Musings of a Housewife

What do the Gods do for Us?

2008-04-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

I was over at Starweaver's Corner this morning reading his article "When one God just isn't Enough" and I began wondering, what do I call on gods for? What do they do for me? and more importantly, what do they do for any of us?

I guess this is on my mind right now because I was reading some Christian sites this week and it seems that all over the internet is plastered, "What Christ can do for you!" I imagine this is because they're pretty evangelical and they want people to come to Church, but to do that you have to answer the eternal question most people have, "What's in it for me?" If you're going to attempt to convert someone, you have to give them reason to change, some positive benefit they'll see in their life to justify the effort. Advertisers have known this forever, as well. Geico will save you money! Well, you get the idea.

Paganism is not evangelical. We do not convert or preach. But we do often have to justify ourselves to our Christian friends and families. "Why did you leave the Church??? Don't you know you're going to Hell??!" I never had a reaction quite that extreme from most of my family but many of us do. Instead I heard, "Have you lost your mind? You worship trees?!?" It was the height of insanity, rather than evil.

When faced with these attitudes, many pagans fall into the trap of comparing Christianity and Paganism like a bad Taco Bell commercial. Taco Bell often touts itself as the better alternative to the evil, or worse boring, burger. They put down their competition to show you why you should change your habits. Pagans often talk about all the things they see wrong in Christianity when justifying their beliefs to relatives who ask why, "Well, did you know your Bible was deliberately mistranslated when King James didn't like what scholars came up with?" That sort of thing. Instead of talking about our positive benefits, we're just illustrate the saying, "The worst kind of fundamentalist is a new convert."

To be fair, this is a phase similar to adolescence that many new converts really need to work through, the pushing away of the old authority in the new effort to develop a new, autonomous identity and most come out the other side realizing that they don't need to put down the mainstream regime to feel good about their new path... eventually. It took me personally almost three years to work through all of this myself and I'm sure it was very hard on my still Christian friends to have to listen to my diatribes every time the subject of religion came up.

So what do the Gods do for me anyhow? What positive benefits do I gain from not being a member of the mainstream religion in any of its forms? Let's take a look.

1) The Gods love me - unconditionally and forever - no matter what I do. This is especially important to me as I do not have that from the usual source, my parents. I no longer speak to my parents for reasons I'm not going to detail here. To have access to something that loves me, really loves me, and will keep on loving me and accepting me for who I am, no matter how badly I screw it up, is very important.

2) The Gods guide me, in so many myriad different ways. Prayer isn't working for me today? Let's take a look at the cards. Or runes. Or crystals. Paganism has no written text so we very much need ways of receiving guidance - not so much about what is right or wrong - but to help us through those tough times where we're not certain about where life is going or worse, how we're going to get there.

3) The Gods do not treat me like a child. I think this is the thing that attracts most pagans. If we screw up, we're going to fall on our faces but the Gods also don't tell us we have to be in bed by nine or that we have to wear a white shirt to a meeting or that we can't watch that cool new movie. We're expected to be adults, making adult choices, and then taking the consequences like adults when we make the wrong ones.

4) The Gods have seen to it I do not have to fear Death. This is most important if you're critically ill or have lost a loved one. Not only is Aunt Jane still out there somewhere, but you know she's not suffering and is happy and one day will be back on the Earth, trying again. The Summerlands (or whatever you want to name the realm after this life) is waiting for all of us and is not someplace we need to fear, for ourselves or someone we care about. What's better is that it doesn't matter how guilty we feel about what we've done in life, we all get this rest from the efforts of living no matter how badly we did at it.

5) They give me the tools I need to be able to deal with the challenges of life. We as pagans are almost unique in this that we get to take a pro-active role in solving our problems through ritual. Ours is not a passive faith, and while things like meditation and listening for the "voice of God" is important to it, we have so much more we can do as well.

6) The Gods want me to be happy. This is very likely the second most important principle to pagans. The gods want us to celebrate our lives and laugh and dance and sing and enjoy being who we are right now. We have eight Sabbats where the whole point is to celebrate the cycles of life itself. Eight times a year we're encouraged to take the time to look at how life moves and enjoy it.

So the next time you feel a need to justify your faith, or even just explain it to those who care about you but fear for you, take a look at these reasons to be Pagan and instead of putting down their faith, celebrate your own and show them how much you get out of it.

Success!

2008-04-12T08:22:00.001-07:00

Musings of a Housewife saw it's 100th unique visit yesterday! For a new blog that's only about a month old, this is excellent and thank you to everyone who's visited! Now you'all just need to leave more comments *hides*

Reading Tarot Cards - Why?

2008-04-11T00:47:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaIf you read any beginner's book on Tarot cards, you'll quickly run into three concepts. One, that cards can foretell the future. Two, that the future they foretell is only the most likely one at the time, can be influenced by the people involved, and is not written in stone. Three, that cards are good decision making tools much like thought-ballooning, brainstorming, and similar concepts.

I have to admit, right out, I don't think there is any reliable way of foretelling the future. Period. At best, I believe that our subconscious mind can extrapolate data better than we think it can and projects that onto whatever fortune-telling method we've chosen for ourselves which makes any method of divination just a quirkier way of getting in touch with that part of us that observes and sees more than our conscious everyday minds.

That said, I think Tarot is a great decision making tool. There's alot of Jungian symboloism involved in them, things that speak to our subconscious in language it can understand and interpret. What's even more important about them, and other methods, is that it opens a relatively painless way for our subconscious to speak back. There are alot of ways one can open the door to the subconscious mind, whole books have been written on the subject, but I find Tarot readings by far the fastest, easiest, most reliable method.

So no, when my local pastor or Elder says they're occult and evil, I'm not giving them up. Instead I tend to look at them like they've suddenly grown two heads and ask, "Where do you get this stuff??" Reacting to that point of view as if it were fringe science is unfair to them (I know very well where this attitude comes from after all, and it's really a method of lying) but it makes them pause and think. And, sadly, they wouldn't if I just reasonably explained my own point of view. It would go in one ear and out the other with no impact made and no brick laid in my bridge of thought between different religions.

All of that said, I have two decks. One is laughably enough one of the most occult of the decks available, the Crowley Thoth deck. This deck can be outright scary and intimidating to a beginner and it's certainly confusing even to me, who's used it for eight years now. My second deck is more humorous and a gift from a friend, the Silicon Valley Tarot from Steve Jackson Games. I love this Tarot deck, it's hilarious and fun and a great stress reliever. I use it when I need reminding on a gut level that life is just not that serious and I should relax and have a little fun.

Hmmmmm.... guess I need to break it out pretty soon... :P

Link Added

2008-04-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

Yvonne left me a comment and an invitation to the Christian-Pagan Dialogue Group on Facebook. I'm not a huge Facebook user but it's an open group which anyone can join and at first glance, looks interesting. I look forward to investigating it further and thanks for the invitation, Yvonne!

Link Added

2008-04-10T05:46:00.001-07:00

Image via WikipediaA friend of mine from Pagan Forum has a website called Splendid Fish Studios featuring some really neat handicrafts and is in fact the person from whom I'll be buying my copper athame when I have the money and get that far on my list (see Things to Buy on the right). He's a pretty good artist and a person who thinks! And no, he didn't pay me to say that :P Go check it out!

And here's our Zemified "Content of the Post" - a splendid Toadfish! Pretty neat, I think.

By the way, Corbin, since I know you'll read this at some point, did you know I went fishing in Fletcher's Pond as a kid? One of my favorite memories!

