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| [Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 10:12 pm] |
| Subject: Hi to my LJ friends! |
I've had this account for a long time, but since it seems to be the place where folks are setting up side accounts since the LJ Strikeout, figured I'd dust it off again.
So, if you're checking in from LJ, drop me a comment! I also have a community here for just such a purpose, ![[info]](http://img.greatestjournal.com/community.gif) ljrefuge |
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| [Wednesday, December 7, 2005 at 8:41 am] |
| Subject: pagan holiday survey |
I was asked the following questions by a young lady on MySpace who's writing a paper. These are my responses.
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1) Growing up, what religion did your family practice?
I was raised Roman Catholic, but my parents were not very dogmatic. They were more flexible on issues That Pope Fellow was rigid about. I myself stopped going to church at age 14, with their permission. Did not really get back into religion until my first year of college.
2) How did you come to Wicca?
Ironically, through an inner initiatory experience I had as a born-again Christian around age 20. It proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that there was a Divine presence. However, the institution of the church itself was leaving me cold. So, I began to move back into ideas and practices that had always felt comfortable, but were more spiritually oriented. One Hallowe’en around 1988, there was a very long newspaper interview with a local Wiccan priest here in San Antonio. I got in touch with him, we had lunch, and I ended up joining his coven. That was my foot in the door.
After that coven dissolved, I was solitary for a while. Then I met my future husband (another long story), and after examining his Tradition decided to join his group. We married later on, and I have been priestess with him ever since. Initiated into the Lycian Tradition in ’93.
3) Is there a traditional winter holiday celebration in the Wiccan faith? What is your understanding of it?
Different Traditions will celebrate slightly differently. The most common terms used are Yule or Winter Solstice. It is when the Divine son is born of the virgin Goddess.
4) How do YOU celebrate the winter holiday season?
My Tradition (Lycian) does not use cultural names, so it is the Winter Solstice for us. Within the family, we do the standard stuff; put up a tree, exchange gifts, play Christmas (yes, Xmas) carols. In our formal Sabbat, there is a ritual where we have a dirge for the old King and enact the birth of the Sun. Here’s the ritual from our public BoS: http://www.boniface.us/Lycian_Bookshelf/shelf/lyc/L129.HTM
5) What is your opinion of the commercial influence on your community during the Christmas season? ( Santa, snowmen, baby Jesus, Christmas trees...).
Commercially, it begins way too soon, which ruins the anticipation. But I love every overlit, overdone, sparkly moment right after Thanksgiving. You can check out my LiveJournal seasonal layout to see what I mean, http://seshen.livejournal.com
Religiously, as long as it’s not taxpayer property, they can lay out the whole town of Bethlehem on display for all I care. It’s not a threat to my faith that other people like Jesus.
I personally have very happy family memories of this time of year, so I’m less apt than other pagans to say Bah Humbug. Check out my small MySpace rant (“leggo my Christmas carols”) to see more of where I’m coming from. I have less issue with commercialism than I do with the idea that pagans must somehow disassociate themselves with the whole thing in order to be “real pagans.” To that, I blow a big raspberry. |
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| [Friday, November 18, 2005 at 2:09 pm] |
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| [Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 4:34 pm] |
| Subject: so, why AM I a blogging whore? |
I was thinking about that while decorating the MySpace account. My main blog is LiveJournal, but I have profiles (connected to blogs) on GJ, MySpace and Yahoo 360. Besides the compulsive need to keep my brain cells from defaulting on a slow day at the office, what is the draw?
From what I can figure, it’s threefold. First, the shallow reason – I love to pretty things up in cyberspace. It’s just a fun hobby. I suck at arts/crafts, don’t do sports, and hate gaming. Second, it gives me an opportunity as a public Wiccan to share experiences, information and conversation with different groups of people.
The third reason kind of ties in with the “defaulting brain cells” comment. I’m 42 years old, married with children. One of them is an adult, and the other about to enter the pre-teen years. Though they will always need their Mommy, as a general rule they are relying on me less; each one has their own sense of independence separate from me. I am not their main focus anymore, and my world is not wrapped up entirely around them. My husband and I have settled into a relatively stable phase of our lives, and what we enjoy together is focused mainly around home and our coven. We’re really not party people, and my dancing days are long past (the spirit is willing, but the hip is weak). It’s not boring, but it’s quiet.
As a tail-end baby boomer, I’m supposed to be concerned mainly with building a retirement account, paying off the mortgage, all those necessary responsible-adult things. And yeah, they take up part of my focus; I have a family to take care of. But I’ve never been about the “act your age” thing. I like to keep track of current events, what’s new with the younger generation, the latest fads – I like to be connected to the world as it unfolds; keep a finger on the pulse of life around me. It invigorates and enlightens me to talk with young people; what the current trend of thought is on Wicca and other subjects that interest me. It is comforting to talk with people of my own generation, with the same basic values and experiences, who understand where I’m coming from.
