Spring is in the air, and the first of Spring’s holidays is almost upon us, St. Patrick’s Day.  Mardi Gras has come and gone and we are in the midst of Lent, 40 days of sacrifice and renewal.  But in the middle of that comes a moment of complete self-indulgence, at least in the American world.  Back in Ireland it was traditionally still a time of atonement and meditation, but more of that later.

So, how does a dominantly Protestant country start celebrating, and in a grand way, the day of a very Catholic priest who has been dead for 1600 years?  Well, it all starts back in the Roman Empire.  In the 4^th century A.D. Rome controlled England, it was part of the Empire.  The Romans had not taken Ireland, not because they couldn’t, but because it was just not worth the trouble at that point in time.  The Romans had started down the trail of becoming a Christian Empire, so most of the high ranking officials in England were Christian. Ireland remained a world where the old pagan religions still dominated.  The Roman Catholic Church as we know it had not yet evolved.

A boy child was born to a Roman family in England.  They named that child Maewyn, after the language of the English people as they were at that time.  Maewyn’s father was a local governmental official, so Maewyn lived a life of wealth and privilege and Christianity.  Until he was about 15 at any rate, at which time the Irish launched an attack on England, and for one of the last times in the long and tortuous relationship between those two countries, Ireland won.  They took several folks captive as slaves. One of those young people was Maewyn.  For the next six years Maewyn was a slave working for a local noble family.  He escaped his capture at 21 and ran back to England.  But those 6 years had proved critical in England, because during that time the Roman Empire had collapsed and England, along with rest of Europe, had entered the Dark Ages.

Maewyn traveled through Europe, so he got to know a lot of things.  He became a priest and started working his way up the political ladder of the newly emerging Roman Catholic Church.  Eventually, he caught the eye of the Pope and in 432 A.D. Pope Celestine made Maewyn a bishop, giving the new bishop the name of Patrick.  Pope Celestine commissioned Bishop Patrick to return to Ireland and convert the pagans to the Roman Catholic faith.  Patrick, being a good priest and a great politician, did as he was told.  He spent the rest of his life in Ireland, converting that pagan land to Catholicism.  He died on March 17^th, somewhere between 461-492.  Now that’s a margin of error.  He is buried in Ireland.

Patrick is credited with making Ireland a Roman Catholic country. While the Christian, and Roman Catholic, world see that as a good thing, was it?  One legend says that Patrick chased all the snakes from Eire’.  What that really means is that Patrick destroyed the old pagan faiths and replaced them with Christianity.  The people of Ireland have since seen him as a hero.  A century or so after his death a local church made him a saint.  At that point in time the Pope had not claimed the honor of canonization for himself; being the Bishop of Rome was still more important than being the Pope of all Christiandom.  The newly created St. Patrick rapidly became the Patron Saint of Ireland by the 7^th century, and all for taking away their traditional religions and turning them over to the tender mercies of the Roman Catholic Church.  Even though no pope has ever canonized Patrick, he is widely accepted as a saint.

So, how do we go from there to the green beer and drunken brawls of Irish Appreciation Day as we celebrate March 17^th here in the US?  Answering that question requires that we take a look at the early Irish immigration to the US.  The earliest immigration was not prompted by the potato famine of later infamy.  The great Potato Famine of the mid-19^th century, however, sealed the deal.  Both of those migration patterns have at the heart the wicked way the great and evil English overlords treated the Irish.

The few victories the Irish had over the English while England was still an outpost of the Roman Empire were long gone when England started its rise to imperial power.  Henry II, under the protection of the Pope at that time, started the process of taking over Ireland in 1171.  Henry had managed to convince the Pope that the Irish people had turned again to their pagan ways and were corrupting the Roman Catholic faith in Ireland.  Those pesky pagans just would not be silenced.  The Pope issued a Papal Bull that allowed Henry II to invade Ireland so that the country could be returned to its former Cathoiic ways taught by St. Patrick.  Henry successfully invaded and declared himself King of Ireland.  The irony in that is that Ireland, during the dark time after the fall of the Roman Empire, had kept the lights of learning and Christianity burning while the rest of Europe floundered its way through the Dark Ages.  Guess the Pope in 1171 failed to think that was important.  In truth, the Church, fully evolved by then and stretching its powerful hold over Europe, did think that the teachings of the Irish Church were a little too permissive, especially of allowing a people to continue to celebrate and incorporate their former beliefs into their practice of the faith.

