Seriously?

Apparently as I was writing last night's kick ass blog about acceptance, spin, justifying, dealing with bigotry in a light-hearted way and my personal conflict, there was an article being published in the Village Voice slamming Councilman Dan Halloran for not being Heathen enough.

An offensive cartoon was included as well.

I was going to post something lovely about Hecate's night, but I'm taking a mulligan on this one because instead of sitting here and raging about the discrimination inherent in this culture, I have to be a grown up and write a professional, concise letter to the editor, and press release.

Go check out the article and the conversation on The Wild Hunt.

See you in December!

Thanks :)

Thank you to Diana. Thank you to Apollo. Thank you to Mercury. Thank you to Hecate. Thank you to Ganesh. Thank you to My Ancestors. Thank you to The Spirits of the Land. Thank you to Ra. Thank you to everyone who worked weather magic to make NYC Pagan Pride Day happen.

It went by so fast! Almost a year of planning and now it's done. Tonight is partly a brain dump and that's because my brain is fried. I was up at 6 am and at the park before 8 to get everything set up. The vendors and info groups were amazing- the old hands knew just what to do and the new folks were pretty on the ball as well. The belly dancers were SO AWESOME! I need to find video of the Isis snake dance they did. Jihan Arts and the Belly Dance Raks Stars.. Wow... I need to post about belly dance and Middle Eastern Goddesses at some point. There were raves about the workshops and the opening ritual and the closing ritual that Society of Diana hosted with our sister group, Hounds of Artemis. We invoked the Statue of Liberty and reclaimed her as a talisman for, well, liberty lol And protection.

I made an offering to my Patrons for their help and I'm gonna get to that now then go pass out. Back to our regularly scheduled epic posts tomorrow!

Why?

Pagan Pride Day begins in less than 12 hours. I have been running around crazy for the past week, fielding tons of phone calls, emails and packages, updating facebook, the yahoogroup, the website, designing the t-shirts and having them printed, the programs, the schedule, etc etc etc. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn "oh gee look at how awesome I am and all that I do." I'm saying this because it takes a shit ton of work to pull off an event like this and no one can do it alone and no one does it just for fucks sake.

Why do I bother? I love my community. Even the McWiccans. I think there would be fewer McWiccans if there were more public events of this sort. If we didn't feel like we had to hide then people would never get sucked in by the ego driven folks who pose as Priests and Priestesses of the Gods and happen to attract followers just because they're the loudest ones in the proverbial room.

Our community needs to get over "you do it wrong so I won't talk to you or work with you" business. I might disagree with what other groups do and how they do it, but I'm not going to stop talking to someone because we don't agree on which direction is air. We need to stand together against the erosion of our civil rights. In that, at least, all Pagans are my brothers and sisters.

I also do this for the glory of my patrons. I don't want to convert others, I want those who serve Them as Priests and Priestesses to live a life free of fear and anxiety and providing them the opportunity to bring Them back into their full power. Which brings us back around to the topic of this blog! (And you thought it would only be a ramble! ha!)

The practice of spreading the name, and therefore glory, of a being who has done something for you is very Italian and continues today in the practice of publicly publishing a thank you in the newspaper. This is often done for Saint Jude. You'll see tiny classified ads in the back of a newspaper thanking him! Saint Expedite too. Saint Therese... So many others too.

See how I bought it back on topic! ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful first full day of autumn and if you're in the NYC area, come on down to Pagan Pride Day in Battery Park! It starts at 11 AM and I will be leading the Harvest ritual at 4 PM!

Busy Bee

That's what I am tonight! I'm writing up new classes, workshop proposals, details for a Datura Press fundraiser, updating NYC Pagan Pride info and reaching out to vendors, workshops, musicians and volunteers. I'm also working on the dedication of the labyrinth, and a New Moon ritual. Also working on  guest blog posts for other fabutastic blogs.


This link will download a pdf regarding the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Bee/honey. Interesting, basic article which sheds light on how closely related Demeter and her priestesses were to bees and honey. Marguerite Rigoglioso discusses how bees were a major symbol of all parthenogenic Goddesses including Diana. Speaking of MR... There is a podcast coming up next month with Marguerite Rigoglioso on Virgin Mother goddesses of Antiquity and specifically about Bees and their symbolism. I've just set a reminder for it! Can't wait!

Ancient historian, Pausanias, writes about the connection of Hermes and Honey in his Description of Greece :

"Each month the Eleans sacrifice once on all the altars I have enumerated. They sacrifice in an ancient manner; for they burn on the altars incense with wheat which has been kneaded with honey, placing also on the altars twigs of olive, and using wine for a libation . . . The traditional words spoken by them in the Town Hall at the libations, and the hymns which they sing, it were not right for me to introduce into my narrative. They pour libations, not only to the Greek gods, but also to the god [Zeus Ammon] in Libya, to Hera Ammonia and to Parammon (from Ammon), which is a surname of Hermes."

