The Pagan Vibe Opting In

I'm going to pagan meetup this morning.  I go every other week when I don't work because part of me really  really needs more community here in the south.  I'm a reflective, nature loving, sensitive, socially liberal woman in an area where as a whole I've noticed the people are kinder but usually less reflective and often wrongly categorized as less smart (even by me when I'm being lazy or when I'm in a fit of temper).  Long story short people here are even less like me than they were up north.  They are kind, they allow me to exist but often just as I'm getting comfortable with a person they start railing against abortion, talking earnestly about creationism, or the new hot button topic to hate Obamacare.  There are conversations I don't want to have, especially not in a "casual" setting where there is literally no way for me to shut these folks when they don't accept "I don't want to talk about that" or "we have to agree to disagree".

So I go to pagan coffee and we sit down and talk about nothing and everything.  Several people their open carry to coffee, they still rail against Obamacare, and their traditions are nothing like mine (last time I went someone even mistakenly said I was an eclectic without any practice--eclectic yes but I practice and experience the divine just fine).  You know what though, in the midst of this online battle of pagans not treating each other like we are all on the same side, these people do teat me well--like I am a welcomed guest.  We don't practice the same, but we already know that and we make space to listen to each other.  We don't have the same values, but we come to the table to express ideas earnestly, and we listen to out opposition as if the other person had a rational thinking mind and was able to come to their own equally responsible decision on a topic, even if we have to agree to disagree. 

That's my version of a pagan unifying theme.  We're a whole bunch of people who you know what honestly don't fit together most of the time.  We may look a like to an outsider (and my group doesn't even do that) but we have depths that divide us as deeply.  It's like ocean, sure we categorize it  all the same but what it's like at the surface vs the bottom is not the same--the sea floor is like it's own world really.

What unifies us is that we decided we wanted community.  We decided we were going to come together and do all the things you have to do to develop community like listen to each other and have genuinely open conversation.  We've decided to build on what we have in common, a love of the outdoors, in our case a sense of environmental responsibility (though I will say it is NOT religious for everyone), and an enjoyment of crafting/art creation. 

If opting in and being a good host is what makes us a pagan community, I can live with that.  It's more than some people have.  But it means that we as a whole do need to listen better to each other and think more before writing in our online community.  There are a million blogs I enjoy reading, but I realized that I don't consider a lot of them contributions to the pagan community and I've seen others that are contributions, even needed criticism that are treated as attacks. We don't have to agree and that's awesome because we aren't going to agree.  We don't have to choose kindness every time, but I would love to see more people stop to think.  As pagans we are only have community if we opt in.  What does opting in mean to you?  And how do you choose to approach someone forging as you are, to create common group and an open welcoming community?

Paganism, Personal Practice and Ethics with Negative Emotions or Workings

 While I wouldn't normally post twice a day, my first post was very short.  Also, I had a ton of time Sunday so  I have an excess of writing which I'm trying to sort through in a sane and reasonable manner.  To that end we have an unusual and non-habit-forming second post.

Baring The Agis, placed up an article relating to Vengeance from a Hellenismos perspective. It made me both jealous of the reference texts Recons have to follow and  relieved that my faith doesn't have ancient laws I have to try to modernize.

I am always impressed when someone makes applicable use of ancient customs. It was particularly brave to discuss vengeance in a Hellenismos perspective because as Temperance points out:

“My gut instinct says that this practice [of taking blood vengeance on those who committed wrong against a family or the self] was prevalent in ancient Hellas, and was most likely executed more often than we would like to accept in our current law-regulated society.”

The idea of seeking vengeance and justice has separated in modern society, and perhaps it should. I don't think thieves should be murdered just because they pissed off the owner of said goods, though I find rape and murder victims' (and their families) a more slippery slope. Our legal system is set up to help protect the wrongly accused (at least in the USA), but we do sacrifice some in the case of how we condemn the guilty. For the record, I am against the death penalty, but I do question how one should handle a criminal with multiple life prison sentences. They will never be rehabilitated and often cause danger and disruption to prison guards and minor offenders who still may be returned to society (and whose “rehabilitation”--if what is offered in prison can be called that, is negatively impacted).

Towards the end of the article, Temperance turns to the mythical applications of vengeance and honoring darker emotions in modern day. The last line of her post reads: “Sometimes, we wish for dark things, and that's also alright.”

This particular aspect of her post  reminded me of a large part why I'm Pagan. We don't shun our negative emotions or desires. We have different ideas on how to act on those emotions. Some of us choose to acknowledge and release. Some of us petition our Gods or the universe to act out proper treatment to those who have wronged us. Some of us work magic against those who have hurt us. 

There are other schools that believe bad things happening to us are meant to be a teaching tool or opportunity for personal growth and others who believe it is a sign we are practicing incorrectly. Others feel this is a chance for compassion and understanding of those who have antagonized us, and some people believe it is evidence that there is a real and present danger to “their kind” of people. Most of us will use a mixture of techniques/views depending on the level of hurt and the seriousness of the wrong done to us or those we love. We may not agree with the actions/view of another in regard to their feelings, but very few of us deny that we have these desires or pains.

Most of us try to hold space for an open conversation about what happened, how a person responded, and why they responded this way. Whether or not we agree with the person at the end of the conversation is another matter, but I think it's healthiest to hear a person out and to leave each to follow hir own path so long as it doesn't impede own our own personal rights or safety.

