My Rite of Autumn

One of the great spiritual truths I've gleaned from my Pagan path is that the Wheel of the Year offers a good model for timing some of life's bigger tasks that are not directly tied to religious liturgy or agrarian life. One of the things I have been doing annually between the Autumn Equinox and Samhain is taking stock of my life, cataloguing the wins and losses over the course of the year, celebrating goals achieved and identifying new opportunities for spiritual growth.

OK, New Years' Resolutions are somewhat universal, and in a way, this is exactly that.

(continued)

Question:

Are the latest antics in Washington over the Federal debt ceiling attributable to the antics of a dangerous cult?

I prefer this method of finding a answer.

Watching the Inaguration . . .

They're playing "Simple Gifts" -- the tune to the Pagan version of Lord of the Dance.

Of course, this is also a Christian hymm...
HUZZAH!!!

And the Crowd goes wild!



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Now playing: By the Tree - Lord of the Dance
via FoxyTunes

Un. Be. FSCKING-Lievable!

Hillary Clinton, today, about why she's staying in the running despite her being virtually mathematically eliminated from nomination contention:

Responding to a question from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board about calls for her to drop out of the race, she said: "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it," she said, dismissing the idea of abandoning the race.

This remark is utterly beyond the pale. Yes, Bill Clinton didin't wrap up the nomination till June, but back then we didn't have the front-loaded system we have today. I almost read this as an idle wish that her rival -- Barack Obama -- were to be assassinated to clear her way to the nomination!

Consider this: Senator Obama and his family have been subjected to death threats since he announced his candidacy over a year ago. Not to mention this: Inspirational American political leaders have all too often been the targets of assassins the last fifty or so years. Given the groundbreaking nature of his candidacy and the fact that too many people have too much to lose if Obama is elected, I'm not very surprised at the talk. Eight years ago, when Colin Powell was considering a run for the Presidency, the racists in my family said that "He dropped out because he's be shot like a dog for being black if he dared run."

Hell, a few months ago, when Ex#2 served me my divorce papers, I asked her who she supported. "Obama, of course. But I think he'll get assassinated."

Nonetheless, it's nothing short of reprehensible of HRC to even go there.

Kids, this shit has to stop, NOW!

Time to put on your magickal thinking hats. No, not the one with the stinky fish entrails. When you think about something, you feed it's thought-form. When you feed a thought-form enough energy, you make it real and give it impact in the world. How many thought-forms are dining on the thought-energy of the thousands of people out there this subtle but toxic meme is evoking?

Here's the counter: visualize Barack Obama taking the oath of office next January 20. Visualize him shielded from harm by the good wishes and the hopes of the millions who will have cast their ballots for the change he represents. Let THAT thought-energy protect and preserve him. Ask the God/s you reverence to ward him from the ill-actions of others.

And most of all, admonish Hillary for her ill-chosen words.

SotR 2008-02-21: Eris' Personal Plaything

A few months ago, when my life was even more whacked than it is today, I told M that I believed that Eris, the goddess of discord and chaos, had selected me as her personal plaything (I actually used a five-letter word referring to a female cur rather than "plaything" with her, but you get the idea). She didn't dispute the idea.

Being Eris' personal bitc, er, plaything, means that both good and bad stuff happens, not just bad stuff.

This week gives me no reason to believe otherwise. A too sharp right turn and a too-rough curb blew out the right rear tire on the Vanmobile. In the rain. And I didn't have a clue as to how, where or if the beast had a spare. It took the light of day and the help of Rob at work to get the VM rolling again. In the process of changing the tire, I found the black Motorola v3 RAZR I thought had been stolen from the VM last week. This was after I'd bought a cheapass Samsung A127 plain vanilla no-Bluetooth-no-sync-with-a-Mac-model. One SIM swap later, my RAZR's operational. Finally, my tax refund check, Fed version, hit the bank along with my paycheck.

Hail Eris!

Praise Teh Sacred Google!

This. Is. C00l.

The Discordian in me loves this kind of stuff. Eris and Google -- BFF!

Google's High Holy Day is September 14, the anniversary of the date the domain google.com was registered. And, it's just five days before another geek holiday, Talk Like A Pirate Day. A holiday devoted to the discovery of truth and good, not to mention pirates, is a perfect antidote to the annual beating around the head and shoulders with the proverbial bloody shirt every Sept 11.

Of course the Dungeon Master in me beat them to it awhile ago.


