tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191588952024-03-13T20:24:54.351-07:00Broomstick ChroniclesNotes from the broomstick circuit -- and beyond.Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.comBlogger361125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-16256763306756740842020-03-31T17:38:00.000-07:002020-07-17T19:22:29.194-07:00Justice<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Justice<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Ma’at, Themis, Justitia<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Recently I was invited to sit on a panel on the theme of Justice – what our faith tradition teaches about Justice at the </span><a href="https://www.berkeleybuddhisttemple.org/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Berkeley Buddhist Temple</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino";">. The panel convened after a short Buddhist service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Each panelist will have 10 minutes to discuss his or her thoughts on the topic from the standpoint of his or her religion or spiritual outlook. The subject can be approached from any angle desired (personal experience, professional experience, doctrine, personal philosophy, whatever). There will then be a short question and answer period,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Well frankly, I was kinda stumped. I know what Justice is and I think I have a strong sense of Justice; however, I don’t know how these sentiments came about, except, I guess, through my Christian parents. I don’t know of any specific Pagan teachings addressing Justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">The word "justice" appears in many of the United States' most important documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. However, its precise definition is still a topic of debate for philosophers, theologians, and legislators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">In my process of preparing for the panel, my friend Gus DiZerega was kind enough to provide me with a copy of a talk he gave at the Claremont Conference on Current Pagan Studies entitled “Rethinking Social Justice in Accordance with Pagan Values” in 2016. Although that helped me in my thinking about this and I’m grateful for Gus’ generosity, I didn’t end up drawing from it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">In addition, I’ve been learning about restorative justice because of my work as a volunteer with the Wiccan circle at San Quentin State Prison, where the </span><a href="http://www.insightprisonproject.org/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Insight Prison Project</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino";"> was born. </span><a href="http://www.insightprisonproject.org/a-restorative-justice-agency.html" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Restorative justice</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino";">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">… seeks to <b>heal the harm</b> caused by crime. Instead of focusing on retribution, it <b>focuses on rehabilitation</b>. At its core, it is a process that offers both victims and those who caused harm an opportunity to seek <b>answers and accountability</b> to begin to repair the damage caused by crime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">IPP’s core program is:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">… the 18-month long <i>Victim/Offender Education Group</i> (VOEG), which includes a curriculum that was designed by licensed mental health therapists in collaboration with survivors of violent crimes and people incarcerated for previously violent behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Further, I learned a lot from some deeply moving episodes of an excellent television series on CNN called </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/shows/redemption-project-van-jones" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">The Redemption Project with Van Jones</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino";">. In fact, one of my </span><a href="https://www.marinifc.org/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Marin Interfaith Council</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration-line: underline;"><span style="font-family: "palatino";"> </span></span><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "palatino";">colleagues</span></u><span style="font-family: "palatino";">, an interfaith minister, appeared in one episode where she served as the support person for the offender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Often when I’m stumped about an issue, I turn to various peoples’ goddesses and stories about them. Pagans commonly learn from the mythology and folklore of our ancestors. That is how I arrived at the decision to chose three goddesses from three different ancient cultures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Ma’at<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">I began with Ma’at. Ma’at was, and is, the personification of the cosmic order and a representation of the stability of the universe. Ma’at first appears during the period known as the Old Kingdom (c. 2613 - 2181 BCE) but no doubt existed in some form earlier. She represents truth, justice, balance, and morality. She is shown winged and adorned with an ostrich feather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">The Spirit of Ma’at presided over Egyptian law courts. Her priest had a dual role, serving as both a priest and working directly in the law courts and justice system. He wore the feather of Ma’at in court proceedings, while all other court officials wore small golden images of the goddess as a sign of their judicial authority. Priests drew the Feather of Ma’at on their tongues with green dye, so that the words they spoke were truth, as a symbol that their judgment would be balanced and fair. Depictions of Ma’at show her wearing a feather on her head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">At death, on <i>her divine scales</i> Ma’at weighs the heart of the deceased against her feather of truth. In an entertainment context rather than a religious one. Ma’at’s scales with the feather are shown in the television production of Neil Gaiman’s <i>American Gods</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 12pt;">Contemporary Pagans who practice Egyptian or Kemetic religious traditions, whether they are strict reconstructionists or they syncretize Egyptian thought, mythos, deities into their practices, worship Ma’at, among others.</span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 12pt;">Some contemporaries propound the “42 Ideals of Ma’at.”</span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Themis<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">From ancient Greece, the culture of which permeates Western culture, I chose Themis. The personification of abstract concepts is characteristic of the Greeks. Thus, Themis first appears as a divine personage in Hesiod's <i>Theogony</i>. Hesiod described the forces of the universe as cosmic divinities. Titled the Lady of Good Counsel, Themis personifies divine order, fairness, law, natural law, and custom. Her symbols are the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scales_of_Justice_(symbol)" style="color: #954f72;"><i><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Scales of Justice</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "palatino";">, tools used to remain balanced and pragmatic. <i>Themis</i> means "divine law" rather than human ordinance. She was the organizer of the “communal affairs of humans, particularly assemblies<s>.</s>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yg6tVIm1xko/XoPbU227zTI/AAAAAAAACwI/w0aHep8f0T0J1NIXLB0t6Be0oFNPgXgBgCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoDAsAeg72XePwnhySf1xC_o-4p9Pz_PAuDaSYD8KQ8doBWEKSRjfoDgMpt_gJE0u1NscTBJeVD43j-HJKVYh-5nu6Cz6C0YXnEP_7ZYb9rX1KHiW9OVKnkWjfY2VNpoKlL45KbCACxZ4RjMN_ci3QCE5d8-EVqZDy5fBmRy9AVUb15ptl9Jl_2I5L6ZX5wwaLn6S3Jkjs4tMY_DzDHoO9occqb_ZN-ISTchpWJyGH0NX_Pb4JfmXEFVesiupicmvf-iZ0WgNOH5BBvdSk1LtYdSJamG7jV-CeYNJaHP7VZkFvGzCGPMbD5VFGXGRXgFop993xqf6mqRawVnYRzzLzFccPnz-IkjkSAeOZWJ-P4PO406F5Da9Kk0klsKfx3zhgK9ognXvyuRD3krXSShetsRDsAMMZKrLwJZYTp5WQs776b9eusHrPqNGW9gOVC0nYCVJJ9qmafeExcZg089Y1O_WH5VYes53b8gWtIl91ir18nZfr3QRMFzskY4zd0fboFKAVf-LjpUg0rv9MrVCrkOLYEkccLXoStGy8obKrCaCFY0X9Q0DjfC9EhrIhgcfL4TT-DNNfmJ3K9EjpraxqA8rbtwcnh0UqcXMOS7j_QF/s1600/Goddess_of_justice%2BThemis%2Bin%2BAustralia%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yg6tVIm1xko/XoPbU227zTI/AAAAAAAACwI/w0aHep8f0T0J1NIXLB0t6Be0oFNPgXgBgCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoDAsAeg72XePwnhySf1xC_o-4p9Pz_PAuDaSYD8KQ8doBWEKSRjfoDgMpt_gJE0u1NscTBJeVD43j-HJKVYh-5nu6Cz6C0YXnEP_7ZYb9rX1KHiW9OVKnkWjfY2VNpoKlL45KbCACxZ4RjMN_ci3QCE5d8-EVqZDy5fBmRy9AVUb15ptl9Jl_2I5L6ZX5wwaLn6S3Jkjs4tMY_DzDHoO9occqb_ZN-ISTchpWJyGH0NX_Pb4JfmXEFVesiupicmvf-iZ0WgNOH5BBvdSk1LtYdSJamG7jV-CeYNJaHP7VZkFvGzCGPMbD5VFGXGRXgFop993xqf6mqRawVnYRzzLzFccPnz-IkjkSAeOZWJ-P4PO406F5Da9Kk0klsKfx3zhgK9ognXvyuRD3krXSShetsRDsAMMZKrLwJZYTp5WQs776b9eusHrPqNGW9gOVC0nYCVJJ9qmafeExcZg089Y1O_WH5VYes53b8gWtIl91ir18nZfr3QRMFzskY4zd0fboFKAVf-LjpUg0rv9MrVCrkOLYEkccLXoStGy8obKrCaCFY0X9Q0DjfC9EhrIhgcfL4TT-DNNfmJ3K9EjpraxqA8rbtwcnh0UqcXMOS7j_QF/s1600/Goddess_of_justice%2BThemis%2Bin%2BAustralia%2Bcopy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Themis in Australia</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">The ability of the goddess Themis to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the Oracles of Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Themis presided over the proper relation between man and woman, the basis of the rightly ordered family (the family was seen as the pillar of the <i>deme</i>, or connected neighborhood), and judges were often referred to as “<i>themistopóloi</i>” (the servants of Themis). Such was also the basis for order upon Olympus, where even Hera addressed her as “Lady Themis.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">For Hesiod, Justice is at the center of religious and moral life who, independently of Zeus, is the embodiment of divine will. Hesiod portrayed temporal justice, Dike, as the daughter of Zeus and Themis. Dike executed the law of judgments and sentencing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">In general, Themis had three subsistences; goddess of natural order, meaning the seasonal and never-ceasing rotation of time; goddess of moral order; and goddess of prophecy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Some classical representations of Themis showed her holding a sword, believed to represent her ability to cut fact from fiction; to her there was no middle ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-du28Rjj0Yhk/XoPcUlw8isI/AAAAAAAACwY/bRvHvy3uWxoikNtd1TFq7R3dHnr-M1LVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/440px-Justice_statue-Czech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="440" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-du28Rjj0Yhk/XoPcUlw8isI/AAAAAAAACwY/bRvHvy3uWxoikNtd1TFq7R3dHnr-M1LVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/440px-Justice_statue-Czech.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Justice in Czech Republic</td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Justitia<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Justitia, or Iustitia, was the Roman goddess of justice. She is often referred to in modern times as Lady Justice. The emperor Augustus, (27 BCE – CE 14) introduced her, and his successor Tiberius established a Temple of Iustitia in Rome. She became a symbol for the virtue of justice with which every emperor wished to associate his regime. Later, the emperor Vespasian (9-79 CE) minted coins with the image of the goddess seated on a throne, and many emperors after him used the image of the goddess to proclaim themselves protectors of justice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Justitia has become a symbol of Justice in western culture. Justitia, in her more modern form as Lady Justice, has appeared in numerous forms at different times throughout the entirety of Western history since classical antiquity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">She is usually depicted holding a <i>sword</i>, just as Themis was in some images, representing authority and conveying the idea that justice can be swift and final. In some interpretations the sword she holds represents punishment. As do her predecessors Ma’at and Themis, Lady Justice also carries a <i>scales</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a <i>blindfold</i>. The blindfold, symbolizing objectivity, a lack of prejudice demanded by justice, that justice is impartial and should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or other status.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Many sculptures, such as the one atop the Old Bailey courthouse in London<span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration-line: underline;">,</span> leave out the blindfold altogether. Another variation, which can be seen at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee, depicts a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human <i>scale</i>, weighing competing claims in each hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dXlC5e_BDx0/XoPcVJytqiI/AAAAAAAACw0/fUTG71FqOw4GVJD9IGeNz8RgGjrs55cXACEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s1600/440px-Justicia_Ottawa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dXlC5e_BDx0/XoPcVJytqiI/AAAAAAAACw0/fUTG71FqOw4GVJD9IGeNz8RgGjrs55cXACEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s320/440px-Justicia_Ottawa.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contemporary Iustitia in Ottawa</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Luwo8Ys203c/XoPcVkKBclI/AAAAAAAACw8/fhzRyTcvud0J91d4gq90XVUJeoPkNoN_wCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s1600/1280px-Allegoria_della_Giustizia_-_galleria_del_Poccetti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Luwo8Ys203c/XoPcVkKBclI/AAAAAAAACw8/fhzRyTcvud0J91d4gq90XVUJeoPkNoN_wCEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s320/1280px-Allegoria_della_Giustizia_-_galleria_del_Poccetti.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allegoria della Guistitia</td></tr>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4llX5eMz9xg/XoPcVn4EefI/AAAAAAAACw8/5T9i2LYymhYrWngC0lOJVPpP8H7HGjhSACEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s1600/justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="216" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4llX5eMz9xg/XoPcVn4EefI/AAAAAAAACw8/5T9i2LYymhYrWngC0lOJVPpP8H7HGjhSACEwYBhgLKs4DAMBZVoB63XNexDzG7Hx83FxDNtHS3axZzuk-b0OyKl4fAroGYQCX-vOgD6NP7mZiUuM5Mx-GkedmVWeNd78Kco_KL-qxbT67n0Ibx753LYxaz8kiIM2NpRP44vTnHk41CYBGDqryFb_WEhm7Oe8yNk5G12Icqt6YKTB_aVqXn0v65opi1i6pVA9-sZwdm6I6uXoVrP6NiY0NkC8ynQahs-dklIgy9b4tyZN_HZURvA0PEDa8orqd9ckFYBPMEOlw-JYQMO8WklY0qndy6Azza_a103HOTLGQKsefstw01t2ZZIGrF_UEOXHshc0KWCuHOqs-UjxdIqZOBI9u9nUpP0sA_f3FU0HzVFfvQ3-lZU7lnot3-ZWSUZ9IG_adjcng-2zmcdf8p9Vd_pcNEBRCtYgVOq_Z0U-KWWDSoQYOcWvazoMyoDmgzXSO7J-2TAPGW5DwXv7s5qmFM41ymbtkUG9ZOyCCJUSnMxXVYXcFJ9mbqzyjhzL22hvzXo3LxhNWCsfzAgwQDYNIPM9ZkSBTFV_5uKwKx-_ZPTji4gbkjEiTa-mbvzXt7g3r8pyC5hBp41Go3QQnkq_AHPJt4ggZ4RoD09uj2CMW_JhGcuGuMJbAj_QF/s200/justice.jpg" width="135" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMpA2IW2rmk/XoPgUK2DxnI/AAAAAAAACxM/Z0VRdFvFWF4all7CIDG4t_6aDqUtgbagACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/220px-Iustitia_van_Heemskerck.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMpA2IW2rmk/XoPgUK2DxnI/AAAAAAAACxM/Z0VRdFvFWF4all7CIDG4t_6aDqUtgbagACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/220px-Iustitia_van_Heemskerck.png" width="141" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saixTkFcJ_A/XoPgT0qr21I/AAAAAAAACxI/OX2tjj-5_cA2wI2k2JMH4OTSO9PChkQ_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/220px-Gerechtigkeit-1537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saixTkFcJ_A/XoPgT0qr21I/AAAAAAAACxI/OX2tjj-5_cA2wI2k2JMH4OTSO9PChkQ_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/220px-Gerechtigkeit-1537.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Franklin Gothic Book", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "palatino";">Scales of Justice</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">As you can see, one thing that all of these Pagan representations of the concept of justice include is scales. The scales of justice are a familiar symbol used in many Western presentations of modern law; they represent the weighing of two sides of an argument and the equal, unbiased administration of the law, and the scales lack a foundation in order to signify that evidence should stand on its own. They symbolize the idea of the <b>fair distribution of law</b>, with no influence of bias, privilege or corruption. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Lady Justice is most often depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from one hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a case’s support and opposition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contemporary Lady Justice</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">As mentioned above, Pagans commonly learn from the mythology and folklore of our ancestors, and, to a lesser extent, from anthropology and archeology, art, music, dance, and cuisine. We may draw from many times and cultures, from personal experience and philosophy, from teachings and study. Personal experience may include direct communication with particular divine entity(ies). I don’t see this as choosing from a smorgasbord of ancient and contemporary; rather, as are all religions, Pagan religions are syncretic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">In general, Pagans are not doctrinaire. We are orthopractic rather than orthodox; we share our rituals together, be they scripted or spontaneous, yet each participant may gain insight and understandings, literal belief or healthy skepticism, in different ways. Further, each participant may have a different belief about what they’re doing, whether literal or metaphorical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino";">Our ongoing influence is attested by the longevity of our deities and the concepts they represent. The desks of many attorneys hold a scales; courthouses and other government buildings are warded by statues of Lady Justice or Themis, paintings of these goddesses abound throughout the world, from Brazil to Scandinavia, and beyond. As we are fond of saying, we practice a “living religion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">© 2020 Aline O'Brien</span></div>
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Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-78964988257719673982020-02-26T18:39:00.000-08:002020-02-26T18:39:24.924-08:00One Witch's PantheaCons<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-crtCCwDzU9o/XlcNPBf_chI/AAAAAAAACuc/VYud0kius-4WH7Sn1MRKbrEXGbg3nfuNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/%2B%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="800" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-crtCCwDzU9o/XlcNPBf_chI/AAAAAAAACuc/VYud0kius-4WH7Sn1MRKbrEXGbg3nfuNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/%2B%2B.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PantheaCon 2013 "Crones"<br />rear l-r: Magenta Griffin, Rachael Watcher, Macha NightMare, Selena Fox, <br />Vivianne Crowley, Margot Adler; front Anna Korn, Glenn Turner</td></tr>
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I’m annoyed that the comments for the post on <a href="https://wildhunt.org/">The Wild Hunt</a>
are closed only two days after its publication. I had stuff to say.
I’ve been to many a Pcon, and have been there in various capacities, both
inside organizing as a volunteer and as a presenter. Thus, I’ll share
what I had wanted to say, and more, on this blog. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The first year, in downtown San Jose, not near the airport,
I helped run the Green Room and had a role in Reclaiming’s Brigit ritual there.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the years, I’ve had panels that have had people sitting
in the aisles and spilling out the doorway.
(Pagan Clergy, Death & Dying, et al.) I’ve been a functionary
in rituals others created and presented some of my own. (big Brigit ritual
written by Laurel Olson Mendez, 19 priestesses; “Witchual: A Spell”; <a href="https://catstarrastraltraveller.com/living-tarot/">Oracles from the LivingTarot</a> – really screwed up on that one; et al.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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The year 2000 CE saw the first performance of three of
Goddesses Alive! using <a href="http://masksofthegoddess.com/uploads/3/7/1/1/37112809/masks-of-goddess-collection-sheet-2019-2_1_orig.jpg">Lauren Raine’s gorgeous goddess masks</a>, in celebration of
the late <a href="https://wildhunt.org/tag/goddess-2000-project">Abby Willowroot</a>’s Goddess 2000 project, at the old Jack Tar Hotel in
San Francisco. This ritual, in a much more polished form, was performed again that December at New College of California (RIP), and had its final performance at the <a href="https://parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/salt-lake-2015-1">Parliament of the World’s Religions</a> in Salt Lake City in 2015 — one of
the great honors of my life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One year when it was at the Oakland Convention Center I
headed the volunteers. It was not a good
experience for me, sorry to say, since my efforts were stymied by arbitrary
interference, to the point where I would never again volunteer there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.cherryhillseminary.org/">Cherry Hill Seminary</a> presented symposia the day before the
Con began three or four years, thanks to PantheaCon's Glenn Turner’s offering us rooms in which to
hold them. One year we even managed a
CHS hospitality suite shared with the House of Danu.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gM95LKhZcg/XlcWEUY_PZI/AAAAAAAACu0/TZM5JfDaYzUfopaTeQUkCNGCzGCkapCkwCEwYBhgL/s1600/old%2BBesom%2BBrigade.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="403" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gM95LKhZcg/XlcWEUY_PZI/AAAAAAAACu0/TZM5JfDaYzUfopaTeQUkCNGCzGCkapCkwCEwYBhgL/s200/old%2BBesom%2BBrigade.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Predecessors</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In 2008, we did a Besom Brigade -- thank you, <a href="http://stevenposch.com/">Steven Posch</a> -- in the DoubleTree lobby. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5EW-BdW6UwY/XlcV8AX1-wI/AAAAAAAACuw/HGlL8xcbMGwGXYqlZacsBqIj2FxzYV20wCEwYBhgL/s1600/*2279628091_ae0f00921e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="500" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5EW-BdW6UwY/XlcV8AX1-wI/AAAAAAAACuw/HGlL8xcbMGwGXYqlZacsBqIj2FxzYV20wCEwYBhgL/s400/*2279628091_ae0f00921e.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My “Growing Pagan Elders” study was rejected three years in
a row, for reasons unknown. I had
originally conducted this study for presentation at the Claremont Conference on
Current Pagan Studies, and I’ve been <i>paid</i> to present it elsewhere. It was a lot of work and was about something
we as Pagans were facing as our movement matured. I got over 700 responses on my open-ended survey
on Survey Monkey. By “open-ended” I mean I left lots of space for
narrative,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, after three years, I was given the 9 am Monday time
slot, when everyone has left or is preparing to do so. So who was sitting
in my very unsexy presentation that year? Margot Adler, Selena Fox, Ivo
Dominguez, Michael Smith, Amber and Azrael K, and other leaders, so I guess it was interesting
enough for them. Hmm, do I sound bitter about that? <o:p></o:p></div>
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After that I quit submitting proposals, except for sitting
on a panel now and then, and just attended so I could visit old, seldom seen
friends, attend a ritual or presentation as they interested me and if they were
led by a friend – in which case I knew they’d be good.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some years I was away at another Pagan gathering the same
weekend. Last year I didn’t go because of the furor and dysfunction.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year I was given the 7 pm Friday evening time slot, a time when many
had not yet arrived, for another unsexy talk on creating Pagan infrastructure
called “Have Paganisms Gone Mainstream? The Spiritual Meets the Secular.”
