Socrates_Cafe

1. Do you think suffering improves a person's ethical outlook? How?

I think that suffering can improve a person's ethical outlook but that it depends very much on the person. From my own point of view (as someone who has a strong sense of ethics and who has suffered), I think that a person must be capable of introspection and compassion. For a person to behave in an ethical fashion, they must be able to see a reason to behave ethically, especially when so few around us do. Questions of right and wrong are moot when most available examples are of the wrong sort. To then choose to be ethical in the face of so much wrongness, a person must be able to look within themselves to examine how their suffering has made them feel and thus make a conscious decision to not cause suffering in others no matter how the majority may behave. A person who is incapable of superimposing their own experiences on others is more likely to act selfishly because they will see no reason to treat others better than they, themselves, have been treated. People who have suffered in life and choose to behave ethically, even after being so wronged, probably have the strongest ethical outlook of any one. For those who have been wronged, a strong ethical outlook is like a badge of honor, an act of defiance. By adopting a strong moral foundation in the face of their suffering, they are saying that they will in no way be like those who have wronged them.

2. What responsibility does each person have for other people - and for the state of the world?

Everyone is responsible for everyone else, and everyone is responsible for the state of the world. No one can live another person's life for them, but despite being individuals, we do not live in a vacuum. We cannot force others to be good, but we can all lead by example. If we see something that causes pain or is detrimental, to our fellow man or to future generations, we should attempt to intervene. If we see someone hurt or hurting, we should attempt to help. Wouldn't we want someone to help us if we were hurt or hurting? Knowing what we would want in a similar situation resolves the extent of our responsibility to others. If we all gave to others those things which we would need for ourselves in the same situation, no one would ever Need for anything and there would be no reason to discuss responsibility.

When no one takes responsibility, then we get the world in which we live today. We walk down streets where trash is quite evident, but most of us never pick it up, even if it is lying right next to the garbage can where we conscientiously throw our own garbage away. What good does it do anyone if we throw our own trash away but leave the anonymous, ownerless trash lying at our feet? We can't expect that others will do what we leave undone. No one is going to pick up the slack, so we might as well get off our couch potato butts and start pulling our own weight before things get any worse. If everyone did their part, there would be no homeless, no one would go hungry, and while suffering can never be completely irradicated, at least in our lifetimes, it doesn't have to be the only thing that some people know in life. But very few people take responsibility for themselves, let alone the state of the world around them. It's a pity really.

Responsibility to me is equivalent to love. I love the world and the people who live in it (even if they often make me unhappy), but that doesn't mean that I try to control their actions or make them conform to my ideals. I don't presuppose that I must own what I care for. It's my world and you're all my people, but it's your world and I belong to you too. It's my responsibility to treat others as I would like to be treated and to respect their decisions as I would hope they'd respect mine. We live in a pluralistic world with multiple view points. We cannot and will not always agree on everything, but if there is one thing we should agree upon, it is that we are responsible to those things which we love. If we refuse to take care of who and what we love, then can we really say we love at all?

 January 8th

Justitia, the Roman goddess of Justice, is often portrayed evenly balancing both scales and a sword while wearing a blindfold, but she was originally depicted holding a cornucopia and scales. She was also sometimes portrayed holding the fasces (a bundle of rods around an ax symbolizing judicial authority) in one hand and a flame in the other (symbolizing truth).

This is the 24th day of Mechir in the Egyptian calendar. It is the date of a Festival of Isis and celebrates the Birth of Aion.

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers was born in 1854 and died 1918. As a prominent occult scholar, he was an author and a leader of the occult revival in the late 1880’s. He had a life long fascination with magic, mysticism and Celtic symbolism that led him to hold high office in the S.R.I.A. (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia).  He, together with Dr. William Wynn Westcott and Dr. William Woodman was a co-founder of the influential occult Order known as the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.”

Galileo Galilee died this day in 1642. During his life, he was condemned for speaking the truth, that the world was round and revolved around the sun and was not, as the Church asserted, the center of the universe.

