By Light of Beltane

Tomorrow with the flicker of Beltane's fires
the elements we take to hire
to call upon all manners of power
unleashed awaiting our desires
Momma Moon not full now waning
still lending light to our occasions
and in our pagan glee we dance
with Mother Earth our full romance
We love this world we call our home
and cry to know what has been done
to forest, ocean, plain and mountain
dirtied, clear-cut and laid so low
so much now poisoned nare' to grow
seasons topsy turvy heated
deserts spreading, nothing heeded
All for greed, all for green paper
All for power, all for bloodlust
Mother Gaia beg our pardon
against all hope we strive
and will do so in your stead
till each and all of us have died

Hello, Neighbor........

My "good friend" Donn over at HomoEscapiens just posted a treatise concerning how isolated we are getting from each other, even going so far as to attend Raves where everybody is digging their own personal iPods rather than house music.

Bullshit. We are NOT all isolated. Why, all I have to do is power up Yahoo messenger, and IF anyone on my list is online, I can connect with them. I can even speak with and view them if we both so wish.

Which we rarely do. Because, it always seems that one or the other has a different version, one having video but not audio and vice versa. Or, one uses Skype and the other MSN messenger, or some really obscure messenger no one ever heard of, or we live in time zones something like 12 hours apart.

I love this new technology. Ever since Americans fled the farms and the crowded, crime ridden cities in favor of the suburbs, no one knows their neighbors anymore, and thanks to the internet, we have now torn down those six foot high fences and gotten to know each other, no distance to great. Of course, we STILL don't have any idea who our IMMEDIATE neighbors are (who are probably lieutenants in the new Crips and are growing mary jane in their huge two-SUV garages while running porn sites from their living rooms), but that doesn't matter, because once you know your neighbors, you are stuck with them, wanting to borrow your lawn mower and never bringing it back, until such time the SWAT team moves in or they are foreclosed on for having bought that home via predatory lending) Think about it; you can connect with all the Wiccans or KKK or Martha Stewart Fan club members or Rosecrusians you could wish for thanks to the internet, but if your neighbor happens to be a nudist or a swinger or a Daughter of those South of the Mason Dixon, well, you are stuck with them forever more. You can't remove them from your favorites, you can't block them; they are THERE, and you have to acknowledge them when you are both out on the front lawn picking up the paper. That sucks.

But, that is the way it USED to be. And it wasn't so terrible, if you can remember it. Those in the cities knew each other because you greeted them walking to the corner grocery or butcher, you knew them on the bus or subway going to work, you knew them as you sat on the porch swing savoring a cool autumn night. In the country, you knew your neighbor even though he lived 2 miles away because he was always there with his truck or his tractor when you needed it and you returned the favor. You knew everybody in the small town in the middle of it all because all of you bought your kerosine, your flour and sugar, your plow heads and horse shoes from the same general store several times a month.

We all knew each other, we all DEALT with each other, and there weren't any delete, block, or remove buttons to turn each other OFF with. We may have had differing opinions about things but we respected each others right to them unless we were feeling lucky or intoxicated enough to think maybe we could change their minds one Saturday night.

Alot of you who read my blog and my comments to yours think you know me and sometimes take offense to some of the things I say. Trouble is, you don't really know me well enough to make the assumptions you do, and vice versa. You don't see my face or experience my mood when I type, thus the things I say via the almighty font is interpreted through the filter of your own present and unique experience, thus things get lost in the translation. I can assure you that half the time you're really off the mark when you think I challenged you on an opinion or a concept. That is why some of us waste so much time on "damage control" when one reader takes unnecessary offense to a post. If there's one thing I truly believe, it's that most of us view the world in much the same way as everybody else. I also believe that we think about things in our own unique fashions, and that is a wonderful thing that is very necessary.

I do not have the cosmopolitan approach to the world that some of you have. I do not have the rough and tumble awareness of the belly of this beast that some of you grew up with. I do not have the innocence and ignorance, however sweet, that I see in some of these blogs that makes me smile despite harsh realities. And, I do not have the arrogance that I have witnessed that makes me want to cry and give up totally on this human race.

