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<blockquote>Unbalanced power is the ebbing away of life. Unbalanced mercy is weakness and letting evil go unchecked, therefore becoming an accomplice of evil. Unbalanced severity is cruelty and the bareness of mind.</blockquote> 

==== 2013 Foam Winter Solstice Ceremony ====

//**Friday 20 December 2013, 7.00 PM**//

Master of Ceremonies: Armoracio Bud Minuez\\
High Priestess of Proceedings: Alchemilla Lily Umiliata\\
Quality Control: Angelica Pansy Demeziz\\
Tragicomic Control: Eleuz Ashton Querlano\\
Guests and/or Assistants: Permitted (terms and conditions apply)

While the Master of Ceremonies has been responsible for codifying tradition in the architecture of this Ceremony, it is the High Priestess who, by intuitive and munificent example, sees the flow of Proceedings on their right course. Quality and Tragicomic Control serve important regulatory functions, but should not impede the flow set going by the High Priestess, who has the final word in all matters of dispute concerning proper conduct and protocol of the Proceedings.

Dress Code: Vapourpunk\\
Code of Conduct: Non-Normal((It has come to our attention that this notion has been grossly misinterpreted by several individuals. __This misinterpretation consists, in sum, in equating //"non-normal conduct"// with //"polar opposite of normal conduct"//__, and would seem to demonstrate a problematic grasp of rationality and logical deduction, to say the least. "Non-normal" implies exclusively "**absence of normal**," just as "non-door" is merely a negation equating to "absence of door," and nowhere suggests a positive entity that is somehow conceived of as being the "polar opposite of door." Those who have (and it would appear wilfully and intentionally) misconstrued the notion of "non-normal conduct" are requested to reread, first, Aristotle's //Logic// and the //Summa Logicae// of William of Ockham, then proceed with Boole's //The Mathematical Analysis of Logic//, Fregge's //Begriffsschrift//, and finally the //Principia Mathematica//, in order to refamiliarise themselves with the foundational principles of logical negation.))

The Dress Code shall be strictly adhered to. The Butler will assess each visitor at the door, and inappropriately dressed individuals will be requested to change on the spot.

<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muohio_digital_collections/3192604016/" title="Beta girls gathered around table ca. 1899 by Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3260/3192604016_c2f67fa156_z.jpg" width="640" height="382" alt="Beta girls gathered around table ca. 1899"></a></html>

(Vapourpunk may be likened to the aesthetic of [[http://seetheunseen.co.uk/|The Unseen]], though with less emphasis on feathers. It may share a number of general similarities in style with Steampunk or Neodandyism, though it is also perhaps merely a state of mind. It might be imagined in the feeling one has when engulfed in steam or walking through mist, when dancing through dry ice or losing one's way in darkening, mistfilled woods; when one discerns letters forming in the condensations of a mirror in a steamy bathroom…)

The Code of Conduct shall also be strictly enforced. As the Ceremony is a liminal event taking place outside the everyday world of customary roles, mores, and social conventions, Non-Normal conduct shall be adhered to throughout. The Butler will continuously monitor and assess the behaviour of each visitor for the duration of the evening. Any person found evincing "normal" behaviour at any time will be requested immediately to bring their conduct in line with the Ceremony. A second infringement will incur penalties, such as exclusion from the Frivolities. Those found infringing a third time will be summarily locked in the storeroom for the remainder of the evening. (As a gesture of exceptional benevolence, Armoracio Bud Minuez has decreed that persons locked in the storeroom may be permitted to redeem their misconduct by washing up after the event, upon suitable and sufficient demonstration of contrition.)

=== The Miscellanies ===

  * Yule Herbs -- ash, bay, chamomile, frankincense, hazel, holly, juniper, milk thistle, mistletoe, oak, pine, pine cones, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, walnuts
  * Yule Incense -- bayberry, pine, cedar, rosemary, juniper
  * Yule Colors -- red, green, white, silver, gold
  * Yule Decorations -- yule log (oak or pine), mistletoe, wreaths, strings of dried flowers and cinnamon sticks, apples, oranges, yule tree, holly, lights, mistletoe, candles, pine branches
  * Yule Foods -- nuts, apples, oranges, caraway rolls, mulled wine, roast turkey, pears, pork, Wassail, eggnog, bread, cookies
  * Yule Sacred Gemstones -- cat's eye and ruby