Born Violet Mary Firth, Dion Fortune died on this day in 1946. Like Samuel Mathers, she was also a founding member of the Golden Dawn.

You know... I was going to work on my Socrates_Cafe entry tonight, but I'm just too tired to focus on writing a coherent essay. So... you guys can look forward to a big post tomorrow. Tonight.... not so much.

January 8th

This is the 23rd day of Mechir, a feast of Sekhmet and of Isis, ancient Egypt's New Year's Day. The decrees of Sokhit (Sekhmet) were put forth by the goddess at the end of the reign of Ra.

The feast of Morrigan honors the Irish triple goddess of death and destruction. Remember, death is only a door through which we all must walk.

St. Distaff’s Day was so called because on the day following Twelfth Night, women returned to their distaffs or daily occupations. It is also called Rock-Day, a distaff being referred to as a rock.

Izanagi no-Mikoto and Izanami no-Mikoto are worshiped through offerings of flowers. The goddess is also worshiped with drums, flutes, flags, singing and dancing. During the Uzue-matsuri, each participant offers a plum branch (peach was formerly used) on which he or she has attached a slip of paper with his or her name and age (or date of birth). After the ceremony, every person retrieves his or her offering for protection throughout the year.

The Nana-kusa, Festival of the Seven Grasses, is held in Japan. In early times, the Court and people went out to gather parsley and six other edible herbs. These are traditionally powdered into stew called the nanakusa-gayu, which is eaten as part of the New Year’s rituals. It is a type of rice-gruel or congee flavored with greens.

Wow, Christmas is two weeks gone, and people are still insane at work. It was almost standing room only yesterday, which makes me jittery at the best of times, but throw in rude or otherwise ignorant people and my back was in knots from the stress. I was late for my break already, but everytime I turned around, there was another person looking for help. I was perfectly willing to do so. As a supervisor, it's one of the things I'm paid to do, especially when I wasn't scheduled for a specific area when I came back so I wouldn't be making anyone else late. However, as I looked up from the last customer, there was a gentleman holding up a "Conscience of a Liberal" book, and he says, "Oxymoron? hyuck, hyuck, hyuck..."

Um, no? Try the other way around? Grrr, times like that I REALLY wish we were allowed to argue politics. I may just be assuming (based on my own liberal nature) that all liberals operate on a strong moral foundation which causes them to ensure everyone has the same freedoms (instead of just the people on the Right), but I DON'T THINK SO! Anyway, after that, I started paging my replacement as I had been the floor supervisor and really wanted to get out of there before I got ambushed by another idiot. At which point, the idiot in questions says, "Are you throwing me out?"

Yeah, if only.... So I finally managed to get to break, and after that, it was smooth sailing... even when I came back... because by then it had begun raining, and all the pests had decided to crawl back under their rocks. Gah! Somedays people are like zombies, other days they're like locusts, and somedays they're just like gnats flying up your nose. I mean, I try to be tolerant of the opinions of others. I only wish they showed me the same courtesy and didn't assume that because "the customer is always right," I'm going to agree with them. I may not be able to argue politics (due to company policy), but that doesn't mean I don't have a political opinion. It's funny though. We're not allowed to argue politics (or religion), but we're still expected to be able to give people a recommendation on what to read if we're asked. How can you recommend a book on politics if you don't buy into the dogma of a particular party and/or have not read the book? The customer is bound to ask why you recommend a particular book, and I hate lying.

Apple trees are Wassailed and given libations today.

According to Frazer, the time between Christmas and Epiphany is a witching time. According to Swiss Lore, on the Lake of Lucerne at Brunnen, two female wood spirits, Strudeli and Stratteli appear on Twelfth Night.

La Befana, the good fairy of Italian children, fills their stockings on Twelfth Night. She is Italy’s “Santa Claus.” Flying on her broomstick, she enters through the chimney, bringing gifts for children.

