Kidney Donor Needed

I just got this message from fellow author Stefani Barner who needs help:

"Since we've officially hit the point where we can start looking for (& slowly testing) potential kidney donors for Rory, I thought that the easiest way to get the information about donation out to everyone would be through a website.
Of course, it's only mostly helpful, since I still have to get .pdf versions of the actual donor paperwork, LOL, but in the meantime, it's an easy way for people to get the information about how to help him out with either living donation
in some other way. By the end of this week, I hope to have the pre-donor screening forms available to print off as well. There are two purposes here: 1) to get information about living kidney donation to those who might be willing to donate and 2) to get information about what ELSE we need to our friends & family who have been asking. This is NOT a blog, solicitation website (other than the aforementioned living kidney donors & family inquiries), or place to get updates on how Rory is doing. It's a very targeted appeal to potential organ donors & a place to get information about Rory's Chronic Kidney Disease & treatment. So...if you would be so kind, please pass along this website to your various address books, groups & elists, so that we can spread the message of living kidney donation (for Rory and for everyone) far and wide. :-) The website is:

www.kidneykid.com

Easy to remember, fairly simple once you're there, but potentially life-saving for our little boy. Please bookmark it, check it out and pass it along.

Thanks everyone!

Stef"

The memorial service for Denessa Smith of the Tempest Smith Foundation will be held in Detroit, MI, on August 8. As I will be unable to attend, a proxy will be reading out the following memorial address to the mourners on my behalf. Many thanks to Michelle Belanger of House Khepheru for assisting me in doing this.

Memorial Address from Kerr Cuhulain:

I chose Denessa to be the Warrior Priestess for the Armoring Ritual at Convocation in Troy, Michigan in 2006 for a very good reason. She exemplified the Warrior. It took a lot of courage to recover from the grievous loss of her daughter Tempest and come back to found an organization dedicated to making sure that no one else was bullied the way her daughter was. Denessa transmuted anger into commitment and tolerance. Denessa went out into the community to teach and transform. She practiced the first rule of magick: You create your own reality. The reality that she sought to create was a better world for everyone. She lived according to one of the principles my coven, Scáthach: Who dares, wins. She dared to make our neighborhoods safer. Denessa was a defender of our community, and a true Warrior. I am glad to have shared that moment with her in 2006. My fellow Warriors will honor and remember her. She will be missed.

In closing, let me offer a poem honoring fallen Warriors written by John Mayne in July 1805, which I have altered slightly to fit this occasion:

Ah me! how sorrowful and slow,

With arms reversed, the Warriors come—

Dirge-sounding trumpets, full of woe,

And, sad to hear, the Muffled Drum!

Advancing to the House of Prayer,

Still sadder flows the dolesome strain;

Even Industry forgets her care,

And joins the melancholy train!

O! after all the toils of war,

How blest the brave woman lays her down!

Her bier is a triumphal car—

Her grave is—glory and renown!

What tho' nor friends nor kindred dear,

To grace her obsequies, attend?

Her comrades are her fellows here,

And every hero is her friend!

See Love and Truth, all woe begone;

And beauty, drooping in the crowd—

Their thoughts intent on her alone

Who sleeps for ever in her shroud!

Again, the trumpet slowly sounds

The Warrior's last Funeral Hymn:—

Again the muffled drum rebounds,

And every eye with grief is dim!

The generous steed, which late she rode,

Seems, too, its mistress to deplore;

And follows to her last abode

The warrior—who returns no more!

For her, far hence, a mother sighs,

And fancies comforts yet to come!

She'll never bless her longing eyes—

She'll only hear the Muffled Drum!

Kerr CuhulainPreceptor General,

Officers of Avalon, Founder of Scáthach

Scathach Armoring at Vancouver PPD

Scathach will be doing a full dress Armoring at the Vancouver Pagan Pride Day, September 13, 2008. I'll be posting more details regarding this later as they become available. I've attached a photo of part of a similar outdoor Armoring that I did at Florida Pagan Gathering at Samhain 2005.

Bright Blessings

Kerr Cuhulain

Victory Base Open Circle

Morrigan Oran, founder and director of the Victory Base Open Circle and Falcon Open Circle, contacted me the other day to tell me about their new initiative based in Michigan. The purpose of this is to support Pagan troops from every country stationed at Victory Base Baghdad and FOB Falcon with metaphysical care packages. You can check them out at:
www.freewebs.com/nmsupportcircle

Their Supporter Links page has a list of all the organizations that support them. They have a variety of ways for individuals and businesses to get involved, from simply lighting a candle online for our troops safety, to donating the goods requested by the soldiers. Please take the time to check it out!

Worldwide Intention Experiment

Dear Friends:

I'm inviting you all to participate in a global experiment that will happen September 14, 2008. My coven has been working at sending our intentions to one another or to people that needed healing with measurable results. This experiment, the largest of its kind ever attempted, has been set up by author Lynne McTaggart and will use the same abilities. Basically at a certain time (5 PM) on the 14th of September participants will need to go on line and focus on their computer screen for a short while so that the entire group, spread across the globe, will be focussing their intent on the same "target" at the same time to see if we can lower the level of crime and/or violence. Similar smaller experiments have already been conducted with measurable success. You can check some of this out at: http://www.bleepingherald.com/jul2008/intention-experiment

I've already applied to register my coven and am waiting confirmation by e-mail. You can check out the Intention Experiment site at:http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/

I encourage other Wiccans to participate in this worthy experiment. I think that this would be a good way for us to practice and develop our abilities in a way that will make the world a better place. Any of you that would like to join me in doing this should drop me a line to let me know. I'll keep you posted with details.

BB
Kerr Cuhulain

Canadian National Pagan Conference

I’ve been invited to be the keynote speaker at the Canadian National Pagan Conference in Vancouver, BC, May 15 – 19, 2009. I’m told that it will attract 120 – 150 participants and will be held at the University of British Columbia. CNPC has rotated annually around Canada since it began in Edmonton in 2004. It brings together Canadian Pagan scholars and scholars of Paganism, Elders, activists and leaders in the various Pagan faiths (Wicca, Asatru, Druidry and others) for discussion and networking. Now all I have to do is figure out what issue I’m going to talk about. Anybody out there have any suggestions?

BB
Kerr

Midwest Flood Appeal: Avalon Cares

Dear Friends:

The recent flooding in the Midwest has left homes in ruin. Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana have all seen home with up to five feet of water in them. Now people are trying to rebuild their lives and recover their homes. Officers of Avalon plans to assist families with donations. Please show the world that Pagans still have the charity in their hearts that lead to such an outpouring in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and donate to Avalon Cares today. http://www.officersofavalon.com
99% of all donations will be used for direct assistance to families in need. The remaining 1% helps with the maintenance of the website and other administrative costs. We are an all-volunteer organization with minimal overhead. Watch the website and our newsletter for updates on the flood relief.

BB
Kerr Cuhulain
Preceptor General, Officers of Avalon