And, it’s a practical tool for my own aging process. People get in a rut after age 40, for many of the reasons noted in the third paragraph above. And it can narrow their world, narrow their viewpoints, tighten their sphincter on being able to process new ideas and go with the flow of emerging social and technological progress. Slowing down the basic desire to learn, not indulging in the natural curiosity that we had as children that kept us consistently involved and interacting with the world, is scientifically proven to deaden those brain cells; stimulation keeps us mentally alert and slows the onset of mental disorders associated with age. My grandmother, who died 2 months shy of 90, did crossword puzzles every day with my mother. Grandma may have had to think a while on the answers, but keeping the wheels turning is what likely kept her as lucid as she was.
And so, I blog away in various corners of cyberspace, interacting with a wide variety of people, learning new things, passing on what I’ve learned. THAT’s why I’m a blogging whore! May the journey never end.
crossposted, naturally, to all those other blogs. |
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| [Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 3:36 pm] |
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| [Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 10:06 am] |
| Subject: Wicca is not ancient, Take Two |
Ran into another genre on that "Trading Spouses" forum; the “I’ve been pagan for yada-yada decades so I KNOW that Wicca is an ancient religion that’s been around since the Dawn of Time and the Persecution of Women Healers By the Evil Patriachy Must Never Be Forgotten and how dare you challenge me on these points?!"
I’ve personally been pagan since the early ‘80s, Wiccan since ’88. This is my timeframe. Truly, I must weep for those of my generation who are still clueless. |
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| [Monday, November 14, 2005 at 3:05 pm] |
| Subject: "Wicca is ancient" still rampant. Someone make it stop! |
I was browsing the “Trading Spaces” forum on the screaming, foaming at the mouth lunatic Margaret Perrin episode. Searched keywords “Wicca, witches” to see what messages came up.
Ye gods, the amount of people who still subscribe to the “ancient Goddess religion older than Christ,” “patriarchal systematic search/destroy of the peaceful nature healers,”, yada-yada-yada “history” of Wicca. Someone please gift these people with a current academic book, please. Smack them on the nose with the women’s movement books and say, “Old discredited theories! Bad Wiccan! No cookie!”
And I quote, “Please don't use the word Witch in association with words like ignorant and snobby- I take great offense to this as would any Pagan.”
I see someone doesn’t get out of the house much. And thanks SO much for speaking for me. I’ve certainly never met any witch or pagan whom I’d consider ignorant or snobby (excuse me, trying to keep a straight face on this is making my head hurt). |
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| [Thursday, November 10, 2005 at 4:05 pm] |
| Subject: tolerance, schmolerance |
Saw this on another forum:
“as a Wiccan, I accept all beliefs and faiths, of all people.”
I wanted to speak from my own Wiccan point of view.
I accept that there are a wide variety of beliefs and faiths. I accept that a wide variety of people practice them. But just because I’m a Wiccan doesn’t mean I accept unconditionally all those beliefs and faiths. Their existence is acknowledged, but I’m going to pick apart and examine things before I “accept” them. Even if I don’t accept it, doesn’t mean I consider it invalid. It just doesn’t make sense to me, and/or it feels like a dangerous, unstable or otherwise undesirable idea.
Regardless of the reason, I cannot in good faith justify doing the “nod and smile” to every notion that crosses my path, especially if it’s attached to a religious stance. Wiccans often mistake “tolerance” for “if I disagree that would be unspeakably disrespectful and invalidating to that person.” Screw validating every person. Let the belief stand on its own, or not. I disrespect the person by NOT giving them my (polite) honesty, if my opinion is asked for. Their reaction to that is under their control.
crossposted to wiccanwitches |
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| [Wednesday, November 9, 2005 at 8:17 am] |
| Subject: pagans and criminal behavior |
Thank you, A.C. Fisher Aldag, for your commentary on Wren's Nest News. The meat of it all :
"Pagans need to develop intolerance for criminal behavior. All the Pagan Pride Day events in the world are not going to negate the harmful, illegal actions of a few sociopathic losers.
So why do we keep tolerating them? Because they are "self proclaimed pagans and witches." We have only ourselves to blame.
Every time anyone calls for some social policing in the pagan community, all the bleeding-hearts set up an outcry about how we should be so tolerant, forgiving, accepting, loving and embrace the individual. No! It’s time to stop enabling the criminal element!" |
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| [Monday, November 7, 2005 at 9:22 am] |
| Subject: Lycian Wicca FAQ - draft |
Here is the initial draft of the Lycian FAQ I'm building for my personal web site.
Please take a look and let me know if you have any suggestions for additional questions, or if anything needs clarification or expansion. Thanks!
(the look is still basic; going to "pretty it up" later.) |
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| [Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at 9:13 am] |
| Subject: my Hallowe'en guest spot on KTSA's "Chris Duel Show" |
I thanked the host & crew in their 55 Underground forum for their warm welcome on Monday’s show. Check out the comments (Chris is the host, Dawn’s the producer. It's a radio talk show.).
