Tag Archives: gaming

“Worlds of Empyrea” Kickstarter Provokes Reflection

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The Kickstarter

I wonder how many people know or have guessed just how much I’ve been a recluse during the last quarter century. I’ve seldom been “out there” in the public eye, much less actively hawk my art. I probably do less than the minimum when it comes to touting my own abilities. For a long time, I’ve chosen to remain passive, and for all practical purposes, invisible…to myself. Turns out, I haven’t been all that invisible to my fans.

What changed?

I became willing to see a different perspective. I realized my decades-old story regarding my role within the budding RPG industry has only represented the beginning parts of a saga that’s still unfolding. The past represents only the first chapters of a continuing story. In fact, I can shape and reshape the greater saga (in real time), to embellish the rest of the story–so as to inspire, empower and nurture creativity in other gentle souls working from the heart. Perhaps I could be like a beacon for women in the gaming industry (as well as those not within the gaming industry) to never give up on their integrity or passion. By example, if I’m to fully participate in life, I must relinquish my “safe” status as hermit. But it’s all good, because it’s no longer about me.

To repeat, it’s not about me anymore.

No, it’s about new generations of gamers–female and male–who, at whatever age, are maturing into a sense of who they are, and what their lives’ contributions may be, but who sometimes need inspiration, guidance and a foundation to assure them they have a place and can make a difference in this crazy world.

Currently, we reach back into the past to acknowledge, touch, and revere the genius and the synergistic mix of how, when and where it all began. We honor our beginnings while projecting ourselves into a ripe future, bridging our past with the next step towards embodying the relevance needed to create a bright, bountiful future for games and gamers.

It’s an energetic.

Choosing to embrace the energy of a new perspective, all things become possible. As I become open to possibility, I take off the hand-brake of my limiting thoughts. Finally, I’m prepared to, as my late husband would say, “surf the crest of the apocalypse…” (What an image…)!

If you care to ride along with me, just lean into the wave, and allow it to lift you towards wherever your own potential takes you…

Tally Ho !

Introducing Sacred Geometry in a Gaming Context

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Back in 1990, my late husband taught classes on the beauty of sacred geometry. He believed if one is to come into resonance with the universe, one must be able to accurately visualize the dance of Platonic solids and know how they fit and transform into and out of each other. Coming into congruence with sacred geometrical shapes and knowing how to visualize them at will is great knowledge sought after by those in the know.  In esoteric circles, the novice must appreciate the profound relationship between sacred geometry and the proper creation of a magic circle.

For my husband’s classes, I created all his hand-outs, including ton sacred geometry. For his publications, I created educational illustrations exemplifying the concepts of sacred geometry.

OphanicGeometry01

The above illustration is the first page from our chapter on sacred geometry [“The Ophanic Revelation” (c 2006)].

The classic five Platonic solids are 3-dimensional polygons that have a sequential relationship to one another (known as duals or congruency). Congruency occurs when one polygon–with its unique shape, size and facets–can be transformed into the next polygon simply by changing it’s placement by flipping or rotating them. The five Platonic solids are the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron. Goethe once wrote, “geometry is frozen music.” What an beautiful way to describe the elegance of these patterns.

Because of my familiarity with sacred geometry, I was fascinated to encounter a client, from the unusual venue of gaming, who was conversant with the Platonic solids. In his text, he addressed the five Platonic solids and supplied an illustration of the same. I wondered to what degree he was acquainted with the forms. In my role as his book’s designer, I expanded on his seed idea. Instead of all the solids appearing at once in a single chapter head, I assigned one geometric solid to each chapter in the book. As there are only five solids, I had to add an additional polygon for chapter six and chose a star-tetrahedron. To pique the interest of the inquisitive, I added a small splice of text revealing the symbolic meaning represented by each Platonic solid.

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Appreciating GaryCon VII

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My Reflections upon GaryCon VII were written on March 30, 2015 and posted in Facebook. I repost my words here, to remember:

“Even though Wisconsin was as cold as I remember, GaryCon VII was warm and inviting. Welcoming all who arrived stood a life-sized Sheldon wearing a GaryCon VII t-shirt. I intended, but forgot, to have my photo taken with him.

“My beret’s off to Luke, Ernie and Dale for their excellent organization of this grand event. You all do Gary proud and I am very pleased to have been a minute part of it. From what I could tell, a grand time was had by all. I’d like to call out some people (in no particular order):
“To Luke, thanks for your kind generosity with my host regarding accommodations;
to my hosts Carlos and Amanda Roo, everyone owes you a debt of gratitude as I would not have been able to attend without your gift of an air ticket and I’m doubly glad you did so well in your tournament;
To Cindy, your daughter is beautiful and talented–she must take after you,
to Lloyd and Zach, I’m glad you were my neighbor and I appreciate you lending me your art materials and I admire your fearlessness;
to Jeff, so sorry not to have connected more with you than just that short moment by the stairs… Vlee Vlee;
to Mike, thanks for bringing me up to date and for the lasagne at The Pub;
to Jim, you are looking well and so I’m glad you are on the mend;
to Tim, thanks for the pizza, the drive to Delavan to reminisce and recharge and for always being encouraging;
to Frank, thanks for your gracious self, your precious smile and for the personal tour;
to Stefan, you are one amazing, talented and entertaining dude and I’m so glad you liked the commission once you saw the art printed out–as we now know, it’s often deceptive if one only views art electronically–and good luck with the video, you deserve it;
to Lawrence, I got to sign several White Plume Mountain modules which I haven’t seen in an age and I do believe the calligraphy was my very first published TSR commission;
to Diesel, I’m glad to be getting to know you and your wife Lisa better and look forward to being with you again in Texas,
to Barbara, so great to meet you in the flesh… I consider this to be the start of a beautiful friendship;
to Steve, although you’re an old goat, I will probably be doing more maps for you;)
to Skip, you are looking good and I’m sorry you had to leave so soon but your excuse was totally understandable so thank you for compassionately caring for the poor feline critters who brave their way to your doorstep;
to Penny, thanks for grabbing my attention–it’s great to finally meet you in person and ditto about the cats
to Dan, you are quite the bard and I’m sorry we did not get a better opportunity than to meet in passing as you were performing and I was leaving… maybe we’ll meet, anon;
to Dave, you are still an incredible listener, a caring friend with a gentle soul–bless you;
to Harold, I never knew you with a mustache but I’m happy you are involved with the Breadloaf Bookshop, one of my favorite haunts as I used to man the shop from time to time so I’d be happy to help you out graphically should you ever need it,
to Heidi, congrats on your first DM session and I love to read your Facebook posts;
to Steve and Kiff, it was great reconnecting with you two and I appreciate the cc tip;
to Elise, you’re still looking great and I’m sorry we didn’t get a better chance to talk;
to Scott, thanks for the soup and for the conversation on Saturday night;

to my my sisters Dawn and Diana and my brother Bert for stopping by to say “Hi.”
and finally, to my loyal fans for their interest and anyone else I may have neglected to list, thanks for all kindnesses… ”

Btw–I was given the title, “Our Lady of Gaming” seven years ago at the last Gaming Convention I attended in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin when Gary was still alive. It is with pride that I adopted the same designation at GaryCon.

Our Lady of Gaming