Facing North: A Community Resource

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Facing North (facingnorth.net), soon to be one of the largest collections of reviews of neopagan/new age/spiritual books, music, and tools, is now live and available to our community.

Created by Lisa Mc Sherry, an author and professional reviewer for the past ten years, Facing North is designed to be part archival storage, part historical database, while growing ever more vital with contemporary reviews of new publications. Experienced and talented reviewers work with Ms. Mc Sherry to read, listen to, and use the creations of our community today in order to provide informed, useful guidance.

Facing North updates weekly as we achieve our next goal of 400 reviews available by Yule. Future expansions will include discussion forums, author interviews, live question-and-answer chats, and seminars with subject experts. We are particularly keen to provide increased exposure to independent artists via downloadable samples of their work and direct links to their own websites.

Please join us at facingnorth.net and share this information with anyone you think may be interested.

Website: http://www.facingnorth.net 

A New Project — Daily Calendar

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For some reason, maybe triggered by the annuals passing across my desk for review this last month, I want to create a personal calendar. Not a wall calendar, but a daily one for reflection and meditation.

This is going to be several months in the making, and I’m not sure how I will share it with anyone… but I am excited at the possibilities.

Step 1: Find out which days are related to sacred to devoted to, what or who, and why.

Did you know that October 23rd is National Mole Day and that it has nothing to do with the animal? “Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry.”

Step 2: Create projects or projections celebrating an aspect of each day.

I’m at a loss for a meditation about science or molecules, at least at this moment. Maybe a future edit will occur.

I think I need to start lying about where I live….

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(because its too embarrasing for words, otherwise.)

Seattle unveils slogan: ‘metronatural’ 

 

SEATTLE – When Washington state announced its new tourism slogan last spring, Pike Place Market vendor Kenny Telesco was willing to give it a chance. He practiced saying it with “jazz hands” and asked tourists to “SayWA” as they posed for photos. But he’s not sure he can stomach Seattle’s new tourism slogan, unveiled Friday in 18-foot-tall letters atop the Space Needle: “metronatural.” 

“How do you use that in a sentence?” Telesco asked. “‘Welcome to Metronatural.’ … It’s an airport where you can buy organic bananas.” 

Others suggested “metronatural” evoked an urban nudist camp and speculated about whether it would last longer than “SayWA,” which the state dropped recently because it failed to catch on. 

“Metronatural” is the result of a 16-month, $200,000 effort by Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau plans to spend $300,000 marketing the slogan, which will largely be targeted at generating business for the Washington Convention and Trade Center. 

The idea behind “metronatural” was to capture that “Seattle offers the best of both worlds,” visitors bureau president Don Welsh said in a statement. “We have a vibrant urban center surrounded by pristine wilderness and outdoor recreation.” 

A sampling of vendors and tourists at Pike Place Market, one of the city’s premier attractions, suggested that Seattle doesn’t need a slogan, let alone one that plays on that buzzword of yesteryear “metrosexual.” 

That’s the approach that Vancouver, British Columbia, took when it updated its tourism marketing. Instead of having a tag line, advertisements simply say “Tourism Vancouver,” with a large “V” styled to resemble an Olympic medal hanging from an athlete’s neck. 

It was Vancouver’s decision to update its slogan that prompted Seattle to follow suit. Seattle’s seldom-seen old slogan, developed in 1999, was a picture of an eye, an “at” symbol and the letter L: “See-At-L.” 

A look at the city’s tourism industry would seem to suggest it’s been doing fine without the new slogan. A record 9.1 million people visited Seattle last year, according to the visitors bureau. The cruise port is bustling, and the convention center drew nearly 400,000 people last year. 

“Metro” and “natural” are “not two words that impress me as words that are going to stick out in someone’s mind, like you want a slogan to stick out in someone’s mind,” said John Silas, a 30-year market veteran who makes and sells hardwood cribbage boards. “The idea feels sterile and commercial and it’s lacking the heart of Seattle.” 

Tour guide Dick Falkenberry said he had heard all about the new slogan. 

“It’s ‘SayWA.’ No, wait, it’s worse than ‘SayWA,'” he said. “It’s ‘urban-metro.'” 

Close enough. 