In the Homeric hymn, Hermes and Apollo are involved with the Thraiae or Bee Nymphs, pictured here, who have a connection to the Delphic Oracle. I started talking about this in my review of Cult of Divine Birth.

I've also been reading about how bees were treated and revered in ancient Sicily: They were considered members of the family! They were told the family news of the day, and offerings of cakes or food were left whenever there was a celebration... the same that is done for the Lare.

ok, busy bees, I'm off for the night!

Maypole Joe

I didn't know him that well. We'd met a few times, but on each occasion we were so busy running our respective events that we really didn't get to talk a whole lot one on one about anything much other than the business at hand. He passed in 2002. I wish I had gotten to know him better while he was here.

NYC Pagan Pride awards a scholarship in Joe's honor. The goal this year is to give $500 to a Pagan Student whose education will help them be of service to the Pagan Community. We need community builders and role models and we need to foster and support young Pagans. By "role model" I don't mean someone who is "perfect." Everyone has faults. I bet Joe had a fault here or there too, but Joe was a role model for service to his fellow Pagans and in building a Pagan community of varying traditions. That's what we're looking for: the next Joe: Someone to take up the mantle of weaving this diverse community together.

There were a handful of people at the event today who had actually known or heard of Joe, even though he and Jackie Beltane started the Beltaine festival about 15 (18?) years ago. I'm glad I could help bring back fond memories for some and introduce Joe to others. We need to know our history so we can build the future.

Community

I've been working on the NYC Pagan Pride website today as well as creating (over and over and over again, thanks to retrograde) web applications for all of the participants and for our scholarship.

One thing that I noted about NYC in comparison to other places, was that it all seemed like everyone kept to themselves, everyone had their group and it wasn't often that everyone got together. Then again, that's kinda how NYC is in general: You don't talk to people on the subway either. Heh. I wish I could get out to more events, to see what other groups are like, how they work, what the practice, etc. Unfortunately, it's a matter of making the time to do it. We're working on more PNOs and hopefully folks will respond in a positive way.

I'm very excited to be diving back into planning for this really cool event which brings people out not just from NYC, but from the tri-state area. It's wonderful to network with so many interesting people, not to mention hang out for the day in direct sight of the Statue of Liberty. I know I've posted about this before, but this is what I'm consumed with today.

Yes, I'm crazy for doing all of this technical stuff during retrograde, but it really is time. I'm considering it cleaning out my html closet.


Hmm something dall'Italia? ok. I was chatting with Karen, the lovely proprietor of Mystic Spirit in Montclair. She asked me if I have a cimaruta. I have a modern version hanging out in the house, but there's also a private one too. The family crest isn't something you show off. I wonder if my being so very closed-mouthed about these things was nature or nurture. For my astrology-minded compatriots out there: When I was 4.5 my sun progressed to Scorpio. Think that has something to do with it? LOL

Speaking of astrology, check out the wiki for Luca Gaurico, a famous Italian astrologer from the time of the Italian Renaissance!

NYC Pagan Pride Day

I'm one of the coordinators and have worked with the group in some capacity for the past 11 years. It's been my way of giving back to the Pagan Community. It's Service to my local Pagan fellows, and to My Patrons, and to My City. I might not be located in NYC anymore but I will always be a New Yorker.

I also get a lot out of the whole experience. I get to meet new people, I get together with friends I haven't seen in ages, I get to hear new music and learn new things and save up my money to spend at the amazing vendors. Sometimes it feels like I'm throwing a party for myself with all of my favorite things and favorite people. It's an amazing time.

It's also difficult to organize an event of this magnitude. There are never enough volunteers, especially during the planning process. Lots of folks have wonderful ideas, but there are few who stick around to see them through. I'm putting it out there: I'm asking Mercury, whose planet will be retrograde twice during the planning process, to send me 5 quality, sane, volunteers who are creative and follow through to help us with the planning and realization of #11 in '11. (It's on Saturday, September 24th!)

This is also the 10th anniversary of the Twin Towers. The Festival is right by Ground Zero. Is it tacky to use an image of the towers with this being our 11th anniversary? We couldn't have it at Battery Park that first year because it was being used as barracks. We were moved to Washington Square Park. Thankfully they didn't cancel the event. My using the image would be an homage to the event and the site. Our first ritual was written by Maypole Joe and Jackie Beltane and dedicated to healing and helping with moving on. I still have the braid we created that day. It's black, white and red. I don't know if the image, minus the context of the story, would be taken the right way. I'm very sensitive to the tourists who are in the area just to gawk at ground zero. Seriously? Is their next stop a hospital where they can gawk at the people waiting in the ER? Bleh. I need to ask some New Yorkers about this.