The holy day of Beltaine has had many names in many languages. In Germany, it is Walpurgis Night, named for St Walburga. Of course, this saint had nothing to do with the May Eve celebrations, but the name remains. Walpurgisnacht is derived from Pagan spring customs. In the Norse tradition, Walpurgisnacht is considered the “Enclosure of the Fallen,” commemorating Odin’s discovery of the runes. Beltaine is also called May Day, Giamonios, and Rood Day. The name Rood
Day or Roodmas is a Christian name for this holiday derived from the
Church’s attempt to divert people from honoring the May Pole to honoring the Rood or Cross. The Puritans even went so far as to make the Maypole illegal in 1644.

Our ancestors counted days as beginning from nightfall on, and so Beltaine begins on evening of the last day of April. Traditionally this was a floating
holiday however, celebrated at the peak of the month of Taurus
(approximately May 4th or 5th). Many celebrate on April 30th or May
1st, but other traditions call for Beltaine to be held on the first
Full Moon of May which will fall on May 20th this year. Tonight, as with Samhain, the boundary between the living and the dead is weakened, and in fact, another name for this holiday is Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain). During the night, bonfires are built to keep away dead or chaotic spirits of the season. The return of light and the sun is celebrated on May Day. 

No matter the name of the holiday however, the origins of Beltaine can be seen in its name. Beltaine is a solar holiday honoring the returning sun. Though scholars are not certain exactly which solar deity the holiday is named for, “taine” is a reference to fire. If it comes from “Balder’s Fire,” then the fires of this holy day may commemorate his funeral pyre. Other possible origins of the name come from Bel-tinne “Bel’s Fire” or Belotenia “bright fire” from the god of light and the underworld, Bel, Beli, Belinus, or Bile. In the Isle of Lewis, Beltaine is interpreted as beulteine “mouth-fire,” and elsewhere the name was interpreted as bil-tene “lucky fire.” In the Western Isles where yellow is a lucky color, this holy day was referred to as “lath buidhe Bealtaine,” the yellow (lucky) day of Beltaine.

All goddesses of song and dance, flowers, the hunt, and fertility can be honored on Beltaine. For those of the Greek and Roman traditions, the goddesses Aphrodite/Venus, Artemis/Diana, Hilaria, Baubo, Cybele, Cupra, Rhea, and Flora may be revered. Those of the Celtic traditions may celebrate in honor of Blodewedd, Damara, Fand, Ariel, Flidias, Rhiannon, or Shiela-na-gig. Teutonic traditions may choose from Skadi, Var, Freya, and Lofn, and Tuulikki and Mielikki are two Finnish goddesses honored at this time. Devana and Perchta may be worshiped by those of the Slavic traditions. Aztec traditions may choose from Xochiquetzal and Ilamatecuhti. Erzulie is honored by Voudoun practitioners, and the Rainbow Snake may be remembered in Australia.

Fertility gods and gods of the hunt and love are honored at Beltaine. The Horned God, Herne, Bel or Belanos, Manawyddan, Puck, Beltene, and Robin Goodfellow may be included in Beltaine celebrations among those following the Celtic path. Norse traditions may venerate Odin or Frey. Those of the Greek or Roman traditions may choose to honor Cupid/Eros, Orion, Faunus, or Pan. Chors is a Slavic god honored at this time.

The colors of Beltaine are red, green, white, and dark yellow. Sycamore trees represent the God, and the leaves have long been used in Jack in the Green symbols found in pub signs and old churches. The wood is used green for carving and given as “love spoon” tokens in Wales for betrothals around May Day. Birches represent the goddess and are used as the wood of the May Pole. Other symbols of the holy day are eggs, flowers, the chalice, butter churns, May baskets, and crossroads. Incidentally, sycamore and birch trees are my two favorite trees.

Traditional foods of Beltaine come from the dairy. Butter, milk, cheeses, eggs, and honey are all customary on this day. Honeyed mead is a favorite drink associated with Beltaine. Oatcakes, May Cakes, and bannocks were also eaten, scored with the lines of the Bel-fires (a grid with nine blocks).

On May Eve, bonfires called Balefires were kindled in the proscribed manner or kindled from the sky (lightning or using a lens to focus the sun’s light). On beacon hills, fires were lit tonight and during times of trouble or emergency. Hearth fires would be extinguished and relit from the Need-Fire. Herdsmen would drive their stock between two fires or through the ashes of one to purify and preserve them from illness in the coming year. This would also ensure their fertility and copious milk supply. People jumped over the fires or ran between them three times for luck, for a bountiful harvest, or for whatever else they might need while the rest of the group sang and danced. Many couples still leap the fires together or jump the cauldron to help conceive.

Fire divination is a common practice during Beltaine. Seers stare into the flames seeking shapes to interpret. Morris and sword dances are all part of Beltaine fertility rites. Parades include Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and the Merry Men. Dancing all night in fields ensures a healthy crop. The dancers attempt to jump as high as they can in an effort to make crops grow tall. On the night of April 30, a custom called “bringing in the May” is enacted in some areas. Similar to “trick-or-treating,” revelers stop at homes on the way back to their villages, leaving flowers gathered from the woodlands. For this service, they receive treats and in return bless those who were generous or wish ill luck on those who were not. Another Beltaine custom involves the first dew of May. Maidens bathe their faces in May Morning dew to preserve beauty. The ancient trees by the sacred wells of Europe are often festooned with rags from the clothes of the sick to bring them health. The water of the wells was also used for blessings.