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 

On the Net: http://www.metronatural.com/

October 19th: Celebrate Kuan Yin’s Birthday

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Kuan Yin (觀音; Pinyin: Guān YÄ«n) is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. She is also known as the Chinese Goddess of Compassion by many. Kuan Yin originated as the Sanskrit AvalokiteÅ›vara, which is her male form. Commonly known in the West as the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin is also revered by Chinese Taoists as an Immortal. The name Kuan Yin is short for Kuan-shih Yin (Py.: Guānshì YÄ«n, 觀世音) which means “Observing the Sounds of the World”.
 In Japanese, Kuan Yin is pronounced Kannon (観音) or more formally Kanzeon (観世音); the spelling Kwannon, based on a pre-modern pronunciation, is sometimes seen. In Korean, this incarnation of Buddha is called Gwan-eum or Gwanse-eum, and in Vietnamese, the name is Quan Âm or Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát.
Kuan Yin is the Chinese name for the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. However, folk traditions in China and other East Asian countries have added many distinctive characteristics and legends. Avalokiteśvara was originally depicted as Buddha when he was still a prince, and therefore wears chest-revealing clothing and may even sport a moustache. However, in China, Kuan Yin is usually depicted as a woman.
 In China, Kuan Yin is usually shown in a white flowing robe, and usually wearing necklaces of Indian/Chinese royalty. In the right hand is a water jar containing pure water, and in the left, a willow branch. The crown usually depicts the image of Amitabha Buddha, Kuan Yin’s spiritual teacher before she became a Bodhisattva.
There are also regional variations of Kuan Yin depiction. One of these is that of Kuan Yin with fish. In this depiction Kuan Yin is depicted as a maiden dressed in Tang dynasty style clothing carrying a fish basket. This is popular in the Fukien region of China.
Along with Buddhism, Kuan Yin’s veneration was introduced into China as early as the 1st century CE, and reached Japan by way of Korea soon after Buddhism was first introduced into the country from the mid-7th century. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuan_Yin)
From Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan:

It was said that Kuan Yin was so concerned for humanity that, upon receiving enlightenment, she chose to retain human form rather than transcend it as pure energy. And so she would stay until every single living creature attained enlightenment. Her name translates “she who hears the weeping world”; Kuan Yin sat on her paradise island P’u T’o Shan answering every prayer addressed to her. The mere utterance of her name in prayer was said to assure salvation from physical and spiritual harm. Even better was the observance of Kuan Yin’s own testimony of peace and mercy; her most devout worshipers ate no flesh and lived entirely without doing violence to other beings.

Sometimes it was said that Kuan Yin originally lived on earth as Miao Shan, a young woman of unearthly virtue. Although her father wished her to marry, Miao Shan decided to visit a monastery, which, contrary to her expectations, was a hotbed of vice. Her father, hearing of her presence in the convent and suspecting the worst, burned it to the ground. A rainbow carried her to heaven, where her innocent death earned her transmutation into the divine world. (from http://www.hranajanto.com/goddessgallery/kuanyin.html)

Kuan Yin’s birthday is celebrated on the 19th day of the second, sixth and ninth lunar month. Bake a sweet cake and lay it before her, or pour a bowl of milk in her honor. Light a stick of incense – flower-scented or sandalwood are especially please.
Most importantly: contemplate compassion and its role within your life. Work with the heart chakra, to open and cleanse it completely, allowing you to give – and receive – compassion’s gift in your life.

October 18th is National Love Your Body Day

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(my thanks to Diane Saarien for sharing this — its too late now, but for next year…)

Love Your Body Day Celebrates Women’s Bodies, Takes On Advertisers

October 17, 2006

October 18, 2006, marks the National Organization for Women Foundation’s ninth annual Love Your Body Day.

In response to unhealthy and exploitive images of women in the media, NOW Foundation established the Love Your Body Campaign to promote positive, healthy images of women and girls, protest harmful and offensive advertisements, and raise awareness about women’s health issues.

“Love Your Body Day is a day of action designed to combat the impossible beauty standards promoted by airbrushed advertising, Hollywood and the fashion industry,” says NOW Foundation President Kim Gandy. “We encourage women and girls to celebrate themselves on Love Your Body Day and every day,” says Gandy.

The goal of the NOW Foundation Love Your Body campaign isn’t to sway women from purchasing and wearing cosmetics or trendsetting clothing. Rather, the campaign advocates for women to be informed consumers—defining clearly what makes them feel healthy and comfortable with their bodies, on their own terms.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) 80 percent of women express dissatisfaction with their appearance, and the Love Your Body campaign is taking steps to reverse the trend.

Women and girls across the nation will be leading a variety of actions this Wednesday, October 18. Some groups are throwing parties to design posters to use for rallies. Others have decided to create and wear “beauty pageant-style” sashes with positive messages. Campus groups are planning a variety of events to raise awareness about body image.

Moving On, Making Changes

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From the email I sent to the TBPReaders list:

Dear Friends and Colleagues, I woke up this morning and reflected on Friday the 13th – a day of lore and superstition. I am not prone to numerology, but even I know that 13 is a magical number, for so many reasons.

The Beltane Papers’ next issue, #39, is the thirteenth issue I have contributed to as the Review Circle Coordinator. After these many years it is time for me to move on to other projects. It has been a pleasure working on this publication, and particualrly in seeing this issue come together so intimately and so directly.

