Poetry for Brigid

It's that time again! Here's my entry for the Fourth Annual Brigad in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam. Happy Imbolc!

*****

Beatrice Cenci was a young Italian noblewoman executed in 1599 (with her stepmother and elder brother) by the Pope because she was involved in the murder of her father, who had imprisoned and abused them.

Alimitra David wrote a poem, Beatrice of the Cenci, that takes place on the eve of the execution. In it, Beatrice calls out to her mother (who died shortly after her birth). As it is a long poem, I am only sharing the first and last stanzas. The entire poem can be found in Impulse to Fly (1998).

*

I don't ask
that you
come to me here
to hold me and
cry as Lucretia and I
have done for
years I
don't ask you to
come and be as
we are a

voice against his
will like my
smallest finger
against the
stone gate of
the courtyard

Mother I don't
pray you back to
this place only
sing to me
strong
from wherever you are

oh sing to me Mother
I will climb your voice
hand over hand
high over these
robed men who
curse me

sing tonight
for tomorrow they
will cut me loose
at last to fly from this
motherless place
this place of
fathers and
fathers and
more fathers

*

Mother do you
love me do
you love me
broken as I am
do you love my
feet my hands
my face do you
love me when I
hear you and

do you love me
when I can't
listen when I
float
blind and deaf
in water with
no current was

it your voice in
my dream was it
mine calling names I
don't remember when
awake

this night will
become morning
I have heard
rumors of
morning of
sunrise and
figs ripening

Mother I call
to you not to
come to me here
only sing for me
strong
from
wherever you are

Winter Solstice at Stonehenge

Hundreds celebrate shortest day

♫ Solstice Blessings

A very blessed Winter Solstice to you and yours.

Poetry for Brigid

To mark Imbolc (aka Candlemas, aka Brigid's Day), here is my selection for the Third Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Reading.

The Moon is Always

The moon is always you, and I am drawn
to trace the ripe crescent swelling around
your hip, the arc of your throat, the classic curve
of your eyes, and the velvet indigo shadow beneath.

You are always the moon, and I ache in your
absence, although you never leave me for long,
lingering late into the morning and ascending
again in the afternoon, balm for my sun-blind eyes.

The moon is waxen, bloodless.
The moon does not have your mouth.
The moon does not contain your breath.

You are never the moon, but your dimpled
skin is luminescent, it gleams and lures my gaze,
my hands, and I am always reaching for you.

The moon is never you, but I arch to your rhythms
all the same, and I weep relief with the crashing
tidal pool upon your every return.

The moon has a profile that changes with perspective,
and I have written encrypted love poems within
its every dimple and shadow, secrets that borrow
light from our love making to illuminate
the stars and blaze our skins and stories across the sky.

This moon is only for us.

Chandra Mayor

Out at Work?

Being out as a pagan is a difficult decision. I started a new position two months ago and, for a variety of reasons, decided that I didn't feel comfortable sharing my religion with the agency. That was a difficult decision for me, as I've been out since I arrived in Calgary in 199, but there were too many "cons" and not enough "pros" for coming out.

There is hope, though, that one day we won't have to make these kinds of choices. In this WitchVox article, Luna Morgan recounts the reaction when she wore her pentacle to a job interview.

Blessed Equinox

Autumn Equinox is a time for thanksgiving in most traditions. Looking over the past year and finding things to be "thankful" for has been a difficult task for me. I often find the questions a lot more difficult than the answers. With that in mind, here's my gratitude list:

• friends, family and colleagues who are kind, caring, accepting and loving
• a place to live safely
  
• work that is meaningful, challenging and life-changing
• music, because without it the rest is silence

Autumn Equinox is also a time of separation, as Demeter says goodbye to her daughter Persephone, who now travels to spend six months in the Underworld. It is always more difficult to find faith in the midst of struggle, and this year I have struggled to find the faith I need to move forward in my life.