As a Celtic fire festival, modern Pagans commemorate the union of the
goddess and god and the fecundity of the earth at this time. Thus Beltaine is a time of binding two into one. Weaving, braiding, knot work are all customary activities of this holy day. Braiding flowers into garlands and dancing the Maypole are both excellent ways to celebrate Beltaine.

At this time of year, fairy protections were common. Daisy chains were placed around the necks of children, and livestock were fed dill weed in an effort to protect them from mischievous sprites. Throwing a hot coal in the churn could protect the butter, and hawthorn and rowan were very protective woods used at this time. Rowan crosses or a branch over the home fire (the symbol of the luck of the house) protected the fortune of the home. Ringing bells will drive off the more unpleasant spirits, while leaving the Good Folk untouched. Leaving out offerings to the Fairies is also a time honored tradition at Beltaine.

In Germany, Walpurgisnacht (Hexennacht- Witches’ Night) is allegedly when witches hold a large celebration on the Blocksberg and await the arrival of Spring. Brocken is the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is noted for the phenomenon of the Brocken specter… the magnified shadow of an observer is somehow thrown into a bank of clouds in the high mountain areas when the sun is low. In rural parts of southern Germany, it is traditional for children to play pranks on Walpurgisnacht, like tampering with a neighbor’s garden, hiding possessions, or spraying graffiti on private property. Unfortunately, these pranks occasionally result in serious damage to property or bodily injury.

Walpurgis (Valborgsmässoafton or Valborg), alongside Christmas and Midsummer, is one of the main holidays of Sweden. Like Germany, one of the main traditions in Sweden the lighting of large bonfires, a custom which began in Uppland during the 18th century and is most firmly established in Svealand. An older tradition from Southern Sweden was for young people to collect greenery and branches from the woods at twilight. These were used to adorn the houses of the village, and they were paid in eggs. Singing the songs of spring is probably the most prevalent tradition in Sweden, and most of the songs come from the 19th century. They were spread by students’ spring festivities, and the strongest and most traditional spring festivities are to be found in the old university cities, like Uppsala and Lund. One of the newest student traditions is The Cortège, a carnival parade which has been held by the students at Chalmers in Gothenburg since 1909.

In Finland, Walpurgis Night (Vapunaatto or Valborgsmässoafton) is one of the biggest carnival-style festivities of the year. Alcoholic beverages are plentiful, and the student traditions make up the main portion of “Vappu” traditions. Through the end of the 19th century, this traditional upper class feast was adopted by university students who had already received their student caps. A nude female statue in Helsinki is “capped” and ribbald publications called Äpy and Julkku are printed on alternating years. While Julkku is a standard magazine, Äpy is always printed in some odd way, on toilet paper or a bedsheet. It has also often been stuffed inside packages such as sardine-cans and milk cartons. The festivities include a picnic on May 1st, and the first of May means the beginning of spring for many people in Finland. It is said that one who doesn’t have a romantic partner on Vappu will not have one on midsummer night either.

In Estonia, Volbriöö (April 30th) is more important than the following day, Kevadpüha (May 1st). Volbriöö is considered one of the main reasons to party throughout the country. Influenced by German belief, the night was originally originally thought to be a time for witches to gather. Some people will still dress up as witches and wander the streets at this time. Because, like Finland, Volbriöö is a time to get plastered, the following day is known as Kaatripäev (Hangover Day, from the German ‘Kater’ meaning ‘Hangover’).

This is the third day of Floralia.

Writer’s Choice Featured Question #2

A. Would you rather be rich or poor? Why?
neogirl_426

So as the least popular question this week… guess I’ll answer this one…

I don’t think I’d like to be poor, but I don’t know that I’d like to be rich. My family has always been “lower middle” class. It amazes me that we’ve managed to last as long as we have. People have it worse than us, and some have it better… but that we have managed to keep a roof over our heads and have vehicles to drive, etc… all the things that people are expected to have, yeah we have that. I even have a computer, though I bought it on credit. Supposedly I have very good credit…. mostly because I try not to spend too much beyond my means. So I have a car loan, a credit card that I rarely use, and a three year old computer that I just paid off in January. We’re actually doing pretty well. I wouldn’t mind doing better, but I am satisfied that we’re ‘doing alright.’

When I was still a kid… my stepfather embezzled money from the cleaning company that he and my mother started and ran off to Florida with another man to begin his drug induced suicide. We lost the house. My mother still owes the government, but unless we win the lottery, I doubt we’ll ever even begin to pay it off with the interest that has since accumulated. We lived in several different places until my mom managed to get back on her feet. We were still struggling somewhat when I quit school. My mother’s one stipulation was that if I quit school, I get a job and begin paying rent.