To my surprise, we had a full house, a double room that was one full room
and about 1/3 of the spill-out room, maybe 50 people. Of course, I forgot to ask someone to take
photos and forgot to pass around a sign-up sheet. Discussion was so lively that Con staff had
to throw us out of the room for the next talk, and I got lots and lots of
positive feedback throughout the rest of the Con. Very satisfying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I do applaud and appreciate Glenn for creating these
opportunities to create Pagan culture. 'Back in the day' that creation
and cross-fertilization was done in the context of outdoor camping festivals,
especially in the South and Midwest. My theory about why there were so
few on the West Coast was that we are already liberal and accepting and don’t
need to sneak off for private meetings where we weren’t jeopardized by the
threat of outing. PantheaCon has played a major role in the cross fertilization and evolution of contemporary American Pagan culture.</div>
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</style>Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-76595096811227557542019-06-11T17:42:00.002-07:002019-06-11T17:57:13.649-07:00AAR 2017-IV (2017)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hs1akhRC0SE/XQBENeKtvoI/AAAAAAAACiE/0qPKn1cGaN8ldTF_z9kuK_L4vsu3-oZxgCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilneset-Memorial-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hs1akhRC0SE/XQBENeKtvoI/AAAAAAAACiE/0qPKn1cGaN8ldTF_z9kuK_L4vsu3-oZxgCLcBGAs/s640/Steilneset-Memorial-6.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "cambria";">Steineset Witchcraft Memorial in Vardø, Finnmark, Norway</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan
Studies Unit<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pagan Intersections
with Social and Cultural Systems</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These papers investigate the ways in which Pagan belief and practices intersect
with wider aspects of culture and experience and the ways in which Pagans
themselves interact with services and institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Topics include the impacts of being Pagan on health and
wellbeing and the ability to see appropriate care and diagnosis, the impacts of
Pagan leadership in environmental activism, and how a pilgrimage site is used
for educational purposes.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kimberly
Kirner</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seeking Healing and
Support:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mental and Physical
Health Challenges in Pagan Communities</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pagans are known for high rate of small-group and solitary
practice, often facilitated at people’s homes or public spaces such as national
forests and parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does this
impact how Pagans with mental and physical health challenges experience their
communities? How does Pagan community color their experience of support in
seeking care and treatment for their health challenges?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 2012 Pagan Health Survey asked
United States Pagans about their beliefs, practices, and experiences in healing
(N+1811).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>76% of respondents
reported a period in their lives of significant mental distress or disorder
(with 54% having experienced depression, 60% anxiety or panic, and 29% PTSD);
49% of respondents reported a chronic physical illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper explores how Pagans with
such health challenges experience their religious community, including both
support and discrimination, as well as how multiple stigmas (religious minority
combined with frequently stigmatized health challenges) impacts Pagans’
well-being.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Garrett
Sadler</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seeking Healing and
Support:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mental and Physical
Health Challenges in Pagan Communities</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeffrey
Albaugh</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Phenomenological
Exploration of Theophany and Metanoia in Contemporary Paganisms</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This descriptive phenomenological
inquiry explores invariant structures of meaning in the lived experiences of
theophany and metanoia in individuals identifying as Contemporary Pagans in the
United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Methods of inquiry
included open-ended questions to collect descriptions of numinous
experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Analysis utilizes the
descriptive phenomenological method developed by Amedeo P. Giorgi, and compares
the resulting invariant meanings with the current research on Contemporary
Pagan belief and practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Analysis resulted in a predictable map of the psychic experience of
encountering the numinous that mirrors the four basic tropes of archetypal
psychology, personifying, of imagining things; pathologizing, or falling apart;
psychologizing, or seeing through; and dehumanizing, or soul making.</div>
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* * * * *</div>
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I was amazed, pleasantly so, to learn of this spectacular memorial installation in Norway, of all places. Who knew there were Witch burnings in Norway? I didn’t. From the various photos online, it appears that the visitor could be drawn in to the experience of events. I think you can tell a lot from the photos included here.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eOtQnA19MJ8/XQBETRupjfI/AAAAAAAACiM/cNao16UPuKgLCYpbOg8T9CeRPn4inRHYgCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilneset-Memorial-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="800" height="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eOtQnA19MJ8/XQBETRupjfI/AAAAAAAACiM/cNao16UPuKgLCYpbOg8T9CeRPn4inRHYgCLcBGAs/s320/Steilneset-Memorial-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLbG-Z0prsc/XQBETYUxRHI/AAAAAAAACiQ/ra2FLJHYDbArtN1fsVa8O4BJCpUOyU3DQCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilneset_Memorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLbG-Z0prsc/XQBETYUxRHI/AAAAAAAACiQ/ra2FLJHYDbArtN1fsVa8O4BJCpUOyU3DQCLcBGAs/s320/Steilneset_Memorial.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burning Chair</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOguoyMntVY/XQBEXZf0R_I/AAAAAAAACi0/I3PCCfFvEOACn8UGT93R1Q6ksoSSZw-AwCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-way-up-north.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1200" height="192" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOguoyMntVY/XQBEXZf0R_I/AAAAAAAACi0/I3PCCfFvEOACn8UGT93R1Q6ksoSSZw-AwCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-way-up-north.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chair at Nighttime</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8RZtj0xfO3M/XQBEVl8KN6I/AAAAAAAACik/BmddbG4zTDsQXo2mvj5JgyLBc1KkL8cyQCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-architectureau.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="638" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8RZtj0xfO3M/XQBEVl8KN6I/AAAAAAAACik/BmddbG4zTDsQXo2mvj5JgyLBc1KkL8cyQCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-architectureau.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Distant View</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Yctk7fidiw/XQBETg2d9BI/AAAAAAAACiU/cbcZmRX6GS8nYDjLc8C9TCHSGkuOPYY-ACLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest%2BMemorial%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="650" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Yctk7fidiw/XQBETg2d9BI/AAAAAAAACiU/cbcZmRX6GS8nYDjLc8C9TCHSGkuOPYY-ACLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest%2BMemorial%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's Right Out There Along the Cliff</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YB6wrw2SjCE/XQBEV062yaI/AAAAAAAACio/osjzq-9YDS84tRfNtUAIzb_WPdTr9404wCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-iconeye.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="630" height="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YB6wrw2SjCE/XQBEV062yaI/AAAAAAAACio/osjzq-9YDS84tRfNtUAIzb_WPdTr9404wCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-iconeye.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another View Showing Waves</td></tr>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jone
Salomonsen and Sarah M Pike</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Presence
and Absence at the Steilneset Witchcraft Memorial</i>. Where do we find
memorials to commemorate early modern witch hunts as a crime, and to more the
many thousands who were tortured and killed as heretics in Europe (and North
America)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does a state
incorporate its crime against those deemed and burned as devilish others <span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">into
its memorial landscape?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">According
to contemporary memory studies, the time of the monument is passé.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">Rather than embodying memory, the
monument tends to displace it altogether, supplanting a community’s possible
memory work with its own material form.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">The alternative to “monument” is the “memorial,” which is defined as a
counter-monument, a built structure in which the artist has attempted a performative
piece that may initiate a dynamic relationship between artist, work and
viewer.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">A memorial, therefore, is
an egalitarian conception that attempts not only to commemorate the historical
impulse that led to the abuse, the kill, the event “itself,” but to facilitate
an enactment in which the hierarchical relationships between the object and its
audience is breaking down.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">The
enactment in which the hierarchical relationship between the object and its
audience is breaking down.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">The
paper will present and discuss the one case in which a local municipality
recognized its obligation to remember the early modern witch burnings in its
own town and who called on world-renowned artists to design a worthy site.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">Steineset Witchcraft Memorial in Vardø,
Finnmark, in northern Norway, is also a unique sample of an embodiment of the
conceptual intent of a ‘memorial.’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">The actual memorial is a 2011 co-production by the Swiss architect Peter
Zumthor and the French-American installation artists Louise Bourgeois to
commemorate 77 women and 14 men who were burned at the stake between 1620 and
1692 in this sparsely populated county (of 3000 inhabitants at the time in
Northern Norway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-65cNofgECz4/XQBEUNPZVwI/AAAAAAAACiY/KITeL0438Qo0fWqaPJAW80gWZBKQTjTfgCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest%2BMemorial%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="650" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-65cNofgECz4/XQBEUNPZVwI/AAAAAAAACiY/KITeL0438Qo0fWqaPJAW80gWZBKQTjTfgCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest%2BMemorial%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another View</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ibj7C0dxCpQ/XQBEWdmdonI/AAAAAAAACis/OODQxJfWl9cvfh8VKemqBsbIGjehK8IrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-justinlovewithberni.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ibj7C0dxCpQ/XQBEWdmdonI/AAAAAAAACis/OODQxJfWl9cvfh8VKemqBsbIGjehK8IrgCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-justinlovewithberni.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Long Walk to the Fire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uAqrlSSdY80/XQBEW95c1yI/AAAAAAAACiw/qYxyXP7usd4bl4VRNRbJ0GnQDOq311_BACLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-nybooks.comZumthor-interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="630" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uAqrlSSdY80/XQBEW95c1yI/AAAAAAAACiw/qYxyXP7usd4bl4VRNRbJ0GnQDOq311_BACLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-nybooks.comZumthor-interior.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long Walk to Fire Chair</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ajA92kbQx34/XQBEVBwI4aI/AAAAAAAACig/WpFh8NLCuPwOVaOiMgKTRcHMNXL4s1jNgCLcBGAs/s1600/Steilnest-Kjell%2BLyngmo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="500" height="214" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ajA92kbQx34/XQBEVBwI4aI/AAAAAAAACig/WpFh8NLCuPwOVaOiMgKTRcHMNXL4s1jNgCLcBGAs/s320/Steilnest-Kjell%2BLyngmo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nighttime</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-68306081990165447922018-06-15T02:42:00.001-07:002018-06-15T02:42:20.292-07:00AAR Annual Meeting-III (2017)
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<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
SUNDAY</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan Studies and Religion and Migration Unit and Religion
and Popular Culture Unit and Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Unit and
Religion, Media, and Culture Unit</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">American Gods</b>. I
was unable to attend this intriguing roundtable discussion inspired by Neil
Gaiman’s novel, but I wanted Pagans to know that it took place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan Studies Unit<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magic in the Time of
the Tower: Witchcraft, Activism, and Political Resistance</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This panel explores various aspects of
political activism within the contemporary pagan and witchcraft
communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Topics and issues
discussed will include mass protests organized across social media, controversy
among pagan and witchcraft traditions regarding the appropriate use of magic
and spellcraft in political contexts; the influence of popular media texts upon
the lexicon and imagery of contemporary pagan activism; and the presence of
witchcraft culture in the current political climate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peg Aloi</b>
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We Are the Weirdos, Mister!”: The
Re-emergence of W.I.T.C.H. and a New Generation of Media Witches</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The re-emergence of the late
1960s radical feminist group W.I.T.C.H. (The Women’s International Terrorist
Conspiracy from Hell) has been a dramatic and attention-getting presence in the
current climate of political activism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This paper will explore the cultural underpinnings of that group and its
use of popular Hollywood imagery of witches (from The Wizard of Oz) to attract
media attention, as well as the more recent proliferation of media-based
portrayals of witches (like those in Bewitched and The Craft) that inform
contemporary political activism within the pagan community and in the wider
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The significance of media
portrayals of witches for both practitioners and laypersons will be discussed,
as it relates to both positive and negative developments within the current
political zeitgeist.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IGRViyIkrNs/WyMRO0QuIXI/AAAAAAAACZk/u7YZ_26PUN8btELAmoHHIEzajZrWNEBywCLcBGAs/s1600/witches%2Bagainst%2BTrump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1000" height="244" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IGRViyIkrNs/WyMRO0QuIXI/AAAAAAAACZk/u7YZ_26PUN8btELAmoHHIEzajZrWNEBywCLcBGAs/s320/witches%2Bagainst%2BTrump.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always find this kind of presentation fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my days when I was deep into the
movement called Second Wave Feminism, which was before I found the Craft so was
not yet a Witch myself, I well remember the Women’s International Terrorist
Conspiracy from Hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To discover
that contemporary young women find inspiration from WITCH warms my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My notes are scanty, but I know that
Peg mentioned repressed memory therapy, likely relating to the “Satanic panic”
of the 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was kept abreast
of much of this as it unfolded by way of my friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_H._Frew">Don Frew</a>, who was very
involved because of its mistaken association with Wicca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6yqU4vcuDI/WyMSWUBq0iI/AAAAAAAACZw/KqkRTwKIPRMsv1SWyUW13SVqDW55AwWsACLcBGAs/s1600/Besom%2BBrigade-Berkeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="372" height="130" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6yqU4vcuDI/WyMSWUBq0iI/AAAAAAAACZw/KqkRTwKIPRMsv1SWyUW13SVqDW55AwWsACLcBGAs/s200/Besom%2BBrigade-Berkeley.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Besom Brigade, Berkeley, CA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She also cited a 1977 writing by Cheri Lesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I heard that, my ears perked up,
because Cheri Lesh is a woman I’ve known since my first involvement in
Witchcraft. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her professional name,
which is also her Craft name, is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerridwen_Fallingstar">Cerridwen
Fallingstar</a>, and she was my sponsor when I took initiation vows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a strange feeling when the
writings of someone you know in an other-than-academic context are cited, and
you know this person well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The revival of WITCH, whatever the acronym means today,
relates to the phenomenon begun in Minneapolis by <a href="http://www.stevenposch.com/">Steve Posch</a> and manifested beyond his
home turf, of <a href="http://sacredhearth.com/blog:the-broom">besom</a>
brigades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besom brigades are drill
teams of black-hatted Witches using brooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See photo.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sabina
Magliocco</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witchcraft as Political
Resistance: Magical Responses to the 2016 Election</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon after the Presidential election of
2016, instructions for magic spells to stop the actions of Trump and his
administration began to circulate on social media sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have continued to spread
throughout the first months of his presidency, sometimes going viral and being
adopted by non-Pagans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper
examines the emergence of these spells and responses to them within and outside
of the community of contemporary Pagan practitioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It explores why they emerged at this historical juncture as
well as the reasons for their appeal both within and outside of magical
communities, arguing that they exist as a performance of resistance that allows
the expression of oppositional feelings at a time of high anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also uses them to explore the complex
attitudes towards magic, power, and ethics in the belief systems of
contemporary Pagans.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One can count on the fact that Sabina’s presentations are
clear, thorough, and interesting, and this one was no different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Craft community in which I have my
roots, which I call my matrix community, has always had a strong political
aspect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witches in that tradition
frequently find themselves front and center of progressive political
activism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say,
in today’s political climate activism is strong and growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witness Black Lives Matter, the Women’s
March of January 2017, and current youth-led activism around gun violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sabina spoke of the phenomenon of the urge to hex Donald
Trump that swept through Witchen communities in the wake of his election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most common of these spells were “<a href="http://www.witchipedia.com/def:binding">bindings</a>” intended to thwart
his efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She credited these
efforts, whether carried out or not, as a means of creative expression and
anxiety relief.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This cultural episode also stimulated ethical discussion
around the meaning the Witchen dictate of “Harm None.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have mixed feelings about political
spellwork – its ethics, its effectiveness and the wisdom of employing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are pages and pages about political
spells in the wake of the last presidential election and its fallout.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Egil
Asprem</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Magical Theory of
Politics: Meme Magic, the Cult of Kek, and How to Topple an Egregore</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The election of the 45<sup>th</sup>
President of the United States set in motion a hidden war in the world of the
occult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the meme-filled
underworld of 4chan’s alt-right-dominated imageboards to the publicized
“binding spell” against Trump and his supporters, the social and ideological
divides ripping apart the American social fabric is mirrored by witches,
magicians, and other esotericists fighting each other with magical means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper focuses on the emerging
online esoteric religion of the alt-right, the increasingly (re-)enchanted
notion of “meme magic,” and the open confrontation between different magical
paradigms that has ensued in order to (1) analyze the competing views of
magical efficacy that get sharpened as material and political stakes appear to
increase; and (2) theorize the religionizing tendency of the alt-right as a
partly spontaneous and partially deliberate attempt to create “collective
effervescence” and galvanize a movement around a (in Weberian terms) distinctly
non-legalistic and non-traditional charismatic authority.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmr5FKKIkEU/WyMN6sgg1lI/AAAAAAAACZY/NHy-tERnC-E8Rpaj3o9tElEFlBljj3U2wCLcBGAs/s1600/pepe-the-frog-1272162_960_720%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="960" height="142" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmr5FKKIkEU/WyMN6sgg1lI/AAAAAAAACZY/NHy-tERnC-E8Rpaj3o9tElEFlBljj3U2wCLcBGAs/s200/pepe-the-frog-1272162_960_720%2Bcopy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This talk was undoubtedly one of the strangest I’ve
encountered at this venue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
heard of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_the_Frog">Pepe the Frog</a>
and had seen ugly images of him, but I generally ignore cartoon-y things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that Pepe the Frog generated <a href="http://thecultofkek.com/">The Cult of Kek</a> , Kek being considered the
Egyptian god of Chaos, as well as being part of the “Holy Trinity” of memetic
entities: Kek the Father, Pepe the Son, and Pek the Holy Ghost.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Egil mentioned a right-wing Rosicrucian named <a href="https://magick101.com/about-us/">David Griffin</a> and his colleague (and
perhaps wife) Leslie McQuade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
also mentioned a Michael Hughes in connection with the rise of binding spells
against Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael Hughes
being a common name, an Internet search arrived at a <a href="https://www.michaelmhughes.com/">Michael M. Hughes</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns out that we have dozens of
friends in common. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Michael
Hughes seems to be all on board with hexing Trump, with #BindTrump and
#MagicResistance on his FB page.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A part of this general group of related phenomena is the
collectively created “thought focus,” or <a href="http://humanityhealing.net/2011/05/real-meaning-of-egregore/">Egregore</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The spell uses an unflattering
photograph of Trump -- Gods know there are many from which to choose! – a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sigil of some kind, and an orange
candle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m sorry to say that lo these many months later there
remains a need to curb the President’s ignorant and ill-considered behavior.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
AAR-IV blog to follow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-19870301918798795972018-04-03T17:52:00.000-07:002018-04-03T17:52:44.144-07:00Institutions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-79SKIG1l_Wo/WsQe3XGUpGI/AAAAAAAACUU/-FQX2LSS-FUhAGMj2PJNL8sNPXyd3wdSQCLcBGAs/s1600/institution-blue%2Btemple.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-79SKIG1l_Wo/WsQe3XGUpGI/AAAAAAAACUU/-FQX2LSS-FUhAGMj2PJNL8sNPXyd3wdSQCLcBGAs/s1600/institution-blue%2Btemple.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">As a product of the counterculture, I tend to
mistrust and avoid institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suspect this is a common attitude among “first generation”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
NeoPagans in the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found existing
institutions, be they religious, educational, or governmental, to be oppressive,
unfulfilling, and irrelevant to the conditions of the world in which we found
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Let’s face it: established religions such as
Christianity in its many forms, were created and gained ascendency in other
times and places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no threat of
nuclear annihilation, no looming environmental degradation, no water shortage,
no organ transplants, no vaccinations against such diseases as smallpox and
polio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those religions addressed the
concerns of the peoples in other times and places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, few of these religious institutions
adapted to changing circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nowadays some are trying to be more relevant, often by adopting
practices, such as involving lay people in their rituals and dancing during
worship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the years since Paganism has become visible,
particularly in academia and interfaith, we have gained credibility in the
wider world, and although we remain a religious minority,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
we have not done much in the way of establishing lasting institutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">There was a time when I was still too close to that
against which I was rebelling and too chafed by the institutions I was escaping
that I resisted any talk of Pagan institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Webster_(writer)">Sam Webster</a>
has convinced me that by creating institutions, we will have a lasting legacy
that will survive our individual lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The institution to which I’ve devoted the most time
and energy for the last 12 years or so is <a href="https://www.blogger.com/cherryhillseminary.org">Cherry
Hill Seminary</a>, for many reasons, not the least of which is that I find
intellectual discernment to be in short supply, drowned out by the noises of <a href="http://altreligion.about.com/od/glossary/g/UPG.htm">UPG</a>
(unverified/unverifiable personal gnosis) woowoo.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Smaller institutions like <a href="http://www.cog.org/">CoG</a> do maintain disaster relief funds, never very
big.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Most Pagans do as I do, and contribute to existing
institutions that were created to address certain crises, like the Red Cross or
<a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/aboutus/">Doctors Without Borders</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to other nonprofits related to
environmentalism, the pursuit of peace, seeking cures for specific diseases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m comfortable that those institutions are
established, organized, funded, and run more efficiently than any smaller Pagan
organization could be to achieve their stated goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Having said all that, I come to the subject that is
the immediate incentive for this post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I have been meeting with the Wiccan circle at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Quentin_State_Prison">San Quentin State
Prison</a>. This service has led to my encountering <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Federal law mandates that all inmates in any prison
in the country be afforded religious worship and counsel of their choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what allows this circle to meet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Wiccan circle at San Quentin meets in
what is called the minority faith chapel, which is shared with Spanish-language
evangelical Christians, practitioners of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%C3%A1">Ifa</a>,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[4]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our “chapel” is a fairly
dismal place that we try our best to decorate when we meet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So here’s my problem: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">financial and other support for the few Wiccan inmates</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s obvious that mainstream religions,
particularly some Christian sects, have a much easier time doing their
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They appear to me to be given
priority over minority religions as to meeting space, resources, and time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Christians have the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideons_International">Gideons</a>
distributing Bibles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending upon
their particular Christian sect, inmates are provided with missals, rosaries,
images, and all manner of study and meditative literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jewish inmates have Torahs and Muslims the
Koran. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abrahamic inmates have access to
a plethora of Abrahamic literature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
although we Pagans have no “book,” per se, we do have plenty of books and other
writings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Prison libraries, like those in our communities,
experience the frequent disappearance of Pagan or Craft-related titles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Jewish chaplain at San Quentin, who
supervises our particular minority faith, and thereby me, has offered to keep
books in her office and lend them to individual inmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not ideal, but it’s better than
nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Individual Pagans have helped me set up this
ministry by donating books they’ve written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For instance, <a href="http://christopherpenczak.com/">Christopher
Penczak</a> sent me two of his books, which I will use to the extent I can.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[5]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The previous incarnation of this circle were
devoted specifically to Isis and Ra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wishing to provide these men with meaningful materials, I bought the
newly published tenth anniversary edition of <a href="http://www.abiegnushouse.com/isis-magic/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isis Magic</i></a>, by M. Isadora Forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this book proves helpful, I will see if I
can get a copy donated to the small Pagan library in the Jewish chaplain’s
office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I am also considering providing them with two of <a href="http://ivodominguezjr.com/">Ivo Dominguez, Jr</a>.’s books, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spirit Speak</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casting Sacred Space</i>, in addition to exploring other books and
sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Currently I bring in photocopies of a page or two
each time – a meditation, a drawing or chart, an image and/or prayer, a
song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t the most efficient way
to provide them with literature, one reason being that I myself have limited
resources and copying costs can add up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I’m aware of at least two recent publications
created to address the training of Pagan inmates, but I’m unsatisfied with them
and do not wish to use them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is more
formal and “high episcopagan” for my taste and the other lacks a cohesive
approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, I’m seeking sources
harmonious with my approach and talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bear in mind that inmates cannot have such things as candles and incense
in their cells, nor can they have any images of the divine that are
unclothed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are, for instance,
allowed to have a deck of Tarot cards, but most Tarot decks show at least a
breast or two and therefore don’t meet prison restrictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand that Raven Grimassi has designed
a deck specifically for inmate use and will check this out further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">* * * * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Circling back to the notion of Pagan
institutions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I’ve lived considerably
more than half my life – I’m glad to be around and am hoping to reach 100 – I’m
thinking about legacies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are we
Pagans leaving our children and grandchildren in terms of our religions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already know that our Mother Earth is
changing in a direction that’s not conducive to life as we know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not meaning to be a doomsayer, just stating
the obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Climate change, however, is
a topic for a different discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the meantime, assuming we adapt – and I really believe that Pagan values,
perspectives, and minds have much to offer in the search for solutions – what
kind of institutions, if any, are we leaving our descendants?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By “first generation” I mean
those boomers and <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Are-Pre-Boomers-the-Forgotten-Generation?&id=2819815">pre-boomers</a>
who grasped whatever threads of Pagan practice and thought they could find,
wove them into a fabric of their making, and grew to become contemporary
American Paganism. Many were disillusioned or unsatisfied by the religions in
which they were reared, or came from secular or mixed-religion families. Some
of these threads were tied to older traditions, such as Gardnerian Wicca, in
Britain; however, in the main, we self-determined out of many sources
(mythology and folklore, ethnic and familiar customs, environmentalism,
feminism, and the zeitgeist in general.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s fine with me if we remain a
minority religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not seek
converts as many of the mainstream religions do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t hold growing our numbers as a
goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paganism is not for everyone, but
for those of us like myself to whom it matters, we are entitled to equal
treatment and a voice in our communities and governments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am in no way putting down UPG;
I consider it akin to mysticism/the mystical experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since it is so personal,
idiosyncratic, unpredictable, and cannot be recreated, UPG does not allow the
kind of rational analysis that other religious phenomena permit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Strictly speaking, a divinatory
system found in Yoruba and other African diaspora religions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Inmates are not allowed candles,
for instance, and many of the exercises in Christopher’s books employ
candles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, and we (inmates and myself)
have to adapt as much as we can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-23430550689915342482018-03-12T17:37:00.002-07:002018-03-12T18:23:13.847-07:00Facts, Experiences, and Insights about Volunteering in Prison<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CqeVh7e5ixQ/WqcAtfGGBOI/AAAAAAAACTs/jMO30U8xVpwctRiDDtRi1jhutwcCXyUxwCLcBGAs/s1600/SQ%2Byard%2BGetty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CqeVh7e5ixQ/WqcAtfGGBOI/AAAAAAAACTs/jMO30U8xVpwctRiDDtRi1jhutwcCXyUxwCLcBGAs/s400/SQ%2Byard%2BGetty.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've been volunteering with the Wiccan circle at San
Quentin, at their request, for the past five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their circle had done a spell to get a facilitator from
outside, and I volunteered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm
not Wiccan, but rather Witchen; however, Wicca is a term that's gaining
recognition and credibility in government bureaucracies such as prisons, so I'm
happy to go with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I
tell the inmates I work with that I'm Pagan, as a broader term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I come from no particular group, just
as an individual Witch at Large, although there are some individual members of <a href="http://www.cog.org/">CoG</a> and a man from the <a href="http://kemetictemple.org/">Kemetic Temple of Ra</a> who have provided some
financial support for candles, incense, tools, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm currently contemplating seeking sponsors to pay the cost
of a basic book for each of the men who regularly attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do maintain a small library in their
supply locker, separate from the main prison library where the books they seek
are stolen or otherwise disappear. This system is more reliable</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have also arranged to have a priest of Hermes, Sam
Webster, from the <a href="http://osogd.org/">Open Source Order of the Golden
Dawn</a> to come and teach two three-hour sessions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What follows are some interesting insights, experiences, and
cold hard facts about our circle: </div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Ethnicity<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Nearly ever man who regularly attends is PoC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not too surprising, though, considering
the unfortunate (and inequitable) makeup of inmate population (minorities,
addicts, mentally ill, military veterans).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find this very interesting and I try to create rituals
that honor their heritages as well as the Western European where the religion
was generated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a
challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One man is dedicated to
Brigit, another to Cernunnos, and one who also practices Ifá wants Yemaya to be
present in our circles. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Chaplains<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SQ employs at least five chaplains that I know of: Roman
Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Volunteers need to be sponsored by one
of the official chaplains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
began with the Jewish chaplain we were assigned; however, the men preferred
their circle to be sponsored by the Native American chaplain, reasoning that
their worldview and practices aligned more comfortably with ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For reasons internal to the DOCR, the
NA chaplain disappeared with no one advising me. [???]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I asked Father George, the RC
chaplain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(BTW, there is a brief
interview with him in the SQ episode of W. Kamau Bell's "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/shows/united-shades-of-america">United Shades of
America</a>" on CNN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
excellent in providing an overall view of life inside that institution, which,
as it happens, is significantly different from the rest of the prisons in the
state. (Long story for another time.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fr. George is a truly caring man who sees the decency of each inmate.
