As You Blog So Mote It Be

Time for another round-up of the best writing and commentary happening in the Pagan blogosphere. Lets start out with a bit of good news. Heathen blogger Dave Haxton was pleasantly surprised when his fresh milk and egg delivery business was profiled on the Paul Harvey News and Comment radio show!

“Sure enough, about 12:43 into the 15 minute show you heard about Dave Haxton and his milk and egg home delivery business in Lebanon, Indiana! You can hear the whole show in WMA format (available, I assume, for the next week) by going to the site and selecting the Wednesday noon segment. I managed to record the relevant bit (a whopping 20 seconds worth) off the air from a local source here (MP3 format, 102k). It’s pretty weird to hear your name on national news, especially, as my darling wife added, not for something illegal!”

Meanwhile our favorite “denim adept” Sunfell has posted an essay at The Juggler that clears away a lot of illusions about Pagan community.

“Setting a ‘good example’ sometimes means engaging in unpleasant or “politically incorrect” things. A proper Path is a balance of Light and Darkness, not just a one-sided fluff-fest (and I am addressing the “dark” people too- fluffiness is not confined to “light” Paths). Anyone who pretends otherwise needs to take a long sabbatical from their practice and reconsider this. “Unity” is another delusion that should be thrown out with PLPT [Perfect Love and Perfect Trust]. We are happily individual, with our individual Circles and practices. Anyone who seeks to unify the community is doomed to fail. The Pagan community is an “Us”, but we are also a large collection of “Us”. The Big US can come together from time to time for festivals, holidays, and to rally for a cause, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again that we get along better as individual groups without one overriding leadership. Each individual and individual group should be responsible for their own doings. Period.”

Chas Clifton in his blog takes a look at a different community of modern Pagans, sacred prostitutes.

“One group did so in the interest of improving the image and social standing of today’s sex workers…Others seek to meld the commercial and sacred roles. They may seek to expand the boundaries of how we express spirituality. As part of the larger work of Goddess spirituality, the ‘prostitute’ is redefined as ‘priestess’…clearly the combination of women + sex + religious worship is still a potent one”

On the subject of groups that receive little respect in America; Isaac Bonewits tackles the pre-Christian origins of why liberals lose elections and why so many Americans hate the French so darn much.

“Intellectuals in Germanic/Anglo/Latin cultures are only allowed to be “under” the warriors, never “on top.” So when a politician talks about the need for a sensitive analysis of complex issues, rather than just hitting The Enemy over the head with clubs, swords, or bombs, he is instantly suspected of not being “tough” enough to lead the warriors–not just because “tough men don’t think hard” (as amply demonstrated by George W. Bush) but because on a very deep subconscious level, the top warrior is the top dog who gets to force the other males and all females to be passive receptacles. Being led by an intellectual or a woman is an insult to their manhood because it violates the pack order they see as based on implied or overt force.”

Continuing the theme of respect, Pagan author Grey Cat who suffers from a chronic illness ruminates on the phrase ‘s/he really meant well’.

“I’m not sure there are any more damning words that can be spoken about a friend or possible new friend. Obviously, the person has insulted you or hurt your feelings, otherwise you wouldn’t need to make the statement. Having a chronic illness or an invisible disability gives you lots of practice attempting to mean the above words when you say them to yourself. I suspect that a good many people, particularly people in the Pagan world, have internalized a destructive New Age belief: i.e. that illness is due to somehow holding your mind wrong. In other words they don’t have to sympathize with you because it’s your fault. In fact, it allows them to disbelieve in your illness in a very subtle but important way.”

Finally, Inanna posts in her blog about why Pagans get along well with science.

“I like a good fantasy as much as the next Witch, but my ultimate loyalties lie with the reality-based community, and I couldn’t be a Witch if in affirming my spirituality I had to disavow science. It’s a common misconception about Pagans – one I myself held for many years – that we believe in the supernatural and are unscientific. But Paganism is a naturalistic path. Many Pagans are science geeks and wonks. Many of us may also believe that science isn’t the only paradigm for knowledge; personal experience, and poetic interpretation of that experience, is also valued. (And here we could have a discussion about what counts as knowledge … but we won’t.) But I’ve never known a Pagan who was so willfully ignorant as to deny evolution, and I’ve never known one as anti-intellectual as the fundamentalist Christians who endorse so-called “Intelligent Design” theory.”

That is it for now. Keep reading Pagan blogs! Oh and in a final note from me, today is Hiroshima Day, the 60th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many interfaith groups are holding local observances, vigils, services, protests and prayers in hopes that such an event never happens again and that our world leaders step away from the madness of nuclear weaponry. Let us all add our prayers to that worthy goal.

Tags: Neopaganism