I'm sure I could come back another day but I'm wired off Pepsi and have nothing else to do. :D Plus, I've been neglecting this too long!
From What to Teach our Children about Religion:
What would I like to see our schools teach about religion? Respect for diversity would top my list. Teach our children about the wide variety of faiths and systems of value that our diverse population hold, and to respect other beliefs and non-beliefs. Let them read a variety of religious texts, for poetry and beauty rather than dogma.
How do I know what is good? Empathy tells me. That which furthers life, health, beauty, biodiversity, freedom, compassion, love, fairness and justice is good. If I act with integrity in the service of what I love, if I take responsibility for my actions and the well-being of others, I will do good.
Teach them that religion can bring out the best in us--or the worst. Encourage them to explore what is sacred to them--what they most deeply value and care about, what goes beyond comfort and convenience and profit, what they want to protect and cherish, what they would take a stand for, work for, live for.
Ooh yes this. DING. Yes yes yes. This is what I will teach my son. :) My school doesn't do religious instruction at ALL thankfully, and I feel it's a parent's job to do this when the child is ready. Gabe will most likely attend Yule with me this year for the first time and I hope it's special for him. I've resisted doing anything before this because he's too young to understand. Now that he's four (four already?!) he can grasp the concepts at least a little.
From The True Spirit of Halloween, for Real Witches:
...may this season bring you comfort in grief, hope in sorrow, a strong vision for the future and the strength, support, and resources you need to act in service of what you love.
Hallowe'en has felt this way for me since my very first ritual ever. It's always very conflicted for me as I've never really developed coping mechanisms for things and haven't processed a lot of what's gone on in my life. This isn't to say it's been utterly horrible or that my life in any way compares to others, but I know that some of the things I have experienced have bruised me. Samhain is a time where I allow a little bit of the hurt and fear to be healed at a time. Some years there's a lot more gushing than others but there are always tears. Always.
From Children's Health Care: A Prime Moral Imperative
No one gets through life without loss and sorrow, without times when grief overwhelms our ability to cope, without some instances of bad luck, injury or disease. It is our responsibility as a community to share the burdens, not to let them fall on individuals or isolated families, and especially, not to let them fall on children who have the least resources with which to meet them.Something is terribly wrong with our values and priorities when we spend billions of dollars to kill and begrudge the cost of healing and care for children, and for adults.
Being a mom, I have a special place in my heart for children; not just my own but all of them. (This is not to say all moms feel this way, but that I feel this way because I am a mom.) It hurts me in a way that I can't describe when I hear of a child or children being hurt through malice or neglect. As I have written before, I can't help them all. I can't. It hurts to admit that too. I cannot help them all, but it is a truth. All I can do is pray that they are taken care of, that their suffering doesn't damage them, or that their suffering ends one way or another. Goddess be merciful to your children. Hold them close to You and shelter them in the safety of Your arms. Let the thunder of Your heartbeat and the wind of your Breath be their lullaby until such time as they may join us again.
From Forgiveness and Learning:
In some ways, I think it’s easier to forgive our enemies than our friends, at least in small things. The hurts that really sting are not the attacks from someone we know is against us. They’re the small betrayals of friends and loved ones, the mean piece of gossip passed on, the unkind word, the sharp criticism and the unfair judgment. If we value the relationship, we need to honestly confront the person who has hurt us, tell them so, and ask for the change we want. Only together can we change the quality of the relationship—and then we can put the past behind us, forgive and move on.
This only works if both parties can come together and talk about the hurt. In an unequal power dynamic, such as that between parents and children, siblings, employees and employers, this is not always going to happen. If BOTH parties value the relationship, then yes, it is more likely healing and positive change can occur. But as with so many things, many relationships are not equal.
From Two Legs of the Monster
In the Goddess religions, we see the divine as immanent in every human being. Each of us has an inherent worth that cannot be quantified, denied, or compared to the worth of another. If we restrict one portion of the human race from full participation in society, we limit our collective intelligence and potential.
Not much to add here, it's just a great quote. <3
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Starhawk's On Faith Articles
Completely by accident tonight (really? Accident?) I stumbled upon Starhawk's contributions to the Washington Post's "On Faith" column. Wow. Lightbulbs all over. Here's what's been hitting me.
From the oil spill and the soul of nature:
The BP disaster should be a clear lesson to us all--that the age of oil is over. We cannot afford the impact on the earth's climate of continuing to burn fossil fuels, nor the risks inherent in searching for oil in ever-deeper water or more pristine places. Were the costs of disasters and cleanups, the immense costs in life and suffering factored into the costs of production, it would be clear that oil has become unaffordable by any standard. Yes, we will all be required to give us some comforts and convenience to make the shift--but not nearly as many as people fear. Safe and renewable alternatives exist--sun, wind, water, a bit of muscle power, a focus on the local and the truly sustainable would give us an energy policy and the beginning of a new culture and economy that could bring us back into balance with the natural world.