I sometimes envy those kids who have never had to pay rent to their parents. It must be nice to receive a car for a birthday present or have your education paid for by mom and dad. I’ve met people like that, so I know they exist. And you know, not a single one of them knows the value of money… they don’t know what it is to work for a living, to earn an honest wage… Not to lump all such people together, but every one I’ve met has been a whiny, lazy excuse for a human being. They wouldn’t know hard work if it tattooed slacker on their foreheads. These are the people who are always late or call in sick to work. And when they are at work, they lean on the counters or do anything but what they’re supposed to be doing. They are easily bored and never self-motivated and go right back to leaning on the counter once they finish whatever task they are given. They’ve been given everything in life but a reason to live.

So if that is what being rich means, well, yeah, I’d rather be poor. Because so far as I’m concerned, being poor isn’t the worst thing I could be. Least I like myself. At least I don’t need someone else to help me out of my self-induced boredom by giving me something to do. People who say they are bored simply haven’t tried to find anything to do. What they mean is that they are not motivated to do anything worth doing. I am rich in intelligence and (my own idea of) virtue. I am my own person, whereas these supposedly “rich” kids are owned by the money that rules their lives. I may not have accomplished much as measured by our society, but at least I know who I am and what I want from life. I’m not one of those spoiled rich kids who have to be told what to want by their parents or the media.

I may constantly be thinking of how to get more money to do the things I want to do (as opposed to the things I need to do), but at least I’m thinking. I don’t imagine I would ever like to be rich. Would I like more money? Yes, please. I could use a bit more, but not the amount that would qualify me as rich. I want “just enough” to get by. “Just enough” money is just enough for me. I’ve had less and survived, but I’ve seen how More affects some people and I don’t want to be like them. I want to be a real person, not a whiny, lazy parody of a person.

If I ever won the lottery, I’d give at least half away to charity. If I ever became president (fat chance), I’d donate half of my earnings to charity. $400,000 a year? That’s twenty times what I make now (if I round up generously), and I’m not starving… I have a roof over my head. I have a car and a computer. I have enough to indulge my one real vice…. books. What does the president need $400,000 a year for? If I made just $5-10,000 more than I do now, I could probably afford to move out on my own and live comfortably.

So if it came down to a choice between being “rich” and being “poor,” I think I’d rather be poor. Rich people don’t seem so rich to me. They don’t seem happy, no matter how the media depicts them. They seem rather at a loss as to what exactly they should do with all that money. They don’t seem to really belong to our species, for all that they’re put on a pedestal and used as an example of what everyone should strive to be. Rich people seem rather poor in the things that matter to me.

This is the second day of Floralia.

five questions for this week
(unfeatured questions stolen from the featured question chatboard, dated from August of 2007)

A. Would you rather be rich or poor? Why?
neogirl_426

B. Some people meditate while running, others have inspirational thoughts while painting. When do you have the most thoughts, and what do you usually think about?
cral7616

C. Would you rather obey the modern status quo, or would you rather disobey and do what you want to do in life? In other words – follow the herd or stand out and be free?
L_O_R_D_X101

D. What is the meaning of life in your eyes?
aLDRiNuNTiLTHeENdOfTiME

E. If this is truly the land of the free, would you fight to defend someone else’s beliefs even if you didn’t agree with them?
JRJust

Answer any one or all of these questions in the coming week.

April 28th

Six days of government sanctioned debauchery began today with the Roman festival of Floralia. Originally a feast motivated by the condition of crops and flowers, it is thought to have been created by command of the Sibylline oracle in 238 BCE. Games were instituted in honour of Flora at that time, but were soon discontinued. They were restored in 173 BCE by the consuls L Postumius Albinus and M Popilius Laenas after storms had destroyed the crops and vines.

Flora, originally a Sabine goddess of spring, flowers, and youth, was offered prayers for the ripe fruits of fields and trees. Her husband is Zephyrus, the west wind, and she is the twin sister of Faunus, the god of wild creatures. In later times, she was identified with the Greek goddess Chloris. A temple was built for her at the Circus Maxima between the Aventine and the Palatine hills, and there was a shrine at the Quirinal where stalks of grain were offered.

Men decorated themselves, their animals, and the city with flowers, especially roses. Women put aside their usual clothes and wore festive dresses. The scene was one of unrestrained merriment. Beans and other seeds were planted, representing fecundity. Offerings of milk and honey were made on this day and the surrounding five days, which comprise the Florifertum. Goats and hares were let loose as they represented fertility. Gift-giving for the season included small vegetables as tokens of sex and fertility.

The first five days of the games were theatrical performances. Day and night there were games (ludi Florales), pantomimes, theater and stripteases with people of all classes in their brightest clothes. The courtesans and prostitutes of Rome regarded the day as their own, performing naked in the theater and possibly fought in the gladiatorial arena.

When Augustus became Pontifex Maximus, he built a chapel to Vesta in his own house on the Palatine, and dedicated it on this day, which was made a public holiday.

I have decided to quit the gym since I only manage to get there about once a week, if that. Since I plan on going back to school in the fall, I can use the gym there for “free.” But currently I am paying $29 for a service I may only use four times in a month.