<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/swedish_heritage_board/5714900829/" title="Einar Erici in St. Nicolai Church, Altenbruch, Germany by Swedish National Heritage Board, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2100/5714900829_19587b0039.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Einar Erici in St. Nicolai Church, Altenbruch, Germany"></a></html>

=== Soundtrack: ===

  - Sama Veda (maybe)
  - Silence
  - Pärt: Sarah Was Ninety Years Old [25m 30s]\\
  - Silence
  - Transition (disclosed on the evening) [03m 18s]\\
  - Carte blanche (silent/noisy, etc.) [~]

=== The Accoutrements of the Ceremony: ===

  * Several white candles
  * Two crimson candles
  * Incense
  * Copious dry ice
  * Censers
  * Diadem
  * Pedestal
  * Brazier of Consumption
  * Prayer papers


=== The Modes of Observance of the Proceedings: Solemnities. Frivolities ===

<blockquote>The difference between ‘rituals’ and ‘feasts’ is this: by the one a particular form of energy is generated, while there is a general discharge of one’s superfluous force in the other. Yet a feast implies periodical nourishment.</blockquote>

  * The Feastings. (I do not know when these shall take place.)

  - Fumigation
  - Burning the Demons
  - Consuming and Embracing the Demons. Deliverance and Transmutation of the Bonds of the Demons. Embracing the Depths. Renunciation and Inner Purification
  - Renewal and Metempsychosis. Sudden Transmogrification. Wild Rumpus Starts((We are given to understand that the following Instructionals have been transcribed, often with several layers of inaccuracy, from obscure sources, and hence at times contain certain puzzling notions and passages. __In such cases of uncertainty, we suggest that Celebrants waste no time in futile debate, but **improvise** as best they can upon the indications present.__))

<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/8385171286/" title="&quot;Birthday party&quot;  (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8331/8385171286_fd3a877f37_z.jpg" width="640" height="406" alt="&quot;Birthday party&quot;  (LOC)"></a></html>

== Fumigation ==

Silent, ~15–20 m\\
Chymical Indication: Tincture of Tartar

The Space is dimly illuminated by draped white and red fairy lights swaddling the air, while a hanging garden of silvery green has been arranged. The evening chants of the Sama Veda have been voiced.

The Brazier of Consumption has been set in Luciferic disequilibrium, the Celebrants have assembled in the Singular Circle, from where they proceed to light multitudinous waxen candles, and set them, flickering, in the corners and upon certain protuberances; two red candles are ignited as an offering to the Twin Red Satyrs; then incense of cedar and thyme is kindled from the Brazier.

Disseminating from the Singular Circle with burning incenses, Celebrants silently fumigate the Space's endlessly recursive corners, in grave manner and with solemn intent. As this Observance proceeds, it may happen that certain more excitable Celebrants begin to vociferously wheeze, or yelp, or emit startling shrieks and whines. They should not be castigated, but gently brought back to the Singular Circle for the next Observance.

== Bonfire of the Demons ==

Pärt, ~25 m

Celebrants reassemble at the Brazier of Consumption. A chthonic drum intones the sombre sacrifice of Demons which is at hand. Celebrants take Combustibles and sacrifice them upon the Brazier. The Elixir of Mogwana White may also be reverted to. Multicoloured fiery brocades may rise from the embers and coruscate throughout the space, but the vacuum in the human eye will draw them in and quell them.

== Consuming and Embracing the Demons. Deliverance and Transmutation of the Bonds of the Demons. Embracing the Depths. Renunciation and Inner Purification ==

The Demons are but misconstrued facets in the cogworks of our minds. We begin to merge and writhe with them. By merging with them, we dissolve their bonds and transmute them. The ecstasy of sundering, the agony of reuniting. We honour the infinite, let ourselves fall and fall into the infinite depths. Butoh. Noh.


== Renewal and Metempsychosis. Sudden Transmogrification. Wild Rumpus Starts. ==

The intensity of the previous Observance has conveyed Celebrants through a metempsychosis of renewal and transmogrification, and the energy released in this renewal has built up an irresistible urge to dance. Celebrants are now required to party, for such indicators as Saturnalia and Bacchanalia prevail, and Solvent Spirits are to be consumed in proper quantities.

__You gotta fight for your right to party:__

<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/5141828590/" title="Garden tea party for three ladies from the Joyce family by State Library of Queensland, Australia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1172/5141828590_01dfe5da59_z.jpg" width="640" height="413" alt="Garden tea party for three ladies from the Joyce family"></html>