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Sunday, May 13th, 2012
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10:15 am - happy mothers day!
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Aditi is sky, and air's mid-region, Aditi is the father, son, and
mother,
Aditi all the Gods and the Five Nations, Aditi what is now and
what is future.
We call for help the Queen of Law and Order, great mother of
all those whose ways are righteous,
Far-spread, unwasting strong in her dominion, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting.
Sinless may we ascend, for weal, the vessel, rowed with good
oars, divine, that never leaketh,
Earth, our strong guard, incomparable Heaven, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting.
Let us bring hither, in pursuit of riches, Aditi with our word,
the mighty mother,
Her in whose lap the spacious air is lying: may she afford us
triply-guarding shelter!
Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
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6:27 am - Homo Impoliticus
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"The Book of Merlin" T.H.White
The scene:It is the eve of Camlann, Aurthur has been whisked away by Merlin to the Badgers sett, to meet in committee with his animal teachers, to discuss the taxonomy of humans.
Three suggestions had been made;H.Stultus, H.Ferox, and the third H.Impoliticus.
Merlin begins:
"We found the political ideas of Homo Ferox were of two kinds:either that problems could be solved by force, or that they could be solved by argument. The ant-men of the future, who believe in force, consider that you can determine whether twice two is four by knocking people down who disagree with you.The democrats, who are to believe in argument, consider that all men are entitled to an opinion, because all are born equal-'I am as good a man as you are', the first instinctive ejaculation of the man who is not."
"If neither force nor argument can be relied on," said the King," I do not see what can be done."
" Neither force, nor argument, nor opinion,"said Merlin with the deepest sincerity,"are thinking. Argument is only a display of mental force, a sort of fencing with points in order to gain a victory, not for truth. Opinions are the blind alleys of lazy or of stupid men, who are unable to think. If ever a true politician really thinks a subject out dispassionately, even Homo Stultus will be compelled to accept his findings in the end. Opinions can never stand beside truth. At present, however,Homo Impoliticus is content either to argue with opinions or to fight with his fists, instead of waiting for truth in his head. It will take a million years, before the mass of men can be called political animals."
"What are we then at present?"
"We find that at present the human race is divided politically into one wise man, nine knaves, and ninety fools out of every hundred.That is, by a optimistic observer. The nine knaves assemble themselves under the banner of the most knavish among them, and become 'politicians': the wise man stands out, because he knows himself to be hopelessly outnumbered, and devotes himself to poetry,mathematics, or philosophy; while the ninety fools plod off behind the banners of the nine villains, according to fancy, into the labyrinths of chicanery, malice, and warfare. It is pleasant to have command, observes Sancho Panza,even over a flock of sheep, and that is why politicians raise their banners. It is, moreover, the same thing for the sheep whatever the banner.
If it is democracy, then the nine knaves will become members of parlaiment; if fascism, they will become party leaders; if communism, commissars. Nothing will be different except the name. The fools will be still fools, the knaves still leaders, the results still exploitation. As for the wise man, his lot will be much the same under any ideology. Under democracy, he will be encouraged to starve to death in a garret, under fascism he will be put into a concentration camp,under communism he will be liquidated."
T.H. White,The Book of Merlin (Berkley edition,1978)50-52
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
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1:13 pm
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night sky, nexus of cycles
innocence expanding in passion
matrix of shimmering life
undulating in darkness
emerging as the dawn
dancing as twins
yearning for union
always becoming
night gives way to day
youth eternal
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, April 15th, 2012
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5:44 pm - follow up
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seems patheos pagan portal is in a reformatting stage.
The material cited in my previous are now at
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Pagan.html
What's also new is the articles there are credited now. The author is Carl McColman.
here's his brief from:
http://www.patheos.com/About-Patheos/Carl-McColman.html
Carl McColmanColumnist
Carl McColman is the author of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality and The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader: Spiritual Lessons from C. S. Lewis’s Narnia. His blog (www.anamchara.com) is one of the leading online resources devoted to Christian spirituality and mysticism. He regularly conducts retreats and speaks at churches, seminaries, monasteries and other locations on various aspects of both Christian and interfaith spirituality and contemplative practice. Show More » Carl is a Lay Cistercian — a layperson receiving formal spiritual guidance from Trappist monks in the spirit of both ancient and medieval monastic practice. He first received training in Christian meditation and contemplation at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Later he received additional training in the art of spiritual direction through the Institute for Pastoral Studies in Atlanta. Carl is also active with the interfaith community in Atlanta, where he is the co-facilitator of an interfaith meditation group. |
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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7:32 am
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| Saturday, April 7th, 2012
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10:12 am - ramblings from a 'cognitively dissonant practitioner"
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well it seems the so called adversarial state between what is called contemporary pagan scholarship and the so called non scholarly practitioners is the mode dujour.