I am a terrible procrastinator… I often wait to the last minute to pay bills and not because I don’t have the money. I just put off writing the checks to the last minute. Well, I’m not procrastinating on school. I just sent off a request for an admissions counselor, so the ball’s in their court. Hopefully they’re not procrastinators too, and I’ll get a call tomorrow to set up an appointment. I need to know if I’m still eligible for grants and financial aid since I used them last time to get my associates in liberal arts. I do not want to take out loans if I can help it. I hate spending money I don’t have.

I keep saying I want to open my own bookstore… but I never actually Do anything about it. So… now I’m doing something about it. I don’t figure things can go on at Borders like they have been. I just feel… very insecure about my future there (or anywhere that I have to depend on someone else for my livelihood really). I’d rather depend upon me. At least I know if I let myself down, I only have myself to blame. I hate having to wait on corporate to tell me to do something that’s already obvious. Worse, I hate when corporate tells us to do something which is totally insane… like when they tell me to put up a display of books which we haven’t received yet, are not slated to receive ever, or which have a release date far in advance of the date they want them displayed. I really and honestly don’t think they have any idea what they are doing half the time. If any of them ever did an honest day’s work in their lives, it was a long time ago. Now they just push papers and get ideas into their heads which are pure fantasy. I just don’t have any respect for them. I don’t think they’d know how to do my job if they had to or that they respect the work that I do. I’m all for pulling together and working as a team and everyone has their job to do… but frankly, I don’t know what it is that they do aside from telling me what to do, and they don’t even do that very well.

It’s not that I don’t like working at Borders. I love it. I’ve never been happier at any job… my boss is the best boss I’ve ever had (though I have had some really, Really bad jobs in my life, so I may be biased). Most of the people I work with are wonderful non-conformists. But I hate some of the policies handed down from on high… like no talking about religion or politics… or no hair dyed “unnatural colors” and no visible tattoos. Well, the last two are only in the cafe, but we try to be considerate of the barristas’ feelings and have a show of solidarity. I don’t have any tattoos though that’s not to say I might not get one or more some day. I’ve actually been thinking of getting a dragon on the back of my neck, just below my hairline. I wanted a rose in the palm of my hand at one time, but the tattoo artists all said that it would be unethical to put a tattoo there since the hand sees so much wear. I really wouldn’t mind green hair either. It’s always been my favorite color… and what’s more natural than green?? heh

And I absolutely hate the fact that we can’t tell bad customers when they’re bad or put them in their place when they’re behaving badly. Half the problem with customer service is that customers get away with acting like spoiled brats and businesses are too afraid to “lose customers” if they don’t capitulate. A customer who is happy will supposedly tell one or two other people, while the myth goes that an unhappy customer will tell approximately ten others how unhappy they were. Personally, I’d rather not have that kind of customer, let alone ten more just like them. So I’d have no problem with a miserable customer who told ten of their miserable friends not to shop in my store. So much the better if I don’t have to put them in their place too. lol

But what really gets my goat is the taboo placed on political and religious discussion. As I’ve said before, making any subject taboo only invites ignorance. I strive to be as open-minded and informed as possible.  Not only do restrictions placed on discussion increase ignorance, they also play right into the hands of our leaders who have come to value an uninformed populace. In what has come to be called the age of information, I still find that most people (in the meat world) are woefully uninformed. It’s disturbing and disheartening. With all the information available to us, there are still so few that make the effort to assimilate it. Our Latin name is Homo Sapiens Sapiens… man the wise, the wise. We think so highly of our intelligence that we have to make much of it, twice. Why then do so few people make use of the intelligence they’re born with? Sad, sad, sad. We should be called Homo lectus tuberosum…. Man the couch potato. Eh… I think you can tell I am not overly impressed with our species. lol

Beyond that… I really think the business decisions Borders has been making lately are questionable. People are still asking us if we’re closing, and I can’t blame them. All our shelves are loose and floppy because they keep telling us to send more and more books, CDs, and DVDs back to the distributors. The only thing we’re getting quantity of are books that have been on some show or another and so have been advertised. And everything that’s been advertised is all the same kind of stuff. There’s no diversity. They want us all to look the same, all the books to be the same, all the music and movies to be socially acceptable…. I feel like I am being smothered by a conspiracy of conformity. Considering one of the “selling points” when I became employed by Borders was their “pledge to diversity,” I’m starting to feel somewhat betrayed. I’m not just worried about my job, but everyone else’s too.

You know… I don’t usually last much more than three years at any job, and I’ve been at Borders almost five. I keep feeling like something is going to happen that makes me leave, one way or another. Usually the problem is a combination of boredom and dissatisfaction with how I am treated, but I am treated fairly well by my immediate boss and who could be bored at a bookstore?

The Floralia begins tonight.

I need more sleep. I never seem to get enough. It’s not that I lack energy… but I am just tired. Or maybe it’s my allergies. I can never really tell. The way my eyes feel from lack of sleep is exactly the way they feel from my allergies. Sometimes I wish I could just go about my day to day business with my eyes closed. I hate driving because I can’t close my eyes. When I am on the road, I have to remain vigilant against all those lunatic drivers out there. Can’t shut my eyes for an instant. There’s actually a sign up near where I live that says Caution: Aggressive Drivers. I have to wonder, if the police know that there are aggressive drivers in a specific area… why do I never see the police staking it out for a speedtrap. And what color cars do aggressive drivers use? She I be watchful for the red cars or is it the yellow…? Or maybe it’s just the Hummers… They look like they’d just as soon roll over you as drive behind you.

