I’ve mentioned before that I associate the Faery deity Nimue with luck…usually, deeply weird luck that tends to involve glitter-bomb explosions and finding what you want in the most random possible way, with smoked mackerel or a Yeti thrown in.
I also have remarked upon the fact that when I open my mouth and ask for things in circle, they tend to happen. Two years ago at Beltane my coven-mates asked how I was doing and I said, while the circle was still up, “Pretty good mostly, but I’m a little lonely.” Six weeks later I was in love; six months later we’d moved in together.
I know some of you are thinking either that I’m full of it or, alternately, that I must be zapping and poofing my way through life like Samantha on Bewitched.
No, no, no….no. Didn’t you hear what I just said? YETIS. MACKEREL. STINKY CANDLES. RANDOM WEIRDNESS. SUDDEN HUGE LIFE CHANGES. The truth is, the things you ask for can happen, but you better be ready for them. You better make sure you are ready, and be careful what you ask for. Because it’s not that they won’t happen if you aren’t. It’s that the Universe will make you ready. I call this phenomenon the Drop Kick of the Gods. Or, when attended by a slightly painful clue-by-four, the Fishwallop.*
So, for Hellbender’s Ostara ritual, we called on Nimue. It was a kid-friendly ritual (complete with a mostly non-verbal toddler, a very volubly verbal one, and a tutu). She likes children; why not? Along with her taste for practical jokes, there’s nothing Nimue likes better than a good kid riot. I bet you can see where this is going.
So, what did you ask for, Sara?
Well, I opened my mouth and said the most Capricorn thing I could possibly have said (I mean, other than “While I was waiting for you to show up, I went ahead and solved the problem we were having, made reservations for dinner, and rearranged the work space so it will be more efficient. I remembered that you like Italian food. The restaurant is not expensive, but it’s very good.”) That is, I said, “I need to move forward in my career.”
A few things that have happened since then:
- I met up with a new Pagan friend and we more or less immediately fell into plotting world domination. All will be revealed in time.
- I went to a symposium to hear someone else speak and started chatting with one of the people manning the table. Turns out he organized the symposium, which is in turn sponsored by a local college which has a job posting I’ve been thinking of applying for. He knows me by reputation and proceeds to snooker me into filling a gap in the speaking schedule. Fifteen minutes after walking in the door, I am behind the podium talking off the cuff to a room full of people I’ve never seen before. Some of whom work at a place I too wish to work.
- I got lost meeting people for food afterwards because I didn’t check that GPS was sending me to the right location; therefore, I arrived about twenty minutes late. On the way back to my car, I noticed an intriguing sign over an office door and decide to find out what it was about. Turns out it’s a collaborative office space for entrepreneurs, and I happened along just as they were knocking off work for the day. I start chatting with them and a few minutes later have agreed to facilitate a writing circle there. For pay.
- I saw a notice that a well-known SF publisher is accepting unagented submissions. I feel strongly moved to patch my fantasy novel (currently in second draft) together and send it to them as-is, on the grounds that if they like it I can edit to their specifications and if they don’t like it I’m no worse off than I am now.
And that was just yesterday.
Where will all this wind up? I don’t know. But I can feel things shifting under my feet. Grabbing my hat, holding on tight, and watching out for mackerels.
*Some of us commune with the gentle and dignified Salmon of Wisdom. Others of us receive sudden enlightenment via being smacked up side the head with the Carp of Clue.
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