The Threads That Bind Us

Hey there folks! Just a quick line to let you know what's happening over the next month or so.

The Medium, the Witch & the Shaman drop in days are no more; neither is the Discussion Night. However, we are all still available by appointment, and the Messages from Spirit event remains; though it will be a larger event that will be happening a couple of times a year. Stay tuned for dates, times & locations.

We are having a Winter Psychic Fair in conjunction with the Winter Carnival on Friday, Feb. 10 from 2 pm to 7 pm. Admission is a non-perishable food donation or $2 for the Food Bank, and it will cost you our excellent promotional price of $10 for a 15 minute reading or service.

To celebrate the fact that we won the Best Overall Entry Not a Float in the Winter Carnival Parade with our "Quidditch Team" in the theme of "Sporting with Carnival," we had 100 coupons to give out that offer great savings and promotions in the store, and we will continue to offer one per purchase throughout the month while supplies last. Come and get yours!

Last chance to get your calendars and datebooks is now; after February, they will be gone.

My first Eight Paths of Power class for the year is being offered Sunday, Feb. 19 at 11 am to 5 pm. The first class is on Intent. Cost is $50 per person and PRE-REGISTRATION (and payment) is required. If there are less than 3 people registered I will not run the class.

The more advanced classes (6 through will be offered as part of a special Retreat Weekend in July. You MUST have completed the other classes 1 through 5 to qualify for this one. More information about price and times will follow over the next few weeks.

See you soon!

Blessed be,

Hey, have you noticed that it's getting cold out there? Leaf raking party at my place this weekend! You bring the rakes and your back muscle and I'll bring the beer and pizza.

The construction is almost done! Yay!

I have a couple of cool announcements for November and December.

First, starting this Saturday and continuing through the month of November, we are having a red tag clearance sale to make way for new inventory! All red tagged items will be 25% to 50% off! This is *only* for November; on December 1st, the red tags come off and all items are restored to regular price. Let us reward you for doing your Yuletide shopping ahead of the game.

All those orders I have been waiting for will be arriving during November. Speaking of which, it's time once again to pre-order your 2012 calendars. Witches' Calendar, WeMoon Datebook, Astrological Calendar, Faeries, Goddesses, and more available! Come in and browse from the catalogue to place your order! Special orders are guarenteed to receive what they have requested, while others will have to choose from between a couple of our more popular options, while supplies last.

On Saturday November 19th, 10 am to 1 pm, the Medium, the Witch and the Shaman will be offering a class on "Crystal Healing for All Paths." Cost is $66; please preregister! Minimum class size: 3 students or we will not run the class.

We have a new practitioner! Please welcome Lida, who will be in for drop ins on Thursdays. She will be offering Craniosacral Therapy, Raindrop Therapy, Massage and Amethyst Bio-Matt Treatments. If you have not experienced the Amethyst Bio-Matt, let me personally recommend it! It is a slightly heated matt made of crushed amethyst, which produces negative ions like a salt lamp, and aids your body's natural healing processes. During a Body and Soul Wellness Fair, Erin, who suffers from chronic nerve pain, had a half-hour long treatment and said that he felt no pain for three full days, and was in considerably less pain for a month afterwards. I have also had very positive experiences with the Bio-Matt. Lida's services will be available at the standard shop rates and she may also be available by appointment.

The Medium, the Witch and the Shaman are returning to the store on Wednesdays for drop-ins, except that we will be available from 1 pm to 5 pm (not 11 am to 3 pm,) and we will be there on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, but not the second or fourth. We will continue to do our discussion group and podcast on the first Wednesday of every month at 6 pm, but Messages from Spirit will be on the third Wednesday of the month instead of the last Friday, again at 6 pm when the store closes. All other aspects of the Messages from Spirit event remain the same; you need to register in advance if possible because we will take a maximum of a dozen people, the fee is $10 and every attendee gets a personal message! Erin and I will be available in the store for drop ins Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Rowean will be available Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Our last Discussion Group for the year will be on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 6 pm, and the topic will be "Ascension and the Mind/Spirit Connection" - how the energy changes affect your mood and thinking process (it might not be menopause!) We will not be doing a Messages from Spirit event in December or January, and there will be no Discussion Group in January either, nor Medium, Witch, Shaman drop in days, though all will be available by appointment. All of these things will resume in February.

