The Great Conversation

First of all, let me apologize for being so long between posts. I see that I still have some traffic, and I am amazed. So thank you. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, Yule, or whatever it is that you celebrate. I am looking forward to the new year, and I hope you are too.

Why was I gone? I graduated college, haha. I had a lot of work to do as far as finals go, but now it is all past me and I have my degree and I am now starting my own business. Finally life is calming down.

It is amazing how unaware people are of the connection between themselves and the world around them. They are even more unaware of the connection that develops between two people. So, what exactly is this “connection”?

It is a common pagan belief that all things are connected through the natural energy of the universe. This connection, although deep, is formed on a basic level between you and a tree, or a bird, deer, fish, or stone. A ethnobotanist named Kat Harrison calls the constant communication of all living things around us “The Great Conversation”. It is my belief that all living things communicate though the energy of the universe. This energy is found, as I said, in everything. As such, it is possible to connect with that tree, fish, or stone, or indeed a person. For most, to connect with nature it is very rare. However to form a connection with another person is common place.

I must admit, I was mostly aware of my connection with nature, but over looked the connection I had with other human beings. This realization came just recently when my long time girlfriend broke up with me. Our energies were so intertwined that now there is a part of me that feels empty. Sound familiar? Many people experience this after a major loss, although many fail to realize that the emptiness is caused by the sudden lack of the connection. Actually, lack is not the word. The connection is still there, and will never be fully gone. It is my belief that you are connected with anything or anyone that you ever come in contact with, on a different level than the great conversation. Years after a loss, the connection is still there, it is just not as intense or strong.

So always keep in mind the great conversation. Always keep in mind the connection you share with those around you.

Wall of Shame

In my attempt to shed light onto Paganism, and to help raise public awareness about it, I have created The Wall of Shame… located on the bottom right of the blog. It is here where I will post links to websites or articles or blogs that I find that attempt to spread false facts about the Pagan traditions. If you come across such a link, please let me know! I will add it to The Wall of Shame.

New York says no to gay marriage

Lawmakers in New York, the state in which I live, has voted against a bill that would allow gay marriage. Unsurprising, religion was a major factor in the vote.

During debate, Sen. Ruben Diaz, a conservative minister from the Bronx, led the mostly Republican opposition.

“If you put this issue before the voters, the voters will reject it,” Diaz said. “Let the people decide.”

But Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn, challenged lawmakers to set aside their religious beliefs and vote for the bill. He asked them to remember that once even slavery was legal.

“When I walk through these doors, my Bible stays out,” Adams said.

“That’s the wrong statement,” Diaz countered later. “You should carry your Bible all the time.”

It seems to me that a senator who is also a minister seems something of a violation of church and state separation. Of course a minister would allow his religious beliefs to influence his decision, and that is why it should not be allowed.

Courts say no to Wiccan Chaplin

I just received a press release from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which states that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has denied Patrick McCollum, a Wiccan, a paid clergyman position within the State Corrections department. Its not that they said, no we don’t want to hire you. No, they said they wont even consider him!

In a friend-of-the-court brief in McCollum v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Americans United urged the appellate court to allow Patrick McCollum, a Wiccan clergyman, to challenge a state prison policy that limits paid chaplaincy positions to persons who are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim or Native American.

Last I checked, the Federal Government recognized Wicca as a legitiment religion right along with all of the above mentioned religions. According to the AU press release…

McCollum is a qualified candidate for a chaplain position at the California Department of Corrections but cannot be considered for the job because of his religious beliefs. He brought a lawsuit against the prison, but a federal district court ruled that he lacked “standing” — the right to sue.

The Court claims that legal challenges to the clergy system can only be made by an inmate. The clergy system is not the issue here though, it is the Prison’s job discrimination policy. It is like saying “Sorry, you can’t be a corrections officer because you’re Hispanic.”

Currently the AU, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, The Interfaith Alliance and the Hindu American Foundation are now urging the Court of Appeals to allow McCollum his rightful day in court.

I wish him the best of luck.

Here is the full article: http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2009/12/au-urges-appeals-court-to.html

Black Friday…Bah Humbug!

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I know I did. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the holiday. Being Pagan, my thanksgiving is more around the time of Mabon, which falls on the autumn equinox. I celebrate traditional thanksgiving for my parents and as an excuse to see my family, not as a celebration of the pilgrims first dinner with the Native Americans. I feel like I would then be celebrating decades of death and destruction of the Native American culture.

Black Friday is another day that really has low moral standing in my books, and the same goes for the people who go out at 4 o’clock in the morning to get good deals and what not. Again, I celebrate Christmas, not for the christian aspect of it (even though that has mostly disappeared as well), but for my family. My family is not pagan, and so they do not celebrate my holidays. They are not really christian either, so they mostly celebrate these holidays because that is what society tells them to do.

Black Friday is just another day when people get to show off their greed. Christmas is so commercialized, that store owners decided to make their own little holiday out of people coming and buying their products. People search for the best deals, and they will do anything to get them: pushing, shoving, killing. When I did a Google search trying to find news from this mornings black Friday, I still just came up with how many great deals there were. Although I do remember watching my local news yesterday after the Parade, and a teenager was talking about her experience with black Friday last year. She said something how her hood was pulled as people tried to push past her, another teenager spoke about how she was even knocked down. And last year, a Walmart employee was even trampled to death. You can read that article here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/1/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

Happy holidays…