Kore (as Persephone was called as a maiden) is the daughter of Demeter. Originally, Kore came from a virgin birth, but later her father was given as Zeus. One day, as she picked flowers, she was spied by Hades and stolen away to the Underworld. For months, Demeter searched without finding her, and as she searched, the earth withered away. Hades would not let her go, but he tried in all ways to entice her to stay willingly. Finally he resorted to tricker. When Demeter finally found her, Persephone had eaten some pomegranate seeds. The other gods decreed that Persephone would remain in the Underworld for half the year, and with her mother the other half. So for half the year, Persephone was the queen of the Underworld and the world withered away as her mother mourned the loss of her daughter. When they were reunited, Demeter returned to care for the world. This explained the seasons.

This story also illustrates a caution that exists in most stories of the Underworld and the fairy realms. Do not eat or drink anything that is offered or you will never leave. By this connection, it can be seen how the fairy realm is linked and in some cases equivalent to the Underworld. Some scholars feel that the fairies may originally have been the deified spirits of the dead and only later do they become a separate people.

                   “Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
                   Whence thou may’st bud, and whence thou may’st blow,
                   And whence thou may’st bear apples enow
                   Hats full! caps full!
                   Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
                   And my pockets full, too, huzza!”

This is Wassail Eve in Europe. Wassail was a salutation offered on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day or on Twelfth Night eve over the spiced-ale cup, hence called the ‘wassail bowl.’ It comes from the Anglo-Saxon, Waes hael, be whole, be well. There are three celebrations involving Wassail. One can Wassail in the hall and pass the bowl around in court from one to another as a form of loving cup. One can also partake of Wassail by taking the bowl around with you in a group going from house to house. The third form of Wassail involves the blessing of the Apple trees and the celebration of the fruit. If the sun could be seen shining through the branches of an Apple tree on Christmas Day, then the owner would reap a healthy crop the following summer. If the farmer wanted to ensure a fruitful crop, he would put a piece of toast in the fork of the tree or the largest Apple tree in the orchard. Celebrations focused on giving thanks to the wood spirits and all spirits that safeguarded the crop, culminating in songs and verses being chanted while cider was thrown on the trees' roots.

                               Wassail the trees, that they may bear
                                       You many a plum and many a pear:
                                       For more or less fruits they will bring,
                                       As you do give them wassailing.

Jeanne Dixon (1918-1997), the psychic and astrologer, was never correct in any prediction of any consequence, but she achieved a reputation as a very good psychic when the mass media perpetuated the myth that she had predicted President Kennedy's assassination. In fact, she had predicted he would never attain office.

What do you like the most about yourself? If you had to name the one thing that most frightens you about growing old, what would it be? 

For me, these two questions tie into one another. What do I like most about myself? My mind. What frightens me the most about growing old? Losing my mind. Statistically speaking, the odds are good that I could have a stroke or come down with mad cow disease. I don't eat red meat any more, but I used to, and the prion that causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (spongiform encephalopathy [mad cow disease] in cows and sheep) can take anywhere from twenty-five to fifty years to appear. So even though I no longer eat meat that could be infected, and haven't for close to fifteen years, I was eating meat before mad cow disease come under the public eye. It scares me to think that some day I may not be able to think.

The women in my family are extremely long lived, especially in comparison to the men. Men in my family don't live much past their 50s. Women in my family have a habit of living into their 90s. Stroke and heart attack are the two biggest diseases in my family, though there are rumors of great grandparents who died of cancer during the depression. One of my great grandmothers died in her sleep. She was fit and in full control of her faculties right up until the day she died. My other great grandmother was also physically fit, but her mind was completely gone. She spent the last few years of her life in a home and didn't even recognize us by the time she died. She thought she was a child and kept asking to be taken home. We believe she had a stroke (which caused her to fall down the stairs and break her ankle and ultimately caused her daughter, my grandmother, to put her in a home). My grandfather died of a heart attack, a condition which can indicate a tendency towards or contribute to aneurisms. My grandmother is in excellent health, though at 86 she's starting to get a bit senile. So far as I am concerned, the longer I live, the greater the chance that my mind will go.

