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Occasionally I wandered in where I was not wanted and gave truthful answers.
Sometimes I even did it deliberately. A little disruption now can prevent disaster later.

“Circles”

Moonlight is sculpture; sunlight is painting.
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Lexicon

I think my lexicon is one of the best resources on the site. And it could be a pretty good resouce for anyone.

Polishing how it looks was easy if time consuming.

Fixing the behavior, that was challenging. I want it to be easy to use and intuitive. The button bar was one part of that. Does it go under the letter or under the individual entries? If I've defined something in my timetable, doesn't it make more sense to link to that rather than copy-pasting the definition into the lexicon? How do I show that different links go to different places? Is there a better way to go through the lexicon other than scrolling? What if the reader/user wants the web link for that definition? What about the secret word?

Solving all these issues opened up more issues. And then I had to decide the overall look. And that opened up other issues. And so on and so on.

I've got the mechanics pretty much solved. Except my iPad won't load the page.

Now I have to finishing transferring the entries from the old lexicon.

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Today


Word of the day - dominionism


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Moonlight and sunlight

Who am I to judge what happens between someone else and the Divine?

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Today


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Today

A great seasonal song

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NeoNotes — Real religion

Pardon, I don't think anyone is capable of judging what is and is not a "real" religion. I can't tell you how many times certain Christians have told me that my faith isn't real.

Pauline Christianity is something completely different that what Yeshua Ben Yosef preached. Gnostic Christianity is something completely different yet again. Which is true? Who knows? Who am I to judge what happens between someone else and the Divine?

I think these are the wrong questions. Christians are much nicer when they aren't the only game around. From what little I've seen, the same applies to Muslims.

I think what matters is how we treat others, especially others who do not share our faith and culture. Ramming it down other's throat by force will cause resentment. That's where some monotheists go wrong. It's not that they have the True Faith™, its that no other faith can be allowed. Because of their Greater Understanding and enlightenment, they can break society's rule for the Greater Good. Thou shalt not dissent.

Climate change alarmists stole the game lock, stock, and barrel. It's common for some of the radical feminists too. If anything, I think it indicates a weakness in the argument. Their faith isn't strong enough, they can't convince others, so it must be forced.

Getting back to Christianity, how much would history have changed if Constantine hadn't made it the state faith? How would it have developed if it had stayed one faith among many? How much of the Official® was really about politics and controlling the populace?

Could it be that control is really the issue?

NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Today

🌙 waxing crescent moon       ≠ Christmas Day       ≠ Twelvetide - Christmastide

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“The Christians and the Pagans”

Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many.
Doctor Who, A Good Man Goes to War
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Questionable behavior

Unfortunately sometimes polyamory is a convenient label for questionable behavior. A healthy poly relationship is long term based on mutual respect. It's not an excuse to sleep with as many people as possible.
— NeoWayland
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Today

Calendar & geekery

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A good man

I miss my companions.

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Today

Advent       Mercury retrograde       🌙 waxing crescent moon
first known working transistor       ≠ Saturnalia



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Today

Every moral absolute I’ve ever encountered depends on cultural or religious assumptions that probably aren’t shared by all people present.
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Still

A pagan take on a holiday classic.

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Not seeing

Good morning on this the shortest day.

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“Joy to the World”

A pagan take on a still another holiday classic.

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Today

Calendar and personal ramble

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Moral absolute

Just out of sight.

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“The sunset lighting up the side of this cliff in Iceland”

Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.
— Nora Roberts
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“Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful!”

I like the composition and how it suggests a magickal landscape.

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Today

The calendar and some site information.

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Magic exists

A pagan take on a still another holiday classic.

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“Moon rise coinciding with sunrise at St. Mary's Lake - Glacier National Park”

You have to enjoy the peanut butter sandwiches. You never know where your next one is coming from.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 14Jan2013
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Today

Entries for the calendar.

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“Away from the Harvest”

A pagan take on a still another holiday classic.

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Today

Gods, there are times I love the planet of ours.

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“Moon of Silver”

“ ”OF COURSE the Puritans banned Christmas.”

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Desert beautiful

My mother's family arrived in Arizona from Louisiana

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“Thor's Well on the Oregon coast”

Thinking by blogging
I'm not allowed to share her story while she still lives, but my mother was amazing.
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Saturnalia begins

It's from my neck of the desert.

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◊ Wayfaring Day

A pagan take on another holiday classic.

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“Arches National Park, Utah”

Corrected web address

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“Silent Night”

A man who truly touched lives

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Journal 15Dec2017

Where to find out what's happening.

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In art…

Faith and religion don't stay in the nice neat boxes and cabinets we make for them. Syncretism happens, even if it offends the True Believer™.
— NeoWayland
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“Majestic Monument Valley”

If that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find without.
— Doreen Valiente
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“All Hail Ye, Simple Pagans”

That which is known but not told.
— NeoWayland
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Known

A pagan take on a holiday classic.

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Syncretism happens even if it offends

Yes, it really does look like that sometimes.

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Seek

The question is not which religion or belief set is mainstream, authentic, or even legitimate. Define your faith in those terms and you concede the war.
— NeoWayland, Faith worthy of freedom
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“The Holly and the Ivy” (pagan version)

The desert is natural; when you are out there, you can get in tune with your environment, something you lose when you live in the city.
— Robyn Davidson
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“Reflections in snowy Sedona, Arizona”

These older blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories

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Concede the war

I'd be remiss if I didn't put up a link.

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Desert is natural

Very striking.

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Revived 12Dec2017

An amazing shot

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“Treating depression in a Pagan context”

Thinking by blogging

My time has not been my own.

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“Tide pools at low tide after sunset”

Magic's just science that we don't understand yet.
— Arthur C. Clarke
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“Eternal winter twilight - Norway”

Yep, that's the Grand Canyon.

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Journal 08Dec2017

When someone starts talking about THE truth, it's to exclude the thoughts and ideas they find uncomfortable.

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Understand

Neo got kidnapped

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Being a victim

Dealing with life - updated

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Difficult truths

It isn't as far as you think

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Lightning

Unexpected and delightful

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Master the discipline

What makes the so many modern pagans fluffy? And why don't they seem to want more?

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Truth is…

Freedom from the Known is death, and then you are living.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Internet debates

Back to the basics' works if you chose the right basics. (We could debate that.)
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THE truth

Enjoy!

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Your own worst impulses

We create our own mythology. We draw our history through that myth. We anchor our dreams in that history.

But so do all the people around us…
— NeoWayland, Skeins
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The moon does not fight

The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.
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Where the miracles are

Your will may be an 880 pound gorilla, but it doesn't matter if you don't have your own heart behind it. That is where the power is.

The heart is where the miracles are.
— NeoWayland, Snap out of it!
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❝Freedom from the Known…❞

Freedom from the Known is death, and then you are living.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Back to basics

We humans were born with a spark of the Divine. We spend our lives trying to pass that on.

