 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Why do I have a web site? And such a complex one, too!
I've got lots of stuff in my head. Ask anyone who knows me. Or even ask people who DON'T know me--I'm up to level 4 in Yahoo Answers--took me a little over a month. I won't ever be able to meet all you in person and share what's in my head, but I can put it online and share it that way.
I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo 2004 called "Ridden" about Atlantis and the ancient Maya. A priestess from Atlantis was possessing the body of a modern woman. Tse-Nen-Ray wanted her story heard, and she said in her time, they had a wall where they posted announcements. Our Internet and World Wide Web is the equivalent of Tse's wall. And this is my corner of the wall.
I'm Bert Piedmont. Many years ago I was "given" the name Gevera and I use that too, but most people default to calling me Bert if they spend any amount of time with me. "Gevera", I was told, means "the bringer of hard truth." I am a very honest person. I piss people off. (Shrugs.) I am what I am.
I've been a writer since I was a child. It's a most valuable thing to be. It complements EVERYTHING. I'm not the best speller in the world (and I'm using Dreamweaver now, which doesn't highlight errors like FrontPage) so yeah, there's probably a mistake or two on the site. But you won't find my language to be stilted or my grammar terrible. I'm very good at communicating my ideas. If anything, I'm too good. I tend to jump around. One of my writing teachers once said that everything I write is a huge tangent but it's so well written and entertaining the reader is willing to follow me wherever I go.
I hope you will be willing to follow me too.
Learning web design. I'm taking classes at Gateway and reading lots of books. I'm also teaching myself Photoshop. I was forced to teach myself Quarkxpress at work so I know that too now. My goal is to do simple, low-cost web sites for pagan and metaphysical people.
Editing work: I'm doing two types of editing for Epress Online. I'm doing acquisitions, where I evaluate new manuscripts and write up reports on their strengths and weaknesses and ultimately give a thumbs up or thumbs down. It's so hard for me to give a thumbs down. I've been there, you know, getting the reject letter (or email). I also do the actual editing of accepted manuscripts--I fix typos and grammatical errors and find continuity mistakes and write copious notes to the authors, who probably all hate me. If you've got a novel, or a non-fiction book about the craft of writing, check it out. We're looking for more manuscripts. Supposedly in the future I might be doing some translating of documents into HTML and/or PDF format and I'm also supposed to be the art director but I've only done one art-related thing so far.
The Body Shop at Home: I became a Body Shop at Home consultant in October. It's going kind of slow. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it. My biggest customer is my friend who owns a Body Sculpting spa in Florida. She'll probably keep me in business.
Reiki & Healing: I said I wasn't going to teach anymore, but the universe didn't like that. So I am back to teaching again, but the way I used to. I'm not scheduling classes anymore--when someone wants to learn, I'll schedule just for her (or him). I've made recordings of all the Shamballa meditations so levels 1-3 are available via distant learning as well. Plus I've written a few articles about related topics.
Blogging: I have several blogs (not all of them under this name). My dad has Alzheimer's and I have a vast blog on that--what's happening with him, and how I feel about it, and also commentary on research and articles about AD. I have a shamanism blog, which is kind of catch-all for my thoughts, dreams and happenings, and a blog about the Mayan calendar, which is going to be syndicated to anyone who wants current calendar data on their site. As I write this, that hasn't happened yet. My style of doing things is sideways and circling (like a crab--my sun sign is Cancer after all) so I'm coming at it from a variety of angles. The blog feeds are also on this site, under Articles.
The Meso-American calendar remains a major part of my life. One more time, I am reworking my manuscript for Jaguar Nights and as part of the marketing efforts (helped by my friend Cindy) I am going to be getting my name out there. Part of that is my campaign on Yahoo answers to answer just about every question with "mayan" "Maya" "Aztec" and "2012" in it. Part of that is syndicating my Jaguar Nights blog. Many articles on this site are about the Tzolkin, the sacred 260-day calendar of the Maya and Aztec.