I believe in doing good in the world and I believe magic is part of a means to that end. I don't think that we can take our obligation towards others, our world, or ourselves lightly. I'm privileged that my day to day life holds very little violence. There is hostility and frustration, particularly in my work space (the service industry seems to bring out ugliness in other people like few other fields can), but it is not of the nature that threatens my life, the lives of those I care for, or my livelihood. My daily test is to hold energy and try to keep compassion for people who are consciously and unconsciously being difficult/hurtful to me.

There is little place in my practice where I have to consider physical, emotional, mental, or magical violence. Banishing, meditating, and releasing is usually the kind of magic I most require to get through negative encounters in my day to day. Sometimes I ask Gods for more insight into the mind frames of those who have hurt me, or I pray for the Gods and my guides to keep me away from person x until I calm down more. On very rare occasion I feel the need to work a protection spell or call for further protection, because while I don't have the legal means to report a person, I still feel deeply threatened by what is going on. My day to day workings have never escalated beyond this.

I don't think taking magical action against someone who has hurt you is inherently wrong, but it's not something to be done lightly and it's not something I've ever felt compelled to do. I try to hold space open for those who have been more deeply wronged to speak on their experience and their process for vengeance/ justice/ catharsis. Part of what I like about the pagan paths is that there is space for people to explore their pain, being wronged, and taking action against those who have hurt them instead of always demanding mindless forgiveness.

We hear a lot about the rede (which to my mind says nothing about what will happen if we harm others only that anything which doesn't harm others is ok) and the three fold law. Rookies often assume it applies across all traditions. We often see our own pagan representatives assure the media that we all agree with the rede. I am always glad when more experienced and honest pagans come out to remind us that there are those who acknowledge all human aspects in their practice, including wants and desires society as a whole would choose to silence. If the circle isn't a safe space to air those pains and grievances we hold close to our heart, where can we find catharsis and release? If we can not be honest and true to our gods, our guides, and ourselves, then where can we show the entirety of our being and learn love and compassion for both ourselves and others?

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Offerings and Whether or Not I'm Doing it Right

What, if anything do you offer to the Gods or to your Guides or to your Ancestors? What do you do with the offering after the ceremony/ritual/presentation? How do you is your offering enjoyed/received and is this always the same reaction? When do you make offerings? Does your deity/guide/ancestor ever make demands of offerings when you had no plans to give them?

I ask because the concept of offerings fascinates me. It seems like every book or ritual I read right now no matter the source, integrates offerings on the most basic level. Usually the offering is some kind of food/beverage. I understand how this idea came about. Most pagans have some value on hospitality, and when inviting a deity into our home or lives or practice, it seems best to offer them something to eat or drink as we would any other guest. Beyond that, if we are asking something from a more powerful knowing being, it only makes sense we offer up something of ourselves in return. How else do we demonstrate respect if we offer nothing when meeting a deity?

My problem with offering food/items to another being is what do I do with this stuff after the ritual is over. Especially food where it can not sit an indefinite time inside and will attract unwanted critters if it's left alone outside. What do people do with this stuff afterward? It seems disrespectful to throw away a portion of something I've assigned to deity and it seems a waste of the food. In the case of my land gods, I suppose I could ritually release my offering to the sewer system, via the garbage disposal, is that like a cosmic doggy bag?

In the case of items I offer to Gods, am I supposed to hold onto all that forever? I mean if I make an offering for ever ritual have that's a ridiculous amount of stuff to build up. With coin and money offerings, should I be able to donate the money after a certain time and which charities would my Gods accept? Am I just going to have a small dragon's hoard of quarters and dollar coins around my symbols of deity, and do my deities even value a concept of human wealth?

Personally, I think I'd like to offer more to my Gods, guides, and ancestors, but I'm unsure on how to implement it. There's a lot of talk about how to offer in ritual, and very little about what to do with the stuff when the ritual is done that is responsible (I don't think leaving food outside or leaving non-organic material outside is responsible and further I don't think most pagans have access to an outside space to worship so this plan isn't really a feasible premise).

What I do offer is often candles and incense. I like the ritual of dressing the candles, blessing them, charging them, and lighting them. A lite candle can give me a focus point in a meditation and it can feel like opening a door into deity. I like the symbolism of offering my Gods light, power, heat, passion, and hope. I can use the size of the candle to dictate the length or a ritual or period I plan to make offerings. The best part about a candle, is that I can just keep lighting it and enjoying it until it burns out, in which case, I may dispose of the candle.

With incense there is a similar blessing, charging and lighting process. The stick lasts for shorter periods than the candle does, and the scent can correspond to deity, mood, or type of offering. Again the best part about this sort of offering is that when it's used, I can dispose if it. I suppose I could store he ashes for some kind of religious use, but if you can't tell from this post, I don't like to collect things either for myself or my deity.

I prefer to make offerings of my time and energy, in the form of meditation, hiking, or wandering sacredly lands mindfully. Occasionally I've been moved to make an offering of writings or sacred words. Those experiences are entirely different than the experiences I have with objects because they are rarer, more spontaneous, and are clearly required by my deity, they're almost puled from me.

With candle offerings, it's a ritual respect thing, the same way I offer someone a drink when they enter my home. Deity, especially the one which values hospitality wants it but Ze doesn't compel it. I often wonder if I'm offering the right things. When I offer someone something to drink at my home, sometimes I can tell they've picked the least offensive of the choices instead of choosing what they wanted to have. I wonder if deity is ever doing that too.

At the same time, I always strive to be the best host I can be, and sometimes it isn't about what is on offer but that someone made the offer regardless of the cost to them.

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In the Woods Finding Faith--The Scenic Route

This past weekend I spent six hours in the woods hiking with my boyfriend. He likes to work out and be active, I like to be in nature.  Our hobby co-insides but our motives sometimes leads to compromise.

