Amazing Grapes... how sweet the taste, that fed a lush like me...

We just got home from Ostara celebrations. Its a bit early to be home, but our hosts (Beth & JD) also own a bar in Hickory, and had to leave early for a benefit concert for a friend who was in a car wreck last week. And James wasn't feeling well after his rootcanal earlier this week. So, here we are. And here I am.

I had a couple bottles of wine with me. I'm ready for a nap. ;-)

The weather here is (for me) unseasonably warm. Over 80F and shorts and tank top wearing weather definitely. Too bad I don't have any shorts that fit me. :-P Oh well, wrap arounds work just as well! And tank tops were on sale at K-Mart this week.

I'm still getting used to the difference in the season changes down here. Y'see, the Wheel of the Year that most neo-Pagans and Wiccans follow is geared toward the season changes in Britain, more toward the northern half of the northern hemisphere. Not the southern US. The earth has already warmed up and awakened down here, so tis strange to have Ostara rituals to wake up the earth. Heck, James and I had an earth worm crawling on us during ritual this afternoon! I wonder what that means....?

At home, I'm sure friends and family are still awaiting the snow to melt. Here the trees are in full bloom and baby birds have hatched. We're scrambling for the sunscreen and bug spray already. Back home, we'd still have the snow shovel out, just in case.

Even last week here there were cars from up the moutain with snow on them. Now we're stripping down to the bare minimum. And opinions vary on just what that minimum is. ;-) James is upstairs watching hockey on TV, and the dogs and I are downstairs panting saying its too hot in here!

I'm loath to turn on the a/c just yet though. Its just too early.

Anyhoo...Ostara...As a Celt, this particular "holiday" isn't part of my tradition. Ostara was a Germanic Goddess. The Celts are strange. We celebrate "the in-between times" moreso than the obvious days. The Wiccans created the Wheel of the Year methinks, and the 8 Holidays per year, combining the Germanic/Saxon with the Celtic seasonal celebrations. Which is fine. Just more reason to get together with like minded people and have a few sips of wine and eat way too much. ;-)

...I drank too much wine at the festival, and lost my virginity...

With apologies and thanks to Pasha & the Pagans for their rendition of Amazing Grace/Grapes.

The Celts major celebrations are Imbolc (February 2), Beltane (April 30/May 1), Lughnasadh (August 1) and Samhain (October 31/November 1). These all generally fall between the Solstices and Equinoxes.

If you're at all interested, here are some articles about Ostara (which some people may notice the similarities between the names of the Christian Spring celebration of Easter and the Pagan Ostara. Co-incidence? I think not.

Here's one at Witchvox


Wikipedia

from The History Chanel, The History of Easter

And, one of my favourite websites, almost forgotten til now Religious Tolerance

and here is the song in its entirety. Please, don't burn me at the stake. The Discordians will just bring weenies anyway. ;-)

Amazing Grapes

Amazing grapes, how sweet the taste
That fed a lush like me
I drank too much wine at Festival
and lost my virginity

T'was grapes that taught my friends to cringe
Through grapes, my stress relieved
Obnoxious words come out my mouth
That you would not believe

Through many vinyards east and west
I have thus come so far
The grapevine has brought me comfort sure
While driving in my car

Amazing grapes, how sweet the taste
That fed a lush like me
I drank too much wine at Wiccan Fest
and lost my virginity

How sweet the sound of popping corks
To this great lover's ear
It sooths the thirst upon my tongue
Don't drink it after beer

Most raisins shrivel in the sun
While other grapes go free
Lets give the juice to everyone
Especially to me

Amazing grapes, how sweet the taste
That fed a lush like me
I drank too much wine at Ravenwood
and lost my virginity

I drank too much wine at Winter Star
And lost my virginity

just a note...I've been to Wiccan Fest...I'm sure more than one person has lost their virginity there. ;)  ¶ 8:15 PM 0 Comments

  Life...or something like it... This week in the news I've seen a couple of things that just about made my head explode. The first was a letter to the editor of our little paper here, a (seemingly) unprovoked rant about abortion and the evils of it. This woman went on and on for quite a few paragraphs how no matter where you're from, no matter your age, race, creed or religion (or lack thereof, she even mentioned atheists), if you become pregnant, you must have the baby, because it is God's will. Even if you were raped you must give birth to that baby, because it is God's will.

There is no choice in the matter. God meant for you to be raped at the age of 12 and to get pregnant. Go forth and multiply. And if the baby is a result of pre-marital or extra-marital sex, well then you still must have the baby, but you're still going to hell I suppose. Damned if you do, damned if you don't so what the hell eh? ugh.