I don’t like driving and never have. I was 22 before I got my license, and that was only because my mother badgered me into it. When I was just learning to drive, I saw a little black snake sunning itself on the tarmac and I almost rolled over it. If I had killed it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to drive after that. If I killed something (aside from bugs) with my car, I would probably have to stop driving altogether. I cringe with I see animals pulped in the road… even if it makes the ravens happy. How can people hit so many of them….? How fast are they moving that they can’t avoid hitting such a little thing. Are they just unobservant? It’s a wonder more kids don’t get hit, if that’s the case.

The other night, there was major traffic accident on my way home from work that made me take an alternate route. It was nearly midnight, so much harder to see little critters attempting a night crossing. Still, I managed to miss the dark brown furball that darted into the road as I headed home at 55MPH. Even though I was virtually on top of it when it decided to attempt suicide. So if I can avoid hitting whatever the heck it was, how come there are so many possums, raccoons, fox, and deer lying dead by the road. I mean what the H___ people? What if all the animals you’ve hit with your cars were people? How would you feel if you were hit by a car? Even if you don’t care that the animal is as alive as you are, it still has a central nervous system. It can still feel pain. The quality of pain an animal feels is just as real as the pain you would feel in the same situation.

Ugh… I just really don’t like cars. I don’t like how dangerous they are. I don’t like how they affect the environment. Even the “good” cars are bad for the environment, just not quite as bad as the bad cars. The price of gas keeps going up and the quality keeps going down. Have you noticed that the gas you fill your tank with just doesn’t last as long as it used to? It’s not as if I’m driving any more than I used to, but it seems like I’m filling up a lot more often. I am convinced there they are adding something to the gas or mixing it with something that gives it more volume and less oomph.

Even without emissions issue, rubber from the tires, chips of paint, and litter find their way into the environment. The litter especially infuriates me. Is it so hard to keep a small bag in your car for trash? It’s not like you can’t get a bag at any place you shop at. Even most takeout places will give you a bag these days. The world is not your garbage can people. Honestly, the environment can take care of itself, But that doesn’t mean you can push the limits to see how close you can get to the breaking point.

The problem is that we come from a throw away society. Long ago, or at least before I was born, some idiot… probably a republican, decided that making things to break, sooner rather than later, stimulated the economy because then we would have to go out and buy a replacement. That was the day people stopped taking pride in their work….stopped taking pride in their creations. That’s the day the value of everything was lost. If something is made to be discarded, how valuable can it be? Try as we might, no matter how well we take care of something, even for sentiment’s sake, it will last a couple years, and that is that.

I don’t want to pick on the Christians, but it is kind of a Christian idea that the world was put here for humans to Use. They try to imply that it has no value aside from our ability to use it. That a tree has no value aside from it’s ability to be turned into paper or furniture or mulch. That a mountain has no value aside from our ability to rip out its guts and smelt them into raw materials. That the ocean has no use aside from its ability to process raw sewerage and provide us with food (I know, ewwww). That the sky is just as beautiful gray with smog as it is when it’s the perfect blue that makes your breath catch in your throat.

I just wish that people could see the value in things beyond how they can be used. We need to break away from this throw away attitude. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle… you know, it’s really not enough. We have to start making things more durable, make them to last like they used to. Most things won’t even last one generation, let alone two or three. Things aren’t treated any more lovingly than our environment. We need to give value to more than our own desires. We need to respect what we are given in this life as a gift, not as a right.

In the Republic of Sierre Leone, New Year’s Day is devoted to a seed sowing ceremony designed to appease the goddess of fertility.

I had a doozy last night.

At first, there was just this family, heading home from the woods. I’m not sure if they had been camping or picnicking, but when they arrived home, the mother gave the daughter crystal family heirloom. It was a mulberry colored ovoid crystal which fit comfortably in her palm. When the girl held it, the crystal seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. As the days continued, the pulse grew stronger.

Then one night, there was a meteor shower. The following day, these…. things started wiping out anything living. You couldn’t really see them because they were invisible, but they were huge alien monsters which ate anything in their path. People were saying that maybe they were what wiped out the dinosaurs or some kind of alien invasion or a force of nature or demons and all kinds of crazy stuff. Nothing could stop them, mostly because they couldn’t be seen. Even the army couldn’t track them with infrared, heat, or motion sensors. Mankind was virtually wiped out over night. The cities were deserted, mostly because the creatures liked to hide out in the deserted buildings and ambush anything that came to close.

like trapdoor spiders

Now back to this girl with the crystal. For some reason, it allowed her
to sense the creatures and avoid them. Sometimes she could “almost” see
them and sometimes it was more like a smell that warned her that they
were near.

