Month: December 2008

  • My Early New Years Resolution
    I discovered a social networking site for Pagans, and I've been exploring it for about week now. It's very active. I like it for the most part. Figured I'd give you all a heads up if you feel like joining... Paganspace.net

    I had a weird dream last night and I know it was longer than this, but all I can remember was jumping into the ocean and looking for deep sea critters that were "my friends," but the water was too murky to see anything.

    I've decided, whether or not I manage to open my own online bookstore next year, I can't work another year in the mall. I will absolutely lose my mind if I do. At the very least, I can't do another holiday there. So I'm going to start looking for another job... maybe in a library.   Or maybe somewhere where I can just do research for people. Does anyone know of a job like that? I know they're out there. I just need to find one... even one where I could telecommute (ie send my research wherever it needs to go in a file). I just can't work with so many people any more. Something will snap. I'll either freak on someone and be arrested or become a huddled pool of human misery hiding under a table. They'll have to coax me out with peanut butter cookies.

    It feels like I'm only working for others and never myself. At this point, I'm not even working for a paycheck. I mean, the money's nice, but it only holds me to the job in so far as I need to pay bills. Beyond that, I've worked for less and I've worked for more. It gets to the point where you have to consider whether the amount of money you're making is worth the stress, and it's not. I love the people I work with and to some extent I still love my job, but it's the corporate BS and the retail holiday-hell that I just cannot take. I've had so many headaches lately, and I put on weight after I was sick back in February, and it's just not coming back off. I don't eat right at work, plus stress and lack of sleep make the metabolism go all kaput.

    Seriously, if anyone hears of anything they think I might like to do, send me a link or the info so I can apply. I'm starting to feel like Atlas... getting ready to shrug.
    December 5th


    On the Eve of St. Nicholas, children put out carrots and hay for his horse. Their good deeds were rewarded with presents.



    Aleister Crowley died today in 1947.


    Bast Goes Forth from Bubastis on the 20th day of Tybi.



  • Acorns, Terra-forming, and Responsibility
    I heard today that oak trees are dropping 60% less acorns in the North East, in some areas, none at all. Tough luck for squirrels, said the DJ. Now they're saying that it's just coincidence... that different species of oak have different cycles wherein they produce more or less in different years, and that this is nothing out of the ordinary, though it's a phenomena that's been documented from Nova Scotia all the way down to Virginia.

    It's been a weird year.... I've seen so many dead animals by the side of the road, late into the year. Usually it's a spring thing to see so many animals dead because they're hungry from the long winter or they're looking for a mate. This year, I'm still seeing "fresh" carcasses by the side of the road. Squirrels mostly, but also deer and it's pretty late in the season for deer to be showing up by the side of the road. I suppose the dead animals are the lucky ones. They won't starve this year from lack of acorns.

    I love how they always try to downplay any odd thing that occurs in nature. It's not abnormal, it's cyclic... but if it wasn't abnormal and was clearly cyclic, why would this be the first time that it's caused a raised eyebrow? Are we just more aware of how we've trashed our environment and so this event makes the "experts" aware enough of public concern to head off any doomsday sentiment at the pass?

    No, but seriously... doesn't the fact that they're trying to write this off as a cyclic coincidence that's never happened before strike any one else as too pat an explanation? I'd be the first to admit that I am a paranoid sort of person, but I've got good reason not to trust an explanation that came before we even knew there was an issue. Seems like they waited to inform people of the oak tree issue until they had a pat answer. Seems like that to me any way. Global warming? Pollution? A new tree disease? They seem like much more reasonable explanations that a random cyclic syncing of acorn output. Maybe the fay are angry and told the trees to keep their nuts to themselves. Maybe Thor or Zeus are mad (both are gods of oak trees)... everyone keep an eye on the sky for lightning....

