Samhain: Turning Over a New Leaf

(I was inspired to give this long-neglected blog another try after seeing that someone had subscribed. Hi!)

I had a relatively low-key Samhain & Halloween this year. I attended a ritual with the Mists of Stone Forest Grove, a group which I have been worshiping with in the past year. Due to various circumstances, I hadn’t been to one of their rituals since the Spring Equinox. I volunteered for the Nature Spirits invocation, though since it had been such a long time, I was a little rusty on extempore speaking. As I have in the past, I called on the animals of the land, water and sky. I named various birds and fishes, but oddly for land I picked the badger and hedgehog. The badger does live here in the Upper Midwest, though I have never seen one in the wild. The hedgehog, however does not live in the Americas.  I am going to think about what those animals mean, but I will save that for other posts so I don’t go off on a tangent…

Our Patron & Matron of the rite were the Dagda and the Morrigan. For the remembrance (an object used to help connect/remember the ritual) gorp was distributed. Obviously this was a last-minute choice that was rather silly. Phil tried to connect it by saying that the raisin was the crone aspect of the grape (Morrigan) and that the peanuts represented the Dagda’s club. A bit of a stretch, if you ask me. I thought some of these were going to be offered to the Gods, but then I remembered the Mists grove doesn’t use food for offerings.

The human focus of the ritual was on setting goals for the new year. Phil (one of the leaders of the grove) referred to the goal-setting as “planting seeds” but turning over a new leaf seems a better metaphor for this season. Some people wrote theirs down on pieces of paper that would later be burned. That is what they consider offerings.

My goals for this year are to once and for all finish the dang ADF Dedicant program, and to finish learning to drive and get my license. It sounds rather mundane, but it is a means to get to rituals in outlying areas and have more job options. This post is a part of the Dedicant path, as reviews of holiday rituals are a requirement. I have written a bunch of these in the past couple years, but the rituals are required to be 8 consecutive holidays.

At a Crossroads

For the past several years I’ve been feeling rather- spiritually adrift. I guess since my life has been changing so much, what with graduating from college and trying to make it in the “real world”, that things don’t always make sense anymore.

I joined Unity Unitarian several years back and I’ve been feeling like it isn’t the right place for me. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this post so I will expand on it another time.

I haven’t been very connected to ADF lately. I have tried working on the Dedicant program since college (I joined in- 2006 was it?) It’s not that it’s hard, but I keep getting preoccupied with other things. Of course college was a bad time to do it, but even after that I went thru looong periods of unemployment. I really like ADF, there are many creative and interesting people involved in it. I tried starting a protogrove one time, but it didn’t get off the ground mainly because the interested individuals worked nights, or were busy dealing with unemployment or other issues.

John (Star) began Red Pine Protogrove and I’ve gone to several of their rituals. They are great folks. Problem is, it’s based more in the northern suburbs and I get around by bus. I sometimes can get rides but I would prefer a group where I can usually get to events by myself. Recently Star stepped down as Protogrove Organizer, and I haven’t heard who (or if) will be replacing him.

One problem I do have with ADF is that I find their ritual structure too complex, there is so much involved in setting up & taking down the ritual, that adding more in just seems like too much. It would probably make more sense in a larger grove.  So I have been exploring another Druid group, Mists of Stone Forest. But they have the same problem of frequently holding rituals in far-off places. Why can’t there be any inner-city Druid/Celtic groups?!

Finding Meaning in Suffering

In Christian & Jewish theologies a lot of time is spent on theodicy, or “the problem of evil/suffering”. That is, why would a good, loving and all-powerful God allow suffering? Since polytheists generally don’t believe their deities are all-powerful we don’t have this theological problem in the same way.  That doesn’t mean we don’t struggle with these questions however. Sometimes in fact I wonder if Christians get more comfort out of their belief in a savior than we get out of our religions.

For most of my life I haven’t worried about this much. While I had my ups and downs, in general I was still a fairly sheltered and privileged child of the white educated middle class. I had everything I needed, and I didn’t need to worry. Everything was taken care of by my parents. I had more of a concern for others who were less fortunate than for myself. But for the past year or so I’ve been beset with chronic unemployment, poverty and various other problems. Many people around the States and the world are dealing with these things too, often for the first time.

Emotionally and spiritually I’ve responded to this with frustration and anger at myself, Divinity and society around me. And I’ve been completely lost and confused. Do any divine beings care about me? Does any sort of divinity exist? Is there any purpose or meaning in my life?

I’ve been realizing this is a very counterproductive approach that won’t solve anything. I’m taking a step back to look at the big picture. Are there things I can learn from the whole experience?

