Ostara

All cultures living in temperate climates celebrate the coming of spring with rituals and festivals. This was one of the most important of spring festivals among pre-Christian Germanic tribes, dedicated to the goddess Ostara, a goddess associated with the “east” and thus “dawn” and “morning light.” Ostara is a time to celebrate the renewal and rebirth of Nature herself, and the coming Summer. At the vernal equinox (12:48 AM EST), the world is poised on the brink of light and dark, suspended between the cold months and the new warmth of the growing season. Light and darkness are also in balance, as are masculine and feminine energy.

Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the rebirth of the God and the awakening of life from the Earth. Some Wiccan traditions worship the Green Goddess and the Lord of the Greenwood. It is one of the Lesser Sabbats, usually celebrated anywhere from March 19th to 21st. Some celebrate on the fixed date of March 25 (Lady Day), while others celebrate on the next full moon (a time of increased births). While the equinox is a solar holiday, Eostre is a lunar goddess. This may be viewed as symbolic of the goddess (the moon) and the god (the sun) coming together in completion. Other names by which this Sabbat may be known are Oestara, Esther, Eostre’s Day, the Rite of Eostre or Rites of Spring, Alban Eilir, Festival of the Trees, and the Bacchanalia. The Christian holiday of Easter is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

According to the Venerable Bede (673-735), the Anglo-Saxons called the fourth month Eostur-monath for the goddess Eostra. Her festival became the celebration of Christ’s resurrection when Anglo-Saxon and German peoples were converted to Christianity. While English and German Christians still attach the name of Eostra to their most sacred holiday (Easter or Ostern), other European languages base the name on the Hebrew word “pasah,” to pass over, reflecting the Christian holiday’s Biblical connection with the Jewish Passover.

The Spring-cleaning tradition derived from the old witches who would cleanse their space each spring and set up a “hedge” of protection. All motions involving scrubbing of stains or hand rubbing the floors should be done clockwise. This custom aids in filling the home with good energy for growth. Another Springtime tradition for ancient pagans and magicians was to dig a small trench (hedge) around the outer perimeter of their homes. At each quarter they would bury an egg. A modern practitioner might also add iron, old rusty nails, metal keys, old razor blades, pins and needles or witch bottles filled with the above items to diffuse magical attacks and negativity. (If you are unable to dig a perimeter, you can improvise by placing iron keys above your door, and pentacles and sigils drawn on pewter or parchment paper under your carpet or floorboards.

As a time of cleansing and renewal, Ostara is an excellent time to begin some new projects It is an excellent month for prosperity rituals or rituals that have anything to do with growth. Spells for improving communications, fertility, and abundance are especially strong at this time. Some Pagan customs include ringing bells and lighting new fires at dawn for cures, renewed life, and protection of the crops. A common belief in nineteenth century Germany touted the curative properties of water drawn early on Easter morning. One nearly universal craft is decorating hard-boiled eggs.

Eggs

Eggs have long been a symbol of rebirth. They have been found among the grave goods of Anglo-Saxons, within the tombs of the Egyptians, and were placed on the fresh graves of the deceased in Greece. In ancient time, eggs were gathered for use in the creation of talismans and ritually eaten. The gathering of different colored eggs from the nests of a variety of birds has given rise to two traditions still observed today, the Easter egg hunt and coloring eggs in imitation of the various pastel colors of wild birds. Some believed that humankind was inspired by watching birds weave nests to begin weaving the first baskets. This is perhaps the origin of the association between colored Easter eggs and Easter baskets.

Eggs are still used today in a variety of fertility rituals. In Sweden, eggs are thrown over the field before plowing. In Germany, they are thrown high in the air before sowing to ensure that the grain will grow just as high. In the Orkneys and Shetlands, boys would go from house to house, begging for eggs. On Sunday, they would build a fire in the hills and boil their eggs. Once they were cooked through, they would throw the eggs to see which would remain unbroken the longest before eating them. How high the eggs were thrown and how lucky the eggs were that remained unbroken the longest were taken as predictors of the growth of the crops and the luck of the year.

The custom of coloring eggs seems to be limited to the Germanic countries, Slavic countries, and America. In Scotland and Ireland, the custom is virtually unknown. Each spring in Germany, bakery windows are filled with elaborately painted eggs. Eggs are also hung from flowering branches to make “egg trees.” Easter is celebrated in Germany more enthusiastically than it is anywhere else in the world with decorations go up a good month before the festival. There are parties, egg hunts, and other celebrations weeks in advance of Easter itself.

In many places, it is traditional to keep Easter eggs or shells all year to ward the family and cattle against harm. They are also used specifically as a charm against hail and lightning. For this reason, great care and thought goes into the creation of egg decorations, egg-trees, and boiled and decorated eggs for eating.