    All this got me to thinking... one of the reasons deserts spread is due to human intervention. In western America, we uncovered an ancient desert under farmland in what has popularly been called the "dust bowl." Changes in the topography cause changes in weather patterns. A desert dries the air above it and reduces rainfall in surrounding areas. The desert spreads.

    It got me to thinking of Terra-forming. Certain plants catch the earth and hold it from erosion. That's what happened in the dust bowl. Years of irresponsible and uneducated farming on land that couldn't support the type of farming that was being done caused the topsoil to be blown away by high winds and uncovered the desert beneath. So what if we reintroduced heat loving ground cover at the edges of the desert and progressed inwards, moving from light ground cover to heavier as we progressed. The ground cover would reduce erosion and increase water retention making it easier for less hardy plants to gain a foot hold. Eventually, we might restore the land to what it was before it was blown away.

    I know this doesn't have anything to do with acorns, but I think we as a species really do need to take more responsibility for the changes we cause to the surface of our planet. We are only caretakers for the next generation and how we treat the world pretty much dictates whether there will be a next generation or not. There are changes to be made, not just in how we handle our waste products (pollution, excrement, etc) but in how we reverse damage that our forefathers caused. We can't just sit around and say it wasn't our fault because we weren't there. It is our fault if we consider them of our people, even if they were not of our generation. Don't you agree?

    I don't think the lack of acorns is natural. I don't think it was cyclic. I think it was us, if not directly, then indirectly through a variety of issues that lead back to us. The longer we "let things go" the more serious these interruptions in the natural order will become. But something to keep in mind... when you break the food chain, it's broken. It may become so broken that the environment will no longer sustain us, even if our population is reduced intentionally or by happenstance.

    Hey.... pass me some of that Soylent Green....
    December 4th

    St. Barbara, identified with Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom and the arts, was honored today. She is also patroness of California.



  • WCFQ 26b: What I learned from Fairy Tales



    What's your favorite fairy tale?
    TakingxOverxMe

    I really had to think about this one. When I was a kid, fairy tales were my thing. Outside of books on mythology, I consumed fairy tales like they were going out of style (which they mostly are actually if sales at work are any indication). I would read the same books over and over again. I remember the school library had a collection of fairy tale books that were known by their various colors. There was the red book, the blue book, the green book, etc. I read Russian fairy tales and the Brothers Grimm... I read anything that came my way.

    I really do think that part of my personality was directly drawn from the stories I read. Fairy tales taught me chivalry and fairness, kindness and compassion. Fairy tales taught me that courtesy and integrity will take you farther than brutality and selfishness any day. Fairy tales taught me that you get what you earn, to share what you have with those who have less, and to be courteous even to the people that other people cringe from because you never know who might be a fairy in disguise. In fairy tales, there is a repayment for every kindness or slight. Fairy tales were the original "pay it forward."

    It's hard to pinpoint my favorite tale, but the few that immediately spring to mind were real fairy tales, not stuff like Little Red Riding Hood or The Seven Dancing Princesses. Those were more like early horror stories. No, my favorite stories involved Mother Holle or Baba Yaga (I really am fond of Russian fairy tales, though I am neither Russian nor do I recall any past lives from Russia). I also liked Cap o' Rushes as a child. In short, I was most fond of the stories where the character got what they deserved, wherein a lesson was taught. But really the stories of Baba Yaga are my favorite fairy tales of the three. It was years before I knew that Baba Yaga (and Mother Holle) was also a goddess.

    If you're not familiar with any of these fairy tales or the various colored fairy books, I've provided you with links to them! Yes! They are all online! I love the internet! Woot! Reading the fairy tales will be like getting an exclusive look at my psyche. lol In addition, I consider fairy tales a primer for spellwork. It gets you to thinking about possibilities and even components.



    December 3rd


    Bona Dea, the Good Goddess, was honored today. Vestal Virgins in Rome conducted secret ceremonies from which males were barred. She is also worshipped as Cybele, Rhea, or the Mother goddess.



