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  • Writers Choice Featured Questions week 38

    five questions for this week

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

    Why is there so much hate in the world,
    if humans are supposedly the most compassionate
    of creatures?
    Coleslaw_From_Hell

    What’s your favorite weather? Why?
    i_heart_concussions

    Will we ever eliminate racism 100%?
    Why or why not?
    Kaykalee

    If money was no issue, would you work anyway
    or dedicate the majority of your time to
    non work related activities?
    tiffany_anne_co

    What is your ideal life? Safe? Happiness?
    angelina0907


    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.



    March 2nd


    This day is sacred to Ceadda, god of healing springs and holy wells. He is also known as Saint Chad of Lichfield. His symbol is the Crann Bethadh, the tree of life. Honor a holy well today by cleaning it and making an offering of flowers.


    The 17th day of Parmutit in the Egyptian calendar celebrates the Going forth of Seth, Son of Nut.





  • March

    Tattoo
    the webnovel so far…

    Chapter 1: Blood is Thicker
    Chapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
    Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
    Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
    Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
    Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
    Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbroken

    Chapter 2: A Farewell to Arms
    Chapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
    Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
    Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
    Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
    Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with  what she has
    Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an ass

    Chapter 3: Small Sacrifices
    Chapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
    Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
    Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
    Chapter 3.4  in which there’s more to the moon than meets the eye
    Chapter 3.5  in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
    Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
    Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened

    Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to Come
    Chapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
    Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
    Chapter 4.3 in which Glory adopts a pet
    Chapter 4.4
    in which Glory gets a surprise, but decides she should not have been surprised at all
    Chapter 4.5 in which Glory explains why there are no debts where duty is concerned
    Chapter 4.6 in which a shapeshifter is an enemy to no man
    Chapter 4.7 in which Glory defends Toby’s right to make a phone call
    Chapter 4.8 in which the nose knows
    Chapter 4.9 in which good pizza is wasted on a possum
    Chapter 4.10 in which the ruse is discovered and much blood is shed
    Chapter 4.11
    in which names are dropped and there is much frustration

    Chapter 5: Of Mice and Men and Other Things
    Chapter 5.1 in which money can’t buy happiness
    Chapter 5.2 in which Glory makes herself at home
    Chapter 5.3 in which Glory indulges her passion
    Chapter 5.4 in which Gozala speaks of things stolen
    Chapter 5.5 in which there is a fungus among us
    Chapter 5.6 in which an artifact is examined
    Chapter 5.7 in which the good professor is knocked off his high horse
    Chapter 5.8 in which Glory resolves to guard her property more carefully




    March winds and April showers
    bring forth May flowers.

    March, named for Mars, was the first month of the Greek and Roman calendar. Mars is god of war but also of fertile soil, equivalent to the Greek Ares and Tiu or Tiwazn an old sky god of Europe. He is also equated with the Celtic Teutates and the Norse Tyr. Mars’ original name was Mavors. After Jupiter, he is the chief Roman god, often called Marspater, “Father Mars.” He has three aspects, the martial god Gradivus, the rustic god Silvanus, and the patron of the Roman state Quirinus. The wolf and the woodpecker are his sacred animals.

    March was called Mi an Mharta or am Mart in Ireland, the seed time, or mi na riaibhche, “the month of the brindled cow, and Hrethmonath, “Hertha’s month,” by the Anglo-Saxons, honoring the earth mother Hertha or Nerthus. The Frankish name for March was Lentzinmanoth, “renewal month.” The Asatru call it Lenting. An old English name for the month, Hlyda, means “loud” and probably refers to the windy beginning of March. This name survived as Lide among the rustic country dwellers for many years.

    Eat Leeks in Lide, and Ramsins (wild garlic) in May,
    And all the year after Physicians may play (be idle).

    The first Full Moon of this month is called the Worm or Sap Moon. More northerly tribes referred to this as the Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night.  It shares the names Storm Moon with February and Moon of Winds with April. It may also be referred to as the Moon of the Snowbird or Lenting Moon.

    Pisces and Aries hold power over March, the Zodiac turning to Aries around March 21st. The flower for those born in March is the daffodil and smaller jonquil. Bloodstone or jasper, or sometimes aquamarine, are the jewels for the month of March. Pisces birthstone is the amethyst, while diamond is the stone for Aries. Albite, amethyst, chrysoprase, fluorite, green tourmaline, labradorite, moonstone, and opal are other stones for Pisces, and Aries also lays claim to amethyst, carnelian, garnet, fire agate, pink tourmaline, and topaz.





