27 August 2012

We Are the Champions

My wonderful dear good friend V over at Aoibheal's Lair awarded me with the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award." What a super sweet and pleasant surprise and honor! And what a perfect distraction while I freak out about all the stuff I should be doing right now, eh?

So, here is how this works: display the award certificate on your blog. Then, create a post annoucing the award and link back to whoever nominated you. Present seven other deserving bloggers with the award. Link their blogs to your post and drop by and leave them each a comment about their nomination.

But, unfortunately, I don't follow many blogs, so I'm only going to dominate one person until I can figure out others to tag. So, J over at Displaced Yankee In NC is nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

 But, do be fair, J is super inspiring to me. We have a ton in common, but for every one thing we have in common, we have ten that are different! What inspires me the most about J is that she's a writer and she took leap of faith to follow her dream. She's making it happen! What a super star! So be sure to check out her upcoming book, The Burning of Isobel Key.

Now, I have to post "seven interesting things" about myself, so check them out after the jump!


26 August 2012

"In Only Seven Days"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gnothi_Sauton_Reichert-Haus_in_Ludwigshafen.jpg
Well. It’s been the first week of the rest of my life, and I don’t even know what to write about.

I could talk about my brilliant cohort of amazing and smart classmates, who have inspired and awed me. I could talk about my charming, intelligent and funny professors who are endlessly knowledgeable and supportive. I could talk about my supervisor at the UU Fellowship and how she has been patient, helpful and so very kind. I could (and should) talk about my husband, who is mostly my best friend, who takes care of me even though I don’t like to admit that I need someone to take care of me. 

I’m exhausted, sleepy, frazzled, and jittery. My mind is blown with information, anxiety and knowledge, and I have no idea how I’m going to make it through the next two years, even though I know they’re the most important two years of the rest of (this stage of) my life. 

The lesson that I have been thinking about the most this week is the lesson of WHY. Why did I decide to do that? Why did I say that? Why did I think that way? Why did I not think about that thing before I said/did it? Why is that person that way, why do they live like that, why do they act like that, believe that, say that do that?

More and more I’m thinking about WHY. We all have motivations (or lack of motivations) and there is always a root and source for WHY. And I realize I’ve been living my life ignorantly, not really thinking about why, or trying to solve the answer to why. 

Answering WHY is part of γνῶθι σαυτό, knowing thyself. And knowing yourself isn’t easy, and it’s not a one time occurrence. Knowing yourself is a process and an experience, and knowing oneself (or not knowing oneself) permeates every single area of our existence, from birth to death to beyond (probably? maybe?). 

So my lesson of this week is WHY, and part of finding out WHY is knowing that the answer is multifaceted and not at all simple. Sometimes we’ll be surprised at what we begin to uncover, and sometimes we’ll be shocked, ashamed, embarrassed, or knocked off our socks with the hilarity and absurdity of the situation. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask WHY. 

Asking WHY is all part of learning, growing and knowing. And as a brand-new social work graduate student, I hope I am able to keep the lesson of WHY close to my heart, at least for the next two years!

21 August 2012

Reflections of

Many years ago when I was an undergraduate in Texas, I went to a concert once in this really crappy warehouse. The plumbing was terrible and the venue was always too hot or too cold.

The concert was great, even though I don't remember which bands I saw that night. Maybe Ratatat? They weren't the headliner, though. But I had a good time, either way.

Anyway, in the middle of the show the guys in the band (maybe it was Need New Body?) had the whole crowd sing this song and it was really an amazing experience. I never forgot it.

 "Where is the moon when the moon is new? It's a sliver to the right getting bigger every night.
Where is the moon when the moon is round? Rising as the sun is going down. 
Where is the moon when the moon is waning? It's a sliver to the left 'til there's no moon remaining."


I officially start classes for graduate school tomorrow, and here I am, up in the middle of the night, thinking about the moon.  

19 August 2012

Christo-what?


I do not identify as Christo-Pagan. In my experience I’m too Christian for the Pagans (this always cracks me up) and I’m way too Pagan for the Christians (not surprising, but disappointing.) 

But, I do identify with those who want to have a relationship with Christ, or those who love aspects of Christianity, church and the bible. My heart breaks with theirs, though, when they go seeking something beyond orthodox and traditional ideas of Christianity and/or Paganism and are only met with rejection and ridicule from other religious communities.

Christianity and Paganism are completely compatible, and there’s no reason that the Christians and the Pagans (and everyone else, for that matter) can’t get together for a meal, a beer, community and prayer.

Christianity has its roots not only in Judaism (which has a rich mystic tradition) but Mediterranean and Egyptian mystery cults. Sure, a literalist interpretation of Christianity has been going strong for two thousand years, but that does not mean that this tradition is void of mysticism or even Paganism - far from it! My advice to those who think that Christianity and Paganism are incompatible – read some history.