    The 18th day of Tybi commemorates the going forth of the Netjeru of Abydos.



  • WCFQ 26e: Language, a barrier no more
    If you could change the world in one way,
    what would you change?
    Perfectly_X_Unpefect


    If I could change the world in only one way, I would want everyone to be able to understand any language, spoken or written. There could be no more misunderstandings because everyone would understand exactly what the other person was trying to convey. There would no longer be any ambiguity over what a person "meant" when s/he said such and such. Imagine... trolls would disappear over night! lol

    But seriously, without the ambiguity of language, nations could no longer use the language barrier as an excuse for their actions. There could be dialogue between diverse religions because words could no longer be misconstrued or taken the wrong way, that is of course, providing the words were not meant as a slur in the first place.

    You could go anywhere in the world and expect to be understood and understand without difficulty. You could pick up Dostoevsky in the original Russian and read it without worrying that the translator took liberties with ambiguous terms.

    Language is really the biggest stumbling block to proper dialogue between any dissenting parties. If we could all speak and read any language, other little issues would surely evaporate in enough time. At the very least, no one would malign another person for speaking with an accent, or speaking a language poorly when visiting a foreign place.




    December 2nd

    Buddhists pay homage to the world's oldest documented tree. Planted in 288 BC, it is an offshoot of the tree Buddha gained enlightenment beneath.


    This is the feast day of Shiva in the Hindu religion.

    Gwyl o Rhiannon, the Feast of Rhiannon, begins at sundown.

  • Writers Choice Featured Questions Week 26
    five questions for this week

    unfeatured questions stolen from the featured question chatboard, dated from October of 2007

    Please use the new Share button to answer these. That makes it almost like the regular featured questions.

    What is the right way to go about teaching the religious origins of art, theater, and music in high school without pressuring teens and young adults into a religion?
    eddibear

    What's your favorite fairy tale?
    TakingxOverxMe

    If you were given a group of 100 colonists, men, women, and children, a ship's load of basic supplies, and governing power, where would you and your people settle, and how would you set up your new society?
    Guinoc

    What would the world be like if everyone said aloud everything that they thought?
    xXbUbBlEwRaPXx

    If you could change the world in one way, what would you change?
    Perfectly_X_Unpefect

    Answer any one or all of these questions in the coming week. I try to mix the whimsical with the serious here, so hopefully there is at least one question here for everyone. Again, since Xanga has been so thoughtful as to add the new SHARE button, please use that when answering any of these questions. Using the Share button allows you to answer the question almost in the same way that you would a normal Xanga-sponsored featured question.
    December


    Decima is the middle Fate in charge of the present. Though she presides over December, the month may have received its name because it was the tenth month of the Roman calendar. Vesta, patroness of fire also laid claim to the month of December. Called Aerra Geola, "the month before Yule," or Wintermonat, "winter month," by the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks called it Heilagmanoth, "holy month," and Wolfmoon is the Asatru name. Mii na Nollag or an Dubhlachd is December in Ireland, the dark season.

    The first Full Moon is the Moon before Yule or the Long Nights Moon. It is the Oak Moon, Big Winter Moon, or the Moon of Popping Trees. The name, Wolf Moon, is shared with January and February, and the Cold Moon may also be found in January.

    Sagittarius passes into Capricorn around December 22nd. The paper white is the birth flower for those born in December, and the birthstone is ruby, turquoise, chrysoprase, bloodstone, or lapis lazuli. Ruby or garnet is also the birthstone for Capricorns, while Sagittarius claims lapis lazuli. Amethyst, azurite, labradorite, pink tourmaline, ruby, sodalite, and topaz are also linked to Sagittarius, and other stones associated with Capricorn are amber, amethyst, carnelian, fire agate, green tourmaline, labradorite, peridot, and sapphire.
    December 1st


    Poseidon, god of the sea and rebirth, was honored today.