    March 1st


    This is the first day of the Roman festival of Matronalia, sacred to Juno Lucina. It is the anniversary of the foundation of the temple of Juno Lucina on the Esquiline. In homes throughout the empire, prayers are offered to Juno for a prosperous wedlock and women receive presents from men. Traditional gifts consist of fruit or honey. In the temple of the goddess, flower crowned women and girls pray and bring her pious offerings of flowers. The goddess is represented veiled with a flower in her right hand and an infant in swaddling clothes in her left. Female slaves were free on this day while their mistresses waited on them.

    During the Strenia, the old laurel branches of the old New Year’s Day kept before the doors of the rex sacrorum, the great flamines, the curiae, and the temple of Vesta are replaced by new branches. A new fire is lit in Vesta’s secret shrine, to mark the rekindled flame of the New Year. This fire can only be rekindled by a burning glass or by the friction of boring a piece of wood from a fruit tree.

    The Salii or Leaping Priests performed a procession in honor of Mars and chanted hymns so archaic that the people of Rome could no longer understand them. They carried shields called ancilia decorated with a figure eight.

    In Greece, a “march thread” was left over night on the rosebush. It was then worn on the wrist or big toe until Easter day at which time it was returned to the rosebush. This red thread was supposed to protect the wearer. This custom may date back the initiates of the Eleusinian Mysteries at Athens who wore woollen threads to ward off evil.



    In Bulgaria, this is Granny March’s Day. Women are forbidden to work today or incur the wrath of Granny March who will call upon the weather to demolish the new crops. Tomorrow is Mother’s March.



    Gwyl o Merriddyn is the Feast of Merlin celebrated beginning at sundown. As Dydd Dewi, this day is holy to St. Davis, the patron saint of Wales. The leek and daffodil, representing the vigorous growth of spring, are his emblematic plants.
    Upon Saint David’s Day
    put oats and barley in the clay.





    In Scotland, March first thru the third is known as Whuppity Scoorie. Designed to wake Mother Earth from her long wintry nap, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic customs held that people must go out and ritually tap the earth three times with a staff or wand, calling Mother Earth by name and telling her it is time to wake. This is a very rowdy and noisy holiday. Mother is a deep sleeper sometimes. Pennies are thrown out for the children who scramble to pick them up, and participants strike each other with balls of paper tied with string (or bonnets).



    Iduna, Norse goddess of Spring, is honored today.



    The Golden Dawn was founded on this day in 1888.



    The Covenant of the Goddess (COG) was formed in 1975.




  • It’s shaping up to be a nice birthday

    Yesterday my mom gave me an early birthday present, a Snuggy. It sure is. lol The only criticism I would make is that it needs a belt or something to cinch it shut or hold it on if you happen to get up while wearing it. I can probably make one though.

    Today I got a new chair for my desk. It is much better than the old chair… faux leather with lumbar support and armrests. It really is comfortable and it’s helping my back and posture immensely.

    Between my snuggy and my new chair, I am no longer uncomfortable and freezing when I’m at the computer. lol

    Of course, I don’t know what to expect on my birthday on Tuesday. The chair was the only thing I asked for. We’ll be going out to eat, but my sister is moving into a huge place, so she doesn’t have money to go out to eat, let alone get me something.





    February 28th


    Kalevala Day is celebrated in Finland. It marks the publication of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.



    Merriddyn Dydd, the Day of Merriddyn, begins at sundown.



    Buddha’s Conception is celebrated today in Tibet.




  • WCFQ 37e/c: Time and Tribulations

    Does time heal all wounds?
    awish4you


    To this question, I would have to say yes and no. Time will not heal anything in and of itself, but if you allow it, it will give you perspective which will help you in the healing process. Take my crappy childhood for instance… it could have been worse. Looking back on it now from the perspective of an adult (yes, I kid… I’ll never really be an adult), I can examine things that happened twenty or so years ago and say what painful events were actually formative… which events actually made me the person I am today.

    And while I wouldn’t wish those events on anyone, since I like who I am, I have to look on those events constructively. Take them out of the equation, and I am not the me you have all come to know and love.