Try to understand who the God of the bible is, read his words closely and think about the motives of his commandments. Think about what this would mean to people two thousand years ago, one thousand years ago, and now. Learn the history and the politics of the world two thousand years ago.

Look at the formation of the Catholic church, per-Constantine. Read about the life of Jesus, and then read about the Christ. (Yes, they are different.) Study the creation of the bible as we have it today. Read the Nag Hammadi, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gnostic texts and those other books that were left out of the bible, and study why they were left out of the bible.

Study Judaism, in particular the mystical traditions, the Kabbalah, and the elements of Goddess worship. Read the Old Testament. Read Plato and Neo-Platonist writers, and read The Golden Ass and the Homeric Hymns. Study Egyptian and Hellenistic mystery traditions and life/death cults.

Christianity and Paganism have been growing side-by-side for over two thousand years. This relationship has been… well, you know how it’s been. But it’s still there. After two thousand years of human civilization, you literally cannot separate Christianity from Paganism, or Paganism from Christianity. Sure, we can try, but two thousand years of tradition is hard to deny.

Even if you practice what you consider to be pre-Christian traditions, we’re in a post-Christian world looking at things with Post-Christian eyes. The influence is there. Now, I’m not saying every single Pagan practice is Christian, or that every single Christian practice is Pagan. I’m saying that nothing exists in a vacuum, and these things influence and inspire one another.

But, in the end, it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or Pagan (or anything else!) If you’re Christian, be Christian. If you’re Pagan, be Pagan. And if you’re neither or both, then, by all means, follow your heart and intuition and worship in the way that works best for you.

It doesn’t matter, really. Just don’t make blanket statements or pre-emptive judgment calls. Read, think, learn, pray. Stop hating and judging. It’s okay if a witch prays to Jesus. It’s okay if a Christian performs a spell. There are no real contradictions - not after you study and build a frame of reference and a context.

And if you happen to find stuff that seems contradictory, well, that’s life and that’s okay, too. We’re modern people trying to interpret an ancient world, trying to put together pieces of a huge puzzle we’ll never really understand.

Life is full of contradictions, why should religion be exempt? That’s just part of the fun, fulfillment and magic.

13 August 2012

Who whooo is super awesome?

My Mutti and New Mexico family surprised me with a "welcome to grad school!" present this weekend, a ceramic scentsy owl. Everyone in NM has scentsy all over their houses, and I fell in love with these super cute, super efficient air fresheners. They heat scented wax at a very low temperature, which makes it safe for pets and children. You can also keep them on 24/7 because they don't get too hot, and they work great as a night light.

Mutti sent me some of her favorite scent, and the cactus reminds me of her and the desert. And of course, mine is an owl!

The timing couldn't have been better, because I had orientation this weekend! I still have trouble really wrapping my mind around the fact that I'm going to grad school. I'm a grad student!

Sometimes I'd stop and think about it, and I'd smile. I really did it! I got into graduate school! It really wasn't too long ago that I was having cocktails with my good friend, and we were both talking about our hopes and dreams, and she helped give me a lot of direction on what I wanted to do, really wanted to do. And soon I found myself looking at schools and programs, talking to Steve, and then I told my friends and then my boss. "I'm applying for graduate schools."

When I think about last fall, I think about freaking out about the GRE. When I think about last winter I think about getting letters of recommendation ready, paying for transcripts, filling out resumes, and five billion other little details that made applying for school incredibly difficult.

And when I think about last spring, I think about waiting. Waiting and waiting. I think about checking my emails ten thousand times a day, looking at graduate school message boards, finding excuses to go into the office at work as often as I could to look at my inbox. Waiting for that letter of acceptance. The joy and disbelief upon receiving such said letter.

Finally, it's the summer, and my summer has been consumed with... nothing. Reading, traveling, resting. It's been quite wonderful, this strange transition time. I've been out of sorts, a little anxious and lethargic, but that's the way of these things, misty and hazy.

In the meantime I've been telling people who ask about grad school "I'll believe it when I'm actually there."

And then, this Saturday, I was there. Well, almost. It was only orientation, but I was still in a classroom with my soon-to-be-peers, and my professors, at a desk. In a school.

I was so happy I almost started crying.

02 August 2012

Lammas article!

My latest article, this time as a guest columnist for a religious publication in Spokane.

"Everyone tries to squeeze in one last vacation, one last trip to the mountains, one last trip to the beach, one last hotdog, one last camping trip, one last barbeque."

http://spokanefavs.com/culture/social-issues/pagans-celebrate-harvest-season


Blessed Lammas!