Disqus - Friends of Artimisia

Re: Initiation: A Love Letter

John Beckett — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:35:40 -0000

Just because hierarchy and structure are done wrong much of the time doesn't mean they're wrong in and of themselves. Your experience shows the value of hierarchy and structure when they're done right.

I'm a Druid and not a Wiccan and I think that's the way things were meant to be, but if I had encountered a coven like yours early in my journey things might have gone differently.

Re: The Gods That Choose You

John Beckett — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:14:19 -0000

I had a similar - though less dramatic - experience. I was expecting to work with Lugh, when Cernunnos stepped in instead. When people ask me "how do I find my patron deity?" my response is "you don't - they find you."

Thanks for sharing your story.

Re: Michele Bachmann and Dominionism Paranoia

John Beckett — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:36:27 -0000

"Biblical Law" instituted by a 51% vote would be just as odious as "Biblical Law" imposed by violent means. Either way would force millions of people to conform to a brutal, archaic moral code simply because those in power believe their god desires it.

I don't care what god or goddess a candidate does or doesn't pray to. I want to know how his or her religion will influence how he or she will govern.

Christian Dominionists are a small movement with little real power. I want to make sure they stay that way.

Re: Michele Bachmann and Dominionism Paranoia

John Beckett — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:14:29 -0000

No one is saying Michele Bachmann should be prevented from running for office because of her religious views. Rather, we want to know how those religious views would influence her governing.

Voters evaluate candidates using many criteria: political philosophy, experience, temperament... a candidate's religious views are just another criteria to project what sort of decisions he or she would make in office, and thus whether we should vote for him or her.

If a candidate expresses sympathy with Dominionist views I will vote against that candidate every time.

Re: An Early Autumn Chill

John Beckett — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:20:18 -0000

If your realtors are telling you not having granite counters is just OK and you need to upgrade to stainless steel appliances, then either you're in a pretty ritzy neighborhood or they've been playing in one for too long. In case anyone hasn't told them, there's a recession going on...

As for hiding who you are to sell your house, you do what you have to do. I've done it three times. Didn't like it, but it was necessary.

Glad to see a Druid on the Patheos roster. I'm OBOD, but I've borrowed from the ADF liturgy plenty of times. Welcome!

Re: Pagans and the Tea Party

John Beckett — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:42:41 -0000

I sympathize with the Tea Partiers' belief that government has gotten too big and too inefficient, although I think we need big government to counterbalance big business. If there was an actual Tea Party I'd be tempted to vote for them, especially here in Texas where no Democrat has won a statewide election in over ten years.

But beyond that, William and Mel are right - the candidates the Tea Partiers support would do serious damage to religious freedom and social justice.

Re: Looking Towards Ephesus

John Beckett — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:02:41 -0000

Thanks for this, Star. There is so much of our own history (both pagan and Pagan) we don't know, and we need to learn it.

"Are temples an investment in our devotion?" My best guess is that some are, while others are merely a demonstration of vanity. But this I am sure about: they're concrete evidence of multi-generational thinking.

Re: Teo Bishop: A Gift To Pagans From The New Apostolic Reformation

John Beckett — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:03:37 -0000

Excellent point, Teo. Dialogue with the NAR would not be productive as it would not be respectful. But while we are not a proselytizing (aggressively recruiting) religion, we should be an evangelizing religion – one that spreads our good news far and wide.

The idea of polytheism never left Western culture, in part because the stories of the Old Gods remained with us as “mythology” and in part because as John Michael Greer points out in his book “A World Full of Gods”, the world as we actually experience it is better explained by many Gods of limited power than by one all-powerful God. The concept of polytheism is still there, lying just under the surface of “rational” “Christian” Western society.

When we testify to our belief in and experience of our Gods and Goddesses, we make it easier for that latent polytheism to rise to the surface. People who previously though of the Old Gods as statues of stone and figures of myth begin to understand that they are much much more.

That’s when the magic starts.

Re: Honoring Who I Have Become

John Beckett — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:16:03 -0000

At Samhain (and the rest of the year, but especially at Samhain) I will honor my ancestors of blood and my ancestors of spirit. I carry them both within me, and they both have made me who I am.