Wand Making 101

2008-04-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided what kind of wand I want. I'm going to find a piece of wood as long as my arm from elbow to longest fingertip, remove the bark and sand it down smooth. Next, I will carve a bit of a hollow into one end for the crystal. Then I'm going to take a piece of blue silk as long as the wand and 6 inches wide and wrap it around the wood, tucking the ends in on each end of the wand and taking it down somehow into the ends.

I will next take a crystal I already own and glue it into the hollow over the silk. Hrm, perhaps I should glue it in first and tuck the silk in around it... I'll have to wait until I have the wood and the silk and see how it works before fastening anything down. Lastly, I will take two lengths of copper wire (dimensions unknown) and twine them around the wand from end to end like a double helix, ending in woven circles at each end of the wand. So, I need to buy blue silk and copper wire. I have everything else and the wood will be free, when found.

In the meantime, a chuckle. Zemanta, a service I use to enhance content in these posts, recommends this link for more information related to my content. The internet is a great thing but sometimes it baffles me!

God keeps on Shouting

2008-04-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Metapagan posted some pretty stupendous sights recently and you should go take a look! While you're at it, there's also this article about Costa Rica being Heaven on Earth. I don't travel much but if I did, I know I'd be looking at some of these places first.

A Creation Myth

2008-04-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

In the Beginning was the Void and in the void was Deity, unnamed and unknowable, alone in endless darkness. After millenia in the Void, Deity(1) chose to experience more than the trackless Void and created the Multiverse(2). Stars wheeled within galactic clusters, accompanied by nebulae, lit by quasars. Deity split into myriad spiritual consciousnesses and inhabited all these forms as they danced, lived and ultimately died.

When Deity had learned all it could from these forms, it kindled biological life(3). Bacteria, amoeba, virii all found niches on planets and spiritual habitation by Deity as it continued on its journey to learn all it could. Sooner than before, Deity exhausted the possibilities of these forms, too, and introduced a new idea into the multiverse: Gender. With this, Deity itself split into two(4) to better maintain the balance, male and female - God and Goddess. And still Deity inhabits everything.

The stars continue on their journey through the Void, amoeba divide and live everywhere, male and female we live and learn and die and are born, pieces of the God and Goddess, until there is no more for us to know.

I believe that Deity wished to learn more than it had before but why it might want to do so escapes me.
I use the word Multiverse because who knows what else is out there?
I have no idea how often or where life might have begun. It's immaterial to the myth and of no practical use in my life. Aliens would be too cool, though.
If there are aliens, who knows how many genders might have been created. Always keep an open mind.

Stan asked why I thought sorrow and pain might exist, what purpose would they serve if not to facilitate free choice. This is my answer. they exist for the same reason the color black does and for the reason that I exist, and for the reasons trees exist - because that's part and parcel of the reality we experience. Deity didn't make these things except in the same general way Deity made the universe and everything in it. No God is going to purposefully inflict suffering on it's followers although a Universe with a vacuum is going to have consequences as will gravity and heat and anything else that causes us pain and suffering as well as joy and delight.

These things were not created for any purpose but rather are the natural extension of the laws of reality and existence. Fall down the stairs, you'll break a leg and maybe your neck. Enter the lottery, and you have a chance to win. Much pain and suffering are the results of our actions as a race and something we inflict on each other, something we are responsible for - not something we can just wave a wand and say "Oh, it's all Satan's fault or it's all God's plan. We don't have to feel responsible."

We are responsible and I think until we learn as a whole species how to stop doing this to ourselves and each other, we're going to keep living and dying and being born. Yes, that puts "Judgement Day" (or whatever you want to call the beginning of the next phase of existence) very far in the future but if you study history there is hope. We call ourselves enlightened compared to people who lived in medieval times for a reason. We have learned from our mistakes, sometimes not well and sometimes we backslide but overall we keep going forward.

A good example of this is racism. It was not long ago that people thought it fact that those of color were genetically inferior to Caucasians. They very sincerely believe there was some scientific explanation for their superiority. We've learned better and while there are still those who don't yet believe, they are getting to be far fewer and in between than even 100 years ago. We are learning and each of us can individually hasten that day forward by continuing to learn and grow and inflict just a little less pain on our fellow human beings.

New Moon Magick for April

2008-04-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Image from WikipediaWhile Full Moon Esbats are fairly common, I don't see much talk about New Moon celebrations. It's a time of newness, the pause before the growth spurt, the death of the old moon, so many things. I used it this month to look at myself and make sort of a mini-resolution, something small but self-improving to work on for the next two weeks while the moon and magick both grow in power and strength.

I lit two candles, white for the goddess and red for the god. I'd have preferred black for the god but it wasn't available and red is a nice god-color. I didn't call any gods by name, just sat and thought about what I wanted to work on while the candles burned a bit and the incense filled the room. I did chat with Phil for a bit about the day, what I was doing, what it all meant to me and afterwards made some pine sawdust for an incense base while I listened to Clannad.

It was a good night, peaceful, relaxing. The last week has been pretty emotionally hectic and this was a good time to pause, let the sadness go for a bit and this morning I feel far more stable than I have this last seven days even though I know the worst is yet to come as I suffer from something similar to seasonal depression and that has a week or two left to cycle through my life. And yet, I feel like I want to accomplish something again, even though my energy reserves are low and I'm still not sleeping more than four to five hours at time.

I think the experience would have been even nicer if I owned a piece of furniture with a moonscape painted on it with glow-in-the-dark paint. Thinking about it, though, I don't think I'd actually want the furniture piece but rather a moon painted on my wall or ceiling or part of it on both. The room would've glowed beautifully with that and the candlelight.

My horoscope says to trust my intuition this week but I have to admit, depression is good at shaking a person's self-confidence and while I usually do trust my judgment, I know I've already made several pretty bad calls in recent days. (I'm not a big believer in horoscopes anyhow but sometimes they help remind me of things I've forgotten to pay attention to.) On the other hand, something told me that I needed to do this ritual last night, even though I was tired, groggy, feeling out-of-sorts so perhaps it's not so bad after all.

Funny Things this Week

2008-04-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Image by Jill - Glossy Veneer via FlickrI'm not a big one for playing practical jokes but I did find some things that made me laugh this week. Here are some excerpts with links back to entire post. Happy April Fool's Day!

By Common Consent,

Like some others, I was dismayed by the recent California ruling which purports to essentially end the practice of homeschooling in that state. Why, I said, that’s outrageous! I should have the right to make sure my child gets a good education in my home, safe from the drugs, sex and mayhem of the public schools. I felt indignant - safely indignant, of course, since I’m in Washington state, but still.

Feminist Mormon Housewives,

And can I salvage the rags? Is there any way to remove all that glass? I kinda think not. I think I’m ragless. I think my attempt to conserve lint, has resulted in the destruction of the hugest pile of rags ever, every last rag I have, my dishtowels, my washcloths, my dishrags and torn up used-to-be sacred underware, the old flour sacks and green scrubies, they’re all embedded with tiny shards of glass. And lint.

By Common Consent, Take 2

Because after a month of rotating infestations among my kids, £50 spent on treatments, and the wailing of miserable children who can’t stand their curly hair being forced through a steel comb, I have come to understand that no loving God would carefully design the pediculus humanus capitis.

Dr. Pepper

DR PEPPER WILL GIVE EVERYONE* IN AMERICA A FREE SODA IF AXL ROSE RELEASES NEW GUNS N’ ROSES ALBUM, CHINESE DEMOCRACY, IN 2008

*Guitarists Slash and Buckethead Will Not Be Eligible For Free Soda

And Google's Annual April Fool's Day joke, not to be missed!