I find it rather amusing, sad but amusing.
It probably begins with the refutation of Murray's theory oh so long ago, at least by internet attention span.
This round started, as far as I can tell with Ben Whitmore's critique on Hutton's triumph of the moon.
And the wagons are being circled and the ramparts being manned again with the essay in the Pomegranate by Caroline Tully.
After finally reading through it it seems to me the onus of the disconnect is being placed more heavily on the practitioner, yet the cognitive dissonance seems to me to be more apparent in the scholarly/academic quarters. Of course one of the main arguments centers upon our lack of understanding the rigor of academic arguments. Anecdotally, I'd have to disagree, as most of the practitioners I know have academic experience, including myself, and are quite familiar with the ropes.
In regards to the question about the persistence of so called pagan beliefs through the advent of Christianity until modern times, present day scholars seem to still be in refutation of Murray, yet I think, as I often have remarked, Murray as well as the contemporary academics who undertake this question tend to be like the person who having lost an object, look for it under a street lamp, rather than where it was lost. This street lamp seems to be the idea of a persistent organized religion.
It's been a while since I've read triumph, and I no longer possess a copy, so right now I'm dependent on previews. The professor opens with an establishment of terms, firstly defining religion as used in his context. this being Sir Edward Tylor's reduced to the belief in supernatural beings and the need to form relationships with them. To my cognitively dissonant mind, Tylors definition is akin to the theological ism of animism, which to me is the organic source from which both magic and then religion stem from.
I'd tend to agree with Hutton's premise, and forgive me if I simplify it, that 'Modern Pagan Witchcraft" as he defines it is a new religion, however that does not in itself prove that there isn't a strain of craft which has been handed down over millennia, which consists of more practical applications of animism, and less about any specific common theology except at that basic level of 'there are spirits other than human'.
That it is handed down generationally and is 'pagan' in the sense of it being 'of the common folk'. That there is a commonality in methods and practical application.That is pretty evident if one considers Hoodoo or Rootwork, Hexerei, and other forms of 'Folk magic".
Perhaps the advent of christianity did indeed stamp out the old organized theologies, it did not stamp out the methods and magical practices.
Those were merely transferred to a different theology.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 5th, 2012
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9:32 am
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| Thursday, January 12th, 2012
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8:56 pm
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| Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
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6:34 am
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| Friday, August 12th, 2011
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7:47 am - tired of two party voting?
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| Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
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8:45 am - Homo Impoliticus- more T.H.White
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From the 'Book of Merlin" {merlin speaks} "we found that the political ideas of Homo Ferox were of two kinds: either that problems could be solved by force, or that they could be solved by argument. The Ant men of the future, who believe in force, consider that you can determine whether twice two is four by knocking people down who disagree with you.( Read more... )
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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8:36 am - Myrmidae
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From T.H.Whites Once and Future King: Later in the afternoon a scouting ant wandered across the rush bridge which Merlyn had ordered him to make. It was an ant of exactly the same species, but it came from the other nest. It was met by one of the scavenging ants and murdered. ( Read more... ) |
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, January 30th, 2011
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1:00 pm - some thoughts on initiation
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A respected elder witch pointed out to me a rather significant difference in terminology which may serve to benefit. "the tradition is witchcraft, within which are orders of the craft."
Feri, Alexandrian, Gardnerian, etc are all orders, and initiatory orders.
Feri stands out now because of it's non use of a degree system. It has a very long training period compared to other orders, and this has become problematic and the reason for concern about present approaches to teaching. At one time, initiation came very early, and then the practices were taught. Folks don't mention it much but there were enough 'casualities' in regards to after effects of initiation, to make that change.
I would suggest a reading of the introductory parts to Francesca De Grandis' 'Be a Goddess'. She knows from experience about the dangers folks are so eager to scoff at.