 
They looked like the Garthim from the Dark Crystal
There’s a sequel slated for 2009! Squeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

But the crystal allowed her and the people with her to avoid the creatures. It wasn’t long before the creatures got savvy to it though and started looking for her and the crystal. They weren’t just big dumb animals. They were actually intelligent aliens with unstoppable appetites, or rather, aliens who were constantly hungry, though they could control their appetites if they chose to. They didn’t need to eat all the time. They were sort of like camels in that they could eat as much as they wanted when the resources were available and store the excess for the future.

The girl nearly came across a wounded alien. Because she had the crystal, the alien was unable to harm her… which was really irritating for the alien. Instead, it changed its shape so that it looked human and the people took him in and tended his wounds without realizing what he was. Though thanks to the crystal the girl had her suspicions, she couldn’t say anything because she didn’t have any evidence. While he was recovering from his wounds, he planned how he would steal the stone, but the longer he stayed with them, the more he liked them. Eventually, he decided he didn’t want to eat people any more. Instead he opened a zoo….?

At this point, the aliens had mostly retreated to the moon because they couldn’t find enough to eat any more. So they terraformed the moon and went to sleep. But only twenty years later, they sent a probe to the earth, which was a globe of moon rock about the size of a house with a forest and deer on it (?), to check to see if they could come back to feed again. The alien incognito had to reveal what he was in order to warn everyone that his people were returning.

St. Mark’s Day coincided with the Roman festival of Robigalia. To protect crops from mold, Roman citizens proceeded to a grove outside the city each year and sacrificed a dog and a sheep to Robigus and Robigo (or Rubigo), the god and goddess of mildew. The goddess was asked to “gnaw” on the iron of swords rather than crops and farming implements because weapons were not needed in a world of peace.

Three Butterflies Dreaming

Adrift…
yes, rudderless
on these turbulent seas
of delusion… calling… calling…
out to
the night
bring me safely home again through
darklit memories of
another day
now gone.

Confused

by emptiness,

we dream fast to fill it.

Reality expands dripping

wet from

the womb

of thought… an ugly squalling thing

loved for its novelty,

an ember soon

fading.

Dreams all
muddled, diffuse…
dimmed by the opening
of an eye. Which one illusion,
which one
a dream?
Reality, a scheme hatched by
a nightmare consensus,
reflects the days’
mirage.


Each of these three poems is a butterfly cinquain, hence the name of the poem. The three cinquains together make up a quintile, which is any collection of cinquains centered on the same theme.

St. Mark’s Eve is a night for divining the future. A young woman
wishing to discover the identity of her future lover would fast after
sunset and make a cake during the night containing an eggshell of salt,
wheat meal, and barley meal. Opening the door to her dwelling place,
her future husband would enter to turn the cake.

According to folklore, the ghosts of all men, women, and children destined to pass away in the next year could be seen floating by on this night if a person were brave enough to spend the night awake on the front porch. If they were unfortunate enough to fall asleep during the vigil, or if they failed to repeat it annually for the remainder of their life, they would not wake up again the following morning. Doesn’t seem quite worth effort, does it…?

Writer’s Choice Featured Question #1

D. Should there ever be limits to the, “Freedom of Speech?” Why?  L_O_R_D_X101

This is a loaded question, but just the kind I like…

Should there be limits on freedom of speech? No, of course not. Individuals should have the presence of mind to self-censor depending upon their company or audience, but I take issue with writers and movie makers who censor their work to appease the over-sensitive censors.

Now let’s face it… our rating system for movies sucks… because it’s not a rating system, it’s a censorship program. Producers end up self-censoring in order to get a PG or PG-13 rating as opposed to an R. Personally, I’m more interested in seeing an R rated movie than one that’s self-censored itself to placate the Oprah-infatuated masses. I know that the producers like to appeal to the widest market available to make more money, but by appealing to the broadest audience possible, it ends up appealing to no one.  Really horror movie makers… stick to your guns or don’t bother making a scary movie at all. A PG or PG-13 horror movie might as well be Disney.

If I go to a horror movie, it’s because I want to be scared. It’s an adrenaline rush. I’m an adult. I like R rated movies. But they just don’t make too many of them any more and the ones that get an R rating are usually for nudity. I’d rather just be told there’s nudity, and I’ll avoid it myself. I don’t feel that nudity or sex forwards the plot of a horror movie whatsoever. The problem is that people are going to let their little kids watch these movies despite the fact that they know they’re too young, so the movie producers “dumb it down” to make it more palatable for children of irresponsible parents. The whole movie experience is ruined by the rating system anticipating these irresponsible parents and their negligence.

But that’s not to say that a system of labeling movies wouldn’t be useful if it was actually accurate. The same goes for books… they’ve been discussing a way to rate books for years. (They do rate manga by age.) Now I may be jaded by the fact that when I was a kid, they didn’t have the selection of kid oriented titles they do now and so I grew up reading adult books (I learned to read on Tolkien), but books are pretty much already rated by genre. The same should be true of movies, don’t you think? If a movie’s horror, shouldn’t that automatically mean that’s it’s probably not suitable for kids? They do have children’s and young adult sections now, so it’s pretty easy for kids to find non-adult books to read in various genres (though I make a habit of reading the occasional kid’s book and some of them [last Harry Potter book, Bartimaeus trilogy] should be reassigned to young adult or adult). It’s really not too hard to find books of the appropriate level if you use your common sense parents. I hate parents who come into the store and ask why there’s no age recommendation on the back of the book. Um, it’s because it’s already a kids book. Stop trying to pigeonhole your child’s potential by only giving them books for their age-group. I was reading college level books by fifth grade. Heck, some parents censor books based on their religion. (No doubt some parents would freak out over my Pagan holiday entries at the bottom of every post.) Way to teach your kids to have an open mind mom and dad. Better to expose your kids to diversity at a young age than keep the blinders on until they join the real world.