This ties in directly with what I've been learing and feeling/thinking about since I started my CESD schooling. A NEW culture and a NEW economy to run this world and bring about BALANCE. Balance is what we lack. We've swung so far into industrialism and capitalist globalization that there's almost no way to swing back but we have to or we're all dead. Forget save the whales (though they'll die too): Save the Humans! Self-preservation demands we give up the crack-oil and other modes of thinking and being. Time to CHANGE.
Also, why does my faith have to remain a seperate thing from my potential future career? Why does it have to stay almost like a hobby? Something to explore further.
From A Woman's Sacred Right to Choose:
We honor our sacred sexuality by exercising our adult responsibility to nurtue and provide for any children we choose to bring into the world. We can take up that responsibility in many ways--by using birth control, by choosing to end a mistaken pregnancy or by giving a child up for adoption, by working for a world in which all children will be cherished and provided with the means for a healthy and fulfilling life.
My faith and my feminist politics are strongly in accord, for Pagans place spiritual authority within each individual. No priest or legislator can tell us how to resolve our own dilemmas. For it is in wrestling with tough choices that our spiritual development takes place. In our face to face encounters with the great forces of life, death and regeneration, we come to know the Goddess.
Oh gods yes this. THIS x 1000. Many thanks to Starhawk for "The Pagan Book of Living and Dying" which was so helpful to me during my time of need. I KNOW what it is to both carry and give life and to deny it. My hand is that which has nutured and reaped, birthed and slain. No longer can I simply identify with the Maiden; I am all, mother and crone as well. Thus my daily prayer.
"Maiden grant me joy this day. Mother grant me patience for myself and others. Grandmother show me wisdom. Warrior be ever watchful. Go in Balance."
From Pagans and Social Justice:
While Pagans do not have a set creed or unified code of beliefs, our traditions hold in common the understanding that we are all deeply interconnected, all part of the sacred weave of the world. The Goddess is immanent in this world and in all human beings, and part of our service to the sacred is to honor one another and take care of one another, to fairly share nature's bounty and to succor one another in facing the hardships of life. We must create justice in this world, not wait for redress of grievances in the next.
No one person or group has the right to commandeer nature's resources, which are the underpinnings of all wealth
Again, this is very close to some of the things I've been learning in CESD that mirror and express some of my own thoughts/feelings about how the world should work. I expect MORE than there is and I wont settle for what we've got, especially not now when I am woken up every morning by the next generation, the ones that I am holding this world as inheritance for. My son will not grow up in a world without polar bears or tigers or blue whales or any of the other beautiful, vulnerable creatures that share our earth. He deserves to have what I had; forests and streams to play in, lakes and beaches to romp, clean air to fill his lungs so he can laugh and cry with joy and wonder. He, and every other child, deserves this. I'm not in CESD for a better paycheque, I'm in it for a better world.
From the oil spill and the soul of nature:
The BP disaster should be a clear lesson to us all--that the age of oil is over. We cannot afford the impact on the earth's climate of continuing to burn fossil fuels, nor the risks inherent in searching for oil in ever-deeper water or more pristine places. Were the costs of disasters and cleanups, the immense costs in life and suffering factored into the costs of production, it would be clear that oil has become unaffordable by any standard. Yes, we will all be required to give us some comforts and convenience to make the shift--but not nearly as many as people fear. Safe and renewable alternatives exist--sun, wind, water, a bit of muscle power, a focus on the local and the truly sustainable would give us an energy policy and the beginning of a new culture and economy that could bring us back into balance with the natural world.
This ties in directly with what I've been learing and feeling/thinking about since I started my CESD schooling. A NEW culture and a NEW economy to run this world and bring about BALANCE. Balance is what we lack. We've swung so far into industrialism and capitalist globalization that there's almost no way to swing back but we have to or we're all dead. Forget save the whales (though they'll die too): Save the Humans! Self-preservation demands we give up the crack-oil and other modes of thinking and being. Time to CHANGE.
Also, why does my faith have to remain a seperate thing from my potential future career? Why does it have to stay almost like a hobby? Something to explore further.
From A Woman's Sacred Right to Choose:
We honor our sacred sexuality by exercising our adult responsibility to nurtue and provide for any children we choose to bring into the world. We can take up that responsibility in many ways--by using birth control, by choosing to end a mistaken pregnancy or by giving a child up for adoption, by working for a world in which all children will be cherished and provided with the means for a healthy and fulfilling life.