But, I AM human, I AM unique, and I AM going to rub some people raw, entertain the hell out of others, and somehow forge an unbreakable bond with some, all due to this need we have to amount to something in the eyes of others, for whatever reason. So, having said that, all I can do is hope you ALL can forgive me for being who I am, and give me the benefit of the doubt when you might otherwise be tempted not to. Why? Because this is the new front porch, and I am going to sit on it, and I am going to be seeing you on yours, and I want it to be a pleasant experience for BOTH of us.

Hello, neighbor. Nice night, doncha think?

Places of Worship

When I was a young lad, having been baptized in the Catholic Church, I was made to attend a quant little church that probably housed no more than 100 worshipers at one time. It had some stained glass windows, but it was nothing grandiose, not like the grand Cathedrals of Europe, the gold-plated mosques of the Middle East, or the other grand halls where peoples of differing faiths all gather to watch each other suck up to God. I sometimes wonder how many houses or bellies full of food could have been purchased with the wealth squandered on these architectural black holes.

As a Pagan, I am so glad to be free to communicate with divinity just about anywhere I care to, knowing I will be heard just as well. I can speak to my God, my Goddess, whenever, wherever the mood strikes me, instead of having to rely on some priest or mullah to intercede in my behalf. Also, our deities do not treat my wife as something less than me, for having been born without a penis. As Wiccans, I support my wife, a Witch, during our ceremonies, which we conduct beneath the night sky, the creator's most awesome and inspiring cathedral of all, illuminated by the soft silver light of Momma Moon, as well as the soft glow of torches and candles.

This is OUR cathedral............

Cowboys and Indians

Momma Moon is bright in the sky tonight, almost full but not quite. THE Wife and the Offspring is arranging a shell collection on a table while a PBS special concerning health and wealth plays in my background. It's your average Friday night at Pendragon Hold and we are OFF this weekend!

It's been pretty interesting around here since our last post. I spoke to my Aunt Pat (I think for the first time ever) via Skype video chat and discovered two things about our family tree, one distressing, the other redemptive. (Pat has been researching our family and has done an amazing job so far) First, it seems that the Bush dynasty (yes, THOSE Bushes) are somewhere deep in the our foliage. I am seriously considering suing those people for tainting my ancestry! However, I am VERY proud to announce that I am also a direct descendant of none other than POCOHONTAS! Yep, that's right, folks, I'm related to the clueless indian girl who thought white people were kinda cool, saved one of them from certain death, and ended up helping the white race ruin a beautiful neighborhood.

Well, this is all fascinating, I'm sure, but I'm convinced that most people, using the "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" theory, are related in some way to just about everybody. So, I don't have to blame anybody in particular for sharing our genes with the most idiotic president in American history.........shit happens.

THE Wife's long lost best girlfriend in the whole wide universe will be visiting us sometime in May, and I am praying to any heathen Gods who will listen to please blind my neighbors to any strange noises or goings-on which might make them think the cops need to be informed. Even though I am SURE that there will be LOTS of strange noises and goings-on occurring.

It also turns out that the Cousin Tammy I rediscovered is NOT the Cousin Tammy I thought I was re-familiarizing myself with. After much in-depth discussions complete with confusion and weirdness, it turns out that I happen to have TWO identically named Cousin Tammy's, and it seems I have met Cousin Tammy number TWO for the first time. Boy, THAT sure cleared things up real good!

Well, it's late, so I will save this till tomorrow and post it then, so that you'll have something to read over the weekend.

My Rights can beat up Your Rights.......

People who are used to freedom, in all it's strange and wonderful guises, like to invite the world in general to come and take something they hold dear from them. Charleton Heston decided that the "they", which I took to be the Federal Government, of the United States, that is, would have to pry his musket from his cold, dead fingers. Yep, he held up a musket at the NRA convention and proclaimed that NOBODY had the balls to take it from him, thanks to the......ah.......whatever amendment it was that allows a well-regulated militia. Well, I kinda wonder why any man would be so rabidly worried about being able to possess a relic like a muzzle loading, flintlock-actuating firearm that isn't all that convenient to reload. Me, I prefer a nice, modern semi-automatic rifle with a magazine, so that if I miss the first time I get an almost instant second chance to bring home the bacon.