But I digress.  Once Henry became the King of Ireland, things got really hard for the Irish people.  The English made it a habit to keep the Irish poor so that Eire’ could be used as the agricultural fields to feed England.  Prior to the discovery of the New World the primary crops were oats and wheat.  The English Parliament employed several methods to maintain poverty in Ireland.  One of the most affective, and the one that has had the most long term affect, was denying all those brand new Protestant missionaries access to the Irish people.  Keeping the Irish Roman Catholic guaranteed that they would stay overpopulated and poor.  It was all good in the eyes of the English, though, because all those fields needed hands to work them.

Six hundred years later, the opening of the New World in what is now the United States offered a chance to escape from English rule, sort of.  When the first Irish immigrants started showing up on North America’s shores, it was still an English colony.  Many of the new immigrants at that time started Irish enclaves in some of the big English cities on the East Coast, Boston being one.  Those enclaves became ethnic neighborhoods for the new immigrants.  It is actually a pretty typical immigrant pattern.  The pattern can be seen all over the US, the land of immigrants; old ethnic neighborhoods from the past; new ones from more recent immigrations.  Now here’s a truth about immigrant populations in a new country:  Back home in the native country, people do not see themselves as an “ethnicity,” they are simply the people who live in that place.  However, in a new country, surrounded by new input, lonely, homesick, and desperate to not lose their complete identity, the new immigrants in those enclaves will create an ethnic identity based on their remembrances of the home country.  That is exactly what happened to those new Irish immigrants in the English colonies in North America.  They began to create an Irish ethnic identity for themselves in the cities where they had formed enclaves.  What better place to start than to honor the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick?  The very first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the US took place before there was a US.  In 1737 in Boston, the Irish enclave started us down the long trail to the celebrations of today.  Boston still has some of the best celebrations of St. Patrick, along with a very strong Irish heritage.

The US has made St. Patrick’s Day uniquely its own.  In Ireland the day is actually a three day holy observation.  Here, however, it is only the one day, although it could take a day or so to get over it.  We drink too much, eat too much cabbage and potatoes, sing too loud (and often too sad), dance too hard, and have a day of uninhibited celebration of an Irish heritage.  All are invited to attend and appreciate being Irish.  You don’t even have to be of Irish heritage, just join the party and spend your money.  It is about as pagan as it gets and very far from a religious celebration of a saint’s life.

Maybe the pagans are winning here in the US.  The fairie folk of Ireland, the leprechauns, might just be behind it.  They are tricksters, after all.  They bedazzle you, lead you around drinking green beer (and they like beer, too), and before it is all said and done, you might have found a pot of gold, but you’ve spent it all and have nothing to show for it but a headache and a depleted bank account.

Raise a pint to your Irish heritage, or to Irish appreciation day; follow a leprechaun, dance, sing a sad song, kiss someone, and party like a pagan of old!

The Chinese New Year began on January 23^rd and we have entered the Year of the Black (Water) Dragon.  Since that day some pretty major weather systems have moved around the Northern Hemisphere. If you have been watching the sky, then you know that there were major Solar Flares happening on January 23-24^th; some the greatest flares in recorded history.  In fact, the year of 2012 is the first year on record when there is not a single day that does not have solar flares; a very busy Sun this year.  So, pay attention, because the Dragon is awake and She is making herself felt.  Yes, feminine, Water!