Ostara eggs can either be hard-boiled so that they may be eaten or blown while raw, removing the yolk and white while leaving the shell mostly intact for use as hanging ornaments to decorate your home or egg-tree. The traditional method for preparing eggs as decorations and luck-talismans for the coming year was to leave the egg intact and raw. The contents of the shell would eventually dry up completely over time, though there was the danger of a big stink if it was accidentally broken before then. The decorated raw egg is, magickally speaking, the best type of egg to keep, as the life-potential of the egg remains within the shell.

To blow an egg out, make a small hole with a needle at either end, being sure to pierce not just the shell but the yolk as well. Place your mouth over one end and blow gently until all the contents are out. If this doesn’t work, either you are not blowing hard enough, the hole is too small, or the yolk membrane is still intact. Reserve the raw egg for use in baking cakes or omelets. To hang the blown egg, use a piece of wire which is an inch or so longer than the egg and make a loop in one end. The wire may be used as the hanger by twisting the bottom end until it will not come back through the hole, or you can tie a piece of yarn or ribbon to the wire and pull it through the egg, tying it off at the bottom.

Another use of blown eggs at Easter time is to make cascarones or confetti-filled eggs to break over Ostara celebrants. Take the blown egg and remove a circle of shell carefully at one end. Fill with confetti, then glue a small piece of tissue paper over the hole to keep the contents in place. Cascarones must either be decorated before the larger hole is made, or spray-painted after filling.

Some natural dyes which have been used for eggs are carrot, red cabbage, and beets (for red); saffron and gorse flowers (yellow, orange, or brown, depending on the cooking times); spinach, artichoke leaves, sage, mint (green); beetroot, sunflower seeds, elderberry fruit/bark (purple); gall nuts, oak bark, elder twigs or bark (black). Onion peel can be used get any color from yellow to red to dark brown. The egg is gently cooked in a strong solution of whatever colorants you have chosen in water with a few drops of vinegar. The vinegar is a fixative. To vary the colors, mark patterns or portions of the egg with wax or a crayon to prevent the dye from adhering to that part of the shell.

How to make Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs)
More on Pysanky
Meaning of Symbols and Colors
More Pysanky symbols

The Hare

Eostre is a goddess of the moon, an ancient measurer of time. The lunar month of 28 days gives us thirteen periods in 364 days, equivalent to the solar year. The hare, though viewed as a symbol of fertility, is also a symbol of the moon. Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess of the moon, midwifery and weaving, has a rabbit totem. Mexican panels of 600-900 AD show her giving birth to and suckling a rabbit, and another shows the rabbit representing phases of the moon. The Egyptians called the hare Un, which means open, to open, and the opener. The month of April, the first month of the spring season, comes from the Latin “to open.” Un also means period of time. The hare as “opener” symbolizes the New Year at Easter, and the beginning of new life within the young. Since the hare can sleep with its eyes open, the Romans equated it with vigilance and believed that rabbits watched over everything. According to one story, Buddha placed the rabbit in the moon after it voluntarily gave itself as food for one of Buddha’s hungry friends. In another, a rabbit jumped into a fire to feed a hungry Indra and out of gratitude, Indra placed the rabbit in the moon. Rabbits were significant totem animals however and eating them was prohibited in Britain and Egypt. A Scottish superstition suggested that eating rabbit was equivalent to eating one’s grandmother. In Asian myth, rabbits and the moon are virtually identical. The Rabbit in the Moon sweeps its surface clean with bound horsetails according to Japanese stories. The rabbit pounds rice into flour, making mochi which means both rice flour and full moon. The Sanskrit word, cacadharas also means both moon, and “that which carries the hare.”

Rabbits also represent immortality and vitality. Pliny the Elder stated that rabbit meat enhanced one’s beauty and radiance for a week afterwards, and Chinese myth believed rabbit meat was essential for vitality. According to Chinese myth, the rabbit is a symbol of longevity. Its fur turns white at age 100 and blue at 500. In Eastern Asian myth, rabbits created an elixir of immortality. The Algonquin trickster rabbit, Manabozho, is thought to embody all life-giving energy.

In Greece, live rabbits were popular love gifts, indicating sexual intentions. European wedded couples in the Middle Ages exchanged rabbit-shaped rings. Rabbit’s popularity as a sex charm or fertility totem is related to its natural cycle. A rabbit’s gestation period is approximately one month, and it tends to be the first animal to give birth in the springtime, continuing to have litters of kits throughout the year. In Asian folklore, a rabbit may become pregnant simply by staring at a full moon, licking a male rabbit’s fur under a full moon, or running across a moon-lit water’s surface.

