picture
Watching the parade
Wednesday, 11Sep2019 Filed in: Gallery
A NeoWayland original.
Half fill a water glass with ice.
Put in one and a half fingers of lemon juice from concentrate poured slowly down the inside edge of the glass.
Put in one finger of lime juice poured slowly down the opposite inside edge of the glass so it sits on the lemon juice.
Very slowly, fill up the rest of the glass with V8 juice.
If you have done it right, you can see three separate and distinct layers of juice.
Top with a few drops of tabasco sauce.
Drink with a straw.
The flavor will change as you sip, the ice melts, and the juices slowly mingle.
Put in one and a half fingers of lemon juice from concentrate poured slowly down the inside edge of the glass.
Put in one finger of lime juice poured slowly down the opposite inside edge of the glass so it sits on the lemon juice.
Very slowly, fill up the rest of the glass with V8 juice.
If you have done it right, you can see three separate and distinct layers of juice.
Top with a few drops of tabasco sauce.
Drink with a straw.
The flavor will change as you sip, the ice melts, and the juices slowly mingle.
Comments
How to see
Monday, 26Aug2019 Filed in: quotes & thinkums⭐︎ Gallery
“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”Read More...
Quietly
Monday, 26Aug2019 Filed in: Gallery
“The History Guy remembers the Calendar Act of 1750 and eleven lost days in 1750. It is a curious calendar-related piece of forgotten history that deserves to be remembere”
Read More...Gentle touch
Monday, 19Aug2019 Filed in: Gallery
Sunrise at the Troll Wall
Wednesday, 14Aug2019 Filed in: Gallery
Casually
Monday, 12Aug2019 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ quotes & thinkums
Yes, I know this one is staged. But it is the casual acceptance of nudity that I'd like to see more often. We're born in our skin, we shouldn't be ashamed in it.
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.
Really stand out
Monday, 05Aug2019 Filed in: Gallery
Sunshine low in the sky
Monday, 29Jul2019 Filed in: Gallery
Rocky river
Monday, 24Jun2019 Filed in: Gallery
“In which John Green teaches you the history of the Indian Ocean Trade. John weaves a tale of swashbuckling adventure, replete with trade in books, ivory, and timber. Along the way, John manages to cover advances in seafaring technology, just how the monsoons work, and there's even a disembowelment for you Fangoria fans.”
Read More...Therapeutic
Thursday, 13Jun2019 Filed in: quotes & thinkums⭐︎ Gallery
Between the moments
Monday, 03Jun2019 Filed in: Gallery
❝We pagans make a big deal about walking between the worlds, but sometimes I think we spend so much time trying to be in the world we want that we forget to be in the world we're in.❞— NeoWayland, Related to who?
Dancing naked
Thursday, 30May2019 Filed in: quotes & thinkums⭐︎ Gallery
But there's a part of me that's sad that those ideas won't be part of the conversation going forward.
Read More...Swimming
Monday, 27May2019 Filed in: Gallery
❝Nudity is not sex. Sex is not love. Love is not nudity. Your desire does not control another's choice.❞
Part of nature
Thursday, 23May2019 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ quotes & thinkums
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.
Power trio
Monday, 20May2019 Filed in: Gallery
An unusual picture that is just about friendship, not fashion or titillation. Going by the amount of pubic hair, the jewelry, and the feathered hair, I'd say late 1970s to early 1980s.
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.
Really there
Wednesday, 22May2019 Filed in: Gallery
“Skyclad for Samhain in the graveyard.”
Monday, 17Sep2018 Filed in: Gallery
“In which Mike Rugnetta teaches you about Ma'ui, prominent hero of many cultures in Oceania, aka the Pacific Island nations. Ma'ui is just the kind of hero we're interested in here at Crash Course. He's a culture hero, he's a an adventurer, he has a divine birth, AND he's a trickster. In short, he's pretty cool, and the tasks he accomplishes in his life are great examples of how human stories can touch on universal themes.”
Read More...The secret albums
“This week, we're talking about theories of Myth. We'll look at the different ways mythology has been studied in the last couple of millenia, and talk about the diffeent ways people have interpreted myth, academically.” Read More...