I will remain a devoted reader, and I look forward to seeing what the new volunteers will bring to us.
* * * * *
My decision to leave was a difficult one, but is the correct action for me at this time.

I have given my time, my money, and my best efforts to manifesting a professional, respected, organized, and useful review section for TBP over the course of many years now. In all of the areas that were under my control, I succeeded. I know that Marione was deeply pleased with my abilities and contributions. She trusted me and we worked well together. 

When I came on board TBP the review section was a random collection of writings, most of which were written by Marione and the other volunteers because there was no one else. I envisioned a circle of women that changed in personnel, but remained steady and were held to deadlines that allowed for plenty of production time in each issue. Marione had faith in my vision and my first issue as Coordinator fulfilled that goal. My next ambition was to create a website where our ‘overflow’ reviews were published. This was a direct response to our having between 50 and 75 reviews ‘on hand,’ and room for maybe 20 in each printed issue. It seemed to me that it would increase our exposure, make the website a repository of useful data, and increase the visibility of both our review circle and the artists we were discussing.  My website was hard to update, but functional and again Marione and I were pleased with the result.  It was given over to Krishanna a number of years ago, and then to Lise.

I won’t make any bones about it: Lise’s site is distressing, and has been for years. She and I don’t see eye to eye in how it should function, or its importance, and I have given up that fight. Don’t get distracted, though: it is also not the main reason I am leaving. I am leaving because Lise and I do not work well together. Marione was the buffer between us, and without her the tension is too high for me to function well within. 

I remain a subscriber of this wonderful magazine, and I have plans to support the community in the ways I know best: I am using my work to create the review site I have always wanted to create for TBP (www.facingnorth.net/index.php is the beta site).

And so, in joy and sorrow, I am closing one chapter, and opening another.

Blessed be!

Friends (an update)

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(If you are interested at the beginning of this portion of the tale, please see my blog entry on August 23rd)

One of the fundamental rules of life is this: The wife always wins. This is not a bad thing, and I’m a wife myself so I support this rule wholeheartedly . Its reality, and a good way to go through life. (OK, the spouse always wins, is that better?) I am not referring to some dramatic moment of tension within a couple’s history, but the fact that each couple must choose to stand together, rather than allow others to come between them.

And if that means that your partner doesn’t like one of your friends (or used to, but no longer does) then: the wife wins. And you no longer have that friend. A wife/spouse/partner is a person to be celebrated and cherished and the one with whom you must stick — for better or worse, through wealth and famine, in sickness and in health. That is a sacred vow and a sacred obligation

My friend’s spouse remains to angry with me to communicate, and that breach will (from this vantage point) never be healed. My friend has always done her best to be honest with me, and has worked as hard as she could to heal the gaping wound that appeared. No fingers need point, there is no more to be done. The wife always wins. 

The patient died on the table. We did our best, but there were no signs of life, and so we pulled the plug. We did so in sorrow, but also with honesty and a sense of necessity. This is the season of endings and our farewell has the feeling of rightness that accompanies correct action.

Blessed be.

Out — being (An Update)

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It went perfectly. No, I’m serious. There simply could not have been a better way that the situation went.

I spoke with my boss, the owner of the company, the next morning. I’d thought about what I was going to say (of course) but didn’t try to script it, because that doesn’t work for me. I just made sure I had the highlights in my mind.

His response: “Before I say anything else, let me say this: I am MORTIFIED that your religious beliefs are a topic of discussion in this office. That is unprofessional. It is wrong.”

See? The absolutely correct answer, right off the bat. I never once, then, or later in the hour-long discussion that ensued, EVER said what my beliefs are. Which, in retrospect, was a perfect way to bring it up. Think about this: WHAT you believe is not, and never will be, an issue. Religious beliefs are protected.

It would probably be more difficult to have this conversation if you were asking for an exception but you won’t reveal your beliefs, and therefore the support for you request. But I’d never brought up my beliefs in teh office — NEVER. I don’t wear particular jewelry. (Although I do have a special ring I frequently wear, it is usually taken for a flower curved around a blue stone, not as the Goddess image that it actually is). I don’t dress in any stereotypical fashion. There is NOTHING whatsoever to idenify me as a witch outside of my private life… and here, on the Internet of course.

My boss also never once blundered by asking me what my beliefs are. He too realized that they are irrelevant, as long as I didn’t proselytize them. He made a point of telling me that as far as he’s concerned, any public conversation about private matters was inappropriate. Sexuality, political beliefs, and religion were all one and the same: taboo topics and not for office discussion.

I was relieved. And reminded of how fortunate I am to have found this haven for a person like me.