Ostara Associations

Symbols of Ostara: eggs, New Moon, the hare, butterfly cocoons
Altar decorations: hard-boiled eggs colored and painted with magical symbols, wildflowers, a small potted plant, rabbit decorations
Traditional Foods: leafy green vegetables, dairy foods, nuts and seeds (such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame seeds, and pine), flower dishes (such as carnations cupcakes or nasturtium blossoms stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, chopped nuts, chives and watercress), sprouts, eggs (hard-boiled, egg salad, or any way you like them), honey cakes, biscuits, ham, the first fruits of the season, spiced wine, fish,
Herbs and Flowers: crocus, daffodil, Easter lilies, ginger, gorse, honeysuckle, hyacinths, iris, Irish moss, jonquils, narcissus, olive, peony, snowdrops, violet, woodruff, and all spring flowers
Colors: yellow, pink, light blue, green, all pastels
Gems: amethyst, aquamarine, fluorite, jasper, moonstone, rose quartz
Animals and mythical beasts: hares (rabbits), merfolk, Pegasus, snakes, unicorns
Goddesses: all virgin goddesses, moon goddesses, goddesses of love, mother goddesses, androgynous deities, fertility goddesses; Eostre, Rheda (Teutonic), Ma-Ku (Chinese), Lady of the Lake, Blodeuwedd (Welsh-Cornish), Aphrodite/Venus, Persephone/Proserpine, Cybele, Gaia, Hera, Minerva/Athena (Roman/Greek), Isis (Egyptian), Coatlicue (Aztec), Ishtar (Babylonian)
Gods: all gods of love, moon gods, gods of song and dance, sun gods, fertility gods; Adonis, Pan (Greek/Roman), Cerrunnos, the Green Man, the Stag King, Robin of the Woods, the Green Man, The Dagda, The Great Horned God, Lord of the Greenwood (English), Ovis (Roman Etruscan), Dylan (Welsh), Odin (Norse), Thoth, Osiris (Egyptian), Attis (Persian), Mithras (Greco Persian).
Activities: Decorate or dye hard-boiled eggs. Plant seeds or start a magical herb garden. Take a long walk in nature. All forms of herb work (magical, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary and artistic) are practiced now. Go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers or buy some from a florist, taking one or two of those that appeal to you. Bring them home and divine their magical meanings by the use of books, your own intuition, a pendulum, or by other means. The flowers you’ve chosen reveal your inner thoughts and emotions.

I’m very tired, so no real post today, just today’s festivals and noteable history. Tomorrow’s the vernal equinox though, so big Ostara post then.

March 19th

Akitu is a ten day long Babylonian festival held in memory of the marriage of heaven and earth.

In Greece, this is known as the Micra (lesser) Panathenaea in honor of Athene. This became the Quintania or Quinquatrus in honor of Minerva in the hands of the Romans. The Panathenaea is the most ancient and most important of Athenian festivals. The Lesser Panathenaea is celebrated every year, with the Megala (greater) Panathenaea held every fifth year and in the third year of every Olympiad. Only later was the Micra Panathenaea moved to spring, perhaps by Roman influence to make it correspond to the Quinquatrus of Minerva. The date of the Micra Panathenaea in the earlier Greek period was May 5th.

In the lesser festival, there are three games conducted by ten presidents. On the evening of the first day, there is a race with torches. On the second, there is gymnastic combat and trials of strength and bodily dexterity. The last is a musical contest, instituted by Pericles, and concerts are performed. The poets compete in four plays, called the tetralogia, the last of which is a satire. The victor in any of these games is rewarded with a vessel of oil and a crown of olives (which are sacred to the goddess), which grew in the grove of Academus.

Other ceremonies were added, such as a procession in which Minerva’s sacred peplos, or garment, is carried. Woven by a select number of virgins called ergazika, from ergos, “work,” the peplos is white or saffron and sleeveless with gold embroidery detailing the achievements of the goddess. Two of the arrephoroi, young virgins between the ages of eleven and seventeen, attend the ergazika. The arrephoroi wear white with ornaments of gold.

In the ceramicus outside the city near the Hill of Ares, a ship is built. From this, Minerva’s peplos is hung as a sail. The ship is taken to the temple of Ceres Eleusinia and then to the citadel where the peplos is placed upon Minerva’s statue. The statue lies upon a bed (plakis) woven or strewed with flowers.

The Quinquatrus or Quinquatria in honor of Minerva continues for five days. The first day of the festival commemorates her birth and the founding of her temple, the Minerva Capta. All those whose employment fall under the protection of the goddess celebrate Quinquatria. Students have a holiday during the festival, and begin a new course of study when it is over. Teachers receive their yearly stipend at this time – the minerval. Women and children (as spinners and weavers), artisans and artists, and poets and painters observe the festival of Minerva.

Eyvind Kinnrifi is a martyr for Odin, remembered today.

The Elizabethan statute against witchcraft was enacted in 1563.

March 18th

The Irish goddess Sheilah na Gig, a fertility goddess, is honored today as a patroness of thresholds and women’s mysteries. She was identified variously as St. Patrick’s wife or mother in the Middle Ages. In Iceland, this is known as Sheelah’s Day. Images have been identified with her in Ireland, France, Spain, England, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic and/or Slovak Republic. No doubt her association with St Patrick is a frabricated one. This also makes me wonder how accurate his holy day (based on his supposed death) is if Sheilah na Gig’s holy day comes directly after his own. Was she made his mother or wife simply because he died so close to her holy day or was his holy day tied to the 17th of March in order to overshadow and subvert her worship?