Boggles me. Really does. I'd just like to hear her opinion though when her teenaged daughter comes home pregnant after being violently raped and beaten er summat. sheesh.

Another mind boggler was the animal rights activists who say that a baby polar bear at a zoo in Germany should be euthanized because its mother had rejected it.

Their rationalization of course is that it is unnatural for a baby polar bear to be fed by hand and raised by humans.

Apparently the fact that a polar bear being conceived and born in captivity in Germany is perfectly normal. :p sheesh. Get a grip!

It hurts my head it does. Really.

Happy Spring-tide btw. Didn't do much of anything to welcome the day, other than go shopping for new clothes after work because I'm getting so fat nothing in my drawers or closets fit anymore. I'm hopelessly depressed about it too. Its the thyroid medication. I've gained more than 2 sizes since I started taking it and getting fatter by the day. I'm not eating more. I'm actually excersizing more, and yet I just get fat. If it keeps up at this rate, by the end of summer I'll be about 300 pounds. No kidding.

Just call me Buddah. Too bad enlightenment didn't come with the extra weight.  ¶ 9:20 PM 2 Comments

  Everything's a repeat Pretty much everything the past couple of weeks has been re-runs, except Lost, true to their word are running all new eps til the finale. I'm tired of re-runs. bleah.

Anyhow, I got me a new job. Again! After the newspaper was giving me chest pains from stress and anxiety I started looking. I interviewed 3 times! at EJ Victor, and they offered me a job at the third interview. It is slightly more money, but the medical insurance premiums are higher, so it'll be about the same, or maybe even less, than I'm making now. But, A LOT less stress! I just couldn't take any more of it. It causes me pain just to think of it!

Hopefully I'll stick this job out longer than 10 months. ;) Honestly, I could have stayed at the newspaper had they just left me in my hidey corner where I started out. But NoooOOOoooo, they had to go and move me to the freakin' front desk, and plop 3 more jobs on top of it! Including circulation complaints. Of which there are hundreds pretty much every day. In a town of 17,000 at a paper with distribution less than 10,000, that's pretty fricken bad wouldn't you say? bleah.

Anyhow, the new job is at a furniture manufacturer called EJ Victor as their receptionist/data entry. No end customer complaints likely here, and hopefully no death threats or threats of violence upon my person.

AND! I already know someone who works there! Momma Beth, of the local Pagan community works there, and is "out". She also mentioned that she hasn't heard anyone blaring inspirational music from their offices there. The Publisher did that one day at the newspaper, it was rather distracting to say the least.

Well...as there is nothing on TV tonight, I'm going to see about watching the dowloaded (legal!) copy of The Holiday I have waiting. Or maybe I'll just go to bed. Its been a long week. Plus it rained all day today, and that's always tiresome.  ¶ 9:30 PM 3 Comments

  When Kings went to war We just saw 300, and I gotta say, I enjoyed it. Rather than have to type something twice, I'm just going to copy what I just posted
over at CoE for those of you who do not frequent there. Minus a line or word or few.

History aside, its a damn good story, that makes a damn good movie.

And as I said to James on the way home Friar Faramir is looking very....hmm mm...Greek...

I was surprised by a few things, monsters notwithstanding, but the sheer size of Xerxes; and the fact that he is Goa'uld (see Stargate) would explain his ego. But not the piercings.

I didn't like the last movie by the same folks, Sin City, and had my reservations about going to see this one, but I thought it was much better done. ... The colours, the madness, the monsters. It is after all, just a movie.

No, it was totally not politically correct. It was not historically accurate. It was not entirely meant to be. It is a Movie, based on a Graphic Novel. Take it as that, and enjoy.

It got me thinking about when kings went to war. When and who was the last king to walk on a battle field with arrows (or bullets) whizzing overhead, swords dripping blood, shields breaking forearms? Was it in recent memory? Or lost to legend? In my own lifetime, only 3rd or 4th in line would get to the front-lines. Next to the throne is usually far off the coast, listening in. If at all. Sure, Charlie can fly a few aircraft, or sit on a boat. But did he see combat? I don't think so. His son Harry however, has asked to be sent to the frontlines. And off he goes. He's 3rd in line.

I honestly do have to mention of course I know next to nothing about any other monarchy but the British. Mostly tabloid interest of them at best too. And Princess Grace of Monaco. But I was more interested in her movie career prior to her marrying Rainier than her reign as Princess.

In this movie however, the King leads his small but formidable army of 300 to fight the Persians. The Persians have thousands upon thousands. Lionidas led his army into legend. And it is the legend, more than the history that is this latest movie. He leads them to glory and death. And a bloody one at that. If the Greeks had a special heaven for warriors, they all got there I'd have to guess.