Sometimes we succeed.
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Said no polytheist ever

Never piss off your friends, sometimes they save you from your own worst impulses.
— NeoWayland, Snap out of it!
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The Lady Always Chooses

My feelings were irrelevant, I told him. My personal beliefs mean that The Lady Always Chooses. She was in a monogamous marriage to his dad. And that is where it stood. What he suggested wasn't even a possibility because her honor was more important to me than my own.
— NeoWayland, Bittersweet honor
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Anchor our dreams

The day has eyes; the night has ears.
— Scottish proverb
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You can't be worthy

The Wheel turns and the World touches me.
— NeoWayland, Migration noise
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Born with a spark of the Divine

We humans were born with a spark of the Divine. We spend our lives trying to pass that on.

Sometimes we succeed.
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Celebrate

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
— Mark Twain
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Day & Night

Power has to be shared. It is the key to survival.
Andromeda TV series
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Turns

These older blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories

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Revived 02Dec2017

As always, the most recently converted entries are at the top of the list at the 3rd Yearnings tag page.

These blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories. Redirect pages have been placed in the old locations.

Look out for the stale jokes

Moody

Briefly, another thinkum

Thinkum-a-giggle

The need for mystery

Coyote

Discussion on initiation

In the moment

Strange Thinkum

Good reasoning

One of my better short efforts I think

Remember this


The old category page for Quotes & Thinkums now redirects to quotes & thinkums category page in the current directory.

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Dark side

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
— Mark Twain
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Spirit and will

A great discussion on what initiation is and what it is for, touching on whether self-initiation is valid

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Legend

Another conversation with Juliaki

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Revived 01Dec2017

(laughing too much to say anything important right now)

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Journal 01Dec2017

These older blog entries have been reformatted and entered into the current directories

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Revived 28Nov2017

Just pointing out one of my favorite coyote sites

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NeoNotes - style and a niche market

For all of the evidence of Christian bigotry, there's tolerance and pluralism right there beside it.

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Think you know

Thinking by blogging

Sometimes when you're feeling down, one of the best things you can do is do for others.

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Journal 23Nov2017

Lately when my mind turns to politics

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Virtue

I am the roar of the ocean. I am a powerful ox. I am a hawk on a cliff. I am a salmon in pools. I am a lake in a plain.
— from the Song of Amergin
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Unity Liberty Charity

I draw my strength from the ancient well and the dark and secret places.
     — Affirmation of NeoWayland
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❝What I carry is what I use.❞

The virtue is in the manifestation, not the doctrine.
from the private journal of NeoWayland, 16Oct2012
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Law of fives

Ah, Lady Moon, the kiss of your light works wonders.
— NeoWayland
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Labels

We define the labels, the labels should not define us.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 07Nov2012
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NeoNotes — Somebody finally said the C word

Thinking by blogging

It's hard to find energy so I can do things.

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Journal 19Nov2017

Moore put a Decalogue monument in court. At night. With very few people knowing until the next day. Moore is on record as saying that man's law is under God's law. That is not something you want to hear a judge say, especially when you don't share his religion.

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❝One Tin Solider❞

Listen children to a story
That was written long ago
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley folk below

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the Judgment Day
On the bloody morning after who
One tin soldier rides away

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill

Came an answer from the kingdom
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
An' all the riches buried there

Now the valley cried in anger
"Mount your horses, draw your sword"
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward

Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turn the stone and which beneath it
"Peace on Earth" was all it said

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the Judgment Day
On the bloody morning after who
One tin soldier rides away

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the Judgment Day
On the bloody morning after who
One tin soldier rides away
words and music by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter

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Journal 17Nov2017

waning crescent moon       Lady in the Court of Shadows       Leonids Meteor Shower       🌬 breezy

Thinking by blogging

It's hard to find energy so I can do things.

Today I was up at three a.m. The insomnia wasn't the only reason. I needed to do a pass through in the kitchen. The dishes were piled up, the floor needed sweeping and mopping. The pest control guy was coming at eight. Usually he comes on the last Friday in the month, but this month that's the day after Thanksgiving.

I've been watching the wind and breeze this morning. It's the first breezy day around here in a while. I wonder how many leaves will be left. I live in the high desert, but here in town it doesn't always look it. It's suburban.

My raven friend wants his blueberries. He gets raspberries today.

I'm still working on updating the site. I don't have much energy to spare. I'm thinking I'll get back to regular blogging after the first of the year.

The politics is getting to me. But there is one song that brings it all home. So I'm going to post the lyrics.

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Lady Moon

We can't let our faiths and our creeds control how we touch other people. Faith is between you and the Divine. But we're measured by how we touch the lives of other humans.
     — NeoWayland, Journal 07Jul2017
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NeoNotes — Roy Moore and the Decalogue monument - updated

Thinking by blogging

Still, I missed some things.

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Those Who Want To Be Noticed

A song that helped me recently

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Loudest voices

I'm the only one who has a key anymore.

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Jounal 13Nov2017

Personal’s not the same as important. People just think it is.
— Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
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“Speak To The Sky” (pagan version)

I'm going to have to take some time.

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❝Personal’s not the same as important.❞

I'm a sucker for a lady with a guitar.

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She died

When Goya painted this around 1800, the Catholic Church had banned the display of artistic nudes.

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“Nina Paley's haunting, mesmerizing, and life-affirming God-Mother animation”

“In which Mike teaches you about the creation of the universe, with sex. This week we're talking about creations stories from Egypt, West Africa, Greece, China, and Persia that have a lot in common with human sexual reproduction. And also some castration and puking, to boot. We've got your cosmic eggs, right here!”

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Guitar

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.
— John Muir
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“The Nude Maja”

Thinking by blogging

Lately when my articles have been good enough, I've experimented with posting links at reddit. The response has been a little mixed.

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“Cosmic Sexy Time, Eggs, Seeds, and Water: Crash Course World Mythology #3”


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Dirt paths

Though often considered 'supernatural,' magic actually operates within a traditional view of the universe, complete with a recognizable set of natural laws.
— Jay Kinney from “Magic: What is It?”, Gnosis № 2, Spring-Summer 1986
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Journal 25Aug2017

pagan festival season       Mercury retrograde       🌙 waxing crescent moon

Thinking by blogging>

This site never had that many visitors, I never planned for that. Even though I think some of my stuff is pretty good, I held back from putting it out on display. I had a couple of bad years and I stopped blogging. These days my regular readers don't comment very much.

I'm a solitary, Most of my celebrations and rituals are done alone. It's not that I want to, it's just that my established group experience hasn't been very positive. One thing this means is that if my gods aren't chiming in, the only voice I'm hearing is mine. This isn't good. We need our ideas tested by those we trust but may not agree with. So if I want to grow, I have to share what I've learned. Since I work mostly with words and spell-forms in those words, I can't take something to the festival and spread it out.

But I forget. Not everyone has the same tools in their mental toolbox that I do. Sometimes the tools are called different names. Sometimes the toolbox is organized differently. And because I'm used to the things I do and the way I do things, I don't always notice when the tools are worn out and don't quite do the job I expect. I make excuses, I put off trying something new.

Lately when my articles have been good enough, I've experimented with posting links at reddit. The response has been a little mixed.

Part of the problem is my old friend, the symbol mismatch. What I see as practicing paganism today isn't necessarily what the rest of the World sees as paganism. I'm talking about gardening, I'm talking about nudging people just a little more towards truth. I'm talking about greeting the sun with nothing but a pendent. Or taking a quiet moon bath in my backyard. It's not fantastic, it's not romantic, it's not mysterious. It's not highly visible. It's not special. It's not meeting at a festival with like-minded people dressed up in costumes ritual garb. It's just me. It's also going to be Tuesday's article.