In this case I chose a location, the Walls of Jericho, right outside of Scottsboro, AL where I thought both our hiking ideals would be met. The hike is vigorous, while only six miles round trip, the terrain is very steep and the slope is known to be slick. There are multiple warnings from hikers and the park association that this hike is difficult for people who are in shape (they estimate it will take at least four hours to get through the trail).

I learned this weekend that I am not anywhere near in shape, and my mate, who works out every day, is also not appropriately in shape for this hike. Something meant to be a fun, thoughtful, into nature/photography and semi-religious hike was incredibly grueling, though surprisingly still religious for me (just not the experience I expected to have).

My last post here I compared Alabama autumn to Massachusetts autumn. In particular I discussed how my fall routine is different. The Walls of Jericho was very reminiscent of an early fall hike in MA. The temperature dropped into the mid forties, which was pleasant with my fleece and a backpack to tote. The wind on the hill side had just a hint of the frost penetration I'm used to.

It strikes me what a critical difference in the feeling of the land I get just an hour and a half northeast from where I live. Instead of the leaves showing peak colors, they are flagging just a little. Instead of lush valleys and deep wide streams, there were jagged rocks, steep cliff ledges, and dry winding river beds.

The land itself didn't have the same feeling of divine presence I have here. I know my local Land God's limits. I drive to work outside of Zir sphere of influence. I can feel Zir presence fade and the Tennessee River welcome me. Still, even out of “direct influence” from my God, I can get a sense that there is a relationship between my home land God and the land God who rules the physical land I work on. There is acknowledgment, respect, an awareness of a shared realm, and separate relationships with the Tennessee River which divides their areas of influence.

The land at Jericho doesn't seem to have the same kind of ties back to my Land. I got a sense of some kind of divine at Jericho, but it was more reserved. Perhaps it's because of the time of year, as there is clearly a drought in that place now, and bird migration appears to be in full swing, as opposed to just starting as it is here. There may just not be enough resources or time to bring out a big welcome wagon for a passerby. Perhaps because approximately 300 people a day travel through Jericho when weather is nice, the land there doesn’t make connections with people until it sees further commitment, or how one fairs in the trails. Whatever the case, it just further served to highlight how hospitable my own local Gods have been to me and how blessed I am that they reached out and welcomed me when I first arrived in Alabama. It's easy to forget that I'm not the one who reaches out and makes connections all on my own, they are mutually forged.

Because the incline of the hillside is so steep, the path we walked is set as a long winding set of zig zagging diagonals to help make the slope more navigable. While it doesn't look like a labyrinth, there is much the same effect. As we trotted a long the path and later staggered back, the mate and I had a chance to pass and be passed by many people in many different states.  We played tag with a few people swapping which of our groups was blazing the trail first.  I often stopped and looked around to observe where we were relative to others and what their state seemed to be. The way the trail loops one can be parallel with other hikers but still be mildly obscured through foliage as one may be in a labyrinth. I liked having a chance to observe people this way and socialize in that quiet pleasant way we both know won't go any further than this path. I felt like I had a chance to connect to a bunch of different walks of life all in one outing and I also had a chance to notice who wasn't present on the path with us.

Perhaps my favorite part of the trip, was that I got to walk back in a dry river bed. It wasn't part of the planned program.  The actual path had us walking on a narrow, rocky, steep terrain where I kept looking down to see the dry, rocky but flat river bed.  I told the mate "We're so walking back in that river bed".  He laughed and was dumbfounded when about fifty feet in to our return trip, he realized I had actually left the path and gone into the river bed.  It was so worth it.  I might even recommend walking back in the river when it's wet, given the current isn't terrible and one is equipped for it.

 I felt like a little kid with my big bag of trail mix, jumping from stone to stone and munching. I could see each and every stone the river had rounded, shaped, moved, and placed. I climbed over brush piles still strapped in spots the current had driven them. The mate and I each chose a side of a small island of dirt and debris the river had created to walk around. This river bed was dry now and the land in Jericho may have been going into hibernation, but there is massive power waiting to shape, change, drive, and create. Walking through the evidence of one aspect of that power, when so much is often hidden or observed without thought, was meaningful to me.

So magical part of this trip was being out in nature, even when it isn't a serene meditative walk has powerful meaning and value once I catch my breathe. The practical part of this trip is that I need to work out more and stick to less vigorous trails so I don't have to worry I won't make it back to my car by dark. 

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Pre-Samhain Local Land Worship Meanderings

The pagan adjacent boyfriend wanted to help me celebrate the autumn season, so he suggested we go to a haunted house. I went and I enjoyed it, but of course wandering through an abandoned school that's been purchased and re-vamped into a Haunted House that predominately features cannibalism of different genres, ax murders, insane asylum patients, and clowns has nothing to do with my holiday. He sort of know that, but he feels lost in helping to support my faith where he sees I'm not doing what I've talked about doing back in Massachusetts.

I think it's hard for him to grasp the concept that my Neo-Paganism is locally connected and I will celebrate seasonal changes differently in Alabama vs Massachusetts. It's true this time of year was magnificent in Massachusetts. It was starting to get cold, there's about a 50% chance that a frost has happened already (it has this year). All these local farm stands and harvest-ish themed things seem to appear over night. There were a lot of hot drinks and hot fresh meals. Apple donuts, pumpkin donuts, cakes, pies, fresh acorn squash and butternut squash. Apples as far as the eye could see!

Beyond that, there was this strong tie to colonial times in MA. There were Victorian homes everywhere. Pagan/new thought and the general population liked to connected modern celebrations with older ones. Honey sticks, herb gardens, ghost walks more information that scare , apple bobbing, donuts on the string. All the semi-traditional things were still celebrated by the general populace.