By far her approach is the safest, and more in keeping with Victors ideas regarding what should be taught in general i.e. religious practices not religion itself.
I know Thorn has addressed this concern as it were, in Morningstar. As have some lines in Feri.
I see Feri initiation as primarily types two and three of those Thorn listed in her essay. I quote them below. The type four aspect is secondary but important in the sphere of humans.
"three as outlined by the late Isaac Bonewits:
Type One: Initiation as a recognition of a status already gained.
Type Two: Initiation as an ordeal of transformation.
Type Three: Initiation as a method for transferring spiritual knowledge and power.
And another, spoken of by John Michael Greer:
Type Four: Acceptance into the fold of the community or clan. "
I am not really sure I understand what is meant by type one, unless what is meant is confering of status due to fulfilling criteria for that status.
My first craft initiation some 35 years ago was of type one and four. I was simply recognised as a witch and as a member of that particular coven. A very simple affair, oath, measure, cord and blade. That was it. It signified I was accepted into the tradition of witchcraft, trustworthy enough not to reveal what transpires in circle,except to other witches so prepared. To protect and defend brothers and sisters of the craft, and to protect and defend the craft itself.
It's only then that my instruction began towards my second initiation, that as 'priest', and that of the partiular order of the craft.
Simple yet momential. I still carry it today, and extend that commitment even to the modern witches. This aspect is lost to this generation of modern witches, this sense of being welcomed into the tradition of the craft, with love and trust, by my elders and my peers, in ceremony. It's a bond, obligation and commitment.
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(17 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, January 27th, 2011
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12:39 am - "Sundering of Feri" a response
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In response to: A Sundering of Feri an essay by T.Thorn Coyle
My sister Thorn makes some good points, and very convincing too. I will offer my own ideas of the sundering or schism, because it is similar to the schisms which occured in Buddhism or Christianity, or even Islam. Yet this division, this sundering is in no way about claiming a one true way, that one approach to Feri is the only correct one. It's more about demonstrating that there is another approach aside from two year intensives, weekend seminars and workshops, or 'mail order' correspondence courses via web groups and distance learning ensembles. That there are other avenues to learn this craft in which the fee is hard work, dedication and personal commitment, that the relationship isn't one of teacher among many students, but as among brothers and sisters, parent and child, even lover to lover. Where the seeker/student is given the undivided attention of ones mentor/teacher/guide.
"Witchcraft is witchcraft, not witch dogma. It is a science, the oldest form of science.And it is time for us to go back and treat it that way. It's not how many times you dance around the circle or get down on the floor and say this is for a point on the pentagram,this foot is for the other, and all that nonsense. It's time to get down and think rightly. We should get together to discuss what we have learned, about each other, about medicine, about whatever it is we're interested in. We should pool that knowledge together and keep it. That's what we're supposed to do."
It would appear, we're reduced to expressing the differences through 'Dogma', each of us bound to cite the teachings of the Andersons to support our positions, our views. But it is 'Anderson Feri', after all, and the Andersons were the main expounders of the tradition, it's practices and it's doctrines.
And yes,those teachings which Thorn cites are indeed a call to teach the people how to connect to the Gods, through connecting to themselves. and indeed Victor did say 'All gods are Feri gods."
When told: "Today many Feris seem to focus on the cycle of the Gods." His reply: "Well, I think that it's one of the signs that the religion has gone to pot. We don't have a set pantheon, but we do deal with groups of gods. It depends on who we need to deal with. We deal with the gods of the trees, the gods of the rivers, the gods of the rocks, our own personal god. If we forget all that and stick our heads up in the sky we're just going to get confused. The thing is that "pantheon" means many or all of the gods, from the Greek."
Ah yes, the nature of the Gods of Feri. These Gods, these beings are not metaphors. They are not archetypes. They are very real. They are not limited by Human understandings of what is 'okay', of Human morals or ethics. They will indeed take you, if you do not have a strong individuality, a strong and healthy ego, a strong sense of self. They are dangerous. Victor often compared our tradition to Voudon, and other African diasporic traditions, drawing close parallels to the nature of our 'Gods' to those of The Loa. Perhaps we might hear from a practitioner of those traditions, as to approaching such beings unprepared. Victor also related that he was concerned about folks approaching the gods in the intimate relationship which is a hallmark of the tradition, without the preparation needed. part of that preparation is the rite of initiation. He observed that those who hadn't received the mystery "don't even know the nature of the deity, the nature of the gods. It is only a peculiar speculation."