Maybe this is both a  mundane & spiritual ordeal of initiation into adulthood. Shamans or their equivalents in various cultures often go through a crisis of some kind. One can respond to suffering by becoming  more loving and compassionate or more embittered and cynical. It can give a new perspective, as someone like me from a relatively privileged background gets a new understanding of poverty and working-class experience. I’ve long been an idealistic and altruistic person working for various social justice issues, but how can you truly be an advocate if you don’t know what the people you advocate for go through?

This crisis has also taught me strength, toughness and self-reliance. All values that Celtic and other warrior cultures embraced, but that I really had little appreciation for.

What would you like to see?

With all the time I spend online I have no excuse not to blog! But I am curious- to anyone who reads this, what would you like to read about? More about my personal path/traditions? Social justice, identity or ethical issues? Interfaith issues? Occasional book reviews? Media commentary? I have a Livejournal where I write more about my personal path & spiritual training, while this is a more public-oriented blog.

I will be trying some more synchroblogging/carnival participation and getting on blog listings.

Leadership Resources

I have long observed that in groups there is often a tendency for a few people to do most of the work and be “super-volunteers” while the rest just show up but don’t get more involved. Granted, some people have more time than others, and are more passionate and dedicated. But still it can be a problem as the super-volunteers get burned out or sick of doing everything, and the group becomes too dependent on them. This is especially a problem in Pagan and other all-volunteer organizations, though I see it in churches and other places that do have paid staff. This phenomenon is called “social loafing”- in which people work less hard in a group than they would alone. Jessie Olsen, a fellow ADF Druid has some articles on social loafing & group dynamics in groves.  (They are at the bottom of the page)

Jessica Karels, an acquaintance of mine who is a leader in the local polyamory community has written an excellent series of posts about these problems, and related concepts like the definition of community, and how to be an optimal leader. Another problem I have seen is that the super-volunteers aren’t just enthusiastic, but that they like the attention, status etc. that comes with their involvement.  Jessica talks a bit about this in her posts.

Take ideas from wherever you find them (Jessica finds some from evangelical mega-churches and Fortune 500 companies!) even seemingly unlikely places can be helpful sometimes. Then adapt them to the structures, values and needs of your own coven, grove, or other organization.

Slaves to the Gods?

This is a post I made in June and never finished

Lately I’ve been noticing a small but growing number of people calling themselves “godslaves”. These individuals are generally of a mystic bent, Norse or Hellenic, and have a strong devotion to a particular deity, to the point where they see themselves as being “owned” by the divinity. There is often a connection or crossover with kinky Master/slave relationships.  I have not so far seen this type of language used among Celtic polytheists, though it may be out there.

While we make think of slavery as being a thing of the past, it still exists in the form of human trafficking, especially of a sexual nature. Out of respect for this I really think the terms master and slave should be avoided. Now, from what I understand it does not necessarily mean the god has total power over the human. But it still seems a degradation of  human dignity and spirit to choose the name “slave” for oneself. Isn’t “servant” good enough?

I wonder about the social/psychological forces behind this trend. I know many Pagans seek out intense, ecstatic experiences and sometimes a loss of control is a part of that.  Also I wonder what the ethnic background of these “godslaves” is- I bet pretty much all white. I have a hard time believing African-Americans would think it was cool to call themselves “slaves”. It just seems to me like there’s a lot of privilege behind that, and I challenge people to really think about the implications of this practice.

More information on real slavery:

HumanTrafficking.org

Campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking

FBI Page

A Hawk Wind Blows

I just returned last night from a weekend trip with my partner to the Iron Range and Duluth, Minnesota. We had a wonderful time biking on the Mesabi Trail (20 miles in total!) through the deep pine and birch forests and saw a painted turtle on the trail. Yesterday in Duluth we went up to Hawk Ridge , the highest point in Duluth to watch the hawk migrations. Dan, an avid bird watcher had told me this was a great time and place to do this but I hadn’t realized it was an entire nature reserve. Northeast winds had just begun that day, which really favors flying conditions. Despite this we only spotted a few hawks. Still, it was a treat to see birds we rarely do in the Twin Cities and we had a gorgeous view of the city and lakeshore below.

Upon perusing MetaPagan today, an article by Lupa was highlighted relevant to avian ecology. While I was aware that possessing eagle feathers is illegal in the U.S., I didn’t realize that extended to other birds of prey. And no, the laws don’t distinguish how you acquired the feather (or talon, beak etc) as that is difficult to prove.

I’m surprised that I haven’t seen the issue she raises discussed before in the Pagan community. I know I have a collection of feathers I’ve found on the ground various places, but they are mostly from song birds and water fowl that are fairly common- blue jays, mallards, swans etc.  Just to be on the safe side though, I’m going to familiarize myself with these laws. And I suggest you do the same.

