Month: April 2009

  • Dreaming of Pirate Booty

    I dreamed last night that there was a haunted house in the neighborhood. I convinced some rotten kids that there was treasure hidden inside (and actually hid a huge pile of Swedish fish inside). The kids went inside and found the fish and rejoiced at finding the “treasure,” but I had rigged the doors to lock when they got inside and so they couldn’t get out. They proceeded to scream and pound on the walls of the house, which was little more than a shack, until the whole neighborhood had gathered around the house to listen and laugh at them. I was walking around the neighborhood with candy bars hidden down my sweatshirt. Don’t ask me why. At one point I climbed a tree and was just watching all the crowds watching the house where the kids were caterwauling. Then I was up in a “crows nest” in the tree as if I were in an old pirate ship. I came down from the crows nest and there was a little boy walking round and round the house singing sea shanties. As I passed him, I joined in singing one… (actual shanty folks! lol)
    My son John was tall and slim
    and he had a leg for every limb
    but now he’s got no legs at all
    for he ran a race with a cannonball.

    Timmy roodundah
    follow riddle dah
    rack for the riddle
    Timmy roodundah

    Oh were you deaf or were you blind
    when you left your two fine legs behind
    Or were you sailing on the sea
    when you left your two fine legs right down to the knee

    Timmy roodundah
    follow riddle dah
    rack for the riddle
    Timmy roodundah


    In other news, I suggested two ideas to Xanga today. Feel free to go on over and cast your vote if you would be so kind. All Religions should have their own -ish sites and Show recommended posts as complete articles.




    April 10th

    This is the seventh and last day of the Megalesia. An array of the deities was carried through a procession, and horse races were held with the prize of the first palm.



    According to ancient Celtic folklore, the Sun dances each year on this day. In many parts of Ireland, people arise at the first light of dawn to watch the Sun “dance” in a shimmering bowl of water.



    Bau, the Goddess Mother of Ea, was honored each year on this day in ancient Babylon with a sacred religious festival called The Day of Bau.



    Birthday of Montague Summers in 1880, a folklore scholar.



  • WCFQ 43d: Obesity

    Does it bother you seeing obese people?
    Momma2babies34

    I know it’s not PC to be bothered by obesity, but it kind of does bother me when people are extremely fat. I’m not excessively thin myself, but when I see someone who is so overweight that it’s obviously causing them health issues or impairing their ability to walk, there’s a problem.

    I am 5’8″ and weigh about 210 pounds, so you can see… I’m overweight myself. But I’m well proportioned. When I tell people my weight, they usually don’t believe me. Technically, for my height, I should be around 140 pounds. I think that’s too thin actually. At the weight I’m at now, doctors would consider me “morbidly obese” but I don’t think I am. Overweight, yes, but not obese. I’d like to lose around 50-60 pounds. I’d be content with 40-50. My weight tends to be affected most by stress. I was down to 185 in 2007. Then I got sick at the beginning of 2008, and I’ve pretty much gained back all the weight I lost when I left the evil job I had in banking. Stress is my biggest enemy, because it’s not like I don’t eat right or am inactive. In fact, I constantly have to slow down when showing a customer where the item they are looking for is to be found.

    But obesity to me, morbid obesity, it describes someone who can barely stand, let alone easily walk anywhere without being out of breath. People who are morbidly obese, like my great grandmother was, are taxing their systems with all that extra weight. That’s why they can’t catch their breath. Such people need help. Lots of insurance companies won’t even help people with such extreme weight problems, and I think that’s just wrong. Obviously, when your weight has gotten to that point, you need outside help to bring it back under control. Either the weight is part of a medical condition or you have unhealthy habits, and you need professional assistance, medical or dietary.

    Now some might say that I’m a hypocrite because I’m not thin, but I don’t consider myself fat either, despite what “they” say a person of my height should weigh. I’m healthy. If anything is making me sick, it’s the stress that contributes to my weight, not my weight contributing to my occasionally poor health.