Victor considered this tradition, as a science and also a religion: "I would like to see it practiced as the religion of the people, the religion of the soil that comes up through your feet and through your genitals. Through your feelings, through all three parts of the soul. From the center of the earth to the heights of heaven. To be very natural, very normal, and very respectful and reverent."
Melding the two together and within the Feri context, Feri is a science of connection, of re connection. It is also the science of life and of living people and beings. And the "laboratory" as it were are living breathing beings.
Consider a standard definition of science:
1. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena.
2. Any methodological activity, discipline, or study.
3. Any activity that appears to require study and method.
4. Knowledge, esp. knowledge gained through experience.
Again, from Victor: "One of the central teachings of real witchcraft is the nature of the human soul. But now it is being put down as mere id, ego and superego. Those are only three aspects of the personality. People disregard the fact that there are three entities that make up the human spirit. Each one of us is a trinity."
and
"One of the grave things that is really needed is to return to the nature of the human soul, how we are put together. The etheric anatomy of the human being is very important..........We've got to quit that kind of thinking, this pop psychology. It has got to be set aside, because it is not witchcraft. Witchcraft is to get in there and discern what the other person feels and feel with it with them, to know with them what they know. The discernment of spirits, as Jewish wisdom calls it. We have to understand this, because otherwise we are just practicing a form. People do a lot of things to do some spell, whatever they think that is,and that's like going into a laboratory and messing with Chemistry when you don't know anything about it."
One can't do "discernment" one can't really feel what another feels or know with them what they know without shared experience. That involves a closer relationship with folks that just doesn't happen without a lot of face to face time. Nor can one observe, indentify or explain phenomena without experiencing the phenomena( which happens to be in some cases "Students") Nor as Victor mentions is it about 'dancing around in a circle or which foot is what point, and all that 'nonsense'. That is just practicing a 'Form'.
Either the self improvement aspect can stand alone from the religious aspects of Feri, or they depend on introduction to the "Feri Gods" et al. If the latter, then really one is approaching declaring Feri a 'one true religion'. I mean for me I am perfectly fine with folks saying they are teaching the tools of Feri, as they see them being a benefit to others in their practice. Teaching the tools of Feri is different from teaching the religion of Feri.
I also see it as treating the tradition as a commodity, a product, with all the hype and advertising to create a demand, that then 'needs' to be filled. It's pop spirituality. It's evangelism, it's proselytism as long as it continues to be connected to the 'religion' part.
Concerning the 'blame', This sundering has been ongoing from decades before I received initiation into the tradition. I would add 'not listening to the counsel of peers'. Concerns about this issue and all of the ramifications and possibilities have been continuously put forth, and went unheeded. Those who have decided for themselves to teach Feri publicly, to teach it enmasse, to make Feri practices availible to the public indiscriminately, decided on their own to withdraw from discussions.
Some few claimed autonomy. Some few claimed they as initiates had the right to do whatever they saw fit to do in regards to teaching,to materials held in common, and that any critisisms to the contrary were simply attempts for power over or control.
And yes Thorn is right. There are a combination of precipitating events, most of them are rooted in the tensions surrounding the ideas around autonomy in relation to community, I.E.The idea of a tradition with lore and liturgy held in common, and whether any single person has the right to do as they please with that commonly held material.
Cora wrote in Fifty Years: "The real craft is a democracy, a religion of the common working people and not a set of beliefs dictated by a ruling class"
and
"our tradition is a martial art as deadly as any taught in Japan. Our tradition is not made up of people who keep secrets because we think we are better than others, but because our knowledge is real and dangerous if gone beyond a certain point."
I think that suffices to explain why there is a deep concern among some of us as to the idea of Feri becoming an open source tradition. It also suffices to demonstrate that the motives of those who wished to keep certain practices out of the public venues for unguided indiscriminate use, are due to this knowledge being very real and very dangerous, that Feri is highly transformative, and extremely experiential, the process need closer attention and responsibility than workshops, seminars, and intensives provide.
Victor reports in People of the Earth, New Pagans speak out:
"People are always hollering about witchcraft is not a hierarchy and so on, but it is also not just a "dog eat dog" thing where everyone has the right to their own opinion, in the most pseudo-democratic way possible. That's anarchy, it isn't the Craft."