Almost all of the surviving Sheilah na Gigs in Ireland are found in areas of Anglo-Norman conquest (12th century), though the areas which remained “native Irish” have only a few. She is depicted as a naked woman squatting with her knees apart, displaying her vulva (vesica piscis or double-pointed oval). Many were still in place during the 19th century, but Victorian values caused large numbers of them to be defaced or destroyed, though some have been found buried near the churches they once embellished. The term Sheila-na-Gig is obscure, meaning something like “vulva-woman.” Gig or giggie was a slang term for female genitals and may have been related to the Irish “jig,” from French gigue.

Sheila na Gig figures closely resemble yonic statues of Kali which still appear at the doorways of Hindu temples. It is the custom for visitors to lick a finger and touch the yoni “for luck.” This has caused some of the older figures to develop deep holes from so much touching. The protruding ribcage of the Sheila-na-Gig also resembles figures of Kali as the death-goddess, Kalika. If somehow knowledge and worship of Kali made its way to Ireland, her name may have been remembered in the Caillech or “Old Woman,” who in addition to being the spirit of winter, was also the Creatress who gave birth to all the races of men.

Born in 1877, Edgar Cayce‘s birthday was today.

Happy “the only day where everyone’s Irish” day…

I think that one of the reasons I fell in love with mythology and folklore as a child was because, as a mutt American, I was looking for a cultural identity that just doesn’t exist for those of us who can trace our ancestry to multiple countries. I think that may be one of the things people don’t understand, not even other Americans…. we don’t have a cultural identity. To say we are American is to say very little at all. What is our heritage? A bunch of discontent religious zealots and unrepentant convicts made their way to these shores, systematically committed genocide against the aboriginal peoples of this continent, and a couple centuries later, when they were mostly done with killing, converting, or stealing the children of the Indians, they set about killing one another in the Civil War. I sincerely love history, but I Hate American history with a vengeance. As much as I admire the founding fathers and their dream, I loathe the history of my country. It has very little in it to inspire respect or reverence. It is mostly an embarrassment to me.

So I looked to the cultures of my ancestors for inspiration. I am German, French, English, and Irish. My great-grandmother on my father’s side always said we had a “drop of Scotch” in us, and there are rumors on my mother’s side of Native American and African American blood too. My mother’s family was one of the first in Virginia. My great-grandmother on my father’s side was the first generation of the family from Ireland. I know some of the family names…. Levan, Hart, McBride, Gayle, Clark, Eckenroth, but not really many at all. Everyone on my father’s side of the family is dead, so I can’t even ask them about the family. There are rumors from my mother’s side of the family that we have ties to British nobility and that possibly we are related to General Lee. Someday I want to do a genealogy for my family to see if any of these rumors are true.

So what I can verify is that I am mostly Celtic (English/Irish) with some Teutonic (German) and Gaelic/Latin (French) influences. Apparently my grandfather’s family came over from Germany just prior to WWII and there is a possibility that his branch of the family were closet Jewish. It was a practice in Europe for Jewish families wishing to hide their heritage to take plant names… so, Eckenroth would be red oak. It’s possible. He died when I was two, so I have no way of asking, if he would have even known. 

Still, as a child, knowledge of the homelands of my ancestors allowed me to weave a cultural identity for myself, encouraged me to study the mythology, folklore, and history of my ancestors, and made me feel like I belonged somewhere. I could place myself with Druids and the Picts, King Arthur’s Knights, Fionn Mac Cool, the Grimm Brother’s fairies, the Egyptian and the Greco-Roman gods. Though some people in my position might feel even less connected to a culture through the sheer expanse of my ancestry, studying my cultural identity beyond the simple label of “American” has made me feel as if I am a “citizen of the world.” America is where I live, but my heart belongs to the world.

It saddens me that people use St Patrick’s day as an excuse to get drunk on ‘green beer.’ There are several levels of disappointment involved. I don’t drink alcohol myself and that bothers some people because the Irish are supposed to be great big lushes, right? And there is the simple fact that I am a Pagan, so while some people might think St Patrick is synonymous with Ireland, I know that he was actually trained by druids and used druid magic, not miracles, to bring Christianity to Ireland. I consider him a hypocrite. He wasn’t even Irish; he was Welsh. He was taken to Ireland as a slave, and in some ways, his conversion of Ireland might be seen as revenge on the Irish for his enslavement. So while I enjoy honoring my Irish roots on this day, I don’t particularly appreciate the association with this “saint.” I used “St Patrick’s day” or Trefuilnid Treochair to honor my Irish ancestry. I wear green for its association with the “fair folk” and the green of the Irish hills , not with Catholicism.

I try not to get upset with people who celebrate St Patrick’s Day without understanding the true origins of the holiday, but it does bother me that people simply don’t know anything about their own heritage. Worse, they don’t even try. Most people are content to live in the Now and not bother learning anything about where they have come from as a culture. I think that’s sad. I think it’s sad that people don’t care about their own ancestry or culture. I think it’s sad that people only know a very small bit of where they came from culturally. If you only know enough about your people to name your immediate ancestors, then can you really say you know who you are? If you have no cultural identity, a significant part of your psyche is missing. If you don’t know where you came from, how can you know where you belong? How can you feel pride in the achievements of your ancestors?

