and bring a floor mat or cushion .*
Sunday, June 15th, 1-3 pm, $30

ADVANCED TAROT I (Scarlet)
Learn to trust your intuition and learn how to “tell the story” of the cards in a reading. Also, discover the aspects of a spread and learn how to design your own spreads. The course assumes you are familiar with your deck. Please bring your deck and a notebook.
Monday, June 16th, 7-9pm $30

BFC: Fire Scrying Esbat Ritual (Public)
Be welcome at a public Esbat ritual for the full moon. This ritual is a fire scrying ritual, if you have a mini cauldron and wish to scry for yourself please bring it along. It is, however, not necessary if you do not have one. Dancing flames have been one of many forms of scrying. You will have the opportunity to both learn how to do this kind of scrying and to see what the divine has to say to you this full moon. All are welcome!!
Wednesday Night, June 18^th (Full Moon) 7pm

SPELLCRAFTING 101 (Robyn)
At last! A course to cover the basics of how to know what goes into making a spell! Correspondences, suggestions, basics and more! Everything you need to know to make your own spells.
Friday, June 20th, 7-9pm, $30

REIKI LEVEL ONE (Robyn)
Join us in this two day long course to learn all you need to know to become a First Degree Reiki Practitioner. Topics covered will include: the history and origins of Reiki, the ethics of being a Reiki practitioner, what the hand positions are in a full Reiki session, how to treat others as well as yourself, and formal initiation to the Usui Shiki Ryoho style of Reiki using the American Reiki Mastery Association's style of initiations. Ample time will be given for practice as well.
Saturday June 21st, 12-5 & Sunday June 22nd, 12-5 $150

MEETING YOUR SPIRIT GUIDES (Catharine)
We all have spirit guides around us that can help us. This workshop will lead you through meditative exercises to help you see, feel and talk to your guides. Message ciurcle with Catharine will follow—see what is in store for you.
Thursday June 26th, 7-9pm, $30

PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT (Catharine)
Being able to tell the difference between intuition, prediction, clairvoyance, predictive dreams, deja vu, gut feelings etc. is essential to developing your abilities. We will discuss the various ways psychic abilities manifest and do hands on exercises to test your present level. At the end we will have a message circle where each participant will receive messages from Spirit with Catharine.
Saturday, June 28th:
Level one 1-3pm $30
Level two 4-7pm $30

ADVANCED TAROT II (Scarlet)
The Major Arcana is the journey of the self. Learn how to use this for personal development and meditation. There are other meditation techniques you can do with the tarot that will be explored in this class. Also, learn how to determine time with tarot. The course assumes you are familiar with your deck. Please bring your deck and a notebook.
Monday, June 30th, 7-9pm, $30

Our Trip to Gaia Gathering

We arrived Friday, May 16th, to a beautiful campus. University of Ottawa has the largest campus I have ever seen. It is like a mini city all on its own! We registered and touched base with the main coordinators to learn about where we were going to be setting up for vending. That evening, there was a open hospitality space where we met and spoke with the early arrivals. We set up three mini tables to tease people with our enticing stock from the store.

Among the people we met on the first night were such well known Candian Pagan contributors as:

Lucie Dufresne (one for the main organizers of PFPC and a leading Pagan academic)
Shelly Rabinovitch (another leading academic and an author - An Ye Harm None)
Brendan Myers (an academic author of several books who is having his book launch here on July 19th for The Other Side of Virtue)
Sian Reid (an academic and an author of Between the Worlds: Readings in Contemporary Neopaganism)
Helmut of Helmut's Forge (master blade smith from Hamilton Ontario)
Castalia (an academic and a musician)

Saturday was a very EARLY day of setting up and vending. We discovered the interesting phenomenon of an empty vending room during the talks and a packed and busy vending room in the breaks between the talks. Our vending space was shared with Lucie Dufresne's Hungry Eye shop, Shelly Rabinovitch, Sian Reid & Helmut's Forge, Castalia's music, WynterGreene Magazine, Bruce and his wife with stained glass and silk shirts, and Dan Miller from the Heathen Freehold Society of British Columbia.

Dan Miller was a fascinating person to speak with as we knew very little about British Columbia activities and even less on Heathenism. He will be hosting the 2009 Gaia Gathering. We hope to be there as well! If you want to learn more about him and heathenism, you can hear his lectures on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/heathenfreehold .

Speaking this day were some local Pagan's from Quebec: Marisol Charbonneau (an academic from Montreal), Mireille Gagnon (an academic from Quebec City), Emily Rose Michaud (a Montreal environmentalist) and myself Scarlet (mentor, teacher, clergy and academic). Some of the other interesting speakers from across the country were: Bythor (an Edmonton Thelemic Wiccan speaking on Queering Magic) from Alberta; Sheena (Pagan Ecology speaker from Calgary, Alberta); Dan Miller; Shelly Rabinovitch; Lucie Dufresne; Dale Delessio (Ottawa Hospital Clergy and Pagan Parenting advisor); Lee Ann Farruga and Patrick Gilliland (the Ottawa keynote speakers about Pagan Parenting).