NeoNotes — Defending my faith (the long one)
❝I hadn't heard of the "well poisoner" bit, although obviously I heard about "poisoner." There are certain bits that I don't let folks get away with, like the "unbroken matriarchal tradition" or "Never again the Burning Times"
I try to give Christians the benefit of the doubt, mainly because I expect the same. Some make it harder than others (Bob Barr). Live and let live works mostly.
Anyway, I'll go back to my books now.
Satanists are not witches, usually.
One does not like being labeled as the other.
Sort of like comparing an intramural softball team to a volunteer soup kitchen. There are similarities but there are far more differences.
And I've seen extremely energetic discussions why they aren't the same thing. I even agree with most of it, Satanism is usually more self-focused.
As far as the "eternal destination," no one This Side knows.
Which is almost certainly the point of being This Side.
Actually you don't.
You know that I don't like labels and that I prefer to live and let live. You know I think humans are mostly good, given half a chance and a few kind words.
But part of my path means I don't casually share the Names of my gods. It's part of how I honor them.
It's not your place to judge, and it certainly isn't your place to allow me anything.
It's literally between me and the Divine. Your own book teaches that.
Parity. Simple parity. You don't want your stuff questioned by me, don't try to impose it on me. Live & let live. You're not a gatekeeper no matter how hard you try.
I'd like to make this World just a little better than I found it. Where is it "written" that is wrong?
It's not complicated. It doesn't require Divine evaluation.
There you go again, trying to assume authority that was never yours.
There's nothing in that special handbook that gives Christians power over other humans.
I won't bow before your belief, just as you won't bow before mine. You can't require that of me and I can't require that of you.
Parity.
Pardon, but I didn't say anything about forcing. That's not why I'm objecting.
He's disputing my beliefs because he doesn't share them. Nothing wrong with that. But then he attempts to put his beliefs over mine without logic, but faith. He'd be screaming bloody murder if I tried the same thing.
I don't allow it when the climate change crowd tries. I don't allow it when the RadFems try. And I don't allow it when certain Christians try. Not because I disagree, but because no one has the power to dictate faith.
I pointed out that no one This Side knew what the "eternal destination" was.
I pointed out that QM wants me to put his faith over mine."But that doesn't mean we have to stop trying to warn you.""The only judgment he made was that God suffers you to live."
Both those were yours I think.
Pardon, but both those were taken from your replies."The key, however, is the eternal destination is the same…"
That was QM, above.
Absent proof, my belief is as valid as his. That was my point.
And NONE of that matters This Side, where it's up to us to Manifest the Divine in a way that hopefully makes the World a little better than we found it.
You and he are nitpicking about the afterlife when we should be focusing on the here and now.
Oh my, that is just too funny!
Just what do you think you're doing when you continually insist your beliefs apply to me when I disagree?
Oh, and while we're at it, note that I haven't said one blessed word about what I think will happen to you after This Side.
We weren't discussing invalidating, we were discussing calling something invalid.
We also had established that using your beliefs to control others is a Bad Thing™. Just in case you hadn't noticed, my criticism of Christianity is reactive and mostly directed against certain Christians.
Celebrate your beliefs and cherish your faith. All I ask is the same. Just don't demand that my beliefs and actions are bound by yours. Live and let live.
There is a difference.
You can call something invalid, but that does not invalidate it.
And yet you're still here trying to convince me.❝Come down off your high horse.❞
This from someone who presumes that the default setting for humanity is Christianity, or at least that Christians are in the majority.
You know, one thing I haven't been able to figure out about you is why when you tell people that they should be Christian, the only reason you give is a vague threat about what "happens" to non-Christians after death.
Yes, yes, I know you're going to tell me it is not you that threatens and it is up to Christians to "warn" others.
I didn't say it was what you said, I said it was what you presumed.
Why are you so desperate for me to bow before your belief? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were threatened by my beliefs.
And of course, this discussion conveniently lets you ignore the here and now in favor of your "Christian duty."
Outside of religion, it's accepted practice to say "I disagree" and both parties move on.
However, some Christians act as if that's a full challenge.
For whatever reason, you feel you cannot allow dissent to your chosen creed. Now, the logical and respectable thing to do would be to accept that some believe differently and not "mark your territory." It would get you allies and a certain amount of leeway.