Because, of course, this is not the case for many of us who are outed in the work place. I firmly believe that those of us who practice discretion in the workplace will fare better than those (mercifully few) who flaunt their … diversity. Ok, lets be straightforward: their DIFFERENCE. Yes, its annoying when you work in an environment that supports the mainstream and you are safer if you are quiet. Its worse when you are so quiet that everyone assumes you are like them too — so you should join in and participate in whatever they are doing. I’ve heard numerous stories of Pagans being asked to Bible study groups because ‘everyone else in your team is there’ or working for small family owned companies where they are excluded from many important (career-building) events because they don’t fit in.

Fair? no. Legally permissable? much of it, yes.

I didn’t want a fight to happen on my behalf. I took the correct steps, I informed my manager of indirect harrassment, and he and I have agreed to a course of action that includes my asking for different, or further, actions be taken. I was treated with respect.

Perfect.

Out — being

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It has finally happened — I’ve been ‘secretly’ outed at my workplace. It’s not like anyone has asked me about my beliefs, but someone finally did a Google search and found my so-called alternate life.

I found out by accident — a comment overheard, a whisper misdirected, and I can put 2 and 2 together to get the right answer: I’m being whispered about. Worse, my ability to function as a person is being criticized — not because I’m doing a bad job, but because I am a witch.

Fundamentally, witches and Christians have a wildly different view of the universe. In one, God is all-powerful and singular. In the other, there are many ways the Divine expresses itself. That, from my POV is the beginning and the end of the discussion.

The Christian’s ’10 Commandments’ are a worthy collection of rules to live by:

Text of the commandments

The following is the text of the commonly accepted (by Christian and Jewish authorities) commandments as found in the book of Exodus 20:1-17, New Revised Standard Version. Because Jewish, Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions divide the commandments in different fashions, they are presented as verses below, without itemization.

(1) Then God spoke all these words: (2) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; (3) you shall have no other gods before me. (4) You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, (6) but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. (7) You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. (8) Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work. (10) But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. (11) For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (12) Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (13) You shall not murder. (14) You shall not commit adultery. (15) You shall not steal. (16) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (17) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Exodus 20:1-17  (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments)

Certainly far easier than the rules according to Leviticus.

My own code of ethics is simpler, but stricter: Harm none. I’m not about to get into a debate about meat-eating, but living a life where I do my best, my utmost at all times to harm none is stringent.

Like the Christians, I don’t lie, cheat, steal, kill, commit adultery, or covet (because that harms ME). I honor my parents. I try to take time, regularly, to worship the Divine.

But, somehow, because I do not believe in a single, male, God I am a bad person. That hurts. It hurts that people are making jokes about ‘don’t cross the witch, she’ll turn you into a toad’ and insinuating that clients will not contract our services because there is a witch workign in thsi company. Never mind that I don’t appear anywhere on our website or in our marketing materials. Nor that I have never, not once, told any single person in this company that I have religious beliefs at all.

And yes, when people have had hard times I’ve asked them if I may pray for them. And when they said yes, I did pray. I prayed for the best outcome, for the return of health to them or their loved ones. Of course I pray: its directed energy towards a specific outcome, asking for the intervention of the Divine. No, I never did a spell — that would be harmful, even if they never found out.

So, now I wonder: who will be the first to tell my boss, the owner of the company? Who will try to harm *me* all because of a label, a difference of attitude, a disagreement over a specific point of view?

A Guiding Light Has Passed…

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Last night, peacefully, Marione Thompson-Helland left the physical plane.

Marione was the Editor of The Beltane Papers, coordinating an all-volunteer group of women as we collected articles, poetry, recipes, reviews and information celebrating women. She first volunteered for TBP after reading issues #1-#4 and has been the editor since 1996. The mother of six, grandmother to nine, Marione earned a degree in Women’s Studies. Born in California in 1938, Marione was an early participant in the Witch movement, continuing her practice after she moved to Bellingham, WA in 1992.

The women of The Beltane Papers have spent more than 20 years being spirited women, speaking our mind, and pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. It’s part of our philosophy that we don’t expect everyone to like or agree with every point of view expressed in any given issue. We have always hoped that it encourages our readers to think, and that they find something in each issue that speaks to them personally and that they are left with a comfortable feeling of fulfillment after reading it. In her time as Editor, Marione kept that assertive spirit bright.

Issue #38 was published in August, delayed by a month by the news of her diagnosis with Stage IV lung cancer. In her honor, the other volunteers picked up where Marione no longer could do the work. In her honor, people donated the money we needed to replace the shortfall of a distributor’s bankruptcy and increased printing costs.

Marione Thompson-Helland was a guiding light for me. A general request for help led to my becoming the Review Circle Coordinator almost 10 years ago. The two of us became more than colleagues and something less than old friends. We simply haven’t had time enough to be old friends. She was the Crone who oversaw my birth as a Queen, I was her staunch supporter.

An amazing, gifted, joyous woman has left this phase of existence, and the hole gapes wide in her absence.