He's easy to work with and accommodating. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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One chaplain, the Protestant one, is reported to be openly
hostile to our circle, although I have never personally met her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men in our circle complain of
harassment by rigid, narrow, dogmatic 'born-again' inmates who refuse to accept
our religion as valid and instead equate it with sin and devil worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's probably needless to say that
prisons provide fertile ground for evangelicals seeking converts to their ways.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Pagan Prison Population<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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In San Quentin there is an Odinist group there that holds to
white superiority, it seems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is, I am told, only one Druid inmate who wishes to remain solitary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, there are two other
minority (in terms of population, not value) religions practiced inside: Ifá
group and a Hawaiian group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Odinists, the Witches, and the Ifá practitioners have been given an outside
space to practice, separated from the main prison yard by a cyclone fence and
adjacent to the NA space where they have drum circles, grow sacred herbs, and
have sweats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sweats at SQ were
begun by my friend Hector Frank, the NA chaplain, about 30 years ago and are
the first in the California system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Due to the rights NAs have gained in the DOCR, they have always proven
themselves to be supportive allies to Pagans seeking religious accommodation. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In the accompanying photograph of the exercise yard, Mt.
Tamalpais appears in the distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the left rear there is a short tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That tree shades the NA sacred space, and to the left,
separated by cyclone fence, is our outdoor space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have no tree yet, and it will be an amazing feat when we
do manage to convince the bureaucracy to permit it, but we have longer-range
plans to get one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Father George is
a strong ally in this pursuit.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Limitations<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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We sing sometimes, on rare occasions we dance a spiral, and
we do not attempt drawing down at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We do guided meditations fairly frequently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are restricted in what we can do by the
circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One good thing,
though, is that we can burn candles and incense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all love incense and like to saturate their hair and
clothing with it so they can carry the scent of the circle with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, I bring little birthday candles
for spells because they can be burned down over the course of a circle meeting.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Federal and different state corrections systems have
different regulations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some cannot
have open flame, for instance.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Support and Increased Presence<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm happy to say that our circle now has another volunteer
priestess from <a href="http://www.cayacoven.org/">CAYA Pagan Congregation</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has attended with me a couple of
times, has applied and taken training to get her 'beige card' which allows her
gate clearance for a year to enter the prison without escort, and will probably
be alternating with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I go in
approximately monthly, especially for sabbats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The circle has assigned meeting times on Saturdays and also
another day a week when they use the outdoor space independent of the Odinists
and Ifá folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would like us
to come every week; however, that's just more Saturday afternoons than I want
to sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, having another
priestess can fill in some of the days when I don't come.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also maintain a private Pagan Inmate Ministries FB page
where volunteers, former inmates, and others in the field share resources and
experiences. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those interested in more of the complexities and challenges
I've encountered at SQ, there are some older blog entries here on Witch at
Large: Ruminations from a Grey Perspective:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/boundaries-permeability-inclusivity-exclusivity.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-i.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-ii.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-iii.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-iv.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-v.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-vi.html</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/midsummer-behind-a-cyclone-fence.html</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo GettyImages, text © Aline O'Brien</span><br />
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<!--EndFragment--><!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b></b></span>Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-83291783700029291942018-02-27T17:04:00.001-08:002018-02-27T17:04:47.680-08:00What and Who Is a “Solitary” Witch?
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<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q6kfUAGwl-o/WpX-mEzrRiI/AAAAAAAACTQ/XiL1H9WKN_kQYhRwzbzCz00XP2Uc7N7rQCLcBGAs/s1600/fairy%2Bwitch%2BIda%2BOuthwaite%2BAustralia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q6kfUAGwl-o/WpX-mEzrRiI/AAAAAAAACTQ/XiL1H9WKN_kQYhRwzbzCz00XP2Uc7N7rQCLcBGAs/s200/fairy%2Bwitch%2BIda%2BOuthwaite%2BAustralia.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m a bit of a geek about Pagan identity and solidarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hold to the fact that we must define
ourselves lest scholars and journalists do it for us and we disagree with how
they’ve done that defining. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For some years the designation of “solitary” practitioner of
the Craft has bothered me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not because
it’s not valid; it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather because it
overlooks other Witches who work neither in a coven nor alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m talking about Witches here, not any
other manifestation of Paganism.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been a member of the <a href="http://www.cog.org/">Covenant
of the Goddess</a> (CoG) since 1981.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I joined, I was part of <a href="http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=trads&id=3212">Holy
Terrors</a> coven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, like
anything else, covens have life spans, and some are longer than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I left that coven, which eventually
dissolved, I maintained by CoG membership, except that I had to change my
membership type to “solitary.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were good reasons for CoG to have that category of
membership when it was founded in 1975 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">another
<u>era</u> entirely when it comes to Craft and Paganism in general!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some Witches are self-initiated, which I
recognize as valid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some really do
prefer to work alone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then when it comes to surveys of Pagans, we may be given
dozens of identifications from which to choose, and one of them is “solitary.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My point in writing this is to expand our
thinking about Witchen identity and those who practice it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I maintain my membership in CoG under the designation “solitary”
because that’s the only option other than coven member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I am not a solitary
practitioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rarely work alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, I suspect others called solitaries
are not necessarily Witches who work alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The term I’ve settled on for now for Witches like me who belong to no
group in particular but who work, make magic, and celebrate the sabbats with
others is “floater.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I suppose we could
call ourselves “besom flyers.”)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are some of the reasons people call themselves
“solitary” Witches:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch is between working groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
may have belonged to a coven or covens in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She may have left for any number of reasons,
or the coven itself may have dissolved, having lived out its lifespan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her preference is to work within a coven, but
she isn’t doing so at the moment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch has been seeking another coven, but
hasn’t yet found the right one, the one best suited to her proclivities,
interests, and social skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
temporarily covenless, she is a “solitary.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch has experimented with circles and
other groups, such as a CUUPS congregation, yet has not chosen to commit to a
coven, per se, or to a tradition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch is deep in the broom closet, wary of
revealing her religion to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
may be because she lives in a place where she feels she would be vulnerable to
the disapproval of others in her neighborhood, school, workplace. or other
social grouping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether this is a realistic
assumption on her part is not my place to decide; however, we do have a
Constitution, the First Amendment of which guarantees religious freedom in this
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the day-to-day lives of
some, in some regions of the country and in some communities, conformity with
the dominant religions in that area and intolerance of different expressions of
spirituality and religion are the norms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When such is the case, how can one be expected to find other Witches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the existence of the Internet has
opened up possibilities for the unaffiliated<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch has been declined admission to one or
more groups or has been kicked out, for whatever reason(s).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch is socially maladroit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, like me,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The Witch works with various groups here and
there, depending upon the purpose of the ritual and the circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, she is a “floater” or “besom flyer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I celebrate the sabbats with an individual coven or other
circle, or with a tradition in a rituals performed for the public.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I have some particular personal ritual I need or want to
perform, I can always find collaborators from among my Witchen friends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One example of this is when I created a ritual
for a daughter recently released from rehab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I designed this rite using the story of the return of Persephone from
the Underworld and back into the arms of her mother Demeter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In attendance were the mother and sister of
the young woman as well as some of her close friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each left with a novena candle bearing an
image of Persephone that was consecrated in the ritual and taken home to be
fired up if and when ‘Persephone’ felt she needed extra support and
reinforcement<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
LEADERSHIP<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A related question is whether a “solitary” can be a
leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is a resounding
yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously one who works alone has
no coven to lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, leaders
seem to emerge when there’s a need regardless of formal membership in any
organization, or even affiliation of any kind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Par exemplum</i>, I
can name other Witches who lead, and cite examples. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the examples I know best come from my
own life so I’ll offer a few. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my case, I’m a leader in the sense that I have led, and sometimes
still do, yet I am not leading a group of any kind. I design and perform
marriages, seinings, menarche rites, memorials, house blessings, partings/divorces,
adoptions, and other rituals for Witches, Pagans, and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned above, I can always round up
collaborators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Below find three examples
of different kinds of leading without a group.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->For the most recent <a href="https://parliamentofreligions.org/">Parliament of the World’s Religions</a>
in Salt Lake City last October, I produced a quite substantial performance
ritual using glorious masks of different goddesses created by <a href="http://www.masksofthegoddess.com/">Lauren Raine</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This undertaking required skilled priestesses
from many places around the U.S. and beyond; 13 wore masks, three
narrator/storytellers, singers and musicians, technical work, and other support
people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I frequently participate in interfaith
activities in which I’m viewed as an authority on my religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In such cases, I have to emphasize our
diversity, the fact that we have no sacred text containing our “laws,” and that
I can only speak for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I offer to
seek out representatives of specific Pagan religions (a Druid, for instance)
whom they may query. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Third and most significant, last summer I
performed an initiation of a young man I’ve been working with for the past four
years. Although I am currently unaffiliated with any particular
tradition, I remain oath-bound to my sisters and brothers of the art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time had come for this person to take
that step, too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I recruited two other
priestesses of various traditions (Order of the Temple of Astarte in LA in
1970s; <a href="http://feraferia.org/joomla/">Feraferia</a> [not specifically
Craft]; TOTEG [Temple of the Elder Gods]; Reclaiming; Faery/Feri; Gardnerian; CAW
[Church of All Worlds]).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the pre-initiation
challenge(s) I gave him, I solicited from each of my collaborators a challenge
for him to complete before the rite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then I designed a ritual of initiation that I wanted, and performed
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t really have an
affiliation or membership in what we would call a tradition, per se, but he is
the first of what I am calling the “NightMare Line.” I feel really good
about that, and so did everyone else involved. But, hey, I’m a
‘solitary.’ :-)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I guess I, and other Witches in similar situations or of
similar temperaments, don’t really fit more standard descriptions. I
leave it to the reader to decide if this qualifies as leadership -- at least
until the Pagan world changes from what it is now, and, as we say, “She changes
everything She touches, and everything She touches changes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thanks to Gwendolyn
Reese for the prompt to explore this topic</i>.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>CoG has confronted changes within the
Craft and within various social and political realities that did not exist when
it was founded, with various degrees of awkwardness and some success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This writing is not about CoG.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m using the singular pronoun for
females because that’s what I am and it’s easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reader can translate as she feels necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Palatino;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All this in only three seasoned
priestesses!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b></b></span>Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-66164563546481838922018-02-20T18:29:00.001-08:002018-02-20T18:29:40.616-08:00AAR Annual Meeting - II
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IhWnnpzoNjg/WozWW-aIW_I/AAAAAAAACSI/0LAoL1kEAqA1lDuKjUEi6k8eTJGHUJlvQCLcBGAs/s1600/SR%2Bwhite%2Bwolf%2B%2526%2Bcrow%2Bnation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="879" height="252" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IhWnnpzoNjg/WozWW-aIW_I/AAAAAAAACSI/0LAoL1kEAqA1lDuKjUEi6k8eTJGHUJlvQCLcBGAs/s400/SR%2Bwhite%2Bwolf%2B%2526%2Bcrow%2Bnation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Native Traditions in the Americas and North American Religions Units</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Standing Together at
Standing Rock: Cross-Cultural Perspectives and Critiques</b>: The #NoDAPL
campaign at Standing Rock drew thousands of protesters representing tribal
nations in the United States, indigenous peoples from around the world, as well
as diverse religious groups and nonindegenous peoples. The protesters were drawn by a common
cause but participated in ways that both created unity and dissension. The papers address these distinctions
ranging from interrogating Standing Rock as a social or protest movement to
address these distinctions ranging for interrogating Standing Rock as a social
protest movement to examining the occupation as a milestone moment in modern
inter-religious dialogue. Papers
give consideration to the complexities of the movement while drawing on
indigenous cosmological understandings and global interests in human-earth
relationships.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Margaret
McMurtrey</b> – <i>Standing Rock: Movement
or Spiritual Call? Confrontations
Concerning Space- and Place-based Rhetoric</i>. Standing Rock: social movement or spiritual call? To the non-native observer, it is a
movement: a call to action on behalf of the environment and the people of Standing
Rock. For most Native and
indigenous people, it calls forth a complex and nuanced relationship with the
land. This paper examines the
current and historical legacies of native and non-native alliances around
social and spiritual “movements” that help to interrogate Native and non-native
responses to Standing Rock. Native
people are demanding that the “meaning” of Standing Rock be explained within a
rhetorical context of space and place.
The challenge: how can the language of ”social movement” be illumined
within the rhetoric of space– and place-based religiosity? Can space- and place-based rhetoric be
articulated to explain the nuances of Standing Rock from a Native and
indigenous perspective while facilitating the understandings of and promoting
the formation of large-scale community alliances? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Peter
Huff</b> – <i>Parliament of Religions on the
Prairie: Standing Rock as Interreligious Event</i>. The 2016-17 Standing Rock phenomenon constitutes a turning
point in the history of modern interreligious dialogue. Oceti Sakowin and related encampments
represent not only the greatest Native American tribal gathering since the
nineteenth century but the most extraordinary open-air interfaith “camp
meeting” in U.S. history.
Representatives from Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish Muslim, Sikh, Unitarian
Universalist, Wiccan, Protestant, Catholic, and Quaker traditions assembled
with Native American spiritual leaders and international indigenous leaders,
forming not only a spontaneous parliament of religions on the prairie but the
first mass modern interfaith event informed by indigenous values and
practices. Based on first-person
participant observation and interviews with local actors, the paper traces the
development of the Standing Rock interreligious experience from the spring of
2016 to the February 2017 camp evictions.
Drawing upon the critical literature on the history of modern
interreligious dialogue, the paper identifies Standing Rock as a milestone in
global interreligious dialogue.
</div>
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I came into this session after it had commenced; however, I
think I experienced more than 90% of it.
Again, my post-stroke note-taking leaves much to be desired.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFNClL7Iw_0/WozWW39iAyI/AAAAAAAACSM/ucGyJqp5XeY4kTJdjM2Vw0yebAW7aQ2eACEwYBhgL/s1600/Chief%2BArvol%2BLooking%2BHorse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="691" height="105" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFNClL7Iw_0/WozWW39iAyI/AAAAAAAACSM/ucGyJqp5XeY4kTJdjM2Vw0yebAW7aQ2eACEwYBhgL/s200/Chief%2BArvol%2BLooking%2BHorse.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chief Arvol Looking Horse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Peter Huff spoke of the leadership of Chief Arvol Looking
Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> White Buffalo Calf Woman (<i>Ptesanwin</i>) brought the Pipe to the
Dakota People more than 300 years ago.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse said:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>In
our prophecy, the White Buffalo Calf Woman told us she would return and stand
upon the earth when we are having a hard time. In 1994, this began to happen with the birth of the white
buffalo. Not only their nation,
but many animal nations began to show their sacred color, which is white.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those gathered in protest performed and/or participated in an
“Esseron”<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></a>
</span>interfaith ritual. This turned out
to be a much bigger deal than the organizers expected. Karen Van Fossen, a minister at <a href="http://www.bismanuu.org/">Bismarck-Mandan UU Congregation in North Dakota</a>,
and Father John Floberg of the <a href="http://standingrockepiscopal.com/">Standing
Rock Episcopal Churches</a>, who were among the conveners, issued a notice to
the interfaith communities, resulting in more than <i>500 clergy-people</i> and/or representatives from religious communities
coming, as opposed to the dozen they were expecting. Some readers may be aware that <a href="http://www.earthspirit.com/about-us/board-of-directors">Andras Corban
Arthen</a> and <a href="http://patrickmccollum.org/">Patrick McCollum</a>, both
prominent Pagan interfaith activists, were present, as were Cornel West and
others from around the country and beyond.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JR1ZNPLfeKo/WozWYn_KDGI/AAAAAAAACSw/rzQg-GHa3jQxsq7Q42ZAwRcB1Lg5VwBDwCEwYBhgL/s1600/standing-rock-protest-ryan-vizzions-ceremony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JR1ZNPLfeKo/WozWYn_KDGI/AAAAAAAACSw/rzQg-GHa3jQxsq7Q42ZAwRcB1Lg5VwBDwCEwYBhgL/s320/standing-rock-protest-ryan-vizzions-ceremony.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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The ceremony was one of joyful community and rising
concern. They burned the <a href="http://doctrineofdiscovery.org/">Doctrine of Discovery</a>,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
then celebrated the easement with fireworks. Among the participants were <span style="font-size: 12pt;">some teachers of interfaith for reconciliation from Belgium,
as well as </span><a href="https://www.veteransforpeace.org/" style="font-size: 12pt;">Veterans for Peace</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Unfortunately some leaders of this gathering were targeted
with hate mail.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There was little access to the Internet, there being only
one place on a certain hill for Internet access.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d6cj3BxpYvs/WozWZESVrMI/AAAAAAAACSo/0MbhzVdVE7gMJ0Geyfcp4d1P1DlW5bt1wCLcBGAs/s1600/standing_rock_protest_being%2Bstarved%2Bout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Lily
Oster</b> – <i>Decolonizing Earth-based
Spiritualities: Negotiating Earth-awakening without Appropriation</i>. This paper explores the ethical
complexity of white engagement with earth-based spiritual traditions,
addressing patterns of cultural appropriation of indigenous traditions while
also recognizing the potential benefit of more widespread human orientation
toward the earth as sacred. In a moment
when humanity urgently needs to cultivate ecological consciousness, many
indigenous traditions contain teachings of planetary connectedness and
worldviews that undermine extractivist framings of human-earth relationship. However – as was recently highlighted
by the migration of many white visitors to the pipeline resistance camps on
Standing Rock Sioux land – indigenous traditions are not necessarily open to
converts, and white seekers are not necessarily attuned to the protocols of
non-appropriation. This paper
makes a case study of white encounter with native religion at Standing Rock,
considering the decolonial possibilities and pitfalls of Eurowestern spiritual
engagement with traditions, practices, and philosophies grounded in the
sacredness of the earth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many Native activists have made it clear that they want no
white leaders. Nor are non-natives
able to <span style="font-size: 12pt;">participate in the </span><a href="http://aktalakota.stjo.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8668" style="font-size: 12pt;">Sun
Dance</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I understand this
exclusion of non-natives in an eco-cultural context.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d6cj3BxpYvs/WozWZESVrMI/AAAAAAAACSo/0MbhzVdVE7gMJ0Geyfcp4d1P1DlW5bt1wCLcBGAs/s1600/standing_rock_protest_being%2Bstarved%2Bout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="1068" height="168" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d6cj3BxpYvs/WozWZESVrMI/AAAAAAAACSo/0MbhzVdVE7gMJ0Geyfcp4d1P1DlW5bt1wCLcBGAs/s320/standing_rock_protest_being%2Bstarved%2Bout.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, with the growth in numbers of people practicing one
or another Pagan spirituality with their commonly (not universally) espoused emphasis
on the holiness of Nature and our interdependence, and considering that
Neo-Pagans are mostly white and urban, I wonder where we can respectfully fit
in. As an urban white, associated
with colonization and appropriation, I can certainly appreciate Natives’
insistence on exclusion of non-natives.
Nonetheless, in broader interfaith activities I, as an ecologically
concerned Pagan Witch, think that our “greenness” is an asset and can inform
others who hold a more “dominionist” (the attitude, not the Christian right)
perspectives on the world, its assets, and its inhabitants. I wish to contribute to the
fortification of everyone’s efforts to address climate change, regardless of
religion or ethnicity or any other difference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The basic underlying tenet of these Native people is that
everyone looks out for each other.
That’s behavior I try to cultivate and that I wish were more common
among non-Natives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>David
Walsh</b> – <i>Ceremony in Historical
Perspective at Standing Rock</i>.
The #NoDAPL movement and the protests at Standing Rock have attracted
media attention for the direct action with police. However, this focus has obscured the historical context of
protest through ceremony. In this
presentation, I discuss cosmological understandings of the indigenous
participants. Their actions such
as individual ceremonies, the camps as ceremony, and direct action with police
as ceremony, suggest that the #NoDAPL movement is primarily a spiritual ecology
movement. To properly understand
this movement, then, it must be put into historical context with other
spiritual movements of resistance, such as the Ghost Dance movement and Idle No
More. Only then can we understand
how water protectors are protecting the source of life, water, from the forces
of destruction, the black snake, as they continue their cosmological battle to
cut off the head of the snake before it spills its poisonous venom – oil across
the land.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mr. Walsh claims that the <a href="http://www.ienearth.org/stand-with-standing-rock-no-dapl/">protests
against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock</a> are pan-indigenous
spiritual movements of resistance.
One practice is to bring water to pour into the river. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He likened this to a “mini Mokami,” which is a reference
either to (1) a river trail in present-day Labrador used by the three
indigenous peoples of that land: the Innu (Innu Nation), the Inuit
(Nunatsiavut), and the NunatuKavut (Southern Inuit); (2) a place in central
Missouri; or (3) a place in Santa Clara County in California. The phrase he credited to “mini Mokami”
is “Water Is Life.” Regardless of
the source, this statement applies universally.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This mixture of waters is similar to a ritual honoring the
Waters of the World that is widely practiced in the interfaith movement, both
national and international. Participants
from many places bring water from a spring, creek, lake, river, or ocean near
where they live to ritually comingle with the waters brought from far and
wide. I’ve been told that this
rite of mingling waters of the world (not pouring them into a river) began as a
UU practice. In any case, the
practice has been taken up within the Pagan movement, where it is not uncommon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nonetheless, It is important to remember that indigenous
rituals, whether environmental or otherwise, are focused on the local rather
than the universal, even when they have been displaced.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mandans hold wisdom of the sky is covered and erased by
dams. The Native peoples at DAPL liken
oil to the “black snake that destroys the land.” That is an image I can easily envision. Protests opposing extraction from tar
sands in Alberta began in 1967, and amped up in the 2000s.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the activities mentioned concerned approaching and
standing upon a sacred mountain on the DAPL encampment. Humans who seek to go there must put
cedar bark in their shoes as a sign of humility and respect for the sacredness
of this mountain. Beyond
respecting this practice, I think such practices can be consciousness raisers
for non-indigenous people. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Created by people of Canada’s sovereign First Nations, <a href="http://www.idlenomore.ca/">Idle No More</a> soon grew into one of the largest Indigenous mass movements in Canadian
history. “Idle No More calls on
all people to join in a peaceful revolution, to honour Indigenous sovereignty,
and to protect the land and water.”