My faith and my feminist politics are strongly in accord, for Pagans place spiritual authority within each individual. No priest or legislator can tell us how to resolve our own dilemmas. For it is in wrestling with tough choices that our spiritual development takes place. In our face to face encounters with the great forces of life, death and regeneration, we come to know the Goddess.
Oh gods yes this. THIS x 1000. Many thanks to Starhawk for "The Pagan Book of Living and Dying" which was so helpful to me during my time of need. I KNOW what it is to both carry and give life and to deny it. My hand is that which has nutured and reaped, birthed and slain. No longer can I simply identify with the Maiden; I am all, mother and crone as well. Thus my daily prayer.
"Maiden grant me joy this day. Mother grant me patience for myself and others. Grandmother show me wisdom. Warrior be ever watchful. Go in Balance."
From Pagans and Social Justice:
While Pagans do not have a set creed or unified code of beliefs, our traditions hold in common the understanding that we are all deeply interconnected, all part of the sacred weave of the world. The Goddess is immanent in this world and in all human beings, and part of our service to the sacred is to honor one another and take care of one another, to fairly share nature's bounty and to succor one another in facing the hardships of life. We must create justice in this world, not wait for redress of grievances in the next.
No one person or group has the right to commandeer nature's resources, which are the underpinnings of all wealth
Again, this is very close to some of the things I've been learning in CESD that mirror and express some of my own thoughts/feelings about how the world should work. I expect MORE than there is and I wont settle for what we've got, especially not now when I am woken up every morning by the next generation, the ones that I am holding this world as inheritance for. My son will not grow up in a world without polar bears or tigers or blue whales or any of the other beautiful, vulnerable creatures that share our earth. He deserves to have what I had; forests and streams to play in, lakes and beaches to romp, clean air to fill his lungs so he can laugh and cry with joy and wonder. He, and every other child, deserves this. I'm not in CESD for a better paycheque, I'm in it for a better world.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Two-spirited
Having been away for a while, and going to teacher's college, I've discover I've fallen out of...something with my Anishnabe classmates. It's not like we were ever close, I felt excluded from things even when we WERE in class together, but this year the gap is even wider. I feel like the one foot I put into the room of the house has had the door shut on it. I can't help it that the teachings I've taken to heart make so much sense and fit me so well; everything from the 7 grandfather teachings to the various ways of knowing and understanding the medicine wheel and other things. It just fits. I'm feeling a little lost and adrift right now. Could just be the winter and missing out on Imbolc, but it most likely is more.
Lyrics to Great Spirits :
[From Brother Bear Movie Soundtrack]
When the earth was young
And the air was sweet
And the mountains kissed the sky
In the great beyond, with its many paths
Man and nature lived side by side
In this wilderness of danger and beauty
Lived three brothers, bonded by love
Their hearts full of joy
They ask now for guidance
Reaching out to the skies up above
Great Spirits of all who lived before
Take our hands and lead us
Fill our hearts and souls
With all you know
Show us that in your eyes
We are all the same
Brothers to each other
In this world we remain truly
Brothers all the same
Give us wisdom to pass to each other
Give us strength so we understand
That the things we do
The choices we make
Give direction to all life's plans
To look in wonder
At all we've been given
In a world that's not always as it seems
Every corner we turn
Only leads to another
A journey ends, but another begins
Great Spirits of all who lived before
Take our hands and lead us
Fill our hearts and souls
With all you know
Show us that in your eyes
We are all the same
Brothers to each other
In this world we remain truly
Brothers all the same
Brothers all the same
Lyrics to Great Spirits :
[From Brother Bear Movie Soundtrack]
When the earth was young
And the air was sweet
And the mountains kissed the sky
In the great beyond, with its many paths
Man and nature lived side by side
In this wilderness of danger and beauty
Lived three brothers, bonded by love
Their hearts full of joy
They ask now for guidance
Reaching out to the skies up above
Great Spirits of all who lived before
Take our hands and lead us
Fill our hearts and souls
With all you know
Show us that in your eyes
We are all the same
Brothers to each other
In this world we remain truly
Brothers all the same
Give us wisdom to pass to each other
Give us strength so we understand
That the things we do
The choices we make
Give direction to all life's plans
To look in wonder
At all we've been given
In a world that's not always as it seems
Every corner we turn
Only leads to another
A journey ends, but another begins
Great Spirits of all who lived before
Take our hands and lead us
Fill our hearts and souls
With all you know
Show us that in your eyes
We are all the same
Brothers to each other
In this world we remain truly
Brothers all the same
Brothers all the same
Monday, February 8, 2010
Feeling overwhelmed and fragile when confronted with more than the usual amount of misogynist, hateful, horrible things that happen in the world, and ontop of my school work. Even Artemis took time away from her duties to run wild in the hills and woods of Greece with her nymphs and animals; thank goodness reading week is next week and I can take time to recharge all my batteries.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Witches, vampires and lycans, oh my!