But that's not the way you're going to do it, is it?❝You need to go back and read everything I've said.❞
No, I don't think so.❝You beclown your by doing so, then whine that the other guy is doing bad things to you.❞
Actually what I do is show that when you can't handle the argument, you go after the person. It's amateurish and you can do better.❝I'm not looking for allies.❞
You should be.
So you've gone from warning to leading me "around by the nose."
Except you haven't.
You still can't address the argument, you have to go after the person..
Having dealt with some incredibly silly propaganda over the years, I beg to differ.
The first step to invalidating something is to prove it wrong.
Words matter. Actions matter more. Intentions don't.
By the way, have you noticed you're focusing on my "unbelief" and the Christian reaction? Do you remember what I said a few posts back?
❝And NONE of that matters This Side, where it's up to us to Manifest the Divine in a way that hopefully makes the World a little better than we found it.
You and he are nitpicking about the afterlife when we should be focusing on the here and now.❞
Seek paradox for truth.
What you have is an either/or trap. You believe that the conditions of your faith are such that all other faiths and belief systems must be universally false. So when I say my faith tells me different, by your conditions I am declaring your faith to be Untruth.
But by the conditions of my faith. I'm just seeing things from another perspective.
What you need to ask yourself who imposed the either/or trap? Your god? Or people claiming to speak in His Name? Why should Diety be limited by a human logical construct?
It's paradox and illogic because some of the "universal" assumptions that you use aren't exactly universal.
You can mix metric and English parts, but something is probably going to come loose and fly apart.
Assume I am making a pie.
You tell me I need apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, cane sugar, apples that have been cored and peeled (preferably Granny Smith but others will work in a pinch)…
But I am making a key lime pie.
Then you tell me that's not a True Pie®. And it may not be from your perspective.
But from my point of view, it works just fine. It's round, it's dessert, and my guests will enjoy it.
There's not just one type of pie.
Your belief shouldn't control what I can and can not call a pie.
Who knows? Next month I may go with my grandmother's pecan pie. It's a pain to make but absolutely delicious.
My key lime pie and my pecan pie do not negate the existence of your apple pie. Your apple pie doesn't prevent me from making my key lime pie and my pecan pie. They aren't your pies so you may not wish to call them pies, but they exist for me.
You didn't state your motive, at least not all of it.
You stated your justification.
If it were really about "warning" people, you would give your warning a few times and that would be it.
You also wouldn't try to go after another's character when they disagree with you.
This is what you do.
When you can't dismiss the argument, you go after the person. When that doesn't work, you go after the person some more.
That doesn't work with me.
Simple questions.
Would you give up your faith and your beliefs for mine?
Why should I give mine up for yours?
Will it make you a better person?
Will it give you some Divine merit points?
Why should I care about some nebulous benefit that comes to you?
Live and let live.
The questions are central to this discussion. Particularly the first two.
❝Would you give up your faith and your beliefs for mine?
Why should I give mine up for yours?❞
I'm pretty sure if you think about those questions, you'll discover what "live and let live" means.
I've told you before that my faith and beliefs are at least as important to me as yours are to you.
You wouldn't stand for someone like me telling you what and how to worship.
Parity.
Live and let live.
No, you are insisting that your beliefs trump mine.
I'm telling you they don't.
I never take anyone's word alone for their motives. I always include their actions.
Guess which I place more importance on.
Guess which tells me more.❝He is the only reality.❞
You believe that, but you have no proof other than faith.
I do not believe as you do.
I have my own beliefs, they are at least as real to me as yours are to you.
I've no proof other than faith.
Live and let live.
Neighbor.❝You do in deed have "faith" but it is not faith based on a firm foundation.❞
As opposed to you?
Who are you to judge what is a "firm foundation?"
Why do you assume you have that power?❝Go back and digest what I said earlier.❞
Why? Would you do that if I demanded that you do it with what I wrote?❝I don't "assume" to have any power.❞
Again, your own words prove my point better than I could. You're here now, trying to disprove what I wrote, unleashing your "big guns." That's an awful lot of trouble to take against one man who is seriously outnumbered and hasn't really done anything except write "I disagree."
The main point I make is that there are different faiths and it's wrong to act as if Christianity controls the others.
You wouldn't stand for it if someone tried to do that to Christianity.
Parity.
Live and let live.
Very simple.
Again, it's live and let live.
Not the strange rewrite that you keep pushing, but the simple idea.
