Posts Tagged No Unsacred Place

I don’t ordinarily think of myself as a “water person”, as most Pagans talk about these things elementally. But I am quite attached to the concept of watershed as place–and, in particular, of watersheds as places that really mark who we are. I can say I’m an American, or a Minnesotan, or even a Minneapolitan, but I feel most authentic saying I’m a Twin Cities Watershedian (OK, so the terminology needs work).

I explore that use of water-as-place in “Roots in the Water”, my newest post at No Unsacred Place. The results are all wet–in the best possible way.

I get restless, this time of year. It’s not a migratory pull, per se, but it is a pull to get out of my house and move. By mid-February, I’ve been cooped up inside a lot since long about December. I’m caught in a bad spot this year: not enough snow for my snowshoes; just too much snow (and ice) for cycling. Plus, it’s cold. I walk in the tunnels on my lunch breaks at work, but I miss sky. Fresh air. Hope.

Today I’ve compensated by posting “The Pull of Home” at No Unsacred Place. It’s a story about an urge to move so strong it pulls millions of animals thousands of miles every year. Turns out there’s even a German word for it, Zugunruhe, meaning “migratory restlessness”. We call it cabin fever. I think the result is the same: we turn toward a far horizon and move, not entirely sure where we’re going, not entirely caring. Just needing to move, perhaps to remind ourselves we still can.

Last night I besat myself at our central altar to work some very simple magic. Then I froze up. Then I pushed past the frozen place to reach an understanding of myself and my magic like I’ve never had before. It was one of those Eureka! moments that helps clarify my understanding of who I am spiritually. I got so excited that I had to write all about it at No Unsacred Place.

The Magic of Here

Once a week, I go to the library and page through a delightful magazine called Science News, catching up on what’s new in the world of scientific discovery. I’ve collected a long list of these topics, which will probably someday form the basis of “Restorying the Sacred” posts. But sometimes, a story grabs me so hard that I have to write about it right now!!! (an urgency I’m sure the No Unsacred Place admins appreciate greatly).

That’s the story of today’s post, “Answering the Call“. Corals send out chemical “distress signals” that summon seaweed-nomming goby fish! How freakin’ awesome is that? I did just barely enough research to be dangerous, and then off I jetted. I wrote the post in about half an hour (it practically wrote itself, really, but I like to make you think I work for this stuff).

Check it out!

I think y’all know how much I adore the work of the late scientist and ALL-AROUND AWESOME GUY Carl Sagan. I read, reference, and quote his writing almost obsessively. “Cosmos Tuesdays” was a standing date night for Leora and me–a sacred ritual, really. My CONvergence badge name one year was “Billions and Billions”, because I am that nerd.

Today would have been Dr. Sagan’s 78th birthday, had he not died in 1996. I honor his life and its impact on my own in a new post at No Unsacred Place. Please enjoy.

I’m always on the lookout for post topics for NUP and paganSquare. Sometimes ideas stew for months before their time is right; others I write within weeks or even days of coming across the idea.

That was the case with “Prometheophyta“, my newest NUP post. It wasn’t even two whole weeks ago that I read a passage, in an otherwise forgettable book, comparing the first photosynthesizing organisms to Prometheus, stealing fire for humankind. That imagery stuck with me, crowding frequently to the forefront of my thoughts.

The post took longer than expected to pull together and write, because I spent longer than I anticipated finding a good telling of the theft-of-fire myth, and then, once I’d found it, I realized that it didn’t really say what I wanted to say about photosynthesis anyway. So I tweaked and twiddled and took out the bit about liver-eatin’ eagles, et voila!. The “theft” of fire. Freely given.

Most every month, a delightful group of local Reclaiming Witches gathers in the home of one of our gracious members for Crafty Night, for singing, crafting, food, and merriment. Health concerns have kept Leora and me from going as often as we would like, but we were fortunate to be able to attend last night. Doubly fortunate because one of our number brought a writing exercise. That exercise, for me, became the short, seasonally inspired poem “In Your Name: a call to action”, which is now available for your reading pleasure at No Unsacred Place.

May we do so, indeed.

So, last week I was standing in my yard with my friend Mercy when, out of a clear blue sky, rain started sheeting down on us. We watched in some awe and no small confusion as to the source of the unexpected shower, and Mercy said, “There’s probably a rainbow somewhere.”

We never did spot it, but I’ve been thinking about rainbows ever since. Almost every belief system in the world has a story about rainbows, and they’re almost all upbeat. And I thought, Yeah. Upbeat story about rainbows. I could use that in my life.

If you could, too, then please do read “Rainbows: a love story” at No Unsacred Place.

The creative process fascinates me. Not just the finished products that artists produce, but the ways in which we go about producing them, and deciding to produce them in the first place. I especially love creative interplay between artists and forms.

One quiet evening, during a game of Wise and Otherwise, I came up with something like, “The night of Autumn walks with the morning of Winter.” Intrigued by the line, Leora drew a picture of two women walking through a forest: the night of Autumn and the morning of Winter. That drawing, in turn, led me to start writing a story about two women, the personifications of Autumn and Winter, walking through the forest of Time. The story remains unfinished, but Leora’s already said that, when I finish it, she might be inspired to add further illustrations.

I tell you all of this because of Jessica Prescott. Jessica is a North Carolina-based ecologist, crochet designer, and poet, and a reader of No Unsacred Place. A couple days ago, Jessica dropped a note to say that my most recent NUP post, “S and R Dance On”,, and the astronomical event that inspired it, have now inspired her to write the poem “Stars in Love”.

I love the dance of the creative process, and the way that artists, even without having the chance to meet in person, can inform and play off of each other, shifting and transforming an inspiration into something new at every turn, making, unmaking, and remaking. Much like the Cosmos itself.

With delight and humbled awe, I come to tell you that I have been chosen as a staff writer for No Unsacred Place, the science and nature blog of the Pagan Newswire Collective!

I will be embarking on an adventure called “Restorying the Sacred”, in which I will explore myth-making and storytelling and how the creation of new sacred stories can help modern Pagans connect to their now and here.

Neoshamanic practitioner and writer Lupa will also be joining NUP, taking over the “Earthly Rites” column.

I am more thrilled than I can say and hope you’ll join me on this new adventure!