So, who are you?

March 17th

Trefuilnid Treochair, the national day of Ireland, is the feast for the “triple bearer of the triple key,” a trident carrying divinity assimilated into St. Patrick. His sacred plant is the shamrock.

The Libera or Liberalia is held in honor of Liber, the Roman version of Bacchus, and Dionysus. Slaves were allowed to speak with freedom, and everything bore the appearance of independence. Liber, with his consort Libera, is honored in the hopes of a fruitful wine crop. Old women, crowned with ivy, sell cakes (liba) of meal, honey and oil, and incinerate them on little pans as offerings in the purchasers’ name. From liba comes the word libation.

This is the first day of the six day Buddhist Higan festival in honor of the equinox and the Dead. Buddhists believe when the night and day are equally divided, Buddha appears on earth to save stray souls and lead them to Nirvana. Higan means the other shore. A river full of illusions, passion, pain and sorrow marks the division of this earthly world and the future world of salvation. Only when one crosses the river, fighting strong currents of temptation, to the other shore, can enlightenment be found.

The custom of offering food to the dead during the week developed a general custom of giving such specially prepared food to friends and neighbors. The most common food is Ohagi or soft rice ball covered with sweetened bean paste. Sushi or vinegary rice with vegetable, the Japanese counterpart of sandwiches, is also made in many households to offer to the ancestors and distribute to their friends and neighbors. No meat is used in Higan food.

Heh, found this quote today. Anonymous apparently, and definitely modern… but I LIKE it.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil.

The first part is paraphrasing from Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The second comes from Sir Francis Bacon‘s Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597: Knowledge is power.

Lord Acton seems to have a lot to say that is pertinent, even a century after his death…

• It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.
• The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.
• The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
• Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
• A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.
• Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.
• I’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
• Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.
• Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity.
• The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the party that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.
• There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.
• To be able to look back upon one’s past life with satisfaction is to live twice.

Sir Francis Bacon also has much to say:

• Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home.
• He of whom many are afraid ought to fear many.
• I have taken all knowledge to be my province.
• In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.
• Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.
• Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.
• Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.
• Silence is the virtue of fools.
• Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
• The worst solitude is to be destitute of sincere friendship.
• Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other.
• He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.
• The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.
• I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.
• Never exaggerate your faults. Your friends will attend to that.
• If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.
• Little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.
• I would live to study, and not study to live.
• If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

The bold quotes pertain to my post on Patriotism from two days past. Each one reflects my feelings on the application of patriotism in our world today. The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority. Furthermore, it denies the fact that the state is dependent upon the people it governs. Without the people who make up the state, there is no state and no need for governance. Patriotism as it is used by our current leaders is not a reflection of true patriotism, which is devotion to a community as opposed to devotion to one’s individual interests. They presuppose that patriotism is blind and encourage people to give their devotion in ignorance. It is when we devote all our energies to the achievement of a goal that we show our true power. When we lend that power to our leaders, we give them the power to achieve our goals (not theirs). When they abuse that power, they are no longer worthy of our devotion. At no time can our patriotism or devotion be forced. It must be given to have any importance. This is something our leaders would like us to forget as they no longer seem concerned with earning our respect or loyalty. They forget that every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity, and so when we publicly question our leaders we are still practicing patriotism, what we are really doing is questioning theirs. We are questioning how devoted our leaders, who lead by our sufferance, are to carrying out our will or to upholding the values of our country. The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies. So long as our leaders continue to lie to us, they will live in fear of our power to disagree with them. Disagreement does not make us unpatriotic. It simply makes us informed. It goes without saying that I agree with Bacon; I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.

In response to Sasuraisha_Samtu, there are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion. Whether or not people will read my words and understand or agree, Silence is the virtue of fools. A thinking person really has no choice but to voice their concerns, even when they are in disagreement with the majority.

What’s your idea of being patriotic? Do you consider yourself patriotic?

I consider myself very patriotic. Despite the fact that I think our current leaders are a bunch of ignorant a$$es, I’m still here right? After all, if I didn’t love my country and the ideals upon which it was founded, I could just leave. Though sometimes I do feel like staying and trying to make our country work according to the dictates of the founding fathers is like beating a dead horse….

Still, as you may have noticed, my idea of patriotism is to be true to the ideals of our nation, not the laws which do not necessarily represent me or my needs. In fact, the newer the law, the less I think it exists for my benefit… Mostly I think newer laws are created for the benefit of the corporation, not the individual citizen. If anything, the way our country caters to corporations flies in the face of our founding fathers’ desire to free us from the tyranny of non-representation. Here we are, our lives run by “big-businesses,” and we have no say in the matter. How is that any different from when our way of life was dictated by the monarchy of England, which was equally disinterested in our individual rights?