I have my belief, you have yours. As long as you don't keep insisting that your belief governs mine, there's no problem.
It's your insecurity that makes this happen.
Through each of our every discussions, I've never criticized Christianity. It's always been specific followers.
Except you have.
Every single time you trotted out your afterlife threat. Every single time you've insisted that people with other faiths are bound by Christian rules. Every time you've insisted on deference for Christianity while dismissing other faiths.
Can you show how your "firm foundation" is better than mine?
In fact, let's take it one step further.
Can you give me ANYTHING except a vague threat about the afterlife to tell me what a good thing Christianity is and how it is better than my faith?
I've never seen you do that, you know. You recite plenty of afterlife threats, but never any benefits This Side.
I've never seen you do it for anyone you disagree with.
Always with the threats.
Never with the wonders.
Certainly something to think about.
You still haven't established how your "firm foundation" is better than mine.
So now we've come back to where it all began.
Your problem is that you want me to put your faith first and I tell you "no" because I have something else.
No other reason.
You can't tell me the wonders of Christianity, you can only claim that my faith is lacking because it is not Christian.
That is just sad.
ETA: Okay, that was awkwardly worded. Let's try again.
But you still can't bring yourself to say what the wonders are.❝I'm not telling you how, or what, to worship. I've simply pointed out the warnings of the consequences of rejecting Christ.❞
Behold the contradiction.
Or the paradox if you prefer.
As I told RHW above, if there's a paradox, chances are pretty good at least one of your core assumptions is wrong.
He can claim Biblical justification all he wants, but he needs something other than "the Bible told me so." If that's all he got, then his faith is no different than mine, is it?
He may believe that it's more, but he can't control my belief. That's why he trots out "my God suffers you to live."
Instead of looking at the World and how we might make a difference, he presumes his faith gives him the power to give judgement, even as he denies the judgement is his.
And if anyone disputes it, well, it's Holy Writ, isn't it?
It certainly has very little to do with the message of the Bible.
Unfortunately this is not my first or thirteenth dance with QM, we have a history. He has in fact at different times done everything you said he hasn't done on this specific thread.
I'd still prefer live and let live. Which means not publicly insisting that the tenants of your faith control the actions of others. It also means finding a common morality without putting one religion over all others.
Is it more important that I acknowledge that "the Bible is Holy Writ," or is it more important that I agree that government mandated and funded abortion is A Really Bad Thing™?
Which is more practical?
That's the thing. You and others believe that the Bible is "Holy Writ," but that doesn't make it so.
I happen to think there are some good ideas there, but I don't think it's particularly holy.
Now we can get hung up on my "unbelief" and Christian reaction to it, or we can find things we do agree on and work from there.
Again, which is more practical?
And why do you feel compelled to speak for your God? Did he call you on the phone? Was there a registered letter?
More importantly, how does that get us closer to agreeing?
My faith and beliefs are at least as important to me as yours are to you."The Almighty, however, probably has a different perspective on what you believe."
Beats the usual. Most Christians just cite chapter and verse.
Nothing wrong with that PROVIDED you don't use it to try to control others.
And yes, I know Christians are supposed to spread the news. However, Christians don't appreciate it when others do it to them.
Parity. Or the Golden Rule, if you prefer.
*shrugs* Which is why I don't usually make it except under very specific circumstances.
Some Christians insist that the rules defined by their religion are universal and everyone must comply or else.
I disagree. That's usually when I'm accused of attacking Christianity."Neither of us have accused you of attacking anyone."
Give QM time."Listen to us or don't, that's your choice."
Stars above, if only it were that simple."But that doesn't mean we have to stop trying to warn you."
And if you only did it once each or once each per thread, that would be great.
But I didn't lie.
As for the afterlife, you have your belief and I have mine. No one This Side knows.
You were the one who took exception to that statement."You are your source of authority."
No, I'm not.
Perhaps what frustrates you most is that you can't denounce my faith without undermining your own. At the end of the day, we don't have anything but our faith. Mine is just as valid as yours by every "objective" measure you trot out.
Live and let live. Why is that so hard for you to accept?
My posts "reveal" that I answer to an authority different than yours.
I never claimed an "objective" standard. Truths are incredibly subjective.
How many times have I told you that a man is measured in the lives he touches?
That's not exactly about the self, is it?