My in-town companion still isn't doing well. I've been trying to convince her to go to the hospital. I've been checking on her when I can, but she thinks I'm around too much. Helicopter hovering was how I think she put it.

The garden is still giving stuff. Tomatoes, delicious.

Mom is about the same, although she's resenting the control I have over her life. That's a good thing, but very frustrating for the both of us. She turned 75 this month. It's hard to see her moving with a walker, but at least she's moving. And she still has her compassion and her sense of humor. One day after she has passed, I am going to tell her story.

If anything I'm seeing more politics in paganism now. And it's not even clean politics, if there is such a thing. This is people who have been whipped up to a frenzy and told that if they kill the scapegoat, their deepest heart's desire will be granted for by the Forces of History. Pah.

So I think I need to do something special come Redmark. I need to think about that.

Well, there's a tunafish sandwich that does not yet exist, but is still calling my name.

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Considered supernatural

I love the sky and the trees.

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Full-blown plan

Okay, that was embarrassing.

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Real magic

On some issues I run deeper than granite and more certain than dawn.
     — NeoWayland
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Draw my strength

How anyone cannot see that Nature is God is amazing to me: that they's rather worship something that can only exist, really, in their own minds.
— Alice Walker
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“Eclipse Phases over Brasstown Bald, Georgia”

Sex, nudity, nature. All in all very pagan.

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Sleeping Gaia

I'd say early 1960s by the hairstyles and the dress.

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Secure

You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
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Called for veritas

We’re not naked, we’re skyclad!
— Kelley Armstrong, Dime Store Magic
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Control how we touch other people

What I carry is what I use.
— NeoWayland's Pennyworth iPod Touch engraving, 19Nov2012
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Dark

This looks like an admirable lady.

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On some issues

That library shelf says a reader lives there.

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Reader

I am certainly against Nazism, supremacist groups, and misogyny. I just think they SHOULD be heard, if for no other reason than they can be laughed off the stage.

As loudly and as enthusiastically as we can.”
— NeoWayland
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Snack bar

If you look hard enough for a given pattern, you'll almost always find it somewhere. The "Law of Fives" isn't about the structure of the universe, it's about your perception of the structure of the universe.
     — NeoWayland
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“Coyote and Raven, American Tricksters: Crash Course World Mythology #22”

one


two


three


four


five

six






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Ways

“Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about Tricksters in myth, and this time we're headed to the Americas. Coyote and Raven appear in stories from many Native American groups, and more often than not, they're tricky. They're also often kind of, well, nasty. Not to get too judgy. But we do a lot of talking about poop in this episode. I'm just saying. We also talk about Tricksters as creators, as Coyote creates constellations, and Raven creates some rivers.”

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This last week in free speech

Unity in things Necessary, Liberty in things Unnecessary, and Charity in all.
— Richard Baxter
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In their own minds

We define the labels, the labels should not define us.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 07Nov2012
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Inside a tree

Nobody ever got smart reading just one book.
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I can’t hoard the magick

Thinking by blogging

So I've learned to do small pleasures.

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Hippies? Not quite…

Pagans aren't people of the book, we're people of the library.
— Steve Posch
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Kissed by the sun

The blue sets this lady's skin tone off so very well. The ankle bracelets help too.

I'd say she's a child of the sun.

I’m a naturist in both senses of the word. Life doesn’t always need clothes. I admire the human body. I hope you can too.

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“Hermes and Loki and Tricksters Part 2: Crash Course World Mythology #21”

Thinking by blogging

I think I'm spending more time trying to sleep than actually sleeping.

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One book


book-96616421320reduced

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☥ ✰ ❝Sincerity does not equal competence.❞

If you're sure I love you, you can raise your hand to me & I'll roll over for petting. But if not, expect that hand to be bitten off.
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Journal 11Aug2017

I have no higher authority. I have to persuade.
— NeoWayland
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❝Things are always more complicated than you think.❞

Focus on the primary text, not secondary literature.
— Peter Adamson
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❝Beware of jargon.❞

Respect texts about texts.
— Peter Adamson
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Old mind

He who cannot blast cannot bless.
— Gwydion Pendderwen
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Song of Amergin

Power is scary. And scared people are very very dangerous.
— Cholla, Who Cannot Hex Cannot Heal, Witch Eye
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Skyclad

When I finally did hear the voice of the Divine, it was female. And She was more than a bit put out that it had taken so long to get my attention. I did hear a male Divine voice too, but that was later.
     — NeoWayland, Why are you Pagan?
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Cannot bless

He who cannot blast cannot bless.
— Gwydion Pendderwen
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Power is scary

Okay, this is staged.

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She was more than a bit put out

I'd say she's a child of the sun.

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Dreams seem small

It's inspired.

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Seven points

There are things I can't change. There are things I shouldn't change. And there are things I might change.
     — NeoWayland, Pure
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❝Don't essentialize.❞

Be broadminded about what counts as “philosophy”.
— Peter Adamson
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Lady with torches

I love good space pictures.

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People of the library


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Best practices


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❝Focus on the primary text…❞

Take religion seriously.
— Peter Adamson
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On the road

Don't laugh…

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What about you?

I love pictures of Lady Liberty.

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❝Respect texts about texts.❞

Take metaphors seriously.
— Peter Adamson
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“Creation from the Void: Crash Course World Mythology #2”

You should beware the politician who wraps himself in faith and the minister who wraps himself with the flag.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 01Mar2002
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Worship

Not strictly pagan, but I love the imagery.

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Jounal 04Aug2017

My companion pointed out to me last night that I've never shown a a picture of my raven pendant on the site.

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❝Be broadminded about what counts as “philosophy.”❞

Think about the audience.
— Peter Adamson
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Beware

You should beware the politician who wraps himself in faith and the minister who wraps himself with the flag.
     — from the private journal of NeoWayland, 01Mar2002
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❝Take religion seriously.❞

Think critically.
— Peter Adamson
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Not sure

The Law of Attraction is the Law of Creation. Everything that’s coming into your life ... you are attracting into your life, as above, so below, As within, so without. Create your life through your thoughts.
— anonymous
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One thing I wish I could literally pound into Christian heads

For most of us, our bodies have become storage vaults for undigested impressions, for impressions too charged or painful to confront.
— Dennis Lewis from “The Further Reaches of Self-Observation”, Gnosis № 29, Fall 1993
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❝Attraction & Creation❞

Sharing a cup of coffee in the morning.

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More personal, pagan

I like this lady's attitude.

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Impressions

Yes, this one is overtly sexual.

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Raven pendant

I've found a more personal, pagan kind of religion to satisfy the spiritual side of things.
— Julian Clary
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❝Take metaphors seriously.❞

Silence is not louder than words.
— Peter Adamson
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“Alice Through The Looking Glass”

It looks fun, doesn't it?

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“Milky Way over the Mojave Desert”

Notice how the emphasis on bulk lines hints strongly at both motion and emotion.

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Changing

Now, should I reject Bonewits and all he stood for because he and I didn't agree?

