Monthly Archives: September 2008

Marking the Transition

This weekend I was honored to Priestess a young man’s transition from childhood into adolescence. M. turned 13 in late July, and we’ve known we were going to do a ritual to mark the transition for several years now. (I priestessed his two brothers’ “Baby Blessings” and M. had asked for a ritual just for him. We talked about it and decided that since he was already 10, we’d wait until adolescence. He liked the idea a lot.) M. is a very bright, well-spoken young man who feels like an old soul. His parents are non-religious, but the family has a variety of ritual practices that integrate a nature-based spirituality. They bring me in for the ‘big stuff'<g>.

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Palin Poll

On Sept. 5th, PBS published an opinion poll, simply asking “Do you think that Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States?” From Sept 5 to 22 users could vote multiple times by refreshing the page. That is no longer the case. Before they implemented a ‘cookie’ implementation policy, the poll was running close to a tie, 50% said yes, 48% said no. An impressive indication of the power of the right and left to mobilize opinion, as well as the deep division Palin brings to the political process.

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Bonus Silliness

I can *too* laugh at myself.

Jeremy (aka technocowboy) posted the following on his LJ:

Me: So did you hear today’s big DUH moment?
Her: No, what happened?
Me: Clay Aiken came out.
Her: Clay Aiken…. The country singer?? WOW!!
Me: No, that’s Clay Walker.
Her: OH!! The football star?!
Me: No, that’s Troy Aikman. Clay Aiken is from American Idol.
Her: Oh….. You bitches are laughing at me.
Me: Yup. Three homos, laughing at you. 🙂

I’m the ‘Her’. Here’s the topper. When I first moved to Seattle, my friend Damien (gay) took me out dancing with him and some friends. As we’re driving through a certain part of the Capital Hill area they start talking about ‘that looks like a good place to go. no there!’ I innocently ask ‘how do you know they are gay bars? is there a secret sign or something.’ D. giggles and says ‘well, there’s the rainbow.’ Me: The rainbow? Is that a bar? D: (Pulling the car over because he’s laughing so hard) The rainbow flag.

Yes, I spent my high school lunchbreaks in the Castro, hanging out with gay men. I knew about the pink triangle. I did NOT know about the Rainbow flag.

Yes, I laugh at myself all the time. Keeps me sane.

Weekly Silliness: Management, American Style

(my boss sent me this today)

“Japanese vs. American management style

Two teams of American and Japanese corporations have a boat race. On the big day the Japanese win by a mile.
The discouraged Americans hire a consulting firm to investigate the problem. The findings are that the Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering while the American team had one rower and eight people steering. Based on these results, the American team is completely reorganized to include four steering managers, four steering area managers and a new performance review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work incentive.

The following year the Japanese win again, so the Americans lay off the rower for poor performance and give the manager a bonus for discovering the problem.”

 

Be a Constitution Voter

The ACLU is trying to collect deliver 300,000 pledges to send McCain and Obama’s offices by October 15.  You can sign the pledge here: http://www.aclu.org/constitutionvoter/. By signing the pledge, you get a free bumper sticker and make the statement that you want the next President to not pledge to uphold the Consitution while doing his best to dismantle it.

I Am a Constitution Voter

  • I believe that no one — including the President — is above the law.
  • I oppose all forms of torture, and I support both closing the Guantánamo Bay prison and ending indefinite detention.
  • I oppose warrantless spying.
  • I believe that government officials, no matter how high-ranking, should be held accountable for breaking the law and violating the Constitution.
  • I believe that the Constitution protects every person’s rights equally — no matter what they believe, how they live, where or if they worship, and whom they love.
  • I reject the notion that we have to tolerate violations of our most fundamental rights in the name of fighting terrorism.
  • I am deeply committed to the Constitution and expect our country’s leaders to share and act on that commitment — every day, without fail.

They also have an online advertising campaign: if you send in a photo of yourself with their ‘Constitution Voter’ logo or a copy of the Constitution, they’ll use it in their campaign. This is a good cause, and a big issue. Pledge your support.

Weekly Silliness: What DnD Character Am I?

You Are A: True Neutral Human Druid (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength- 11
Dexterity- 12
Constitution- 15
Intelligence- 18
Wisdom- 13
Charisma- 12
Alignment:
True Neutral- A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he’s not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Druids- Druids gain power not by ruling nature but by being at one with it. They hate the unnatural, including aberrations or undead, and destroy them where possible. Druids receive divine spells from nature, not the gods, and can gain an array of powers as they gain experience, including the ability to take the shapes of animals. The weapons and armor of a druid are restricted by their traditional oaths, not simply training. A druid’s Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast.

Amusingly, I’ve never played a true neutral or druid character.

From: http://www.easydamus.com/character.html

Published in Spellcraft!

UPDATE: Spellcraft has, sadly, gone defunct. The article is now available through my “Writings” page.

Spellcraft magazine is ‘the ultimate guide to magick in the southern hemisphere’ and the Spring 2008 issue (#10) features an entire section on cyber witch. I’ve got an article in there about Pagan Schooling Online (page 20). I’ve always liked this magazine (this is my third article/working with them in as many years) amd feel its one of the best pagan magazines available — even if everything is ‘backwards’! 🙂

Go check it out: http://www.spellcraft.com.au

Ritual Notes: Full Moon in Pisces

With the moon’s soft radiance illuminating this sign’s energy, it looks like we’ve opened the ‘basement’ of the Universe to let the light in. This is a time for erratic emotions, intense emotions, and sudden flashes of understanding of karmic ties. Taking place in practical, service-oriented Virgo, it means that the positive directing of this energy is towards our relationships to others. We’re in the midst of the harvest (less than a week until Mabon), working hard to get the fruits and vegetables preserved and stored so we won’t starve during the winter. We don’t have time for worrying about anything other than our community.

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