Writing the passing over

Ok, I had promised to post this up a couple of weeks ago, but I've been putting it off. I know, I know - bad Pagan, . . . .

Anyway, here is what I wrote for Raven's passing over. We didn't do a circle because this wasn't a ritual. It was a passing over, a memorial for our friend. I had white roses and white candles on the altar, and I had everyone light one candle and if they wanted, they could talk about Raven for a moment.

Here's the written text:

To the East, we celebrate the joy Raven brought into our lives. He always had a smile and a hug for us. He had no enemies among us.

To the South, we celebrate the passion with which Raven lived his life and the love he gave to those around him. He never asked or expected a return, but we couldn’t help but love him back.

To the West, we acknowledge that Raven kept secrets. There was pain in his life, but it was his to share or not, and most often he chose not to burden us with it.

To the North we celebrate the hugeness of Raven’s heart. He was proud to be who he was and expressed his individuality at every opportunity.

Below us, the Earth, which has accepted Raven’s body back into her bosom.

Above us, the Sky, which gives Raven’s spirit freedom to soar.

Within and without, there is Spirit - eternal and without limit. Raven will be with us always.

Until we meet again on the Other Side, peace be with you, Raven. Blessed be.

Westboro Baptist Strikes Again

Are you familiar with Westboro Baptist? They have a delightful website called "God Hates Fags." Fair warning - if it doesn't take much conservative right-wing garbage to piss you off, then you do not want to go there!

This "church" was founded by Fred Phelps, and anyone that's ever read his bio can tell he's a closet case. Somehow, in his warped and twisted little mind, he decided that since he can't come to terms with his own sexuality, then all things even remotely gay must be evil. He and his congregation (which mostly consists of his family members) started out protesting the funerals of any openly gay people they could find, carrying signs that say "God Hates Fags," and "Burn In Hell." Real loving, right? Then they started protesting the funerals of soldiers killed in action over in Iraq and Afganistan, saying their deaths were God's punishment on the United States because the U.S. has allowed such a moral decline within our country - things like civil unions and same-sex marriages. After all, the only reason for marriage is to procreate. Couldn't possibly be for anything like, oh, government reasons - insurance, lower taxes, better chances for credit - or maybe just love.

Anyway, now Mr Phelps' congregation, which is now led by his daughter, has decided to protest the memorial service of Heath Ledger because of his role in "Brokeback Mountain." It makes me so angry I could spit nails! Any opportunity to keep pushing their screwed-up agenda, get publicity and condemn those around them - these people are sick.

Please understand, I'm not a huge Heath Ledger fan. I have grudgingly admitted that, yes, he was a talented actor, but I just couldn't get past "A Knight's Tale." Bleh. However, I've been following Westboro Baptist for many years, and these people are not only delusional and extremely narrow-minded, I believe they have the potential to be dangerous. All it takes is one nut-job lunatic to decide that yes, this is the right thing to do, and then take a few automatic weapons to a protest so they can wipe out the evil of man all by themselves. I believe that it will happen.

When Fred Phelps dies, I'm going to his funeral.

Hillary Clinton and the Curse of Being a Woman

Oooh, two posts in one day!

Yesterday, the results of the New Hampshire primaries were released. The winners were John McCain for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats.

I tend to vote Democrat. I am at heart an anarchist, and I get pretty pissed at anyone that tries to tell me how I should be living and worshipping. At least with Dems I feel I can be myself and not worry about a lynch mob showing up in my yard one day. And yes, I know there are other political parties in this country, but let’s face it – we are pretty much stuck with the lesser of two evils when it comes to politicians.

Anyway, when it comes to policy, I don’t really care for Clinton’s stand on a lot of different issues. I think it’s awesome that she’s running for president, but I’m not going to make my decision based on gender, race, religion, etc. I want to know that our next president will be able to restore our rights and make friends with the rest of the world again.

I would hope that the rest of this country would also make their votes based on how their candidate addresses issues that concern them. I would hope that, as a country, we are able to see past gender and race, and be able to truly focus on what’s important to all of us, not just the top ten percent of rich fat cats. I would hope that we would be happy to see a human side to any and all candidates and not instantly assumed it was staged.