    Whether we’re talking about when I was lynched by the about 30 or so kids in junior high school or the time I was thrown by a horse and my father told me to “walk it off” or the time I fell down the stairs and nearly swallowed my tongue or every rotten job I’ve ever had or the time I tried to hug my mom because she was crying and she pushed me away (she insists this never happened) or any number of uncomfortable and downright miserable things… they have only healed with time and perspective. I can look at them as object lessons. Be wary in crowds. Don’t trust people just because they are “older and wiser.” Don’t run down bare wood stairs in your stocking feet. Don’t assume people want to be comforted just because they’re sad. Don’t assume any job is going to be great, but hope it will be better than the last one.
    What single event in your life
    has had the most profound effect on you and why?

    mo_chic_for_jesus

    The single most influential event in my life never happened to me. It didn’t even happen in my lifetime. It happened before I was born. When my mother was 14 she had a boyfriend that she really cared about. She demanded one night that he return a necklace to her that she had forgotten at his home. As he rode his bike to her house, he was struck and killed by a car. A year later, my mother met my father (several years her senior), got pregnant with me, and the rest is history. I sometimes think that if her boyfriend had never died, she might not have fallen in with a bad crowd, started taking drugs, or had a child at sixteen. I might not even exist. She might have eventually broken up with the boyfriend who died, or married him, and maybe they would have had children, but none of them would have been me. In essence, I owe my life to someone else’s death. That’s really…. messed up, I know. Things like this make me start thinking about predestination and how events before I was born, and after, conspired to create me as I am. How much of who I am is because I choose to be this way, and how much is because of things over which I have no control at all? 

    Some people familiar with the concept of predestination may feel the need to point out that it is a Christian concept, but I’ll answer right back that the Norse gods also lived according to the fates that were handed down by the Norns. So how much of my life is really my own? How much wiggle room have I got? Was that kid my mother loved at fourteen destined to die so I could be born or did his death to set into motion events I don’t even know about? How did his death affect his family or the person who hit him? Am I just a side effect of someone else’s fate?

    Maybe the reason I haven’t made it big yet is because I’m an insignificant side effect of someone else’s event horizon.(…. that last part sounds like it should be in a song.) If I’m merely an extra that’s become lost in the scene changes, does that mean I’m operating on borrowed time? It’s a good thing I’m asexual, because I don’t think extras qualify for leading men to sweep them off their feet. lol





    February 26


    This is Hygeia’s Day in North Africa.


    This the 13th day of Parmutit, an Egyptian holy day honoring Mut and Nut.




  • WQFQ 37+1: Tag; Five Xangans

    1) Pick five Xangans that you feel the need to read everyday
    2) Write a description of why YOU read and their blog and how it has helped you or entertained you or anything else it has done for you
    3) Tag ten of your friends to do this and I am sure this will allow other fellow Xangans to actually hear and read other blogs they don’t generally read
    NightlyDreams

    This list is in no particular order and not all of these folks post every day. I just wish they did.

    Pyronide has some really interesting philosophical ideas and
    rants. I really wish he posted more often. I get the sense
    that he’s often frustrated by people and the way the world
    works, and I’m right there with him. I think we share the
    same darkling muse.

    heidenkind teaches art. I love learning new things about
    artists and types of art I never heard of before reading
    her blog. Heck, I just like learning new things, period. I love
    it when she posts what amounts to a college essay. Some
    surfers of the interwebs may prefer blog-lite, but I prefer
    blogs with some content and Heidenkind delivers.

    Broom_Service writes mostly about her life, her hopes, her
    experiences. We’re a lot alike. She’s “living the dream” out
    in the middle of the wilderness and wants to open her own
    online store just like me! Plus she encouraged me to start our
    horror discussion group on Ning and we’re having lots of fun.

    Jemstone05 is an artist with a lot of talent. I just wish she
    saw it more! I love when she posts some new collage or a page
    from her art journal. I think she has what it takes to be a
    professional artist.

    hatcherbee is a crafty mommy. The things she makes for her
    kids are adorable and very thrifty. She can stretch a penny like
    taffy. Her posts have been few and far between lately and I
    miss it. I think she has a lot to offer people who are looking to
    put a curb on spending in today’s economy. She’s also a big
    fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has an irreverent sense
    of humor.





    February 25th


    Today is sacred to Nut, an Egyptian sky goddess.




  • A Dream of Family I Never Knew

    I had the strangest dream this morning. I dreamed that my Nana (my great grandmother on my father’s side) had a brother. Whether or not this is true I have no idea. My Nana and everyone on my father’s side of the family is dead. I can’t ask anyone. But in my dream, I somehow found out I had a great uncle who was my Nana’s brother and after asking my mother, she verified that this was true. She didn’t give an adequate reason as to why she never told me I had a great uncle before, but that’s dreams for you…

    In my dream, I sought him out. He lived in Reading, which is not that far away and is actually where my great grandmother on my mother’s side lived until she died. He was quite old, had to be in his 80s or 90s. My Nana died relatively young, in her 60s, when I was 11. I went and visited him. Somehow he was famous, and there were several landmarks in the town with plaques devoted to him where he had run a business or something. He had been a geologist and a teacher and a businessman and run a bar… all kinds of things. It was really amazing. But he was very old, and when I found him, bedridden with cancer. It was really very sad.