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Absolutely maybe sort of - updated

Now, should I reject Bonewits and all he stood for because he and I didn't agree?

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❝Think about the audience.❞

Learn the terminology.
— Peter Adamson
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Riverbed

Growing up in the desert, you appreciate a good rain.

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At the lake

Karel Tondl was a Czech artist and art professor whose later work was influenced by expressionism. Perhaps he's best known for his depictions of female bathers.

Notice how the emphasis on bulk lines hints strongly at both motion and emotion.

I’m a naturist in both senses of the word. Life doesn’t always need clothes. I admire the human body. I hope you can too.

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❝Think critically.❞

Read the whole text.
— Peter Adamson
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“What Is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1””

I let my ego off the chain last weekend. It was a vain and foolish thing to do. And it had consequences.

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“As a pagan…”

You know the problem with these massive conspiracy theories are that there are never enough conspirators and never enough victims.
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Environmentalism crusade

Not strictly casual, but it is striking

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❝Silence is not louder than words.❞

Ask yourself why they care.
— Peter Adamson
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Fairness

I don’t believe in objectivity, but I do believe deeply in fairness.
— Margot Adler
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Fare poorly

Get someone out of the light pollution of major cities and let them marvel at the real Milky Way and the Moon. Let them lie out under the stars and feel the Earth move under them.

But then I am just a tiny bit biased.
— NeoWayland
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☥ ✰ ❝The spiritual world is not unlike the natural world …❞ 

Margot AdlerBefore passing day

Lived 16Apr1946 to 28July2014 (68)
American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess and radio journalist

The spiritual world is not unlike the natural world: only diversity will save it.
— Margot Adler
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I call myself pagan

The union of elements

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❝Learn the terminology.❞

Learn some dates.
— Peter Adamson
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Life cycle

Remember where the exits are. Be willing to walk away.
     — NeoWayland
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Wisdom

An old glamour shot

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❝Read the whole text.❞

Take "minor" figures seriously.
— Peter Adamson
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Rainy and windy

Always do what you promise. Try to do more than you promise.
     — NeoWayland, Quick notes to a new seeker
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Ego-trapped

As a pagan, I've found that 99% of my practices and worshiping consists of just going outside, sitting still, shutting up, and listening.
— AmericanCeltic
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NeoNotes — Satanic sacrifice

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
— Dale Carnegie
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❝Ask yourself why they care.❞

Respect the context.
— Peter Adamson
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NeoNotes — Judaism

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
— Roald Dahl
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Promise

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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❝Learn some dates.❞

Suspect the text.
— Peter Adamson
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Exits

“This week, Mike introduces you to Tricksters, starting with Anansi, the West African trickster god who is also sometimes a spider. Tricksters are, well, tricky. They're wise and foolish, they're promiscuous and amoral, but in a lot of ways, they're good guys. We'll also talk about the occasionally tricky Hercules and Atlas, and touch on more recent tricksters like B'rer Rabbit.”

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Staged

Messy, very sexy, and Female.

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Red Gaea

The air is still humid from last night's never-storm. No rain, but plenty of lightning and thunder around midnight.

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“Tricksters: An Introduction: Crash Course World Mythology 20”

Thinking by blogging

As something suitable for the ages, the websites work as they are. As something that I can update and tweak, I need programs to manage.

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Spirituality

Pardon, but Judaism wasn't the original monotheism. Akhenaton introduced Atenism in Egypt, which may have influenced the development of Semitic polytheism into monotheistic Judaism.
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Journal 21Jul2017

pagan festival season       AZ monsoon season       waning crescent moon

Thinking by blogging

I had a bit of a scare this week. My blogging program developed a bit of glitch for a while. The idea of having to rebuild five websites and all the connections did not thrill me. This is the fourth major version of the site and it has been tweaked and tweaked again.

When I first started Technopagan Yearnings, I was coding things by hand and I loved arranging HTML modularly. I started using Lifli’s iBlog when I gave TPY and Pagan Vigil their own domains. Since then, Lifli went out of business and I started using RealMac RapidWeaver. I've upgraded from version 5 to version 6 and apparently I should have upgraded to 7.

Things change. As something suitable for the ages, the websites work as they are. As something that I can update and tweak, I need programs to manage. Using something dynamically is different from an unchanging text set in stone. Things change. A good lesson, but I wasn't ready to hear it at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night after a day of frustration trying to fix the program. I had just gotten my new rhythm in blogging. I didn't want to spend months reconstructing the sites.

I managed a quick trip to Gallup on Wednesday. If you've never been, Gallup is sometimes called the "Heart of Indian Country." There's a lot to see and do there. I was meeting a friend that I hadn't seen in years. He had made a small necklace with red coral. I'm giving it to my companion tomorrow. The red will look excellent on her skin tone.

Speaking of changes, for the first time since the new cable company came to town, I've no cable TV signal and no internet. So as I type this I can't preview and I've no idea when I will be able to post. Hopefully today.

One of my issues with this site and P•V has been providing enough content. That's why I've scaled back the original content and moved this site more to "a slice of life." P•V is now mostly headlines and news clippings. I can't give daily original articles, not and maintain some kind of sanity. Paganism on the web is getting more and more wrapped up with politics and the Great Anti-Trump Crusade. I'm seeing first hand just how poisonous and destructive that is. Not that I support Trump, but removing a legally elected president for no credible reason. This obsession isn't healthy, and it's making some of my pagan friends unravel.

My garden is producing well. Like I've said before, they aren't really your vegetables until you give them away.

Mom is still getting along. She and I are having our disagreements. The other day when I checked on her, we got into discussion on if she should leave things on the stove cooking while she is in the other room. She has ruined one skillet. Bless her heart, when she doesn't see something, she's more likely to forget about it. I want her to be independent for as long as she can, but there are some things I don't think will ever really come back.

Well how about that. I just put in the tag for "Mom" and I thought I would double check the other entries because it came up "mom" instead of "Mom." It seems I use the word "moment" a lot. I didn't realize how much I did.

I suppose I should go do a fast pass through the kitchen and load the dishwasher. Then maybe some breakfast. Then a shower and shave. And then maybe I'll have internet.


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❝Take "minor" figures seriously.❞

Respect the text.
— Peter Adamson
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❝Respect the context.❞

It's possible for the same idea to appear independently more than once.
— Peter Adamson
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Put off living

I don't call myself an environmentalist any more. Environmentalism is a political movement masking itself as a moral and possibly religious crusade. Ecology is an actual science that studies the connections, interrelationships, and trade-offs that different organisms make to survive and thrive.
     — NeoWayland
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Will never find it

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
— Roald Dahl
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☥ ▽ ❝…without being bound by them.❞

Alex Sanders • deceased birthday

Lived 06Jun1926 to 30Apr1988 (58)
Self-proclaimed "King of Witches," founder of the Alexanderian tradition of witchcraft. Plagiarist and publicity addict.

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Surrealistic touch

From the file name, I think this is God and Goddess, a surrealistic psychedelic drawing by Darkmoondollie. And yes, that is their spelling of psychedelic.

I love how this piece implies wood and motion in the union of Male and Female. Too many times we forget that magick is about movement and the union of elements. The artist has a fine eye and a really nice touch.