As Demeter struggles to accept loss, so too do I try to accept and grieve those things that have been lost to me. That which has died shall be reborn.

As Persephone struggles to accept change, so too do I try to accept and embrace those things that have been given to me. That which was separated shall be reunited.

Great is the wisdom of the Goddess
For She gives us our time of rest
And separation from the world's desires
That we may be refreshed and renewed once more
For all forms must die to be reborn
Now let the cutting crone fulfill her purpose

May the circle never be broken
May the earth always be whole
May the rattle ever be shaken
May the Goddess live in our souls

Blessed Be.

--
All items in red are from Ariadne's Thread by Shekhinah Mountainwater.

Calgary Pagan Pride Day

Calgary Pagan Pride Day
Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
http://community.livejournal/cppd

I've giving a presentation on Feminist Spirituality at 1 p.m.
Hope to see you there!

"Time to Become Pre-Emptive Peacemakers"

If we want peace and security, we must address the causes of war.

Writing Through the Pain

It is a surprising thing to wake up and discover you no longer know how to trust. Which is ironic, really, as I have been told I am too trusting. On the surface, it might look that way, but the past few days can be an illustration of how trust does not work in my life.

Trust mingles with faith, and when I think it's all going to work out - and then THE THING happens to blow it all out of the water - well, my faith is shaken too.

Wil sha.*

*Let there be healing.

"It's better now."

Shekhinah Mountainwater (1939-2007)

First Fruits: What are you thankful for?

O Hadondia*, great is thy bounty

Endless are the streams of thine abundance

We call upon you now to nourish us

And those around the world who are in need

Teach us to receive and know that we deserve

Teach us to give and share the overflow...

Shekhinah Mountainwater

Today is Lammas, the festival of first harvest. It is a time for us to be thankful and aware of the abundance in our lives, as we celebrate that which we have worked for. It is also a time of sacrifice as we let go of what is no longer needed in our lives.

This Lammas, with the ongoing green debates, it is important to remember that the Earth is a living being, and Her bounty needs to be shared equally by all. If not, all will suffer, but those who have less will suffer the most.

*Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Abundance and Prosperity

"Witches" tortured over AIDS deaths in Papua New Guinea

"People believe a witch would behave in a certain way, would walk in a certain way." Not only are women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because of sexual assault and poor sex education, but they are now being targeted as the reason for the infections. The estimate is that 500 attacks (torture and murder) have occurred in the past year, especially as the HIV infection rates continues to increase.

Mother Knows Best

Dear Rabbi Boteach,

Instead of blaming mothers for nurturing their children, you should tell the fathers who have a problem with breastfeeding that being jealous of their children just makes them juvenile and whiny. It also makes me wonder if they are even adult enough to be parents, if they cannot put the needs of a helpless being ahead of their own. Perhaps you could encourage them to become more involved with their children instead of seeing them as rivals for attention?

Magic Always, T.

P.S. Your comment that men should not be there for the birth of their children because it turns an "erotic a part of a wife's anatomy" into a "mere birth canal" has to be one of the most misogynistic things I have read in a very long time. (And I've read some pretty bad stuff lately.) Birthing is, and always has been, a strong and spiritual moment for women, and your attempt to trivialize it would be degrading to all women - if we believed you in the first place. The attempts of patriarchal religion to denegrate/destroy women and their bodies has gone on for centuries and we're just not willing to listen anymore.

Happy Solstice!

And we can rise with the fire of freedom

Truth is the fire that burns our chains

And we can stop the fire of destruction

Healing is the fire running through our chains

(Reclaiming Chant)

Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, is a time for magic and change. Traditionally, it is the day when the Oak King and the Holly King do battle, with the Holly King emerging triumphant to rule until they meet again at Winter Solstice. Dianics mark the day to celebrate love and invoke justice for women in all forms.

Today, my ritual will include calls for peace, for support of First Nations Peoples (especially the Lubicon Cree and others involved in actions on June 29) and for Malalai Joya, as well as justice for women around the globe. So Mote It Be!

