Therioshamanism: A Call to My Fellow Bloggers: Show Me Your Small, Sacred Places →
Sorry I’ve been so quiet folks—I started that summer job at my old internship site that I mentioned a while back, so I’ve mostly been adjusting to that. I did, however, get a chance to do a bit of writing—and I have an invitation for my fellow bloggers…
Just a quick bump for those who didn’t see this earlier today. Feel free to pass it along to anyone who may be interested, too :)
Therioshamanism: A Call to My Fellow Bloggers: Show Me Your Small, Sacred Places →
Sorry I’ve been so quiet folks—I started that summer job at my old internship site that I mentioned a while back, so I’ve mostly been adjusting to that. I did, however, get a chance to do a bit of writing—and I have an invitation for my fellow bloggers…
Therioshamanism: Small, Sacred Places →
Note: This is my contribution for the May edition of the Animist Blog Carnival. This month’s theme is Place Magic. I’ve talked before about some of the places that raised me, and how badly their lo…
Note: This is my contribution for the May edition of the Animist Blog Carnival. This month’s theme is Place Magic.
I’ve talked before about some of the places that raised me, and how badly their loss affected me. Other people in response told me about their own small, sacred places that they clung to when they were young, some of which had also been destroyed as they got older.
When we talk about “nature”, the first thing a lot of people picture is a wilderness setting with little to no overt human influence. These are certainly a significant part of nature, but they are not the sum total of nature itself. Most of us didn’t grow up right next to vast forests, fields and deserts, and even if we had we wouldn’t have been allowed to ramble across them unfettered. Instead, what many of us had were small open lots, parks, yards (our own or neighbors’) and the like. Because these may have been all we had, they became the definition of “nature” for us, and that imprint can last a lifetime.
For myself, when I was in my own small places, my fields and little patches of woods, for that time I was free and autonomous. I could explore those scant half-acres with impunity, and as a young child they seemed so vast and inviting that I didn’t want for more space. Instead of hiking for miles, I was exploring every inch of the land, every stone and stump and tree and pathway. I can even still remember the smells of sun on stone and cedar branches. That attention to detail is something I’m still learning to recapture as an adult recovering from the trauma of losing those places to destruction.
But it is coming back, and so is the sense of adventure and exploration that I had growing up.
Festivities of Natural Annual Events: Midway Equinox & Solstice – No Unsacred Place →
Happy Beltane! Need even more reasons to celebrate? Here’s a fantastic collection of seasonal occurrences and festivities over the next six weeks!
Stop the Criminalization of Homelessness: Nightingale Public Advocacy Collective →
Help fund a new organization fighting for the rights and interests of those who experience harassment, discrimination, and criminalization due to homelessness.
You know, pagans have complained over the years that all the charities are Christian. Well, here’s your chance to support a pagan-organized advocacy group that’s doing boots-on-the-ground work to help the homeless in Eugene, Oregon! I know Alley Valkyrie personally, and she is one of the most fervent, courageous people I’ve ever met. Even if you can’t donate, please pass this on so others can see the good work she and hers are doing!
Happy Earth Day From No Unsacred Place! – No Unsacred Place →
Forty-three years ago, the first Earth Day was held with a collection of demonstrations and other activities meant to bring awareness to the many environmental crises at the time. Decades of industrial “progress” fueled by relentless resource consumption and largely unbridled pollution were taking their toll on air, land, and water. It’s arguable that today the problems we face are just as bad, if not worse. Some of this is simply because we are aware of more problems; four decades ago the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the effects offracking weren’t on the radar. Some of it’s also due to an increase in the severity of environmental issues; the effects of climate change have increased, as have the numbers of endangered–and extinct–animal and plant species. And the increased commercialization of Earth Day takes the focus away from actually doing something, instead turning the event into a big party with increased consumption of “green” goods (and maybe some cleanups here and there).
Understandably, it can feel pretty discouraging to see all this. And we’ve been so bombarded with negative news from the media and earnest activists that it’s no surprise that people can start feeling pretty burned out, turning off and tuning out as it were. Which is why I’d like to tell you to ignore those things.