The first of the Heart of Wicca Discussion Groups with Mystara Loughnah, 2nd degree High Priestess in the Star Sapphire tradition, happened on the first of November. Several people came out and we welcome you! The second one will be at 6 pm on the evening of December 6th. Donations welcome but it is free to attend.

There are plans in the works to create an online Webinar variation of the Eight Paths of Power for those of you who are interested in learning at a distance; please stay tuned for more information!

The Elder Futhark Runes class has been cancelled until further notice, and we will be closed on Remembrance Day (of course). PLEASE NOTE our December schedule! Last year I warned people a month in advance that we would be CLOSED over the SOLSTICE, and people still complained about us not being open when they wanted to do last minute shopping. We *will* be open on the 23rd and Christmas Eve this year, but not on the 21st and 22nd. Consult the December events or Calendar page for more details. We hope you have a happy holiday, whichever one you choose to celebrate! Also, please note that our winter hours begin Jan. 1 and last until the Spring Equinox, meaning that we will be closing at 5 pm daily during that time.

Don't forget that gift certificates are available for products or services, and they make a great stocking stuffer!

Very exciting news; my friend Shadowcat, a Reiki Master-Teacher only four initiations removed in direct lineage from Dr. Usui, Reiki's founder, is willing to come to the Threads to teach and initiate! Please contact me if you are interested so that we can set the date. Costs to be determined by numbers of registrants (the more people, the less expensive it will be) and should range in the neighbourhood of $100 to $150 each.

Please sign up as site members to receive our newsletters and announcements!

See you soon!

Blessed be,

The Threads That Bind Us

3004 B 31st Street

Vernon, BC CANADA

V1T 5H7

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I've been pretty quiet online for a while, resting and recuperating from a very very busy summer.  I was away from home for a total of two full months between May and September with all the travelling I was doing, and I needed to put my head down and get a little rest; from people, from the store, from work, from things online.  But I'm beginning to recover my bearings now as I nurture my soul a little.  I've been doing some painting (it's not ready for display yet,) and I have started writing fiction again with a fan fiction fantasy novel.

The construction in front of the shop is almost finished, and I hope you will come and brave it and the weather to see us before All Hallows'!  I'm currently offering a 10% discount on all my Tarot readings.

I must admit that I'm a little behind on my orders, partially because things have not been available and partially because the funds have been tight, since the construction seems to have driven a lot of our business away.  But I have not been idle, and I have lots of new products you may not have seen, most of them handmade by me or someone else.  We have Celtic style tapestries that would double as excellent altar clothes, handmade arbutus wood besoms, handpainted boxes, handmade soapstone and beadwork pipes, new handpainted pentacles, and the long-awaited smudging fans that many of you have asked me to get!

Our drop-in days with the Medium, the Witch and the Shaman have resumed every second Wednesday, along with our Discussion Group, classes, and Messages from Spirit.  Our Elder Futhark runes class is still running as well.

I am proceeding with my Pagan Pathfinders Podcast this fall, recording this weekend.  I am behind on uploads, but we have been recording and I will be catching up very soon.  I will also continue, now that I'm not driving all over the world, with my account of my trip to Montreal for the Canadian National Pagan Conference.

Last but not least, I do hope you will join us for the T. Thorn Coyle event this weekend!

I have been quiet, but not idle.

Blessed be,

At last, summer! For those of you who are keeping track of such things, I am back from my epic journey to Montreal, and while my car seems to have nearly disintegrated underneath me due to a badly marked road washout in Saskatchewan, the Lady has brought me safely back and I am back in the shop, getting caught up on the things I need to do. The air conditioner is safely installed so you will not blister in the sudden wave of heat!

I have tons of things to write for my blog about the Conference and the journey, but it will likely take a long time to get it all typed and written. Memories to last a lifetime and food for the soul! I especially welcome any of my new friends from the Canadian National Pagan Conference "Gaia Gathering" who see fit to join the list. Merry met!

The next couple of weeks are your last chance to benefit from the Medium, the Witch & the Shaman drop-in days over the summer. We will be in the shop from 11 am to 3 pm on June 1, 8 and 15; after that, drop-in days will not resume until September. Victoria and Lois will still be available by appointment over the summer, and I will be available for drop-in Tarot readings, Reiki, crystal healing, aromatherapy and mentoring on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless festivals or other responsibilities call me out of town. Selena will also be available for channelled readings, co-creative meditation, and counselling on Mondays; Erin will be available for drop-in Tarot readings, Reiki, mentoring and counselling on Tuesdays, and Rowean will be available for drop-in Tarot readings, Reiki and Henna body art on Thursdays and Saturdays.