INM began demonstrations in 2012 to resist extraction and
assimiliation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In addition to the Ghost Dance in South Dakota and actions
at Wounded Knee, Native Americans and First Nations people have conducted Round
Dances at shopping malls. They
hold Sitting Bull as an honored ancestor.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By Mother Nature, Mother Earth and other names, I join all
peoples in respecting, preserving, conserving, and celebrating Earth, our beautiful
and sacred home.</div>
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></a> </span> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">See </span><a href="https://www.pipekeepers.org/buffalo-white-calf-woman.html"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Keepers of the Sacred
Tradition of Pipemakers</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. Don’t be fooled by the
English names.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The word I heard as esseron,
thought it may have been asseron.
In any case, I don’t know its meaning and have been unable to find any
useful information about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> The
Covenant of the Goddess issued a </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: TimesNewRoman;">Resolution To Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery, and Implement
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2012</span>.<span style="font-family: TimesNewRoman; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRoman; mso-fareast-font-family: TimesNewRoman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-67412023376313932872018-01-05T15:51:00.000-08:002018-01-15T18:44:19.978-08:00AAR 2017 Annual Meeting - I<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Once again, with help from the </span><a href="http://www.cog.org/" style="font-size: 12pt;">Covenant
of the Goddess</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, I attended the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of
Religion, this year in Boston.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2f4bEjCjRNY/WlAJNijQ9fI/AAAAAAAACPk/W6tgA_qkhlg2VxMZd36Sy1bzF4YMEnv-wCEwYBhgL/s1600/aar_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="360" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2f4bEjCjRNY/WlAJNijQ9fI/AAAAAAAACPk/W6tgA_qkhlg2VxMZd36Sy1bzF4YMEnv-wCEwYBhgL/s200/aar_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
As in most years, some Pagans planned a field trip to a
local site or sites of interest to Pagans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year the place was obvious:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Salem, Massachusetts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Under the guidance of Gwendolyn Reece, three of us (Gwendolyn, Jeffrey
Albaugh, and me) lunched at the Tavern on the Green in the historic <a href="https://www.hawthornehotel.com/">Hawthorne Hotel</a> in Salem to plan our
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d dined there before so I
knew we’d like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of our
party (Caroline Tully, Chas Clifton, Sabina Magliocco, Kim Kirner) who had
missed the train we took rendezvoused with us and we proceeded from there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our first stop after lunch was <a href="http://nuaeon.com/">Nu
Aeon</a>, a store owned by a local companion, Gypsy Ravish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She invited us into the Temple of
Stars, a beautiful private sanctuary, where we immersed ourselves in the
ambiance and viewed a video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, the time taken in doing these things curtailed most of
our touring.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Salem has a plethora of tourist attractions from which to
choose, as you might imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, we were short on time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We missed seeing the <a href="https://7gables.org/">House of the Seven
Gables</a>, although we did visit some local witchy stores and we ducked into
the <a href="http://salemwitchmuseum.com/">Salem Witchcraft Museum</a> near
closing time, where we only browsed the gift shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t too concerned because back in 1999, before the new
displays (dioramas) were made public, Jerrie Hildebrand (who lives in a darling
little house repurposed from a seaport warehouse right near the docks) arranged
with the then-director for a private, pre-opening tour for Jerrie, <a href="http://orionfoxwood.com/">Orion Foxwood</a>, and myself.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybj0PXUiEZk/WlAOmdQ3voI/AAAAAAAACQ8/Cpo_XULTyQEM8_9Y3P98-7AboN0UcY3TQCLcBGAs/s1600/salem%2Bgraveyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybj0PXUiEZk/WlAOmdQ3voI/AAAAAAAACQ8/Cpo_XULTyQEM8_9Y3P98-7AboN0UcY3TQCLcBGAs/s200/salem%2Bgraveyard.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salem Graveyard in Autumn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HCHP1GcgE8/WlAOmZaqq_I/AAAAAAAACRA/HixYy7LkSFgS-OHizid50VSEM5z-17cowCLcBGAs/s1600/salem_cemetery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="461" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HCHP1GcgE8/WlAOmZaqq_I/AAAAAAAACRA/HixYy7LkSFgS-OHizid50VSEM5z-17cowCLcBGAs/s200/salem_cemetery.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salem Graveyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The heart of our visit was the graveyard wherein are buried the
twenty condemned to death for practicing “witchcraft” in the <a href="http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials/">Salem Witch
Trials</a> of 1692-93.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
cemetery has been made into a memorial garden for those victims of the
hysteria, with a plaques/bench for each victim that visitors can sit upon or
make a rubbing of the inscription.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There we spent the quiet twilight time.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan Studies and Western Esotericism Units</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Pagan-Esoteric Complex:
Mapping Intersecting Milieus</b>: Contemporary paganism and esotericism share a
common genealogy in 19<sup>th</sup> and early-20<sup>th</sup> century
occultism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While ‘pagans’ and
‘occultists’ have undergone some degree of differentiation since the mid-20<sup>th</sup>
century, there is still a considerable overlap between milieus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite these well-known facts,
scholarship on esotericism and paganism has tended to reproduce the diverging
identity discourses that have been created over the past century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This panel will explore historical and
contemporary cases that highlight the intersection of paganism and esotericism,
from the fusion of Egyptomania and Celticism in the tradition springing from
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, to the role of contemporary occultural
festivals as a meeting place of pagans, magicians, and occultists.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vivianne
Crowley</b> -- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ancient Egypt in an Irish
Castle: How an Irish Goddess Spirituality Movement Bridges the Esoteric and
Exoteric, Pagan, and Christian Worlds</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/">Fellowship of
Isis</a> is one of the largest Goddess-worshipping organizations to emerge in
the 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Founded by the
Anglo-Irish Durdin-Robertson family, it claims tens of thousands of members and
has multicultural appeal, particularly in the United States, where African
American interest in Ancient Egypt is high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fellowship is based on esoteric interpretations of the
Egyptian goddess Isis, but positions itself as a universal multifaith movement
that honors the Divine feminine in all her forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike many of the new religious movements born in the
1970s, it cannot be defined as a cult in the usual sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movement has no membership fees,
free resources, and great latitude in spiritual practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper examines the evolution of this
contemporary Goddess movement and how it has sought to bridge the esoteric,
exoteric, and Pagan and Christian worlds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ieN6tFUxIgE/WlAJbLXOIMI/AAAAAAAACQo/ISLTzl8tdbwHZSGUm8cj-CniLtvfF3ZNwCEwYBhgL/s1600/OliviaBlueWingsDFive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="762" height="128" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ieN6tFUxIgE/WlAJbLXOIMI/AAAAAAAACQo/ISLTzl8tdbwHZSGUm8cj-CniLtvfF3ZNwCEwYBhgL/s200/OliviaBlueWingsDFive.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Lady Olivia in her late years</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As of 2012, the worldwide membership of FOI had increased to
21 thousand from five thousand in 1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its teaching material, rituals, and liturgy can be downloaded free from
the main FOI site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FOI is
ahistorical and universal and requires no vows of secrecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Membership is open to all religions
races, traditions, and children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>FOI Iseums (temples) and Lyceums (learning centers) have been
established throughout the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>FOI subscribes to Hermetic maxim “As above, so below,” from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In addition, in 1993 FOI sent a colorful delegation led by
founder Olivia Durdin-Robinson to the centennial <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/the-parliament-of-the-world-s-religions-1893-and-1993">Parliament
of World Religions</a> in Chicago. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sqt48sL8928/WlAJee0hYnI/AAAAAAAACQo/DZgc_EekuoUB2i8U5sBrK640JTTwDpmkQCEwYBhgL/s1600/oliviaparl1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="412" height="165" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sqt48sL8928/WlAJee0hYnI/AAAAAAAACQo/DZgc_EekuoUB2i8U5sBrK640JTTwDpmkQCEwYBhgL/s200/oliviaparl1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Olivia at Parliament of World Religions</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am familiar with two FOI groups here in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-history-archive---say-my-name-that-i-may-live">Fellowship
of Isis, Los Angeles</a>, founded primarily by the late <a href="http://wildhunt.org/2013/05/laura-janesdaughter-1941-2013.html">Laura
Janesdaughter</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other FOI
group with which I am most familiar and is nearest to me, is <a href="http://www.isisoasis.us/">Isis Oasis</a>.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Established by the late Lady Loreon Vigné in 1978, only two
years after the founding of the mother fellowship at Clonegal Castle in Ireland,
Isis Oasis is a beautiful </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Egyptian-themed retreat and animal sanctuary in Geyserville,
California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each guest room in the
lodge is dedicated to a different Egyptian goddess, and Loreon’s stained glass
art appears in all the structures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Isis Oasis is also an animal sanctuary begun by Loreon because she is
one of very few who successfully breeds the threatened ocelot in captivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It now shelters peacocks, swans, and
other exotic birds, alpacas, iguanas and other lizards, and several species of
wildcats.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Caroline
Tully</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isis of the North: The Celtic
Priests of the Lineage of Scota</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, the primary creative genius
behind the famous British occult group, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
and his wife Moina Mathers established a mystery religion of Isis in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fin de siècle</i> Paris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lawrence Durdin-Robinson, his wife
Pamela, and his sister Olivia created the Fellowship of Isis in Ireland in the
mid-1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although separated by
over half a century and not directly associated with each other, both groups
have several characteristics in common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each combined their worship of an ancient Egyptian goddess with an
interest in the Celtic Revival; both claimed that their priestly lineages
derived directly from the Egyptian princess Scota, foundress of Ireland and
Scotland according to Irish and Scottish mythology and pseudohistory; and both
groups used dramatic ritual and theatrical events as avenues for the
promulgation of their Isis religions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Egyptian culture and religion have long fascinated people of
many societies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kemeticism, a term
for contemporary revivals of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion">Ancient Egyptian
religion</a>, as currently practiced, ranges from strict reconstructionism to creative
contemporary adaptations, as well as being a source for African pride and identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5f6wXmmsvk/WlAJbAcHflI/AAAAAAAACQo/COd7X7oMnEAy1nC_QlxhzmfeCaWXbqJWQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Scota_%2526_Gaedel_Glas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="346" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5f6wXmmsvk/WlAJbAcHflI/AAAAAAAACQo/COd7X7oMnEAy1nC_QlxhzmfeCaWXbqJWQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Scota_%2526_Gaedel_Glas.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isis/Scota sailing from Egypt to Ireland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The same is true of what are generally considered to be
“Celtic” (from Latin <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Celtae</i>, “a name for the Gauls, the ancient Celtic tribes of France” and beyond)
religions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MacGregor is among those
who consider the Celtic Scota to be a more northerly manifestation of Egyptian
Isis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They trace their lineage from
4<sup>th</sup> Dynasty pharaonic Egypt of two thousand years BCE to Roman
mysteries circa 90 BCE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Diana
Brown</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Eastern Methods and Western
Bodies”: Dion Fortune’s Assessment of Yoga for a Western Audience</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occultists of the 19<sup>th</sup> and
early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries both contributed to the popularization of
thought and practices identified as yoga in British and American contexts and
attempted to situate their own practices in relation to yoga.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her writings of the 1920s and ‘30s,
the British occultist Dion Fortune, who famously called ‘Qabalah’ the ‘Yoga of
the West,’ reveals her changing assessment of the nature of yoga, its
relationship to “Western” magical practices, and its appropriateness for
Western practitioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A member of
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and founder of her own magical order,
the Fraternity of the Inner Light, Fortune is a significant and understudied
figure in the landscape of 20<sup>th</sup> century “Western Esotericism,” whose
novels and nonfiction works such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Sea Priestess</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mystical
Qabalah</i> remain important for practitioners of ritual magic and Paganism,
both of whom at times have self-consciously thought of themselves as alternately
“Western” or European indigenous traditions.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F5EiNINK9fc/WlAJdSla90I/AAAAAAAACQo/JpCZtvIvdeElAO2Udq7nZwWsbTI2nCLbQCEwYBhgL/s1600/dionfortune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F5EiNINK9fc/WlAJdSla90I/AAAAAAAACQo/JpCZtvIvdeElAO2Udq7nZwWsbTI2nCLbQCEwYBhgL/s200/dionfortune.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Dion Fortune</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I suspect most American (and other) Pagans are familiar with
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dion_Fortune">Dion Fortune</a> (Violet
Firth) and her writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
ability to deftly synthesize ideas “derives largely from her ability to bring
difficult esoteric concepts into a lucid and readily accessible prose."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That legacy echoes throughout much, if
not most, on contemporary Paganism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is especially the case today because we have so much more exposure
to each other’s cultures than ever before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l13 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jason
Winslade</b> – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Faeries, Bards, and
Magicians: Fantasy Worlds of the Pagan Music Festival</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At contemporary Pagan festivals, solo
musicians and musical groups that cultivate a Pagan or occult persona are able
to fully embody that aspect for audiences already living in those alternative
realities within the festival scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The narratives, performances and live experiences offered by these
artists not only are a part of the fantasy landscape of the Pagan festival,
they are often the primary methods, other than the public rituals, these
festivals use to frame the event’s meaning, tone and atmosphere for its
participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper examines
the interaction between these artists and their audiences at several current
festivals in the Midwest and eastern U.S., focusing on the methods of
mythmaking, storytelling and sense experience provided by live performance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As well as the artists’ creation of
magical personae.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paper will
further contextualize these experiences within an occultural history of live
musical performance and performative Pagan identity formation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I agree with Jason’s assertion that music and its
performance “are often the primary methods, other than the public rituals,
these festivals use to frame the event’s meaning, tone and atmosphere for its
participants.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To quote poet and
scholar Steven <a href="http://www.stevenposch.com/">Posch</a>, “The old
ways weren't just handed down informally by granny at the kitchen table. The
prime mode of lore transmission in oral cultures has always been through the passing
down of songs and poetry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
fortunate we are to have the venue of festivals where this happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I appreciate this study of our
movement, how it has arisen, how it has been nourished, how it has evolved, all
shaped in large part by the sounds of its music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the study’s reliance on midwestern and eastern U.S.
festivals, while limited due to geography, seems to me to ignore or overlook lots
of other fine Pagan musicians with whom I’m familiar who evidently don’t
necessarily make it to the more easterly festivals.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My next post will report on the Native Traditions in the
Americas and North American Religions Units about Standing Rock Dakota Access Pipeline
Protest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When the AAR Annual Meeting
was last held in San Francisco, in 2011, our <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2011/11/pre-aar-annual-meeting-field-trip.html">pre-conference Pagan field
trip</a>
included Isis Oasis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Historian
Claire Fanger</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-34218176010970626002017-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:002018-06-19T17:51:45.238-07:00Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation: How Faith Communities Can Support Immigrants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YYRdUgRf-4Q/WddoeePbGEI/AAAAAAAACM0/jsjftNllZ9choN6SD94quz2ICU2evyVkwCLcBGAs/s1600/Sanctuary_Hills_pretty%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YYRdUgRf-4Q/WddoeePbGEI/AAAAAAAACM0/jsjftNllZ9choN6SD94quz2ICU2evyVkwCLcBGAs/s320/Sanctuary_Hills_pretty%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Marin Interfaith Council sponsored a gathering of religious
leaders to learn about the sanctuary movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A total of 62 attendees came out on August 29th for the gathering
focused on sanctuary congregations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The speakers addressed:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
What does it mean to provide
sanctuary? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the levels of
sanctuary? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is the process to
become a sanctuary congregation, and what are the challenges/risks?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Rev. Deborah Lee, Program Director of the <a href="http://www.im4humanintegrity.org/">Interfaith Movement for Human
Integrity</a>, and Rabbi Elana Rosen-Brown of <a href="https://rodefsholom.org/">Congregation Rodef Sholom</a>, spoke in both practical
and moral terms about how faith communities can utilize their resources to
serve the immigrant community in this time of need. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different examples of sanctuary congregations were provided
to help attendees understand the range of ways to offer sanctuary. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both leaders also echoed the importance
of defining mentally, spiritually, and emotionally <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what sanctuary means for your faith community</i> so that you can
create and implement an appropriate response. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Emphasis intentional]</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ce2J2Y-oT74/WeAEO4Aa1dI/AAAAAAAACNQ/ovq7tbkCNG8aN_bp2C0qUTLO8oK5qLJjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Deborah%2BLee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="164" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ce2J2Y-oT74/WeAEO4Aa1dI/AAAAAAAACNQ/ovq7tbkCNG8aN_bp2C0qUTLO8oK5qLJjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Deborah%2BLee.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Deborah Lee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Deborah first spoke to the overall problems about the impact
of undocumented immigrants in practical terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asserts that there has been a coordinated attack on the
word “sanctuary.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The U.S. is a destination for migrants; many immigrants come
to the U.S. to escape danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>California
and the San Francisco Bay Area more so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It behooves us to demonstrate compassion and mercy, and to consider the
underlying causes of their migration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After all, but for a small population of Native Peoples that we -- all
of us whose families came here as immigrants at some point – have decimated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us Euros, Africans, Asians, and
blends are immigrants, regardless of how far back our ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Latinos, on the other hand, are native
to the Americas.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Further, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">homo sapiens
is a migratory species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arose
in East Africa and have migrated to every continent and subcontinent on the planet
and most islands in Earth’s oc</i>eans. [Emphasis intentional]</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are more than 200 detention facilities for people
seeking citizenship in this country; only two of them are for women and
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All are overcrowded and
the conditions in those facilities are worse than those in state prisons.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Additionally, recent news reports that many detained women
are miscarrying, and the nutrition children and all other detainees leaves a
lot to be desired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention
the lack of educational opportunities for young detainees.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On top of that, immigration costs more than $18 billion a
year, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more than any other federal program</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the largest detention facilities
is West County Detention Facility in Richmond, CA, about four miles across a
bridge from where I sit typing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>West County gets big bucks of our tax money from <a href="https://www.ice.gov/">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> (ICE).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the first Saturday of each month an
interfaith prayer group meets from 11:00 a.m. till noon outside the gates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conversely, there has also be an increased in sanctuary
communities locally from five to twenty-seven.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since the current administration in Washington took over the
federal government, ICE has instituted fast deportations with no judges or
hearings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Concomitantly, the
number of deportees has increased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ICE also seeks to have any immigrant who is arrested, no matter the
crime or transgression, turned over to ICE by the jail or prison
authorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have witnessed this policy in action where I volunteer at
San Quentin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of our regular
circle members, when he was up for parole, disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This man, an immigrant from Mexico, had
a questing mind and took every advantage during his incarceration to better
himself (working towards a college degree, for instance).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I viewed him as someone who was
motivated and who would become a contributing member of society after his
release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, when I asked about
his whereabouts, assuming he’d have been assigned to some kind of halfway house
as he had expected, I learned that he’d been deported.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There has been resistance to this policy by some law
enforcement authorities who decline to comply, but this resistance has been
inconsistent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My county and
several nearby counties and cities are sanctuary cities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now, thanks to Governor Jerry Brown,
our state is a sanctuary state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
sit now in a library where several signs are posted welcoming immigrants
specifically, and everyone (ages, races, gender, abilities, languages, et al.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deborah claims that deportees are
returned to slave-owners.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As mentioned above, we (the San Francisco Bay Area and the
wider State of California) are a destination for migrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have legal resources, whereas no
counsel is offered to deportees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our progressive legislature assures that undocumented children can go to
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immigrants don’t qualify
for rent subsidies, but they do have tenant rights of which most are unaware.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Deborah cautions us to expect pushback for our efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see that now that Governor Brown has
designated California as a sanctuary state, the current administration has
ordered ICE to amp up their raiding here.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While guides suggest speaking with an attorney who is
knowledgeable about immigration law, the fact is that there is almost no legal
risk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See ACLU’s <a href="http://immigration.ablelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sanctuary-FAQ-041317.pdf">Sanctuary
Congregations and Harboring FAQ</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Familiarize yourself with harboring laws, stay open, announce that fact,
and report on incidents of reprieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ICE <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> enter your sanctuary
to apprehend undocumented immigrants, but they are under witness of community.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She urges us to resist untruths about immigrants with those
who hold them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She offers three
“R” principles:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Right</b> thing to do; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Relationship</b> to immigrants; and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Risk</b> to share with immigrants and to take a chance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The motto of the organization for which Deborah works, the
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, is “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Every human person is sacred across all borders</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is what IM4HI tells us about how
sanctuary looks today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“A public, corporate commitment to
walk alongside immigrants, mixed-status families, refugees, and other targeted
communities to uphold the dignity, due process, and full acceptance and
participation of all people in our society through protection, support, and
advocacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congregations can write
their own statement of sanctuary to reflect what they specifically will do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fIkLfACFvyg/WeAGxrbrPJI/AAAAAAAACNY/d5rda5pG2Fwb_0pu6NOcOcFIkEFCatEdwCLcBGAs/s1600/here%2Bto%2Bstay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="1200" height="147" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fIkLfACFvyg/WeAGxrbrPJI/AAAAAAAACNY/d5rda5pG2Fwb_0pu6NOcOcFIkEFCatEdwCLcBGAs/s320/here%2Bto%2Bstay.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
IM4HI suggests four ways that congregations are
demonstrating their commitment to sanctuary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of them are things that we -- as individuals, as
covens, as a covenant – can do even though we generally don’t have physical
facilities.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Advocacy</b>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Advocate at the local, state, and national
levels for policies that protect the due process of immigrants and promote
their full dignity and integration into our local communities.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Advocate for policies that help to prevent mass
deportation and fear by creating clear separation between ICE <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and local law enforcement and civic
institutions, for example, strong sanctuary city and county policies.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Engage in local public actions and activities to
shift public discourse towards immigrants, Muslims, and refugees, and bring
attention to our responsibility</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Accompaniment of
Immigrant Families or Youth</b>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Individuals and congregations can immediately help accompany
immigrants in urgent situations and need of accompaniment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can include newly arrived migrant
families, unaccompanied minors, people facing deportation crisis, those just
released from detention centers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Trained volunteers can help to provide courtroom accompaniment, access
to services, and concrete and emotional support and/or transitional housing to
help those in a period of crisis.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are 13 teams in the East Bay doing accompaniment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They claim that this issue warrants
“God’s special attention.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Networks of
Protection & Rapid Response</b>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Join a rapid response Network to respond to ICE
workplace raids, home raids, or other enforcement activity.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Connect with targeted communities to help
develop relationships and networks of protection.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Housing Hospitality</b>:
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->There are various kinds of needs for housing
hospitality:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) short-term
respite housing for someone released from detention; (2) housing for newly
arrived immigrant family seeking asylum; (3) protective housing for someone
with a final order of deportation; and (4) hosts needed in order for the
government to release individuals from immigration detention,</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.5in;">
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Depending on the case, housing hospitality could
be in a private home of a member, or on congregational property.</div>
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I know that some Pagan nonprofits shy away from civic
involvement out of concern for their nonprofit status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can state with certainty that
religious organizations with nonprofit status can indeed offer opinions,
suggestions, recommendations, and urging to their congregations about secular
issues such as immigration without jeopardizing their nonprofit status.</div>
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Many years ago when the Reclaiming Collective was young, we --
I was active in the collective in those years and I was instrumental in
acquiring these classifications -- applied for and received incorporation as a
nonprofit religious organization from the Secretary of State of California as
well as 501(c)3 tax status from the Internal Revenue Service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things we wanted to accomplish
was to provide sponsorship of an immigrant couple (one from Senegal and the
other from England) so that they could remain in this country and acquire
permanent residence status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
occurred with no effect on Reclaiming’s legal status.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Some years ago when ICE was regularly doing predawn raids in
the Canal District, a predominantly Latino neighborhood of our city, our local <a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a>’s Justice
Advocacy Team organized predawn vigils, both to demonstrate our concern and
solidarity and to assist victims of raids and their families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immigrants do have tenants rights,
among other rights, of which they may be either unaware or reluctant to use for
fear of deportation.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A couple of months ago, an immigrant construction worker who
had entered nearby Travis Air Force Base to work on a job was held for
deportation by ICE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This man had
been a contributing member of our community for more than 17 years, had married
and had children who were American citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and his family were known to be law-abiding members of
our city, but for the father’s immigration status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A call went out from MIC to its members, asking them to
write letters of support to representatives, government entities, and the
press.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MIC is also a 501(c)3
nonprofit.<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
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* * * * *</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcvXKUSy5Dg/WeAE4RDq3vI/AAAAAAAACNU/NENDvL9NsBIR51o6oXBWCkiKXG7XSoergCLcBGAs/s1600/Rabbi%2BElana%2BRosen-Brown%2B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="221" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcvXKUSy5Dg/WeAE4RDq3vI/AAAAAAAACNU/NENDvL9NsBIR51o6oXBWCkiKXG7XSoergCLcBGAs/s200/Rabbi%2BElana%2BRosen-Brown%2B.jpeg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbi Elana Rosen-Brown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rabbi Elana Rosen-Brown told of the ways in which the
members of her </span><a href="https://rodefsholom.org/" style="font-size: 12pt;">Congregation Rodef Sholom</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
committed to create a sanctuary for immigrants.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She spoke of Rodof Shalom’s process of becoming a community
network.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She cited </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.truah.org/">T’ruah</a></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">:
The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, which has published </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.truah.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/QuickstartGuideforSanctuarySynagogues.pdf">Mikdash<span style="font-style: normal;">: A Quickstart Guide for Sanctuary Synagogues</span></a></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,
a step-by-step, easy-to-access pdf.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition to providing us with a copy of this document, she gave us
copies of the “Resolution of the Board of Directors of Congregation Rodof
Shalom Affirming Congregational Solidarity with Undocumented Immigrants.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">To demonstrate its commitment to this
resolution of its Board, they created a Source Sheet, a useful document she
also shared with us.</span></div>
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The first thing to do is to change hearts and minds. Becoming
a sanctuary community begins with networking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Concurrently, reach out to local immigrants rights group to
understand local needs and partners. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s good as well to have immigrant folk speak to the
congregation so that the members can better understand and appreciate their
urgent needs.</div>
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Elana recommends <a href="http://www.sanctuarynotdeportation.org/">Sanctuary Not Deportation</a>
(SND), which has a list of local coalitions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sanctuary groups are already well established in such places
as Denver, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Southern
Arizona, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Phoenix, Washington, South Florida, Colorado
Springs, and New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
neighboring state of Oregon’s <a href="http://imirj.org/">Interfaith Movement
for Immigrant Justice</a> is another resource for learning to become a
sanctuary community.</div>
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<br /></div>
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SND offers instructions on becoming a sanctuary community,
including strategy and tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Different religious traditions have published denominational statements
as well as liturgical materials; however, all are Christian except for one
issued by Reformed Judaism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SND
appears to be a useful site, but it could certainly benefit from having a more
diverse coalition.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now we Pagans don’t usually have buildings to use and to
maintain; even so, there are plenty of ways we can help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several ways are suggested above.</div>
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<br /></div>
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After the presentations of our two guests, I got an idea of
how we – me, anyway – might help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I propose providing immigrants with prepaid cell phones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With cell phones, immigrants can
receive announcements pertinent to their situations. They can access
information and resources in their own languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if circumstances result in their relocating, they can
remain connected with friends, allies, and supportive groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My idea was to contact <a href="http://www.credomobile.com/">CREDO Mobile</a> or other cell phone
services to enlist their cooperation by providing the phones, perhaps new but
discontinued models that are harder to sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CREDO is a social change network of 5 million activists
organizing and mobilizing for progressive change; each month CREDO donates all
profits to various nonprofits, voted on by subscribers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t followed through on this
yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you think?</div>
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<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She actually cited San
Quentin, probably because it is local; however, I volunteer with the Wiccan
circle there and so far I haven’t been exposed to deplorable conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bleak and institutional, yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I only see communal areas,
not cellblocks.</span></div>
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Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-64131033480506103862017-09-15T04:24:00.000-07:002017-09-15T04:24:49.684-07:00Reflections on Melek Taus
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j63psWrtVA0/Wbu4LCe5TcI/AAAAAAAACMY/ZrzCU7lr06IOqlkfVdQSx8T_8yAwlov6wCLcBGAs/s1600/Tawsi-Melek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j63psWrtVA0/Wbu4LCe5TcI/AAAAAAAACMY/ZrzCU7lr06IOqlkfVdQSx8T_8yAwlov6wCLcBGAs/s320/Tawsi-Melek.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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Last week I attended an <b>Interfaith
Gala Dessert Reception to help the Yezidis Facing Genocide</b>, featuring a
delegation of Yezidis in exile here in North America and hoping to regain their
homelands.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Held at <a href="http://www.peninsulasinai.org/">Peninsula
Sinai Congregation</a> in Foster City, California, the room featured peacock
feathers on each table and walls adorned with Yezidi (Yazidi) flags. The screen upon one wall featured a
large image of Melek Taus, the Peacock God of the Yezidis.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I was especially intrigued to learn how Melek Taus is
conceived in Yezedi (Yazidi) religion because this figure also appears as a
deity in the Anderson Faery/Feri tradition of the Craft. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Here is an account of a contemporary reference to Melek Taus</div>
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The <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/yazidi-king-peacock-militia-kills-22-isis-militants-sinjar-1462083">contingent</a>,
named Malik al-Tawus or ‘King Peacock’ after the mythical figure worshipped by
the ancient religious minority, clashed with IS [ISIL] in the area west of the
rebel-held city of Mosul.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Malik al-Tawus, the self-defence
group, was established in 2007 to protect the Yazidi community in Iraq against
attacks by Islamists.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Yazidi religion is a syncretic
combination of Zoroastrianism with Sufi Islam, dating back to ancient
Mesopotamia. They believe that God and seven angels protect the world and one
of these angels, named Malak Tawus and believed to be embodied by a peacock on
Earth, was thrown out of paradise for refusing to bow to Adam.</div>
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I don’t know if the Yezidis who were honored at this recent
reception would agree with the description of their religion as being
syncretic, although most if not all religions are. They struck me as being of a conservative bent. This particular group represented a
diaspora of Yezidis living in Canada.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/armenian-yazidis-ready-to-open-new-temple/28448872.html">RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
reports</a> on another Yezidi community in Armenia where Melek Taus is
prominently revered and where the Yezidis recently constructed a new
temple. Perhaps their goal is not
to reclaim their homeland in Northern Iraq that other diasporic communities
seek.</div>
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In any case, Melek Taus, the headstrong Peacock Angel, is the
central figure in the Yazidi faith.
