image from the Robin Wood Tarot If I’ve been quiet recently, it’s at least in part because I’ve been bombarded with emotional reminders of just how fragile our lives are, how quickly they can come crashing down, and how little control we really have. The news keeps bringing examples of lives damaged or even ruined by overzealous police and prosecutors. My job appears to be safe, but we’ve lost people to layoffs who’ve been with the company for 15 years... Read more

In response to a DMN Religion Blog comment suggesting that Christians should call Jesus “Yehoshua,” I posted a comment with some polytheistic ideas. This led to a question from an uber-Catholic blog regular calling himself “RelicMM:” JohnFranc: I mean no offense. Many times I have wondered where your loyalties actually lie with regard to religion. Will you appease my curiosity? I would never challenge your free will to believe whatever you choose. And my answer: Relic, I take no offense... Read more

I got the cable bill (actually, it’s the cable, internet, and phone bill) a couple days ago – it’s gone up $20 a month. When I complained, I was told that the package discounts I got when I added the phone service had expired. This is the new rate – pay it or drop the service. I’m furious. I feel like I’m being screwed. I want to scream and throw things. I hate that there’s no competition. If Market Street... Read more

Last Thursday night ABC’s Nightline featured a debate on “does Satan exist?” I didn’t see it. For one thing, it didn’t look interesting enough to keep me up past my bedtime. And I had a pretty good idea what it would look like. Dallas Morning News Religion Blogmeister Jeff Weiss said “This was to real debate what air guitar is to Carlos Santana. It may have been entertaining in parts, in a car-wreck-and-flames kinda way. But edifying? Smarter to have... Read more

Notre Dame University has invited President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker at this Spring’s graduation. As Obama’s pro-choice, pro-stem cell research policies are at odds with Catholic teaching, this is generating some conflict in Catholic circles. Christianity Today has an interview with Francis Beckwith, a philosophy professor at Baylor University who resigned as president of the Evangelical Theological Society to become a Catholic. The complete interview can be found here – I want to concentrate on one thing... Read more

On Friday, Cathy and I went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. Here’s the short review: if you can afford the time and money, it’s a chance to see some fascinating artifacts that are 3500 years old. But if you saw “The Quest for Immortality” in 2003 or Hatshepsut in 2006-7 (both at the Kimball in Fort Worth), you may be disappointed with Tut. Details are here on the DMA website. If you’re going,... Read more

Last night was our CUUPS Ostara Circle, a beautiful ritual led by Bonnie and based off a previous Ostara ritual composed by Dolores. We had 35 in the circle plus another 7 in childcare, which is a good turnout for us. My week of preparation was helpful in a general sense, but I can’t say it made a huge difference in the way I experienced the ritual. Still, I think it was a good start, and I will definitely do... Read more

As of 6:44 AM CDT today it’s officially Spring. A Happy Equinox and Blessed Ostara to everyone. Last night’s meditation on the Goddess Ostara was difficult to describe. As you may (or may not) know, Ostara is a Germanic goddess, sometimes spelled Eostre – from which we get the Christian term “Easter”. Not much is known about her other than that she’s a Mother Goddess. I went to a lecture on Egypt several years ago that tied Ostara to the... Read more

After only four days of “preparation,” I’m finding it difficult to maintain an intensely spiritual mindset. I seem to be able to handle normal day-to-day distractions, but let something unusual (or unusually irritating) pop up and concentration becomes nearly impossible. It’s times like this that make me think I should abandon Paganism and become a Buddhist. But somehow I think I’d have the same problems. I spent some extra time in meditation last night, but all I got on the... Read more

I think I need to begin by stating that I don’t see light and dark as good and evil. We need a balance of light and dark in our lives – we don’t need a balance of good and evil. I’ve heard it said that good is balance and evil is imbalance… I’m not sure I agree with that, but I do agree that evil needs to be eliminated, not balanced. In this meditation, I see the light as the... Read more