I personally have a small semi-auto pistol for home defense, and I don't go around waving it at the general public inviting any of them to come take it from me. I figure if ever comes the day that the constitution of the United States actually suffers a major overhaul and the Feds come banging on my door demanding I turn it over, well, I will invite them in to see how many I can take with me before THEIR automatic weapons take me down. Until then, I quietly enjoy my right to bear arms for personal protection, but I don't hunt, and I don't do drive-by's. And I don't pay dues to the NRA so that they can protect my right to own a thermonuclear warhead if I so choose. Seems every philosophy has it's extremes.

Another freedom we all CLAIM to love the hell out of is our freedoms concerning religion. What's really hilarious is how THIS little nugget is interpreted by some people. Those are the ones who think it gives them carte-blanch to shove THEIR own personal brand of belief down my throat if I want to claim to be an American. Actually, I can rightfully and logically claim that THEY are anti-American by even mentioning who they worship and why out in the public forum where the secular rule of law is supposed to protect us from Mullahs and preachers and priests who want to rule the world in the name of THEIR god and no one else's. I have several choice words for people of this mindset, and that is GO FUCK YOURSELVES. If this sentiment bothers any of you reading this due to your religious beliefs, don't worry, I'm sure YOUR deity will send me to roast in hell when I die. I'm sure that will make you feel all warm inside.

So how about Freedom of speech? I am practicing that one like mad right now and I love how the kinds of things I write really piss some people off. As long as there is an unabridged Constitution of the United States of America, you can bet I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of that right till the day I die. Many of you God-fearing, patriotic Americans will froth at the mouth denouncing me for my un-American sentiments, and in practicing YOUR freedom of speech, will make my point for me, which if you had any shred of intelligence, would REALLY piss you off. Ironic, isn't it?

What really amazes me is that we will elect a president utilizing this amazing system of government we have, who will promptly do everything in their imagined power to try and make themselves King and try to dismantle the constitution which makes this country, arguably, that "shining city on the hill" that oppressed peoples throughout the world have died trying to get to in order to realize their dreams. This last president should have proven to the American people just how fragile our rights are when we are frightened into allowing them to be diluted to the point of being meaningless. Enlightened and learned individuals can attempt to illuminate the truth of this cancer in our midsts all they want, but this kind of illness thrives on ignorance and complacency, which we have no shortage of these days despite a once heralded educational system that has now fallen into disrepair and disrepute.

Politicians and power brokers of the Cheney and Rove variety COUNT on the total lack of common sense and sophistication that is the hallmark of their constituency, encouraging their education from the pulpit rather than the school text, so that all these good, God-fearing sheep they so skillfully herd and manipulate will keep them in power and rich beyond all need. Every president should have his own personal Bin Laden to help keep the frightened masses in line. Why not? Every "Bin Laden" has his own personal "satan", aka president of the United States, to keep HIS minions lining up to put on the suicide vests. At this rate, the depopulation of the Middle East should coincide just nicely with the total collapse of Western "civilization".

That's my contribution to the soapbox for awhile. Next I'll be discussing why perhaps we should replace the Pope with an oil company executive.

Witches, Witches EVERYWHERE!

It's a cloudy, rainy Sunday afternoon and everything is topsy-turvy here at the Hold. THE Wife decided that now that the guest room belongs to the resident offspring, we need to rearrange the extra room, currently her workshop, into a guest room/sorta workshop. So we huffed and we puffed and we moved furniture around, hauled the treadmill out into the living room (where maybe we will start USING the damn thing for once) and made space for an inflatable queen sized bed, which we will acquire in a few paychecks. THIS paycheck has been supporting the finally completed terrace garden, which is now fully topped off with good soil and covered with weed block fabric. We made the rounds of the ace hardware store and home depot and bought up some tomato and other veggie plants and herbs, as well as seeds for squash, sunflowers, and beans. I'll have to shred some more leaves, which I have no shortage of, for mulch to put over the fabric, and then it's us versus the bugs, which I hope we can control this year. So far it seems we are going to have plenty of rain to quench the thirst of our garden.