    So yeah, it bothers me when I see someone who is obviously obese to the point of illness. Not because fat people are gross or they disgust me, but because I worry about their health and I know that the insurance companies are not on their side. I wonder if they have stress problems like me or if they have some underlying medical condition which prevents weight loss or increases weight gain. I wonder about the jobs where they work and seeing as obesity is a widespread American problem, I wonder about the over all mental health issues caused by work that are contributing to stress related weight gain more so in American than in other countries. How is work stress in America different from work stress elsewhere? How can we change it? Is it in the attitudes of upper management who treat those under them as expendable numbers, or is it an underlying problem with the need to make more money in order to own more things? Until we identify the problem, there won’t be a solution.
    April 9th

    This is the sixth Day of the Megalesia.



    In the Portuguese territory of Macao on the peninsula along China’s south coast, the goddess A-Ma, patroness of sailors and fishermen, is honored.




  • I’ve wanted to streamline my tags for some time to make their basic themes more accessible to curious readers, so I think I’m going to “take the day off” from Xanga to work on my site design. Hope you don’t mind.




    April 8th

    This is the fifth Day of the Megalesia.



    The Cuchumatan Indians of Guatemala perform a special ceremony called Sealing the Frost after the corn is planted. In an attempt to protect the precious crop against winter’s return, they climb a nearby cliff where frost is said to live. The Shaman is lowered on a rope to a crack in the cliff’s face which he plasters up to seal in the cold.



    The Aztecs of Mexico held the feast of the Hummingbird in honor of warriors who had died in battle or offered their lives in sacrifice. They were thought to live in the sun for four years before returning as hummingbirds.



    Hana Matsuri, the birth of Buddha, and the Buddhist Flower festival are celebrated today.



  • WCFQ 43b: Anger and Empowerment

    Is anger ever a good thing?
    Eowyn86

    Anger can be destructive. In most case it is, whether it is directed inward or outward. Anger can drive people to do things in haste which they regret later. The long and the short of anger is that it is often a waste of energy. It is a balloon which, when let loose, will fly all over the place with loud blubbering sounds until it runs out of air. It is like lightning, awful to behold and destructive wherever it lands.

    But anger can also sustain a person who has precious little left in terms of self esteem. When I was in my teens, I decided to kill myself because no one loved me. I had no friends. The teachers were indifferent. The future was this big black blot, and I couldn’t see myself living in a world of ignorance and cruelty. There was supposedly a peer support group which was supposed to help out students that were having issues. Figuring if there was anyone who might listen to me, it would be them, I put a note in the locker to ask for help. And then I waited.

    I waited all day, but it was late in the day when I put the note in the locker. I thought, maybe tomorrow they’ll come and talk to me. But they didn’t. So I decided that if they didn’t come and talk to me by Friday, I would kill myself over the weekend.

    But a funny thing happened. When they didn’t come at talk to me by the end of the day Friday, I got angry. Really, super PO’d. I had a kind of epiphany. What was I letting these people do to me? Why was I letting them make me despondent and suicidal. Taking myself out of their lives would only be doing them a favor and why should I do any of them a favor? I decided to live to spite them. Maybe not the most auspicious reason to live, but it was anger at how I had been treated and neglected that saw me through my pain. If I hadn’t gotten angry, my bones might be lying at the bottom of the quarry right now, undiscovered and forgotten.

    So anger, is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the only thing that can elevate you above the influence of whatever abuse you’ve been letting slide off your back. True, it can give you a tremendous chip on your shoulder that’s hard to get rid of, but without it, you’re just a victim. I didn’t deserve to be bullied as badly as I was, or ignored by my family and teachers, or treated like a freak for being a nonconformist.

    The truth is, I was better than the people who hurt me and I always knew it, but I kept waiting for people to see it without ever actually asserting it. It wasn’t until I was motivated by anger and a sense of entitlement that I stopped taking people’s abuse. While my anger did make me rather aggressive and prone to sudden outbursts and threats when people tried to be funny with me, after a while they avoided me and that was all to the good. Even if I still didn’t have their respect, at least I wasn’t being victimized any more. Better they should think I was a complete nutjob than an easy mark.

    I no longer get as angry as I used to because I don’t internalize it as much as I did when I was a child. I don’t let it build up until I’m ready to kill myself or attack my abusers. Now when I get angry, it’s usually for someone else’s sake, like if I see someone abused in front of me or read or hear about something horrible that has happened to someone, especially a child. It makes me furious and hurts me so deeply I can’t even write a response to it when someone blogs about their experiences or posts a news article. I think that is why I write horror… so I can punish symbollically what I stop myself from doing to evil people in the real world. My anger is still useful for something…
    April 7th

    This is the fourth Day of the Megalesia.


