cold water

Went over to visit Sarah the other day, and had a lovely time, particularly when we went to the beach near St Donat's. I went for a swim - it was very very cold, but I definitely felt 100% alive afterwards. Then I fell over on the beach (it is all rocky and I got my foot stuck in a cleft) and the beach very sweetly apologised by allowing me to find the best ammonite on the beach. It was a beautiful day, and very warm in the sun - especially after I'd been in the water. It's amazing what the human body can cope with - I generally find it's almost unbearable the first time you go in, and on the second attempt it feels ever so slightly warmer - for about the first ten seconds. Also the only bits of me that felt massively tingly were hands and nipples - must have been the blood rushing back in - everything else was fine.

Also I think I've achieved a new record this week, as I have done three group rituals this week, all fairly intensive. I've also been doing the Lesser banishing Ritual of the Pentagram a lot recently, having attended Synesis' workshop about it, and it really is rather powerful. Apparently it helps to build up the Body of Light, and it is also part of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It's interesting that angels are now seen as a very Christian concept, as they apparently originated in Zoroastrianism (see the excellent Miss Garnet's Angel).

I'm currently re-reading Hallucinating Foucault for the third time; it's about the relationship between author and reader. I love it.

I've just finished reading The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, which is this month's SF Reading Group choice. It is a prolonged meditation on the nature of identity, and also a rollicking good read.