Because he refused to bend to the will of God [the one called Allah, one
would assume], conservative Muslims view the Yezidis as “devil
worshippers.” The Koran tells a
similar story about Shaytan, the Devil, having been cast down into hell for
defying God.</div>
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However, although Melek Taus is the most important deity to
the Yezidis, they maintain that he belongs to the entire world. About the Peacock Angel <a href="http://www.yeziditruth.org/the_peacock_angel">Yezidi Truth</a> asserts
that:</div>
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The Yezidis believe that they
possess the oldest religion on Earth, the primeval faith that features Tawsi
Melek, and that all other traditions are related to them through the Peacock
Angel [although not always in the form of a peacock]. They contend that Tawsi
Melek is the true creator and ruler of the universe, and therefore a part of
all religious traditions. Once he
arrived on Earth he became its monarch and has since governed the world from an
etheric dimension.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Melek Taus later changed his appearance and name and now has
morphed and manifested in different religions around the globe.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Further, for Yazidis, Melek Taus “is above the concepts of
good and evil -- comparable to fire, which can cook and warm but also burn and
destroy.” Therefore, is makes
perfect sense to me that he would manifest in a religion that holds the concept
of “the black heart of innocence.”
To quote the late Grand Master Victor Anderson: “How beautiful is the black lascivious
purity in the hearts of children and small animals. This is the black heart of innocence and the root of all true
rightness.”</div>
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My initial encounters with Melek Taus were in the context of
Anderson Faery/Feri, although I have had very little exposure to him even
within Faery. When I first read
about Melek Taus exclusive of the context of Faery, I thought his appearance
there might have been the dreaded <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation">cultural
appropriation</a>. After all, culturally
speaking, Northern Iraq is a far cry from Northern California. Now I’ve learned that he is claimed to
be “a part of all religious traditions.”</div>
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My personal favorite, the image on the altar in my bedroom,
is artist <a href="http://www.paulruckerart.com/">Paul Rucker</a>’s
interpretation. Judging by the plethora of images of Melek Taus on the
Internet, it seems he’s become widely known, with many jpgs of Paul’s art and
almost no attribution.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There’s a wealth of information and a wealth images of Melek
Taus on the Internet for those who wish to pursue him intellectually. Best, however, to encounter him by
performing devotional acts; then see what happens.</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-59068840845854802472017-08-22T05:06:00.001-07:002017-08-22T05:06:39.626-07:00AAR 2016<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVCPaN1edAA/WZY_fJEBIAI/AAAAAAAACL4/EWu0rQ494-A3XCEzW0Gn8QiVB2ziUqfgwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/gold-marilyn-monroe-by-andy-warhol-0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVCPaN1edAA/WZY_fJEBIAI/AAAAAAAACL4/EWu0rQ494-A3XCEzW0Gn8QiVB2ziUqfgwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/gold-marilyn-monroe-by-andy-warhol-0086.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol 1962</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Last November, with help from the Covenant of the Goddess, I
again attended the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San
Antonio.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(This year the meeting
will be in Boston.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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If you’ve read any of my other posts about these annual
meetings, you know that in addition to the Pagan Studies Section, I attend
other sessions on other topics when they don’t conflict with Pagan Studies
sessions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year was no
different.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kerry Noonan and I shared a room, where I listened to her
rehearse her paper, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sans</i> Power Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It interested me, as did some of the
other papers in that session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
can always learn from other religions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not necessarily theology, faith, or belief; rather organizations and
methods, successes and mistakes, things we may wish to emulate
(organization-wise) and those we should avoid. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also learn what I call “sacred technology,” by which I
mean such things as visualization, meditation, chanting, breathwork, dancing,
liturgical skills. </div>
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<br /></div>
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So the first session I attended was that of the Roman
Catholic Studies Group, entitled </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ex-Catholics:
Thresholds of Catholic Identity and Defiance</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to a Pew survey, Catholicism … has been losing
adherents, mostly to the secular, … but also due to relevance.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nicholas
Rademacher</b> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rethinking Resistance:
Varieties of Dissent and Patterns of Solidarity among U.S. Catholics</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many observers gloss over differences
among dissenting Catholics of the mid to late twentieth century, collapsing a
diverse movement into a seeming homogeneous group. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the radicals themselves perpetuated an impression of
homogeneity in order to present a united front to the public eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While many dissenters at mid-century
promoted similar ideas about racial and economic justice, pacifism, and a more egalitarian
ecclesiology, they traveled different paths and even corrected one another from
time to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet they rarely if
ever publicly reproached one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A closer look at the internal conversation of the period by way of diary
accounts, correspondence, and the public record reveals important distinctions
and even disagreements among and between those who dissented within and against
the Roman Catholic Church on social justice themes.</div>
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We’ve long included many, many ‘recovering Catholics’ in our
Pagan communities, along with Jewitches, Buddheo-Pagans, Quagans, and
Atheo-Pagans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some Pagans design
rituals that have been influenced by Catholic ritual, not to mention the
liberal use of frankincense and myrrh in our workings.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some Pagan organizations go so far as
to mimic Roman Catholic hierarchy, assuming such titles as Reverend and Right
Reverend, wearing [green or purple] Roman collars, and employing fractured
Elizabethan English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not my
personal cup of tea, but if using these methods aids practitioners to achieve a
more spiritually receptive state and feel more compassionate toward and bonded
with their co-practitioners, more power to them.</div>
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Dr. Rademacher spoke of “defecting in place,” citing
Catholics working for social justice causes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among them, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day">Dorothy Day</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Berrigan">Daniel Berrigan</a> and
his brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan">Phillip</a>,
the latter’s wife and former nun, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_McAlister">Elizabeth McAlister</a>,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton">Thomas Merton</a>, and
Mary Elizabeth Walsh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These people
interpreted church teachings as a living gospel calling for activism in pursuit
of a better world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the
presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt forward, they sought to foster solidarity
within the social justice movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They saw priests moving into middle class privilege, while they instead
worked in the Bowery, established settlement houses, participated in hunger and
peace marches, and in general chose to live with and among marginalized people
instead of returning to middle class comfort.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kori
Pacyniak</b> – “Ex-Catholics: Exile or Exodus in the Borderlands of the
Church.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As numbers of “former”
or” ex” Catholics increase, various questions remain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do some leave while others remain and work for change
within.</div>
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Ms. Pacyniak, whose studies focus on queer theology, trans
theology, and trauma theology, spoke of liminal overlapping space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many LGBTQIA Catholics leave their
place of origin to find a more accepting space and a better life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seek these demilitarized places
where they are both inside and outside, “both me and not me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These borderlands as places of
“becoming.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also stressed the
distinction between the exodus where one has agency, as opposed to
excommunication which is not of one’s doing.</div>
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Often these dissenting Catholics find a welcoming home and a
more relevant and satisfying religious practice within Pagan communities.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Meredith
Massar Munson</b> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All That Glitters Is
Not Gold: Andy Warhol’s Byzantine Icon, Gold Marilyn Monroe</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When did celebrity become iconic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born of devout Byzantine-Ruthenian
immigrants in Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol spent his childhood in the rich visual
culture of the Byzantine Catholic tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His 1962 painting, Gold Marilyn Monroe, has been casually
associated with Byzantine icons since its creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, scholars have not gone beyond the canvas’s gilded
visage to explore the extremely provocative connotations that such a connection
might actually hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
investigation of the artist’s personal Byzantine-Catholic history posits this
painting as directly indebted to the long-standing icon tradition, and
furthermore, as intrinsically connected to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheiropoieta">acheiropoieta</a>, [made
without hands] the image not by human hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warhol’s iconic painting opens the door for a cultural
critique that compares and contrasts fame and exploitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper will endeavor to place Gold
Marilyn within the much larger dialogue concerning the role of the icon,
bridging the gap between the secular and the spiritual.</div>
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I had never heard of Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholicism
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was aware that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol">Andy Warhol</a> was Catholic,
but I knew neither its particular flavor nor its prominence/importance in his
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He attended Mass daily.</div>
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My interest in this talk was the examination of pop icons in
light of the fact that many Pagans are idolaters or use iconic images as
objects of reverence and/or for focused meditation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all, of course, but many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not uncommon to see on an altar a Wonder Woman action
figure or a little Batman doll or some other object marketed as a toy.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We have our own versions of the Catholic Marian cults, such
as the <a href="http://www.ordbrighideach.org/raven/">Ord Brighideach
International</a>, to which I belong, and the <a href="http://hekatecovenant.com/">Covenant of Hekate</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, there are numerous orders,
sisterhoods, and fellowships dedicated to the worship of specific deities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, I know there are people,
Pagans and cowans alike, who maintain special areas of their homes dedicated to
Marilyn Monroe herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
painting called Gold Marilyn Monroe, created by the “pope of pop,” exemplifies this
appreciation of graven images.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kerry
Noonan</b> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’I’m Going to Try Reiki
Next, and I’m Not Going to Confession!’ Negotiating Vernacular Catholicism</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a guided meditation in a yoga
studio, a conservative Catholic woman listens to the messages channeled by a
psychic teacher -– messages from deceased loved ones, archangels, the Virgin
Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s not a “fallen-away”
Catholic, nor a New Ager; Catholicism is part of her identity, and she works to
integrate these new practices into an identity that eschews them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Employing Leonard Primiano’s concept of
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“vernacular religion,” I aim to
better understand her and others like her who, while seeking direct and
embodied experiences of the Divine, incorporate new practices and place them in
familiar Catholic contexts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
light of Catherine Albanese’s assertion that Americans have practiced
“combinative” religion for centuries, and Robert Orsi’s contention that
religious traditions are “zones of improvisation and conflict,” I explore the
possibility that we can see this woman not as an orthodox outlier, but as
emblematic of important trends in the American religious landscape.</div>
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This process of syncretism is a fairly common phenomenon
among Pagan religions, Witchcraft in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often learn meditative techniques from Asian religions
rhat may enhance our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tibetan
Buddhism employs the use of <a href="http://www.tantra-kundalini.com/yantras.htm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yantras</i></a> as foci for visualization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also sing Hindu chants, purported Native American chants
of various kinds, and chants from Voudoun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We borrow rhythms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We dance English, French, and Basque folk dances.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan Studies Group</b>(1)<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Modernity and Postmodernity: Pagans Reimagining the
Future</b>. Modern Pagan movements still struggle with identity and
history, especially when former “historical” and ideological foundations are
challenged by new interpretations or others’ voice. Participants will
present summaries of their papers and discuss with each other and the audience
issues of history, identity and ethnicity across boundaries, and the pressures
of institutionalization. </div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabina_Magliocco">Sabina
Magliocco</a> presided and <a href="http://amyhale.weatherlight.com/bio/">Amy
Hale</a> responded to the following speakers; </div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barbara
Jane Davy</b> — "<i>Reconstruction Alternatives: Wicked Dilemmas for
Contemporary Pagan Responses to Modernity</i>." (description too long to
type)</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen
Quille<i>y</i></b> — "<i>Reconstruction Alternatives: Wicked Dilemmas for
Contemporary Pagan Responses to Modernity</i>." (description too long to
type)</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thomas
Berendt</b> — "<i>Postmodern Paganisms: Embracing Polytheitic
Plurality, Diversity, and Hybridity</i>.” (description too long to type)</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://iastate.academia.edu/ChristopherWChase"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Christopher W. Chase</b></a> — "<i>Differential Modernities:
Rethinking Vodou in Contemporary Paganism</i>." “…contends that
Pagan traditions respond to modernity according to sociohistorically contingent
circumstances. As an example, Vodou has developed a Christian ecclesia model in
Haiti in response to Pentecostalism, while tracking along a decentralized
initiatory path in the U.S., similar to other Pagan traditions.</div>
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As you can tell from these descriptions, we Pagans are
protean in our tendency to evolve and change.</div>
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I apologize for the skimpiness of commentary on the Pagan
Studies sessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the two years
since I suffered a stroke, I have not fully regained my ability to handwrite,
so my notes are minimal and often indecipherable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, Christine Hoff Kraemer shares a thorough report
of her experience of this event on <a href="http://wildhunt.org/2016/11/guest-column-pagan-studies-at-the-american-academy-of-religion-2016.html">The
Wild Hunt</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporary Pagan Studies Group</b>(2)<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dilemmas of Identity
and Formation in Contemporary Paganism</b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tropes of anti-modernism and primitivism inform the
development of contemporary Pagan movements, yet these groups are sometimes
described as postmodern as well.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Papers and discussion of “whether the central tenets of postmodernism –
plurality, diversity, and hybridity – chiefly influence such movements today or
whether protests against modernity and reconstructions of fictive pre-modern
societies and world views drive them equally.</div>
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<a href="http://www.tf.uio.no/english/research/projects/redo/partnere/salomonsen.html">Jone
Salomonsen</a> presided and <a href="http://college.wfu.edu/religion/people/faculty-profiles/dr-shawn-arthur/">Shawn
Arthur</a> responded to the following speakers:</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.american.edu/library/faculty/greece.cfm"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gwendolyn Reece</b></a> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Scalability Crisis: Contemporary Paganism and Institutionalization</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…argues that one of the primary
driving forces behind the trend towards institutionalization in Contemporary
Paganisjm … (description too long to type)</div>
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This paper specifically speaks of the dilemmas we, as a fast-growing
constellation of Nature-based and/or heritage-based, and related non-Abrahamic
religious groups, confront when trying to create institutions that address our
professional needs from a less conventional and, given our great diversity,
from a somewhat Pagan perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This has been the work of Cherry Hill Seminary, among other worthy
efforts.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patricia
E’Iolana</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Imagined and Idealised </i>[sic]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Past as a Source for Revisionist Rhetoric:
The Dual Lives of the 1921 Murray Thesis</i>.” (description too long to type)</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lee
Gilmore</b> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pagan and Indigenous
Communities at the Parliament (Part 2): The Myth of the Unbroken Line in
Constructions of Authenticity</i>.” (description too long to type)</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leigh Ann
Hildebrand</b> – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jews (and Jewitches)
Touching Trees: Hybrid Jewish/Pagan Identity, Ritual Practice, and Belief</i>.”