So, my idea of patriotism is asking questions and standing on my principles. Bending over backwards to please our hypocritical leaders is not patriotism; it’s stupidity. When did our founding fathers ever suggest that shutting your mouth and doing as you’re told were at all patriotic? Our country was founded on ideas, even ideas which ran counter to the only leadership they had ever known, but our country is currently run by people who don’t like ideas. The history of my country tells me that I should always question the motives of our leaders. I should always demand my rights. I should never be content to do as I am told. It should always be a choice, and so long as I am not hurting anyone, infringing upon their rights, or taking their property, I am perfectly within my rights to act as I please as a citizen of the United States. To this end, it is patriotic to disagree with our leaders when they clearly do not have our best interests at heart, when clearly they are more interested in filling their wallets through kickbacks from big business (like oil, pharmaceuticals, and factory farms) than ensuring that the welfare of the citizens (and future citizens) of the country and people which they pretend to lead.

While others may believe that blind obedience to our current leaders and unquestioning adherence to their decisions is the only way to express patriotism, I do not feel that ignorant obedience is a proper expression of the ideals upon which this country was founded. In fact, the less willing a person is to question the path our country is on, the less patriotic I consider them. Our country was founded on the principle that each individual is worth something and so are their ideas. I doubt very strongly that our founding fathers would approve of a populace which is content to sit back on their fat backsides, never questioning their leaders and (worse) never voting. Whether it is by lack of interest in our governance or a complete lack of faith in how our country is being run, people who are unwilling to speak their minds when they disagree with our leaders are not patriots. They are conformists and cowards.

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

March 14th

The Ghanaian New Year celebration begins today. The first eleven days are devoted to a series purposeful dances designed to drive away the evil spirits of the dead, bring luck, and ensure a good harvest, among other things. On the 12th day, spirit shrines are washed clean of the old year and bad memories. On the thirteenth day, which falls on the day after the spring equinox, the New Year is greeted.

The Roman festival of Verturius Mamurius celebrates the art of armor making.

So… haven’t been around much, have I? But I’m feeling much better! Mostly I’ve been cleaning. It was getting to be a real sty in here. It’s not like I had the energy to clean while I was sick. And I still haven’t watched the third season of Lost that my boss loaned me back when I first got sick. She doesn’t mind, but I sure feel guilty. I’ve also been decorating the Munny I got for my birthday. I’ll post a picture when I’m done.

Mostly I’ve been pondering weird things like:

……..if a priest/ess blesses a tap, is all the water that comes out of it holy?

……..in a multiverse wherein all things could possibly exist dependant on a course of action not chosen in this one, how many people have I killed? Have I been caught? How bad-ass am I in this alternate universe (or universes)? Barring an instant paradox implosion of reality, if my bad self met my good self, who would win in a fight?

……..if you get a tattoo with magickal significance (let’s say it’s not a symbol for general protection or extra energy, etc), can you ever safely use any other charm or talisman again? Would you have to make a spreadsheet every time you want to see if a charm would clash with the tattoo? In a related thought, how many charms is it safe to wear before they would overload or simply cancel each other out? Some people wear entirely too many “lucky charms,” and I tend to think past a certain point, they become useless… but I haven’t worked out the ratio yet.

……..on the one hand, the works of HP Lovecraft and company are complete works of fiction, but on the other, when a person or group concentrates on an idea, a thought-form is created. So all gods exist, even fictional ones, because people believe in them. So how afraid should I be of fan-boy created elder things of the Cthulhu mythos cycle? Could my gods beat up fictional deities? And more importantly, could Cthulhu ever really be president, or would he just eat everyone?

……..while there are people who practice magick who have probably never considered the long term ramification of their spellwork, how popular would a logics class be in a magick school? Or would there just be a bunch of students whining about it all being intuitive and logic being a waste of time?

……..if you played solitaire with tarot cards, would your future be reveled? Like if you manage to play the whole thing through, would that mean you would succeed in your life’s goals? Would playing through only certain trumps mean success only in the qualities ruled by those trumps? Would you read all face up cards or would you read through the layers to see how things would pan out?

……..what if dark matter is simply an energetic manifestation of negative thought?

……..what if the universe is an ocean and suns and planets are like algae, making black holes a primitive lifeform that feeds on random matter like tube worms? Where does that leave us? Parasites? Do our intestinal bacteria gather periodically to discuss the possibility that we exist and care about their welfare? Would that make antibiotics the wrath of god?

……..being that all things which exist have a spiritual counterpart (according to pantheism/animism), when a planet is eaten by a black hole, does it have an afterlife?

……..does each new pebble get its own soul if a boulder is crushed, or does the anima of the pebbles consist of pieces of the original stone’s soul? How does that make the boulder feel? Since an individual boulder cannot technically grow, does it mind being diminished or would it prefer being changeless? Or would it rather be used for construction? Would a boulder rather be used in the construction of a house or a monument? Does a rock acknowledge its connection to the other elements or does it resent them for the act of erosion?

Anyway… yeah, I’m weird…. but I may expand on some of these questions later.