The Medium, the Witch & the Shaman will continue with our Discussion Nights over the summer. Our next meeting is Wednesday, July 6 at 6 pm PDT, and our topic is "Spiritual Creativity." Join us in person or by Skype at medium.witch.shaman. For more details, check out the MWS website at http://mediumwitchshaman.webs.com, or the Podcast page at the Threads website http://www.thethreadsthatbindus.net/apps/podcast.

Our "Messages from Spirit" event will also be continuing through the summer, which is (usually) the last Friday evening of every month at 6 pm. The next one, however, is July 22 rather than the 29th. All are welcome, but there is only room for 12 people so you may wish to register in advance! In order to make sure that an individual intuitive and psychic message is available to each and every attendee, any more than a dozen people will be turned away. Selena Wong, our Reconnective Healing practitioner, intuitive counsellor and channeller, may be appearing in lieu of members of our trio over the summer as we take our holidays.

My Eight Paths of Power classes are also continuing through the summer near to the Wiccan Sabbats. "Intoxicants," which will study the use of incense, smudging, herbs, aromatherapy, and intoxicating substances in magick, will be held on Sunday, June 26th, and "Dance & Sacred Movement" will be held on July 17. Both classes are from 11 am to 5 pm. Cost is $50; please preregister.

There are plans in the works to create an online Webinar variation of the Eight Paths of Power for those of you who are interested in learning at a distance; please stay tuned for more information! I am aiming to have the first Webinar class, "Intent," ready for September.

Rowean and I will be starting a Ritual Magick study and practice group sometime in June or July. We will be using Donald Michael Kraig's book "Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts" as our study guide, and will draw from material of the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, OTO, Aleister Crowley, etc. If you have an interest in magick but are not a Wiccan, this may be a good group for you. Even if you are a Witch, the discipline in your study can't hurt you. Contact Rowean or here on FB for details.

This month, we will be holding another Mini Psychic Fair; this one in support of Pagan Pride! ALL profits made by the practitioners plus your $2 admission donation will go to support the event. Last year was amazing and this year we hope it will be even better! Come see us on Friday, June 17, from 3 pm to 7 pm for short sample readings and healing treatments at $10 for 15 minutes.

The day after that, Saturday, June 18, we will be at Downtown Vernon's enormous sidewalk sale on 30th Avenue, the Sunshine Festival! We'll have some great deals and promotions, and you'll be able to buy your crystals or get great readings in the warm summer sun! Come see us and the other great Downtown Vernon merchants as we put on our best show for you!

At the end of the month, we are planning to be at the brand-new Sun Wheel Festival in Alberta, sponsored by Where Faeries Live. Erin and I are both planning to present workshops and we will have the shop with us . . . though it will only be a carload, like what we brought to the Beltane Faire . . . our greatest effort this year in Alberta will still be for PanFest on the August long weekend, so save your pennies!

Festival season means that more fabulous items get purchased because they are needed, but it also means they don't stay in the store as long. Check back frequently to see all of our new great stuff! Our crafty streak has not stopped despite our busyness; we've added handpainted pentacles to our available products. Some of you will remember that I made several of these a few years back, before I had a store. Each one is a handpainted original work of art that will never again be exactly imitated, though variations on my "Triple Moon" design have been popular. Rowean is helping with this project and some of the designs you see emerging in the store are hers, some are mine, and many are the result of our combined efforts and inspiration. The order from Quebec has arrived and the order from Massachusettes is on the way, though hampered by back orders and the mail strikes. This even benefits our clientele at a distance - we now have more than 1000 items available for sale at our Web Store: http://www.thethreadsthatbindus.net/apps/webstore/.

For those who are interested in our side projects: I am trying to streamline the list and very soon will stop cross-posting. If you'd like to keep track of my personal blog, my writing, matters Wiccan and my other projects, you can find that at http://sablearadia.webs.com. If you are interested in the Pagan Pathfinders Podcast, you can find that information at http://paganpathfinders.webs.com. If you want to know what's happening with our local Wiccan Temple, you can find that at http://mirthandreverence.webs.com.

Please sign up as site members to receive our newsletters and announcements!

