What is Fantasy?

What is fantasy and why do we as Pagans like it? Well, for my part, I like fantasy because it takes in different worlds and alternate realities. To be quite blunt, I frankly find ordinary reality to be quite boring and frustrating. I have a mood disorder, so I have an extremely low tolerance for frustration. I like to work at removing the sources of frustration in my life. I have already removed IMVU from my life. I just got an alternate phone so I could have my Magicjack again, thus removing another source of frustration from my life. I now have my long distance back again. Being able to communicate with people is very important to me. It is part of the reason I studied multiple foreign languages in school. Soon, Keen will be out of my life too, thus removing another source of frustration. Fantasy for me is, simply speaking, wish fulfillment. What is fantasy for you? If you were going to write a fantasy novel or short story, what would it be about?

To Stephen fantasy is a different reality, and finds ordinary reality to be at least as boring and frustrating as I do. He has IMVU and fantasy role gaming as his outlets, while I have Renaissance and writing as my outlets. Then there is also our spirituality, which, I admit, has its fantastic aspects.

How many of you liked the two magnificent miniseries that aired on SyFy a short time ago Tinman and Alice? Those were both fantasy series, takeoffs on the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Stephen says that for those who have eyes to see, there are definite Pagan elements in both stories. There was a wizard in the Tinman and a witch in Alice. We watched Watchmen about a week ago. It is about super heroes and set in an alternate reality where Nixon somehow gets a third term. This is not a fantasy for kids. This was definitely a fantasy for adults.

We were working on this post on our way to the grocery store. Because of pain in my hip and back, I have to stop and sit in my walker every block or so. I’m getting better. I went for a whole block and a half before I had to sit. We would work during these breaks. Stephen thought of another group: Geriatrics for Pagans. It’s for Pagan elders who are getting creaky in our old age. You have to be at least 50 to join. Stephen thinks it’s hilarious. He laughs at age and death. He envisioned Celtic wheelchair races. Celtic flags waving, Erin go bragh, and harp images on the flags. He sure likes to harp on that. I pictured walker races. My walker has wheels and a seat. That’s the kind you can race with.

As the “Recent News” flash informed you, Stephen has just finished reading Kushiel’s the 900-some page first novel of a series by Jacqueline Carey. It is definitely Pagan fantasy, very adult, with sex and violence all over it. Definitely not for the little kiddoes. The book is about a woman who bore a strange thing or mote in her eye. She was a masochist, and enjoyed pain. If you bore Kushiel’s dart, you were one of the chosen few. She would go on assignations as a spy and collect information. . She was an indentured servant with a mark that started on the back of her neck, and when it reached her natal cleft she was free. It takes place in a place very much like ancient Europe. It has sex and betrayal. Stephen thinks that a film should be made out of it, in fact he keeps doing a Freudian teddy and saying “film” instead of “books”. The characters are well developed.
Go read it if you can get your friendly local public library to part with it for 3 weeks. It took Stephen about 6 months to read it. He kept having to renew it. Right now he’s waiting with bated breath to take out the second book in the series Kushiel’s Chosen. Hopefully he’ll not call it a film again.

I’m currently in the middle of reading The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s about a servant of the local lord who is commanded to escort the accused killer of the local lord’s brother. There is some confusion about who did kill the ignoble noble, the sultry accused or the dead noble’s “pet”. Thereby hangs the tale.

As we write this, we are watching the Golden Globe awards. The science fantasy film won 3 awards. Arnold introduced the film. Many Pagans have glommed onto this film. If you have money, please come to Sacramento and take us to see this movie. Ordinarily we heckle the Governator when he speaks, but this time we applauded him. From what little I’ve seen in shorts and trailers on TV, Avatar is indeed a groundbreaking film.

There is the series The Seeker the Darkness Comes on SyFy. I can’t wait to see the sequel. Then there is the Robin Hood series on BBCA. I love it. They’ve kind of wandered past the original story though. The costumes are interesting. They don’t really resemble what I consider to be medieval dress. I haven’t seen a whole lot of recent fantasy. What fantasy authors do you think we’d be interested in?

