Pipe smoking and writing a dissertation

In my note on working with spirits I did a check in about the pipe smoking and Morgan Le Fay and her cup of tea. On occasion, when the fairy king is very much around, I smoke the pipe, but only once a month to, at most, once every other week. As I toured the Museum of Anthropology in BC, I wandered through a room that had all sorts of cataloged artifacts. There were drawers and drawers full of stuff. I was walking along and looking at the glass tops and decided to pull out a drawer. Much to my surprise I pulled out the drawer with all the pipes. It was if I was hit with a 2X4. I was stunned. There are no coincidences when it comes to stuff like that for me. It was clearly a message from the spirits that pipe magic is part of what I am to do.

One of the challenges of smoking the pipe is keeping the thing lit. The combination of the air needed with the fire, is tricky. If you inhale too hard, you get "tongue bite." Trust me, you know that when you feel your tongue go numb. I also know that the spirits ride the smoke.

This week I started my fall semester. One of the classes I have, if I do it right, will result in the first three chapters of my dissertation. This weekend, I cleaned a space on my desk for a new altar. On it I have Ganesh, Brigid,  a candle, my pipe, and a digital recorder (a modern tool). It's a simple altar, but all the things on it were called. I feel like it needs some sort of water. However, the bowl of the pipe is very much a receptacle like the chalice. I don't know.

I'm not sure how my pipe and writing a dissertation relate, but it is clear that I have allies and guards as I do this work. Stay tuned as I'm going to talk about qualitative and quantitative research methods.