Daily Star Moment

As the day progresses, you become less comfortable about something that you realize cannot be easily changed. You may feel strongly about what you see as a potential conflict between your values and what you now want to do. Go ahead and explore new avenues of expression, even if they don't fit into your established notions of your identity.

Thanks, beliefnet... I think.

Shattering the Structure

I've been reading tarot cards for over 15 years now. My current deck of choice (has been for over 10 years, actually) is the Motherpeace Deck created by Vicki Noble and Karen Vogel. Each card in this deck is very feminist in nature, and Noble has written extensively about each card in a series of accompanying books.

Today, the Tower card appeared in the Self-Concept position. (The Self-Concept refers to how you see yourself in relation to your Significator, which refers to who you are right now. I often read the Self-Concept as the subconscious and the Significator as the ego, in dialogue with one another.)

I've been waiting for the Tower card to appear for a while now. Most of my readings since this time last year have been about patience and waiting and listening. The Tower, though, is about fast-moving action; the floor is shattering under your feet and you have no choice but to move. But, at the same time, the Tower is about awakening and moving with the change instead of the change moving you. As Noble writes, "The message in the Tower is 'we can do it,' and the deeper implications is 'we have no choice but to try.'"

In relation to the Significator, Ace of Discs (gifts of earth energy, beginnings, the turning of the wheel), the Tower as change means that something is happening - and I've been waiting for it.

Kali, with her sword raised and her red tongue hanging out, challenges us to mobilize our energy and learn to act right. Let the old forms shatter, she demands; let the truth shine through us and destroy what is false. She cuts away the past and invites us to create with her a future that is tolerable to the human soul, where quality of life is more important than mere existence.

A Call for Magical Action

(from my inbox)

We are the rising of the moon
We are the shifting of the ground
We are the seeds that take root when we bring the fortress down...

A CALL FOR MAGICAL ACTION
TUESDAY 8.30 p.m AND WEDNESDAY 10.a.m.(German time).

Let's gather and weave a spell of love, protection and whatever else we think is needed for the protestors and participants at the G8 summit taking place at the Baltic sea:

'May the people who gather in order to contribute to the healing of the earth and her peoples have the power, strength, love, protection,wisdom, resources, companionship... and everything they need in order to do their work.'

Writing Through the Pain

I've been reading Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance by Julia Cameron this weekend. (I plan to post a review when done.) She talks about writing/creating in the midst of stagnant periods and about locating the writer's craft within the context of "work" instead of seeing it as a mythical/muse inspired event. One quote that has stuck with me so far:

The doing of something productive regardless of the outcome is an act of faith. The doing of a small something when a larger something is too much for us is perhaps especially an act of faith. Faith means going forward by whatever means we can.

That has been especially important for me within the events of the past year. It has only been when I did the "small somethings" that I felt I was able to move forward. And the "small somethings" have, hopefully, been leading me to a place where I am able to take on more of the "larger somethings". Sometimes the "small somethings" appear to have nothing to do with writing or work: walking my recycling to the bin, taking a picture of the cherry blossoms on the tree outside my window, remembering cookies for game nights. But the mindfulness that I am using to change my world is the same mindfulness that I bring to my writing.

Perhaps, as I move forward in acceptance and healing, it will be the same mindfulness I bring to the "larger somethings" and to my life.

(And, amazingly, my shoulder no longer hurts. Perhaps writing through the pain isn't such a bad tool after all.)

What is Pagan?

In the Beltane issue of MatriFocus, Sage Starwalker has written an excellent article that touches on Pagan identity, academia and the conflict within Pagan communities. Paganism seems to attract strong personalities, and conflicts between individuals is the norm. We need to start working together - to move past our differences - if we are going to be the change we want to see in the world. And, no, I don't have an easy solution, because if it were easy we would (a) have done it already or (b) have a solution that really doesn't work in the end anyway. Read More

The bridges are lonely this evening

So far this evening, I've visited fan sites, the Great Canadian Wishlist site, pagan sites and the site for a new anti-domestic violence campaign, and they are EVERYWHERE! What's up with the proliferation of trolls today? Geez.