I was actually featured in the second segment. The sound guy was picking out appropriate background music (a wolf howl, “Witchy Woman,” “It’s Witchcraft,” etc). Chris emphasized often that there was a “real witch” in the studio, and had fun with that promotion. His questions, however, were not silly sound byte material. Paraphrased, things like “there is a common perception about witches (names some); what are YOU all about rather than that?” “Do you cast spells, and what for?” “Is Hallowe’en a big holiday for witches, and what other holidays do you have?” That sort of thing. We chatted during the commercials, and he told me all about his Burning Man trip (he was very impressed with the event).
Boni taped the show for me, so I got to hear myself on the air. It was really interesting, hearing how it came out vs how things went in the studio. I did notice that my voice has matured somewhat; I always thought I sounded like a little girl speaking. It’s deepened a bit so I sound like a real grown-up now. ;) Not near as many “Uh’s” and “Umm’s” as I’d expected; in fact, seemed to have held myself together pretty well for my first public speaking gig. I did get in that Wicca was a modern faith and NOT some Stone Age religion, we had 8 holy days, there were Wiccan and non-Wiccan witches, defined Traditional and eclectic, and some of the common points that both follow which makes each Wiccan. Yeah me.
There was one caller, who said he’d dated a Wiccan and she told him once as he left, “oh, you’ll be back.” His car broke down soon after so he had to go back, and he wondered if she’d put a spell on him. I said it was possible, but maybe she’d just picked up a general vibe that he would be returning. That’s how many of us got into witchcraft; having these strange feelings and perceptions. After the show was over, one of the reporters came over and said, “I had that happen to me once. It was an old Wiccan spell – sugar in the gas tank.” JT’s a real card.
Overall, a really positive experience. |
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| [Tuesday, November 1, 2005 at 8:11 am] |
| Subject: Weekend Update |
Saturday: Girl Scout morning event got cancelled, but it turned out OK because we needed the time to get Alexandria’s face makeup (she was Cassandra from “Cats”). Lackland AFB had their Trick-or-Treat on Saturday evening, which worked out well because it looks like severe weather coming in tonight. Anyhow, she went to her best friend’s birthday party, and had her ears re-pierced for moral support (her friend was practically hyperventilating, and wanted to see how Alexandria handled it first. That’s what friends are for; mutual pain-sharing.)
Boni went to an improvisational workshop done by a priestess just moving here to San Antonio who is going to be part of our Sabbat Theatre group. Report was that the lady has her stuff together, knows how to direct, and a good time was had by all. This bodes well.
Sunday: Skull-painting party with our coven and their kids. N. said she was bringing over “a little something;” (which often translates to a full meal), and we BBQed sausage and chicken. One thing for certain about this coven, we will never starve. Should have pictures of our latest creations later this week. |
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| [Friday, October 28, 2005 at 10:34 am] |
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| [Monday, October 24, 2005 at 3:36 pm] |
| Subject: Weekend update |
Saturday: Had the Pagan Parenting Meetup at a first-time Unitarian Universalist Church fall festival. Met a new member, and had a long chat with some regulars. The weather was absolutely glorious! We ended up being impressed with the place overall (this was Boni’s first chance to really check them out), and are considering joining in order to participate in their pagan-friendly activities, and give Alexandria a regular outlet to met other kids from various and accepting religious backgrounds. They seemed open to hosting our Sabbat Theatre endeavors, so that is also a big point in their favor. This is also the church with the local S.A. CUUPS chapter, and it has a parenting group.
Sunday: Sabbat Theatre meeting; had some new folks attend, including a lady moving here from Miami (she said due to Wilma, probably sooner than later) who has a degree in theater and is very enthusiastic. Came away with a good feeling.
Fed the snakes, went out to lunch, listened to the winds blow as the cold front came in and dramatically dropped our temperatures. Stocked up on Claritin-D. Played with the dog. Ate ice cream for dinner because we were too lazy to go shopping or cook anything. |
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| [Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 12:57 pm] |
| Subject: "Pagan community" |
My responses to related questions in an intro for a pagan forum:
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2) Who are we? When you think of Pagan Community who do you think that includes? Who (if anyone) do you think it excludes? I define “community” in the dictionary sense; a group of people living in the same locality, having common interests, that interact with each other through a variety of mediums. This would include geographical location and regular on-line forums, as two main examples. “Community” today can include both local and global.
3) What do we want? Why do we need community? What do we expect to do for it and what do we expect it will do for us? We need community because man is basically a pack animal. Even loners reach out for occasional interaction. We expect, IMHO, mutual support in terms of social acceptance, comfort, guidance and other basic human needs.
4) How do we make it happen? What do we need to create, copy, or steal to build a healthy pagan community? For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack".(Kipling). A healthy community must have healthy individuals. We need to provide support and compassion for wounded spirits while not enabling them to continue being crippled; we must help them overcome what holds them back or weakens them. Let’s get away from the “group therapy” method of tolerance and not be afraid to disagree or make any sort of strong statement or stand. By the “universal acceptance” toted as the pagan standard, we often end up creating infighting instead. This leads to people taking sides, back-biting, separating into little cliques, and much more trouble then if people were encouraged to simply be themselves and be judged on their own merit. It’s divisive under the mask of being “inclusive.” |
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