Also, because it was getting cold, there really was this sense of urgency to batten down the hatches and prepare for winter. There is a real concern regarding purchasing heating oil, wrapping up summer gear, purchasing enough canned goods that should one be stranded one could still eat. I associate all of this as part of what I should be doing and what I should be looking for in others this times of year. I can't say how much of a relief mild winters are and at the same time, how it leaves me both in me practice and life sometimes at a loss.

There is way less work involved. There is no sense of urgency along with the crazy joy that nature is beautiful and brutal. There is always thankfulness for lovely days, but the praise seems less meaningful when every day is beautiful and mild and the coming winter will be soft compared to what I know. It's true this year our summer was brutally hot and dry. I watched corn literally burn away over the course of a day in the relentless sun. In some ways, this winter will be a relief. Everyone here thinks it will be unusually cold and wet, which will kill all the extra bugs we have, restore our water table, and hopefully heal some hurting farms for the spring.

Some of my practices will be the same. My reverence for my ancestors is more or less the same. This year my celebration will be especially focused on my Grandfather as he passed in Aug of last year and his birthday was Oct 28^th, I feel particularly close to him right now. My reiki meditation will essentially be the same, though the themes, the requests, and the healing is somewhat changed.

My month of semi-public celebration is very different here. I am spending more time in quiet reflection before Samhain than I ever have before. This kind of quieted mind used to come as I burned out all my frantic energy in preparations for the fall. I am reminded of the fable of the hard working ant and the lazy grasshopper: all my life I've been the ant and now even though my preparations for the seasons are appropriate, I feel like the grasshopper.

I am walking out in nature more often. I spend hours at the Tennessee river where I feel particularly connected to the river's divinity. I walk slowly and thoughtfully. I wander off the path and through the woods or into the river to explore and contemplate. I feel like a baby who has to put everything in it's mouth to learn what it is and what it means.

Right now, I feel that Alabama requires more complex acknowledgments than MA lands did. There is death and decay in the land right now. I can see it in the trees, smell it in some areas, and I feel that old ending magic I did in MA in areas of the land. With that energy is the energy of life still in full bloom, berries are all over tons of the bushes an trees, cotton is in process of harvest, flowers are still blooming, the sun is still out for huge swathes of time, and the weather itself still gets up to the 80s most days. There's actually this sense that AL is a safe haven and that more life is coming in soon to partake in the offerings. Song bird and water bird migrations have just started in these parts and will be in their peak in November.

I'm still coming to terms with the idea that there will be more than snow for me to look forward to in November. I feel like that quiet shut down I expected to come at Samhain time, won't really hit until the beginning of December.

For now I'm going to try to keep my mind quiet and open. I want to hear what my Gods and the land is telling me. I'll leave this post with a few pictures I've taken of Alabama fall in attempts to see, understand, and worship the land. 

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Sinister: a Film Review

For those who don't know, Sinster is a recently released horror film. The plot is the standard a family moves into a home and creepy things start happening theme. The “hook” or “twist” in this movie vs other movies where families move into homes with creepy things happening is that these creepy things are being caused by he “pagan deity Bughuul ”.

As a horror buff I want to say that the movie is acceptable. The pacing is good and the movie doesn't go on too long. While the “twists” and “turns” are predicable the movie does make them still enjoyable.  While there is a little too much repetition of the same super 8 film work gore, the scares and twists do inpire legitimate jumps and startles. The music and lighting is excellent. The characters are believable and the acting is good. An extra special kudos goes out to the children acting leads Michael Hall D'Addario and Clare Foley whose performance really draws the viewer into the drama both in their commitment to character and in the viewer's concern for them. I would recommend it as a causal Halloween scare and a good way to spend almost two hours, but I wouldn't mark it as outstanding or a must see.

As a pagan, I was interested initially in the plot. We as a group aren't mentioned, but the idea of a pagan god as a central horror theme intrigued me. I was further interested in seeing how a god who “actually lived in the images themselves and they were gateways into his realm” would strike terror and fear into the family of the film and the audience viewing. Warning beyond this point there are spoilers regarding the plot and semantics of the film.

On the score of Bughuul I was disappointed.While  Baghuul is a fictional god so no actual deities were slandered in the making of this film, the term deity is terribly abused. A quick refresh deity according to webster's online is:

“a : the rank or essential nature of a god : divinity

b capitalized : god 1, supreme being

2: a god or goddess <the deities of ancient Greece>

3: one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful”

I don't see how this definitions lines up with the the local occult expert's description of Baghuul as a Sumerian pagan Deity known for consuming childern's souls. Ok, so the Deity has a dark side, a ritual sacrifice kind of vibe, not unheard of please continue Mr. Occult expert on other things Baghuul does. Oh wait, that's it, Baghuul eats kids—why is he worshiped again? You can't just call something a certain label and make it so, there has to be corresponding traits. Seems like we could have swapped the term “pagan deity” for monster, been more accurate and not opened ourselves to the scrutiny of what makes a god. 

Who erects temples and ritually sacrifices to a being that offers nothing in return? At least round out the stereo type by making Baghuul give a bountiful harvest or untold powers or sight into the future or safe passage through underworld. Heck, I'd have settled for Baghuul giving out a fruit basket just so long as there was a reason he had temples to start with. Instead I have to believe that Sumerians worshiped an immortal minotaur who can walk between dimensions through portraits that humans have to create for him.