Last, two things that are VERY IMPORTANT to note! First, FB has forced us to change to the new groups format. In order to avoid becoming a limited social network, we have been forced to start a new fan page, and start over. Please, if you wish to continue to be connected to this group, change over to the new one as soon as you can! You will find the new group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Threads-That-Bind-Us/206869696014295. Please join today!

Second, the city is beginning a major construction project on July 2 that will affect traffic on 30th Avenue until October. This concerns us because we have noticed that when 30th Avenue is blocked off, our traffic dies down to almost nil and we might as well go home. Since we can't go home for six months or we won't have a shop anymore, we advise our clientele that they may find it easier to approach us from the Library (that's 31st Street) or from 32nd Avenue (which runs past Innerspace Diving off of Hwy 97, or the Greyhound Bus depot and Cenotaph Park if you are coming from 27th Street or Pleasant Valley.) There are parking spaces available along those streets, which are often easier to get to than 30th Avenue anyway, and if you park up at the Civic Arena, which is on 31st Street, you can park for free!

Our current practitioners' schedule for drop-ins is as follows:

Monday, Wednesday, and most Fridays 12 pm to 5 pm - Sable Aradia, Psychic Witch, Reiki Master - Tarot and Reiki, Crystal Healing, Chakra balancing, Crystal healing, information on Wicca and magick

Monday 1 pm to 5 pm - Selena Wong, Psychic & Life Coach - channelled readings, co-creative meditation, counselling

Tuesday 12 pm to 5 pm - Erin Righ, Psychic Witch, Reiki Master - Tarot and Reiki, Chakra balancing, information on Wicca and magick, pastoral counselling from a Wiccan/Pagan perspective

Wednesday 11 am to 3 pm, appointments from 9 am to 5 pm (until June 21) - "The Medium, the Witch and the Shaman" Lois, Psychic, Medium, Reiki Master - Channelled psychic readings, Mediumship, Energy clearings, Healing Matrix, Reiki; Sable Aradia, Psychic Witch and Reiki Master (see above); and Victoria Willard, Natural Health Practitioner and Shaman - Reiki, Thai massage, Herbal Consultations, Quantum Touch, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Thursday 12 pm to 5 pm, Saturday 1:30 pm to 5 pm - Rowean, Psychic Witch - Tarot reading, Reiki healing, henna body art

Michelle, Tarot Reader & Psychometrist - available by appointment only.

Victoria and Lois are available by appointment only after the 21st of June until September.

June Events:

June 1 - MWS Discussion Night & Podcast "Riding the Energy Wave" 6 pm to 8 pm; by donation

June 15 - last drop-in day for the Medium, the Witch & the Shaman for the summer 11 am to 3 pm

June 17 - Mini Psychic Fair! 3 pm to 7 pm; $10 per 15 minute reading or healing; all profits to Okanagan Pagan Pride

June 18 - Sunshine Festival 9 am to 5 pm; store remains OPEN

June 24 - Messages from Spirit 6 pm to close; $10 per person, first dozen people accepted only

June 26 - Eight Paths of Power #4 "Intoxicants" 11 am to 5 pm; $50 per person, please preregister

July 1 - Canada Day; store CLOSED

July 1-3 - Sun Wheel Festival, Alberta

Enjoy your summer!

Blessed be,

Wanted: Pagan-friendly or New Age style musician(s) or band(s) to provide music for the videos I intend to produce on the Witch's Eight Paths of Power. The project would involve eight videos, each about two hours long or so, in the loose style of an A&E special. Think of "Ancient Mysteries" or the like; varying shots between me talking to the camera, and a voiceover sequence with images related to the subject. Music should be very mood-oriented and have either no lyrics, or very subdued lyrics that blend into the background (like Enigma or Delirium, maybe.) See the link provided for subject matter reference. Will pay the successful candidates fair licensing fees in cash and/or barter, but do understand that this is a personal project that I am self-producing and I am not a record label with thousands of dollars to back me, so this is best suited to artists trying to increase their exposure with the Pagan and New Age community. Please apply by email (use Contact Us link at our website or my FB email [Diane Morrison]) with link to mp3s or vids of your work. Pass the word to your musician friends! Thanks.

Blessed be,

If you're at all familiar with the website, you might look at it and say "Where the Hel did everything go?"  The answer is that we now have some drop-down menus, which you can access from the sidebar.  Some of the pages we had worked better as subpages of the others and have been moved.  However, all pages still have their own unique information on them.  The only real "gateway" page, which strictly leads to other pages, is the "Features" page, which is where we put our photos, videos, and horoscopes.