Of course it is not you that threaten, it is your God. He just sits down at your keyboard and types away.
That tells me is that you don't know your God very well.
Yep, too many people are into religion for the politics.
No, you believe that the Bible is God-inspired. So do a lot of other people. That doesn't make it "objectively true." Especially since it is the most heavily edited, redacted, and revised book in history. Remarkably well preserved, but still.
What I "fessed up to" was that I didn't remember the Hebrew that I studied briefly for a few months about three decades ago. Since I don't use Hebrew regularly, that's hardly surprising.
Again, if you don't like what I have to say about the Bible, stop insisting that I am bound by it. Even Christians are extremely selective when it comes to the portions they use.
ETA: I don't think the Christian message was ever intended to be confined to dusty writings.❞
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
Under the full Moon
“There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.”
◊ Wayfaring Day
Saturday, 16Dec2017 Filed in: celebrations & passages⭐︎ Gallery
In their own minds
Saturday, 19Aug2017 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ quotes & thinkums
❝We define the labels, the labels should not define us.❞
— from the private journal of NeoWayland, 07Nov2012
Worship
Saturday, 05Aug2017 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ quotes & thinkums
At the lake
Monday, 31Jul2017 Filed in: Gallery
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.
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.
“As a pagan…”
❝You know the problem with these massive conspiracy theories are that there are never enough conspirators and never enough victims.❞Read More...
Spirituality
Saturday, 22Jul2017 Filed in: quotes & thinkums⭐︎ Gallery
❝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.❞Read More...
Journal 14Jul2017
Friday, 14Jul2017 Filed in: thinking by blogging⭐︎ site news
From the hairstyle of the brunette lady on the right, I'm guessing that it happened in the late 1960s.
Read More...❝Bathers on the Beach❞ by Marie Auguste Emile Rene Menard
Monday, 17Jul2017 Filed in: Gallery
There's something very renewing about greeting the sun at dawn dressed in nothing but a pendant.
Read More...Another world tree
Wednesday, 05Jul2017 Filed in: Gallery
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”— Frank Lloyd Wright
Dweller
Wednesday, 05Jul2017 Filed in: Gallery
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”— Albert Einstein
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 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.
“Daphnis and Chloe” by Victor Borisov-Musatov
Wednesday, 21Jun2017 Filed in: Gallery
“Boy With A Dog” by Victor Borisov-Musatov
Monday, 19Jun2017 Filed in: Gallery
“Three Graces in a Cactus Garden” by Lotan Lotan
Monday, 05Jun2017 Filed in: Gallery
“To divide anything into what should be and what is, is the most deceptive way of dealing with life.”— Jiddu Krishnamurti
Fire dance
Wednesday, 17May2017 Filed in: Gallery
Sex magick
“Pagan temples are timeworn forests, secluded gardens, sun-kissed seashores and emerald pastures.”— Amelia Dashwood
Juicy sexy messy
Tuesday, 18Apr2017 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ modern adult pagans
❝Let me tell you about who is the ultimate model of strong women in my family.❞Read More...
Life is good
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”— Stephen King
Ravens
Monday, 07Nov2016 Filed in: Gallery⭐︎ rite & ritual
“Be careful the cloaks you wear lest you be soiled by their dirt.”— from the shadow book of Red Cedar Owl
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.
Collecting pelts
Tuesday, 16Feb2016 Filed in: thinking by blogging⭐︎ sex⭐︎ modern adult pagans⭐︎ beliefs⭐︎ practicals⭐︎ Gallery
Mom ended up with a broken clavicle, a punctured lung, massive bruising, and some confusion.
Read More...Totems I have known
It’s a day of contrasts and promises. Even as winter is at it’s greatest, light is born again. Read More...
Flexing your calendar
Today is the first day of The Lady in the Court of Stars.
One of these days I really should tell that story. But not today.
No, today I’m going to talk about calendars.
This is a partial list of dates from my Lore and Wyrd calendars. The exact dates don’t matter in this example.
Pay attention to the symbols before the title in each listing.
The ☥ ankh symbol is my shorthand for a Before. Before are those who’ve inspired me and those who I choose to honor by living their example.
The ✰ shadowed star is my shorthand for a pagan.
The ▽ inverted triangle is a symbol for philosophy, I use this to designate philosophers.