Defining Morals, Part 2

2008-03-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Image from WikipediaHrafnkell over at A Heathen's Day wrote about the growing tendency of legislature to play parent to the community by enacting laws about pornography (my words, not his). It's an interesting article, I recommend you go read it, and I find myself much in agreement with his conclusion that the best way to deal with things you find offensive is merely avoidance rather than write laws to regulate them. What made me stop and think, though, is a comment made to that post by Un[Censored] where she says,

Obscenity cannot be defined nor can morality. What is moral to one person is not to another.

This is true. Morality cannot and should not be legislated. What can be defined are the rules under which we all agree to live together as a society, and obviously we do need some of these. Society needs a system in place to deal with those people it cannot abide, such as murderers, rapists, child abusers, etc. but has long ago gone too far down the road into playing parent to an increasingly adult population but I'm more and more afraid it's unavoidable. Steven Pinker of the New York Times wrote,

Moral goodness is what gives each of us the sense that we are worthy human beings. We seek it in our friends and mates, nurture it in our children, advance it in our politics and justify it with our religions. ... The first hallmark of moralization is that the rules it invokes are felt to be universal. Prohibitions of rape and murder, for example, are felt not to be matters of local custom but to be universally and objectively warranted. ...The other hallmark is that people feel that those who commit immoral acts deserve to be punished. Not only is it allowable to inflict pain on a person who has broken a moral rule; it is wrong not to, to “let them get away with it."

So if a person considers pornography to be immoral, they're going to attempt to make a law regulating it, since even the most idiotic of judgmental people is going to realize they can't ban it altogether. Since this is a country often ruled by the "majority" (in quotes because sometimes that's just another word for a very vocal minority), what we need are more activists for freedom and responsibility and choice.

The problem is how to get the message out there. My daughter was allowed to look at pornography any time she chose, at any age she wished. Her first look was at about four or five years of age and she asked some questions about it, which her father and I answered frankly, if not always without embarrassment. This openness on our part contributed directly to her wish as an older teen to avoid sex until she was both ready to deal with all the implications, physical and emotional, and was protected as best she could be from the consequences of pregnancy and disease. She's now 23, holds a full time job making a decent if not stellar wage, is buying a car, in a steady relationship where she avoids both alcohol and drugs. My daughter won't make the news. And she doesn't go to Church, ever.

Those of us who espouse personal responsibility and freedom need to be more vocal because many of the traditional outlets for "getting the word out" are just not going to work for us. We're too tame, too quiet and the results of our philosophy is just not going to sell advertising space in papers, magazines or the 6 o'clock news because it just works too well.

Learning to Listen

2008-03-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

Source: WikipediaFirst, a disclaimer, the word "God" in this post refers to Jehovah, Anubis, Queztalcoatl, Bridget, Dianna and any other Deity who's name you choose to plug in. God is easier to type, so that's what I used.

I have a list of comics I read every day, like many people I know who spend significant amounts of time online and this morning today's issue of Sinfest just got to me. Mormons have this saying about listening to the "small, still voice" within you. Pagans have something very similar, although we don't name it anything. Catholics also try to listen for the "voice of God". It seems to be a common theme. Why do we need to hear the message that we should learn to listen so often from so many disparate directions? Are we really so deaf or is God just not talking?

I remember the day my first son was born. God talked to me pretty loudly that day but it wasn't in English. I took one look at that newborn child and knew, knew God existed in some form. I was looking at a waterfall as a teenager just overwhelmed at the power and ferocity inherent in the torrent coming down from the cliffs and it hit me! The world is too awesome to be coincidence or an accident. I met Phil and knew God loved me, in ways I'd never considered before this time.

God isn't just talking, God is shouting. But like Slick in Sinfest, most of us just don't want to hear it and while we tell ourselves we do, we're pretty good at self-delusions. We get tired, or busy, or bored and we stop hearing. But there are often signs God is trying to get through our thick skulls. Josh from Part of the Process posted something by Rick Warren that describes it well,

When God wants to change us, he starts by getting our attention, by putting us in a frustrating situation that is totally beyond our control. If we’re experiencing a crisis right now, it’s because God is getting ready to change us for the better.

I have to admit, my life recently has just been crazy. The other day I got so angry at an ongoing situation, I threw a chair through a window. I guess it's time I sat down and talked to God, one on one, and looked around to see what he's trying to tell me. I just wish he'd learn to be bilingual.

Varieties of People

2008-03-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Feminine Mormon Housewives has apparently blocked me from leaving trackbacks at their site. Any comment that's posted with a link back to my blog never shows up. I can, and have, left comments on my own where my name is linked back but it's a real shame they felt the need to exclude a different point of view that way.

On the other side of the coin, I found Mormon Matters today and they seem to actively reach out to find the good in other ideas. Hawkgrrrl wrote about practices and principles she found to admire in different ideologies, and not just Christian ones, either.

So I'm sad that a group I admire decided to exclude me, I'm happy to have found another one that reaches for understanding in a world with far too much division.

Practical Environmentalism

2008-03-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

Source: FlickrThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is one of the more environmentally conscious Christian groups and Quimby over at Feminist Mormon Housewives lets us know about Earth Hour.

Coal-fired electricity is one of the greatest contributors to global warming. During Earth Hour, we are asked to turn off our lights and all non-essential appliances for one hour to show that we can make small changes that will, collectively, help save our planet.

Pagans tend to be more environmentally aware as a group than many other religions as well and I'm always looking for ways to lessen my "footprint" without inconveniencing my lifestyle. Why do I care about convenience? Because if the new habit is too annoying or tiring, I'm probably not going to follow through on it, and that's true of most people. We want to be good people, do well, treat the world around us better but... we have to live, and we want to enjoy life.

Latter Day Saints could use the first 1-2 minutes of Family Home Evening to turn off everything your family isn't using. Pagans could go turn off appliances and lights as part of the preparation for rituals. This would help make you and your family more aware of the things you leave on, and develop new habits that help you help the rest of the world.

Find out more at http://www12.earthhourus.org/

Being a Vegetarian - A Perspective

2008-03-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Source: WikipediaStarweaver wrote today on the question of pagans and vegetarianism, asking should pagans be vegetarian. He comments on several concerns, mainly ethical but this is the one I'd like to talk about,

And, if one somehow gets past the gruesomeness of killing animals, there remain serious ecological and economic issues. ...It takes something like 10 times the resources to produce a pound of meat than it does to produce a pound of grain or vegetables. Most of the grain farmed today goes to feed animals for slaughter, not to feed people directly. When you start to contemplate the wastefulness of this - not just the land, but the water, the fossil fuels used to run the operations, and the pollution produced - it becomes hard to see meat eating as a wise and responsible choice. Most Pagans claim to be quite concerned about what we are doing to the Earth, whom we regard as mother and goddess. ... if you work the numbers, eating meat undoes all the good we achieve with these Earth-friendly practices.

I think he left out a point that has really driven my own journey down this road, as he talked about the economics of the meat industry. I just cannot afford it any more. My family has three people but less than two full incomes, we cannot afford the $2+ a day to keep us in beef, the $3+ a day for chicken. That is $60-90 a month. Our current food budget is only $80 a month so adding fresh meat to every meal could double the amount of money we have to spend on food. Since food costs are only continuing to go up, if you and your family have been considering the vegetarian lifestyle, this might be the time to give it a test run.

To this end, I've been exploring some alternatives recently, such as home-made tortillas as I rather enjoy refried beans in store-bought burritos. Here in Georgia, tortillas are expensive but flour is cheap and they only use flour, water, a very little oil and baking powder. It's well within my budget to buy flour. And every dollar I save buying food is a dollar I can put towards my faith.