Two fantasy authors I really like are Mercedes Lackey and Katherine Kerr. Mercedes Lackey started a series by the title of Bardic Voices. She also started a related series by the title of Bardic Choices. They take place in a fanciful world where magical creatures such as man-sized talking and singing birds mingle with ordinary humans. There are also elves and other hominids such as dwarves. The books are about musicians who aspire to be bards, but the Guild is so hidebound that it is well nigh impossible to join the Guild. Fortunately, there are freebooters around, gypsy-like nomads who can give the Guild Bards a run for their money. My daughter gave me the first novel. I’ve been searching for the rest of them ever since. I’d like Ms. Lackey to write some more in the two series.

Katherine Kerr also penned a series I like. It is the Deverry series. The first, also given to me by my daughter, was Daggerspell. Since then, I have acquired just about all the books in the series. Like the Lackey series, it takes place in a magical land, where lots of different creatures mingle, but the dragons keep aloof from humankind.

Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz is historical fantasy. It is about the modern legend that the Witches of England did a ritual to repel a German invasion back in 1940. Stephen is halfway through reading it for the 2nd time. I started it, but it got too depressing. Stephen will report back when he is finished reading it. One of the ways that they did it was that as royal would have to be sacrificed.

If you know anyone who wants a fairly cheap housing situation with two congenial Pagan magickal housemates in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Sacramento, contact me at tezra.reitan@gmail.com or Stephen at abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or Stephen at his phone number 916-455-2267. Also, we desperately need donations to keep Abbott’s Inn International School of Magick afloat. You can send donations of any size to either Stephen’s Paypal account at abbottsinn@gmail.com or abbottsinn_school@yahoo.com or my Paypal account at tezra.reitan@gmail.com. If it’s for at least $32, you’ll get either a reading or a class from our vast collections of divination decks/methods/tools or for the class, pick a topic from our vast repertoire in the field of magick. For $60, you can actually have both a reading and a class. I don’t have my webcam hooked up yet, or my mic, but with Stephen you can have sound and video on Yahoo IM, Windows Msgr or Skype. With me for a short while, it’ll be just phone or typing on Yahoo IM or Windows Msgr. Thank you for using and disseminating Stephen’s Zodiac referral number 1-800-280-8496. Stephen1580. It helps ever so much when you use it instead of the regular number because you don’t pay any more, but he makes three times as much. We’re both on SSI, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger drastically cut both of our checks, and Keen isn’t coming up with the paying calls. I haven’t made one cent since signing on with Keen. My clients all demand free five minute readings, and refuse to go over that five minutes for a paid reading. In fact, it’s cost me money to bid so altogether, Keen has been pretty much of a total loss for me. If you need money, kids, mow lawns or babysit, don’t join a psychic reading service, because it’ll just suck in what little money you do have.

Do check out the PaganRadioNetwork.net It’s free, although they certainly do accept donations. Doesn’t everyone? Seems like everyone has his hat out nowadays, and we’re sorry to be part of that, but the situation is dirt. We almost lost our power yesterday. In these times of smaller SSI checks, a bankrupt state, and practically non-existent paying KEEN calls, the prices just seem to be rising all the time for less and less service or quality.

AT&T is offering a “free” cell phone deal. Don’t fall for it. It is a scam. You have to open up a new account for a friend or family member. This will end up costing you more than the phone is worth. So beware of any “deals” AT&T offers you.

In order to keep his computer alive, or perhaps get a new computer, Stephen needs a new battery and Windows 7, because Vista is just too unreliable. Vista is the worst operating system since 98. But first Stephen has to pay off his rent, and so do I. Don’t buy a Dell or do business with Wells Fargo. They’re both ripoffs.

If you’re ever in Sacramento, look up Walter Rhoads and Julie Maahs. Together they own Gallery 14 at 14th St. and 60th Avenue. We’re promoting them big time. Walter Rhoads has a very interesting and different approach to art. He compares himself to the late great Jackson Pollock but there are two main differences: Rhoads is still drawing breath with a healthy 98.6 degrees temperature (except when he’s sick, in which case it’s somewhat higher) and I think Jackson Pollock was gay, and Rhoads is, like us, hopelessly hetero.

We certainly hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Sorry about my negativity up there, but I’ve been very depressed by this economy lately, and wishing I were with Doc in the Summerland.
Tegwedd ShadowDancer
Stephen Abbott
Inky my BFF (BoyFriend Forever)
Little (Big)Boy
Oreo (the Mouser)
Bailee Beasley Beastly
Frikki & Frakki
Dr. Livingston I. Presume aka Prince Henry the Navigator