No Unsacred Place: Roots in the Water [by Eli Effinger-Weintraub] →
Every morning when I wake up, I root myself in place. I say, “Good morning, Cosmos. Good morning, Milky Way. Good morning, Solar System.” I work inward until at last I say, “Good morning, Eli.” The morning greeting reminds me of who am, of where I am, and that “where” is not a single place but a system of circles within circles from one small me to one fathomlessly huge Multiverse.
One of my places is my watershed–the Twin Cities Watershed.1
U.S. watersheds map.
On the rare occasions when I travel, I make a point to know which watershed’s guest I’ll be and adjust my greetings accordingly. The names and general boundaries of several other watersheds are now nearly as familiar as my own: Lower St. Croix. Kalamazoo. St. Louis. They are old friends seen too infrequently but always willing to welcome me back.
Last chance to support a pagan library in South Africa! →
So. I just mailed out a copy of “New Paths to Animal Totems” for the Inter-Faith Pagan Library that’s being developed in South Africa. The Correlian-Nativist Tradition has been collecting books and funds to ship those books overseas to the Clan of Kheper Temple in Cape Town so they can establish the aforementioned library.
As I’m writing this, their IndieGoGo campaign has 59 hours left and just met their goal; however, any extra funds will help with shipping and a housing for the library. Additionally, while they aren’t taking any more book and media donations at the address on the IndieGoGo page, you may wish to get in touch with them about how late they’ll take last-minute donations at a separate address.
More info can be found at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/inter-faith-pagan-library-south-africa and there’s also a FB page https://www.facebook.com/groups/cntbooks/
Therioshamanism: Coming Together in Our Sorrow →
Note: This is my contribution to the April edition of the Animist Blog Carnival; this month’s theme is “Ceremony and Community”.
Back in February when I was at PantheaCon, one of the workshops I presented was on ecopsychology and its relevance to the neopagan community. There’s a good deal of overlap between the spirituality of nature-based paganism and the secularism of ecopsychology. Both focus on strengthening relationships with the world around us, particularly the nonhuman portions thereof. They each utilize the outdoors in meaning-making activities, to include personal rites of passage and other ceremonies. And both have an emphasis on a systemic view of the world, to include one’s own community (human and otherwise).
At one point I mentioned the works of Joanna Macy. An environmental activist, Buddhist, and author, Macy is considered one of the foundational writers on ecopsychology. It’s not just because she helps readers to appreciate the environment, though that’s certainly an integral part of her work. What she does that’s so unique, though, is that she actively creates spaces for people to express grief over the loss of places, species, and other natural phenomena. Through frank and gentle discussions of grief and our relationships with it, and rituals such as The Council of All Beings, she’s offered up a series of tools for us to begin opening up to feelings we may have long suppressed.
In this society we’re allowed to grieve if a person close to us or whom we admire deeply passes away and is lost to us. It’s even understandable, as far as many are concerned, to feel a deep sense of loss and sadness at the death of a pet. And few would fault us for feeling depressed after losing a job or a home. But there’s less room on a societal level to feel grief for a place that’s been taken away, or a species that has gone extinct.
On pop culture magic(k)…
You know, it’s funny watching all the talk on Tumblr and elsewhere about pop culture entities in magic and such, and seeing people suddenly so into it. I watched my ex-husband get completely harangued by pagans and occultists for writing Pop Culture Magick, the first edition of which came out in 2004. People told him he was “fluffy”, even “delusional”, and that the gods were real but the characters from anime and other media he worked with were made-up and therefore what he was doing was stupid. I included some of my own work with San from Mononoke Hime in Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone, but I didn’t get nearly the amount of flak he did.
So it’s a little surprising, though not in a bad way, to see people more open to those ideas. While it’s not an area of practice I personally work with any more, IMO mythos is mythos, and while working with ancient deities is different in some respects from working with pop culture entities, both can be valid and meaningful work. I do wish Taylor had had this sort of support back when he started writing about his own experiences, but then again he always did pretty well being his own person despite naysayers.
In short, it makes me happy to see this sort of thing becoming more accepted, and I hope those who are working with pop culture magic now don’t have to deal with the kind of crap he did. More power to you all!
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