(description too long to type)</div>
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The phenomenon of Jewitches has long been a facet of the
Craft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About twenty years ago
Jewitches in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) published a newsletter call
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Di Shmatteh</i> (the rag).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then, various blends or dual
perspectives have arisen:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Buddheo-Pagan, Quagan, Atheo-Pagan, and even Christo-Pagan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a person reared in Christianity, both
Protestant and Catholic, I don’t get this last one, but then again, it’s not
mine to get.</div>
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The work of scholars and supporters at <a href="http://cherryhillseminary.org/">Cherry Hill Seminary</a> is one
manifestation of the expression of these issues of legitimacy, identity, and
sustainability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, one of
the older and still extant Pagan organizations, the <a href="http://www.cog.org/">Covenant of the Goddess</a>, in its annual
Leadership Institute, has recently done in a daylong focus on examining the
current state of the Craft and Paganism, and locating CoG’s place in that
larger community and in the world.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Native Traditions in the Americas Group<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Indigenous Religious
Hybridity and the Transformation of Traditions</b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This session addresses different forms of religious
hybridity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zitkala-Sa, or Gertrude
Simmons Bonin, was an important Dakota leader who drew from her own cultural
traditions as well as her education in boarding schools to publish at the
national level and serve as an agent of the government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patron Saint Feast Days incorporate
from and negotiate between indigenous and Christian practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research on the Ohlone Shell Walk
illustrates the revitalization of traditions while highlighting the
relationship between religious and political activity.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ttZqjqXmeK0/WZZAAMJNpaI/AAAAAAAACL4/_2QGj-rdLywLwi64Tt4T_rbo_swaYFqvwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Muwekma_Ohlones_Group_Of_6_Dancers_at_Mission_San_Jose_Picture_In_Red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="606" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ttZqjqXmeK0/WZZAAMJNpaI/AAAAAAAACL4/_2QGj-rdLywLwi64Tt4T_rbo_swaYFqvwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Muwekma_Ohlones_Group_Of_6_Dancers_at_Mission_San_Jose_Picture_In_Red.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Abel
Gomez -- </b>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shellmound Peace Walk:
Prayer, Pilgrimage, and Activism in Ohlone Territory</i>” Ohlone communities of
the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas are experiencing a cultural renewal,
despite their non-recognized status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Central to this revival is the protection of burial sites, most of which
have been destroyed because of urban development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper focuses on Ohlone activist Corrina Gould’s
efforts to honor the burial place of her ancestors through Shellmound Peace
Walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beginning in 2005, Gould
has organized three-week long pilgrimages to the shellmounds (burial sites) of
her ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At each stop, participants
heard stories of the site and offered prayers and tobacco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drawing on fieldwork, historical
writings, and oral histories, I argue that the Shellmound Peace Walks
demonstrate the interconnectivity of religion and political activism in Native
communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Ohlone solidarity
with non-Native people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was initially drawn to this section because I saw that
Abel Gomez was one of the presenters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is a young man from the S.F Bay Area I’ve met through local
Reclaiming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another draw was the fact that the topic is about a region I
call home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the southern
Baylands and the land on the other side of SF Bay from where I write is home to
<a href="http://muwekma.org/">Ohlone</a> people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My neighboring county to the north is <a href="https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/people_coastmiwok.htm">Coast
Miwok</a> country.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are 425 <a href="http://ipocshellmoundwalk.homestead.com/shellmound.html">shellmounds</a>
in the salt marshes and mudflats around San Francisco Bay and beyond (San Pablo
Bay, Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the time since Europeans settled this area, the
largest, once a burial ground rising 60 feet high and dating back to 800 BCE,
has been desecrated by being used for an amusement park and later as a dumping
ground for toxic chemicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
1999 a shopping center occupies most of that shellmound, with a memorial park
nearby, now designated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeryville_Shellmound">Emeryville Shellmound</a>,
California Historical Landmark #335.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From time to time I have received email posts soliciting
people to attend these peace walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I appreciated hearing this more detailed information about these
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abel’s contention of
the interconnectivity of Native religions and political activism matches my own
convictions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have attended public Witchen sabbat celebrations at the
Emeryville Shellmounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that
spot one can see beautiful sunsets behind some of the land surrounding the
Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to think that, rather
than using the site as a dumping ground, by performing our sabbats on what is
left of this formerly 60-foot high mound, we in some small way honor the
ancestors of our Ohlone neighbors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boundaries in the Borderlands: Pueblo Indian
Patron Saint Feast Days and the Negotiation of Catholicism</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once again my post-stroke ability to take notes results in
my inability to interpret my compromised handwriting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vx9szXwxn7I/WZY_zEeaVeI/AAAAAAAACL4/Qwv4lYDFUVsVSeA7lDpCBXmav3u-GwrbACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Joseph_T._Keiley_Zitkala-Sa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vx9szXwxn7I/WZY_zEeaVeI/AAAAAAAACL4/Qwv4lYDFUVsVSeA7lDpCBXmav3u-GwrbACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Joseph_T._Keiley_Zitkala-Sa.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zitkala-Sa, Joseph T. Keiley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo10; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br />«<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zitkala-Sa"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zitkala-Sa</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: A Warrior of
Survivance [sic] between Traditionalism and Progressivism</i>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A mixed-ethnicity<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
woman who identified with her mother’s <a href="https://www.yanktonsiouxtribe.net/">Yankton Sioux</a> heritage,
Zitkala-Sa, “Red Bird,” whose Euro-name is Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, first
entered my consciousness a few years ago when I came upon the following quote:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“A wee child toddling in a wonder
world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the
voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of
mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at
present, at least, I am a Pagan.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zitkala-Sa was an amazing person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She straddled two cultures, seeking the knowledge and wisdom
of both, and she took those understandings into the world beyond the
reservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She even wrote a
Native-themed opera, “The Sun Dance Opera,” that was first performed on stage
in 1913.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her finding values in
both cultures in which she found herself immersed seems relevant to what many
contemporary Pagans have been doing by learning about our various heritages,
and blends of heritages. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
syncretize what resonates for us into spiritual practices that give expression
of who we are and enrich the meaning in our rituals.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9vSzECbWp8/WZZARwBqtGI/AAAAAAAACL4/sOzs0tGfscg0Cxj00kgFStpdomgcVL0JwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Zitkala-sa-thesundance1913-newspaper-article%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="460" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9vSzECbWp8/WZZARwBqtGI/AAAAAAAACL4/sOzs0tGfscg0Cxj00kgFStpdomgcVL0JwCPcBGAYYCw/s640/Zitkala-sa-thesundance1913-newspaper-article%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="184" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m registered for the AAR Annual Meeting in Boston and
hopeful that I’ll have enough money to get there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></a> The inmates in our circle at San
Quentin State Prison, unlike in many other prisons, are allowed flame and
incense, at least when I’m there, and they all love incense. So we use it liberally and they emerge
from circle with the scents permeating their hair and clothing and reminding
them of where they’ve just been.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See Big Time at <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2010/07/big-time.html">http://besom.blogspot.com/2010/07/big-time.html</a>.
</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> I feel uncomfortable assigning
the word race to people of any heritage or complexion because humans comprise
one race or species.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-5867925178745816802017-06-08T18:11:00.000-07:002017-06-25T16:41:09.491-07:00Table to Action Design Workshop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yssza7FIyYU/WTny8d-qLvI/AAAAAAAACKU/4T7DoU6q65whex6aGCdR35PMZoDFAArRgCLcB/s1600/gather%2Bround%2Bmemories.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yssza7FIyYU/WTny8d-qLvI/AAAAAAAACKU/4T7DoU6q65whex6aGCdR35PMZoDFAArRgCLcB/s1600/gather%2Bround%2Bmemories.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in October 2016 I wrote about attending the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#editor/target=post;postID=3373238238284041876;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=7;src=postname">initial
SF Bay Area meeting</a> of Table to Action<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. I mentioned soliciting one or three of
my local interfaith colleagues who are Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and/or
Hindu. Unfortunately, I was
unsuccessful. A college professor
friend recommended a liberal Catholic at her institution, and introduced us by
email. I invited her and got her
in the loop for the next meeting in February. She responded that she was eager to come, but for whatever
reason(s) she did not attend.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Sponsored by <a href="http://auburnseminary.org/">Auburn
Seminary</a> and <a href="https://www.sksm.edu/">Starr King School for the
Ministry</a>, that second meeting was very like the first one. Table to Action had planned a longer
follow-up workshop to take place in April. It was an evening, followed by a daylong design
workshop. This is some of what the
invitation said:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
From September 2016 through
February 2017, a multi-religious group of about thirty Bay Area spiritual and
community leaders have gathered…to form a community of resilience and
accountability and discuss common questions related to our struggles for
justice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
When we began…the questions before
us were related to our spiritual, emotional and physical sustainability in the
context of relentless demands and challenges and frequent setbacks. We approach the questions
intersectionally, both from personal and communal standpoints,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
We asked ourselves what kind of
justice movement we dreamed of, one that would engage issues intersectionally,
respected our different social locations and histories and honored our bodies
and souls as we are in the struggle.
…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
After the elections, we checked on
how our bodies and souls and our community fared in the midst of constant
multiple attacks on the values and communities we love. We asked ourselves how we could best
support each other across our different communities, and strengthen our
capacity to build a sustainable and resilient local community or resistance and
resilience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This longer engagement culminated “with a DesignShop<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></a>
</span>… [to] imagine together where we might want to reimagine ways to collaborate
for justice in the Bay [Area] in these times.” The title was:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
“<b>We Are Not Afraid to Reimagine</b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a>”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
A Design Shop Intensive<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn4" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[4]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We gathered at <a href="http://www.cityofrefugeucc.org/">City
of Refuge United Church of Christ</a> in Oakland on the evening of April 23 and
all day on April 24. The
Hospitality Services of City of Refuge, an excellent venue, conveniently located
with plenty of parking and a small garden outside, catered our event. The food was great, accommodating
various dietary concerns, and the food preparers (all women, it seemed)
friendly and kind. They earned
several applauses throughout the two days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first evening entailed a re-acquaintance with other
participants, and for those who hadn’t attended the first two meetings, getting
to know each person. Again, I was
unsuccessful in recruiting either Buddhists, Catholics, or Hindus, although I
know that all three are active in interfaith, social justice, and environmental
concerns. To be fair, there are
few Hindus in my immediate area except for a Vedanta retreat, which is a member
of <a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a>. However, there are plenty of activist
Catholics and Buddhists. And since
this was a Bay Area-wide effort and there are many Hindus in the Santa Clara
Valley (aka Silicon Valley), I found their absence worth mentioning. It wasn’t I who convened this group, so
I don’t know how wide a net they cast.
Regardless, I did invite Felicity Grove, an interfaith colleague from NCLC-CoG.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn5" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: x-small;">[5]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Surprisingly, among this group of about
thirty, there were four Witches.
One, <a href="http://thecocowitch.com/">Courtney Weber</a> Hoover works
at Auburn and is part of the program, so she was an employee-participant. The other was local Witch Luna Pantera,
whom I’ve known for many years and knew of her involvement with <a href="http://now.org/">NOW</a>. I
had not encountered her at interfaith activity until now, although I’m now aware
that she attended the second MountainTop in Atlanta in 2015, as I did in
Nashville in 2013. I was glad to
see her taking the step of further involvement.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As in earlier DesignShop sessions, we gathered in small
working groups, where we were given a topic or a problem to address
collaboratively. The specific
configurations of these groups changed with each change of topic; all were
timed to 30 minutes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An artist documented our full group discussions on
whiteboards around the room. I
described this <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2013/06/mountaintop-i.html">here</a>,
starting at the sixth paragraph. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<b><i>Get on the Bus</i></b>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Round One of this exercise involved teammates depicting “the
Bay Area’s movement work as if it were a bus on a journey…traversing any kind
of landscape.” Includes details
such as obstacles, challenges, landmarks, “as well as the nature of the
interaction on the bus…” After
this we walked around to see what others had been talking about.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">“It’s easier to get from THERE to HERE than it
is to get from HERE to THERE.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";"><i>DesignShop Axiom</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For Round Two, teams drew a bus that represented the ideal
Future State, three years from today, then chose a team member to report the
group’s final ideas to the whole gathering.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<b><i>Design a Home</i></b>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For this module we formed new teams in which each of us was
given a description of a specific person and assigned to enact that individual
in the discussion. We were five
people, each decidedly different from the other in terms of age, health,
economic situation, ethnicity, et al., seeking to share housing in the Bay
Area. We were to consider each
participant’s needs: cost; location; quiet hours or quiet area; rooms for
entertaining visitors; sharing food and/or meals or not; accessibility of
public transit; pet(s) or none; house meetings; levels of fastidiousness;
chores; need for yard or garden area; etc. No one knew who the other was portraying prior to the role-playing
discussion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My role was that of a 52-year old gen X-er, middle class,
working in nonprofit, given to inclusivity, reflection and discussion, no rash
decisions. The names given to each
participant were not generally seen as being gender-specific. My name was Leslie.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">“To add someone’s experience to your
experience, </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">to create a </span><span style="font-family: "kannada mn"; font-size: 12pt;">new experience, is possibly valuable.”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";"><i>DesignShop Axiom</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then we debriefed for another 20 minutes, setting aside our
roles and reviewing what just happened in our housemate meeting. Questions we considered were:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->What process did you work out to make this
decision? Who took the lead? Was it an explicit process or did it
just evolve?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->What worked well and what could you have done
differently in listening to what was important to each of the other housemates?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->How did you balance incompatible objectives and
priorities?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->How was this scenario like some of the trade-off
decisions that have to be made in creating a more racially and economically
equitable Bay Area?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->What did you learn about design decisions like
this one that you can use going forward?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of that time, we reported what we learned to the
whole gathering. I felt okay about
how this module went.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">“Everything that someone tells you is true; </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">they are reporting </span><span style="font-family: "kannada mn"; font-size: 12pt;">their experience of reality.”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";"><i>DesignShop Axiom</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j1GWzJDg1mk/WTnzTUUgQZI/AAAAAAAACKY/-IuL6DcbZJElBwPt8axtM8U-GTWAds60wCLcB/s1600/creating%2Ba%2Bgame.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="500" height="181" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j1GWzJDg1mk/WTnzTUUgQZI/AAAAAAAACKY/-IuL6DcbZJElBwPt8axtM8U-GTWAds60wCLcB/s320/creating%2Ba%2Bgame.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Designing a Game</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<b><i>Design the </i>Sustainable Justice Game</b>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beginning with the assumption that everything can be turned
into a game, we were tasked with designing a “sustainable racial and economic
justice game.” Colored paper,
beads, yarns, colored markers, and other game-making materials were provided. Both Felicity and I were in this group
together with two other people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Questions we considered in devising this <i>Sustainable Justice Game</i> were: Choosing a game to model; the objective
of the game; what winning looks like; who can win and under what circumstances;
strategies leading to success or failure; what advances play or sets players
back; barriers/obstacles to winning and how to overcome them; resources/skills
players need and whether they’re easy to pick up or can be offered from one
player to another; who are the players and what are their roles and
characteristics; player interactions and powers, limits or constraints;
cooperation or competition; field of play; and rules. And importantly, what unique characteristics of the multifaith
movement for social justice can be built into our game?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We began by brainstorming a list of our favorite games. There was one game that neither
Felicity nor I knew anything about.
Both of us clearly expressed this numerous times. Nevertheless, time was
running out and we hadn’t settled on one game to use as a template that all of
us agreed on, so the person most invested in using the game <i>she</i> suggested took the lead and began
writing about it on our whiteboard.
We settled with doing the support work of making the board and the
pieces according to what the other two were telling us about how the model game
goes. Personally, I felt excluded
from designing the game and handicapped due to our ignorance of it. And I will say that this exercise was
not fun for me. Nor was it an
equitable collaboration.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our result, ideally, was writing the rules, preparing the
board (or other field of play), pieces, and other elements so that another team
can actually play it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">“If you can’t have fun with the problem, </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";">you
will never solve it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "kannada mn";"><i>DesignShop Axiom</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We then moved our tables together to hear what another group
designed and to share what we designed.
The other group created a game I really liked. It was a board game, with all roads leading to the
center. The object was to get to
the center, and for those who reached the center sooner to work towards
bringing along every other player.
I couldn’t hear their explanations due to the distance created by two
large tables pushed together, the acoustically “live” room, and the softness of
their speech. I did the obvious,
which was to request the speaker to speak louder because I wanted to hear what
they had to say but couldn’t. The
first time I said this, the speaker duly increased her volume. However, the next speaker again spoke
softly and again I said I couldn’t hear.
This situation was exacerbated by people leaning in to hear better and thereby
blocking my view. Of course, I
kept moving my vantage point so that I could see the speaker, but it didn’t do
much good</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We concluded the day by gathering once again in a circle,
where <a href="http://melvinbray.com/">Melvin Bray</a>, the facilitator asked
that someone from each team tell us what they did. This is where things got dicey among four who participated in the game design segment. The facilitator did not extend our talk so that we could express
our frustrations and resolve our differences. Perhaps others didn’t see the tension and bewilderment on
our faces. I was
disappointed. Normally I would do
that myself -- speak up. However, we were at the end of the day
and there seemed to good way to deal with the problem without being disruptive. Instead, I spoke to another team member
one-to-one after the close, expressing that I wanted to clear things up. I have heard nothing more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In hindsight, I see that we – or I, at least – participated
in a lower key, less take-charge way because we were conscious that we were viewed
as the seemingly privileged middle-class educated white folks, or using the
term I prefer in such circumstances, Euros, among a minority majority assembly. We tended to hold back more than we
usually would in service, I thought, of good behavior, not bullying or trying
to take over.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At each of the three Bay Area sessions, I met and talked
with several very interesting people, folks it’s unlikely I’d meet otherwise,
because they were primarily from the Abrahamic religions and I don’t usually
have occasion to attend Christian, Jewish, or Muslim religious ceremonies. At all three Table to Action events I
attended, I met several people I’d like to know better, and perhaps ultimately
either supporting each other’s efforts or perhaps collaborating. I would have enjoyed more socializing --
just in general, not specifically at these events. Because those of us to participate in interfaith (or, more
appropriately in our case, inter-religious) activities know that it is in
opening ourselves to and cultivating personal friendships that forge and
sustain our efforts. In order to
make this happen, we would need to be able to remain in contact so we could
deepen these connections to the extent that each of us was moved to do so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So my primary frustration with this whole project is that we
have been provided no way to continue our conversations and to help with and/or
fortify each other and each other’s interfaith work. For some reason I was under the mistaken assumption that
this project was intended to forge alliances. Some of us did, individually, exchange contact information. I hope that a contact list is provided
at some point, although I don’t anticipate more sessions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Unfortunately the FAQs on the Table to Action
website appear to be in Latin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">DesignShop is a method created by Rob Evans of
Imaginal Labs. Here’s a </span><a href="https://youtu.be/TbD_m1sVytk"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">brief talk</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> about it. You may recall </span><a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2013/06/mountaintop-i.html"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">my post about MountainTop</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> in 2013, which I explained
as I experienced it. The founders
explain it </span><a href="https://youtu.be/TbD_m1sVytk"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“We Are Not Afraid to Reimagine” is a line from a
poem written collectively at the Table to Action dinner on September 20, 2016.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[4]<!--[endif]--></span></a> “<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">DesignShop is a methodology that puts participants
into interaction with one another to identify challenges, concerns, problems or
opportunities and to design together a way of addressing them. The future is coming, whether we are
ready or not. Our desire is a
future by design—that we shape toward justice—not by default.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[5]<!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Northern California Council, </span><a href="http://www.cog.org/"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Covenant of the Goddess</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-71009345447099032352017-04-27T16:56:00.000-07:002017-05-02T18:38:04.991-07:00My First Class at Cherry Hill Seminary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVue7HPdVY8/WQKD3yAFS_I/AAAAAAAACIw/iug1Iyc7onYWbxVhKMZoRoFjHNcAe1D0ACLcB/s1600/boundariew-setting-boundaries-in-relationships.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVue7HPdVY8/WQKD3yAFS_I/AAAAAAAACIw/iug1Iyc7onYWbxVhKMZoRoFjHNcAe1D0ACLcB/s320/boundariew-setting-boundaries-in-relationships.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Boundaries & Ethics<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Back in an earlier incarnation of <a href="http://cherryhillseminary.org/">Cherry Hill Seminary</a>, the
late <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Harrow">Judy Harrow</a> and I
were recruited to a new course offering called “Boundaries & Ethics in
Pagan Pastoral Counseling” – yes, I dislike using the word ‘pastoral’ in a
Pagan context because it’s a specifically Christian term relating to sheep and
shepherds (“shepherds of men”; however, Judy convinced me that it was the term
used for what she did as a member of professional counseling organizations). Now Judy actually was a pastoral
counselor by training, I, on the other hand, have never been one, nor do I have
such aspirations. This course is
appropriate for anyone, Pagan or not, pastoral counselor or not.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think this may have been CHS’s first online class, taught
by the inestimable Cat Chapin-Bishop, Chair of the then-Pastoral Counseling
Department. This was during her
previous career in counseling. Our
class had its own Yahoogroup for discussion, plus our weekly live online
meeting held in a Yahoogroups chat.
This was prior to <a href="https://moodle.org/">Moodle</a> teaching
programs. As you can imagine, the
chats were clunky and unreliable, with people getting bumped off and having to
re-enter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In any case, I found it to be really useful, addressing a
topic that one doesn’t learn in the typical process of a Pagan training. We discussed such issues as:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->How much counsel coven or group leaders can
reasonably provide (i.e., has adequate professional training);</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Avoiding burnout;</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Evaluating the counselee’s situation to
determine if you (leader, HPs, whatever) can help or if and when to refer
someone to professional therapists;</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Researching local therapists, and even
interviewing them, to see if they’d be sensitive to Pagan spiritualities (i.e.,
would they think it strange that anyone would consult the Tarot for guidance or
do they think it’s is the work of the devil);</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Researching and reviewing the ethics statements
of various helping professions (i.e., American Counseling Association and the
like);</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">«<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Ultimately, writing our own personal statement
of ethics, which may or may not be like others’ statements of ethics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This last had the most value to me. These things are not usually taught as
part of Pagan religious training.