If you do choose this road, go to CNN and read this article. No diet you choose these days is going to be "wash and wear". The mainstream high-fat diet isn't good for you, but being a vegetarian won't be either if you don't pay attention to what you eat and work to make it balanced and healthy.

Adapting Rituals

2008-03-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Source: ShutterstockApril 20th is the Full Moon, the one American Indians call the 'Full Pink Moon', and I wanted to start the first ritual of my new practice that day, as well as spend the time up to that point considering what my purpose in life might be right now. Well, given this new focus of mine on the Aztec faith and mythology, I headed over to the Aztec Calendar site to see what the day would be like.

I entered the correct date, got my answer and looked up the results. One of the comments that stood out to me was "These are good days to withdraw into the solitude of contemplation and self-discipline; bad days to traffic with those on another path." To me this means, I need to really think about this idea in my head, which I'll get into a bit more in a minute, and accept the essentially solitary nature of my path right now, however much I dislike it.

The second thing that stood out almost immediately was, "Ocelotl is a good day for doing battle. It signifies power, valor, and reckless abandon in the face of danger." This particularly applies for two reasons. The first is that I'm encountered some small resistance to my mixing the Aztec faith up with Wicca, and while I understand the reasons and the ideas behind that, I respectfully disagree and I'm going forward with this project.

But the primary thing that keeps returning is that I've always felt that somehow, some time, I was going to work towards the goal of reconciling Christians and pagans, of showing both sides that there is merit in the other. Given what I've already written here, I do seem to be following that concept rather closely and what a battle it will be!

How I got Wicca

2008-03-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

Flipperox asked me what got me involved in Wicca,

I am curious as to the path that led you to wicca. I know the starting point ... and your current beliefs but what was your motivation???

Many pagans, and I can't say I was much different, start out in Christianity, usually being raised in one variety or another. As they grow older, they begin to ask questions and often aren't satisfied with the answers. Christianity makes no sense to them, for one reason or another.

In my case, I cannot and probably never will accept the concepts of ultimate good or ultimate evil as active forces in the universe. Ultimate good could well have given us free choice, without suffering or evil; ultimate evil usually isn't evil at all when examined from its own point of view. I call myself a Gray Witch because good and evil are only an infinite variety of shades of gray.

Aztec Religion: The Priesthood

2008-03-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

The first and foremost duty of Aztec Priests was to nourish Tonalli and keep the world moving, the Gods fed and the Sun lit. Priests also sought to win favor with the gods by fasts and sacrifice. One of the most important functions of the priests was to determine which days would be lucky for engaging in activities such as war and baptism. A religious calendar of 260 days provided this information. The dates of ceremonies to honor the gods were determined by a solar calendar of 365 days. Variants of both calendars were developed by earlier Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Olmec, Maya, and Zapotec. The meshing of the two calendars produced a 52-year cycle, at the end of which the Aztec would let their hearth fires go out. To begin the next cycle, they would hold the important “new fire ceremony,” in which priests lit a sacred fire in the chest cavity of a sacrificial victim, and the people rekindled their hearth fires and began feasting.

Sources:

Aztec Religious Concepts:Tonalli

2008-03-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

Tonalli (much paraphrased from this site)

The important element in relation to human sacrifice, very briefly, is that the universe was thought to run on an energy called tonalli, "animating spirit". This word comes from tona, "to make heat or sun". It nourished the gods, and kept the sun moving. Throughout Aztec religion there is a great emphasis on motion, and motion is driven by tonalli. In humans it is located in the blood stream. When a man is frightened, it concentrates in the heart. The gods' thirst for it is perpetual. It drives the universe. Without it, everything stops.

As well, religious motivation is inadequate to explain the degree to which human sacrifice was practiced. Quetzalcoatl didn't think it was necessary at all. Religious necessity can be served symbolically, or else a single human sacrifice can be imbued with very great significance, as in the case of Roman Catholicism. Even one sacrifice to the bloodiest goddess in the Hindu pantheon, Kali, would keep the goddess happy for a thousand years (Kalika Purana, in Campbell, 1962; pg. 6). This would not prevent her worshippers from attempting to make her very happy, but even at their most enthusiastic, Kali looked like a tea granny compared to Huitzilopochtli.

There's very compelling evidence that the religious sacrifices, and the attendant ritual cannibalism, were actually economically motivated. Tenochtitlan was not self sufficient. Its population could not be supported by even the most copious yields of its technologically advanced intensive agriculture. Tribute from neighbouring states was required to make up the difference. When Aztec demands for tribute were greatest, there is evidence that reconquest was necessary for states that had had enough.

For my own practices involving Tonalli, I certainly wouldn't be involved with human sacrifice or even that of animals. However, the concept of an animating force that drives the world and requires nourishment is very central to Aztec religious thought but there are many ways this could be accomplished including menstrual blood, flower buds, seeds, and others. My thanks to the Pagan Forum for several of these ideas.

Deity Concepts: Xochiquetzalli

2008-03-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

Xochiquetzalli ("beautiful like a flower") was a goddess of flowers, fertility, games, dancing and agriculture, as well as craftsmen, prostitutes and pregnant women. Given Quetzalcoatl's chaste status, she makes a good balance to him. She was originally a moon and love goddess. She was followed by a retinue consisting of birds and butterflies. Worshippers wore animal and flower masks at a festival, held in her honor every eight years.

There isn't much more known about her.

Deity Concepts: Quetzalcoatl

2008-03-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

Overview:

Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec sky and creator god. The name is a combination of quetzalli, a brightly colored Mesoamerican bird, and coatl, meaning serpent. He is often referred to as The Feathered Serpent and was connected to the planet Venus. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge. Today Quetzalcoatl is arguably the best known Aztec deity, and is often thought to have been the principal Aztec god, however he was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon.

The cult of the serpent in Mesoamerica is very old; there are representations of snakes with bird-like characteristics as old as the Olmec preclassic (1150-500 BC). The snake represents the earth and vegetation, but it was in Teotihuacan (around 150 BC) where the snake got the precious feathers of the quetzal, as seen in the murals of the city. The most elaborate representations come from the old Quetzalcoatl Temple around 200 BC, which shows a rattlesnake with the long green feathers of the quetzal.

Quetzalcoatl is often associated with Ehecatl, the wind god, and represents the forces of nature, and is also associated with the morning star (Venus). Quetzalcoatl became a representation of the rain, the celestial water and their associated winds, while Tlaloc would be the god of earthly water, the water in lakes, caverns and rivers, and also of vegetation. Eventually Quetzalcoatl was transformed into one of the gods of the creation (Ipalnemohuani). The Teotihuacan influence took the god to the Mayas, who adopted him as Kukulkán. The Maya regarded him as a being who would transport the gods.

Practices:

The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in most traditions he was said to oppose human sacrifice. It is believed that the Toltecs had a dualistic belief system. Quetzalcoatl's opposite was Tezcatlipoca, who, in one legend, sent Quetzalcoatl into exile. Alternatively, he left willingly on a raft of snakes, promising to return.

The Aztecs turned him into a symbol of dying and resurrection and a patron of priests. When the Aztecs adopted the culture of the Toltecs, they made twin gods of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, opposite and equal; Quetzalcoatl was also called White Tezcatlipoca, to contrast him to the black Tezcatlipoca. Together, they created the world; Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in that process. Along with other gods, such as Tezcatlipoca and Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl was called "Ipalnemohuani", a title reserved for the gods directly involved in the creation, which means "by whom we live". Because the name Ipalnemohuani is singular, this led to speculations that the Aztec were becoming monotheistic and all the main gods were only one. While this interpretation cannot be ruled out, it is probably an oversimplification of the Aztec religion.