    In Romania, offerings were made to the Blajini, “kindly ones,” the hidden spirits of water and the underworld.


    The Church of All Worlds was founded in 1972.



  • Writers Choice Featured Questions Week 43

    five questions for this week

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

    How do you think the world will look in 20 years?
    denise43534

    Is anger ever a good thing?
    Eowyn86

    What did you know or think about Islam before 9/11? After 9/11?
    flipnautick

    Does it bother you seeing obese people?
    Momma2babies34

    Do you think if some people back from the 1920s time traveled to now,would they be ashamed of us because of what we became?
    CobbWebbedCrotch


    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.
    April 5th

    This is the second Day of the Megalesia.



    This is the feast day if the Chinese goddess, Kwan-Yin or KwanShi-Yin, goddess of mercy, tolerance, and understanding.



    In China, this is Tomb Sweeping Day.



  • Poem: Food for thoughtlessness

    In honor of national poetry month, I’ve written a poem. It’s been a while. I tend to write not so nice poems, just so you know. I’m a bit of a downer when it comes to verse.


    a dream of elastic
    fingers flexible
    reaching, grasping, clutching
    hungry tentacles
    like worms burrowing
    another angry mouth
    telling another
    sad story….

    I did,
    you did,
    they did…
    or didn’t…

    Does it really matter?
    Did you really care
    one way or the other?
    Were you caught unawares?

    worms burrowing
    in one end and out
    the other retelling
    sad stories for the masses
    interchangeable
    indecipherable
    blind and hungry
    the eaten and the eaten
    April 4th

    This is the first day of the Megalensia or Megalesia, a festival in honor of the Magna Mater, Cybele. In commemoration of the arrival of the holy stone image of Cybele at Rome, the people held processions and games. From the fourth to the tenth of April at her temple on the summit of the Palatine, scenic plays, Ludi Megalenses, were held in her honor.


    On the 20th day of Pachons, Ma’at judges the souls before the Netjeru.




  • WCFQ 42e: The Humane Machine

    What does it mean to be “human”?
    Is it possible for a machine to be “human”?
    Coleslaw_From_Hell

    Being human…. is vastly overrated. Humanity has this elevated opinion of itself that is simply unwarranted. True we create things… art, music, literature, architecture. We take joy in our surroundings and use the act of creation to share that joy, but we also destroy and revel in that destruction. We clear cut forests, run inhumane and unsanitary slaughterhouses, abuse innocent animals and our own children, in short we run roughshod over the rest of nature and act as if it is our right. Is this what it means to be human? I’d rather be a tree.

    Give me a better definition of humanity and I’ll change my opinion, but as it stands, scientists are getting closer to creating “thinking” machines all the time. They’ve designed software to mimic our thoughts and emotions, even to create works of literature and art. Is it possible to create a machine which for all intents and purposes is human? Hopefully we can do better than that.

    I would never want a machine to be human. Humanity does not impress me. In science fiction, people fear the “human” machine, thinking it might replace us. So what if it did? That is the nature of evolution. Something comes along which is better equipped to adapt to the environment. We replaced other versions of humanity in the hominid family tree. At least if we created a machine which was more humane than human, we could content ourselves with the act of creating something better than the majority of us are capable of being.

    Does it sound as if I have a very low opinion of humanity. I do. So I don’t think we have very far to go in creating a machine which is “human,” or at least which mimics our better qualities. A machine which mimics our baser qualities on the other hand is a harder question. I doubt anyone is working on software that could make a machine capable of envy or selfishness. Why would anyone want to create a machine interested in self-directed destruction, of the ability to decide to kill or brutalize? We have more than enough humans to fill that bill. And then to further meld the duality which is humanity, wedding the opposites of aggression and passivity, of destructive potential to creative drive, only then would a machine be “human.” Otherwise, it would be better than human.

