Let’s see… four posts over the Thanksgiving holiday, and one copy & paste post since. Notice a trend? My paying job supports everything else I do, but over the past few weeks it’s gone from “extremely” busy to “how much longer can I keep this up?” busy. I have some thoughts I’m working on now, if I can find time to write them down. And I did manage to get down to the Cathedral of Hope last night to rehearse... Read more

If you’re in the DFW area, please come out to the 17th annual Winter SolstiCelebration. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the second largest Solstice celebration in the country. This will be my third year as a participant – I’ll be a “wandering Druid”. 17th annual2009 Winter SolstiCelebration Joy & Wonder Friday December 18, 2009Solstice service from 7 to 9 pm ~ Yule Fest from 6 to 7 pm & 9 to 10 Cathedral of Hope5910 Cedar Springs... Read more

And now for something completely different… Unlike seemingly everyone else in the Pagan and UU communities, I like sports. I liked playing sports when I was a kid, although I wasn’t very good at anything. I took up running at age 36 and completed two marathons and numerous shorter races before injuries and weight gain forced me to stop. But I still like watching sports, and when the new Cowboys Stadium opened earlier this year, I wanted to see it.... Read more

The following reflection was written by Amy Martin, the Moonlady. She sent it out on her alternative spirituality list, Moonlady News, which now has over 3000 members. She graciously gave permission to repost it here. As a reminder, Winter SolstiCelebration is only three weeks away. I’ve had a part in the opening ritual the past two years – this year I’m going to serve as a wandering Druid. Enjoy – and thank you Amy! FOR IT IS LIFE~ by Amy... Read more

Maybe I’m just now paying attention or maybe the real witch hunts are getting worse, but I’m seeing more and more stories about them. Via The Wild Hunt, here’s a story on witch hunting in Nepal. And here’s another one from Nigeria. The circumstances should be familiar to those of us who’ve studied the European witch hunts: difficult times, a search for someone to blame, beating and killing outsiders and the weakest in the community, and zealots looking to make... Read more

Estes Park, Colorado – 2004 Mother Goddess and Father God,I thank you for the Life I enjoy. I thank you for my family of blood and my family of spirit,may I always show them the love and support they have shown me. I thank you for the Land, the Sky, and the Sea,may I always treat them with honor and respectand remember than I am a part of themand they a part of me. I thank you for all the... Read more

You can’t attend too many Pagan circles without hearing someone say “so mote it be!” It’s one of those phrases whose meaning quickly becomes clear from its context: “may it be so” or the stronger “so must it be.” I can’t hear it without thinking of Yul Brynner as Ramses in The Ten Commandments saying “so let it be written, so let it be done!” I never paid much attention to the phrase until I heard it in a Baptist... Read more

Via AlterNet, here’s an essay titled “Our Produce-or-Die Culture Is Killing Us — And We’re Idiotically Grinning and Bearing It” by Joe Bageant. His thoughts are summed up toward the end, where he says “the truth is that we are all very commonly issued products of a profit driven workhouse where no human commons is allowable, lest the workers find meaning and joy in each other as human beings, and perhaps become less work driven, less productive and less profitable.”... Read more

This morning’s service at DUUF featured the music of Vocal Magic. Here’s my introductory reflection: *************************** In the 1965 film Shenandoah, Jimmy Stewart portrayed Charlie Anderson, a Virginia farmer who tries to keep his farm and his family out of the Civil War. Early in the film, Charlie sits down at the table with his family and says grace before dinner. “Lord,” he says, “we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It... Read more

Gus diZerega keeps a Pagan blog on Beliefnet. As many of us – particularly UUs – do, he tends to focus on politics and the here and now of religion. But he’s got a new post up titled “Are the Gods in Us?” and it’s exactly the kind of religious thought piece I most enjoy reading (and writing, when I have something worth writing about). He writes in the context of Drawing Down the Moon, the Wiccan ritual in which... Read more