    Strangely enough, in reality my Nana came out of New York, not Reading. It was my mother’s side of the family that came out of Reading. So far as I know, my Nana had no siblings, but she died when I was so young and my grandfather and her husband had been dead for many, many years before I was born. She actually raised my father because his father died and his mother abandoned them when he was still a baby. She lived with a man who we all called Uncle Freddie who was her boyfriend and had been since my father was a child. He went by the name Fred Clark, but that was my Nana’s maiden name, not his real name. My mother has always speculated that he was in hiding from the Mob or some other organized crime in New York where he was from. He did actually die of cancer. I’ve never really been sure what my Nana died from. My father, the chronic liar, made it sound like she went mad and the doctors killed her.

    This was a very frustrating dream because I have absolutely no one I can ask about family history on that side of the family. I wonder if I had the dream because I am considering selling the bracelet I inherited from her. I am really loathe to do it, but it doesn’t fit and even if it did, I wouldn’t be able to wear it because of my weird metal allergy.





    February 24th


    The Shivaratri, Shiva’s Night, is a Hindu celebration honoring the god of destruction and renewal. A day of total fasting is followed by an all night vigil at the shrines of Shiva where the celebrants watch the flames of small oil lamps.




    On this day in the year 1582, our calendar was reformed yet again, moving New Year’s Day from March 25th to January 1st.




  • Writer’s Choice Weekly Questions Week 37

    five questions for this week +1

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

    What makes you want to learn about something?
    AvenueToTheReal

    What do you think makes you different from everyone else?
    stone_in_peace

    What single event in your life has had the most profound effect on you and why?
    mo_chic_for_jesus

    Do you fear death?
    ehnvied

    Does time heal all wounds?
    awish4you

    +1

    1) Pick five Xangans that you feel the need to read everyday
    2) Write a description of why YOU read and their blog and how it has helped you or entertained you or anything else it has done for you
    3) Tag ten of your friends to do this and I am sure this will allow other fellow Xangans to actually hear and read other blogs they don’t generally read
    NightlyDreams
    (tagged me, so I’m passing it along to you! )

    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.





    February 23rd


    Terminalia was the last festival of the Roman year. Honoring Terminus, the god of boundaries and frontiers, neighbors would meet where their fields adjoined to bedeck the stone boundary markers, termini, with garlands and make offerings of corn, honey, and wine. Anyone who accidentally or intentionally moved these stones was accursed.




  • Tattoo
    the webnovel so far…

    Chapter 1: Blood is Thicker
    Chapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
    Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
    Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
    Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
    Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
    Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbroken

    Chapter 2: A Farewell to Arms
    Chapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
    Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
    Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
    Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
    Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with  what she has
    Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an ass

    Chapter 3: Small Sacrifices
    Chapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
    Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
    Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
    Chapter 3.4  in which there’s more to the moon than meets the eye
    Chapter 3.5  in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
    Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
    Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened

    Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to Come
    Chapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
    Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
    Chapter 4.3 in which Glory adopts a pet
    Chapter 4.4
    in which Glory gets a surprise, but decides she should not have been surprised at all
    Chapter 4.5 in which Glory explains why there are no debts where duty is concerned
    Chapter 4.6 in which a shapeshifter is an enemy to no man
    Chapter 4.7 in which Glory defends Toby’s right to make a phone call
    Chapter 4.8 in which the nose knows
    Chapter 4.9 in which good pizza is wasted on a possum
    Chapter 4.10 in which the ruse is discovered and much blood is shed
    Chapter 4.11
    in which names are dropped and there is much frustration

    Chapter 5: Of Mice and Men and Other Things
    Chapter 5.1 in which money can’t buy happiness
    Chapter 5.2 in which Glory makes herself at home
    Chapter 5.3 in which Glory indulges her passion
    Chapter 5.4 in which Gozala speaks of things stolen
    Chapter 5.5 in which there is a fungus among us
    Chapter 5.6 in which an artifact is examined
    Chapter 5.7 in which the good professor is knocked off his high horse





    February 22nd


    The Roman festival of Charista, Caristia, or Cara Cognatio (from the word cara ‘dear’ kinsfolk) is a feast of favor and good will in honor of the goddess Concordia. Disputes between family and friends are settled today and presents were given with the intent of reconciling friends and relations. Near relations come to honor the familial deities, the Lares, with offerings of incense and food. This holiday also serves to strengthen family bonds. After so many days of honoring the dead, the celebrants rejoice in the living.