You see, the night before the primaries in New Hampshire, Clinton got a little emotional. It happens. Immediately, every right-wing conservative that could get to a blog or a news outlet accused her of setting it up, staging her tears, acting her way through a meeting. After the final results of the primaries came out, the accusations got worse. Oh, she acted like she really cared, just so she could win. Oh, she’s playing on people’s feelings, pretending like she’s really human, just like everyone else. And according to some, it’s the only reason she won the primaries.

Why? Because she’s a woman?

For the first time in a very long time, I feel compelled to say something about treating someone differently because of gender. So she got a little teary-eyed. So what? She’s certainly not the first candidate to get a little emotional during their campaign, but I do believe she may be the first to be accused of attempting to garner sympathy that way. Is it because people think she’s so cold? Or is she supposed to be stronger than anyone else?

Funny thing about strong women – they are often personified as “bitches,” “ball-busters,” and yes, even cold. It’s ok for a guy to be strong and show little emotion in the face of a stressful situation, but a woman – well, there’s something wrong with her if she’s strong with little emotion. But then, if she breaks down into tears, she’s weak. So which is it?

What made me even angrier was a post I saw from another Pagan woman saying that Clinton must have been acting and that was how she won the New Hampshire primaries. It’s not that I think all Pagan women should be supporting Clinton, but don’t you think we should at least be giving her the benefit of the doubt? Pagan women are supposed to be strong women. I know I’ve been accused of being cold and harsh, and I know what it’s like to stand in the spotlight and have people say horrible things about me. So if another woman comes under attack for being human, I have to come to her defense.

Here’s a great article by Erica Jong about Clinton and the N. H. primaries. I thought it was a good observation of the whole thing. I invite you to read it, think about it, and truly look into your soul and decide if sexism will be a factor in this presidential election and how much it affects your own decisions. Not just for president, but in all aspects of your life.

We're alive!

Well! Here it is, January, and evidently it’s time for yet another natural disaster. This time we had tornadoes. Yay! Monday night, we spent several hours over at my mother’s house, just in case all hell decided to break loose and destroy my little box-on-wheels. Thankfully, we had no damage, nor did my mother. There was, however, damage from tornadoes all around us to the west, south and east. I believe that areas to the north did not receive any damage. There are great pics of the local Lowe’s store with large twisted pieces of metal in the front and we also learned that the raceway by the airport was torn up. All locations that are pretty durn close to us and enough to scare me pretty good! I tend to think that because our home is in a depression we have a little more protection.

My boys asked what would be in store for next year. Earthquake, maybe? We are past due.
So yes, if you saw it on national news, my family and I were in the big middle of the whole thing. Funny how Springfield never makes the news unless there’s a natural disaster. You know, tornadoes, . . . ice storms, . . . Brad Pitt, . . . .

Happy New Year, and some bits and pieces

Ok, I haven’t been doing much of anything lately, and I apologize for not keeping up with my entries here. Holidays, family, blah, blah, blah.

We are holding a formal passing-over ritual for my friend Raven on January 8th in the mouth of a cave. It’ll be dark of the moon, and the cave is a great place for death and rebirth. I did edit some film from when we held our wake for Raven and I plan on getting that online in the next couple of days.

There’s a fantastic entry over at The Wild Hunt concerning Paganism and sermons. There’s been several discussions everywhere lately about the “watering down” of Paganism, and the idea of what I’ve considered congregational Paganism – one person stands up in front of everyone else and pretty much does all the talking and any performing of ritual that might occur, although the trend in recent years seems to be less ritual and more lecturing. Granted, if you’re not Wiccan or even necessarily Pagan, then it’s not going to affect you unless you are looking to get away from that sheep-type mentality of “this is how I think and this is how you should think, too.” But a big part of the appeal of Paganism for me has always been being able to think for oneself without having another’s dogma shoved down one’s throat.

Finally, I’d just like to say I hate the post office. I went to buy a stamp last night – one flippin’ stamp! – and I found it nearly impossible to do so. At one time, there were at least six machines in the lobby of the post office in which you could drop coins and they would spit out a stamp at you. Last night, there were only three machines in the lobby – one was turned off, one was malfunctioning, and the third one did not take real money, only credit cards. I looked at the line waiting to speak with actual postal employees, but it would have taken me at least half an hour to get up to the front of the line. I did not have half an hour.

I ended up buying my stamp at Dillon’s.

How ‘bout them modern conveniences???