At least the occult expert believes it's pretty impossible that anyone is worshiping Baghuul (it's kind of sad we still have to give points out when they don't blame or accuse the pagans) through these murders, he just thinks Baghuul is some kind of symbol for initiation into a group (cue the humanist pagans-they go through the ritual but Baghuul is just a metaphor).

Beyond Baghuul failing to be God like—he fails to have limited power either. In the beginning the author finds a tape with a bunch of Baghuul killings in it. He sees the image of Baghuul and also apparently exposes his kids to these images somehow ( the how part is kind of unknown as he's always watching the images alone and he's very careful not to let his family in to his office, even locking it when he's not around). The question here is where does Baghuul keep all these super 8 copies of his murders? Does he keep them in his other realm and trot them out right after the house has been cleaned and ready for sale somehow? Does he allow the children he devours to stay around in our realm until they can plant his super 8 images?  Maybe Baghuul's God like power or gift is that he can drop an image of himself and all those he devours or kills where ever he wants?

Let's say I roll with the kid taking the video, hiding, and planting Baghuul's imaged before the child is eaten. How do these images end up in the author's old house with extended cuts? For a deity that can only come from one realm to another through graven images and possession of children he'll be eating, this guy has a lot of resources to get his picture out there. Maybe Baghuul should start working for a child's talent agency? I don't like that the movie didn't stick to the own limit of power they imposed on their imaginary god.

Another thing that strikes me as odd, is why does Baghuul destroy whole families? Why not take the susceptible kid and go? For that matter why not possess the vulnerable kid, use that one to take all other child family members and leave the adults behind fumbling? Seems like killing other family child members is a waste of food a least.

We could have had a really good monster movie about a being, I refuse to call him a god, who can travel from his world to ours through an image, implant himself in a human mind and possess people. We could have had people fumbling around who didn't understand or believe the rules. We could have had children luring other children into his clutches and slowing killing off adults who were in their way.  We could have seen parents strive to find ways to save their already possessed children through some form of exorcism or calling on a more powerful god or we could have watched parents murder possessed children in an attempt to save non-effected children and perhaps had a close up where realizing that their other child had been exposed to Baghuul and will be next, they choose a grizly murder over watching their child's soul slowly being devoured and giving power to this monster.

 We could have made Baghuul more ambitious and had him desire to slowly take over this realm or have him building strength to do battle with other gods and possibly gain more powers/realms. Instead we have a God who is not really a God with limited powers like those a polytheistic pantheon may support, who becomes all powerful when it suits the writers, basically creating a stereo typed mess in a stereo typed ritual manner.

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Welcome To Southern Pagan Muses!

I want to welcome everyone who found this site to the official opening of the Southern Pagan Muses blog!  Southern Pagan gets is name from the regional area the author Swift Rabbit live in.  She was a born and raised in Massachusetts, but moved to Huntsville Alabama approximately two years ago.  The changes in her religious experience have been profound, so she intends to bring that "southern" influence into her writings at this blog.  The name itself is both meant to describe the kind of writings found in the blog and be a play off of the famous Southern Living magazine.   Within the blog you will hopefully find welcome, an active discussion, and possibly some ideas to add into your own practice. 

The issues discussed in Southern Pagan will range based off of the season, and whims of Swift Rabbit.  The blog is meant mostly to be an editorial with a few shopping tips, ritual ideas, and tarot spreads thrown in the mix.

What We Do:
1. Southern Pagan Muses is committed to created between three to seven weekly posts that are no longer than one to five pages in length.  The goal is to be current and to the point.

2. Currently Southern Pagan has two reoccurring segments: one where Swift Rabbit blogs through the Delphic Maxims and the other where Swift Rabbit is blogging through the online Crystal Wind Rider Book of Shadows.  In her Delphic Maxims segment she is discussing what she does or does not find morally relevant to herself from the original list of maxims.  In the Crystal Wind Rider BOS segment she is commenting on the original work, adding to it in some areas, or taking a theme from the orginal work and expounding on it.

3. Other topics that will pop up often include magic, seasons, local gods, reiki, energy work, and other online posts.

A Little About Swift Rabbit:

In Swift Rabbit's religious life she is a Hard Polytheistic Monist Eclectic Neo-Pagan with strong outer court Wicca, Reiki, and traditional Italian lore influence.  She has been practicing for a decade, and writing for about as long.  Her religious experiences are primarily personal in nature and have been with guides and local gods.

In the rest of Swift Rabbit's life she is an avid writer, a home maker, an explorer, and works as a general manager in the food service industry.  

Weekly Tarot Share

I work a lot with tarot cards, for more on why I do that I have a post called: Why I Use Tarot.  This post is more of my attempt to bring my experience with tarot into the discussion here.  The following is the daily reading I've done for myself today.

Four Messages to Carry With me Today Per the Halloween Tarot  (review of tarot at aeclectic):

The Star: This card is thought of as the calm after the storm of the Tower. I've faced the unreality or intentional self deceptions with in my life plans (hopefully-I've tried to be very realistic, but I never know for sure until I'm knee deep in a mess) and what's left is the hope, inspiration, and beginnings of a new strong project. I believe that this card is talking about my blog directly here. I've wanted to write one one about religion for a while, and I've spent a few months looking up different ways to go about writing, getting my thoughts out to a larger audience successfully, how to online network, how I can do this and still work a full time job and live an active offline life. It's daunting, but a series of events in my personal life have signaled that now is the time.

So today, like the star card is a day of new beginnings, of hope, and creativity. My energy is focused on the spiritual/divine aspect in the this card more than the social and structural aspects of actually starting a successful blog. I know I have to face those and work as hard, perhaps harder on those ends, but in writing this post and drawing my cards, I have no choice but to turn inward and hear what it before me instead of what would make the best post or what I could drive people here with.

