I try to put a witchy spin on these prompt questions whenever possible — it tends to make them more interesting to answer. As soon as I read today’s topic of “physical activities,” I immediately thought “wow, what a great time to talk about raising energy in ritual!”
Movement, dance, and flow are all such excellent ways to build power for magick. In fact, I could write an entire post on those methods.
So I’m going to save this answer for an article. Sorry, no witchy spin this week.
Instead, I’m going to talk to you about my stolen bike.
As a kid, I loved to run around parks and playgrounds. There were a few that were within walking distance of my parent’s house; and, at a leisurely pace, those walks took about 15-20 minutes. Being a child, however, I was always in a rush to get there and start playing. Those 20 minutes were crucial moments of time that could be spent swinging or climbing. Naturally, I sought out faster means of transportation.
First of all, let me say that I’ve never really been a fan of running. I could run to the park in 5 minutes, sure, but that was hard work! So what other modes of travel are available to a kid? I tried skateboarding and rollerblading — I found both were fun for repeatedly going up and down a short stretch of sidewalk, but neither were effective for efficiently getting from Point A to Point B.
And then I discovered the bike.
Oh boy! I could bike to the park. I could bike to my piano lessons. I could even bike to my friends houses and then we could bike together!
I was fast, I tell you.
As I grew in years and wisdom, so did my allowable “distance from home” lengthen. First it was down the street, then to the next town, and then to the next city. I rode 5 miles, 10 miles, 20 miles. Nothing could stop me.
I didn’t know what it was called, but on these longer rides I experienced a runner’s high. Moments of pure bliss and serenity, which I guess in this case would be more apt to call a biker’s high. After all, I hate running, remember?
I was an unstoppable force on two wheels. I road the W&OD trail all the way into DC because I wanted to see if I could do it. No destination was outside of my reach, stamina, and ability.
Sadly, life takes over. Four-wheeled motorized monstrosities replace the freedom and perfection of life on two wheels… because, you know, you need to carry groceries. Or it’s raining. Or you don’t want to show up to work all sweaty.
In adulthood, I abandoned the bike. Until one day…
Sometime in 2020, I convinced Selene to join me as I rediscovered my love of biking. We hastily made way to the local Mart of Wal, demanded two of their finest, economically priced bikes, and returned home with our purchases. For her, a lovely pink beach cruiser. For me, a stealth black mountain and street hybrid.
We were sure to take the streets by storm. Once again, I felt the wind in my face, the sun on my back, the freedom of exploring roads that I would otherwise never go down.
This was the start of something beautiful.
I locked the bikes together on the patio behind our house. Just to be safe, I weaved the chains between the wheel spokes and frames.
And then one morning, they suddenly weren’t there. Hooligans, miscreants, vandals, dare I say THIEVES, entered our neighborhood and pilfered our new bikes.
We never saw them again. Just as quickly and mysteriously as they had entered our lives, they had left us. Sort of like Mary Poppins, but with less singing and penguins.
Good morning and happy Monday, friends.
Another week in December down. What have I been up to?
The Yule spirit overtook me. I rewrote another Christmas carol into a Yule song. This one is based on “O Holy Night,” which I turned into “O Solstice Night.” You can read the lyrics here or watch the music video I made on YouTube. Maybe I’ll keep this up and do a new song rewrite each year. That way, in a decade, I’ll have a whole Yule album. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
I finished my article writeup for Episode 5 of Music, Myth, & Magick with Coby Michael — all of his links are there if you’d like to go check it out. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, you should!
I’ve been working on a video for RAV, a company that makes a unique tongue drum called a Vast Drum. I’m just about finished making the final edits. Once it’s finished, you’ll be able to watch it on their social channels first, then after a few weeks I’ll upload it to mine.
Oh, hey! Remember how I asked for questions last week? I’m capping it. Any further questions will have to go on a later video. I’ve got about 30, which I imagine will fill out about an hour of video to answer. I’ve decided this is what I’m doing instead of an interview this month because schedules for everyone get so crazy around holidays, so an hour of video will be great!. To everyone who has sent me a question, you are AWESOME. Thank you, thank you. After the first day or two, I honestly thought I was going to have to scrap the idea, but then all of a sudden there was a burst of questions! Obviously this sort of thing doesn’t work unless there’s a response, so I’m very grateful for everyone who responded!
My YouTube channel finally broke the 100 subscribers mark, which is a big personal accomplishment in my book. I hit my previous goal of 50 sometime at the end of September, so it’s nice to be making gradual yet consistent progress in that department. I’m just going to keep making content consistently and hoping it makes some sort of impact.
I’m also working on getting some songs played on International Pagan Radio. So far, I’m listed on The Cauldron Radio, Witchcraft TV, and I’ve been in contact with a few more stations. Anyone know of any other interesting outlets for Pagan music and content?
In mundane news, Selene and I took the kids to go visit Sandi.
Oh, wait… For those of you who are not local, let me explain. Sandi lives in West Palm Beach. She has a friend named Ferris. She weighs several tons. And she looks like this…
Sandi.
Right? She’s a giant tree made out of sand. And if you’re quick on your feet, you might have guessed that her friend Ferris is a small portable Ferris Wheel. It’s a whole to-do… there’s music and a light show every 15 minutes while this giant sandcastle/sculpture/tree changes colors, strobes, flashes, and blinks (yes, those last three words are all synonyms).
Across the street from Sandi, and lined up neatly along the intercostal, are a few displays of smaller sand sculptures — one was of a ship, another was of a dog. I honestly can’t remember them all because a subsequent and slightly startling event took possession of all surrounding neurons.
We passed the last sand sculpture and an interesting statue caught my eye. It seemed to be made of metal and formed into the shape of a pirate. Although I wondered why such a detailed statue had been pushed out of the light and into shadows, I thought it fit the vibe. I remembered seeing a few sailing ships and treasure chests in the sandy scenes we had just walked by.
The pirate statue itself was holding a treasure chest. Oddly enough, it looked like the chest was glowing. As I got closer, I noticed there were dollar bills hanging out of it.
Now… why would someone to go all the trouble of glueing real dollar bills to a statue? This required more investigation.
I got about 6 inches away when the statue stepped forward, snapped open the chest, and stared me down.
It was a street performer.
Scared the shit out of me.
Aerik Arkadian 
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