Values in Action: A Library Encounter

June is the 3rd Annual Pagan Values Blogging (and Podcasting) Month.  Check out the Blog or the Facebook event for more information.  To start if off, I'd like to share what happened earlier this week.

I had a good night on Tuesday.  It was the kiddo’s last day of school.  In fact, it was his last day of elementary school.  He will be going to sixth grade next year in the middle school.  To celebrate, we went out to his favorite restaurant for dinner.  Before we went to eat, however, we stopped at the library.  

It could have been a bad night.  At the library, I noticed my ex-husband’s new ex-wife, and my son’s half-sister.  The kiddo hasn’t seen his sister, or his father, for about three years.  His father decided it was less stress on his new family to cut ties with his old and stop seeing his son.

I could have pointed the pair out to my kiddo.  I could have walked over and let loose a torrent of curse words.  I could have walked over and said what I had rehearsed a million times in my head.

But I didn’t.

It was an important day for my kiddo.  One he had been counting down to for the whole month.  Mention of his father often has him in tears or a week’s worth of attitude.  He never talks about his sister, so I didn’t know if he would want to see her or not.  So, I let it go and had a great dinner date with my kiddo.

I treated my child, another child, and my ex-best friend the way I would want to be treated.

That is the core of my belief system and the core of what I teach my son.  I treat people the way I want to be treated.  If I want to be treated with respect, I respect other people.  If I want to move on, I have to let others move on too.  I’m not perfect, and I’m not sure I will survive the kiddo’s tween years, but I try.  That’s all I can ask of myself, my son, and my gods.

My values are central to my religion, but they are values I think everyone should share.  It is important that I give back to the world what I want to receive.  If I want to see beauty and generosity, I need to offer those same things. 

And so when I hold the door open for a stranger with a load of books, when I smile at someone passing in the hall, when I walk away from a fight, I offer them a piece of myself in the hopes that they will do the same.  I show them how I want to be treated.  That’s all I can do. 

Prepare Yourself

 

Some groups are saying that the Mayans are a little late to the game and that the Rapture begins May 21, 2011 at 6pm.  The end of the world is coming, they say, and we have to be prepared.

These groups get made fun of, get called crazy, and yet I think they still put all of us on edge – even if we don’t know it.  Those other groups who will be having Rapture parties and loudly laughing could be doing so as a way of demanding something happens, and when/if it doesn’t, they can put those who believe down even further.

As a Pagan, I don’t think an almighty god will sweep down and cherry pick those who believe in him the fiercest.  I don’t believe that the world will end by the hand of an angry sky god to wipe away all the sinners.  I do believe that the world will end, someday, and that on another day, our way of life will change dramatically.

But because I do not believe in the Rapture, do I have the right to make fun of those who do?  I have laughed at them, and been a little bit frightened, and shook my head, but then I stop and realize that they are merely presenting their case. 

They don’t believe what I believe, in the power of a simple wind, in the sacredness of a living tree.  I would be upset if they laughed at my religion or my choice to use reusable bags at the supermarket.  I have supported Pagan Pride Day and Pagan Coming Out Day as a way of teaching that we are a faith just like any other.  And to reach that level of understanding and acceptance, we need to show others the same thing.

We need to treat others the way we want to be treated.

So on Saturday, I will not be attending the Rapture or a Rapture party.  I will be buying tomatoes, hauling dirt, and finishing my bug out bag so I can be prepared for whatever disaster the mama planet throws at us.

 

Noumenia: The Wheels are Turning

Welcome to another new month, dear readers!

I'm quite happy to say that I honored both Hekate and Noumenia so far this month.  Now I just have to remember the Agathos Daimon after my meeting tonight and I will have hit all three days.  It will be the first in a very long time.

I feel like I might be on the right track finally on getting a hold of all the different aspects of my life.  Or at least the writing ones.  I wrote down all my obligations the other day and set up a schedule for the week on how to get things done.  At a time when I'm seriously considering having to give up something, I decided that I want to submit a piece of writing at least every other week.  It sounds like a lot, but I think I can get it done.

I waiting and waiting for the warmer weather.  I keep thinking it's right around the corner, but it never comes.  My weather gadget says it is 30 degrees at home right now.  It's May!  Where is the weather that causes sunburns?

I started some of my garden, and then it kind of went belly up in the cold night.  But I replanted my cucumber, lettuce, spinach, and sage seeds.  Hopefully it will be the right timing so that they can come up wonderfully.  This weekend I think I will go get my tomatoes and onions and all the rest of what I want to plant.

This month I just want to stick to what I am doing, follow through, and make it work.

Have a great May!

Happy Beltane!  May the summer come sweetly and the earth bear it's fruit with grace.  May the fertility of the cool, dark earth spread to our hearts and minds.

It's Beltane, but it kind of feels like just another day for me.  How do you celebrate the great fertility holidays when you are single and solitary?  Normally, that's not a problem, but I feel out of touch with the natural world around me.  I take that back.  I am out of touch with the holiday progression.  Planting is behind schedule here in Iowa and it still feels like early spring.  Maybe I am just not ready for the fire of Beltane.

At this time of year, Persephone has walked the world and spread her flowers throughout the deep, dark earth.  Now they awaken to the touch of the sun, lifting their heads from the deep roots and stretch up towards the sky.