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Listening to: Seanan McGuire - Still Catch The Tide
via FoxyTunes

Jerry Falwell, R.I.P.

Christianist Reich icon dead at 73.

Now, will me and mine get the blame for this just as we did for the events of 2001.09.11?

Memo to Shrub: "Religious Freedom" means . . .

ALL religions. Period. No Exceptions.

An example here.

Kudos to the frderal courts and Circle Sanctuary.

"Papa Druid" speaks -- and allayaz better listen!

Good news that Green Egg magazine is back and that the Church of All Worlds that spawned it is on the rebound. Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravenhurst, along with Starhawk and Isaac Bonewitz are among a very select group of the Revered Elders of modern neopaganism. Green Egg was for a very long time, back before the internets, THE neoPagan zine. I saw my first copy of GE in the late 80s, over a decade before I set my feet upon the path, thanks to some very ecclectic gamer friends.

Lo and begold that the the first issue of the new GE would have an article from one of my area's most respected Pagan leaders. Michael Gorman and the Sacramento Grove of the Oak have served the Sacramento Pagan community with distinction for over a decade.

It's a bit ranty, but it is dead on.

OK, this is interesting . . .

The Norn spread is used to plot the crucial elements of past, present, and future, and to reveal the evolution of the situation through the arc of time. Ice Runes are most commonly used for questions about struggle, conflict, and achievement.

The left rune represents an important element of the past. Wunjo is the rune of joy. The reversal of this rune suggests that joy is withheld. Since joy is frequently communal, this rune often suggests loneliness. Alternatively, some have seen Wunjo as the rune of perfection and the rune of the gods. Therefore this rune reversed could signal a feeling of separation from one's deity, or as imperfection in an important work.

The middle rune represents a deciding element of the present. Laguz is the rune representing water. Laguz is a strongly feminine rune, and like the ocean contains much power of an uncontrollable nature. Here the rune is seen in the reversed, symbolic of the ebbing tide. This may suggest power being drawn away, or may perhaps the start of a journey. Since this is a rune of sexual power, the reversal can also suggest sexual problems or dissatisfaction.

The right rune represents the critical element of the future. Tyr is the symbol of the warrior. This rune most represents masculine force and potency, and frequently victory in battle. Beware though, for this rune represents directly the Norse god whose name it bears - Tyr stands out in legend for having sacrificed his hand that he might bind Fenrir, a monstrous wolf that threatens to swallow the world. As such, this rune is known to portend a great victory that can be bought with a terrible sacrifice. Tyr is also the god of law, frequently placed in such position above Odin. In this aspect, protection of justice may be had by this rune. Interesting pull. Very interesting indeed. Now, I don't usually read my runes as reversed / merkstave, but here the variant positions make sense. I freely admit the joy I feel in life has been diminished, especially since I've gotten so effing overweight. There have been times the last couple of months where I hurt so very much thsat I was tempted to put an end to it all; fortunately, my social support system -- family by choice like M&D and Iz, my gaming groups, even WoW -- is first rate. There are things I want to do, and things I need to do . . . and being o'weight prevents them from happening. Thus, dimished joy. Further, even the bit about "Therefore this rune reversed could signal a feeling of separation from one's deity" makes sense; the Gods want us to be happy (as the Charge says: " . . . let there be reverance and mirth . . ."), and with too damn much of my personal power tied up in my personal accumulation of suet, I sometimes feel as if I'm letting the Lady down being this way. As I ponder the second rune, I'm blinking away tears. Again, the reverse of this rune makes sense. This song, to be released by a friend of mine on her new album, adds some emotional context. Twice in just over two yesrs, I've gone back to sea, "caught the tide" to leave something which was comfortable and return to that I have always been. The first departure was from someone who echoed this woman's feelings in the song. The second departure is from the "comfortable" lifestyle of free-range eating that was killing me, and may still kill me . . . if I don't hurry and catch the tide. I'm beginning another journey . . . The third rune, the future, is the rune of He Who is my Norse patron. Tyr speaks to my self image as a warrior. The rune itself tells me that there will be a victorious struggle in the future, one that will mean pain and sacrifice on my part. Tyr tells me that the pain is worth the sacrifice. My sacrifice? A lifetime's worth of comfortable but ultimately highly problematic attitude about food and exercise.

A dose of teh funny from The Onion

If we can't laugh at ourselves...who can we laugh at?