Common everyday things: I have four birds (2 perfect lorikeets, a green-naped rainbow lorikeet and a red-rainbow hybrid lory), two cats (a black one and a white one) and some fish. I might be getting a fifth bird--I lost two females in the last 7 months which has been really hard on me emotionally, and really hard on the two males, who are lonely but don't like each other. Lots of pictures of them on my Yahoo 360 site.
I am a life-long resident of Wallingford, CT.
I have always been a writer; my worse failing is that I write wonderful things and do nothing with them. That is changing, right now. I have recently turned my talents as a writer toward helping others achieve their goals. The universe strongly pushed me in that direction & it’s one in which I’m happy to travel. Editing opportunities are opening for me in ways I’d never dreamed could happen, and all because I made a single phone call a few months ago and asked a question that terrified me. It was the right thing to do.
I’d say I came later in life to metaphysics, but when I look back I see I’ve been laying the groundwork for many years. I am jealous in some ways of teenagers who are becoming Reiki Masters, but when I was a teenager that opportunity didn’t even exist. It wasn’t something I could reject or accept because it simply wasn’t in my sphere of existence. I muddled on through my early life reading and writing about vampires, UFO’s and ghosts. Eventually I moved onto paganism, the Aztec/Mayan calendar, and Reiki, which is pretty much where I remain.
Below is a picture of me which I took on 02-14-03 (7 Ik), after doing a Mayan ritual to find lost objects. (I found all the items on my list except one within a week.) I had borrowed a digital camera from my brother-in-law and was having some fun taking self-portraits and I really like this one. The lighting in the room was plain sunlight, which was behind me; I have no idea where the fairy bubbles and the weird glow next to my right eye came from. In fact, all digital cameras at my house show these fairy lights in their photos, but regular ones don't.
And YES, those are “my eyes”--my contact lenses aren’t colored.
This is a picture of me taken in the ruined Mayan city of Altun Ha, Belize, with a friend I made there (Oct 2003) . It's my favorite recent picture of me, and if you met me through Yahoo answers, you've already seen it.
Obsidian Butterfly (Itzpapalotl) is an Aztec goddess. Depending on what you read about her, she is a star goddess, an agriculture goddess, an evil demon and the patron of witches (not the good kind, either), or some minor deity that no one cares to talk about. If you read Laurel K Hamilton's book Obsidian Butterfly (How I curse that she named the book that. My web site is totally lost among all the references to her book!) you'll think she's an ancient immortal vampire. No, I didn't like the book.
In 1999, all of a sudden I started seeing butterfly motifs everywhere. It wasn't just me--my best friend saw them too, but only when she was with me. I was really getting deep into metaphysics then (I started level 1 of Usui Reiki in May 1998 and finished my mastership in February 1999) , studying crystals among other things. I was interested to learn that the properties of obsidian are similar to the meaning of Gevera--to bring the truth. I was re-reading Aztec that summer and I came across the passage toward the end, when Mixtli is in the desert with the Chichimecs and learns of Obsidian Butterfly. Not only that, but I had UNDERLINED THE NAME during some previous reading. I had no memory of doing that. In August of that year, I went to the big huge gem show at the Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts, and my best purchase was a gorgeous butterfly carved from rainbow obsidian. I haven't yet been able to take a photo which does it justice. My new digital camera takes movies--maybe I'll try one of those.
This is the original text from my old web site on Itzpapalotl:
Obsidian is type of volcanic rock which breaks with a sharp, jagged edge which some claim to be sharper than a scalpel. Many native peoples used Obsidian for arrow and spearheads, due to its extreme sharpness. Its primary color is black, although there are often colors mixed in: mahogany obsidian has a reddish brown tone, snowflake obsidian has round white specks and rainbow obsidian has iridescent, scintillating bands of colors. The metaphysical meaning of obsidian is to bring the truth, especially a truth one is trying not to face.