This year, which many predict to be the end of the World, is going to be intense and all about change!  I have my doubts about the end of the World, but I don’t doubt that there is tremendous energy coming into our World that will change things, at a personal level and maybe even a global level.  The Dragon is all about change and good fortune, if you deserve good fortune.  She is also all about paying one’s debts.  The fact that this is a Water Dragon indicates that the changes and good fortune will come in mysterious ways, clothed in emotions.  That deep Water from which comes our greatest power.

As a Wiccan I attach the energy of Water to the Western Quarter.  That Quarter has many attributes, but one of the strongest is that it is the Quarter of Faith.  In our mythos the East is the place where dreams are born; the South is where you add belief to your dreams, the North is the Quarter where dreams become reality.  That leaves the Western Quarter.  It is the place where Faith is added.  For any dream to make it all the way around the Circle of reality, one must have Faith; Faith in the dream, Faith in your ability to make the dream into a reality, Faith that you are doing the right thing.

So, how does this apply to the Dragon?  If any of the Oriental Zodiac has the ability to turn dreams into reality, then it’s the Power of the Dragon.  Since this particular Dragon is a Water Dragon, then that power comes from the Heart, the place of Faith.  It is easy to have lots of dreams, even believe in those dreams as something that should happen, but how much harder is it to have Faith that the dreams can and will come true?  How hard is it to believe in your own ability to create the reality that you want?  And when everything around seems to be working against your turning the dreams into reality, how hard is it to keep the Faith going?  Those things are pretty hard for me, and I suspect pretty hard for you, as well.

So, here’s what I will do with the energy of the Water Dragon.  Whenever my Faith gets shaken, and that is a lot, I’m going draw down with my Heart all that incredible energy.  I’m applying that energy to my Faith in my dreams and myself.  When the good fortune arrives, and the dreams start coming to fruition, I will accept the energy into my Heart and let my Faith get even stronger.

Using the base of power, your emotions (not being emotional, but being strong in your Heart), have Faith that the Water Dragon stands with you and you can make your dreams come true.  Let the Dragon breathe on those dreams and make them real.  Don’t expect immediate good fortune, but watch as the year unfolds, and you might be really surprised.

And have FAITH.

I work in an academic environment, and you would think that environment would one of a Culture of Respect.   We are all trained researchers and as such should have a healthy respect for the quest for truths based on facts and data and honest, even if hard, questions.

Instead what goes on in my work place is a Culture of Fear where people are kept in their place by manipulating their fears.  What is a Culture of Fear?  Here, rather than ask questions and seek honest answers, gossip, assumptions, and sometimes, outright lies rule the day.  What that creates is a hostile work place that is controlled by fear.  What makes it that, and why does that work?  What do the people here fear?

Fear of losing a good office space, or having to share an office. (When I was offered my own office, it was under duress because some things were done very poorly in the division.  The office I was offered would have entailed throwing another full time geographer out of her office and taking the office away from her.  I declined to behave in such a dishonorable fashion, and was genuinely surprised that the powers that be could behave in such a dishonorable fashion.)

Fear of not being able to teach the classes you most love.

Fear of teaching classes in really uncomfortable rooms, or room locations.

Fear of teaching classes at really bad times, or in an uncomfortable way, like an 8:00 class and a 4:50 class on the same day, with nothing in-between.

(I’ve actually been threatened with the last two when I ask for some changes in my room assignments that would keep me from having to walk all over campus when I have a well-documented mobility issue.)

And the big one, at least on the surface:

Fear of not having your contract renewed.

But a much deeper fear, and the one I think really keeps most people under control, is the Fear that you will become the subject of hallway gossip.  It works because it can be devastating to find out that your personal business is being bandied around and made public knowledge.  Even more devastating is when you hear things said about you that are simply not true, yet no one has bothered to get any facts; the gossip is more fun.  It’s also painful.  It’s also a great way to keep people in their place because so many of us simply do not talk to anyone anymore.