Why have my spiritual ancestors spoken more loudly than my blood ancestors? Why have my pagan ancestors, gone from this world for 1600 years, spoken more loudly than my Christian ancestors of the more recent centuries? Why am I a Druid and not a mystical Christian?

I don't know. The gods and ancestors call who they call and they aren't always clear about why. All I know is that this path is right for me, at least for now.

I trust yours will remain right for you, where ever it may lead.

Re: Pagan Media to Interview Presidential Hopeful Gary Johnson

John Beckett — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:46:59 -0000

The extent of religious freedom and the place of religious minorities is of particular interest to me as a Pagan, but the question I'd most like to ask every candidate is "what will you do to create jobs?"

Re: Traditional Witchcraft on the Internet

John Beckett — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:35:12 -0000

Excellent essay followed by insightful comments. For too many people the lure of secrecy isn't knowledge, but the ego-boost they get from knowing something that others don't.

There is no occult knowledge. There are only ineffable mysteries.

Re: You Say “Polytheistic Situations” Like It’s A Bad Thing

John Beckett — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:15:01 -0000

My first choice is that elected officials stay completely away from religious events (excepting their own personal practices), so as to avoid even the appearance of endorsing one religion over others.

My second choice is that elected officials support all religions inclusively. Governor Beshear appears to be taking this route, supporting both Hindus and creationists for the very relevant reason of creating jobs for his constituents. That's a reasonable, sensible course of action.

The governor's spokesperson is right: his opponent is pathetic and desperate.

Re: We Need a New Reformation

John Beckett — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:40:54 -0000

The question for Bible based reformation is whether it will teach eternal wisdom within a contemporary context or whether it will attempt to impose the moral and scientific views of an archaic society on a culture for which they have little relevance and meaning.

Re: Because We Believe?

John Beckett — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:11:30 -0000

As someone who comes from a similar background, I think you may be falling back into the conservative Baptist mindset that says the only truth is literal truth and that religious certainty is possible.

I believe the gods are real, individual beings - because I have experienced them as such. But my experience is *religious* experience, meaning it is mystical and highly subjective. If I am honest I must admit my beliefs about my experiences may be wrong and the person who sees the gods as symbols or metaphors may be right.

I can't honestly claim certainty where certainty is impossible to establish. On the other hand, I have no desire to go through life as an agnostic (I respect those who do, but I need more). Therefore I act as though my beliefs are literally true. Even if they are only symbolically true, the practices they inspire and the experiences they facilitate bring about very real results.

Having people around you who believe what you believe and who practice what you practice helps strengthen your commitment to your beliefs and practices. Experience, belief and practice form a virtuous circle enabling spiritual growth and depth.

I think your high priest and I agree on what works, though we may disagree on why it works.

That it does work is enough for me.

Re: Because We Believe?

John Beckett — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:38:40 -0000

No, religious certainty is not possible. But acting on our beliefs (what we think and feel is true even though we can't be sure) in spite of our doubts isn't just orthopraxy. It's the essence of faith.

I totally agree that our practices and our beliefs should be connected. Where they are not, that is cause for reflection and for change to bring them into alignment.

I did not intend to "dismiss" you or otherwise insult you. Clearly, I projected my own experiences onto you and I should not have done that.

Re: “SCIENCE FICTION / DOUBLE FEATURE!” (me, moby, stephin merritt & neil singing rocky horror on craig ferguson!) : also, vancouver & portland ninja gigs

John Beckett — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:17:54 -0000

Awesome performance of a great song!

And please tell Mr. Gaiman "thank you" for correcting Craig Ferguson on the pronunciation of "Samhain".

Re: Virginia Pagan Wins Conservation Post in Tuesday’s Elections

John Beckett — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:38:34 -0000

Congratulations! Progress begins slowly and locally, but it grows.

Re: On Converting a Christian to Paganism

John Beckett — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:08:45 -0000

Teo, like you I was born into a Christian setting, and like you I have become Pagan. My conversion was a long process involving a life-long love of Nature, an intellectual and ethical rejection of “my way or hell” in favor of universalism, and a gradual response to the call of the Old Ways and of the Old Gods and Goddesses.