Congrunting: Teaching Paganism

• why teach? responsibility to train others to train others to train others...
• teach to make sure the tradition survives
• can only learn so much from books - looking for something more
• so many people struggling for what they cannot find
• number of different dimensions to teaching - introductory classes, initiation classes, advanced classes
• art of teaching: a way of thinking (theory/philosophy), a way of doing (ritual), a way of being (how you think/why you think like that, what you do/why you do it like that)
• understanding of who to teach is lacking within the craft
• it's about the way you live your whole life
• what is your objective?
• teaching is a relationship - you don't have to teach every person who comes to learn
• open circles model (Ottawa) - fostering, rotating leadership - everyone is able to improvise and get to the magic quickly - not tradition based but experienced based
• half the shortage is good students, not good teachers
• traditional witchcraft is a long process - minimum 7 years to obtain 3rd degree in most traditions
• training priesthood, how to be public "ministers"
• pagans as laity vs. wiccans as priests
• cannot be an effective wiccan/priest until you are a well-read/learned pagan
• are you serving the gods or your circle? objective leads to the method you use to get there
• Edmonton group does not do "Wicca 101" because most books do
• if what you teach has value to the community people will find you
• negative fee - not paying for teaching, but for holding a spot and for the teacher's time
• what is your student worth to you? what is your teacher worth to you?
• if you want someone to take it seriously, you have to charge for it

Congrunting: Scholar Stream #3

The Soul of Soulless Conditions: Paganism, Goddess Religion and Witchcraft in Canada - Sian Read

• paper will be published in 9 months in book on women/religion/secularism
• religion is not an institution, it is a relationship
• www.canadianpagansurvey.ca

Exploring religious syncretism in Montreal's contemporary Pagan community - Rosemary Roberts

• even if I am wrong, at least I am doing something, and my spirtuality leads me on the right path

Institutionalisation and Contemporary Western Witchcraft: When binaries dance a tango - Jane Leverick

• pagan clergy - taking courses (independent organization) or getting group together to legitimize religion
• spoke of issues with organized, hierarchies - BC Witchcamp, teachers apart from students
• bonobos

Gaia Gathering 2007

I'll be at Gaia Gathering 2007 this weekend and hope to post some of my congrunting, but I'm not sure if they'll have internet access for attendees. (It's at the University of Winnipeg, so you may need a login.) If I can't post immediately, I'll do it when I can, and then I plan to go back and discuss some of the sessions in more detail.

I'm also hoping Pink Gecco does some posting as well so we can discuss perspectives.... hint.

Celebrating Mother

I'll be at Celebrating Mother this weekend - come down and check it out! (This event has been the work of Pier at Weaving Sound, along with many talented performers and volunteers.)

Allu Mari Mi Portait

I'm so thrilled - I finally found a copy of Allu Mari, the song supposedly sung by women who walked into the sea rather than face the witchcraft trials of Europe. I've read versions that reference France and Italy, but I haven't found any definitive/print stories beyond Mary Daly's Gyn/Ecology. The lyrics are online, tough, at the Unto Ashes website. Shekinah Mountainwater has her own version, Witch's Choice, on one of her cassettes. I think it might be on one of the ones I purchased many moons ago.

Rounding Third...

13 Reasons Why Pagans Should Vote

Voting is an ancient Pagan tradition. Apathy, on the other hand, is a modern invention – it suits those in power very well indeed, but it disempowers you!

Coalition for Women's Equality

"From child care to anti-violence initiatives, women directly
bear the brunt of most policy decisions...."

Or you can come hang out at rabble.ca and count down the minutes with the rest of left-wing Canada. :-)