Attributes:

Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the morning star, and his twin brother Xolotl was the evening star. As the morning star he was known by the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning "lord of the star of the dawn." He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar, the giver of maize (corn) to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and resurrection. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the Aztec high priest.

Most Mesoamerican beliefs included cycles of suns. Usually, our current time was considered the fifth sun, the previous four having been destroyed by flood, fire and the like. Quetzalcoatl allegedly went to Mictlan, the underworld, and created fifth-world mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of Chihuacoatl), using his own blood, from a wound in his penis, to imbue the bones with new life. His birth, along with his twin Xolotl, was unusual; it was a virgin birth, to the goddess Coatlicue. And according to Wikipedia,

Though not official church doctrine, many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that Quetzalcoatl was originally Jesus Christ, whom they teach visited the Mesoamerican natives after his resurrection.

Lately, some sites online have begun associating the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012 with the possible return of Quetzalcoatl to Earth. Given the flavor of the Aztec and Mayan Deities and their interactions with humanity, I doubt the Central Americans would have seen it as a message of hope.

Further Links:

Quetzalcoatl: The Man, the Myth, the Legend
The Quetzalcoatl "Trinity"
Quetzalcoatl Papers

Note to Self: Research the quetzalli.

Comparing Ethics and Morals

2008-03-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wrote a few years ago,

...we ended up discussing the differences between Ethics and Morals. She said she figured it out, like a lightbulb–Ethics are what we ought to do, and Morals are what we actually do. I beg to differ. Ethics is what is right in the eye of society, and Morals are what we actually believe in. We can go against our morals and regret it later.

I don't think they're actually that distinct. I've certainly used the two words interchangeably over the years. I looked up some dictionary definitions and the more I read, the less difference I see between the two. Ethics tends to deal more with systems of morals, morals more with specific guidelines of behavior within those systems.

Adulthood

2008-03-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading an interesting article today quoted over at A Bird's Eye View. The original story can be found at The City Journal. He quoted:

Not only is no one asking that today’s twenty- or thirtysomething become a responsible husband and father—that is, grow up—but a freewheeling marketplace gives him everything that he needs to settle down in pig’s heaven indefinitely.

I read the whole article and in the end kept asking myself, why does this author equate responsibility and adulthood with being married and having kids? That sentiment comes through again and again. Now, I agree that promiscous sleeping around isn't responsible (for either sex), but if the "SYM" (Single Young Male as she calls them), is really finding that many partners, then it's not just young men being irresponsible in that regard by anyone's definition of the word. So why do these people have to get married and create families before they're going to be seen as responsible?

Many of the traits she mentioned, such as game playing and enjoying the single life, are things I do myself, and I've been in a committed relationships for over four years now. I don't indulge myself in some of the extremes she mentioned, but then neither do 90% of the 20-30 year old males I know. Sure, their humor is coarse, but my dad's was, too so that's certainly nothing new. They drink occasionally, but since when is that limited to single people? They make jokes about girls and moan about the ones they find to date, but have you listened to a group of women in the bathroom lately?

The author of A Bird's Eye View says,

we should be very afraid of what the new child-man will make of our society.

Why? Because they'll espouse freedom of choice? Should we fear that these gentlemen will vote to de-regulate the gaming industry or somehow with no warning begin exhibiting the traits of a gorilla? Well, some girls would say they already do that last one, I suppose. But I think these girls are looking for an ideal. Instead of loving the person they find, they try to mold the person into what they love and complain when it doesn't work.

I suppose if you really fear what young men will make of society, if you really think being a single person who enjoys the fruit's of his labor is that dangerous, and if you really fear a person who doesn't make commitments until he's sure he can keep them, you should start voting for more women for public offices.

A New Home for the Housewife

2008-03-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

I found out I cannot edit the CSS of blogs hosted by Wordpress without paying them 15$ a year. Since all I wanted to do was see how many people read the blog, this seemed expensive to me.

I did some research and found that Blogspot allows editing for free and it's such a nice look now! Let me know what you think of the new layout.

Sin and Guilt Trips

2008-03-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Lisa over at Feminist Mormon Housewives posted today on small sins with, “It’s easy to condemn the simply evil, but most people aren’t. Our motivations are complex and our sins are small or necessary or thoughtless or convenient. I’ve never sewn a tiny military uniform, but I’m sure I own things that were produced by child labor. I know I have habits that contribute to global warming.”

In my continuing journey of exploring Christianity and Wicca, this struck a cord in me and probably would in many pagans, since one of the most common reasons for leaving a church and converting to Wicca is how that faith deals with sin. In Christianity, we are forever reminded of how imperfect we are, how we’ll never measure up, how we have to keep striving no matter how tired we are or how hard life has gotten lately. I often feel like the child of over-achieving parents since nothing I do will ever be good enough.

In Wicca, we’re taught that everything we do will come back to us threefold, possibly even in this lifetime, that punishment could be immediate and severe and yet… pagans tend to obsess over their faults alot less than Christians. Since punishment for Christian sin is delayed until after death I had to ask myself why the difference in outlook, logic says it should be the other way around.

The answer seems to lie in how pagans view humanity in general. In Wicca, people are not inherently bad even if imperfect. In fact, in many ways we view our imperfections as opportunities to be individuals. We do try to do what’s right, and self-examination is a huge part of the faith, but we know we’re not going to be perfect and we don’t even try. We just do the best we can, accept responsibility for our faults and the results of our actions (even the unintended ones) and move on.

Given what Christianity often does to self-esteem, I think the Wiccan viewpoint is alot healthier. But going back to Lisa’s post, I agree that we all need to strive to improve and not let apathy or general “busy-ness” keep us from doing this.

Satan, a God of Evil

2008-03-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

Stan asked some very good questions in “How Gods work in Wicca” which I’m going to answer here. The first one I’ll answer is “I see you mention a belief in Satan as well, so what do you believe about him?” First, I don’t believe that Christianity is monotheistic. That principle is very important to the rest of this post. It has a pantheon consisting in the very least of Jehovah the Father, Christ the Son, the Holy Spirit and Satan. Depending on what flavor you’re looking at you can add any number of angels, saints, Mary, etc.

This is based on how “dead” religions are viewed by anthropologists. There were faiths very similar to Christianity, with a “supreme god” and a family of lesser gods around them but no one now calls them monotheistic, although the followers then did so. See this site for details. In all other faiths, the son of God was a God just not the Supreme God.

All that said, I believe in Satan as a God of Evil. I believe Satan is wrong and wants to harm us. I believe he works in direct cross purposes to Jehovah the Father. I believe he’ll use every means at his command to do so as well.

Stan continues, “As I believe that Satan is out to destroy mankind, creating false gods and setting them up to be worshiped strikes me as a very logical thing to do.” And I agree this is very possible and leads right into “The question, then–when one presupposes a belief in a belligerent devil with great skill at deception–is how does one determine which faces and facets of Deity are correct and trustworthy?” Anyone in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints already knows the answer to this, you pray. You ask, you listen, you evaluate the effects on your life, and heath and soul and you keep on praying.

How God Works in Wicca, Part 2

2008-03-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Stan commented on “How God works in Wicca” with the question, “.. what do you think of the idea of a separation God and Goddess, in the sense of “King and Queen,” (a.k.a “The Crown”) where they’re both acting as a single, governing entity, and yet are two, distinct individuals?”

