Setting Out: Yule AdvenTURE

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?’

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoatpocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. Chapter 1 Alice in Wonderland

The door may appear locked but if you say the right words it will magically open and you can join a Yule Adventure.

It is recommended that, unlike Alice, you spend a little time thinking about what you are going to need. Think about what you would pack in a creative medicine bag to carry, to protect you as you wander in strange new worlds.

A Native American medicine bag or medicine bundle, upon which this idea is based, is a container for items believed to protect or give spiritual powers to its owner. Varying in size, it could be small enough to wear around the neck, or it could be a large bag with a long strap called a “bandolier.” The size of the bag is determined by how many items need to be carried.

In historical times, medicine men and shamans generally carried a large medicine bundle that could hold numerous items such as seeds, herbs, pine cones, grass, animal teeth or claws, horsehair, rocks, tobacco, beads, arrowheads, bones, or anything else of relatively small size that possessed spiritual value to the bundle’s owner. Warriors also carried bundles that included important items, such as rattles, animal furs, special stones, or anything that meant something to the owner.

Packing to Go.

Check out some comments by people who Packed to Go back in 2005.
Share an image of the bag you pack to come on this Yule Adventure.
What will you pack? Tell us what you are putting in it and how you feel about heading out during this festive season.

Some Creative Medicine Bags

How Lenora Carrington Used Tarot

Leonora was a restless voyager through deep journeys, always in quest of mythic revelations. Her aim was to repair a shattered world and a means to live in it, unearthing the many images that came her way. Guided by her intuitive meanderings she came upon the I Ching or Book of Changes, carving beautiful wooden tokens and dwelling on the secret language of hexagrams to reach her own patterns of change. She also took other paths like divination, magic and meditation, since all developed into components for a complex mental vehicle that became articulated into her own navigational devices, launching her towards a wilderness of mind. However, she chose the tarot and all the exotic legends surrounding the Bohemians or gypsies; close companions to her imaginal self
from an article by Lenora’s son, Gabriel Weisz Carrington.

Like Leonora, I have fantasized living and traveling in a gypsy caravan pulled by Vanner horses through the roads of the Irish countryside. Indeed, such fantasy has informed so much of my work. Unable to actually travel in a gypsy caravan in Ireland I have slipped through portals and traveled within fantasy worlds of my own creation.

This article by Lenora’s son is a moving account of her relationship with Tarot which resonates on a very deep level.

Bonnie’s Skool of Tarot

Bonnie is a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo who befriended an old Crone (the Tarot Midwife) and set out on a Fools Journey with her and her other companions, Duncan an old Donkey and Cora, a mysterious Raven.

You can follow their adventures and learn how Bonnie was inspired to set up a Skool of Tarot to help Australia wildlife learn about Tarot, an Apothecary and a unique Travelling Medicine Show.

You will meet lots of distinctly Australian wildlife and even encounter Rosie, the Red Back Spider, a High Priestess who offers readings for members of the travelling troupe.