Posts Tagged prose

I have of late begun putting a years-long call toward death work and death priestessing into action. I won’t say a ton about it here because I’m also new to coherently discussing what is, for me (and for a lot of people, I imagine) a deeply emotional topic. I’m still putting a lot of my thoughts together. In the interim, I’ve joined a group and am coplanning a Pagan-specific death and dying workshop for my local Reclaiming community. And I’m writing more about the work, why I’m called to it, and what I feel we would all be well-served doing before our own departures arrive. One such post is now up at paganSquare. It’s called “This Work of Dying” and links death, magic, and the Reclaiming Principles of Unity. Because eventually, everything comes back to the Principles of Unity. Even when we’re dead.

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.

Over at paganSquare, I’ve written a bit about my experiences at the third annual Paganicon. Not about the conference itself–though I had a lovely time there, often doing things not entirely related to Paganism–but about how it feels to be one of only three people (that I knew of) actively representing a particular Pagan tradition. It’s…a little bit disconcerting. If I had a conversation with you at any point about Paganistan Reclaiming or the Reclaiming tradition as a whole, let me know how I did, won’t you?

Intrafaith Relations at Reclaiming by Doing.

Man, I love the Moon! It’s up there doin’ its thing, appearing to change shape and size before our very eyes, even though it does no such thing! How cool is that?

Alas for the Moon, it was likely born of violence and strife. The Giant Impact hypothesis holds that dear Luna formed when a giant stellar body called Theia slammed into Gaia (who couldn’t quite get out of the way in time), sending pieces of both Gaia and itself hurtling into space, where they formed the glorious satellite we see today. All the more remarkable that it can bring us such joy, non?

In my latest “Restorying the Sacred” post, I follow the abrupt end of the travels of Theia–though not of hir adventures.

The Adventures of Theia.

This year, I’m taking a miss on Winter Witchcamp, a gathering of Reclaiming tradition Pagans in the Upper Midwest (syntax left deliberately vague). My wife is there, as are many of our friends. Though I know this year off was essential to my spiritual wellbeing, I still miss it. So, in honor of its sheer awesomeness, I’ve written a post about it at paganSquare. Enjoy!

Happy Campers (even when it’s hard)

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.

I would write a longer post about my new post at paganSquare, but I’m sitting in my parents’ dining room, working on a computer that MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. Anyway, if you’ve followed anything about the recent changes in the Reclaiming Tradition’s Principles of Unity and its subsequent frouferaw (possibly not causal), you already know the background. If you don’t, well…here’s a good place to start.

Hoeing Rows and Bigger Pies