    But I can see this happening someday… someone will make a machine which is better than human, and humanity in its blind, selfish need to be supreme will demand the machine’s destruction. A machine embodying the very best of what it means to be human would accept its fate and be destroyed. Especially if it is saddled with the three laws of robotics. But some human scientist or inventor in a stubborn effort to preserve what’s been created,  will find a way to “improve” the perfect “human” machine by giving it all the mad, aggressive, and destructive tendencies left out of the design, thereby destroying the perfect machine and making it merely an inorganic human. What a waste. Better to be destroyed for being too good than be corrupted by the mundane.




    April 3rd

    Cybele, the Magna Mater, was honored with a Phrygian festival called the Megalesia which begins tonight. On the advice of the sibylline oracle on how to end the Punic wars, a meteorite which represented Cybele was brought from Phrygia to Rome in 204 BCE where it was installed in the Temple of victory on April 4th. The harvest that year was wonderful and the war ended the following year, giving rise to a parade in her honor in which her image was carried through the streets in a chariot drawn by lions, her animals. The castrated priests who served her, danced alongside, playing timbrels and cymbals and gashing themselves.



    This is the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson.



    The 19th day of Pachons is the Day of the Counting of Thoth Who heard Ma’at. 




  • WCFQ 42b: What to do, what to do…

    What would you like to know most right now?
    need_not_to_know

    Well, who wouldn’t want the winning lottery numbers, but aside from the breathing room a little (or a lot of) extra money would give me, the real things I’d like to know right now are what should I do next to realize my dreams… when should I do it… how should I do it…? Will I ever get out from under the thumb of my corporate overlords?

    Seriously, I’d have to look at this as if I were asking a djinni for a wish. The Djinn are notorious for twisting things all out of whack. So if I asked “will I ever get out from under the thumb of my corporate overlords,” the answer might be yes, but I’d be assuming I wouldn’t have to die for that to come to pass. What should I do next to realize my dreams… well the real question is, which dreams? I’d rather it not be the dreams where I accidentally end up somewhere in my underwear or get chased by weird hybrid creatures with wanton slaughter on their genetically altered minds… or some ironic combination thereof. On the other hand, what steps I should take to unleash extra-dimensional chaos on an unsuspecting world does hold a certain appeal….

    So the best question I could ask regarding what I want to know ‘right now’ is, what is currently the best course of action I could undertake in my life to ensure the well being of my mind, body, and soul for the longest period of time. Really that just about covers everything, right? I mean, maybe the winning lottery numbers would be in my best interests, or if playing the lottery is in my best interests, I wouldn’t even have to know the numbers if I was actually destined to win. Or maybe I should quit my job right frikkin now, forget about waiting for doom to befall and Borders to start closing stores. Maybe the psychological trauma of continuing to work at a place that no longer values me as a sentient lifeform isn’t worth the pay I receive to pay bills and support me in the lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed.

    Maybe the magic “so you want to know what to do” Djinni would tell me to leave the country. Hmmm, I could get behind that command. Ireland,  Australia, or Canada are really the only three choices, and if I’m asking what’s the best course of action, I’d have to assume the “question” Djinni would tell me exactly where to go and what to do in order to ensure my overall well being. Maybe the Djinni would tell me sink all my money into repurposing an abandoned oil-rig. Fun times.

    Who knows. Maybe alien invasion or the deadly life annihilating asteroid is imminent and the magic “question” djinni would tell me to head for the hills or dig a deep hole.




    April 2nd

    The day following All Fool’s Day is Preen-tail Day or Tailie Day in Scotland. Paper tails were attached to the backs of unsuspecting people as a joke.


    The 18th day of Pachons is the Day of Joy of the Ennead and crew of Ra.



  • April

    April

    March borrowed from Averil
    Three Days, and they were ill.

    Because the beginning of April is often stormy, it is said that first three days of April were borrowed by March, which comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb. In Ireland, they are called tri latha na boin ruaidhe, “the three days of the red cow.” However, a northern Ireland version extends the three days to nine. The old legend states that the blackbird, the stonechat, and the old gray cow mocked March after his days were done and that to punish their insolence, he begged of April nine of his days: three to fleece the blackbird, three to punish the stonechat, and three days for the old gray cow.