No. Not even a little bit. There's a new subforum on Gaia specifically for the supernatural and as a part of the header, whoever designed it has lumped witches in with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, UFO's and other not-real stuff (though I personally am on the fence about UFO's and have my share of ghost stories). I found a forum moderator and sent them the following message:
Hi there,
In the header for the Supernatural Subforum in the Lifestyle Discussion forum, I noticed that witches are lumped in with UFO's, werewolves, vampires and ghosts. I was wondering if there's any way to get the word 'witches' removed, as many Pagans who are practising refer to themselves as witches and I personally find it harmful to have real people lumped in with that which is very likely not real (I'm on the fence for UFO's and ghosts). By doing so it trivializes many Gaians spirituality and practise and associates it with bad 50's horror movies. Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from you.
Me
More as it develops.
Hi there,
In the header for the Supernatural Subforum in the Lifestyle Discussion forum, I noticed that witches are lumped in with UFO's, werewolves, vampires and ghosts. I was wondering if there's any way to get the word 'witches' removed, as many Pagans who are practising refer to themselves as witches and I personally find it harmful to have real people lumped in with that which is very likely not real (I'm on the fence for UFO's and ghosts). By doing so it trivializes many Gaians spirituality and practise and associates it with bad 50's horror movies. Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from you.
Me
More as it develops.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
RPG and the Witch class
I love to play role-play games (RPGs). Getting away from it all for a few hours a week by imaging I'm someone and somewhere else gives me a much needed break from teaspooning, school & homework, and the everyday stress of being a parent and wife. Also, I love to get together with my friends around the table, chat about our days and have some real laughs. RPGs are some of my most social time, especially now since I have a Thursday night class and wont be able to make it to Pagans Night Out for a while.
We (the group) have recently switched from Wizards of the Coast's "Dungeons and Dragons" game to Paizo's "Pathfinder." WotC created a 4th edition of D&D that was an obvious cash grab and tried to play a pencil and paper game like World of Warcraft. 4th edition is also completely not backwards compatible with the 3.5 version of our previously favorite game, so the hundreds of dollars in books on the shelves are now obsolete. We were not impressed. Paizo, on the otherhand, took what was great about 3.5 D&D and improved it, as well as took the things that were overly complicated/rules heavy or broken and fixed them. They also released a lot of their content for free online so those of us with low or fixed incomes could still play our favorite game.
New content for playtest has been recently released and includes a full 20 level progression for a Witch. I read it over and I have to say that I'm disappointed. Not only is the class not very well created mechanically, but when it comes to flavour, it reinforces a lot of the negative stereotypes created during the Inquisition, stereotypes that persist to this day that many witches and Pagans such as myself are working hard to overcome. The image of the hag stirring a cauldron and hexing those who offend her is strong within the Pathfinder class and I feel needs to be changed or eliminated altogether. However, I'm fearful of voicing how I feel on the boards over at Paizo because I'm pretty sure I'll be shouted down as hyper-sensitive. An email to the developers personally probably wont do enough either.
We (the group) have recently switched from Wizards of the Coast's "Dungeons and Dragons" game to Paizo's "Pathfinder." WotC created a 4th edition of D&D that was an obvious cash grab and tried to play a pencil and paper game like World of Warcraft. 4th edition is also completely not backwards compatible with the 3.5 version of our previously favorite game, so the hundreds of dollars in books on the shelves are now obsolete. We were not impressed. Paizo, on the otherhand, took what was great about 3.5 D&D and improved it, as well as took the things that were overly complicated/rules heavy or broken and fixed them. They also released a lot of their content for free online so those of us with low or fixed incomes could still play our favorite game.
New content for playtest has been recently released and includes a full 20 level progression for a Witch. I read it over and I have to say that I'm disappointed. Not only is the class not very well created mechanically, but when it comes to flavour, it reinforces a lot of the negative stereotypes created during the Inquisition, stereotypes that persist to this day that many witches and Pagans such as myself are working hard to overcome. The image of the hag stirring a cauldron and hexing those who offend her is strong within the Pathfinder class and I feel needs to be changed or eliminated altogether. However, I'm fearful of voicing how I feel on the boards over at Paizo because I'm pretty sure I'll be shouted down as hyper-sensitive. An email to the developers personally probably wont do enough either.
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