The idea of a stroke scares me because I think I had one when I was thirteen or so. I was coming down the stairs, angry about something. I was yelling for someone and I remember feeling a pinchy feeling between my eyes, then coldness on my forehead, and slightly dizzy. I got a slight headache after that, but I don't remember how long it lasted. They say that you're born with defects in your blood vessels and one day they will just pop and that's the end of it. If it comes to a major aneurism, I'd rather be dead than mentally debilitated. I have often thought that my intelligence and memory have suffered since that day on the stairs.

I know next to nothing about my father's side of the family. His mother ran off when he was still a baby. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I don't know anything about his grandfather or father. They were both long dead by the time I was born. My great grandmother raised him and died in the hospital in her late seventies. He never told me how she died. My father died of cancer, but I think that was much more indicative of his lifestyle than a genetic trait. According to my mother, he was a genius until he started sniffing glue as a teenager. He was an alcoholic and a drug user his entire life. By the time he died, he was riddled with cancer, not that he probably knew it. He died in a bar.

I don't care so much about the physical infirmities that come with age, but I value my mind more than any other aspect of my life. I am proud of who I have become and of my intelligence. To lose everything that I have worked so hard to accumulate fills me with an almost crippling fear of aging. I don't mind the thought of death, but I worry how physical damage to the mind might affect what I take back with me when I die.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

The Genshi-Sai, First Beginning, is celebrated in Japan. On this day, most people return to work after the Shogatsu Sanganichi. Though this is the end of the New Year’s celebrations, many ceremonies will continue until Setsubun in early February.

This is the 20th day of Mechir in the Egyptian calendar, the Day of Nut and Raet proceeding southward. The Egyptians believed that the world had been created by a divine act of sex between the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut.

I'm not one of those people who really cares about what they get for the holiday, but I have to say that this year was really the pits. I always try to go the extra mile to get things for people that they will like or that they want, but the same cannot be said for others. I didn't ask for much, and I rarely do. This year I asked for an IPod connector so I could play my music from my car stereo and an extra large pot so I could make large quantities of soup. I already had a large pot, but it was quite old and crusty, and not really as large as I wanted. I figured that a "large pot" was as good a description as was needed. As for the IPod connector, I went so far as to find exactly what I wanted in a catalog and gave it to my mom.

Instead of an IPod connector, I received an IPod charger for my car. The connector kit in the catalog was $20. I don't know how much they paid for the thing they gave me. Oh well. I also got a raven "statue" which is nice. I collect ravens. They're one of my spirit animals. She also gave me this "real" pearl kit that turned out to be an imitation "real" pearl. lol She was disappointed, but I thought it was kind of funny. They have the oyster in a can of alcohol and give you a little tool to open it, guaranteeing at least one pearl inside. But when you open the package and read the card, they make it pretty clear that it is not a real pearl, though the package itself doesn't make any claims. It came with a pretty little chain and a doodad to hold the "pearl." I gave the chain to my mom since I have weird metal allergies, but I have the pearl in it's little necklace cage in my jewelry box. I don't know that I'll ever wear it though.

I really should have been more specific on the "large pot" thing. My mom and her boyfriend are practically common law. She even uses his last name upon occasssion. So his parents are like my step-grandparents. I can't stand him, but they're mostly okay people. Just a little too Pennsylvania Dutch, if you catch my drift. I mean, I am too (among other things), but they seem to be rather proud of the "dumb dutch" mentality and it drives me nutters. Anyway, I usually make large quantities of soup for myself and give them a couple containers as well. I'm mostly vegetarian. Which means, I generally don't eat any canned soups because you never know what they may have stuck in there to "enhance the flavor." I'll still eat fish and occassionally free-range fowl, but that's about it. If I didn't live with my mother still, I probably wouldn't even eat that, but she says that if she doesn't make some kind of meat, she feels like she didn't cook for me at all. So upon occassion, I make chicken noodle soup from scratch too, which is a family favorite. It disappears from the freezer faster than ice cream. At any rate, my step-grandparents got two large aluminum pots which might equal together the size of one I wanted to replace. They also included in the pot a box of dried bean. The thing about this box though... I actually remember giving it to them two years ago with my recipe for bean soup, because my bean soup is another specialty which they love. They regifted me with something I gave them! I remember this box specifically because I had checked to make sure there were no navy beans in the mix because I am allergic to them. The box itself had obviously been opened once and then reglued shut. lol They also gave me three books which I think they must have bought for themselves as some point, and they gave me a glass paper weight in the form of an owl, which I rather like. But the whole "large pot" and box of bean soup thing was kind of depressing. I threw the box away after they left. Three years is pretty old, even for dried beans. Who knows how long it sat in the warehouse or in the store before *I* bought it.