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Gaia returns

Another Gaia picture.

These are some of my favorites. And of course I really like the subject matter. Messy, very sexy, and Female.

Paganism is always about earthiness.

I’m a naturist in both senses of the word. Life doesn’t always need clothes. I admire the human body. I hope you can too.



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Magick everyday

I know that when you borrow from another culture you should honor those elements.
     — NeoWayland
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❝ Suspect the text .❞

Thinking by blogging

Yes, sometimes you can taste the Moonlight in the predawn. It's full of promise and hope and wonder, with the ever so slight tartness of regret.

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Connected

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
— George Washington Carver
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❝Respect the text.❞

This gentleman is about as casual as you can get.

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Know

Things are always more complicated than you think.
— Peter Adamson
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Transcribing Faith

Know yourself. Know what you can do. Know what you're willing to do. Know the price you're willing to pay.
     — NeoWayland, Quick notes to a new seeker
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❝4 Rituals That Will Make You Loved❞

Make it better today. Keep polishing.
     — NeoWayland, Quick notes to a new seeker
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Make it better

Beware of jargon.
— Peter Adamson
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Borrowed

I know that when you borrow from another culture you should honor those elements.
     — NeoWayland
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Independently

She did have a flair for nudes though.

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The hat sells it

The rock formation caught my eye.

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❝Bathers on the Beach❞ by Marie Auguste Emile Rene Menard

There's something very renewing about greeting the sun at dawn dressed in nothing but a pendant.

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Journal 14Jul2017

From the hairstyle of the brunette lady on the right, I'm guessing that it happened in the late 1960s.

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❝I do not know❞

Don't essentialize.
— Peter Adamson
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Worthy

Thinking by blogging

My high desert has been absolutely gorgeous.

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❝Wolves are silent ❞

You don't build communities by excluding people you don't like.
     — NeoWayland, Solitary
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❝Flow into you…❞

The worthy choices are never the easy ones.
— NeoWayland
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❝Think of nature…❞

I think too many people are in religion for the politics.
     — NeoWayland
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Communities

You don't build communities by excluding people you don't like.
     — NeoWayland, Solitary
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Daylight ring dance

From the hairstyle of the brunette lady on the right, I'm guessing that it happened in the late 1960s.

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Old Man of Storr

Everything is connected. Nobody sees all the connections. There's always stuff you don't know.
     — NeoWayland
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Special harvest

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
— George Carlin
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Political assumption

Over the years however I have noticed a disheartening trend in the community. And that trend is what I refer to as political assumption. What I mean is that what seems like a large degree of practitioners of the Wicca faith and other similar earth based religious belief systems automatically pigeon hole everyone else in the faith as being politically a democrat or of some other left leaning ideology. Many attacks have been directed at me over the years for my right leaning political beliefs by many people who know me very little or not at all. Well, I actually do lean politically right; however, I consider myself a right leaning Independent.

>snip<

I have been personally attacked en mass on a number of occasions to the point of people screen copying my personal opinions, taking them from other conversations and importing them to their social justice warrior sites, and then trying to get people to gang up on me for my deeply held (conservative) pagan viewpoints. Some going so far as to sending my viewpoints directly to well known individuals in the magickal community to show them how much of an "evil" person I am. I do equally find it a cowardly thing to do when I have the strongest feeling that these social justice warrior types could not muster the courage to say this stuff to my face under the fear that they would receive a serious beat down.
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Religion for the politics

Exactly who does this threaten?

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Glimpses

This one is unusual because of the setting.

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Casually

It's not overwhelming, it just seems like it.

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In the forest

I was coming off a long time of being militantly solitary and I relished the fellowship I finally allowed myself.

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Journal 07Jul2017

Inside looking out.

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Every woman I meet

Gods make you stretch.
     — NeoWayland
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❝Do not believe…❞

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it.
— from the Kalama Sutta
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Forgiveness

Thinking by blogging

I'm typing this on my patio and one of my neighbor's pigeons is giving me the eye.

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I am pagan

A spiritual organization with a hierarchical structure can convey only the consciousness of estrangement, regardless of what teachings or deep inspirations are at its root.The structure itself reinforces the idea that some people are inherently more worthy than others.
— Starhawk
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Another world tree

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
— Frank Lloyd Wright
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Dweller

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
— Albert Einstein
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Beyond patriotism

I look for the Divine in every woman I meet. Can you think of a better way to find people who are honorable, passionate and reasoning at the same time?
     — NeoWayland
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Wonders

The only faiths worthy of freedom are those freely chosen.
     — NeoWayland
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Story

The Story is not the Journey.
     — NeoWayland
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Stretch

We are not on this planet to ask forgiveness of our deities.
— Scott Cunningham
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Study, love, stay close

Today is the Age of Wonders, the most amazing time in human history, with marvels and miracles far beyond any other time.
     — NeoWayland
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Softly, gently

Allowing harm to continue unchecked is not 'harming none'. Rather, it harms everyone.
— Doreen Valiente
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Proud

“Film Review: Eugene Brave Rock Speaks Blackfoot to Wonder Woman in DC’s Best Film Ever”

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Worthy of freedom

How do you explain a Journey without moving into a Story? I am not sure you can.
     — NeoWayland, Blessed Journeys
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Look deep

The Story is not the Journey.
     — NeoWayland
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Explain a Story

The virtue of paganism was strength; the virtue of Christianity is obedience.
— Augustus Hare
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Journal 30Jun2017

pagan festival season       AZ monsoon season       🌛 waxing half moon

Thinking by bloggingI spent some time this week with the man that handles Mom's yard work. That's no easy thing. Mom hasn't been able to work in the yard since the accident, but her yard is still amazing. There's no doubt this lady is the daughter of the Gardner, even if she doesn't grown vegetables.

Way back when the folks first bought their house, there were fruit trees. What Mom didn't know at the time is that you have to spray fruit trees several times a year to keep them from getting infested. So we had a few glorious months with apples plucked fresh from the tree. And then they got wormy.

Ah well. Mom's yard now is just full of flowerbeds and it feeds her soul.

Mine is much more utilitarian. I don't have her gift with flowers.

Yesterday I made time for the full greet the sun ritual. I'm sure my grandfather wouldn't approved of me doing the nekkid pagan guy thing facing the sunrise, but he is the one who taught me about summer sunrises.

I'm typing this on my patio and one of my neighbor's pigeons is giving me the eye. He thinks I owe him food. He's not one of my raven friends, he doesn't get any.

I think I need some breakfast.

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Strength

If Christ himself were alive, one thing he would not be would be is a Christian.
— Mark Twain
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Hierarchical

I used this picture before in my post on bolines.

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Secrets

Imagine the ocean's touch.

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One thing he would not be

The picture treats her with respect.

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Gather

“All Women are Goddess and deserve to be Cherished, unless they prove otherwise.”
— NeoWayland
All Men are God and deserve to be Adored, unless they prove otherwise.
— Juliaki
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Marvel at the real Milky Way

Stewart Farrar * deceased birthday

Lived 28Jun1916 to 07Feb2000 (83)
Witch, author, novelist. May have encouraged the sexual initiation of minor girls.

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Summer fairy

I can almost picture a cauldron there.