There were a few attempts to come to an agreement, a consensus about materials, but some few chaffed at the idea, and later went back on their agreements. Some others appealed only to Victor or Cora as authority, for approval for what they wished to do, rather than advice and consent of their peers. Rather foisting a 'ruling class' position upon the Andersons, and also creating the appearance of one now.
There's so much more to the story than is related here.
I can't claim the same credentials as Thorn or some others. I am a plain ordinary witch. I have studied the Craft and things occult and mysterious for some 35 years. Western Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Sanatana Dharma, Theosophy, much of the same things Thorn has studied and perhaps more indepth in some. I can only give you my word as an experienced witch, once that would have sufficed. I came to Feri after having studied within those paradigms. I find that they all fit into the 'Feri Container'. Where Thorn finds a limit as it were, I found Feri as the distilled essence of them all. Solve et Coagula! "separate the subtle from the dross" as Trimegestus declared. Cora rightly considered her husband 'The Einstein of the Craft'. Quotes from 'Speak of the Devil', an interview with Victor Anderson,in two parts from Witcheye Magazine vol.#2and #3 unless otherwise attributed.
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(17 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, January 14th, 2011
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11:48 pm - Other Voices
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In the last decade or so, Feri Tradition has seen a relatively rapid increase in public interest. There has been much debate about how to adress this burdgeoning interest, and how the tradition will grow into the future. Some have embraced more public approaches, having strong conviction that Feri, as a religion, should be more open and public. Others have just as strong convictions that Feri, as an initiatory mystery tradition, is not fully suited to open and public practice.
Those who support the idea of an open and public Feri religion have been the most prominent as far as their voices being heard, outside of the circle of initiates. This site is being established for the purpose of presenting the 'other voice', The reasons and rationales of those who have concerns regarding this trend.
Faerytradition.org
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, December 10th, 2010
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8:11 am
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RAWK!!!
POLLY WANTS A CRACKER
RAWK!!!
KALA AND ALIGNMENT RAWK!!!
PRETTY BIRD PRETTY BIRD!!!!
RAWK!!!
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, October 9th, 2010
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8:02 am - happenings long ago, today
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I lay
face upturned to the sky,
rice paddy wet
or is it blood?
domeheaded sillouettes
hover over me
I hear...drums???
Darkness.
I wake up
outside my window
heralds of death
roll down the road
in an olive drab dodge
a mother wails....
My mother holds me
she kisses the top of my head
and weeps....
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
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9:58 pm - The rest of the story.....
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So, here is part II
These are the only other posts I made on the hypothetical questions that were raised. here are the final posts I made on that subject, in total I only made three posts which were not directed towards anyone in particular( see the end of my last entry) and three posts in reply to the only response to the above mentioned posts. 6 posts total until the unnamed person decided to withdraw because his questions were never answered. In other words I took no other part in the discussion on the hypothetical questions until well after the unnamed person left the list.
these posts were in reply to one individual initiate, who later went off list with claims of having to deal with disfunctional persons who are irrational and unreasonable and a whole list of other epithets.
I am sure these traits will immediately jump out to you, as will the supposed disrespect.
( Read more... )
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(22 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
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2:48 am - If one goes whole hog that includes paying the postage
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My grandpa always said there is your side of the story and my side of the story and between them is what really happened.
And so here's my side. I relate this after going through much thought and soul searching. The venue where these discussions and debates took place have guidelines quaranteeing folks who post there a fair amont of privacy. I agreed to those guidelines as did others, some others however broke their agreement and have presented in public their side. So I am doing the same to present my side.
( Read more... )
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(18 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
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11:59 am - gardens, seeds.flowers,fruits
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A gardener tends his garden. he watches it as it grows. He does not stand over it night and day, watering it and feeding it with fertilizer constantly. Day in and Day out. He doesn't give it those things all at once nor does he with hold them. If he does, too much water rots the plants, the roots. Too much fertilizer, and the roots get burned. Nor does he withhold water and fetilizer, else the plants whither and die.
He gives just enough to make the plants grow, to thrive, and adds water and fertilizer as is needed to keep them growing, healthy and strong.
He also weeds out the thin and weak, and those plants which are not useful or take the nourishing water and food from his plants.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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