Some other things I got that were... disappointing. My sister gave me a gift card to AMC. The problem is, the only AMC theater close to me is really not that close, nor is it easy to get to. The last time my brother and I tried to go to that theater, we got completely lost. So I don't know what to do with this card. If you don't use it in a year and half, they begin taking money off it. Currently it has $25. I'm wondering if someone gave it to her and she regifted me, since the theater is pretty much out of her way too.... She also gave me a little dragon figurine that my nephew painted at a ceramics store/workshop. It's Really badly painted, but it's cute because it came from my nephew (who just turned four a few months ago). What's not cute is this truly hideous dragon picture frame that my mother's boyfriend's sister gave me. I mean... it's indescribably horrific. It's painted in pastels with glitter. If she told me she had made it herself, I'd have been more impressed, but the thought that something like it is being sold somewhere for money makes a little part of me die inside.

The only good thing about the holiday this year is that I was sick on Christmas day so I got to go to my room. There were a total of nineteen people in our little house. I believe that we were probably violating a fire code or something. So once all the presents were given out and everyone had opened the things I gave them, and I had opened theirs, I waded through the morass of people, vacating my seat to someone else. We didn't have enough chairs to go around you see, so some people were standing and others were sitting. Whether or not I was really sick is questionable since I was better the following day. I tend to think there were just too many people in the house and it was messing with my empathy.

On the third and last day of the Japanese New Year, the Imperial Court holds an ancient ritual known as Genshisai. The rare dance and music art form, known as Gagaku, is also performed. Though the Japanese New Year lasts only three days, some rituals continue for several days longer.

So…. Apparently our neighboring Barnes and Nobles has been telling their customers that we (Borders) are closing. In fact, one of our customers came over and told us that they tried to argue her into buying a BnN membership card because it would be useless to get our Free card in light of our imminent departure. lol

See, a couple months ago, the BnN decided to move from a shopping center about half a mile down the street to one directly across the street from us. Apparently they didn’t feel we were enough competition before. They had a brand spanking new building built just to house them, and I’ve heard it’s pretty spiffy. But, I’ve also heard many people complain that the mall where they’ve moved is a pain in the butt to get into with your car. And, well, there’ve always been customers who come in and tell us that the BnN employees are so Rude and unknowledgeable about their products. Hmmm, must have something to do with them being a business based on discounts over customer service.

I thought this was pretty funny. I mean, it’s serious too. It’s not the first time people have come back and told us that BnN said this or that about us, but it’s just really funny that they go to these lengths. What are they so afraid of? My boss told her boss about this, and she was told to call BnN and tell them to stop it. I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. I told her that she should send two of our burlier guys over in pinstripe suits with a violin case….

In other news, after nearly two months, I have returned to the gym. Boy am I going to feel it tomorrow! It was Really crowded. I guess a lot of people were trying to atone for their holiday gourmandgastric gorging. There are two huge lights in the women’s room, and one of them was malfunctioning so half the room was in darkness. I couldn’t help but think that it was an attempt to obscure unsightly bulges. Heh

Things are finally calming down at work, so hopefully I'll have more time to post soon. But, as promised, I'll be posting an entry from my Pagan calendar every day whether I make a "real" post or not. This is a calendar that I've been collecting since I was in college. It's not perfect, and some of the lunar based holidays may actually be inaccurate since it can be difficult to find the right date. Not every day has a notation, but more do than not, sometimes several.