I’m sure that’s very much what happens. I do not think they work to cross purposes at all. An example of this in Wicca is the Wheel of the Year, the Wiccan liturgical calendar, a celebration of the life of the Gods, male and female, and how they compliment each other and work together. One person might relate better to the female aspect and work with it more, where another like myself might do the same with the male aspect but both are generally acknowledged and celebrated and considered equal in power.

They do generally have different attributes and “kingdoms” if you will. Men and women are quite different in general, and the Duality celebrates and finds joy in these differences. The male aspect is generally more celebrated in summer, the female in winter, the male is usually associated with the sun, the female the moon, etc. There are exceptions to this in individual worship but Wicca is nothing if not a highly individualistic faith, which is part of what makes it so challenging.

Family Life and Paganism

2008-03-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is their focus on families and the effort they go to as a group to create activities for them. Now, as someone who’s children are grown, I do sometimes feel a bit left out, although never actively excluded but I still think it’s a great thing.

Pagans don’t do as much of this. I think part of why we avoid it is fear. There are still cases where children are removed from the home of pagan parents based solely on the religion of those parents. You see this more in the south, I think, than elsewhere but that it still happens at all is scary for parents, and understandably so.

Another reason is a common belief that religion is something you choose as an adult and that to “indoctrinate” a child into any particular path is a disservice to the child at best, and emotional abuse at worst. While many pagan parents will expose their children to Wicca, many allow the children to say, “No, I’m bored and not interested.” and go do other activities. This is of course something all parents must decide for themselves, but I don’t think it would be a bad idea to create some activities the family did as a group that were based around principles, rather than ritual details.

Lastly, especially in more recent years, paganism is growing more amongst the teen demographic than anywhere else. So many pagans don’t even have children let alone think of ways to involve them.

For those who do, adapting some of the family activities from the LDS Church might be a great idea. For example, LDS Living Magazine has this article about the Godhead. A parent might take that and explain to their kids how they believe that Deity is male and female, or has many aspects. How detailed an explanation you made it would depend on the age of your children. Of course, the first step in any adaptation of this nature will be to determine what you believe to be true. You can’t teach what you don’t have faith in.

From there, you can still use the activity and the refreshment recipes from the article. Kids could clip images from magazines of things the gods created, perhaps parents could even work in the idea of connectivity to all life into that. And what kid, of any age, doesn’t love chocolate? Making them together while you discuss what the gods are gives your kids a reason to want to stay and talk instead of run off and play the Gameboy in the living room.

If your family isn’t used to this kind of thing, the first two or three times you do it will probably be uncomfortable or feel forced but as you continue these kinds of activities, you’re all going to enjoy them more and even look forward to them and I think it’s a great way to teach kids the principles of your faith without indoctrinating them into the rituals and trappings.

How God Works in Wicca

2008-03-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

Darius099 commented on Deity Concepts, “Creating your own religion? I mean… what for? Seems silly, childish, and altogether not what faith is about to just go and make up something to worship.” If that’s what I was doing, I’d agree completely so let me explain.

First, and foremost, I’m Wiccan and follow one over-riding rule no matter what I do, which practices I choose, how I go about doing things and that is: “An it harm none, do as you will.” This has been the Rede for over a hundred years now and tends to be what defines a Wiccan as a Wiccan.

The second important concept is that most Wiccans believe the God and Goddess are one God and Goddess with many faces and aspects. Some take it farther and say there is one Source to whom the Duality themselves are just different faces. The idea here is that Deity speaks to us in languages we can understand and relate to and so the “face” of Deity changes. Deity itself has no name, no face, is not truly knowable but humans cannot relate to that very well, thus the belief is that it used aspects to interact with humanity.

Once you accept that concept, you move onto “All gods are true.” because all gods are just a different face of the God and Goddess. For me, this includes the Christian gods of Jehovah and Satan and Christ but many Wiccans don’t take it that far and exclude the currently popular pantheon from the aspects of Deity they’re willing to relate to in any way. To be fair to them, many have bitter and unhappy experiences involving Christianity and wouldn’t relate to these aspects well without alot of negative subconscious baggage anyhow.

If all gods are true, then any god I can relate to is the God I can worship, as they’re all same God anyhow. This also holds true for Goddess, obviously. Therefore, choosing which “face” I’m going to use is of great importance as I need to be honest enough with myself and know myself well enough, to be able to choose “faces” of the God that will work for me.

Diety Concepts: Rough Notes

2008-03-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

The first step in any new Tradition is to define the focus. Who are you going to worship most of the time anyhow? This very important piece of information defines a great deal of everything else you do - from holidays to colors to attitudes. Well, I always tell people “Google is your friend.” so… I googled “Dragon gods”. Interesting results including one of the best pieces of art I have ever seen. Gorgeous. But for gods themselves, the data was thin as apparently worshipping Dragons isn’t something people have really done much of in history.

As a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, of course some of my first interest was in Bahamut and Tiamat. The writers of the Monster Manual must have had very active imaginations for while they do exist, neither one was historically a dragon. Bahamut was a very large fish who supported the world and Tiamat was the ocean, among other things, but not a dragon. This is not what I’m looking for at all.

I decided to go back to the drawing board and simplify my thoughts a bit, and entered “dragon” into Wikipedia. This turned out to be an excellent idea. Almost immediately, I have results I can use and went to take a closer look at Quetzalcoatl. He has a long, varied history due to cultural changes in the regions where his followers lived. Most importantly to me right now is this, “He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar, the giver of maize (corn) to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and resurrection.” Given my love of education, the inventor of books is an excellent focus and since, up to this point at any rate, my main deity of choice was Anubis, his being a symbol of resurrection works out well, too. Shortcomings? I wouldn’t be interested in doing this halfway so I’d have to look more into learning about the Mayan calendar, symbology, culture, etc. Having already done this once for Egyptian mythology, I’m not sure yet if I’m up to that kind of time investment - something to seriously consider.

As for female dragon figures, there don’t seem to have ever been many of those at all. Almost all dragons in any cultural mythology around the world were apparently male. Well, given I literally went years before discovering Neith in Egypt, this could take awhile.

Well, thank you, TDZK.

2008-03-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

First, a little history for you. For a few years, I played an online MMORPG called TDZK, that’s since gone into retirement. Nice game, poisoned community. Someone online said (I think it was ProBlogger) “The art of the Internet is the insult.” Those people were virtuosos. You had to learn to write well just to hold your own ground. My boyfriend reads this blog, who incidentally I met through that game and community. He recently commented that my writing had gotten alot better in the last few years. I guess it had to, given how involved I was with the game forums as well as the game itself.

Fast-forward to the present. I was tripping across the internet when I encountered this post by David G who linked us all to a site that will check the reading level of your blog. Well, of course I had to go check it out for myself for Musings of a Housewife, especially after the comments by my better half. Having browsed some of the results David got for a variety of blogs, I expected a reading level of high school perhaps. Imagine my surprise…

Easter, Ostara - A Comparison

2008-03-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I’m sure you haven’t escaped the fact that today is Easter Sunday. But you’re probably clueless to the celebration of Ostara this last week on March 20, the Spring Equinox.

The date of Easter is recalculated every year based on a formula devised by the Catholic Church relevant to the Jewish calendar and the date of Passover. It’s based on the timing of a real world event and our best guess as to its date in history. Ostara is always the Spring Equinox, one of two days of the year (the other being in autumn) where day and night are of equal length.

Easter is a celebration of hope and joy, a day when Christians honor the sacrifice made by Christ that allows them to strive to attain Heaven. In Christian mythology, Heaven wasn’t obtainable after death before this point, just a time of limbo or waiting - it really depends on what sect of Christianity you’re referring to as some think the dead still wait in various states.