Our illustrious leaders keep saying that we’re heading into a recession and that is why people are not stimulating the economy by spending their money in stores. Bullcrap. The reason people aren’t spending their money in stores is because they’re putting it all in their gas tanks. People are being more frugal because they can see how fast the money goes when they fill up. But that hasn’t stopped bookstores and other retailers from kowtowing to the pop culture media(whores) and stocking their shelves only with things that have received the Oprah/NPR thumbs up. In effect, the retailers have begun censoring their own wares by only stocking things which have been advertised in the hope of luring customers in who are already familiar with their stock. It’s disgusting. What if you are not someone who listens to radio or watches tv? What if you’re just a reader who likes to wander in and see what what? You just can’t find good books on the shelves any more unless someone’s paid someone off to get it on a list of bestsellers or Oprah says it’s good. We’re not allowed to make up our own minds.

Freedom of speech is being killed by censorship “for the public good” and the alleged economic depression. People are still free to say any darn thing they want, but getting it into print or onto the big screen is another thing again. If the censors say change this, this, and that or you’ll get an R rating, and the director of a movie does so in order to avoid the stigma of a “bad” rating, then they are giving up their freedom of speech. If a major bookstore does not carry a book because it hasn’t received national advertisements or endorsements from “popular” shows, then how is that any different from censorship? If the book is on the shelf, someone may see it. If the book never makes it to the shelf and receives no advertisement for whatever reason, then the expression of the writer has been stifled.

No one has the right to limit a person’s freedom to speak or share with others their artistic vision. That includes critics, censors, and stores which make the media available. Just because these tactics aren’t obviously curtailing people’s right to free speech doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening. It’s just too subtle for most people to notice. It’s not some kind of conspiracy (except where the censors and rating commission is concerned); people are still free to research new titles and order them. Just don’t expect to walk in and find it on a shelf. Supposedly it’s just “good business” to carry things which have already been advertised, except the stores don’t even know that they’re shooting themselves in the foot by stocking only the most homogenized media available.

Thus… my rant ends and I will self-censor by giving myself a B rating for my one (tiny) naughty word.

April 23rd

The Vinalia Priora was held in honor of Jupiter and Venus. The wine of the previous year was broached, and a libation from it poured on the grass. Later on August 19th, there was the Vinalia rustica. Astarte, Tanith, Aphrodite, and Venus Erycina were also honored. Myrtle and the mint were offered with bands of rushes hid in clustered roses by woman seeking the goddess’ favor.

Earth, divine goddess, Mother Nature, who dost generate all things and bringest forth ever anew the sun which thou hast given to the nations; Guardian of sky and sea and of all Gods and powers; through thy influence all nature is hushed and sinks into sleep… Again when it pleases thee, thou sendest forth the glad daylight and nurturest life with thine eternal surety; and when the spirit of man passes, to thee it returns. Thou art indeed rightly named Great Mother of the Gods; Victory is thy divine name. Thou art the source of strength of peoples and gods; without thee nothing can either be born or made perfect; thou art mighty, Queen of the Gods. Goddess, I adore thee as divine, I invoke thy name; vouchsafe to grant that which I ask of thee, so shall I return thanks to thy godhead.
                                             –the Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Barbara G. Walker, from 12th century English herbal

The first Earth Day took place in 1970 as a result of the Ecology Movement. Since then, it has been held each year to help encourage recycling programs, the use of solar energy, and to increase community awareness of important environmental issues. As a day dedicated to Mother Earth, it is a time for witches throughout the world to perform Gaia-healing rituals. But up until recently, the Earth had always been a sacred entity, revered above all other deities.

Once upon a time, the Earth was held in great regard, as a singular, nurturing entity to whom we owed our lives. Have you ever wondered why older people may sometimes express disapproval when someone spits on the ground? This may stem from the belief that spitting on the earth is like spitting on your mother. It shows your lack of respect and gratitude for the gifts we have been given.

In ancient Rome, they believed in the Genius Loci, the spirit of the place. Every place has its own patron spirit. Sometimes this was a god or goddess (Athena protected Athens), and sometimes it was lesser, unidentified spirit, but this spirit was always to be respected and honored. Like household spirits in European and Slavic countries, if you disrespected such entities, your luck could be turned upside down. A helpful home spirit could become quite vicious. Aside from messing up the house, destroying your food, and treating you to some nasty tricks, the household spirit could also make you sick, destroy your prospects, and send you to the poor house in short order.

