Newsletter #2

Message Number #2 31/05/2004

"What we have to learn, we learn by doing"
Aristotle

Merry Meet <Salutation:40>,

Welcome to issue number 2 of the WynnSOft Newsletter.

This Newsletter is distributed in HTML format, if you have problems reading it then view it on the Web

http://www.wynnsoft.com/newsletter2

Featured Articles

The Red Curse - Richard Holland
Improve your Memory.

Plus

Latin word for the week 'Spectat'.
Myths and Deities 'The Dagda'.
Magickal Dictionary 'Samhain'.
Magickal Site of the Week.

The Red Curse - Richard Holland

One fine morning, a farm wife was busy dunking some wool into a vat of blue dye outside the front door of her farm in Clocaenog parish, when she looked up from her work to see a strange old woman staring at her. The old woman begged for some of the wool and some of the dye. The farm wife really didn't have any to spare, and, frankly, she couldn't believe the old woman's cheek. She politely refused. The old woman glared at her, and then went off muttering. The farm wife shook her head, and continued with her dyeing. She churned the wool around inside the blue dye for a little while, and then drew it out. It came out red!

She splashed the garment straight back into the dye. She dunked it in and out over and over again, but although the dye was plainly as blue as the sky, the garment stubbornly remained bright red. She took it to a neighbour's house. Her friend asked her whether she had noticed any strangers in the area recently. The farm wife told her about the old woman. They both concluded that she must have been a witch and she had put a spell on her. The farm wife's neighbour offered to do the dyeing for her. She put the red wool into the vat of blue dye and, to the farm wife's great relief, it this time came out the same colour.

Reproduced with permission from SUPERNATURAL CLWYD, The Folk Tales of North-East Wales by Richard Holland. Published by GWASG CARREG GWALCH

http://www.carreg-gwalch.co.uk/englsih/englishversion.htm

Improve your Memory

I have always considered myself to be very poor when it comes to remembering things. I have no problem at all if a particular topic interests me. If I have a real interest I can remember all sorts of facts and figures, they seem to just imprint themselves on my memory without a problem. On the other hand if I have no real interest, well that is when the problem starts, I just can not seem to retain information that caries no interest for me. Well not without hours, days or even weeks of concerted effort.

So when I visited the Library the other day I was intrigued by a book I found Master Your Memory by Tony Buzan. He is the actual inventor of Mind Maps, something I have used for quite some time now check out http://www.wynnsoft.com/mind_maps for an example mind map of Samhain (See Magickal Dictionary). Now I am somewhat of a self help junkie and love any book that professes to do something for me. I am perhaps not alone in the feeling that sometimes it is better to teach yourself from a book than attend a class. You can learn at your own pace and go over things until they sink in.

Well this book started off really easily, learning the planets in the Solar system by utilising a simple linking method. Basically in order to remember the planets you create a little story and then visualise it. Making it vivid in your imagination so that you can almost see, hear, touch and smell what is happening. I was so amazed at how quickly I managed to learn the planets using this system I asked my mother to give it a go. Within ten minutes she could also remember the planets in the solar system, and in the correct order. I was pretty much amazed. So I moved on to the more complex issues of the book.

I learnt 'The Major System' which surpasses the basic link system and creates a Peg System. I will not go into too much detail, but basically it is a system that allows you to use a Special Code that can translate any number or date into meaningful words or phrases. You then learn 100 Key Memory Image Words that you then associate with what you want to remember. From 100 you then go to 1000, 10,00 and right up to infinity!

I know it sounds complicated but it is actually very simple and amazingly effective. Within a few hours I was able to remember a 100 item shopping list. I could recite the list forwards and backwards. I could ask somebody to choose the number of an item on the shopping list and then tell them straight away with no hesitation the correct item.

I was amazed, in fact quite gob smacked. For somebody that thought they had such a poor memory, I could perform a memory feat that would amaze most people. So if like me you think you have a poor memory, check out one of the books from Tony Buzan there are various ones available. Or take a look at his website http://www.mind-map.com

The tools he gives you are an ideal way to remember complicated Spells and Rituals or even just important things you should never forget.

It also got me thinking how our ancestors may of utilised techniques such as this to pass down important information from one generation to the next, perhaps without even realising it. Oral histories for example.

Imagine if you could remember an entire life, in detail and exactly, according to Tony Buzan this is one of the 'mental holy grails'. Imagine it, you could remember every event that happened to you. With his memory system you could do this.

The human mind is a wonderful and powerful tool, more powerful than we sometimes even realise. I thought I had a poor memory, I realise now that it is the way I use my memory that is poor. The system I adopt for remembering things is lacking, not my memory. So I for one am going to schedule some time each week on working with my memory, exercising it as I would my body. Why don't you?

Bright Blessings

Phoenix

Action Plan for the week.

How good is your memory? Can you remember important days, complicated spells, rituals and invocations? If not view your memory as any other body part. To make it strong it requires regular exercise, combined with specific technique. So start training your memory, schedule some time each week to work on building your memory power.

Latin word for the week. (Latin is very useful for reading old Magickal Texts)

Spectat = watches, is watching

Myths and Deities

The Dagda or Daghda = (Irish Celtic Mythology) The Good God, Lord of the Heavens, Father of the gods and men, Earth God. High King of the Tuatha De Danann.

The Dagda had a magick cauldron called The Undry which supplied limitless amounts of food. He also possessed a living oak harp with which he would cause the seasons to change. He carried a large 8 pronged warclub on a wheel. The Dagda due to his cauldron was associated with abundance. He was often depicted in peasant garb, in particular a short tunic that reveals his buttocks. It is thought the Celts portrayed him this way to emphasise his sexuality and fertility.

Magickal Dictionary

Samhain - Also known as Samhaine, All Souls, All Hallows Eve, Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples, November Eve, Halloween, Festival of Wisdom,

31st October-sunset 2 November (30 April - 2 May in southern hemisphere)

Usually pronounced 'Sow'ain'. Probably the most important festival in the Magickal Calendar. Samhain marks the beginning and the end of the Wheel of the Year. The veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, a time for remembering the dead ancestors. Welcoming them back into the home with offerings of food and drink.

In Wicca they say farewell to the God, though this is only for a short time as he is reborn at Yule. The Goddess is Crone at this point.

Magickal Site of the Week

This weeks Magickal Site of the Week goes to 'The Cauldron', lots of useful Magickal information

http://www.ecauldron.com/index.php