So, rather than rule through respect for other people and their quest for knowledge, a handful of people have created a hostile and unhappy work place that has become Culture of Fear.  The person who could, and should, control this allows it to go on because her purposes are best served if everyone is afraid to question her authority.  She misses the point that those who lead best lead through respect, not fear.

What would be so much more effective is if all the academics were allowed to question, and get well researched and fact-based answers.  That work environment would be one of respect and create a well informed Culture of Respect in the very world where one should be the goal to be achieved, rather than the object to be avoided.

Ah, the times have changed.  I have been a loyal customer of the company Burt’s Bees for nearly 20 years.  I started buying the products back in the day when the company was new, the idea behind the product was revolutionary, and I was changing my life to match new ideals about the environment, animals, and the treatment of both.  Burt’s Bees was just starting out and needed every customer, and it had great products that matched both my needs and my ideals.

Several years ago Burt’s Bees was bought by Clorox, and I wondered what would happen.  Recently, I found out.  The product line is changing.  The very products that made me a loyal customer are now no longer being produced.  The new products are aimed at a much younger consumer.  The new products, of course, are aimed at those customers.  The very products that made me loyal are no longer being produced.  I am no longer the “target market” therefore my needs are not really important to the company; the very company that 20 years ago might not have survived without customers like me.  Now that all those early customers are 20 years older, we are not an important consumer group.

The irony is that my demographic is the one that is consistent, and has the money to back up our desires.  We might not spend the desired amount of money with each purchase, but we will always buy the product for which we have developed a loyalty.

So, now I have to find another product that matches my needs and my ideals, because Burt’s Bees has grown too big for my piddly little purchases.  I will buy from Burt’s Bees no longer since it has become a part of the very consumer culture that it once stood against.

And I caution all of you to look carefully at the ingredients list in any Burt’s Bees product.  The original product was animal friendly; no animal testing, and used no artificial ingredients.  That was the ideal that made them so strong.  Check carefully because that ideal might be changing, too.

That brings me to the Founding Fathers of the incredible country; they made a decision as they were drafting the Constitution that there would be no state religion; that instead there would be religious freedom.  In other words, they separated the Church from the State, and that was big news in the 18th century.  Guess what, in most of the World today it’s still big news.  Most of the World’s countries actually still have state religions.  Some of those countries practice religious freedom within that modality, but many are pure theocracies, and no other religion is tolerated in their state.

What scares me about this non-stop religious comparison at the level of a presidential campaign is that it introduces the idea that religion should play a role in the political character of this country; exactly what those Founding Fathers were trying to avoid. Countries where religious laws are the laws of the land are called theocracies, and before you jump in and say religion should rule the land, you’d better ask yourself, which religion?  And don’t assume that all Christians are the same, they are not.  If one Christian branch takes over the country, or one Protestant denomination, then will they be tolerant of ANYONE who is not exactly like them?  History has shown that the answer is an unqualified NO.

While I sincerely hope that anyone who winds up running our country at any level of government has deep ethical and moral convictions (and watching Congress’s behaviour lately, I have my doubts about that one); I still believe in Separation of Church and State, and a religious attack between candidates should never take place.

In fact, the candidate’s religion shouldn’t even be part of the conversation!

or

You Might Know It as Halloween

All Hallow’s Eve; that is the way it has come down to us since historical times in Northwest Europe.  For the Roman Catholic Church it became an abomination of what they considered unholy and downright evil; all those non-Christian pagans out there, celebrating death and darkness.  The Church actually tried to co-opt the rituals of the rural peoples by creating their own version, All Saints Day.  It was the Church’s hope that they could convert the pagans to the Church by adding a Christian element to what was clearly a pre-Christian celebration.  It had worked with Christmas after all.

