Still Waiting on the Massage

I said I would tell you how my massage went.  Well, I would if I had had one.  The directions Google Maps gave me were, surprisingly, wrong.  I've never, ever had a problem with it before, but apparently this has happened more than once for the massage therapist.  The address on her website has taken GPS devices to a completely different location than the one Google Maps sent me to, and both are wrong.  She gave me explicit directions for my rescheduled appointment on Thursday.  I cannot wait!

Lupa recently posted about our relationship with deities and how it relates to our own will and power.  I thought it was well-written and pertinent to my recent post about the evolution of our relationship with deities, specifically Brighid.

It is amazing to me how much human beings will disempower themselves when dealing with deities, spirits, and other such beings, simply because they are deities or spirits. Of course, those of us raised in the States, at least, where the dominant religious paradigm involves bowing before a parent-deity who is supposedly so great as to be unbeatable are already starting at a disadvantage, similar to women who are raised with the constant message that they should wilt before men. If one is to bow and worship, it should be by one's own choice, not by the idea that because we are only humans we are therefore only fit for such interaction.

And yet we are capable of so much more. In our own realm of reality, we have wrought countless changes--both for the better and for the worse--with our own collective hands. We have stretched beyond the bounds of our ancestors' biological limitations to increase our knowledge, our technology, and even our lifespans. To say that these things were only the will of the Gods is to disempower ourselves and our own creativity and ingenuity. Yes, Hermes may have adapted to the Internet, and Artemis may watch over feminists. But we are not only puppets of the deities, and they did not create computers or nonviolent protests or the atomic bomb or the printing press themselves.

Let's give ourselves more credit. It is not hubris or arrogance. It is acknowledging that we as a species are powerful in our own right. And as powerful beings in our own realm, we do not need to simply roll over for beings who are powerful in theirs. If I did that, I would have been destroyed in my first journeys into the spirit realm. Being strong does not mean being defiant. Just as we should respect other species of animals for the power they hold in their own bailiwicks, and plants in theirs, and the elements of weather in theirs, and deities in theirs, so should we respect ourselves and the power of our bailiwicks.

That last bit of emphasis was mine, because I believe that respect can go a long way with with any being.  That said, I don't think the Gods' power ends in their realm - I think it has significant carryover in our "own".  I think the Gods are more powerful than us but, as I've said before, we've evolved past a point of fear (most of us, anyway) and the Gods are more interested in having our respect than our loathing or terror.  We should be students/friends/lovers/partners/hosts and engage in a symbiotic relationship with deity.

Lupa's post does give me something to think about though.  For example, Brighid is very much my muse and I credit a lot of my inspiration to her.  To me, she is a power of inspiration incarnate.  So how much of the ideas are mine?  Do they become mine?  Are they a blessing she gives to me and all that is required back is thanks and a job well done?  Is the final piece my own or partly hers as well?

I recently read a biography about John Lennon.  I loved reading about the origin of different songs. For example, "Beautiful Boy"is about his son Sean Lennon.  In my own understanding, the original idea was inspired by his son.  John turned the idea into his own creation by interpreting their relationship into his own words and images.  When the song was finished and released, it was given back to Sean and to the world.  In the end, it belongs to all three.  Perhaps that is the same with muse-inspired art?  Or anything involving the Kindreds?  They give, we take.  We give, they take.  Everyone benefits in some way when the relationship is reciprocal and respectful.

If we aren't reciprocal and respectful to the Kindreds?  Well, we only need to watch the news to see what's happening to the environment.  Whatever the skeptics of global warming say, I firmly believe that we played a part and that we are greatly responsible for much of the death and destruction occurring around us.  In the end, though, Mama Earth is capable of swallowing us whole without a thought, and the sun is capable of swallowing her.  That's just the way it is, or at least the way we know it to be right now.  If the Kindreds aren't respectful to us?  Well...  There's always this. ;)

Catechism for a Witch's Child

I have no idea where I originally found this, but it was saved in a desktop folder.  I think it's a lovely poem.

Catechism for a Witch’s Child

By J. L. Stanley

When they ask to see your gods

your book of prayers

show them lines

drawn delicately with veins

on the underside of a bird's wing

tell them you believe

in giant sycamores mottled

and stark against a winter sky

and in nights so frozen

stars crack open spilling

streams of molten ice to earth

and tell them how you drink

a holy wine of honeysuckle

on a warm spring day

and of the softness

of your mother who never taught you

death was life's reward

but who believed in the earth

and the sun

and a million, million light years

of being

Vacation!

