Monday, September 22, 2003

Two kinds of calendar - natural calendar and social calendar Ever since moving to the woods here, I've been fascinated by different concepts of time and different calendars. One year I did a lot of research on when different cultures start their year, and how concepts of time and scheduling have changed over the centuries. Now, with the Autumn Equinox tomorrow (Tuesday, September 22) morning at 6:47 a.m. here north of Atlanta, Georgia, I'm wondering which calendar to use. Do I want to start my year with the Autumn Equinox? That's the start of the year for many more land-oriented cultures. It's also when I learned from Perelandra to start my year. As I understand it, the Cherokees who lived here before me, begin their year with the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox - the moon we usually call the Harvest Moon. Or do I want to adapt more to the realities of my culture, and use a standard calendar? Start my year January 1 like most people? Fit in better? Here are the characteristics of what I call a "natural" calendar: There are 13 moons in the year. Each one starts with the new moon and ends just before the next new moon. The name of the moon depends on the local changes - what's going on with plants, animals, weather at this time usually. There are 4 quarters in the year - defined by the Autumn Equinox, Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, and Summer Solstice. The year starts in the autumn when the harvest season winds down or the year's harvest is at least clear. (The actual date might be as early as the Harvest Moon or Autumn Equinox, or as late as the midpoint between Equinox and Winter Solstice, around Halloween or All Hallows Day. Here are the characteristics of what I call a "social" calendar - There are 12 months in the year. Most planning and scheduling is by the week and month. There are 4 quarters in the year: Jan-March, April-June, July-Sept., Oct.-Dec. The year starts January 1. (Actually, this is parallel to the natural calendar in that the "main harvest" of the year happens in the retail markets in December. It's after Christmas that most companies their "harvest" for the year. After I clarified these differences, I asked myself the crucial question. Which calendar is better for artmaking? Especially, for making my bowls? That was easy to answer. Living by a natural calendar, a moon calendar, is much more apt to enable me to be in That State of Mind. That State of Mind, or TSOM for short, is my best possible state of being. I feel both deeply relaxed and excited, in discovery mode, following a thread of thought or feeling with a relaxed but one pointed focus. So it's obvious that in the studio, I'll be better off going with the natural calendar. For business - selling my work - it seems evident that the social calendar will work fine. Nowadays, even requesting a change of tax fiscal year from the IRS is very expensive. It's not really worth it. And it's easier to set up accounting software to use a standard month and quarter. (In the past I've done it by the natural calendar, starting each month on the 21st to be close to the usual Equinox or Solstice dates - but it was a little complciated.) Ah. So this fits with the shamanic role of going back and forth between two worlds. OK. I can do this. I'll use two kinds of calendar, going back and forth. 2:50:22 PM    comment []

Chicken backs: dream about being able to live on little money Just remembered a conversation I had last night. Realized it was in a dream. I was discussing the price of chicken backs with another woman, a stranger. This reminded me of something that happened (in waking life) when I was very young. I told the stranger my story. "I was married when I was still in high school. My husband and I didn't own a TV so we used to walk over the the University of Illinois Student Union to watch in the evening. On this particular evening, I had to leave early so I could study for a French exam. It was a spring evening, getting dark. As I was walking to our little basement apartment, a man fell into step beside me. He acted friendly and nice. Then he asked me to come home with him. I'd been raised to be very polite in all circumstances. "No thanks," I replied. "I have to study tonight for a French exam tomorrow." Mentioning "French" seemed to have the unfortunate effect of making him even more interested. I kept declining. Finally he said, "Well, if you'll come home with me for just a little while, I'll pay you $50 and you'll still have time to study for your French exam." This talk of paying me got me all huffy. Indignantly, I exploded. "Listen, I buy three pounds of chicken backs for 19 cents a pound, ten cents when they're on sale. With these chicken backs I can make soup that lasts us a whole week! I don't need your $50 at all!" He gave up. I think he was so surprised by all the information about the chicken backs that he was overwhelmed. I got home safely, feeling extremely proud of my thrifty culinary skills. I think I did well on the French exam too." Interpreting this dream: Recently a major computer client took over most of the work I've been doing, to do inhouse. So I've been anxious about income. This dream seems like an obvious message to relax and remember my skills in living inexpensively. It's true that I do have these skills. I know a lot of ways to live very pleasurably with very low income. I just need to be reminded of this. The dream did it very well. Why did the dream choose this form? Maybe the invitation to prostitute myself has some application too. A reminder that I don't need to change or distort the art I'm doing, in order to earn a living as an artist? A reminder that integrity comes first? I'm about to plunge into trying ebay sales for my small paintings. It could be tempting to change the way I paint to suit this market. Many people would not only see nothing wrong with this, but would think it appropriate. I need to go by my own standards here. 2:31:49 PM    comment []