Ostara is a celebration of hope and joy, a day when Pagans honor the Gods for continuing the cycle of life that allows them to strive to attain happiness. In many pagan mythologies, although by no means all, the world was in a state of dormancy up to this point and now re-awakens to life and fruitfulness.

They have alot more in common than many in either religion want to acknowledge. There are Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses being a great example of this, who do see the comparisons but instead of enjoying the similarities and working for understanding, they take the celebration out of the holiday in question, along with a great deal of its joy and happiness. Holidays as celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses might well be sacred affairs, but they’re often boring as well. Their choice, I suppose, but I think in many ways they miss the point.

The author of the Book of Mormon project said, “What does it mean to be a Christian? A basic definition is one who follows a Christ-like life. Christ has taught to love one another as I have loved you.” Further emphasizing differences is not an expression of love and caring. So I’m going to ask the Christians who read this site, and there have been a few this week, think about this today. Think about the religions you dislike the most, not just the ones you don’t agree with and ask yourself, “What do we have in common and how can I foster greater understanding and love between myself and the followers of that faith?”

I challenge pagans to do the same, in the spirit of the idea that Ostara is a time of new beginnings and hope and we could all of us use a little more love and light in our lives.

Dragon Magic - A Creation

2008-03-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a good starter book, Silver Ravenwolf’s “To Ride a Silver Broomstick”. Not a bad book but definitely a beginner’s tool, it was a good refresher course. But it’s time to move on to something more advanced.

Since I can’t find a coven, “Living Wicca” by Scott Cunningham seems to be a good choice. In this book is a whole section on creating your own tradition. I could probably do this without the book but it never hurts to use it and cover all the bases.

One thing that has drawn me for years is Dragons. I’ve been involved with them by owning figurines, being an active member of an online fan group, editing and publishing a newsletter for that same group. So it makes sense that dragons and dragon magick should be a huge part of anything I do ritually. And it’s definitely going to be the western variety of dragon. Celtic dragons just don’t do it for me. I’ll probably work Chinese dragons in somewhere, but as Elder advisors perhaps, not real totems of power. Their wisdom is undeniable but they don’t thrum many of my subconscious mental strings.

I already use dragons as elemental guardians when circle casting. Water, earth, air and fire dragons all guard my watchtowers every ritual now. It’s not that large a step to include them more and seek doing more work with them in other ways as well.

For God/Goddess archtypes… I don’t know. I’ve followed Anubis so long, had him looking over my shoulder, challenging me to grow, that I don’t know if I’ll change that at all.

Note to self: this is a great site for dragon art. Print it out, color it, paint it, do something with it.

Gems in the Rough

2008-03-21T13:07:00.001-07:00

I was reading an article today by Wendy Ellison where she said, “What if we wore labels like that? We are like fabric, cut from the same cloth, God’s children, created in His image. And yet we are different, part of His grand design. We all have traits that make us unique—complete with physical attributes that we might perceive as flaws. Upon closer examination, perhaps it is those distinctive qualities that make us who we are.” And it made me wonder, is this really true?

If the flaws in a person make that person even better, more distinctive, more… them, then why do organizations shun people? She is only referring to physical beauty but I think ti applies to alot more than just outward appearance. Get any five people together and there’s a better than even chance that any two of them won’t get along. They’ll get along just fine with everyone else, just not with each other. Does that make them flawed? No, of course not.

She goes on to say, “We can all recognize beauty in diversity and accept ourselves and others as we understand that our differences make life more interesting and only add to the richness and texture of God’s fabric canvas.”

I completely agree. While there are always going to be people I don’t get along with, things that people do that I dislike, I do my best to get past it, continue to socialize with them, find some ground on which we can meet as colleagues, if not friends. If I can to this effort reach out as an individual, why don’t more organizations do it as groups? Why excommunicate? Do they really fear “contamination” so much? I doubt it.

I think there’s a deeper reason I just haven’t figured out yet. But I will!

My Name

2008-03-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

Pagans often choose new names when they choose to dedicate themselves to the Craft. There are a variety of reasons for this but the most important one is that it’s a new path, a whole new way of living - and as such, deserves it’s own identification. Rikka on Witchvox says, “A magickal name can help define you in your new life, it can affect what others think of you and you can use this to your advantage.” Most importantly, what she doesn’t say, is that affects what you think of yourself.

My birth name conjures images of strife and unhappiness, arguments and low self-esteem. Add to that, I’m named after someone I don’t even like at all, and it adds the images I associate with her as well. There is no reason in the world I would want that in a Circle, or anywhere else. I hate it so much that I’m going to legally change it one day.

For a long time, in ritual at any rate, I used a name I wasn’t completely comfortable with. I still am not. It doesn’t fit me. But one I picked up in the SCA, and often used online, invaded my life to a greater and greater degree until I began to use that name even offline. Before long, I was using only that name and to this day, use it by preference.

Viriatha de Cordova. This is who I am, who I choose to be.

Viriatha is the Latin feminine form of Viriathus, a Lusitanian leader who fought the Romans in western Iberia (Spain and Portugal). Not only was a he a great leader and successful general but Wikipedia has this to say about the etymology of the name itself:

There are several possible etymologies for the name Viriathus.[1] The name can be composed of two elements: Viri and Athus. Viri may come from:

the Indo-European root *uiros, “man”, relating to strength and virility;

the Celtic *uiro- ‘man’; and the older forms viros, viri, viro, viron from which derived the Old Irish word for man, fir;[2]
from *uei-, as in in the viriae or Celtiberian “twisted armbands” used by warriors (Pliny XXIII, 39);[3]
the Latin viri meaning man, hero, person of courage, honor, and nobility.

Cordova was something I chose because of the city in Spain. When the Europeans retook the Iberian Penninsula from the Islamic Caliphates, they found a great many scrolls and books in the libraries of Cordova, including mathematics and the Arabic numeral system. A great deal of European Renassaince learning was inspired by the knowledge they pilfered from conquered Islamic territories at the time.

Strength. Honor. Education. It’s a great name.

Why did God create People?

2008-03-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

A friend wrote something very depressing a few years ago. “Why the hell did God make us? If He created us, why didn’t He make us perfect? If He is all-knowing and all-perfect, He could have created us perfect. But we failed. …And now we suffer for it.” But she seems to have forgotten, her life seems to have been difficult at the time, we also laugh and dance for it. A poem I wrote a long time ago seems to fit this:

a theif, a prostitute
a wife, a mother
a drug addict

a student, a game player
a friend, a counselor
an enemy

a suicide, a housekeeper
a slacker, a cashier
a jilted lover

an angel
in the care of a saint

I believe, really BELIEVE, God is People. That Gods made people to have bodies to divide into in order to experience life in all its glorious, fun, amazing forms. But God created Starfish and plants. Yes, God experienced life there, too. One day I need to make a post about my idea of Creation.

Polytheism as a Reflection of Source

2008-03-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

I was having a discussion with a friend about this just today and want to make sure she doesn’t miss this link.

Anubis, God of Challenge

2008-03-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

Feel free to search on Google or Wikipedia for information on this god. I certainly can’t put it all here.

Anubis, first and foremost, judged the Dead. He was what they faced as they dealt with the challenge of entering Heaven. Some people call him God of the Dead for his role in embalming but Osiris is more correctly the God of the Dead and in some stories Thoth was the one to teach Isis how to embalm her dead husband. But no other God challenged the Dead with their acts during life.

It was a hard thing to deal with for anyone. You failed if your heart was either heavier or lighter than the Feather of Ma’at but in some funeral paintings, Anubis is seen holding the chain of the scales. This infers he could influence the outcome. There is no text saying he could do this, however, so to what end he might do it is left as a lesson to us.

