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WHISPERING GREY MATTERS 2 YULE 2007 WGM YULE 2007 STAFF GSW: CONTENTS Editor: FrogsDancing Staff Writers: Silverheron, JanicaJayne, The Color of Winter ......................................................... 3 Silentfaun The Phoenix Project ....................................................... 4 NEWS: Club, Committee, House/Lodge Updates ........................... 5-7 Editor: Belenus Awards & Milestones .................................................... 8-9 Staff Writers: Sapphire Soleil Faculty Updates ............................................................. 9 The Rainbow Path ........................................................... 10 WIZARDING: New Classes .................................................................. 11 Editor: Tigersmoondiva GSW Tips & Tricks ..................................................... 12 Staff Writers: Areeya, Jymi, Silverheron, The Great Symbol Display Debate ................................... 13 Eilwen, Aniuvris Bunky’s Vision ........................................................... 14 Not With Your Eyes .................................................... 15 OPINION: Ancient Americas More Sophisticated than First Thought ... 16 Editor: Xyaida Mainstream Students Embrace Magic ............................ 17 Staff Writers: Areeya, Spirit of Youth, Letters to Grey School ................................................ 18 Sapphire Soleil, Aniuvris Samhain to Yule: A Season of the Wheel ..................... 19 SCIENCE: Magic in the Southern Hemisphere ............................... 20 Editor: Jymi Color Conversations ..................................................... 21 Staff Writers: Moonwriter, Tigersmoondiva, The Forest’s View of Fire ............................................... 22 Kore-Rhi REVIEWS Composing Magic ...................................................... 24 ARTS & CULTURE: Gargoyles ................................................................ 24 Editor: Spirit of Youth Folklore .................................................................. 25 Staff Writers: Artemis Gryphon Snowhawk, Interview with Professor Hopman .................................... 26 FrogsDancing, Silentfaun Yule Upside-Down ......................................................... 28 FOOD: Tarot: Another 78 Cards?! ............................................ 29 Editor:POSITION OPEN! Courtesy ..................................................................... 30 Staff Writers: Artemis, Eilwen, Poem: The Color of Sound ............................................. 30 Tigersmoondiva Ancient Runes Today ................................................... 31 Light and Colors: Pigments of Your Imagination ............. 32 ART: The Traditional Colors of Yule ....................................... 33 Lead Artist: Areeya A WGM Staff Cookbook ........................................... 34-42 Staff Artists: Jymi, Lady Sigel, Moony Poem: Newgrange Sunrise .......................................... 43 ADVERTISING: Editor: Xyaida COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Janicajayne PERMISSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS: FrogsDancing COPY EDITOR: KoreRhi PUBLISHER: Jymi CONTRIBUTORS: NicholasoftheCross, Quiet Bear, Prof. Sherwood, Starwynd Panther, Rowan Greyheart, Raistlin Loreseeker, Leop- ardDancer, Belenus’ Wife, Belenus’ Mom, and whoever wrote that letter about the Gnomes. Whispering Grey Matters is a quarterly newsletter produced by and for the students and faculty of The Grey School of THE COVER was done by none other than Wizardry (www.greyschool.com). All contents herein are © Katlyn Breene! See her portfolio at: 2007 Grey School, except where otherwise noted. Copyrights http://www.mermadearts.com/ revert to original authors and artists upon publication. WHISPERING GREY MATTERS 3 YULE 2007 The Color of Winter By Prof. Moonwriter What color is winter? Say “winter” and But what color is winter? When I think of most people imagine the clean white winter, the color that slips into my mind of snow, falling silently to blanket the is blue. I imagine the long, bluish shad- world with cold purity. Of course, after ows of dusk, the indigo of a rainy sky, a day or two, it gets all dirty gray and and the azure shades that play along piles up at the roadside, but when it first snowdrifts. I recall a trip to Alaska, floats down, ah…. It’s gorgeous. Nothing camping in the mountains of the Turna- like it. gain Arm, beneath a glacier that glowed icy turquoise. And I think of the stories Sadly, not everyone gets the white stuff. my mom told me, about growing up on For those of us living in the Pacific North- a ranch in Malin, Oregon. Her dad would west, our winter is more likely to be col- go up into the hills and cut juniper trees ored ‘clear and wet’ instead of cold and