My spirituality group will be working through the Inner Path of Twelve Wild Swans by Starhawk and Hilary Valentine. One of my friends said that if you need counseling for issues, you might not want to go through with it. Sounds like fun, right? 

I was talking to another friend about different religions and beliefs this week after I said he should check out the UU. I forgot he was set in his beliefs and they didn't match up with the UU. Politically, he would fit, but maybe not religiously. In our conversation, he shared more information with me on what he actually believes. We came to a point in the conversation where I was reminded of something said on a podcast I listen to (and I'm roughly paraphrasing): Belief without questioning is what makes a zealot and questions deepen the faith.

I have questioned my beliefs quite a bit at times. I have looked deep into my roots and tried to figure out what kind of flower I am supposed to bloom into.

The Inner Path will take us deeper, it will take us down to the root questions of who we are and who we want to be. Am I ready to go there? Maybe. I feel like I have already descended those steps before, and I continue to do it over and over again. 

** PS, all these flowers, and more, are found outside my apartment.  Squee! **

On Earth Day, I Realize I'm a Bad Pagan

How am I a bad Pagan*, you might ask?

Wild Mustard, from Illinios Wild Flowers

Recently, Jason Pitzl-Waters at The Wild Hunt blog posted a link to Chas Clifton’s article “Where You At?”  At the bottom of it were twenty questions asking if you knew the land you lived in.  Unfortunately, I failed most of them.  Name five grasses in your area?  Uhm… green grass and prairie grass…  Is straw a grass? 

I realized that I don’t have much connection to my land.  I’ve lived in apartments and the middle of a (small) city all my life.  I don’t know exactly where my ancestors came from, but I know five generations have lived in this town, on this land, surrounded by corn and the remains of what came before.  This is where I’m at, and I should get to know it.

This idea of getting to know the land of my birth isn’t a new one.  I’ve been kicking it around for a while.  I got burned out on activism for oceans I’ve only seen once and decided that my energy is better spent working in my own area.  I volunteered to help pick wild mustard to help restore a local savannah and I’m really excited about it.  I have no idea what it looks like or how to pick it, but I’m ready to learn.  I have posters of local flora and fauna I got for free from a state agency and I think I’ll finally get around to putting them up.

I’m going to use Clifton’s list as a checklist of things I should know.  I hope by the time I can remember all the answers, I will have made a deeper connection to the spirits of the land I call home.

I challenge you to do the same.

Happy Earth Day!

USDA Info on Wild Mustard

Non-Completely Scientific info on Wild Mustard

* I'm not a 'bad' Pagan, just one that feels the need to get more in touch with the planet under her feet.  If you too are suffering from not knowing what type of grass your lawn is, don't worry, no one will burn you at the stake - They'd make you identify the tree the stake was made from! :)

Faeries Dance Round and Round

I went to a public ritual last weekend, the Iowa Pagan Alliance’s second annual Faerie Ball.  It’s a fundraiser for the Faerie Festival in June and also a benefit for a women’s shelter.  It was pretty much a last minute thing for me as it’s an hour away from my house.  But a friend had surgery and needed a back-up DJ and I said I would help.

The drive down there was gorgeous, I think I was smiling the whole time and needed to remind myself that I was driving.  I felt like I was reconnecting to the earth and her seasons just by driving to somewhere new.  I have a half hour commute every day, but I rarely look outside anymore.  I either write or sleep or stare listlessly out the window while I contemplate all the things I need to do.  It could be that the view was new, or I could be that I just wanted to give my all to this event, but I thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

The event itself was interesting.  It was fun, excepting my avoidance of talking to most new people and blowing a fuse.  Once I left, however, I really enjoyed it.  I did talk to new people, I did something new, and I wore something new (I made my own wings!).  I got to be in a group ritual again.  I am excited about getting together with these folks again – and I wish I didn’t have an event going on already at the same time as their Beltane ritual.

One of the things that I have discovered over the past couple of years is that I want to be a part of a group.  I want to share experiences and worries with a group of like-minded folks who won’t think I’m weird when I talk about gnomes stealing my stuff.  I want to be a part of a group that can give me advice on what to do when my kiddo thinks someone is watching him all the time.  I want to validate my feeling of raising energy instead of thinking it’s all in my head. 

My women’s spirituality group is now turning into our own kind of circle as a few friends have the same desire and need.  We all want someone to be accountable for expanding our practice and stretching our muscles.  And I’m excited about it.

I’m standing on the edge.  The ground is sweeping away in front of me, but with just a little hop, I can reach the other side and begin my journey up the mountain.  I can’t wait to find out who is at the top.

Noumenia! A good start

I have a good feeling about this month.  This last week started out well and I can see the rest of the month following.  I've had a lot of good starts lately.  I sent in a poem for a workshop at the end of the month, they will give a critique of a poem and have key note speakers.  I signed up for the Iowa Poetry Association, the group running the workshop.  I finally wrote and submitted an article for He Epistole.  I went to a gardening coalition meeting and am very excited to see that project get started.  I ordered and picked up a book from our local small bookstore for my spirituality group.  I plan on attending the Faerie Ball on Saturday and being a backup for the DJ.

But I haven't touched my fiction project.  I haven't added pages to Mused.  I haven't figured out how to get my kiddo to stop lying. 

But I have figured out a lot of things and that has buoyed me through the last week. 

Now I just need to keep dedication to all parts of my life up and we'll be fine. :)