I'm officially on vacation!  What am I going to do with myself?  Well besides sleeping in and possibly visiting family, I'm planning to do some ISP and Art Guild SP work.  I have numerous books and articles to read, an essay I'd like to start, and drawings to work on.  I also have my various sewing projects to keep me busy.

I'm really excited about tomorrow.  Tomorrow, dear readers, I'm going to get a massage at Massage Works in Watertown!  As my husband guesses, it's sure to be an excellent start to my vacation!  The massage therapist, Patti, also does reiki.  Down the road I would love to get a combination massage/reiki treatment.  Yes, I know, I received my reiki I attunement and can perform self-treatments...  but really, isn't it nice to have someone else do it too?  My poor back is so achey; I'm terribly excited about tomorrow.  I'll be sure to post a review!

Looking for a good book for your Pagan child?

I came across a childrens' book today and, after flipping through it, I couldn't pass it up for my growing collection of young Pagan literature.  Any parents/educators should be familiar with the hugely successful "Magic Tree House" books.  I see second and third graders reading them all the time.  This book, entitled Leprechauns and Irish Folklore, by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, is "a nonfiction companion to" a fictional book they wrote called Leprechaun in Late Winter.  I read all 109 pages of the companion in an hour or so.

What's so impressive about this book is how open-minded and scholarly it is.  While the authors don't discuss the evolution of Lugh to leprechaun, they do briefly discuss the Tuatha De Danann.  There's a whole chapter devoted to the modern history of Irish folklore.  It features sections about Douglas Hyde and Lady Gregory, for example, and even introduces the subject of British occupation.

Different spirits are discussed, such as the trooping fairies, pookas, and clurichauns.  The authors give examples of how people have/can befriend the good folk, as well as how to defend against them.  All the examples are consistent with the lore and folklore studies I've been reading.  The selkies have a section too but are called merrows (or múir ógh for sea maiden).  Speaking of Gaelic, the Irish is pretty accurate as far as I can tell with my novice understanding.  Children reading will learn about the filí and raths for instance.  I love that the authors used actual Irish!

My only real complaint is that the Druids are presented only as "wise men" (73) rather than men and women.  The book sometimes relies too heavily on the more modern idea of diminutive winged fairies but makes up for it by explaining that they can appear however they want.  Otherwise I highly recommend it for Pagan parents, especially those with Irish hearth cultures.    It's very well written, contains beautiful illustrations and photographs, and even includes a section with further reading and research tips for youngsters to follow!  Rather than calling a belief in fairies nonsensical, the book leaves it up to the reader to decide for him or herself what to believe.  I really appreciated that bit of spiritual tolerance / allowance for magic.

Another book to read (plus some personal thoughts on polytheism)

The third book I ordered for Magic 1 arrived yesterday!  It's called Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition by Nigel Pennick whom you may remember is the co-author of A History of Pagan Europe along with Prudence Jones.  Having thoroughly enjoyed A History, I couldn't wait to start it.  Yay for reading three books simultaneously!  I feel like I'm back in college.  I haven't progressed very far in Practical Magic, and a lot of it has been review, but I'm enjoying it all the same.  I've even learned a few new things.

Pennick is what many would call a "soft polytheist."*  He makes a lot of generalizations about the similarities between cultures, which sometimes annoys me, but he also points out their unique differences as well.  In the introduction he says "...what is important is the essence, not the form, and that while the corresponding deity of another culture may have a considerably different form, its essence is the same"(12).  I must be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with soft polytheism.  Some days it makes a bit of sense, while others it seems too simplistic given the remarkable diversity of the universe.**  All the same, I have a lot of respect for Pennick as a writer and researcher and look forward to learning more from him!





*"All gods are one God, and all goddesses are one Goddess, and there is one Initiator." - Dion Fortune.


** When it comes down to it, I'm more of an agnostic hard polytheist pantheist.  My experiences, as well as the lore I am most drawn to, lead me to believe in many, individual beings.  I have to be a bit agnostic because who really, really knows how the universe works?  The pantheist bit comes from my belief that, even if there are multiple deities, there exists a ubiquitous, unifying energy.  Based on my own experiences, observations, and studies, this energy is very powerful as far as creation and destruction go, but has no consciousness as we experience it.  It's just energy/chi/magic/the Force, and it moves through us and the Kindreds.  My belief is that some beings have more access to and/or understanding of this force, hence the power of deities compared to us.

I often wonder this about my Catholic family members...