However, through the centuries, Samhain has been the one pre-Christian celebration that has never been successfully co-opted.  Today, on Halloween, people still dress in scary costumes, go from door to door demanding treats, or suffer the consequences of tricks.  Then once the children go to bed, the adults will often stay up all night, drinking and carousing.  Horror stories get told and people get the creeps from things that go bump in the night.  Somewhere out there are subtle energies that play with the most rational minds on this night.  On the day after, especially in the Catholic world, many of them go to the cemetery to leave flowers on the graves of those who have already moved into a new reality.  Very few of those people out there celebrating realize what they are celebrating.  Many of the ones who do in the fundamentalist world are desperately, still, trying to get Halloween stopped.  Yet, year after year, this very spooky night remains a favorite.  Why do you think that is?

The Wiccans, and other pagans out there, know why Samhain can not be stopped.  It is the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is thin, as thin as it will be throughout the year.  You have heard it before, but what does that mean?  In the Wiccan world we believe in a God and Goddess.  Samhain is the time of the year when the Final Harvest takes place, and the God becomes a gateway to other realities, opening doorways for us to view the probabilities that surround us.  The Goddess opens the Door, and we can walk through.  Samhain is the time of the year when the veils that separate us from other realities is very thin, the Dark is overcoming the Light, and the Crone is in her Strength.  She wields the power to reach the Dark Lord and make the Door open so that we can look through.

Put yourself back in time to an agricultural village anywhere in northern Europe.  This was the time of the year when the last of Summer’s crops were gathered and stored for the coming Winter.  The pigs, cows, sheep, goats were slaughtered and prepared for storage.  Herbs were hung to be used during the dark times ahead.  This was the last outdoor celebration for a while.  It was not uncommon for several tribes or villages to come together at this time of year to conduct clan business and celebrate as a group because there was a knowledge that they would not be able to visit in the months ahead.  Sadly, not all would make it until Spring.  So the people came together one last time to visit and share and remember.

This time of year is for remembering, and dreaming, and foretelling.  Samhain is the New Year in the Celtic tradition.  It was the time to make final preparations for the Winter, and have one last feast before the snows locked the people in for the next few months.

So, how do Wiccans celebrate Samhain?  One of the ways we make preparations for the New Year in more modern times is to scry, or looking into the future so we can make plans for the coming year.  There are a multitude of ways to scry, and most are useful, if used properly.  One thing most people do not know is that the scrying should only take place on Samhain.  The day before is the Day of the Trickster, a day of misleadings and lies.  If you scry on that day, you will not get a truth, because the ancestors are not directing the action, the Trickster is.  The ancestors will not make themselves available until Samhain.  The doorway of the God is not yet open on the 30^th.

This is a celebration of the Dead.  Wiccans do not seek or embrace Death, instead we accept it as a natural transition into the next reality.  It is during this time that we take a few moments, or as long as we need, to mourn for those who have left us; or walked the bridge that the God and Goddess create into the reality on the other side of the Veil.  We mourn our losses as much as any other group; we just do not believe that Death is to be feared, simply accepted.  Samhain is the time that we visit with those who have are no longer with us in flesh.

Samhain is the one pre-Christian celebration that has never been fully incorporated into the Christian format.  It has been able to hang to more of the pagan beliefs than any other celebration.  For us it is the evening that matters, All Hallows Eve, Halloween, our night to howl, and the night that our ancestors howl.  The God has passed to the Death Lands, and He makes it possible for us to meet with, talk to, honor, and scry through our ancestors.  The Goddess, as the Crone, opens that Doorway as she takes her power in the night as the Hag.  The skies are filled with shades as the Great Hunt takes place, and we take part in the Dream as we dream our new reality.

In the midst of all the fun of Halloween, be sure to take a moment to remember those who have traveled ahead of you.  Invite them into your home and listen to their wisdom.  They still love you, and will give you valuable advice.  For a few minutes actually be a WITCH.  Celebrate the final Harvest, and cuddle up with a cup of chocolate, or cider, or tea in front of a fire.  Dream the dream that is you at your best, and prepare for the Winter.

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Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.

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Free shot drink recipes to get your party started.

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Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad.

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