Two of Pumpkins: The two of pentacles (pumpkins in this deck) should be my repeating life theme. The card signifies that I am juggling two very differing aspects of my life trying to find balance and sure footing between two objects or ideas that need my time and attention. This particular deck shows a literal light hearted juggler balancing two pumpkins but if you look at the expression on the juggler's face, you will see her smile is very similar to a frown of concentration. Disaster can strike if she drops what she is managing. In the real world we often perceive a disastrous end to the “show” if we drop the ball too, but it is important to remember, that a good juggler, can drop everything in the act and recover for a huge audience applause at the end.

It seems I always have one foot in the intangible world and one in the real world. It's probably my major life struggle to balance this pull I feel towards an ideal life path and the reality it takes to get there. If money were no object, I know I'd float away in hypothetical and religious intangibles and never look back. I'd be happier and my life would be easier, but I think that I would lose my connection to others whom are struggling in much the same way. I don't always feel this way, especially when this card comes up, but my connection to something more than myself is a huge gift that I may use for positive change, so long as I don't drift too far into ether that I no long can relate to others.

This card is a huge message for me because I'd love to get lost in what I love, where I feel confident, and in work I feel I was placed here to do. However, to survive, I need to reserve some focus for my day job and for the people who are put in front of me and what their needs are. I have a lot to contribute, but I can't get so caught up in contributing my thoughts and experiences that I neglect the finances and people who have made it possible for me to speak up.

Ten of Pumpkins: This card shows a child wandering blindfolded towards an unknown object which he hopes to swing at, hit, and receive reward for. I think everyone knows the feeling of wandering in blind to what we hope is a good opportunity and working in good faith to see if we can achieve rewards. While the feeling is unsettling, this card is a good omen. It implies that hard earnest work will achieve massive rewards. Beyond the excitement and thrill of the candy in the pinata, there is a a ladder on the tree that will lead the child up to untold amounts of reward. Once I get the hang of this new project, taste the beginnings of rewards from it, the blindfold will come off (as I will have experience and know what I'm doing), and I'll be able to apply that knowledge easily to earn larger rewards.

Another thing this card points out that is important to nervous people like myself, is while we feel exposed and at risk during the beginning of our journey, we're not. Being in the dark and wandering around with a stick feels very scary. From viewing this card as an outsider though, I can see the danger to child (myself) is in is minimal. The ground is free of anything that may trip me, and the person pulling the string of the pumpkin while masked, is an impersonal obstacle. He has not targeted the child, and he doesn't care about the child's success or loss. He only cares about his specific job of moving the pinata up and down, there is no malice personal or otherwise from him, he is only doing his job to make sure those who hit the pinata have earned their rewards.

Six of Pumpkins: This reading was meant to be a standard three card pull, but as I was putting the deck away this one fell out and I decided to add it in. This does happen fairly often, whether it's because I have the world's smallest adult hands or because divine always has a little more to say than I intend to pull is immaterial as the cards always seem relevant and helpful. In this case the card is even in line with the suit my reading has been in.

This card re-emphasizes the unexpected success in the Ten of Pumpkins. The two cards diverge in where in the process they show me, as the Ten of Pumpkins shows me swinging blindly for reward, while the six of Pumpkins shows me already with these rewards in hand.

The concept that I will have more than enough is prevalent as the witch in the card is giving candy to trick or treaters without anxiety and there bowl she has is large and overflowing. This brings in a new element of the reading.  Once I have earned my rewards, I need to give back to the community which has helped me achieve success. I believe in charity, good work and giving back to the community both monetarily, through prayer/ritual, and in writing/giving shout outs/ adding positively to the discussion. This card is a reminder that achieving reward for hard work isn't the end of the journey, I have to remember to give back to my community and to give credit to all those who have helped me get to where I am.

Even though this is the beginning of my blog project and I have no following or anything but my writing and ideas right now, there are still people who have made this start possible without whom I'd never have attempted this. I need to keep those people in mind and remember to continue to support them. My mind wanders particularly to Jason Pitzl-Waters at the Wild Hunt who is the gold standard of pagan blogging and whom needs the community's financial support in particular right now (I've already donated if you have any income to spare go help Jason be independent pagan press, we need someone like him and his services working for us). My mind also wanders to Star Foster and her new blog Beyond Pink, she is currently transitioning in a huge move and life change. As someone who's done something similar I understand how much she needs community support. There are my gods, my guides, and a million personal people near me who have encouraged, bolstered, and otherwise helped me be at this juncture. I will strive to support them in their own projects and life paths as they have mine.

Over All Thoughts On the Reading:

This reading was heavily focused on both the creation of this new blog which is a baby I've been imagining for years and working towards actively for a few months, but it also drew in some interesting thoughts about maintaining my day job and keeping up relationships with people.  I liked the well rounded feeling of the reading. I like how it captured the mindset I had when I drew the cards and I thought that the advice was directly applicable to my life right now. While I was focused on today specifically, I did appreciate who the cards drew out what may be a possible outcome of my actions today.

An interesting thing to note is that while the reading starts out in the spiritual world and intangibles like inspiration and hope, it immediately grounds to the material work with pumpkins (pentacles in a traditional tarot). This shows that while the blog I'm starting may be about religion, god, and faith, there are specific material outcomes I want and there are direct steps I need to take to reach these goals. It won't be enough to connect to a divine line and write, I'll have to reach out to others to comment/read. I'll have to make writing tag lines that will pop on a search engine, and I'll have to create supporting media to bring others in. I have to do all this and balance working a full time 60-70hr a week job, keep up relationships with those close to me, and continue to practice as I see fit. It's a tall order, but it's something I'm going to try for.