If we are to truly walk our talk about protecting and respecting Mother Earth and her creatures, we need to follow these and other environmental laws. I know modern Pagans often have a libertarian/anarchistic streak and reject authority, but these are not arbitrary bureaucratic regulations. I also think disregard for this also says something about the pursuit of ego and material things getting in the way of true spirituality.

Iris

Last summer when I visited Bozeman for the first in a long time, I noticed how many rainbows appeared in the sky. At home, seeing a rainbow is a relatively rare occurrence. But it seems that in the Gallatin Valley, the mountains blocking clouds result in the short rainstorms that tend to produce rainbows. As with at home, they tend to appear in the North.

So because of this I’ve come to associate Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows (that’s what her name literally means) with Bozeman.  She is a messenger of the Olympians, and come down to Earth on her rainbow. Perhaps the Greeks believed that whenever a rainbow was sighted she was on one of her errands. One book I read said that she was in particular the messenger of Hera, whereas Hermes was a messenger of the Olympians in general, and Zeus in particular. Certainly though, she is an older divinity than Hermes, and the rest of the Olympians. Iris is the daughter of the sea god Thaumas and Elektra the ocean nymph. Like her sisters the Harpies, she is depicted as winged. That’s about all the information about her that’s available, but I often wonder if in modern times, we might be able to learn more about the lesser known deities through our experiences with them.

In Norse mythology, the Aesir are believed to travel to Midgard, the Earth on Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. So from both these sources we can see that the ancients as rainbows as symbolizing a connection between Earth & Sky, our world and the divine one. So whenever I see a rainbow, I’m reminded that the Gods are closer than we think.

Dear readers, if you have any thoughts or experiences about Iris or rainbows in other spiritual contexts, please share in the comments below and link to a post if you have one.

Independence from Politics

I spent Independence Day enjoying my country’s natural beauty at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Later in the evening I enjoyed watching the firework display coming from the county fairgrounds. It was fun being in Montana for the Fourth as they allow much more kinds of firecrackers than Minnesota does, and you can get even scarier stuff from the reservations! The next day I had a little ritual by myself, honoring the Founders of the nation, Lady Liberty, and the spirits of the land.

Though it’s been over a week since the Fourth of July, folks are still debating how it should be observed in the Op-Ed pages of the Bozeman Chronicle. Should it be a simple family-oriented civic holiday or an opportunity for political speech- or both? Specifically this is in response to the Tea Party anti-government spending protests that took place across the country, and have been continually taking place since the Stimulus Package was announced.  There was a counterprotest by a group calling itself “The Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus“.  Rather than having any particular political message, they gathered to point out what they saw as the absurdities of the Tea Party-goers.

Now this post is not about what I think about the Tea Party or Gay Logger factions, or the Stimulus Package and President Obama. I will reserve those opinions for another time. I wholeheartedly support my fellow citizens’ exericising their rights to assemble and speak, whether I agree or not. Some people seem to think that criticizing a group of protesters is the same as silencing their freedom of speech. This is not the case.

This may seem odd for a political blog, but I think we need to take a break from politics on Independence Day. Or at least from divisive, partisan politics. We’re all going through a difficult time now and we really need to come together. We won’t all agree on the solutions but we need to learn to debate civilly. That’s the only way a republic can work, and with the growing divisiveness of political discourse in this country I fear our democracy may be in danger of falling apart.

We won’t all agree on the solutions but we need to learn to debate civilly. That’s the only way a republic can work, and with the growing divisiveness of political discourse in this country I fear our democracy may be in danger of falling apart. Instead, let’s focus on what we have in common- the Constitution. The principles our country was founded upon. We may not agree exactly how they should be interpreted, but we can agree that they are important.

Other Pagan 4 of July Posts:

The Feast of Libertas at Executive Pagan,

Celebrating the Spell of Democracy at Chrysalis

Let Freedom Ring at Owl’s Wings

Lady Liberty Goddess of Democracy at Full Circle News

Spirits of Bozeman

I am enjoying myself so much that I’ve decided to extend my stay in Bozeman, Montana for the month of July.  This is a beautiful city, nestled between several mountain ranges: the Bridgers to the northeast, the Big Belt in the north, Tobacco Root mountains to the west, Gallatin range to the southwest and Hyalites to the south. It is amazing seeing mountains everywhere, coming from an area where there are none.  And I can also see the stars here.  The air is dryer- which is nice in Minnesota it often gets too humid to breathe in the summer. We’ve been getting more rain than is probably typical out here- while on the other hand it’s been dryer in usually verdant Minnesota!

Last week I went hiking with my family in Gallatin National Forest. We went all the way up to the snow caps.  I’ll try to get some pictures posted here. We saw some  bear tracks but no bear, which is probably a good thing! It is cool to see one from a distance though.