Judge not by the label
But for me, politics is not a part of paganism. Things don't go well when faith and politics are mixed. So I am saying that politics has nothing to do with the sunrise of the bright Moon. You can't find politics in an infant's laugh or in the call of a coyote.
Read More...Added to the lexicon
Ecology vs. environmentalism
❝Ecology studies how living systems interact and interconnect with each other. Environmentalism is about teaching and compelling behavior. These words are not synonyms. As both a pagan and a libertarian, I can not support environmentalism.❞— NeoWayland, ecology vs. environmentalism
John McConnell & Earth Day
❝Much of the justification for "establishing" a Greater Pagan Community® is so that certain individuals can get the adoration and deference they believe they deserve.❞— NeoWayland, Greater Pagan Community®
Paganism is not political
This is a page from the third version of Technopagan Yearnings. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.neowayland.com/C65989237/E20060103044338
Faith is a personal choice. So are politics. One does not define the other.
If you are lucky enough not to have had this inflicted on you yet, the idea is that all real pagans are naturally progressive and green. And if you are not progressive and green, then you can't possibly be a real pagan.
I was an environmentalist before the global warming movement hijacked environmentalism. Today you can barely mention environmentalism without bowing down before the global warming altar. Everything environmental must give way to the global warming agenda. When is the last time you saw a news story about water pollution or air pollution? But I have lost track of how many stories I have seen about global warming in the last year.
And of course, if you really care about Mother Gaia and Her children (and you can hear the capitalization in their voices) you are against poverty, injustice, and war. Unless the "enemy" is a wealthy Republican, then all bets are off.
What the blazes does ANY of this have to do with Paganism?
If you are a reconstructionist, I'm willing to bet that there are gods in your personal pantheon who were not only responsible for commerce, but probably invented coinage.
And dice games. Don't forget the dice games. VERY important foundation for commerce.
Now I happen to be very political. But my politics don't come because of my faith or my Patrons. Likewise, my faith isn't defined by my politics.
There are people I identify as part-time pagans and fluffy pagans, but not because of their politics. That is because of how they treat their faith.
Environmentalism crusade
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."”Read More...— NeoWayland, Why does your enlightenment demand that I sacrifice?
Journal 05May2017
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.
❝Economy above ecology❞
❝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
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
Point of view
❝We define the labels, the labels should not define us.❞
— from the journal of NeoWayland
I don’t believe I should use this blog to teach.
I think the best teachers are the ones you see face to face. That personal relationship helps you learn faster.
But we live in an age of wonders connected digitally across the planet. Even if it’s not my place to teach, maybe sometimes I can tell beginners where to start looking for their own answers and their own path.
So I’m answering my email again, indirectly.
I’m using ideas that I work with most. My WebTree path (not a tradition) draws heavily on Celtic Reconstructionism and modern Druidry with just a smidge more Wiccanism than I am comfortable admitting.
Yule - around December 21
Imbolc - February 2
Ostera - around March 21
Beltane - April 30
Litha - around June 21
Lughnasad - August 1
Mabon - around September 21
Samhain - October 31
You’ve probably seen that list a few hundred times before. It’s obviously the neopagan sabbats. But what the list doesn’t tell you is how those dates interrelate. For that, you need an eight pointed star. I just happen to have one on file.
Concentrate on the list alone and you can miss the relationships. The power isn’t in the list. The power is in how the ideas weave together.
Put Yule at the top point of the star.
Technically you don’t need the star, but it sure helps you see the connections. You can see that the winter solstice is opposite the summer solstice and that the equinoxes are opposite each other.
Yes, I’ve covered this before. Please bear with me.
You can also see that the cross quarter days are really the gateways between seasons. And you can see that the solstices and the equinoxes are really the peak moments and middle of the seasons.
Cross quarter days are High Holidays for my path. The equinoxes and solstices are Solar Festivals.
Now I could explain that in three or four pages. Or I can show you with a single picture and a few sentences.
It’s not enough to know the seasons, you have to know the connections and the relationships.
This isn’t something that is commonly taught in paganism these days. Absolutely I am not teaching it. I’m just telling you where you might begin.
I will point out that the eight-pointed star is just a start. Before the digital age, many traditions would expect you to draw something like this.
That’s a lot more complex.
Notice the relationships.
You just couldn’t draw that right at first.You’d have to start over and over again. You’d frustrate yourself because it should be easy for you. You’re passionate about your faith and you WANT to learn. You’d make many tries. Some of the hardest attempts would be with your teacher watching closely over your shoulder while you got it almost perfect. The slightest flaw means the whole picture has to be destroyed. You’d have to start over again until you could draw it on demand. By the time you were done, you could visualize the connections without the diagram.
You’d understand.
The power is not the drawing. The power is you understanding the connections.
Sure, you could get that from a list, but it would take much longer.
The tools we use shape our thought.
This isn't one of mine. But think about the work that went into this even if you don't agree with the assumptions.
Let me give you another example.
Before WWII and quick mix boxes, recipes were usually by ratios. Sure, you can memorize individual recipies that use 1 cup of that mixed with 2/3 cups of this, but it won’t teach you the relationships.
If you stood in a kitchen full of ingredients but without the pre-measured portions and the oh so precise instuctions, you’d be stuck. You wouldn’t know the relationships.
You wouldn’t know what separated a bread from a cake.
You wouldn’t know what made a soup or a sauce.
One look at a grocery store tells you that there are entire industries devoted to your ignorance and willing to sell you easy to use products so you don’t have to think about it too hard.
Someone doesn’t want you thinking about it too hard. Someone profits from you not thinking hard.
Something really simple looks enormously complicated because you’re stuck with one perspective.
Hmm, that sounds familiar. Somebody out to impress you with what they know and what they can show. Like one of Shaw’s experts.
But the way of the master means do more with less. To do that you need to understand how things interrelate. It’s not about one cup of that mixed with 2/3 cup of this, it’s about three parts of that mixed with two parts of this. The measure isn’t what you need, the ratio is.
It’s about the relationships and the connections. Think in those terms and you’ve expanded what you can do. Do more with less complication.
One last bit.
Environmentalism is about control. Control of the surroundings, control of human behavior, control of the lifeforms, everything carefully monitored and measured.
But that is not the way the world works.
Ecology is about the relationships and tradeoffs.
Guess which works better longer.
Understanding is the key. You can’t go poking around with the primal forces of the universe without understanding.
Well, you could, but it’s much safer if you understand the connections.
Change your perspective, change the world.
Change youself.
As above, so below.
Change.