A butterfly is the ultimate symbol of transformation. It is used to symbolize death/rebirth, enlightenment and any major life changes. The Aztecs believed that butterflies were the souls of the dead returning to visit the living.
The Aztecs also had a goddess called Obsidian Butterfly, Itzpapalotl. She ruled a day in their calendar (which one depends on which source you read). Descriptions of her vary; most say she has the claws of a jaguar. I remember seeing one source that said most of her is hidden in another dimension and all that shows in this dimension is her claws, making her very misunderstood. (I lost my notes on it; if you know of the source please notify me.) She is my patron goddess and I will be adding more material about her in this spot eventually.
In 1999, shortly after I became consciously aware of Itzpapalotl, I was lucky to find a beautiful rainbow obsidian carving of a butterfly at a gem and mineral show. It is the most expensive piece of rock I own (and I own thousands) and, to me at least, the most beautiful. I have seen other obsidian butterfly sculptures since then, even one carved in the exact same way, but none have touched my heart like my first one. I have been trying to take some photos of it that show its true fire; when I’m satisfied, I will post them here.
On a side note, I began using the magickal name Gevera in 1997. I always knew what it meant; it means “the bringer of hard truth,” which describes me perfectly. I can be very blunt and I lack tact. I am not a yes-man and I always tell it like it is. At that time, I had no idea it was a real name (it’s a last name in some European countries). I was also drawn to rainbow obsidian, and I found that the metaphysical meaning of obsidian matched the meaning of my new name. The spring and summer of 1999 were the butterfly months; butterfly motifs were everywhere, and it was during this time that I became aware of Itzpapalotl. I asked her before I used her name for this web site. I sometimes use “Obsidian Butterfly” as a kind of title (like Quetzalcoatl) to indicate that I consider myself one of Itzpapalotl’s priestesses. Written 03-16-02 12.19.10.01.12 11 Eb 5 Cumhu
Visit the OLD butterfly portal picture (big graphic), new window
Visit the NEW butterfly portal picture (big graphic), new window
Transformations by Obsidian Butterfly is a privately-owned small business which offers healing services, metaphysical classes, metaphysical items and copy-editing services and will soon offer web-design services as well. Healing transforms your body, metaphysical classes transform your life, metaphysical items transform your home and environment, copy-editing transforms your writing, and web-design services transform your corner of the "wall". And of course, the Body Shop at Home items I offer transform your face and skin!
I have credentials. Do you care?
I have a BA in English and Communications from Albertus Magnus in New Haven. I have advanced certificates in Microsoft Word, FrontPage, Excel, Access, Outlook, and Powerpoint from New Horizons in New Haven. I am going for a certificate in web design from Gateway Community College in North Haven/New Haven. I have completed the fiction certificate through Writer's Village University, and also the Institute for Children's Literature writing courses.
I have masterships/can teach (links are to certificates which open in new windows): Usui Reiki, Karuna Reiki, Tera-Mai Reiki, Tera-Mai Seichim Reiki, Shamballa Multi-Dimensional Healing, 12D Shamballa, Mayan Reiki, MPRUE Reiki, Karuna-Ki Reiki, 7 Facet Seichim Reiki, Ama Deus (Brazilian shamanic healing) and Holographic Sound Healing with the Angelic Realms. I am a certified reflexologist. I'm a Shaman of Mayanism through the Sentient Temple in Florida and a Reiki Fire/Divine Touch minister. I'm also a Huna Research Associate. I only teach Shamballa, Mayan Reiki and Holographic Sound Healing right now. Karuna-Ki and 7-Facet Seichim are free and self-taught; I will send you the manuals upon request.
Date: 12.19.13.4.5 13 Chicchan 18 Pop / April 22, 2006
All material on this page and all pages is (c) by me, Gevera Bert Piedmont, except where noted. All rights reserved. Contact me for permission to republish. I rarely say no.