I'd also like to call your attention to this petition. It's an international petition to save a site sometimes refered to as the Northern Stonehenge in the Republic of Karelia. The government of Karelia wishes to begin mining operations which will effectively destroy this ancient Pagan site and the Finnish Pagan group Taivaannaula is attempting to stop them with this petition. Whether you are Pagan or of Finnish descent or just value the cultural heritage of our world, please add your name to this petition to preserve this site.

By our modern calendar, January first is the beginning of the New Year. It is a time filled with new possibilities. January’s guardian, the Roman god Janus, is the two faced divinity of endings and beginnings. He is the male equivalent of one among a host of versions of Juno. As the twin-faced Antevorta and Postvorta, she also looks frontward and back. Modern tradition would have us look forward only and forget the past year like a bad memory. I would advise those who follow this tradition to remember... That which is forgotten is soon repeated.

To the Irish, January is Eanáir or am Faoilleach, the ‘wolf month.’ The full moons of February and December are also sometimes referred to as Wolf Moon. The first Full Moon between Yule and the 25th of January is most often called Disting, and it shares the name Cold Moon with December. It may also be referred to as the Quiet or Chaste Moon, the Old Moon, the Moon after Yule, or the Moon of Little Winter. Some tribes called this the Full Snow Moon, though most applied that name to the next moon. This year's full moon will fall on January 22nd.

Capricorn and Aquarius are the signs for January, Aquarius gaining power on or around January 20th. The flower for January is the white carnation. Garnet is the favored stone of this month, though Jacinth appears on some lists. Garnet, along with the ruby, is also the birthstone for Capricorn, while Aquarius lays claim to aquamarine. Other stones associated with Capricorn are amber, amethyst, carnelian, fire agate, green tourmaline, labradorite, peridot, and sapphire. Aquarius also holds sway over chrysoprase, garnet, labradorite, lapis lazuli, and opal.

Marriages on January 1st are a good omen and the month of January was simply called Gamelion among the Athenians. Presents (Strenae) may be exchanged as a token of friendship. The word strenae comes from a Sabine tutelary goddess, Strenia, corresponding to the Roman Salus. The traditional Strenae consisted of branches of bay and palm cut from the sacred grove of the goddess Strenia and sweets made of honey, figs, or dates, symbolizing, and causing by their nature, a year of joy and happiness to come. On the first day of the year, consecrated branches were carried up to the Capitoline in Rome from Strenia’s precinct beside the Via Sacra. The custom of strenae continues in the Etrennes, French new-year's gifts.

A special temple was built in honor of Fortuna as the all-pervading power of the world on January first. At this temple, an annual offering was made to her. A popular superstition associated with the new year is that whatever you do on New Year's Day, you'll do often in the coming year. Displaying a new calendar before this day is considered very unlucky.

On New Year's Eve, the Takarabune, (Treasure Ship), sails into port carrying the Seven Gods of Luck and the takaramono (treasures). The takaramono include the hat of invisibility, the lucky raincoat, the sacred key, the inexhaustible purse, the precious jewel, the clove, the weight, and a flat object apparently representing a coin. Pictures of the Takarabune are sold on the streets, and during the night of January second, every person who puts one into the little drawer of his wooden pillow is supposed to ensure a lucky dream.

Grown children, who have moved away, return to their parents' homes to spend the evening together. Others visit shrines and temples where they pray for good luck by the light of bonfires and make resolutions for the coming year. Local shrines give out special charms to protect the happiness of worshipers in the coming year. The nation waits up to hear the Joya-no-Kane, the midnight tolling of the Tsuri-Gane, the temple bells. The Joya-no-Kane consists of 108 solemn tolls on the temple bells. According to Buddhist traditions, this represents the 108 sins of man, and the sound of the tolls will relieve all of them.