for Christmas. One tree—a big one—was white. No matter—we appreciate our brought into the living room to become rain, for it contributes to brilliant, Tech- their Christmas tree, bedecked with nicolor springs and summers. homemade decorations. Two smaller trees were placed below the front porch, And speaking of Technicolor, for those flanking the porch steps and covered of you who think winter and the holi- with blue lights. There was always snow days are the perfect time to head for on the ground by then, and Mom talk- the nearest mall, you might color winter ed about how beautiful the trees were, ‘multi,’ a myriad of bright lights and glit- with their blue lights glowing against the tering hues… snowdrifts, shining in the dark. I wish I could have seen that. …which are reminiscent of the northern and southern lights—the aurora borealis However you color your own holiday and aurora australis, respectively. These season, here’s wishing that it’s safe and swirling, spectacular ribbons of light— happy! usually in brilliant reds and greens—fill the sky in the ex- treme northern and southern realms, es- pecially during the winter months. Winter invariably has different meanings for different people. While those of us in North America—es- pecially the norther- ly parts—spend the winter wearing wool sweaters against he darkening days, our friends ‘down under’ might go surfing on Christmas Day, or enjoy a barbecue under a hot, golden Sun. Areeya WHISPERING GREY MATTERS 4 YULE 2007 THE PHOENIX PROJECT By: Silverheron By now everyone within the halls of The Grey School of Wiz- ardry is aware of the changes that are happening on line for us aka “The Phoenix Project”. Many of you may be wonder- ing how it is coming along and what to expect next, so with that in mind, I went straight to the source. The following is what I found out from our beloved and hardworking Tral- feyn on just where we are to- day with the project. The project itself is about 75% complete. There have been some new system advances since the project started but these advances should not prove to create much time lost in implementation. The next stage that is be- ing worked on is upgrading the current system from one that is geared mostly towards personal websites to one that is more organization based. This change should take place sometime in December. The advantages of these system changes are that while the coding is more complicated it is more secure. It also will al- low a lot more to be done with school with features that allow teachers to upload graphics to Phoenix Logo by Jymi X/0 their classes, such as a way to automatically monitor class enrollment limits. The system will also make the class/lesson/test creation process easier. This has been a major undertaking and will be well worth it in the end. Patience is the key with anything that is worth doing. If anyone has any questions at all Tralfeyn says his door is always open and you can contact him through the Site Administration forum or through [email protected]. IJKLMNOPQSIJKLNOPQS WHISPERING GREY MATTERS 5 YULE 2007 THE OUTDOOR CLUB The Outdoor Club is a newly formed club that is still in its early stages. At the present time they are still deciding on a final name. The Faculty Advisor for the club is Rainbow Stonetalker and Sola Dragonshadow is president. When asked what this club was about, Sola Dragonshadow responded “The idea of the Club is to help those who struggle with the outdoors to get the help and suggestions they may need to survive in the out doors, be it a hike or a camp- ing trip. Also for the outdoors to survive us being there. We hope to show the magick of the outdoors and how nature does recycle its self if allowed to.” Presently they have plans to create rituals to cleanse and bless a campsite, which could be used at some of the coming year’s conclaves. At this time if you are looking for a club that with a natural theme this may be for you. The outdoor club would love to have more members. THE5 DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS CLUB By: NicholasoftheCross, Defensor Secundus - DADA Club Fall equinox 2007, the DADA club had elected their new officers! It is my pleasure (as Defensor Secundus) to announce our acting officers of DADA Club. Mysty - Defensor Amplus NicholasoftheCross - Defensor Secundus and Laneth, Defensor Emeritus is acting as our “officer advisor.” b Also, take advantage of some Merit points for creating a Defensor Kit!!! What is a “Defensor” you ask?? Visit our club site to find out all about it!! THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY AND CARE OF BEASTS The Society for the Study and Care of Beasts is a newly revived club that at this time has not elected officers. The Faculty Advisor for this club is Leopard Danc- er. The main focus is the discussion of all beasts mundane and magickal. Within this club you