The ≠ not equals sign means that I acknowledge but do not celebrate (ABNC). Just because the day is important to other people doesn’t mean that I have to celebrate it. And if you think I have a lot of these days in my Lore and Wyrd calendars, you should see the birthdays and anniversaries in my Kinship calendar.
The ★ solid star shows that this day that while not distinctively pagan is still important to my practice.
Okay, the ⊗ circled times symbol. I don’t want to use the circled cross because of it’s association with the KKK (and yes, my feelings on that go back years). This is a good alternative that maintains the same elemental associations. Of course someone who takes a title based on Wayland is going to celebrate The Firing of the Anvil. Especially someone with strong ties to the American South.
Let’s see how that actually works. As you can see, this is an event from 1971.
The ankh and the inverted triangle tell us that this man is one of my Befores and he’s a philosopher. I’ve used the location field to give more expand the information a bit. This field will also show in the day list view of the iOS calendar or in my preferred option Fantastical.
I’ve included a quick URL so I can call up in-depth information.
I’ve unchecked the “Busy” box so I still show available.
My notes show his lifespan and how old he was when he died.
And I’ve listed some of the things he was known for WITHOUT giving specific works. Otherwise the entry would be way too long and clunky.
The whole purpose of this exercise is that I have a calendar in the palm of my hand that will quickly show me what I need to know for that day.
I haven’t even mentioned my Sky calendar with the astronomical events and symbols.
Have I mentioned that I have a calendar obsession?
Here’s the most important bit.
After the initial setup (and the once a year update on my Sky calendar), I don’t have to worry about it. It’s there. If I absolutely have to I can print it up (and I still do for some events and rituals).
A little bit of work, a little bit of planning, and I’m ready.
One of these days I really should tell that story. But not today.
No, today I’m going to talk about calendars.This is a partial list of dates from my Lore and Wyrd calendars. The exact dates don’t matter in this example.
Pay attention to the symbols before the title in each listing.
The ☥ ankh symbol is my shorthand for a Before. Before are those who’ve inspired me and those who I choose to honor by living their example.
The ✰ shadowed star is my shorthand for a pagan.
The ▽ inverted triangle is a symbol for philosophy, I use this to designate philosophers.
The ≠ not equals sign means that I acknowledge but do not celebrate (ABNC). Just because the day is important to other people doesn’t mean that I have to celebrate it. And if you think I have a lot of these days in my Lore and Wyrd calendars, you should see the birthdays and anniversaries in my Kinship calendar.
The ★ solid star shows that this day that while not distinctively pagan is still important to my practice.
Okay, the ⊗ circled times symbol. I don’t want to use the circled cross because of it’s association with the KKK (and yes, my feelings on that go back years). This is a good alternative that maintains the same elemental associations. Of course someone who takes a title based on Wayland is going to celebrate The Firing of the Anvil. Especially someone with strong ties to the American South.
Let’s see how that actually works. As you can see, this is an event from 1971. The ankh and the inverted triangle tell us that this man is one of my Befores and he’s a philosopher. I’ve used the location field to give more expand the information a bit. This field will also show in the day list view of the iOS calendar or in my preferred option Fantastical.
I’ve included a quick URL so I can call up in-depth information.
I’ve unchecked the “Busy” box so I still show available.
My notes show his lifespan and how old he was when he died.
And I’ve listed some of the things he was known for WITHOUT giving specific works. Otherwise the entry would be way too long and clunky.
The whole purpose of this exercise is that I have a calendar in the palm of my hand that will quickly show me what I need to know for that day.
I haven’t even mentioned my Sky calendar with the astronomical events and symbols.
Have I mentioned that I have a calendar obsession?
Here’s the most important bit.
After the initial setup (and the once a year update on my Sky calendar), I don’t have to worry about it. It’s there. If I absolutely have to I can print it up (and I still do for some events and rituals).
A little bit of work, a little bit of planning, and I’m ready.
Shapes in the Moon
Thursday, 07May2015 Filed in: celebrations & passages⭐︎ Gallery
Gaia
I mentioned some of my concerns, but their future is full of utopia and collective effort.
Read More...Earth Day & politics
Tuesday, 21Apr2015 Filed in: celebrations & passages⭐︎ modern adult pagans⭐︎ Gallery⭐︎ beliefs⭐︎ quotes & thinkums