And it’s not essential for you to articulate a formal statement of
ethics if you’re not the person whom troubled members consult. However, it is important to review
one’s own ethical principles once in a while.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact, one significant product engendered by that course
is “<a href="http://www.proteuscoven.com/counsel/cat1.htm">Spiritual Counseling
and Wiccan Clergy: not psychotherapy in disguise</a>,” which remains available
to the public among the archival treasures on the <a href="http://proteuscoven.com/library.htm">Proteus Coven</a> website, founded
by Judy Harrow and colleagues and thankfully still available to anyone online.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cat’s solicitation to take this course recruited both Judy
and me in the development of Cherry Hill [Pagan] Seminary. Sadly, Judy is gone now, but I’m still
kickin’. Drop by to see how you
can help and to see what’s being offered.</div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-43487279909659028552017-03-30T16:35:00.000-07:002017-03-30T16:35:30.788-07:00MIC Clergy Luncheon on Diversity and Inclusion
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<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzSGZGmuyVk/WN2UnqoYSEI/AAAAAAAACHg/Dkiv_L-Je5QhJfinGjojDNsRENFRh9h5QCEw/s1600/hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzSGZGmuyVk/WN2UnqoYSEI/AAAAAAAACHg/Dkiv_L-Je5QhJfinGjojDNsRENFRh9h5QCEw/s320/hands.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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“<i>If you do not
intentionally include, you unintentionally exclude</i>.” </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
~Neil Lenane</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Last week I attended one of <a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a>’s monthly clergy
meetings. I learn a lot at these
meetings, not so much about religio-spiritual stuff as much as about
organization, institutionalization, healthy and dysfunctional groups and how
some institutions work towards healing community. Also about lots of social justice issues – immigration,
capital punishment, war, teen suicide, LGBTQ concerns, domestic violence, et al.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
MIC is mostly white folks, reflecting the demographic of our
locale. We solicit and welcome as
much diversity as our region has. Yet
we are aware of the limitations that our relative homogeneity might
present.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCU5hvj10CQ/WN2U6JvKNXI/AAAAAAAACH4/zZdz1PiIit0-h3NLy7yqWpF00oHsNUyAQCEw/s1600/YWCA-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="84" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCU5hvj10CQ/WN2U6JvKNXI/AAAAAAAACH4/zZdz1PiIit0-h3NLy7yqWpF00oHsNUyAQCEw/s200/YWCA-logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This meeting addressed our assumptions and behavior around
diversity and inclusion.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">To that
end, we had a presenter from the </span><a href="https://www.ywcasf-marin.org/" style="font-size: 12pt;">San
Francisco & Marin YWCA</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Y’s motto is “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">eliminating
racism/empowering women</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.” Human Resources at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
says:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The foundation has come to
understand that <i>diversity and inclusion</i>
are about the experiences staff members have while they work here and how <i>all of our actions influence the work
environment</i>, from learning about and celebrating our differences to
addressing structural barriers that perpetuates inequalities. [Emphasis in original.]</div>
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<br /></div>
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Presenter Laura Eberly brought “a strength-based lens and
motivational interviewing technique to group and individual cultural competency
development.” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dzl3uHNVzY/WN2UooyHZnI/AAAAAAAACH4/XC87ulVk95cIr8KME8YzTMtDra-FMZTnQCEw/s1600/valuing-difference-wordtree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dzl3uHNVzY/WN2UooyHZnI/AAAAAAAACH4/XC87ulVk95cIr8KME8YzTMtDra-FMZTnQCEw/s320/valuing-difference-wordtree.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Laura provided an Inclusion Inventory for us to consider
when evaluating our own cultural literacy and attitudes. She took us through five stages of
evolution to help us understand some of our unconscious assumptions that tend
to separate us from others.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first, <b>Denial</b>,
applies to <i>missing the differences</i>. Sometimes privileged people say to
themselves, “I don’t have to be concerned about ‘that’.” She also pointed out that “passing” is
a minimization. Perhaps some seek
to “pass” for reasons of safety; however, if they feel unsafe, we need to work
towards a society where instead of seeking safety by passing, everyone feels
safe and accepted, welcome and included.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second, <b>Polarization</b>,
seeks to <i>judge our differences</i>. Polarization reinforces and affirms
stereotypes, even while acknowledging our diversity. It can put us in an oppositional stance, which is good for
no one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Minimization</b> <i>de-emphasizes difference</i>. In my view, this attitude makes our
world bland, colorless, lacking vibrancy and nuance. It’s also trivializing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reaching the level of <b>Acceptance</b>
means that we <i>understand differences</i>. This enriches our cultural competence. We’re not yet where we want to be, but
nearing that goal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, <b>Adaptation</b>
<i>bridges difference</i>. Bridging difference, finding
common ground, allows us to work together with trust and respect. Bridging brings the greater resources
of everyone included. Lessons,
customs, talents, ideas from everyone who wishes to contribute give us a
richness and pool of resources and ideas we wouldn’t otherwise have. Working together presents a stronger
force with which to resist oppression and foster positive change for everyone.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Certainly as Pagan and Witchen religious expression has
diversified, it behooves us to look towards how others address and resolve these
issues. I would like to see us
explore this subject in more depth within our own diverse and inclusive Pagan
communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-49327812684355285182016-12-29T16:58:00.000-08:002016-12-29T17:26:16.335-08:00Annual Thanksgiving Eve Service and Homeless Persons Memorial Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OfhRv1Yo2_Q/WGWv5EizAXI/AAAAAAAACGo/1wnl-rw8ObYtdypER23qCG8tyhKoy_zuACLcB/s1600/grainfield.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OfhRv1Yo2_Q/WGWv5EizAXI/AAAAAAAACGo/1wnl-rw8ObYtdypER23qCG8tyhKoy_zuACLcB/s1600/grainfield.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">19<sup>th</sup> Annual Thanksgiving Eve Service<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the past several years I’ve participated in an annual
Thanksgiving service sponsored by the <a href="http://www.homelesschaplaincy.org/">Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy</a>.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Each ‘clergy’ -- I don’t use that appellation for myself but
the interfaith communities do – is asked to bring a teaching, reflection, or
other offering to the gathering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-eve-celebration.html">first
few years</a>, I briefly told the story of Demeter and Persephone, reminding
attendees that they’ve likely heard this tale or some version of it
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then my sweetie Corby,
who’s a good singer, and I sang “Demeter’s Song in harmony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s a beautiful song and one
that contains imagery that is timeless and easy to identify with, i.e., “the
lover’s smile and the workers arm” and “the heart that cries and the hand that
heals.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year, given the situation in the Middle East, I found
myself thinking of Inanna, who arose in those lands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I debated with myself just what I might bring to the service
that was relevant and new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2015/12/thanksgiving-with-our-homeless.html">What
I decided to do</a> was to speak about Inanna and the troubles in her ancient
lands, and then have us do a spell together using a call-and-response; it went
well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since last year went well using Pagan concepts (Inanna and
spells) that are less familiar and less accessible to mainstream religions,
this year I decided to add another Pagan notion, that of entheogens (wine,
mescaline, et al.) and the change of consciousness that accompanies their
ingestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my mind was John
Barleycorn, except that many homeless folks struggle with alcohol abuse and my
presenting him as a harvest god who lives in the barley would have been insensitive
to their situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I skipped
talking about entheogens and simply introduced the idea of the the divine
spirits who inhabit different plants, specifically grain crops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we sang “John Barleycorn,” with
everyone singing the refrain together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“All among the barley, who would not be blithe, when the ripe and
bearded barley is hanging on the scythe.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I love this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love
the feeling I experience when we sing these words together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can practically see waving golden
grains.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So that’s what we did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Corby and I sang the verses and everyone joined in the refrain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -1.0pt; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
I searched the Internet
for this song so I could provide a link for the reader to hear it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, in the folk tradition both lyrics
and melodies of many songs morph in various ways, and all the versions of this
song I could find on YouTube were slightly different from the way I learned
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned the song in the
early 1980s from singer and folklorist <a href="http://hollytannen.com/">Holly
Tannen</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She learned it f<span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">rom the singing of Mike James and Mick Tems, of
the Welsh singing group “Swansea Jack.”</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having been written or created in the late 19<sup>th</sup>
Century, “All Among the Barley” is no ancient song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That makes is nonetheless appropriate and effective, and my
former community and I, within community or on my own, sing it at Harvest Home
(Autumn Equinox).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the past
three years the inmates at San Quentin where I volunteer have sung it when our
circle celebrates autumn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
reader’s pleasure I offer it here:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -1.0pt; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
Now is come
September, the hunter’s Moon begun</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
And through the
wheaten stubble is heard the frequent gun.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
The leaves are
pale and yellow, and kindling into red,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
And the ripe and
bearded barley is hanging down its head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chorus</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
All among the
barley, who would not be blithe</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: 1.0pt;">
When the ripe and
bearded barley is smiling on the scythe.</div>
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The spring is
like a young man who does not know his mind.</div>
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The summer is a
tyrant of a most ungracious kind.</div>
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The autumn’s like
and old friend who loves one all she can.</div>
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And she brings
the bearded barley to glad the heart of man.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chorus<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The wheat is like
a rich man; it’s sleek and well-to-do.</div>
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The oats are like
a pack of girls, laughing and dancing too.</div>
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The rye is like a
miser; it’s sulky, lean and small.</div>
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And the ripe and
bearded barley is monarch of them all.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chorus<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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(Repeat first
verse.)</div>
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At this
Thanksgiving Eve service new sleeping bags, packages of socks, and such array
the harvest altar along with pumpkins, ears of corn, and other harvest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are distributed at the conclusion
of the ceremony.</div>
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I reluctantly
must say that the other chants offered at this service were, to me and Corby at
least, pretty lifeless, except for the music of the <a href="http://lighthousesingersofmarin.weebly.com/events.html">Lighthouse Gospel
Choir of Marin</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Singing “All
Among the Barley” together livened everything up.</div>
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We concluded
with a chant lead by a woman from San Francisco Theological Seminary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s one we all probably know, “All
Shall Be Well.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the folk
tradition being what it is, we sang it as one single note instead of with the
melody I’m used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless,
it proved to be an effective seal for the spell.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Homeless Persons Memorial Day<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I’ve reported in the past about memorials for those in our
county who’ve died without a roof over their heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve taken place in summertime and have begun with a
procession through the streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This year was different. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="https://www.nhchc.org/">National
Healthcare for the Homeless Council</a> has designated December 21 (on or around
the date) as Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year we joined others all over the country in
memorializing those unfortunate and often premature passings. </div>
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Street chaplain Rev. Paul Gaffney asked me to offer the
prayer and lead the gathering in a chant I’ve done before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had something better and more
seasonal to share because the service, and the named day, was scheduled for
December 21, the first day of the returning sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So instead I delivered a brief reflection on the return of
the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, at the conclusion
of the ceremony, after we’d all lit candles from a single flame and assembled
on the terrace in front of <a href="http://www.fpcsr.org/">1<sup>st</sup>
Presbyterian Church of San Rafael</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s lively. It’s fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
affirming and encouraging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it
keeps the legacy of Pagan songwriter Charlie Murphy alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/ARA-wOaVW0s">This
one</a> I was able to find on YouTube (albeit we didn’t have the enhancement of
a gospel choir).</div>
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Happy Holidays!</div>
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Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-64014612022254219252016-11-17T15:36:00.001-08:002016-11-17T17:52:50.643-08:00Faith and Aging<div>
My latest blog is at Patheos in their Public Square. I am joined by eight other faith leaders addressing the topic of Faith and Aging.</div>
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hhttp://www.patheos.com/Topics/Faith-and-Aging/Turning-the-Wheel-Aline-OBrien<br />
<br />Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-32680413645117031182016-10-11T17:32:00.000-07:002016-10-11T17:32:15.129-07:00Interfaith Retreat -- The Interfaith Path: Many Roads, One Way<div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doshGlbxQ9U/V_2C32D34jI/AAAAAAAACEs/BzTJg8bJsC0vwHETp3XPy6DlLf_SBVfcQCLcB/s1600/globe%2Bwith%2Bhands2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doshGlbxQ9U/V_2C32D34jI/AAAAAAAACEs/BzTJg8bJsC0vwHETp3XPy6DlLf_SBVfcQCLcB/s1600/globe%2Bwith%2Bhands2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a> offers periodic retreats, open to all. Two speakers from two different religions reflect on the same topic. This is about the most recent retreat, held at <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/green-gulch/">Green Gulch Zen Center</a> last week, and posing the following questions.</div>
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<i>What would interfaith spirituality look like if we practiced it faithfully? How do we engage the unique practices and teachings of our own traditions in a way that includes, rather than excludes, those of other traditions? Is there a life-giving path in each tradition that is both unique and inclusive?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KtS5sHF-9kc/V_2DD4CLubI/AAAAAAAACEw/lQwPYEDg8qgSa0B2wjh461W8N-PafLpUgCLcB/s1600/FATHER_TOM33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KtS5sHF-9kc/V_2DD4CLubI/AAAAAAAACEw/lQwPYEDg8qgSa0B2wjh461W8N-PafLpUgCLcB/s200/FATHER_TOM33.jpg" width="184" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">The first speaker was </span><a href="http://www.interfaithpeaceproject.org/about-us/executive-director/" style="text-align: center;">Fr. Thomas Bonacci, C.P.</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">Our paths had not crossed prior to the day of the retreat, even though we are both active in interfaith locally. </span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">A scriptural scholar and activist, Fr. Tom is founder and director of </span><a href="http://www.interfaithpeaceproject.org/" style="text-align: center;">The Interfaith Peace Project</a><span style="text-align: center;">, which “encourages interfaith peace and mutual respect through small discussion, study, prayer, ritual, and practice.”</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">Here are some of his observations that I managed to note:</span><br />
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“Jesus is only one way.” “The way” is one route; we are to be the road, not the obstacles.” “When you go to the ‘soul of your heart,’ you sense interrelatedness, interdependence, not as ‘we’ but as the awesome One.”</div>
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“The <i>tao</i> is a bucket of water. Tip it over and it flows to the lowest places where it is most needed.”</div>
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“Who do you think you are? God’s gift to the universe. You are the light of the world. Your responsibility is to let your light shine.”</div>
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He spoke eloquently of “the river of peace, the pool of healing, the lake of serenity.”</div>
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Fr. Tom also explained, for us non-Catholics, that there are different kinds of priesthood: Diocesan priests “make a promise.” Monastic priests and nuns in orders “take vows.” I had no idea.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UHVr1rQ8mKI/V_2DKVQQ3-I/AAAAAAAACE0/HUv4WEiO3eggq5Q2lnmmg-LGR4IPLZU2gCLcB/s1600/Shokuchi%2BCarrigan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UHVr1rQ8mKI/V_2DKVQQ3-I/AAAAAAAACE0/HUv4WEiO3eggq5Q2lnmmg-LGR4IPLZU2gCLcB/s320/Shokuchi%2BCarrigan.png" width="320" /></a>The second speaker, the Rev. Shokuchi Deirdre Carrigan, is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, founder of San Francisco Zen Center. She met her teachers, Zen Master Tenshin Reb Anderson and Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher Donald Moyer 30 years ago. She has been practicing, and later teaching, Zen and Yoga. </div>
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After Fr. Tom spoke, Shokuchi, who was brought up in a Catholic family, was visibly moved when she said that if she’d been brought up with the kind of Catholic scriptural interpretations and teachings Fr. Tom offers, she may not have sought spiritual sustenance elsewhere.</div>
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At our quiet delicious vegetarian lunch with other Green Gulch residents, I enjoyed an infrequent opportunity to catch up with my friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Irvine">Sister Marion Irvine</a>, “the running nun.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></a></div>
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When we returned to the zendo after lunch, Shokuchi had us read aloud together this Loving Kindness Meditation:</div>
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<b>Loving Kindness Meditation</b> (Buddhist)</div>
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This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,</div>
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Who seeks the good, and has obtained peace.</div>
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Let one be strenuous, upright, and sincere.</div>
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Without pride, easily contented, and joyous.</div>
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Let one not be submerged by the things of the world.</div>
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Let one not take upon oneself the burden of riches.</div>
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Let one’s senses be controlled.</div>
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Let one be wise but not puffed up and</div>
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Let one not desire great possessions even for one’s family.</div>
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Let one do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove.</div>
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May all beings be happy.</div>
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May they be joyous and live in safety,</div>
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All living beings, whether weak or strong,</div>
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In high or middle or low realms of existence.</div>
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Small or great, visible or invisible,</div>
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Near or far, born or to be born,</div>
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May all being be happy.</div>
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Let no one decieve another nor despise any being in any state.</div>
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Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another.</div>
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Even as a mother at the risk of her life</div>
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Watches over and protects her only child,</div>
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So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things.</div>
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Suffusing love over the entire world,</div>
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Above, below, and all around, without limit,</div>
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So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.</div>
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Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,</div>
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During all one’s waking hours,</div>
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Let one practice the way with gratitude.</div>
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Not holding to fixed views,</div>
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Endowed with insight,</div>
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Freed from sense appetites,</div>
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One who achieves the way</div>
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Will be freed from the duality of birth and death.</div>
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After that, she invited us to do a slow walking meditation in the glorious gardens of Green Gulch Farm. Unfortunately, I twisted my knee on the walk down the hill, so did the rest of my meditating on a bench. (This was on the right leg, the one that was affected by the stroke I suffered last year and that I’ve been working to heal and strengthen.)</div>
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It’s been several months since MIC has sponsored a retreat, and I for one have missed them. The current staff, including Interim Director Rev. Scott Quinn, Acting Programs Associate Stephanie Humphrey, and Executive Assistant Janice Lum, did former Executive Director the Rev. Carol Hovis proud.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></a> More about Sister Marion <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/masters/the-greats-sister-marion-irvine">here</a>, <a href="http://runcim.org/sister-marion-irvine-shines/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.marinij.com/article/zz/20070507/NEWS/705079971">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.saltyrunning.com/marion-irvine-nun-marathoner-training-1984-olympic-trials/">here</a>. There’s lots more.</div>
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Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-33732382382840418762016-10-06T17:07:00.000-07:002016-10-06T17:07:24.444-07:00Table to Action Initial SF Bay Area Meeting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--l26Gg73LR4/V_bmmWTGexI/AAAAAAAACD8/xGvyKZVwSIMU11e1X4_f4mZPgOsCcaWwgCLcB/s1600/Table%2Bto%2BAction%2BProject%2Blogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--l26Gg73LR4/V_bmmWTGexI/AAAAAAAACD8/xGvyKZVwSIMU11e1X4_f4mZPgOsCcaWwgCLcB/s320/Table%2Bto%2BAction%2BProject%2Blogo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last week I attended an invitational meeting at <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=sksm.edu&PC=U316&FORM=CHROMN">Starr
King School for the Ministry</a> (UU) of the first local iteration of the <a href="http://www.tabletoactionatl.org/">Table to Action Project</a>. This
project is co-sponsored by Auburn Theological Seminary in NYC (where I have
presented and served on panels for several years, with, among others Judy
Harrow, Katrina Messenger, and Grove Harris, in case you happen to know those
Witches in interfaith) and the <a href="http://www.arcusfoundation.org/">Arcus
Foundation</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really didn’t
know quite what to expect, except for this description on the invitation:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> that
seeks to bring together faith and moral leaders from across the landscape of
the social justice sector to build an activist community and network
grounded in right relationship. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our
goal is to craft a blueprint for multi-issue organizing that presses past
transactional and competitive ways of working and being together toward a
vision of progressive organizing that can allow us to stand with and for
each other in honesty, truth and compassion other over the long haul.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I checked the website, I found that I had engaged with
several of the key people over the years, at both Auburn and MountainTop about
which <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2013/06/mountaintop-i.html">I’ve
blogged</a>. I was glad to have another opportunity to engage with the
convener, Lisa Anderson, her colleague in Atlanta, <a href="http://melvinbray.com/">Melvin Bray</a>, and Gabriella Lettini of SKSM.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first meeting was held in Chicago, the second in Atlanta,
and this was the third. They plan more in other cities, which is where you, my
Pagan colleagues, come in. I will be asked for suggestions of
participants. So if and when one of these meetings takes place in your
area, I can let them know of your interest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About half of those 20 religious leaders at last night’s
meeting were POC and the majority seemed to be (some said, some didn’t) LGBTQ
folks. There was one Muslim, several Jews, and lots of Protestants.
Evidently two participants were Buddhists, but I didn’t hear them state
that. Needless to say, this collaboration needs more diversity among its
participants. Same problem at MountainTop — a noticeable absence of
Catholics, Buddhists, and Hindus, much less Pagans.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I spoke to the convener, Lisa Anderson, about that
observation, and disappointment, at MountainTop (also co-sponsored by Auburn)
as well as at Table to Action. She said they were well aware and wished
to remedy that. So for the next meeting in this area I will be inviting
some Catholics, Buddhists, and Hindus whom I know in local interfaith.
Maybe a Pagan or two as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be clear, there were four Witches at the first
MountainTop in 2013, which I consider a more than adequate representation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evidently there were others at the
second MountainTop gathering; I did not attend.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also mentioned this observation to Dr. Lettini, the local
host, who told me the same thing I heard after MountainTop, which is that
others were invited and for whatever reasons were unable to attend.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I told both Lisa and Gabriella that I was surprised, because
in my experience in local interfaith, my friends from the Roman Catholic <a href="http://sanrafaelop.org/">Dominican Sisters of San Rafael</a> are among
the most committed activists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
are my friends and colleagues at <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/green-gulch/">Green
Gulch Zen Center</a>, <a href="http://www.spiritrock.org/">Spirit Rock</a> (Vipassana),
and other local Buddhist groups.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s tricky to address the organizers about these omissions
or unbalances without seeming critical and ungrateful. I did, though, and
they were very receptive. (If I’m not good for anything else, I can
really network well.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So for our next meeting I’m soliciting one or more of my
Catholic interfaith colleagues, whom I know would be a good addition to the
mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By that I mean they’re
open-hearted and caring, accepting of diversity and not hesitant to work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m eager to see what Table to Action does and to
participate to the extent that a congregation-less Pagan can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I thank the <a href="http://www.cog.org/">Covenant of the Goddess</a> (an assembly of smaller
congregations called covens) for financial support for my more distant
interfaith activities.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-31309278779233336772016-09-22T17:37:00.002-07:002016-09-22T17:37:52.829-07:00Interfaith Report -- Religious Leaders' Gathering
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqZdn2cQscQ/V-R2DdaeXeI/AAAAAAAACC8/HJr_MAoWIwQGc0lJA5Gx1pkY3Wn1Ar1QgCLcB/s1600/Green%2BGulch-ocean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqZdn2cQscQ/V-R2DdaeXeI/AAAAAAAACC8/HJr_MAoWIwQGc0lJA5Gx1pkY3Wn1Ar1QgCLcB/s320/Green%2BGulch-ocean.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Gulch Farm & Zen Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Last month I attended one of MIC’s religious leaders’
gatherings at <a href="http://www.wpctiburon.org/i">Westminster Presbyterian
Church</a> in Tiburon, California.
As is customary with these gatherings, three leaders from three
different religious traditions spoke on the same topic or theme, followed by
small group discussions and Q&A with the presenters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this gathering, we explored and shared “how we can speak
from our different faith perspectives in a way that not only honors our
similarities but also honors our diversity and places of disagreement.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Rev. Stephen Hale of <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/green-gulch/">Green Gulch Zen Center</a> said Zen
teaches practitioners to honor the similarities and differences of all faiths. Zen also stresses impermanence and seeks
to end suffering. With respect to
theism, trying to prove or disprove the existence of God(s), efforts are futile
because “ultimate reality is beyond comprehension.” Rather, one’s efforts are better expended in cultivating and
acting with kindness, generosity, and compassion towards all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PqZP9uPf-0Y/V-R2fb_OrnI/AAAAAAAACDM/ZSsl3iYl8A8XdEK8wQbOf7PiAaQ8hMu3QCEw/s1600/Moina%2BShaq.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PqZP9uPf-0Y/V-R2fb_OrnI/AAAAAAAACDM/ZSsl3iYl8A8XdEK8wQbOf7PiAaQ8hMu3QCEw/s200/Moina%2BShaq.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moina Shaiq</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moina Shaiq, President of the <a href="http://tcicouncil.org/">Tri-City Interfaith Council</a> and founder
of the <a href="http://muslimsupportnetwork.org/">Muslim Support Network</a>,
has dedicated her life to dispelling misunderstandings of Islam and its
followers. She maintains that all
religions and their practitioners are different so we must look beyond exterior
appearance. She advocates getting
to know one’s neighbors in the surrounding area of forty homes in diameter </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Neighborly neglect seems more the norm in contemporary
society than in earlier times.
Nowadays people focus on careers and acquisitions, and families relocate
more frequently, in my view. I think
her suggestion is a good one. We
humans fear what we do not know, so the obvious remedy is to listen and learn,
and to reciprocate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When queried about the prescriptions, prohibitions, and
exhortations in sacred text, she responded that one is judged based on piety
over obeying texts. This statement
directly contradicts the interpretations of the precepts of the Koran by those
who seek to eliminate or convert all non-Muslims by jihad. I welcome Moina’s alternative views.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5xxDinutxiM/V-R20CyOAPI/AAAAAAAACDE/rWIytUQN8hsEynFq0WWfjlUPzRU2p37JQCLcB/s1600/Rob%2BMcClelland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5xxDinutxiM/V-R20CyOAPI/AAAAAAAACDE/rWIytUQN8hsEynFq0WWfjlUPzRU2p37JQCLcB/s200/Rob%2BMcClelland.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob McClellan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The third speaker, the Rev. Rob McClellan, Senior Pastor at
host congregation Westminster Presbyterian, said that when he was at <a href="http://www.reed.edu/">Reed College</a> in Oregon, either he or a group
with which he was affiliated issued an apology by testifying to all the wrongs
done in the name of religion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Generally speaking, I love these opportunities for religious
people to share their views, beliefs, and experiences in an appreciative,
non-judgmental milieu of multi-faith colleagues. I’m grateful to Stephen, Moina, and Rob for their sharing
and to <a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a> for
providing the opportunity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[Please bear with me, readers, because since my stroke I cannot write clearly and quickly. I’m interpreting some sloppy notes, hoping they are accurate.]</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-16134667278636364562016-08-18T17:59:00.000-07:002016-08-18T18:00:25.955-07:00Charlie Murphy -- Hail the goer!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WB77ObBkNjU/V7ZZXizNsFI/AAAAAAAAB_I/G651BS-yAYYGldeCJLbLxSBuZilDGUpsACLcB/s1600/Charlie%2BMurphy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WB77ObBkNjU/V7ZZXizNsFI/AAAAAAAAB_I/G651BS-yAYYGldeCJLbLxSBuZilDGUpsACLcB/s1600/Charlie%2BMurphy.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier this month I got the sad news of Charlie Murphy’s
passing. This was not unexpected, since
we knew that he’s been ill. I have been
including him in my devotions to Brigit for many months. Still, it’s a shock when the time comes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I knew <a href="https://about.me/charlie_murphy">Charlie</a>
fairly well from his early collaborations on Reclaiming Spiral Dances and other
Reclaiming activities, and though we seldom saw each other out of that context,
I always felt a connection between us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On one of his early visits to the SF Bay Area he opened the
Spiral Dance ritual with a rousing rendition of his song, “<a href="https://youtu.be/RsNmJ7GKOUQ">Burning Times</a> .“ That particular production took place in the
Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. He
and I walked as a pair in the opening procession, and I told him that he was
about to participate in a rite that really showed how to honor our gods and our
Beloved Dead. After the ritual, he
agreed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure if it was during that visit or another, but we
spent one beautiful sunny day together in North Beach where I then lived. Over the course of the day, Charlie and I
climbed up Telegraph Hill to the base of Coit Tower. There, overlooking our glorious Bay Area, he
taught me a new song he would soon be recording. It was “Calling on the Spirits.” One phrase from that song in particular I
have had occasion to use again and again over the years: “With visions of the past and memories of the
future…”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "palatino";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> I even used it as the title of a panel on
NeoPaganism in California in 2005.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie and I had lost touch for some years until we became
reacquainted on Facebook. I did not know
his husband or family, only <a href="http://www.jamisieber.com/">Jami Sieber</a>. I extend them my condolences over the loss of
their loved one, such a remarkable man loved and esteemed by many. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other song Charlie wrote that I have disseminated far
and wide is “<a href="https://youtu.be/ARA-wOaVW0s">Light Is Returning</a> “ Its
appeal crosses religious boundaries, a characteristic I’m always on the lookout
for in my work in the area of interfaith relations. When my local <a href="https://www.marinifc.org/">Marin Interfaith Council</a> offers a multi-religious
celebration of light, I offer <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2010/12/midwinter-reflections-light-in-dark.html">reflections
on Midwinter</a> and the light in the dark from my Pagan perspective. After that we conclude the entire ceremony
with a lively rendition of “Light Is Returning.” Everyone in the room, of whatever religious
persuasion, sings this song together.
