Raven

Yesterday, I found out that we lost a dear friend earlier this month. He had moved to Arkansas a couple of years ago, and our communication with him was a bit difficult since then. Evidently, he found out he had lung cancer in May, and even though we had spoken with him during the summer, he never mentioned it to us.

His real name was Roger, but he went by Raven. He was only a year younger than me, but he was like everybody's little brother. He was sweet, naive, and had only the best intentions. He was very gay, and all he ever wanted out of life was to be a house-wife. He was what you might call "goth" about ten years before it was a fashion. He loved The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. He was kind of goofy looking, but it was part of his appeal. We even went to school together way back in the early eighties, and he always thought my brother and I were the coolest people ever.

Losing Raven is like losing a family member. He was like a little brother to me. When he moved to St. Louis for a couple of years, I worried like mad about him. I was afraid the city would chew him up and spit him out, because he was so trusting and kind (I had to go back remove the word "is," . . . .). He came back a little tougher, a little more cynical, but he was still our sweet little Roger. When he moved in with an older man, we became concerned about his new partner's controlling nature and we suspected Raven was being physically abused, but he didn't want to lose his partner. He was in love. It took some time, but he finally came to realize he deserved better, and love didn't mean total control.

His mother wasn't sure what to do about Raven. Here she was, a small-town Christian woman whose only son was a gay, black-wearing, techno-loving Witch. She still loved him, though, and when she moved to Arkansas, she asked him to move closer to her. He finally agreed to do so, and he and his new partner moved down, despite our attempts to get him to stay. He would call from time to time, and it was always good to hear from him. We've been missing his presence for some time. Knowing he'll never come back is painful. Wish I could quit crying.

We love you, baby. Fly free.

The Philosophy of Adam

I have decided that Adam Savage of “Mythbusters” is the greatest philosophical mind of our time. My reasons are as follows:

In the opening of the show, he can be seen and heard stating, “I reject your reality and substitute my own!” If that isn’t controlling your own destiny, I don’t know what is!

He takes great joy in his work, creating experiments most of us only dream about trying. When it works, he is filled with joy and glee. When it goes wrong, he blows it up and revels in the explosion. Either way, it’s always great fun.

When he is competing with Jamie, he cheats. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, he’s always having a good time.

His mind is always turning, coming up with new ways to try something or blow something up. Or screw with Jamie.

Of course, one must also consider the role of Jamie Hyneman in the philosophy of Adam. Jamie is what keeps Adam’s feet on the ground. He is cool logic, considering every step before he moves forward, where Adam rushes ahead without considering all possibilities – or probable outcomes. He makes sure Adam doesn’t get hurt when the experiments get a little hairy. And while Jamie may have better results at the end, there is little joy in his accomplishments.

They are yin and yang – pure, unadulterated bliss tempered with a bit of logic. They are a perfect model for today’s philosophy student!

If you are unfamiliar with “Mythbusters” or the work of Adam and Jamie, you should definitely check them out

Regarding my previous post

"The Wild Hunt" has also posted up a blog here about the ongoing investigation into the SIGER scandal and the Witch that's been singled out during the government investigation. He cites a few more sources, and poses more questions about the investigation, asking whether or not this is a smear campaign on the part of someone in the office.

Someday I'll learn to not be so emotional when I post up news info!

The ONLY mention of Wicca in this article, . . . .

. . . . has to do with the inappropriate actions of a woman that is part of the Special Inspector General's office that is supposed to be overseeing the efforts in Iraq. Story is here. Read the whole story. The woman in question is mentioned at the end of the article, and I really have to question the reason behind it.

First off, how does that have anything to do with the actions of the Special Inspector General's office and the way it's handling the funds and power needed to rebuild a country? Second, if she was already cleared in an internal investigation, why bring it up in a national story? And --- this is one of my biggest pet peeves --- "self-proclaimed???" I'm gonna start referring to Xians as "self-proclaimed."

Oh, and they didn't capitalize "Wiccan." Grrr!!!

Pedophilia in the name of religion

This is what happens when children are forced to have sex in the name of religion.

How can anyone think that a child who was ritually molested would be able to walk around and act like a normal human being? How can anyone think there wouldn't be some sort of repercussion?

Why would anyone choose to mount a campaign of hate and slander against another without any sort of proof whatsoever? Why would someone want to drag up a book that hasn't been relevant to the Pagan world for at least twenty years and most people hadn't even heard of?

There is a huge difference between a few pages in one book talking about something that may or may not be a historical representation and actually creating and distributing literature with explicit details and promoting the act of having sex with children.

On another note, if an author were to write several books on Wicca, then decide one day they were no longer Wiccan, would that author then be required to pull all his books and rewrite them to reflect his new views? Should they remove passages from future printings and make a public statement declaring the "offending" passages null and void?

I'm just curious, ya know?

If you say it often enough, does that make it true?

Fascinating stuff on "The Wild Hunt" today! If you've been following the ongoing saga between a certain Mr. Drew and the Frosts, then you need to read this.

It may be Australia, but I believe there's something to be learned from this.

Karma and the Law of Return

The way I see karma is it’s supposed to be a life-debt that follows you from lifetime to lifetime, punishing you in some cases, lifting you up in others. The actions from a lifetime the time before last would have the power to dictate what happens to you in this lifetime. By this definition, the indication is that you would have no control over your life or the events that occur in your life. That would mean it didn’t matter what you did, because the outcome is already preordained. I can’t accept that.

The Law of Return says “everything you send out will return to you.” To me, that means EVERYthing you send out - how you live your life, what you say to people, how you treat your friends, your family, your pets, strangers, how you keep your house, how you handle your finances, how you view life in general. The Law of Return isn’t limited to just magical workings, just like the Gods aren’t limited to only being with us in ritual. And because you might have done some unfortunate things in your past, that doesn’t mean you will automatically be konked over the head for it. You do have a choice as to how you respond to the events in your life.
If something you consider bad happens to you, what is your response? Do you lie down and say, “oh, it’s karma. There’s nothing I can do about it.” Or do you pick yourself up, look at the situation and figure out what you can do to make the best of it? Maybe some events in our life are beyond our control (like my neighbor’s house burning down), but how we choose to respond to those events is what defines our lives.

Allowing events to control how we live is not living. If I let the past control my actions, then I am not in control of my own life. I am simply letting events push me around and control my responses. For some people, I supposed it’s ok to float down the stream like a leaf, letting the currents and eddies dictate their path, but I can’t be like that. If the Gods help those that help themselves, then I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure my family and I have fulfilling, happy lives.

Besides, if karma truly does dictate the events of my life, then it’s not going to matter what I do, anyway.