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Delpic Maxim: 7 Percieve What You Have Heard

 

This is part of my commitment to posting once a week on the Delphic Maxim.  This post was originally added to my personal journal, and I am cross posting it here for the sake of continuity.  There has been some editing on my part to clean up the writing, correct spelling, and properly credit others of ideas they presented me.

While this is a maximum I struggle with, I certainly think it’s crucial to Paganism full stop. One defining aspect of paganism is that we all strive to be more conscious in our daily lives. There’s a couple of key things one has to do if one plans to be an active participant in his or her own life and the world around his or herself.

First one has to pay attention to what’s going on or listen. There’s a ton to observe, hear, know, explore, and discover. Open one’s eyes, ears, mind, and heart and all sorts of new information, thoughts, and experience will traipse in.

Second one has to interpret what one sees and hears. For example, a co-worker may sigh a lot but is that because she’s sad, bored, frustrated, has a medical problem, or something else? These little cues are things one can pick up on, inquire about, or in some cases simply make a judgment on in one’s own mind. Step two is also known as perceiving.

Third, once one has observed and interpreted one’s surroundings, one needs to respond in a thoughtful and reasoned manner. The thing is that if one doesn’t first listen and second stop and interpret what one is observing, there is absolutely no way to make a thoughtful, reasoned, and conscious decision regarding the world around oneself. There is no magic, intention, or depth to life without these first two steps. 

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Delphic Maxim #5: Be Overcome By Justice

This is part of my commitment to posting once a week on the Delphic Maxim.  This first post was originally added to my personal journal, and I am cross posting it here for the sake of continuity.  There has been some editing on my part to clean up the writing, correct spelling, and properly credit others of ideas they presented me.

How I read this: surrender to justice. This maxim is the first powerful and evocative one. I think of a tide surging over and through me. It is capable drowning with it's depth, suddenness, and force but the water itself can also be the birthplace of life and beauty.

 I think of looking up into the night sky on a new moon with all of the cosmos around me and how that makes me humbled and awed. I am a small insignificant part of this beautiful vicious universe. 

Then I think of the idea of following justice to the fullest and it makes me feel like I'm part of this irrefutable truth—an undeniable common good that will exist beyond me and sustained merit. It's the awe of being larger and more lasting than the self as opposed to the awe of my tiny place. Both are true and divine.

My less poetic self knows that justice is a human concept and any “good” I do may be lasting but is limited to human and possibly godly perspective. The stars don't care. When I'm in a less self righteous state of mind, I'll also happily acknowledge that Truth with the capital T may not exist and something that is just for me might not be just for others. In attempting to give others justice, I may even be perpetuating the opposite.

Above all, justice is hard to define in what it is, what it looks like, and in how best to create it in the world. How I can help champion justice or accept it in the case of wrong doing, if it changes face and structure. That we deserve justice is irrefutable, but what that looks like is a lot of wiggle room. I try to walk through my day with compassion and empathy. I like to think that if all of us stopped to consider or even to ask one another what we would think is fair and endeavored to provide it for one another, our world would look a great deal shinier. This seems to be against the grain of a lot of people, and I can't say I manage to be the change in the world I want to see every moment of every day, but I know what it looks like.  I'm grateful when I receive it. Were justice a warrior and the world a battlefield, I'd surrender to justice in a heart beat and serve her in whatever manner she deems best.

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Delphic Maxim #2: Obey the Law

This is part of my commitment to posting once a week on the Delphic Maxim.  This first post was originally added to my personal journal, and I am cross posting it here for the sake of continuity.  There has been some editing on my part to clean up the writing, correct spelling, and properly credit others of ideas they presented me.

I'm an American and the laws in this country are mostly good rules that I agree with. Day to day life I generally strive to obey the laws in paper and spirit. Some laws like rules of the road are not moral issues but just a set of guide lines that we need to follow as a society to get along. I actually value these guide line laws more than the “moral” ones because that's what makes day to day coexistence possible.

All that said there are laws I'm morally opposed to, anything that attempts to obstruct gay marriage or that may limit a gay/bi/trans person's ability to work in a chosen field or live in a certain area. I'm also against any laws that restricts women's reproductive rights or rights to health care of any variety. I'm against laws that enable corporations to care less about their workers or the community in which they do business. I'm against laws that allow banks and other money lending groups to give money out at rates or in amounts that the group knows an individual will never be able to repay.

There is a lot I can do to combat this within the scope of the law and I do that. I write to my representatives. I go to protests and marches. I raise money for awareness and to support my causes. I stay as well informed on these issues as I can and have learned how to politely but firmly discuss my view with others to help raise individual awareness. I support legal challenges to laws I find unconstitutional and I've had occasion to bring the threat of legal action down on those not following the letter of the law.

Often time legal means of change, in a country like the USA are better than illegal means. It distances one from “extremism” which has become a four letter word in our political discourse. To be extreme means to hate you opponent and to be willing to slaughter to get your way, pair this with 9/11 and your cause is rejected before you even have the chance to really present it.

Beyond that, we're a country that is as a whole willing to listen to different perspectives and views. Our lack of homogeneity makes it hard to get any one thought enacted or to standardize curriculum, but it also makes us used to the idea that there are other views and that these views have validity or something to teach us. I think one of the few good things about a 24hr news cycle is that it shows people have interest in what others have to say on a national and global level. The pundits our loud, annoying, and offensive, but that you can make a living shouting is something uniquely American.