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Men & Women

I don’t believe in objectivity, but I do believe deeply in fairness.
— Margot Adler
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Allowing harm

They might add that monotheism is a political and psychological ideology as well as a religious one, and that the old economic lesson that one-crop economies generally fare poorly also applies to the spiritual realm.
— Margot Adler
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Forest god

Like most American males born in the last half of the 20th Century, I was raised to be uncomfortable around homosexuality or anything that might imply homoeroticism. The thought of any man admiring the male form was Unacceptable. The thought of any man aroused and erect in the presence of other men was Taboo, except maybe for mutual masturbation sessions. And even then, only if it were Real Men™ leering at sexy women.

I got over some of that as an adult, and more as a pagan. Sometimes there is still a touch of shame, my upbringing left me that. I don't think sexuality is “carved in stone,” but I'm not willing to experiment right now either. Men check each other out, there's no doubt. We just don't admit that. Most of us can't help wondering sometimes what it would be like to be better endowed. Run an image search for pagan god phallus and see what you get. It's not an accident that gay males are over depicted in pagan art.

I ran across this one in another web search, probably for pagan phallus or some such thing. Men may not like to admit it, but we are fascinated by other guy's packages. Especially when our own brings such pleasure. This Forest God is definitely a Man's Man, and it brings thoughts of Iron John and a man's place in the world. I don't want to have sex with a man who has a member like that, but a part of me wonders what it would be like if that thing were mine.

I’m a naturist in both senses of the word. Life doesn’t always need clothes. I admire the human body. I hope you can too.

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≠ ✰ Farrar Day

Stewart Farrar * deceased birthday

Lived 28Jun1916 to 07Feb2000 (83)
Witch, author, novelist. May have encouraged the sexual initiation of minor girls.

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Pure

I really like the lines and the flow of color on this one.

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≠ ✰ Cunningham Day

Sunbathing with friends is even better.

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Wonder Woman Easter egg

Film Review: Eugene Brave Rock Speaks Blackfoot to Wonder Woman in DC’s Best Film Ever

<
I woke up this Saturday morning to see a 9:15 a.m. showing of the DC Comics and Warner Brothers feature Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot as the fearless Amazonian heroine. I was thrilled that Native American actor Eugene Brave Rock, an actor and stuntman that ran a stunt ‘boot camp’ on The Revenant with numerous other Hollywood credits under his belt, would be appearing in the film.

What I didn’t expect was to be overcome with emotion when Eugene Brave Rock’s character ‘Chief’ met Wonder Woman, who was spectacularly portrayed by Gal Gadot. Why? His first words to her were in Blackfoot. Even better, he introduced himself as Napi, the Blackfoot demi-god who is known as a trickster and a storyteller.

Congratulations, Indian country. We all get to share a secret moment in the Wonder Woman movie. If you speak Blackfoot, the magic will surely be tenfold.

     — Vincent Schilling, Indian Country Today

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With friends

Thinking by blogging

I love watching ladies sunbathing in the summer. It's purely sexual.

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Just pooling around

Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.
— C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces
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Properly

We should enjoy our skins.

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Nearly a cauldron

Okay, so it's not exactly pagan and it's very nearly pornographic, but I really liked the image. I can almost picture a cauldron there.

Can't you?

Unless it's actually part of a ritual, I try to avoid carnal photographs at TPY. This isn't a porn site. I'm a pagan who believes in every day nudity.

I’m a naturist in both senses of the word. Life doesn’t always need clothes. I admire the human body. I hope you can too.


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Journal 23Jun2017

This Forest God is definately a Man's Man.

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Holy places

If you don't question what a book or Authority Figure™ tells you, you aren't doing your part.
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Penetration into the darkness

As a rule, absolutes don't.
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“Daphnis and Chloe” by Victor Borisov-Musatov

It is a very boy thing to do.

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Question

Modern American pagans are especially bad, we tend to celebrate some of our worse nutcases as gifts from the gods.
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Nutcases

Why does your enlightenment demand that I sacrifice?
— NeoWayland
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Tired old battles

Acknowledge but do not celebrate.
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Weirdness

Gods and magick have always lived in technology.
— NeoWayland
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Acknowledge

Our Dieties aren't suspended in “once upon a time,” they transcend us. They inspire us. They tantalize us.
     — NeoWayland, Anachronism
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Enlightenment

Magick is the essence of change and evolution. But you choose the direction.
     — NeoWayland

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Absolutely

Weirdness for the sake of wyrdness is not enough.
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Technology

Gods and magick have always lived in technology.
— NeoWayland
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Once upon a time

Our Dieties aren't suspended in “once upon a time,” they transcend us. They inspire us. They tantalize us.
     — NeoWayland, Anachronism
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Magick is the essence…

A lesser known Greek myth set on the isle of Lesbos

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Dreaming

Invoke science as an unquestionable authority and someone will show the truth behind the curtain. That’s the nature of science.
— NeoWayland
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I don't know

There's nothing like feeling the fire's warmth on your naked skin.

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Technopagan

We are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective.
— Delen in Babylon Five
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“Boy With A Dog” by Victor Borisov-Musatov

“Empirical Meets Spiritual: the Intersection of Science and Paganism”

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Picnic

Lotan often used the southwestern desert and Arizona in particular.

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“We are starstuff…”

That book has her attention.

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Truth behind the curtain

And that raises the first philosophical question. What exactly is that something beyond?

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≠ ✰ Gardner Day

If we're not recognizing and honoring the cycles, what are we doing?

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≠ ✰ Sanders Day

Alex Sanders • deceased birthday

Lived 06Jun1926 to 30Apr1988 (58)
Self-proclaimed "King of Witches," founder of the Alexanderian tradition of witchcraft. Plagiarist and publicity addict.

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Science and Paganism

Due to unforseen circumstances, I'm taking a break from blogging until June 5, 2017.

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“Three Graces in a Cactus Garden” by Lotan Lotan

To divide anything into what should be and what is, is the most deceptive way of dealing with life.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Fire's warmth

But we are the Blessed, the God-touched, the ones who walk between the worlds. I honor my Gods as Elder Relatives, not as saviors or rulers of my soul. It's the difference between fear and love.
— NeoWayland, Of gods and men
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❝No American judge should have the power to decide matters of faith…❞ 

Freedom 7

Alan Shepard - First American in Space - 05May1961

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hiatus

Soldiers March. Warriors Dance.

Soldiers Act. Warriors Choose.
— Kerr Cuhulain
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Divide

Paganism has it's benefits.

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Blessed

But there is no one place where everything thrives.

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Warriors dance

That's not a ballpoint pen she's holding.

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An amazing place that proves Divinity

However heroic the virtues of the saint may be, the scoundrel has a bit of the hero in him too.
— Richard Smoley from “Choose Your Saints Wisely”, Gnosis № 24, Summer 1992
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Fire dance

Eakins explored nudes in much of his work.

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No one

I'm taking my dreams back. You can share them if you want. But don't buy into this sacrifice "for the greater good."
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Poetry in the bath

Just look at those amazing clouds.

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Swimming

I made a tiny piece of the planet something that it wasn't before.

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I'm taking my dreams back

We can make things better tomorrow. But not if we limit ourselves today.