March 10th

The Ibo people of Nigeria consider this day the last of the year. This is also a Siamese New Year.

Ishtar is honored in Babylon, as is the Syrian and Graeco-Roman Astarte, Aphrodite, and Venus.

March 11th

In 1314, Jacques de Molay the last grand-master of the Knights Templar was burned at the stake by King Philip IV. He predicted that the King and Pope Clement V would follow him in forty days which they did.

In Greece, feats of strength and superhuman acts of courage are preformed in honor of Herakles or Hercules today.

March 12th

Hypatia, the divine pagan, martyred by a Christian death squad, is remembered today. She was a famous philosopher and mathematician and dean of the Neo-Platonic school of Alexandria. She was considered an oracle for her wisdom, and was consulted by the magistrates in all important cases.

In Mesopotamia, this day is holy to Marduk.

Today is considered the deadline for planting onions in England.

This is the birthday of Stewart Edward White, psychical researcher, who became the president of the American Society for Psychical Research in San Francisco.

On the 27th day of Parmutit, Sekhmet initiates the End of the World.

March 13th

Diotima, teacher of Socrates, is honored.

I had the creepiest dream last night…

There was a prince and his wife, and I was their daughter. They’d had me out of wedlock, so I wasn’t in the running for the crown, but they were getting worried about having a suitable heir because they hadn’t had any other children. Though my mother was pregnant, the baby had to pass certain tests before it could be named heir by my grandfather who was the king. Because they had no children that could act as heir, I had a cousin who would supposedly become the queen, but she was very adventurous and would never let anyone tell her what to do… in other words, a very unsuitable heir.

So when she decided to explore a haunted house, there was nothing I could do to make her listen to reason. She went into this ballroom, but I refused to go with her. I watched from outside as this evil watery demon thing grabbed her from a pool that was at the center of the room and dragged her under the water. I ran to tell someone what had happened, but when I got there, she was already there and warned me not to say anything, or else. So only I knew that she was really possessed by the thing from the house.

Eventually my little brother was born, and they had to take all these pictures of him to make sure that nothing showed up that was ominous or else he would have to be killed(!?). So I stole some of the pictures that seemed to be blurred to ensure that my now evil cousin would not be queen.

Okay… so not quite so creepy once it’s put into words. I guess you had to be there.

March 8th

Today is considered Mother Earth’s birthday in China. 

March 9th
(no entry for this date)

Well, I got my car back…. apparently the battery was low which set off the cockamamie security device that came with it, so even when various people jumped it on Monday, the security device prevented the car from running. Apparently this is a common problem with the newer Pontiacs which begs the question, why include such a screwball security device to begin with? I mean, if the car can’t run because of a low battery, how much good is a security device which also prevents it from running? Where’s the sense in that? So it cost me $202 for a new battery and oil change (cause I needed one), but mostly it makes me feel like an idiot. The mechanic said I’m also going to need three new tires before I get my car inspected in May. Grrrr

I’m embarrassed for my stupid car. When I finally replace it, no doubt many years from now, I am going to get something with all-wheel drive and No security devices. I’ll get the freakin’ Club or something.

I am grateful for the time off from work that my car caused, but I can’t say my health has really improved much. My chest still hurts when I wake up in the morning and I am still coughing badly. Maybe not as badly as I was on Monday, but still not good. Even when I am breathing through my nose, I can still hear and feel wheezing in my lungs, and nothing comes up when I cough. I don’t know how I’m going to do at work tonight. I’ve been going to bed between seven and eight every night, but I won’t get home till after midnight tonight and tomorrow. Basically I’ve been average twelve hours or more sleep every night since I got sick. I’m going to be wiped out.

I should just give in and find a doctor.

March 5th

When winter storms lose their force, a ship is dedicated to Isis as a new season of sailing begins. This is the ancient Egyptian festival of Isidis Navigum (the ship of Isis) or the Ploiaphesia which honored Isis’ invention of the sail and her patronage of sailing-craft and navigation.

As part of the festivities, a parade was performed in honor of Isis. Following in a procession of mummers, the priests carry emblems of Isis. The Chief Priest carries a lamp, a golden boat-shaped light with a tall tongue of flame from a hole in the center. The second priest holds an auxiliaria (ritual pot) in each of his hands, and the third carries a miniature palm-tree. The fourth priest carries a model of the left hand with the fingers stretched out, the emblem of justice as well as a golden vessel in the shape of a woman’s breast. From the nipple falls a thin stream of milk. The fifth cleric carries a winnowing-fan woven with golden rods, not osiers. The final man, not a priest, carries a wine-jar.

Next in the procession comes Anubis with a face black on one side and golden on the other and a man carrying a statue of a cow, representing the Goddess as the fruitful Mother of us all. After them walks a priest with a box containing the secret implements of Isis’ cult, and another priest carries a secret vessel in his robes. It is a small container of burnished gold with thickly crowded Egyptian hieroglyphics and a rounded bottom, a long spout, and a generously curving handle. Along the handle is an asp raising its head and displaying its throat.