We met attendees from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and all over Ontario and Quebec. It was a great opportunity to connect with folks across the country!

We closed Saturday with a great dinner at the Vietnamese Kitchen Restaurant, where we sat and chatted with friends both old and new. This casual time was best for forging friendships with our Pagan celebrities and folks around the country. My own close friends arranged the booking for the dinner, only for them (Marie and Rick) to give birth later that night (4:21AM)! Congrats!! He was obviously not attending Sunday's events are speaking at the Panel he was leading that day. We were planning on going on one of the Ottawa Haunted Tours, but a flash storm negated that possibility.

Sunday was likewise incredible! We were again vending early and enjoying the company of our co-vendors. Today's talks included more local folks: Hobbes of the MPRC and our own Melange Magique (Magical Blend) manager, Robyn! Other great speakers this day included: Richard James of the WCC and Toronto Occult Shop, and Farrell McGovern of the ADF Ottawa branch, along with many other Druids from around the country.

I want to take this moment to thank Lucie Dufresne and Lisa Crandall and all their other assistances for making this conference happen at University of Ottawa. I would also like to thank Bruce for all his lovely company and help when we packed up Sunday evening.

We tried to attend the closing dinner, however, the little local restaurant was too packed with... everybody... from the conference. We would have liked to be at the Gaia Gathering Annual General Meeting, but we are home and in our store ... OPEN for the Victoria Day holiday Monday.

If you ever get the chance, We highly recommned attending the events and conferences in and around your area or boldly traveling out to an event farther from home. The opportunity to meet people and discover new traditions and people is invaluable! Thank you Gaia Gathering.

Scarlet
~~~~~~

Robyn's afterthoughts:

Going to Pagan festivals has been a new thing for me this year, and Gaia Gathering was yet another great way to meet other Pagan folk, to network for business and pleasure, and to see what else is going on elsewhere as well as to come home with lots of new and exciting ideas.

I, like Scarlet, had a nice time at Gaia Gathering. It was relaxing and fun, the mood very upbeat and the company fascinating. I particularly enjoyed re-connecting with some of the folk I'd met at the Toronto Pagan Conference earlier this year, as well as making new friends from across Canada.

There are a few more festivals coming up that I'm looking forward to attending as well: Echoes, Wic-Can Fest (maybe?), Kaleidoscope and the Hamilton Pagan Pride Festival. Who knows, maybe I'll meet YOU there!

-Robyn

Store Staff @ Gaia Gathering Conference

Robyn & Scarlet will be attending the Gaia Gathering Conference (also known as the National Canadian Pagan Conference) held in Ottawa this year. They will be speaking on three seperate panels. Look below for details! Hope to see you there!

We will also be VENDING! Come and visit our vending table and your purchases will be TAX FREE!

WHAT IS GAIA GATHERING?
Gaia Gathering is the National Canadian Pagan Conference, now in its FOURTH year.
It is a "peer-to-peer" Conference, rather than a festival or "camp". Pagans from across Canada share their experiences, exchange information and learn from and with each other. The Conference is based on the principle of dialogue and discussion, rather than the "leaders and learners" workshop/seminar model.

"Peer-to-peer" means a large portion of conference programming consists of moderated panels and round tables of participants discussing subjects they themselves suggest. Panelists from all across Canada volunteer to participate together in areas of personal interest or expertise, and the panel may or may not have a designated "facilitator" who has helped pull that panel topic together. Topics, ideas, suggestions all mix together to assist the Board in constructing the event that the participants want to attend.

WHEN AND WHERE?
http://www.gaiagathering.ca/
May 16-19, 2008(Victoria Day weekend)
University of Ottawa
550 Cumberland St.
Ottawa, Ontario

FEES:
$100 at the door for the weekend.
Day passes are available for less.

PROGRAM WHERE ROBYN AND SCARLET ARE SPEAKING
Saturday @ 2:15pm
* Panel on Mentors, Teachers, & Clergy (Scarlet)

Saturday @ 4:15pm
* Academic: Canadian Paganism Today Presentations (Scarlet: Pagan Conversion Theory)

Sunday @ 1:30pm
* Panel on Money, Magic and Mayhem - Running a Pagan Business (Robyn: Representing Montreal's Magical Blend)

A spell for self-love and confidence

This spell comes to us from our own Maery: (I have put all the ingredients and tools you will need in bold for clarity's sake).

Perform this spell in the evening on a Friday. Light an orange candle, and some apple blossom incense. Use a blade to carve your initials into a piece of copper (a cleaned up old penny will do) and place it into a chalice. Fill your chalice with real apple juice and add a pinch of rosemary and cinnamon. Stir this mix with the blade 4 times. Let this drink sit outside until the candle and incense have burnt out completely. While the candle burns, use this time to visualize: Think of your strengths and accept your flaws. Once done all this, drink down the mix, being careful not to swallow the copper piece. You will carry this copper piece with you for one full lunar cycle (until the moon is in the same phase as when you did this spell) and then bury it near your home.