I could be a liberal, universalist Christian and be one with integrity. But I realized I was called to Paganism and to Druidry and that I would do far more good as an enthusiastic Pagan than as a reluctant Christian.

Stories are important. We have the stories of our ancestors. We have the stories of the lives of Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols and Isaac Bonewits and dozens of others who helped us get from “there” to “here”. We have the stories of the big bang and evolution and quantum physics. But ultimately our religion is not a religion of the Word.

Paganism is a religion of experience, a religion of the soul and of the body. Oh yes, our Gods and Goddesses are speaking. We hear them in a walk through the woods, standing under the full moon, watching squirrels play in the trees. We smell them in the fragrance of the fertile soil. We touch them in feel of the water washing us and the fire warming us. We taste them in the plants and animals we eat. We feel them in the caress of a lover and the embrace of a friend.

How do you help someone who wishes to convert from Christianity to Paganism? Certainly reading helps (at least if you read the right books). Finding a coven or a grove or another assembly of like-minded folks is invaluable.

But there is no substitute for experiencing the Gods and Goddesses, for turning off the computer and going outside and letting them speak to us, just as they spoke to our earliest ancestors all those years ago.

Re: Thoughts on Thanksgiving and Offerings

John Beckett — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:00:58 -0000

There is so much wisdom in this story! The importance of being hospitable to the gods, ancestors and spirits, the need to find appropriate offerings (it’s NOT just the thought that counts!), the power we have to decide who is allowed at our table. And the most important lesson: if you stop feeding skunks they’ll stop coming around. That’s a lesson a lot of Pagan groups need to learn.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may your table be surrounded by allies.

Re: Secrets, or A Pagan Look at Advent

John Beckett — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:46:36 -0000

A thought-provoking post, Star. And I love the interspersion of the quotes.

Though it may have been easier (or at least, simpler) for our agrarian ancestors, it's very difficult to practice silence in the Samhain to Yule season due to the overwhelming busyness of the Christian and secular holidays that dominate the overculture. Perhaps Yule to Imbolc would be a better time. Or perhaps this is a call to decline to participate in the mainstream madness.

This is a thought-provoking post.

Re: Trench pisses on your UC Davis outrage

John Beckett — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:06:07 -0000

What kind of Orwellian logic calls sit-in protestors hostage takers???

Even if you buy the "trespassers get arrested" logic (and I don't - that may be private property but it's still a public place) there such a thing as proportional response - and pepper spraying non-violent demonstrators is WAY out of proportion.

Re: Trench pisses on your UC Davis outrage

John Beckett — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:17:04 -0000

Finally watched the whole video. The police could have left any time they wanted and done so without harming any of the protestors. I stand by my comment that calling them "hostage takers" is Orwellian logic.

This was totally unnecessary. No one was being harmed and no property was being damaged. Again, the police response was totally out of proportion to the situation.

On the other hand, the students shouldn't have been surprised - this is typically what happens during civil disobedience. Those in power can't tolerate people standing up to them and they overreact. And when they do, they create martyrs.

Re: Trench pisses on your UC Davis outrage

John Beckett — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:47:53 -0000

Posturing. Trying to project power they didn't really have. Again, if the police wanted to leave there is no way the protestors could have stopped them - or likely, would have tried to.

Re: Trench pisses on your UC Davis outrage

John Beckett — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:47:27 -0000

You see "appropriate measures to ensure their safety." I see "we're gonna show them who's boss no matter what it takes."

I see no excuse for attacking peaceful protestors, and that attack started well before the pepper spray. The police should have seen that a confrontation was bound to end poorly (and end poorly for them) and in the clear absence of violence, simply declined to engage.

I'm done here - thanks for posting the video. It's good to see the larger context.

Re: When Interfaith Gets Ugly

John Beckett — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:15:27 -0000

A response was needed, but a response from a place of strength and not from a place of victimhood. This was such a response - brilliant. Thank you.