Best of the Pagan Blogs

Time to take a look at some of the best writing in the Pagan blogosphere.

First off, prayers and well wishes to Chas Clifton currently forced from his home due to a forest fire raging in Pueblo, Colorado.

“Around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday the telephone rang with a recorded message from the sheriff’s department. “Have a plan,” it said, in essence. We had walked up to look at the fire again (sorry, no photo), and we did not like what saw. It was moving north along a ridge. At the end of that ridge, a steep forested slope leads down to a narrow gravel road. Our house is across the road and down a bit.”

You can follow the ongoing story at his Nature Blog. Meanwhile Brenda Daverin at the Red Raven’s Roost tells us why she considers herself a Pagan patriot.

“I know the Founding Fathers did not consider polytheism to be a sign of a bad American…I know “my country, right or wrong” means “It’s my country whether it’s behaving itself according to its ideals or not” instead of “love it or leave it”…”

Read the rest of her post for the whole list. Pagan veteran Sunfell responds to a news article about male soldiers in Iraq raping female soliders with her own recollections of being a woman in active service.

“I was not a person- I was a ‘female’. It did not matter how good a tech I was, I was not a colleague, I was a ‘female’, and my mere presence degraded the place. Or worse, I was seen as some kind of ‘temptation’, one that certain of my colleagues could not resist. I resisted them, but the constant low level harassment and innuendo and my constant guardedness wore me down and hardened into hatred of any male who tried to proposition me. On deployments, I kept a heavy maglight under my pillow to blind and bash the skull of any intruder who tried to mess with me. I also found ways of keeping my door shut, alarming the knob with bells, and putting chairs under the knob. Even today, I have a bell on my bedroom doorknob.”

The Zero Boss is wondering what Christians in Tulsa Oklahoma are smoking (this time in regards to their now defeated demands to include depictions of the Christian Genesis in a local zoo display).

“Seriously, people, would a little religious tolerance kill you? I know if makes you feel high and mighty to believe that your myth kicks my myth’s ass. But these stories are metaphors – fanciful tales meant to capture the spirit of Divinity in ways that spark the human imgaination. As Joseph Campbell pointed out in Occidental Mythology, “Genesis” isn’t even an original work, but a cobbling-together of disparate, fragmented texts. Your account has no more inherent truth than the creation myths of Hinduism, or Zoroastrianism, or even Scientology. And yet you, today, in the 21st century, insist on enshrining this as literal truth. If you folks weren’t so anti-drug (and generally anti-pleasure, for that matter), I’d ask you for a bowl of whatever you’ve been puffing.”

Finally, UK Pagan blog The Spicy Cauldron looks for meaning after the 7/7 London bombings.

“For those who died, we – David and I – grieve with all others of good conscience and humanity. For those who survived with injuries or are still struggling to live in hospital, I pray they all make as full recoveries as anyone can. All religious fundamentalism is blasphemy against the Divine; it takes the heart of joy which lies within true faith and turns it to darkness. Be it born-again Christians or Islamic terrorists, the world should unite against their words and deeds. Pluralism, tolerance, understanding and love will have their day; indeed, they already do. The darkness may never be entirely defeated but I do believe it will always be held in check, in balance, by the power of the righteous spirit which dwells within most of us. We can see that spirit in the eyes of those who survived the terror attack; those who rushed to the scenes with medical expertise and brave hearts. Thank the Goddess for such people: the firefighters, the paramedics, the ordinary people who helped because they could. If we never descend into darkness and terror, we can never fully appreciate the power of the light. We can see that light after the terror attacks in full effect. It is dazzling. The cowards will never win anything. They only serve as tools to show us how much better our own spirits are which reside in us and spend time now mourning for those spirits released in such a pointless and violent way. I pity the terrorists. I pity all those who see violence as having any use, for their hearts are hollow and their feet made of lead.”

Have a good Sunday, may the gods bless your endeavors.

Tags: Neopaganism