AAAAAAND, we met a kindred soul while at the Ace hardware store. A young lady approaches me and tells me, " I really, really, REALLY like your pendent..."

If I had been ANYthing but Wiccan and very married, I would have thought I was being hit on......grin. However, there's one thing about Wiccan Pentacles, our version of the crucifix; it's a Witch magnet! It's the one "secret" symbol that pagans share and allows us to pick each other out amongst this sea of God-fearing peoples. Note I said God "FEARING". We pagans don't fear our deities.

Anyway, she and the wife show each other their tattoos and make some introductory small talk and trade email addresses and phone numbers and go our merry ways. That's how we discover each other.

Meantime, THE Wife and her long-lost girlfriend are communing by email and phone and when THESE two broads get together they are going to reach critical mass and it's going to be a RIOT! I already feel kindred with her husband and I don't even know the guy....hehe.

The evil twin decided to spend the weekend with the good twin down St Petersburg way. So, I've had a couple of nights of freedom to walk around the abode with everything hanging out. She'll be home tonight so so much for that....lol. Actually, we will be very happy to have her home.

Our good friend (and my co-worker) Eddy has now headed out to a month at some Army base somewhere before heading to Iraq for a year or more. I am so hoping the Goddess takes good care of this boy as we have asked. I think overall, the world would be better served with him in it, AND in one piece.

Speaking of birds flocking together......we came across a Jacksonville Pagan group that meets for fellowship every month as advertised on a website that promotes "meet-ups", and thought perhaps we would attend a meeting, but no sooner did we sign up then we get this letter, loaded with drama and emotion concerning some other ex-member who was purported to be mentally imbalanced and out to steal members from this group and.....whaoooo....WAY to much drama for us! On top of that, some "elder" or authority figure of some sort puts out another letter stating that she/he (I can't remember which) has returned to resume control of the group and aside from some "inclusive" language, warns of dire magical consequences if anyone dares cause harm to anyone in the group. DRAMA!

Look, as far as I'm concerned, paganism has a hard enough time being taken seriously in this world of religious insanity, so these "witch-wars" and other juvenile behaviors belong on elementary school playgrounds and not in the serious realm of spirituality. If someone wishes me harm, I deal with them the old-fashioned way; according to the rule of law, i.e. lawsuits or criminal prosecution. We have been blessed with a pretty good secular rule of law and we should use it for just that purpose. As far as "hexes" and other such nonsense, these practices have no place in Wicca, and I am personally inclined not to give such behaviors enough credence to be effected by them. All that Voodoo has no effect on someone who values logic over superstition. The universe has enough natural evil, we have no business encouraging it.

As I am writing this, the evil twin has returned to the nest. Just in time for dinner, too! Go figure! lol Good to have her back.


Oh, and in case anybody is interested, you can now pull Charleton Heston's gun from his cold, dead fingers. Farewell, Moses, we will all miss you!

Look, guys, I'd love to chew the fat with you all, but I have to work tomorrow, so I'm gonna close this now and get it posted so that you have something to digest. Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Posts again!

Dirt

It's the last day of my three-day-stretch and I'm waiting to have a truckload of dirt delivered. That's right, folks, I have decided to become a "dirt farmer". I hope to plant this load of dirt in my terrace garden, and hopefully by harvest time, have a much BIGGER pile of dirt. I have no idea how this stuff reproduces, but I figure since they are charging so damn much for it, it must be a lucrative crop. And this is the good stuff, too. It's alot darker than this sand we are sitting on top of, and it has all kinds of natural, organic stuff in it which makes it look, well, DIRTIER than this off-white florida sand which drains much to well and has nothing in it that makes anything other than weeds want to thrive in it. Yep, by this fall I should be well on my way to becoming a "gentleman dirt farmer", and should be able to quit my job and devote all day to sitting in my back yard with a nice mint julep, watching the dirt grow.

I should have posted this yesterday.

:)