Waiting at the seashore is a beautifully built ship covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics. The sail is fashioned of white linen inscribed with large letters with a prayer for the Goddess’s protection of the shipping lanes during the new sailing season, and the long mast is made of fir. The prow is shaped like the neck of Isis’s holy goose, and the long keel is cut from a solid trunk of citrus-wood.

The ship is purified with a lighted torch, an egg, and sulphur, and then hallowed and dedicated to the Goddess. All present place winnowing-fans heaped with aromatics and other votive offerings on board while pouring milk into the sea as a libation. When the ship is loaded with gifts and prayers for good fortune, the anchor cables are cut, setting the ship free.

Today is a Japanese Kite festival.

March 6th

The brotherhood of Roman warriors, the Salii, dance in honor of Mars in ancient Roman warrior garb. Leaping about, they rhythmically beat their figure-eight shields (ancilia) while holding spears.

Household gods in Rome are honored today as well. The Manes and Lares are honored at the Compitalia.

This is the birthday of Laurie Cabot.

March 7th

Junonalia is a Roman festival held in honor of Juno. A procession of twenty-seven girls, dressed in long robes sing hymns as they accompany a statue of the goddess carved from cypress wood, her sacred tree.

Yes, I know I’ve said it before on other birthdays and perhaps I should stop that since I seem to be tempting fate….

Take away the bad stuff, and it probably would have been one of my best birthdays so far… mainly because so many people remembered my birthday this year and went out of their way to be nice to me. But I am still sick from all the way back on Wednesday, and I am extremely tired of being sick. Wednesday I came home from work early because I was sick, then Thursday I had off. Friday I called in because I was still so sick, and then Friday night I passed out in the bathroom Twice. The first time I hit my head on the sink and my eye still hurts there. The second time I was um… sitting, and when I came to, my head was between my knees. lol I was drenched in sweat, but I was ice cold and my sweat was tasteless… it was like someone threw a glass of cold water on me. Of course, my fever was well and truly broken after that, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

My mom thinks maybe I had/have pneumonia, but I refuse to go to the doctor and she knows better than to force the issue. I don’t like doctors. Unless I pass out again, and I’m doing loads better than I was on Friday, I’m not going to any doctors any time soon to spend money I don’t have just so they can agree that I’m sick for $60 and give me a slip of paper entitling me to spend more money on medicine.

So Saturday, I went to work, and ended up coming home two hours early. Sunday I had off from work again. Yesterday was my birthday and I managed to work the whole day through. But my boss suggested that I might want to take off today because I was still so sick. I’m not a workaholic, but I hate taking off if I have work to do and I know someone else will have to do it if I’m not there. So we compromised that I wouldn’t have to be there at 6AM, basically that I could sleep in and hopefully help kick this cold by doing so.

Okay, so that was settled. I got out to my car… and it wouldn’t start! I wanted to scream! I had three different guys trying to help me get my car started, but it was a no-go. A guy even walked over from the Sears automotive which is right across the parking lot from where I work and he said he thought either the fuel injector’s bad or I “lost my spark.” Apparently, my car is a transformer now. But he said, either way, they weren’t problems that Sears deals with and I would have to get my car towed.

So I went back inside to work and called my mom. At least she has AAAplus so towing is free. Then I called our mechanic and he said he couldn’t look at my car until Thursday. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!    But my boss basically gave me off today and Wednesday (I already have off on Thursdays), so that I, and my car, can get better. I have the vacation time, but I hate using it. And I hate that I had to give over what was left of my weekly workload to other people. It makes me feel inadequate and like a slacker. I see too many people with no work ethic to be comfortable with making other people do my job. And now my rest is being forced on me since even if I wanted to go somewhere, I can’t, because I haven’t got a car to even take my sorry butt to the drug store for some cough suppressants.

March 4th

The three day Greek festival of Anthesteria honors departed souls or keres. It is a festival dedicated to Flora, Hecate, and Dionysus with the intent to “feed” the dead in the hope that the ancestors might bring good fortune to the living and not cause any mischief around living family members.

The festival begins with flowers, phallic processions, and the opening of the newly fermented bottles of wine. The living ritually purify themselves by bathing and making sacrifice to Dionysus. They slaughter calves and share the meat with the god, incinerating some of the meat that it might float up into the air (the custom for sacrificing to all Olympian gods), and eating the rest of it as a shared feast.

The major ritual of the festival is the Choe, libations poured for the dead. The living drink wine and eat with the dead, believing that Dionysic revelry is not limited to the living, but that in his Chthonic aspect as the “Lord of Souls,” that he grants ecstatic experiences to the dead. It is of importannce that the wine and food for the dead and the wine and food for the living never mix. For the food reserved for the dead is just that, not fit for the living. On the last day, visiting spirits are dismissed back to the underworld.

In 1968, the Church of All Worlds (CAW) formed in Missouri to become the first Wiccan Church to do so in the US.

On the 19th day of Parmutit, a Feast of Ra occurs in his Barge at Heliopolis.