I won't give away too much of the movie, you'll just have to see it yourself. But please, it is rated R here in the US, it is Very violent, and there's sex and nudity too. Of course. They're Greek.

Like I said. I enjoyed it. But remember, it is a Movie. Based on a Graphic Novel. Which really is just a fancy word for comic book. Leave reality at the door. ;-)  ¶ 9:41 PM 2 Comments

  Dogster Bruno & George now have their own webpages on Dogster. I'll get them completed some time later, I have to get ready to go out in a bit, but here's the bit I've got done so far.

George


and Bruno


Let me know what I should add to their webpages. And if you've got a dog, set up a page for them, we'll be friends! :)  ¶ 11:29 AM 2 Comments

  River Rituals... As a Celtic Recon Pagan, this article in the Toronto Star today caught my interest...

Adrienne Duff noticed them three years ago, drifting in a Brampton branch of the Credit River.

Clusters of flowers, plastic statues, coconuts – some still wrapped in plastic – even jewellery and money.

"We started receiving calls from landowners, not just on Fletcher's Creek but also in the main Credit area," said Duff, a watershed-monitoring specialist with Credit Valley Conservation.

The mystery was traced to devout Hindus who were making river offerings as a means of conveying blessings, part of their traditional worship.

Tossing votives into a body of water is also a very Celtic thing to do, and I have been known to toss a flower or two. I have yet however to toss any ashes...I'm not dead yet though!

I must admit, that as an amateur environmentalist, the tossing of human remains into small rivers and streams can become worrisome. But as a practitioner of an alternate religion where it is a custom, if I wanted to do this myself, I'd be annoyed if I were told I can't.

I suppose one solution would be to find a much larger river, one where small amounts would not harm and would become dissolved by the water. Smaller rivers and streams of course have less water to work with cleaning itself up. And the rivers and streams of Toronto and the GTA have enough problems with idiots tossing in garbage as it is, plus the airpolution of Southern Ontario falling into them whenever it rains....what to do what to do?

The suggestion as they've done in England may work. Find one or two rivers in the province that could allow votives and death rituals, bigger ones that would be better capable to handle it I suppose.

I know its a hassle, but it is a religious ritual and should be allowed. My cousin struggled with trying to find a final resting place for her mother; my aunt wanted to be scattered on a beach in Florida IIRC, and that wasn't allowed. My (same) cousin's friend, being First Nations however, was permitted to scatter her parents' remains in a lake in Central Ontario. It seems to be allowed in some places, and not others. And for some people, and not others.

As a Celt, with a bit of historical knowledge, I know that throwing votives in water is long tradition in a lot of places in the world. Rivers, lakes and wells in the UK have been dredged and lots of "treasure" has been found. Anything from gold and silver coins, to swords and armour, to wooden replicas of body parts would be thrown in as offerings to the Gods, or as prayers.

Depending on what you prayed for would depend on what you'd throw in. If you wish for the speedy transport of a loved one to the Otherworld, you may toss in their battle gear. If you prayed for recovery from illness or injury, you'd toss in a replica of whichever body part ails you, made of metal or wood depending on your wealth and/or skill.

This article, titled River and Well Worship, (which annoys me a bit, but that's another post I s'pose) from SacredTexts.com tells of how the Celts throw votives to the rivers.

I believe the Romans did too, as well as other cultures, including Indian Hindus, and North American tribes.

In this day and age however, we have to consider not just our own religious rights, but the environmental impact our sacrifices to the Gods may cause. I try to stick with indiginous plantlife when I throw anything in, and if I burn something I try to ensure it is non-toxic. Native North Americans burn or leave tobacco as offering to the Spirits, but to just crumble up a cigarette is not the same! It should be clean, un-adulterated tobacco, organic whenever possible. Cigarette tobacco is full of all kinds of toxic stuff, that I'm sure would not receive the same medicine from the Spirits that we'd get from organic tobabcco. Not to mention the filters are disgusting to burn. :p It bothers me to see anyone toss in a cigarette to a sacred fire without even thinking, or protesting when asked not to. Even when I smoked.


Anyway, the article posted from The Star got me thinking of what would happen here in Morganton if I or any other non-Christian were found to be tossing votives into the Catawba river. I somehow think we would not be offered the same compromises as the Ontario and Toronto governments are working with the Hindus there. We'd be charged with littering er summat, and made to pay a fine.

I don't know that I'd be brave enough to even try.

To my Pagan friends back home, be happy with the rights and freedoms you have there. Not everyone enjoys the same.  ¶ 11:59 AM 1 Comments