    The name of this month comes from the Latin word aperire, “to open.” This is appropriate for a month of blossoming flowers dedicated to Aphrodite. The Anglo-Saxon name for this month is Eastermonath and to the Franks it was Ostarmanoth, the month of Eostre the goddess of Spring and the true origin of Easter. The Asatru and many other Pagans simply call it Ostara. The Irish word for April is Aibrean or in Gaelic an Giblean, while the end of April is known as Seachtain an t-Sionnaich, end of the winds.

    The first Full Moon of this month is called Seed of Planting Moon, Budding Tree Moon, Egg Moon, or Growing Moon. Tribes in coastal areas referred to this as the Fish moon when Shad would come upstream to spawn. It is also referred to as Pink Moon for wild ground phlox, one of the earliest and widespread flowers of the spring, Full Sprouting or Green Grass Moon, Planter or Planting Moon, and Hare Moon, names it shares with May’s Moon. It also shares the name, Wind Moon, with March. April’s moon is also the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon of the spring season. 

    On April 20th, the zodiac turns from Aries to Taurus. The sweat pea is the flower for April children. Aries is the diamond, though on some older lists, sapphire is the stone for the month of April. The birthstone for Taurus is the emerald. Aries also lays claim to amethyst, carnelian, garnet, fire agate, pink tourmaline, and topaz, while aquamarine, lapis lazuli, kunzite, rose quartz, and sapphire are associated with Taurus.




    April 1st

    If it thunders on All Fools’ day
    it brings good crops of corn and hay.

    The tradition behind April Fool’s Day is uncertain. Though sometimes linked to a tradition of releasing insane people for one day a year for the amusement of “normal” folk, it is also considered sacred to Loki, the Norse trickster god, and it is acceptable to play tricks on people till noon. The day may even have evolved from the festival of Cerelia. An ancient Roman feast, it celebrated the story of Proserpina. Due to the hopelessness of Ceres’ quest to find her daughter, it has been called a “fool’s errand.”

    Some believe the celebration of April Fool’s Day began many years ago in France. It may even relate back to the ancient festivals held on the vernal Equinox, March 21st. This was the beginning of the new year according to the pre-Gregorian calendar. In France when the Gregorian calendar was changed by Charles IX in 1564, the beginning of the new year was changed and celebrated on January first. Those people who still celebrated the day on the first of April were then known as April Fools.

    Prior to the change of the date it was customary to give gifts on the first day of the year. When the date was changed, people began sending mock gifts to other people on April, making them April fools. In Scotland, the custom was known as “hunting the gowk,” (the cuckoo, a term of contempt), and April-fools were “April-gowks.” In France, a person who resisted in changing the date of the new year was victimized by pranksters who played practical jokes on him. This person became a poisson d’avril, an April Fish. The French traditionally celebrated by placing dead fish on the backs of friends, though today, real fish have been replaced with sticky, fish-shaped paper cut-outs that children try to sneak onto the back of their friends’ shirts. Candy shops and bakeries also offer fish-shaped sweets for the holiday. Some believe the origin lies in the weather of the vernal equinox which seems to fool all of mankind. In many countries however, April Fools’ Day is not celebrated on the first of April. In Mexico, Fools’ Day falls on the 28th of December, and in ancient Rome, the day was celebrated on the 25th of March. They observe the day on the 31st of March in India.

    The festival of Veneralia or Festum Verneris honors Venus “Goddess of Beauty, Mother of Love, Queen of Laughter, Mistress of the Grapes.” During the festivities, married women invoked the goddesses Concordia and Venus. The jewelry and decorations of Venus was removed from her statue. The figure was washed, dried, and the golden necklaces restored. Offerings of roses and other flowers, myrtle and incense were given. English folklore says myrtle won’t grow unless planted by a woman.

    Fortuna Virilis is also held today in honor of Fortuna. Today was a festival of good luck honoring the goddess Fortuna, Lady Luck, to whom all gamblers pray whether they know it or not. Originally, Fortuna Virilis was interpreted as “men’s fortune,” but by late classical times it came to be interpreted as “luck with men!” This was a time for women to seek good relations with men, and women “of the lower order” would pray to Fortuna in the men’s public bath.

    This is the 17th day of Pachons according to the Egyptian calendar. It is a day scared to Hathor.