This, to me, is one of Charlie’s lasting legacies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am grateful to Charlie for enriching my life. May his contributions, his voice, and his
unique magic live on.</div>
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19158895#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "palatino";">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It’s on the <i>Canticles of Light</i> album which can be purchased on the site of
Charlie’s longtime collaborator and friend cellist Jami Sieber <a href="http://www.jamisieber.com/discography/canticles-of-light">here.</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-55297863862346251282016-06-02T18:02:00.001-07:002016-06-10T03:14:30.065-07:00Creating a New Oracular System<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b>The Green Pulse Oracle<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Frequently
people ask me what I’ve been doing.
Well, one of the projects I’ve been helping my friend Jo Carson to brew
is a new oracular system that’s never been seen before. The late Fred Adams, founder of a
religion he called <a href="http://feraferia.org/joomla//">Feraferia</a>, chose
Jo as his literary executor, and I must say it’s a testament to his foresight
that he selected Jo; she’s taken his entire archives, which are extensive, and
has been working on bringing his teachings alive and making them available to
others beyond the Southern California birthplace of Feraferia.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2quV-kfBB3o/V1DUyRIgPJI/AAAAAAAABo8/w3_dFiLVOiU2P8et5XoEfkmg6yR1PjSYwCLcB/s1600/PhytalaCln%2BM%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2quV-kfBB3o/V1DUyRIgPJI/AAAAAAAABo8/w3_dFiLVOiU2P8et5XoEfkmg6yR1PjSYwCLcB/s320/PhytalaCln%2BM%2B2.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For readers
who may not know of Fred, he had a visionary experience of what he called the
Goddess in 1956, and thereafter dedicated the rest of his life to bringing
awareness of Her into the contemporary world. He formally introduced the religion he called Feraferia in
1967. Its symbol is the <a href="http://feraferia.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=77">Phytala</a>.
The periodical that he published
and illustrated he named <i>Korythalia</i>,
describing Feraferia thusly:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Feraferia is a Pagan fellowship for the
erotic celebration of Wilderness Mysteries with Faerie style and grace, and for
the lyrical unification of ecology, mythology, and sacrament. In such play-love-work may women and men
be reunited with Great Nature, each other, and their own beings...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Beginning circa
1970, Fred began amalgamating his understandings of various writings,
divinatory systems, and symbols into his own unique set of symbols. Drawing from the Tarot, the Celtic Ogham
alphabet, the Chinese I Ching, astrology, and especially the Tree Alphabet
Calendar as articulated by Robert Graves.
Originally called the Axerian Hieroglyphs by Fred, this nature-based
system is now called The Green Pulse Oracle, the phrase “Her green pulse” taken
from one of Fred’s poems.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In an effort
to make Fred’s research available to the public, Jo has taken these massive
amounts of notes, diagrams, marginalia, and such and synthesized them into the
more accessible form of this Green Pulse Oracle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhtAryBZAhU/V1DU2dCvyyI/AAAAAAAABpM/clc6O5XC9ckQ-Ls0UkO-A7_jnxGkYvKywCKgB/s1600/GPO%2Bsource%2Bmaterial.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhtAryBZAhU/V1DU2dCvyyI/AAAAAAAABpM/clc6O5XC9ckQ-Ls0UkO-A7_jnxGkYvKywCKgB/s400/GPO%2Bsource%2Bmaterial.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We felt we
needed something tangible to use in divination. Jo and her artist husband, John
Reed, began by creating a set of cards, pictured below.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CDFl2AWgZog/V1DU2ZJfnCI/AAAAAAAABpE/RyB-QmyJ75Y4s29DZQ2Wj2O3iO03z3VIwCKgB/s1600/GPO%2Bfirst%2BtestsSM%2B.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CDFl2AWgZog/V1DU2ZJfnCI/AAAAAAAABpE/RyB-QmyJ75Y4s29DZQ2Wj2O3iO03z3VIwCKgB/s320/GPO%2Bfirst%2BtestsSM%2B.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The idea is
that they can be consulted, like the Tarot, the Ogham, or the I Ching, to help
people get a sense of the forces and influences at play in a given situation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
John Reed
then undertook the task of turning the symbols into three-dimensional markers. First he began making prints of real
leaves to use as markers, with the leaf pattern on the reverse and the glyph on
the front. They were pretty, but
didn’t lay flat and were made of fired clay, which would have been heavy,
easily breakable or chippable, and difficult to manufacture on any scale beyond
an individual custom-made set.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still, the
leaf shape appealed to us and was in concordance with a system based on
trees. John experimented with thin
pieces of wood, cut into a <i>vesica piscis</i>
(Latin “bladder of a fish”) shape.
This shape carries many associations in sacred geometry, including the
union of male and female, and the vagina, and is said to be a “source of
immense power and energy.” As Jo
said, “We liked the idea of calling the markers ‘Leaves,’ since the system is
based on the Tree Alphabet Calendar.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_uFgRNZwiDU/V1DU2S2WazI/AAAAAAAABpI/uuLo5L923e0yEsrfbH07Wd-dagC2qqgowCKgB/s1600/GPO%2Btest%2BleavesSM%2B.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_uFgRNZwiDU/V1DU2S2WazI/AAAAAAAABpI/uuLo5L923e0yEsrfbH07Wd-dagC2qqgowCKgB/s400/GPO%2Btest%2BleavesSM%2B.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the photo
above, you can see the wax version, prepared for using on ceramic markers,
featuring the glyph called <i>Ailm</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
“Ailm” correlates with the Water
element, the Moon Tarot card, the Silver Fir, Palm or Elm tree, birth and
cosmic stimulus, the number one, the vowel A, Winter Solstice and Yule, and
with the ocean deeps.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The second
marker is a wooden “leaf” with the <i>Ailm</i>
glyph burned into it. The
following leaves show test versions of the Feraferia Phytala design that will
be on the reverse of all the leaves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
An
explanatory book, featuring lots of Fred’s artwork, will accompany The Green
Pulse Oracle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The work of
correlating Fred’s voluminous writings and notes, and fortifying it with
independent research, is tremendous.
Jo is doing the heavy lifting while I am serving as consulting
editor. I find this project
fascinating and engrossing, and I’m delighted to be in on the ground floor, as
it were, in creating a brand new oracular system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-78053320009344223802016-04-21T17:40:00.000-07:002016-04-21T17:56:58.238-07:00Kith & Kin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5wA11Tg4oHs/VxlyWy_UCuI/AAAAAAAABoI/fZ__qifchRMluYVA3VztbJcvtpaTmGFmwCLcB/s1600/Kinship-Design-Element-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5wA11Tg4oHs/VxlyWy_UCuI/AAAAAAAABoI/fZ__qifchRMluYVA3VztbJcvtpaTmGFmwCLcB/s320/Kinship-Design-Element-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Upon my
initiation as a Witch, I swore a vow that I assume many others have also sworn,
which is to always protect and defend “my sisters and brothers of the Art.” Now I’m
wondering over the longer term exactly what that means. Or what it might mean to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Who are my
sisters and brothers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who are my
kin?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a topic worthy of
further exploration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
while awaiting that further exploration, I want to speak of my main takeaway
from the <a href="http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/salt-lake-2015">2015
Parliament of World Religions</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That is the
notion of kinship.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wasn’t as
acutely aware of kinship, and its depth of meaning, when I was younger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I’ve experienced more turnings
of the wheel, more dyings and birthings, more deaths and births, more souls
leaving this plane of existence and more entering, I see kinship from a broader
and longer perspective.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I go to
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pow_wow">powwows</a> (from Narragansett<b><i>
</i></b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">powáw ‘magician’</span></i>
(literally <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘he dreams’</span></i>)),
which are held regularly in San Quentin State Prison where I volunteer with the
Wiccan circle under the sponsorship of the Native American chaplain, I hear all
people addressed with terms denoting kinship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Older people such as myself are called “aunties” and
“uncles,” elders are called “grandmother” or “grandfather.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Younger folks are addressed as
“sister,” “brother,” or “cousin.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
experienced this again at the PWR, where there was a fire kindled by members of
various indigenous peoples from around the world (the USA, Canada, Nigeria, New
Zealand, Greenland, Lithuania, et al.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At their various presentations and at the Indigenous Peoples Plenary, I
heard similar references.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Churches<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The same is
true of much of the African-American community, as well as, I would assume, in
the societies in Africa where they originated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Black society, particularly in churches (which are
generally Protestant Christian), such forms of address are common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are all sisters and brothers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Philosopher,
scholar, and activist <a href="http://www.cornelwest.com/">Cornel West</a> both
refers to and addresses everyone as “Sister” or “Brother.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barack Obama is “Brother Barack” and I
am “Sister Aline” (or “Sister Macha”) to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I introduced myself to him in an elevator lobby once,
meaning to tell him what a fan I was, and he hugged me, said how wonderful it
was to see me, though we hadn’t met before, and called me Sister.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quakers<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers">Quakers</a> (Society of Friends)
in general have in the past addressed one another as sister, brother, or
friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 1945 Jessamyn West
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Friendly Persuasion</i>, later
made into the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friendly Persuasion</i>,
Friends referred to each other by the kinship terms of sister and brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A biography of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Ross">Betsy Ross</a>, purported maker
of the first American flag in 1776, also uses these terms for members of the
Philadelphia congregation to which she belonged.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Friends
have a complicated history as a religion, as in fact most religious movements
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paganism(s) is certainly no
exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently this practice
of addressing other members in kinship terms has fallen away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Notions of Kinship within Contemporary
Paganism<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Often I’ve
referred to different individuals as my “witchkin.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Other terms
heard amongst Pagani are “tribal” and “clan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The former is often used in a utopian way to reflect the
sense that we have found our own, or have “come home.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it’s also seen in a negative light
when used in the context of nativism and xenophobia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to see those notions discussed further, but for now
my take-away from the Parliament is remembering our interdependence by
considering ourselves kin.</div>
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<br /></div>
Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-7372985152280348332016-03-11T16:59:00.000-08:002016-03-11T17:16:06.809-08:00Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - III (2016)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BbaMOCWt_zM/VuNml-lkeQI/AAAAAAAABmk/QDqsco944OgR_Mw7kmRYF-qhQKdYaQPrA/s1600/Dike%2BAstraeaVSH%2BVermont.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BbaMOCWt_zM/VuNml-lkeQI/AAAAAAAABmk/QDqsco944OgR_Mw7kmRYF-qhQKdYaQPrA/s400/Dike%2BAstraeaVSH%2BVermont.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dike Astraea in Vermont</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This year's theme was Social Justice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<u>Sunday, January 25<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Keynote</span>: Nikki Bado, “<b>The Athame Cuts Both Ways: Pagan Responsibility and Social Justice</b>” </div>
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<br /></div>
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Through the modern miracle of electronic communication,
Nikki was able to speak to us from the facility in Iowa where she was
recovering from surgery. I usually
have a chance to visit with her at the AAR, but due to travel – she worked for
a while in Japan – and health issues, she’s been unable to attend for a few years,
and my not attending the last one because of a recent stroke, we haven’t seen each
other in some years.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I love the title of her talk (even though I see the
double-sided blade of the athame as a piercing, pointing, thrusting, stabbing tool
rather than a cutter or slicer).
The root Craft tradition from which I sprang places a high value on
expressing one’s spirituality, in part, in political and social
involvement. In a word, activism.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nikki articulated three areas in which Pagans could serve
their communities well in the area of Justice, the theme of this
conference. Nikki’s “3 Rs” are
Religious Literacy, Respect, and Responsibility.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Religious Literacy</u>:</div>
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<br /></div>
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The first is <i>religious
literacy</i>. Religious literacy
is not something that Pagans learn in classes, study groups, or ritual work. Nor is it, in general, taught in public
schools, Ignorance of such common Biblical phrases such as, “as old as
Methuselah,” or the distorted translation of “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to
live” diminishes one’s fuller appreciation when such phrases appear in
literature, or even in everyday speech.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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One Biblical quote, from the book of <i>Ecclesiastes</i>, is very common, and has the advantage of working for
nearly everyone, Pagans included, since it reflects the Wheel of the Year as
well as the five stages of life articulated by Robert Graves (birth,
initiation, consummation, repose, and death):</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to
die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted</i>;</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yet how many know its source?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Neither are theological notions of immanence and
transcendence paid much heed in standard secular education. Who ever emerged from an American high
school knowing the concepts of, and differences among, monotheism, polytheism,
pantheism, atheism, and henotheism?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pagans, on the other hand, arrive upon a Pagan
religio-spiritual path after plenty of searching and sampling. Few Pagans were brought up in
practicing Pagan households. (This is true of adults, and less true for
Americans, especially those reared in metropolitan and/or academic
environments.) So we learned about
various religions on our own. I
think it’s fair to say that Pagans generally have greater knowledge of
non-Abrahamic religions than most people have. I’ve also learned a lot through my involvement in
interfaith. I wish I could say
that curiosity about religions that are not one’s own were more in evidence
within the mainstream.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Respect</u>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which brings us to the second topic Nikki addressed, <i>respect</i>. Again, speaking in generalities, and more particularly from
the point of view of my own vintage, Pagans are countercultural. Our movement in many ways grew in the soil
of the 1960-70s countercultural revolution (hippies), which evolved from the
Beat Generation, preceded by Bohemianism, itself preceded by Romanticism. As such, our religion(s) is
oppositional in nature. Which
tends to make us disdainful of the orthodoxy and dogmatism of mainstream
religions with their established institutions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This disdain had its place in the arc of growth, but is less
serviceable as one matures (both personally and in terms of religious thought
and practice). It loses its
usefulness in the pluralistic society in which most of us live today.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking for myself and other Pagan colleagues who involve
themselves in interfaith (more aptly, “inter-religious,” since Paganism(s) is
not based on faith or revelation, rather, on experience), I have scrupulously
observed this convention. I only
wish some of my non-Pagan interfaith colleagues were less presumptive about
belief. (See the last section <a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2015/05/interfaith-celebration-of-national-day.html">here</a>.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Responsibility</u>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The third R is <i>responsibility</i>. To illustrate these ideas, she spoke of
the care we must take to avoid cultural appropriation. We need to be mindful of unconscious
racism. We need to remember some
nations’ tendency towards colonization.
A good rule of thumb if you’re not sure of the provenance of a practice
and accepted use is to ask, “May I?”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Dr. Sabina Magliocco offers a useful overview on “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9goHNk5IJM">Folklore, Culture & Authenticity</a>.” Note: Video is
longer than one hour.)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nikki also referenced Kareem Abdul Jabar and the <a href="http://www.skepdic.com/">Skeptics dictionary</a>. I’ve found this to be an excellent
resource, if a bit cynical.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kahena Dorothea Viale, founder of the Claremont Pagan
Studies Conference -- praise be her name! – spoke in “<b>Kali Dancing in Justice</b>,” about the value of dance as prayer, and
as a fun and healing activity, regardless of grace and skill. Better, of course, when a dance has
grace and skill of expression, but valuable to the dancer in any case.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64YP0lJByIc/VuNm7iYm_dI/AAAAAAAABmw/D-95RUE_caMKKzS4ZAm-arwTIpJEnHkQg/s1600/Themis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64YP0lJByIc/VuNm7iYm_dI/AAAAAAAABmw/D-95RUE_caMKKzS4ZAm-arwTIpJEnHkQg/s200/Themis.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Themis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Joseph Futerman spoke on “<b>Justice, Fairness, and Balance in Polytheistic World</b>.” He pointed out that the Universe is
without justice yet infinitely fair, and cited Albert Einstein’s quote that “God doesn’t play dice with
the universe.” (<i>The Born-Einstein Letters 1916-55</i>).
Abstract justice is human notion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He said that balance is a vector, not a still point; it’s
motion. Therefore, when it comes
to Justice, we are better served by applying a vector instead of a scale, as
shown in ancient images of the Titan <a href="http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisThemis.html">Themis</a>, Egyptian
Ma’at, and Lady Justice herself.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the field of Logic, “a statement that is true by
necessity or by virtue of its logical form.” Joseph claims that most human thought is “monotautalogical,”
yet justice involves a feeling between two entities and therefore
“polytautalogical.” Justice is
non-institutional (although often institutionalized in terms of having legal
and court systems), individual, community-based, and direct. (I apologize for what may be
misperceptions or imprecise descriptions of this talk.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dsN1bhu-4xI/VuNm1JrUGfI/AAAAAAAABms/DdOUaYlVxHc1ontCPF_3n9J5rRPMdpApA/s1600/Ma%2527at%2BWeighing_of_the_Heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dsN1bhu-4xI/VuNm1JrUGfI/AAAAAAAABms/DdOUaYlVxHc1ontCPF_3n9J5rRPMdpApA/s400/Ma%2527at%2BWeighing_of_the_Heart.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ma'at Weighing the Heart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Joseph also mentioned the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic concept
of <i>weregild</i> (“man price“), and the
notion of reparations in general.
Reparation leads my thinking towards current efforts at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice">restorative justice</a>
within our criminal justice system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although I don’t feel qualified to comment knowledgeably on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_magic">chaos magic</a>, I merely
mention that Joseph, who himself practices chaos magic, included it in his
talk, and his citing of <a href="http://johnkreiter.com/how-to-create-a-servitor-to-do-your-bidding/">servitors</a>,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egregore">egregores</a>, and fetches.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My accounts of these presentations do not address every
talk. They are recountings of
those that had the strongest impression on me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-dSHWNKNXg/VuNmwrL-VcI/AAAAAAAABmo/lfzIvsJwZTUzVzsdTNWiM8XbFd_mt-47Q/s1600/Justice%2BPediment_courthouse%252C_Rome%252C_Italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-dSHWNKNXg/VuNmwrL-VcI/AAAAAAAABmo/lfzIvsJwZTUzVzsdTNWiM8XbFd_mt-47Q/s320/Justice%2BPediment_courthouse%252C_Rome%252C_Italy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Justitia presides in Rome</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
[<i>Finis</i>.]</div>
<br />
<!--EndFragment-->Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-85473837192500769622016-02-25T17:49:00.000-08:002016-02-25T17:57:18.527-08:00Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - II (2016)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mnmfEK4BDXU/Vs-uiGkhX6I/AAAAAAAABl8/mpEvGpDbsRw/s1600/SQ_8x10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mnmfEK4BDXU/Vs-uiGkhX6I/AAAAAAAABl8/mpEvGpDbsRw/s320/SQ_8x10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Quentin State Prison, Marin County, California</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This year's theme was Social Justice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Saturday, January 24</u>, late afternoon session:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Journalist <a href="http://www.marshascarbrough.com/">Marsha
Scarbrough</a>, in a talk called “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Calling
on the Orishas to Heal Racial Injustice,</b>” spoke of the African teachings
she received and the ritual work they did with the Orishas. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Herleena Hunt, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
Social Injustice of Mass Incarceration of People of Color: Can This Be Changed?</b>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Herleena, an employee of the <a href="http://www.amityfdn.org/California/California%20Continued.php#Amity">Amity
Foundation</a> which serves in five California state prisons using the
Therapeutic Community (TC) model, works directly with inmates within the prison
system, assisting them with acquiring a GED, counseling, and reintegration into
society as productive people. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike Herleena, those of us who volunteer with religious
communities within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(DOCR), as I do with the Witchen circle at San Quentin, are prohibited from
having personal relationships with inmates, or in fact knowing anything about
their personal lives or the convictions that resulted in their
incarceration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor are inmates
permitted to know anything personal about us volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to explain the opacity of
prison administration in my talk called “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Into
the Labyrinth: Finding the Way as a Volunteer in Abstruse Prison Culture.</b>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who’d like more information,
I’ve written six blogs about that work beginning <a href="http://witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/creating-sacred-space-with-pagan-prison-inmates-i.html">here</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People tend to “find religion” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after</i> they been imprisoned, not necessarily before they
entered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few are from Pagan backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They explore Pagan paths in
prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, due to recent federal
court orders to alleviate overcrowding in the prisons, more people are being
released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The important thing to
look at is how these people are integrated into Pagan society when they found a
Pagan path on the inside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had prepared a decent PowerPoint and had notes about what
I wanted to say, but in the event I just winged it and talked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire late afternoon session of
three presentations generated plenty of discussion, which I anticipate will
continue online and at conferences and elsewhere in terraspace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Sunday, January 25<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hannah Epstein opened with “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pagan Clergy and Unpaid Emotional Labor</b>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure that all of those who run groups, circles, and
covens, as well as those of us who volunteer in our communities on behalf of
Pagans in interfaith and secular contexts, can sympathize.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://ayamanatara.com/">Ayamanatara</a>’s
presentation was called “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Synthesizing
the Dark Goddess and the God of Light on the Internet to Effect Social Justice.</b>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She spoke about technical stuff that
was beyond me; however, she did suggest some remedies for too much involvement
in online communications and too much time screen-gazing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lilith Nightsong’s talk was not listed in the program and
I’ve forgotten the title.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
she introduced those of who are older and/or technologically challenged to
several terms and related internet phenomena which we’d be well advised to
learn better.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kimberly D. Kirner, who usually presents more scholarly
offerings, this year spoke of her cross-identity as a Druid in service of
justice in “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Art, Study, and Service:
Being a Druid and an Anthropologist Working for Justice</b>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, she offered a Druid
prayer, evidently one commonly used, that I want to take to the San Quentin
circle.</div>
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Mark Cedar Love-Williamson, in his talk called “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Activist Witch; the Virtuous Witch</b>,”
spoke about moral foundations theory, citing a book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion</i>,
by Jonathan Haidt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He claimed
morality is not rational, but rather it is intuitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He referenced <a href="http://www.lohas.com/">LOHAS</a>
(Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), “a market segment focused on health
and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and
social justice.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark said that
moral elevation is when you see a good deed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He cited a website called <a href="http://www.yourmorals.org/">YourMorals.org</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I surfed around this site and registered on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it interesting enough to plan
to return and explore it further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suggest that you who read this might also find a visit to
YourMorals.org a worthwhile investment of your time.</div>
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Mark continued with a list of Pagans whom he considered “virtuous
activists.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least one person
present who knows me well noticed that I had become agitated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say a few things about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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One is that when you’ve been around a while, you develop
histories and you know people for more than just their public persona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such is the case with me at some of the
activists he sees as exemplary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some of our histories are personally painful to me, accounting for my
discomfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Another is that we all live in a society that emphasizes
celebrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(See “<a href="http://besom.blogspot.com/2015/04/bnps-ppps-leadership.html">BNPs, PPPs,
& Leadership</a>.”)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paganism
is no exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do tend to
look for ‘leaders.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not
judging that tendency negatively or positively, simply noting its
prevalence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Annie Waters insisted
that I “really oughta get it out.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did want to say something, but I wanted to be constructive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want to model a sulking person
nursing her bruised ego; nothing is served by doing that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when the facilitator of the Q&A
section called on me, I spoke to the issue of the culture of celebrity
society-wide as well as in our Pagan communities, and cautioned people to keep
in mind that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone</i> – you, me,
celebrities – has feet of clay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just sayin’….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it
happened, I don’t think everyone was aware of the impetus of my comment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt okay about what I said and how I said it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No direct criticisms, no accusations, no
personal histories, and no ad hominen attacks.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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[To be continued.]</div>
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Broomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.com0