This doesn't mean I'm opposed to illegal means of supporting my cause when I believe it will do more good than harm. I think Martin Luther King Jr proves that sometimes one needs to make extreme and illegal moves to get ones point across. When an establishment is so prejudiced and opposed to your view that they will not allow you to get permits for a march or an assembly, sometimes the best thing one can do is go ahead with the march or assembly anyway.

I would help plan and perform a gay marriage in any state regardless of legality. I would help a woman or group of women seek reproductive independence in a safe medically sound manner regardless of cost or legality. I would teach youth a full sex education class including abstinence and I would reject ever teaching a child intelligent design because anything less is an insult to knowledge and a mockery of what our schools systems are in place for.

Were there a draft right now, I would help contentious objectors avoid going to war. If there was a draft right now and women were not included in the lottery, I'd help anyone who wanted avoid the draft as no draft that effects half of a fit population can be fair or just.

There are forms of eco- “terrorism” that I can't help but admire.

Even as I tell others to respect the limits of public land and the rights to private property, I know I don't do so myself. When I see something interesting on my drive I do pull over to investigate and often photograph it. I have no idea if the land is public or private. I don't know if I'm trespassing and whether I've put myself it to true and deep danger. I know I'm a curious and impulsive person who felt called and responded. This one in particular I'd agree is petty and stupid, but not morally wrong. In some ways, I think attempting to bar access to land is the bigger moral imposition.

I've never been good at obeying that which I don't respect. It's often prudent to work within the law and to at least give lip service to the ideas or intent behind the law. It's not a moral mandate. Heck, one of the Gods I follow is Colombia and even she doesn't make it a Godly mandate to follow the law. Liberty, justice, and truth first for her and the law will follow from there.

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Delphc Maxim # 1: Follow God

This is part of my commitment to posting once a week on the Delphic Maxim.  This first post was originally added to my personal journal, and I am cross posting it here for the sake of continuity.  There has been some editing on my part to clean up the writing, correct spelling, and properly credit others of ideas they presented me.

My first and instinctive response to “Follow God” is a simple “no”. It doesn't last long, but part of me violently rejects the idea that I am a being meant to obey or follow above all else. Chalk it up to my problems with authority figures I guess.

Coming to Gods, was a long and slow process.  I started my journey into paganism by leaving God.  I felt divine and "other" presence and I realized it wasn't though the Abrahamic God.  I didn't know what I was feeling, but I thought it might be pagan, so I settled over in this direction.  

For the majority of my time as a Pagan, I've been without Gods of any sort.  I've had guides, local guardians, land spirits, and plant spirits.  I've called on angels.  I've traveled to a place where there is nothing but divine energy and where I was made to understand that everything in all worlds and planes is a form of this divine energy.  Such a thing is so far removed from human motives, it can be hard to consider a God though I never had trouble classifying this Energy as Divine.   

I was Godless until I moved to Alabama and was literally greeted by the local God of the region.  We've been working together and getting to know one another for almost two years.  It's still a state that is not at all natural to me. We negotiate a lot. We are fluid and respectful of each other. 

 The word follow is too forceful to describe the interactions between myself and my Gods.  Its tangled up in the Christian sense of surrendering the self and restricting one's nature to please a deity. It takes away my will or what I want from the equation entirely and simply requires I kneel to all demands. Objectively, I realize follow doesn't have to have any of these implications.  Emotionally, it's a word I reject often before I've thought too much as to why.

There are all sorts of way to follow. Before I had Gods, there was still something sacred, worthy of respect, and bigger than me in the world. I took time to acknowledge, admire, and learn from this nameless experience based thing. Often this feeling came from the natural world for from random acts of kindness others demonstrated. It was something I valued as transcendent and core to my own life. These were moments in time that I needed to honor and that I would cherish and carry with me. I think this could qualifies as following God so long as the idea of God in general is not required to have too many human characteristics or human like will.

 If following God means to acknowledge and honor God then most moments of most days I'm the model of this maxim.

On the other hand, if following God is something that's done without question, without discussion, and without hesitation then I really only have a 50/50 track record.

Furthermore: I don't think Gods inherently know what is best for a human or for me in particular. I'm not certain one should follow every edict a god may choose to make.

Star Foster thinks there are two bits of criteria to judge one's ability to follow god. She asks us to consider:

“1. Is what we are pursuing godly, sacred and of high virtue?

2.Are we following that instead of trying to drive the train ourselves?”

I have no qualms with her first meditative question assuming what's godly is paletable.

The second concern bothers me though. I'm all about driving my own train. Gods might be like life's GPS, but I should be able to take a left when they want me to take a right.  My ability to go "off program" is especially important if while traveling to said destination I want to explore the farm stand over on the left, or I notice heavy construction to the right and want the GPS to re-route me away from there.  GPS's don't know all the driving conditions or all the possible stops a long the way, which is a great analogy for pagan gods who are not all knowing or all powerful.  They may be leading me to a grocery store but not know about the farmers market I spot along the way.  I know where I prefer to shop at.

The point: there are perfectly good benign reasons not to follow Gods. Indeed I wouldn't even necessarily call a farm stand stop directly disobeying Gods so much as leisurely following. While my interactions with a more human minded deity is very new, there has already been a time where I went left when deity said right and they just re-routed me to where they wanted me to be because in that instance it meant that much to them. If Gods can do this, I don't see what it matters how willingly or immediately I follow. When they want me to get there, I'll be there.

We all know what if best for ourselves or at least this is a core truth we should all strive to find with or without Gods. I think we need to follow the call that works best for oneself whether that involves Gods or not.
 

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