There will be more site updates in the next few days as I add to the blog and the forums and the store page.

But, that might have to wait for the end of the weekend, because I'm off to the Coast for a strictly fun (no store work) Beltane celebration!  The store will be open and Shanna will be waiting to serve you.  Our full inventory will still be in the store, too; like I said, no work for me this weekend.

Blessed be!

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that the May Metaphysical Services & Practitioners directory for The Threads That Bind Us is now available to download in pdf format from http://www.thethreadsthatbindus.net and we've updated our Horoscopes by Gayle page for Beltane to Litha!

Next weekend I personally will be doing a Pagan event in Vancouver for Beltane.  It's not the kind of thing you vendor at, so the store will not be there, but if anyone wants me to bring something specific down, I will do that.

The weekend after is our next Mini-Psychic Fair on the 22nd starting at noon, where we will be showcasing some of our metaphysical and healing practitioners; $2 admission and your donations go to support Okanagan Pagan Pride, and then for $5 you can get approximately 15 minutes of our services.  We'll have psychic readings, Tarot readings, Reiki, Thai massage, Healing Matrix, astrology readings, and more!

The weekend after is our second SCA event of the year, Midsummer in Appledore, in Summerland.  We do intend to vend there (though being a small event, we'll likely have a smaller table).  Our focus there will be medieval items, so if there is something specifically Pagan or metaphysical that you want us to bring, please contact us and let us know.

That sums up our weekends, but don't forget to check the calendar for our ongoing events on Wednesday nights; next week Meditation, the week after is our the Medium, the Witch and the Shaman Discussion Panel, and the week after is my next Practical Magick class, "Finding Fairies."  All these events start at 6 pm; the first two are by donation, and Practical Magick is $5 - $20 sliding scale per person.

Blessed be,

Sable

Just added a whole bunch of new stuff to the website over the past couple of days or so!

The new issue of our newsletter, "The Tapestry," is available for download from our "About Us" page.  On the same page you can also find a link to our sponsored team in the 2010 Run for the Cure, "Pirates for the Cure!"  I'm the team captain and we're running on October 3rd this year to fight breast cancer!  We'll be doing fundraising events throughout the year, with our last big one at our 2nd Annual Talk Like a Pirate Day Sale in September!

We've also created a new page called "Medium, Witch and Shaman" to highlight our events, websites, and work; and we added pics from our land clearing at the Lodge Inn in Cherryville to our Photo Gallery.

We've updated our Metaphysical Library list and our Calendar for all the great events coming up!  We've also updated our "Metaphysical Services" page to match our new rates and list ALL of the many, many services we provide!  If you want more detail on those, you can download a copy of our "April Practitioners and Services Directory" from that page, or pick one up at the shop.

We've also added a new page called "Horoscopes by Gayle," which will feature horoscopes by Kamloops astrologer Gayle Hunter.  The current horoscopes take you from Ostara to Beltane.

We've started a Forums section, and the first forum we've created is called "Ask Sable," which invites you to ask me about whatever metaphysical/herbal/magickal topics you want, and I'll do my best to answer you (or direct you to someone who can!)  We'd also like to encourage our site members to start other topics as well and share our concerns and ideas!

And while work is slow due to limited time, we are slowly expanding our Webstore as well.

It's worth it to come and take a look!  If you're getting this from Facebook, our URL again is http://www.thethreadsthatbindus.net.

Blessed be,

Sable

When Mike of Dreamweaver came into the store the other day to chat and say hello, I took the opportunity to ask him about suppliers that he utilized, and he tuned me in to some great people on this side of the border, which saves shipping, exchange, and duty.  One of the suppliers I called happened to actually be in town today, so he came by, and now I'm broke but you will LOVE the results!  I've posted some pics on the Facebook group; I invite you all to check it out!  The first batch will be here by Friday next week or the following Monday and more will follow!  We're also following up some leads to acquire some Dryad Designs items, some Mythic Images items (Oberon Zell's work,) and new books suppliers as well!  I am really excited about these new leads and I can't wait to deliver these fantastic items to your hands!  Blessed be.

Five original paintings by Adele Woolsey arrived yesterday!  We are featuring four of her African series and one of her "Wall" series, actually a door called "Secrets."  We are also featuring a line of T-shirts displaying her original work.  Come check it out!