Revisiting the Elements, Reinventing the Wheel

2008-03-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

I was over at Witchvox today reading up on some articles from last week when I ran across one about Elemental Correspondences. Shadow Knight wrote,

Why do we correspond the elements to these directions? Who set the elements in these correspondences? What experiments did they use? … I say it is time we as a magical community start questioning tradition. I say it is time we go back and revisit the ancients and rerun their experiments with more modern techniques and equipment to see if what they found still holds water or if we need to adjust our thinking to new evidence.

I have to disagree. Most of us are doing well to find time to work a ritual these days in what seem to be increasingly busy lives. Now, yes, maybe it’s time we slowed down - but I have to tell you, this isn’t what I’d choose to spend time on if I did have a few extra minutes each day. Could Shadow Knight do it for me? Sure, he could do that. I might even be interested in what he found but I doubt it. He also says,

Elemental correspondences work on different levels and have varying degrees of efficiency. Basically if it works for you then go with it.

And the reason I don’t think his findings would work for me is my subconscious mind isn’t going to accept him as an “authority”. When I’m writing a ritual, I have a variety of things I do but one of the most important is the use of my library. In it are bound, printed books by authors like Regardie, Crowley, Starhawk and more. I look up what I need, slot it in, save myself time and energy. Shadow Knight just isn’t going to stand up to that kind of competition in my head.

One of the huge tenets in magick is, what you BELIEVE will work is how it will work. So could I use his work? Sure, except I know myself well enough to know it won’t work for me. And that is the real lesson here, know thyself.

Leading Pagans

2008-03-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

There are a few pages out there about leading a Coven, and thinking about why you want to do this thing before you even try it. They all examine the motives of the person who wants to try leading and what they hope to get out of it. What is missing is some discussion of the qualities a leader should have as well.

This is where I think pagans could learn from Christianity. We’re very good at telling people how to avoid negative things - people who manipulate or power trip - but I haven’t seen as many articles on how to be positive. Enter this post today.

Easter is here and the author of that post focuses on one of the best leadership qualities Christ ever manifested, humility. It’s an old story but well worth looking back over. New goal for myself now - find a pagan story that manifests some positive leadership quality and write a post about it.

Lunar Goals

2008-03-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Full Moon Goals - Quit smoking, shield my home, learn my purpose in life at this time.

New Moon Goals - Decide how that purpose fits into my life and the steps needed to accomplish it, work on healing the damage done to me by smoking and by my birth family, ask for the blessings of the Gods in my search for faith and fellowship.
Waxing Moon Goals - Attract energy to this home so that the goals of everyone in it can be accomplished, find a positive story.
Waning Moon Goals - Quit smoking, be less angry.
Dark of the Moon Goals - None.

The Goddess in the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-Day Saints

2008-03-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

There a nifty forum out there with a really interesting mix of people. In one of the posts, I found a link to this about the Heavenly Mother. I had some thoughts of my own about what she had to say. But the first thing I want to say, is I certainly support her wish to be Anonymous. Enough people over-react to what they don’t understand that her fears are certainly understandable.

The author comments,

I suppose there is a fear that if women in the church pray to a non-descript goddess figure she will inevitably develop into something less than perfect and virtuous.

That might be a real concern but given how many gods there are out there, how many imperfect male figures in theology (Zeus, anyone?) that this could easily be overcome in much the same way that is dealt with. An example is the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church. Many women from many walks of life and backgrounds revere this figure.

The real reason I think the LDS Church avoids this? To avoid being labeled any more non-Christian than they already are. Add a second godhood and all of a sudden, you’re not monotheistic any more. They already deal with that to some extent. I hate it for fundamentalist Christians, but Christianity is already not monotheistic. If anthropologists a thousand years from now were studying it, it would have demigods and even a God of Evil. These would be less powerful than it’s main squeeze, Jehovah, but then Zeus, a very familiar pagan figure, is more powerful than Hermes. Hermes is still labeled a God.

So if you add Heavenly Mother to Heavenly Father at Church services, you open a whole new can of worms for a faith not really prepared to deal with this in addition to all it’s other headaches.

While this is understandable, it’s also a serious disservice to the Sisters of the congregation. She writes,

Yet another time I knelt down by my bed in the middle of the day pleading to my Father in Heaven for help as a wife and mother, feeling much overwhelmed and unsure of myself. This time I felt the love of not only my Father in Heaven, of a Mother in Heaven. I felt her love, support, wisdom and understanding as a mother who desired to give her daughter, me, all that she had to assist me with my own earthly family.

Would that we all had that available to us more openly! I really feel Sisters need that love and support and too many feel it is denied to them. She continues, “When I talk to a parent about childbirth, infertility or breastfeeding, and even potty training, I talk to my mother, not my father. Likewise when I want to pray about the most mortal-physical aspects of being a woman, I prefer to address someone in whose image I am created, and clearly, this is not the image of a man.”

I hope the Church one day finds the courage to listen to Heavenly Father and reveal more about our Mother in Heaven and to allow those of us who need her to get to know her better.

Artwork

2008-03-20T05:59:00.000-07:00

None of the art on this blog is my own work. When possible, I am linking the images back to address where I found them. This might not be the address of the person who created them, an awful lot of people online don't give credit where they should.

If you see your art here and it's linked incorrectly, please let me know so I can update the link accordingly. All artists deserve proper credit for their work.

About the Housewife

2008-03-20T02:22:00.000-07:00

What is “Musings of a Housewife”? Very simply, a place for me to put my thoughts, dreams, plans and fears. I could probably write it all down but it would be disorganized and subject to damage (I’ve lost so many journals). Just putting in my computer in a text file doesn’t feel right either, so I made this - I do share it and I do network but it’s mostly a pulpit from which to work some things out in my head.

Who am I? I’m a 40-something housewife on a journey of self-discovery that’s already lasted over 20 years and will probably last as long as I live. I was raised Catholic, converted to LDS, practice Wicca. I thought for a few days I might be what some call a “Christian Pagan” but on reflection, that’s not what I am. I’m a pagan who thinks that the Christian Pantheon (God, Christ, Satan, the angels, etc) is just as valid and worthy of attention as the Celtic, Egyptian or Aztec Pantheons.

If you think that makes me unusual, look around some more. You have neighbors just like me.

If you're uncomfortable posting a comment, feel free to email me at
andvari at archonro dot com

Principles of Belief

2008-03-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

Adapted from the American Council of Witches.

I practice rites to attune myself with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross Quarters.
I recognize that my intelligence gives me a unique responsibility towards my environment. I seek to live in harmony with Nature.
I acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called “supernatural”, but I see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
I conceive of Diety as manifesting through polarity, as masculine and feminine, and that Diety is all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. I value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other.
I recognize both outer and inner, or psychological, worlds — sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, Inner Planes, etc. — and I see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises.
I do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy outside that agreed on in agiven Coven, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
I see religion, magick and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it — a world view and philosophy of life which we identify as Wicca.
Calling oneself “Wiccan” does not make a Witch — but neither does heredity itself, nor the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations. A Wiccan seeks to control the forces within her/himself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well without harm to others.
I believe in the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe, and my personal role within it.
As a Wiccan, I am not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the origins of various aspects of different traditions. I am concerned with my present and future.
I do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do I worship any entity known as “Satan” or “the Devil”, as defined by Christian tradition. I do not seek power through the suffering of others. Tags: beliefs, ideas, principles.

April 7 - Most Popular This Week

2008-03-07T06:36:00.000-08:00