Raise your eyes above your feet.

Raise your eyes above the horizon.

Raise your eyes to the STARS.

That's where we need to be.

I'm taking my dreams back. You can share them if you want. But don't buy into this sacrifice "for the greater good."
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Heroic

However heroic the virtues of the saint may be, the scoundrel has a bit of the hero in him too.
— Richard Smoley from “Choose Your Saints Wisely”, Gnosis № 24, Summer 1992
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I already have.

Do I think I can change the universe? I already have. Can I make it better? Maybe.
     — NeoWayland
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☥ ❝You saw a hurting you could help…❞

Thinking by blogging

Last night I wrapped myself in the blanket and spent a long time watching the flames in my small fire.

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Solitary

Do I think I can change the universe? I already have. Can I make it better? Maybe.
     — NeoWayland
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Nude by the statues

The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
— D. H. Lawrence
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Sex magick

Pagan temples are timeworn forests, secluded gardens, sun-kissed seashores and emerald pastures.
— Amelia Dashwood
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Institution vs. individual choice

There is an arc there: a vector. It tells a story of steadily increasing individual choice about religious belief and expression, and as a result, steadily decreasing subscription to old religious systems that clash with both modern values and humanity's growing body of accumulated knowledge.
— Mark Green, Is Paganism Dying?
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☥ ▽ ❝I never learned from a man who agreed with me.❞

She's just doing everyday things

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In the garden

I'm guessing that this is 1930s European…

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Vintage archery

I wonder what she's thinking.

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Casual friends

Despite the rumors, the Great Rite doesn't happen all that often.

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Casual and vintage

Everyone would like to behave like a pagan, with everyone else behaving like a Christian.
— Albert Camus
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🚀 Seven

Summergate isn't exactly Beltaine, but it's reasonably close.

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Journal 05May2017

No, these aren't people I know.

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Gateway to summer

While these won't be necessarily pagan, they help show that life doesn't need clothing.

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Behave

There is a cave there, a Mystery promising wonders.

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Pagan outlook

Now there are a thousand and thirteen pat answers to that question, but that day it got me thinking.

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Pagan temples

My views on the pillow talk problem have been professionally validated.

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The entrance

Before the dawn and the kiss of the sun

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A selection of bolines




Bolines can be fancy, but I think they sum up what can be wrong with today's paganism. It's about the flair rather than the practicallity.

This pocket knife is very similar to the one I carry. It's simple, inexpensive, and doubles as an athamé and a boline. It blends in and raises no questions. I can carry it easily in my pocket as I hike or tramp.

You don't always have to work with the fancy stuff. The best symbol of a thing is the thing.













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What makes a pagan different?

Bolines can be fancy…

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Intimacy

This is one of those articles I'm not sure if I should be publishing.

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Moment in the morning

Mercury retrograde       waxing crescent moon       ≠ pagan festival season
≠ Beltaine       May Day - summer begins

Merry meet on this fine May Day. Before the dawn and the kiss of the sun, I've just come in from talking to the night and the stars.

I was worried that it might be too windy for my Welcome to Summer bash, but it was perfect. Good thing too, it doesn't make much sense to welcome summer from the inside.

The food was great, the company was better, but the highlight was my hair of the bear. I'm exhibitionist enough to enjoy stripping off my shirt. And I really groove on the female attention and fingers in my hair. They didn't cut off as much as I thought they would this year.

Mind, body, and spirit. I love the sensation and knowing that in this time, in this place, what I feel touches all aspects of me.

It is the connections that bring us to life.

I think I will go see if my companion is awake.

Then I want to greet the summer sun.

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What's wrong with nudity?

Thinking by blogging

In a little while I am going to go plant my tree. I can't get away this weekend so I am starting Summergate a little early.

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❝Polytheistic view of life❞

That is the polytheistic view of life. The world is a mess. The world is beautiful. The gods are eternal (or as good as). The gods work at cross-purposes, and sometimes humans are caught between them.

"If you try to change the world in the name of some grand, sweeping, utopian vision, you will just make it worse. The most you can do is to give Achilles and Kevin Houston a good cause.
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Today's really twenty-nine

Thinking by blogging

This week I got back into my discipline.

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Better human

Go tell three really dirty jokes. Share a piece of fruit with someone you can't stand. Cuddle with someone you care deeply about. Leave the place a little nicer than when you found it. And greet the sun when it wakes up.

No, that isn't all that there is to be a Pagan, it's just a taste of how to be a better human.
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Journal 28Apr2017

Yes, I know the rhythm is odd. It works though.

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★ Arbor Day (Arizona observance)

We have to laugh at ourselves. No one else would take us seriously enough.
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Revelation

Chas S. Clifton, one of my favorite pagan writers, has a piece called The Story of Three Athames.

So I'm pointing it out.

You should go read it now.


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❝A protest against Paganism❞

These are just exampes that caught my eye.

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Affirmation of NeoWayland

This particular photo was taken on the customary Earth Day at Valdez, Alaska.

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Speaking of athamés

Chas S. Clifton, one of my favorite pagan writers, has a piece called The Story of Three Athames.

So I'm pointing it out.

You should go read it now.


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Northern lights

This particular photo was taken on the customary Earth Day at Valdez, Alaska.

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A selection of athamés

Home should be more than a place to hang our hat.

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Home

The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.
— Barry Commoner, first law of ecology
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Bilagáana

You would have thought that our first priority would be to ask what the ecologists are finding out, because we have to live within the conditions and principles they define. Instead, we've elevated the economy above ecology.
— David Suzuki
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Pagan anti-environmentalist

Mercury retrograde       waning crescent moon

Am I, NeoWayland, pagan philosopher and libertarian, an anti-environmentalist?

Well,
yes.

Environmentalism is a political movement. It’s about controlling other people to achieve utopia. It’s about closing yourself off from the possibilities.

I don’t want to be limited by the word “environmentalism” anymore. I don’t think ecology is about saving the Earth. I think it’s about understanding how things fit and the tradeoffs we make. It’s about looking at where we were, where we are, and where we could go.

Environmentalism is like any other crusade. It wants to change society for our own good even if we disagree with the cause.

I resist it just as I do the extra-enthusiastic Christians who want to enshrine their beliefs as the law of the land. And for PRECISELY the same reasons.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a draft to finish for tomorrow's article.

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❝Economy above ecology❞

Environmentalism is a crusade with everything that entails.
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Everything

Thinking by blogging

I didn't plan to become a pagan sex advisor on ethics, but looking at my writings on sex, that's exactly what I have become.

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❝Plant-birthday❞

I think it is funny that we were freer about sexuality in the 4th century B.C. It is a little disconcerting.
— Angelina Jolie
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NeoNotes — Ecology vs environmentalism

Morality in sexual relations, when it is free from superstition, consists essentially in respect for the other person, and unwillingness to use that person solely as a means of personal gratification, without regard to his or her desires.
— Bertrand Russell
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NeoNotes — 10th anniversary of “Pentacle Quest”

If you don't like gambling or shows, there's not much that sets Las Vegas apart.

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≠ Earth Day - customary

This is not the Earth Day I celebrate.

My entry on
Earth Day and politics.