There was once a custom of assigning a protective spirit to watch over a building when it was first erected. This was done in early times by ritual sacrifice. Many scholars feel that this is where the superstitions surrounding phantom dogs come from. There is no evidence that humans were ever sacrificed for the durability of a building, though some assume that this was the case before animals were used in their place and folktales exist of such. In Slavic countries where earthquakes were common however, there was a custom of stabbing a man’s shadow at any new construction site so that his spirit would preserve the building. Such a person was supposed to become a vampire upon death though, so I can’t imagine this was ever a very popular method of ensuring the building would not fall down. Another vampire myth is also that the vampire must rest in the earth it was buried in. This evolved from an ancient belief that people should be buried in the earth they were born to. Many ancient peoples died in the lands they were born to rather than give way to invaders. They felt their lives were worthless if they were not reunited with the earth of their homeland at death.

The Japanese also seek to propitiate the spirits of the earth (Kami) whenever they change the landscape. This is what feng shui is all about. The Japanese hold a ceremony called Jichinsai in order to calm the spirit of earth when they build a new building or other installations. The Kannushi, a priest of Shinto, prays for the success of the building. It was believed that if someone built a new house without permission from the spirit of the earth, the spirit might get angry and destroy the building.

Up until the Renaissance, English farmers still revered Erce, eorthan modor (Earth, mother of earth) when sewing their crops. Just as Russian farmers still call on Mati-Syra-Zemlya (Moist Mother Earth). Rather than swear an oath on the Bible, a Russian peasant would clutch a bit of earth to his head and invoke the curse of the Mother if he broke his vow. Even the Greek Gods swore by the Mother Earth (Gaia or Rhea) when they sought to make an unbreakable vow.

Some Christians criticize Pagans for worshiping the earth saying that we are worshiping the creation, not the creator. But early man made no distinction between the two, and why should there be? The Earth supports us and nurtures us in every way. Without the Earth, we would not be here. It existed before us and would be perfectly capable of existing without us. As a race, humanity has forgotten gratitude. More reverence is due the mother of us all.

What is the best thing about having a Pagan friend?
They worship the ground you walk on.

April 22nd

The Lyrids meteor shower began on the sixteenth and will continue till the twenty-fifth. It peaks on or around this day and is associated with the comet Thatcher.

So, inspired by AntiSoccerMom‘s post Dear Featured Questions, I decided to do a little “dumpster diving” into the Featured Question‘s chatboard. Supposedly all the featured questions come from their chatboard… but very few of them ever get selected as the featured question… and the queue only goes back to August of last year. I know I submitted at least one suggestion before that, but I guess they don’t hold on to anything past… eight months? In any event, they have more than enough questions to have a new featured questions every day, but selection is so erratic… sometimes we get one a week and sometimes we get two or three in a day. And let us not begin to discuss how awful the selected question usually is. I really don’t know who makes the choice, but the majority of chosen questions usually appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I don’t know about you, but I feel a question that can be answered with a simple, one to two sentence reply is hardly worth answering at all. Why base an entire post on it? A question that can be answered with one word is even worse. And what is your weirdest food combination? That gets featured why? With all the great questions languishing away in the chatboard…. why do we get something like that dumped on us? BTW, mint chocolatechip ice cream with butterscotch syrup… which I can have only rarely because of the chocolate allergy. See… one sentence answer… waste of time. 

So I’ve decided…. if the featured question manager/creator/whatever cannot be bothered to select any of the good questions wasting away in the queue, why don’t I go in and pick some out for everyone? Every Monday, I’m going to go into the featured question chatboard and select five of the oldest questions abandoned in the chatboard queue until I get closer to the present. Then it will be one a week, every Monday. In the meantime, feel free to post your own suggested questions here as a comment to this post and future writer’s choice posts, instead of the featured question site, since if you have a Good question, chances are it will never be featured over there. Leave the featured question site to the uninsightful and unimaginative. 

Answer one question or use them all as writing prompts in the coming week. And recommend these Writer’s Choice posts to your subscribers so that they know there’s an alternative to the humdrum featured questions that have been so far foisted upon us. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make the featuredq or fq# tag automatically appear like the official featured question does, so if we want to keep track of our fqs as opposed to the xanga-run fqs, we’ll have to manually add our own tags to our posts. May I suggest writerschoicefq and wcfq1a, wcfq1b, etc for each of the chosen questions?

first five questions for this week
(from the featured question chatboard and dated from August of 2007)

A. If you were sexually assaulted and got pregnant from it, would you keep the baby or have an abortion? TakingxOverxMe

 

B. If your best friend has a significant other that cheats on him or her and you know, would you tell the friend even if the significant other treats them very well and makes them happy? Why?
ehnvied

 

C. Why are featured questions so mundane and boring?
wayside_taco (This Xangan no longer exists, by the way. Take from that whatever meaning you like.)

 

D. Should there ever be limits to the, “Freedom of Speech?” Why?
L_O_R_D_X101

 

E. If you were really really really hungry, practically starving, and you miraculously found 1.50 in your jean pocket, so you go to McDonalds, overjoyed that you can finally eat something to shut your stomach up, and you’re just walking out of McDonalds… looking forward to eat that Junior Chicken…and you see a homeless person on the street begging for food, not money… what would you do?
carmen456654

April 21st
(no entries)