    Sybil Leek (1923-1983) was born today. Sybil Leek was an English Witch, a gifted psychic, astrologer, and prolific author who wrote more than 60 books on such subjects as Astrology, Numerology and Reincarnation. She was born with a witch’s mark and claimed to be a hereditary witch of Irish and Russian descent. Her entire family was involved in astrology and some of the guests who visited her childhood home included H.G. Wells, Lawrence of Arabia and Aleister Crowley.




  • Protected Post

    It’s rare that I do one, but I just made a protected post. If you should feel the urge, all my friends are privy to my latest tribulation at work.





    February 21st


    Some sources say Feralia lasted for one day only, which is variously stated as the 17th and 21st. Others extend it over a period of 11 days, from the night of the 8th to the day of the 18th. Instituted by Numa Pompilius, this is the last day of Mania and Parentalia. Family reunions are held and the Lares, the ancestral spirits guarding homes, are honored. This is the Roman All Souls’ Day, during which each household makes offerings at the graves of its dead. The spirits of the dead are abroad in the world and hover over their graves. Food and goods are left to appease them. Mania takes part in the festivals of the Compitalia and the Feralia.
     



    This is the birthday of Patricia Telesco.




    The 8th day of Parmutit is the Day of counting the partos of the eye of Horus.




  • WCFQ 36e: Abstinence and self-awareness

    Do you think teaching abstinence is outdated?
    lovepeacecalm

    I don’t, but then I’m an asexual. I’m not inclined to have sex just for the sake of having it in the first place. The thing is, most people equate sex with pleasure, but it’s true purpose is procreation. People can argue that as a pleasurable activity sex is meant to be enjoyed and shared, but since the end result can be pregnancy, I think that it’s biological function is more significant than any pleasure that comes from it.

    One of the problems I see with how sex is presented in media and society is that it is glamorized. The fact that it can get you pregnant is downplayed or dramatized to “work out.” The fact that it can give you diseases, outside of health class, is ignored or mocked. Sex is idealized. The physical results of sex are more or less ignored.

    Then we have a whole group of people who object to any kind of sexual education in schools, but neglect to educate their children themselves. So the only education “children” receive is from television… which glamorizes and mocks sexual activity. Is it any wonder no one really thinks about abstinence outside of a few people who ascribe to it thanks to their religious affiliations. There is also the old double standard… sex is okay and macho for a man, but any self-respecting girl had better think twice. If a man has sex, he’s masculine. If a woman has sex, she’s a slut. A man is just as responsible as a woman for being self-indulgent and a man (boy) who pressures a woman (girl) to have sex “if she really loves him” is no kind of adult. If people are not willing to teach kids about sex in a respectable and healthy way (physically and psychologically), then there’s really no point to teaching them anything at all. Might as well just leave things as they are…. with children having babies. 

    Sex should be taught in schools, with the emphasis on abstinence but without neglecting safety issues. Because kids watch television and see people in sexual attitudes on a nearly daily basis, sex is a part of their lives no matter what their Bible thumping parents think. If they’re not educated by their parents or by school, kids will experiment on their own. I’m not suggesting that they be scared into abstinence by stressing the consequences of sex, but that they be taught responsible behavior as a part of sexual thought. Abstinence is obviously the safest conclusion, but prophylactics and barriers against disease are also important vectors in teaching children about sex. They should all be taught together.

    Abstinence is not outdated. It is mostly ignored. That doesn’t make it an invalid choice. It is a reasonable alternative to sexual activity. If children were actually made aware of the full scope of consequences associated with sexual activity instead of its entertainment value, abstinence might be the more popular choice. Personally, I think sex ed. should be taught in biology, not as a separate class. That way it could be revisited in future classes. I also think that if emotional attachment were emphasized over physical consummation on television, children might learn to build relationships instead of scratch an itch. When all’s said and done, children and adults need a better education concerning when and where sex is a valid choice. I’ve no objection to how people entertain themselves, but I have a very specific loathing for people who refuse to take responsibility for their actions and I lay that responsibility as much on the people who object to sex being taught in schools as I do on the “children” who indulge in sexual activity without considering the consequences.





    February 20th


    This is the eighth day of Parentalia.



    The Society for Psychical Research was founded in London in 1882.



    On the 7th day of Parmutit, Min Goes Forth in festivity.