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Journal 21Apr2017

Mercury retrograde       waning crescent moon       breezy early morning

Thinking by bloggingI've got my tree-planting spot picked out for next Friday. It's a good one this year and less than half a day's drive.

It's pretty obvious that sex has been on my mind this week. Part of it is me missing my companion who moved (yes, even though the other one is still here), but a bigger part of it is dealing with the fallout from the Klein verdict. It happens every time there's a sex scandal with pagans. I didn't plan to become a pagan sex advisor on ethics, but looking at my writings on sex, that's exactly what I have become.

I wonder if I could take the trade out in actual sex.

It looks like I'm going to be looking closely at the "in your face" paganism again. I'm not exactly comfortable with that, but I suspect that Someone has nudged again. We'll see how it works out.

Speaking of companions, my local one called me early Thursday morning laughing. "He has your
mustache!" She was talking about Adam The Woo, a video blogger we sometimes enjoy with a morning cuddle. He got a haircut.

A very nice lady asked me about the "slice of life" thing again. This blog is more personal than anything else. Yes, I talk about the pagan stuff, but that is only part of who I am. That came up in an online converstation the other day too.

I’m not the pagan guy who lives down the lane, I’m a man who happens to be pagan. Also libertarian, straight, a bit of a mutt, and a passionate bibliophile. Those things are aspects of me, but they don’t define the face I show the World. Mostly those things don’t come into play unless someone demands their beliefs trump mine.

I didn't talk about masks. Maybe I should have. Sometimes it's still hard for me to know when to filter, espeically when I am not looking at their face.

Today I mail out the invites to my Welcome to Summer feast. It's looking like shish-kabobs this year. And of course the highlight is my bi-annual
Hair of the Bear.

Wednesday I was checking on Mom and we got to talking about my
malichite bear. She's the one who gave it to me although she doesn't understand what my pendants mean to me. I know she doesn't understand what my relationship with Bear, Coyote & Raven, but she knows I like bears and bear art.

Speaking of Coyote, my current bathroom book is
Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan Flores and I am really enjoying it.

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❝ Freer about sexuality…❞

Unless it's with me, who you have sex with, how you have sex, and how many times you have sex is frankly none of my business. Likewise, unless it is sex with me, I'm not responsible for the consequences.
— NeoWayland, Real & impossible rights
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❝Love begins at home❞

I'm honestly not sure what I would use it for, but I admire the piece.

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❝Morality in sexual relations…❞

Is this before or after?

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Another Sheela na gig

This is not the Earth Day I celebrate.

My entry on
Earth Day and politics.

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Sleeping

Last Friday in April.
State tree is paloverde.
www.arborday.org/states/state.cfm?state=AZ


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Sexual responsiblity

First liquid-fueled rocket

Robert H. Goddard launched on 16Mar1926

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Juicy sexy messy

Let me tell you about who is the ultimate model of strong women in my family.
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Seriously

I don't know who the young lady is but she is certainly enjoying herself.

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☥ ✰ Adler Day

Margot Adler • Before birthday

Lived 16Apr1946 to 28July2014 (68)
American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess and radio journalist

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Honor & reputation

From the looks of it, it's probably a fertility rite.

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A secret of life

Leave the World a little better than how you found it.
— NeoWayland
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Sterility cults

Leave the World a little better than how you found it.
— NeoWayland
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Smile

I need to be aware of them, but I don't need to track them in detail.

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Naked ritual

Margot Adler • Before birthday

Lived 16Apr1946 to 28July2014 (68)
American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess and radio journalist

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Dating obsessively

Donald Michael Kraig • deceased birthday

Lived 28March1951 to 07March2014
American occult author and practitioner of ceremonial magic
Author, lecturer, hypnotherapist, Magician, Tantric

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🚀 Rocketman

It's actually part of my Summergate celebration.

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Really real pagan

I have this mythical construct in my head of a bonfire with people I would like to hang out with, and maybe discuss matters large and small.
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NeoNotes — Help

It's the last bright moon before Summergate, the Lady Moon is entering the Court of Stars and I am ready.

For what I am not sure.

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Journal 10Apr2017

We pretty much agreed that women sometimes lie about rape and the code needed to take that into account. We added one small paragraph that said accusations of rape didn't necessarily mean rape.
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Clean

It's the last bright moon before Summergate, the Lady Moon is entering the Court of Stars and I am ready.

For what I am not sure.

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NeoNotes — “J'accuse ...!” - updated

I make it a practice to never call it history until a year and a day after the event.
— NeoWayland
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Journal 07Apr2017

Freedom of religion does not mean deferring to Christianity.
— NeoWayland
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History

I make it a practice to never call it history until a year and a day after the event.
— NeoWayland
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Freedom of religion

I half expect a fairy knight to emerge from all that fog.

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Mythical bonfire

Don't get too concerned about fighting evil. You lose your own center that way.
— Robert Anton Wilson, from “Doubt! The GNOSIS Interview with Robert Anton Wilson”, Gnosis № 50
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“A foggy Irish forest.”

It's as if many American pagans pretend that the roots don't exist.

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Nothing supernatural exists

The old Irish when immersing a babe at baptism left out the right arm so that it would remain pagan for good fighting.
— Mark Twain
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❝Lose your own center…❞

If something changes the universe, it can be measured. If it can be measured, it can be analyzed. If it can be analyzed, experiments can be performed.
— NeoWayland
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Las Vegas interlude

Thinking by blogging

I am keeping the baseball hats though…

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Journal 31Mar2017

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.
— Frank Lloyd Wright
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NeoNotes — A strong woman

Our nation in particular calls back to the classical Greeks and the Roman Republic.

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❝Pagan for good fighting❞

The sky doesn't quite look like that.

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❝I believe in God, only…❞

Thinking by blogging

I can let it warp my life, or I can do the thing I decided years ago.

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Morning canvas

We pagans have become the worst that we saw in the People of the Book.

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NeoNotes — Which god?

Most importantly, my faith is not political.

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What does that have to do with greeting the sun?

I'm winter-born, so a good snow always touches my soul in a quiet joyful way. I could watch it for hours. I did watch it for hours.

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≠ ✰ Kraig Day

Donald Michael Kraig • deceased birthday

Lived 28March1951 to 07March2014
American occult author and practitioner of ceremonial magic
Author, lecturer, hypnotherapist, Magician, Tantric

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≠ ✰ ❝Any and all religions are real…❞

Thinking by blogging

I've been up all night with the sound of the night in my ears. Also aroused. And no companion around.

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★ Earth Day (original) as “the first day of spring”

21Mar1970 San Francisco

My entry on
Earth Day and politics.

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🚀 Goddard's Rocket

21Mar1970 San Francisco

My entry on
Earth Day and politics.

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≠ ✰ ❝Magick is not something you do…❞

1st human in space

Yuri Gagarin - 12Apr1961

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ugh-politics

Most importantly, my faith is not political.

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Signs

Faith cannot be given. Faith cannot be taken. To mean anything at all, faith must be chosen freely.
— NeoWayland
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Sunfell Tech Mage Rede Nine Words Serve The Tech Mage Best Keep What Works Fix What’s Broke Ditch The Rest

A narrow slice of life, but now and again pondering American neopaganism, modern adult pagans & the World.

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