Proving Again That I’m a Huge Geek

The other day, Ellie and I were chatting, and she said something about how “You prayed to Cupid and He gave me to you.” Of course, the silly pagan in me thought of the fact that we met via the site OKCupid, and the commonly-known Greek Eros, the god of love, who was conflated with the Roman Cupid.

I realize that not all of our lives are influenced by the gods, but I have come to realize it’s important to give Them honor when you think They have given you a blessing, just in case.

Waste Not, Want Not

The other day, Melia at 4 of Wands wrote an interesting post to spread the word about a new “fundraiser” being done by Lori Drake, whose blog is Warriors and Kin at the Pagan Newswire Collective. Here’s an excerpt from the Facebook page Lori created:

“This is a charity/fundraiser of sorts that doesn’t require anyone to show up in person, give money they don’t have, donate labor their bodies can’t handle or even represent one locality or another. All this campaign takes is a few extra moments of each person’s time, doing something they may already do. It only costs a stamp or two and an envelope, and I (Lori Dake) pretty much do the rest. And by us sending over these coupons, it helps military families on a very tight budget, and we do so without a Bible or any strings attached. All they know is the batch came from a bunch of Pagan folks. That’s all. I’m not including Scripture, or spells, or incense (though they do have a bit of an embedded dragon’s blood scent to them haha). If they wish to thank us, and of course that would be nice, there’s always a return address included and a sticky note thanking them for their service and sacrifices.

If you’d like to help out, please mail your coupons to:

Lori Dake – PNC Military
PO Box 306
Chicago, IL 60690-0306
United States

Send only manufacturer coupons (not in-store promotions), and no older than two months expired. Overseas commissaries accept them up to six months expired, but they still need time to get there and dispersed. “

Sending coupons to the troops is something that has gone around on the Girl Scout lists before and I keep forgetting about it. Well, no more. If I am going to be a member of the Board at Ethosian, and am truly going to live by the Girl Scout law to “use resources wisely,” then I am going to make this simple change in my life and hope some (if not all) of you will to. I like that Lori is doing this as a pagan fundraiser–there are too many out there that (rightfully) think pagans make hippies look right-wing, or are too caught up in the Otherworlds to pay attention to mundane life, or that we’re eating babies–this is a simple way to show that pagans and people of ‘alternative’ faiths are good people who want to do good for others.

You don’t have to be pagan to participate! You just can’t mind being lumped in with us

Truth in all Truths

A friend posted a link to this article on her Facebook, and I found it to be very compelling, especially this quote towards the end of the article:

Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks.

via Desmond Tutu: God Is Not a Christian.

I think it’s pretty clear that the Abrahamic faiths are worshiping the One as explained by Neo-Platonism, with a heavy dose of the Sky-Fathers from indigenous European religions (Zeus, Odin, Jupiter, etc) mixed in for visualization. This is one reason that I, unlike many within the greater “pagan community” (a term I use VERY loosely), get these faiths, to some degree at least, and can understand where adherents find validity in their god.

I find that, as I study religion more, I come to see more and more that the One is understood (read: worshiped, recognized, sought-after) in some way by all religions. However, it’s often misunderstood as something we can actually connect with. I will not speak of religions I am not very familiar with, but look at Christianity–Christ is the deity that one is actually connecting with (unless you’re a Catholic, then there’s a multitude of “demi-gods” in the form of Saints to connect with). Humans, although we have a spark of the divine, cannot commune directly with something that is everything and nothing, which is why I think polytheists, no matter how simplistic the pantheon may be, tend to have fewer issues with people following different faiths than those taught that the only truth is the ‘TRUTH” of the religion they happened to be born into.

God isn’t a Christian, just as he is not Muslim, Hellenic, Buddhist, Taoist or any other “ism” out there. He (for lack of a better pronoun) just is. It is us that puts a face (or faces) on him.

Season’s Greetings???

I mostly enjoy the Holiday season. I despise the consumerism that surrounds it, although I do love giving people gifts (I just wish I wasn’t so damn picky and indecisive when shopping). I also really hate the obsessive anger that many Christians display for the month and a half that encompasses the holiday season. I can’t count the number of people that have posted something to the effect of “Don’t forget the Reason for the Season” or “Let’s put the ‘Christ’ back in Christmas.” Or those that go one step further and bitch about a sales person wishing them a “Happy Holiday” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

As a non-Christian, it hurts. A lot. This is all being done by people who are intelligent, loving people that I consider friends and family, yet they have no regard for the fact that there are at least 4 other holidays in the month of December–of course a sales person isn’t going to wish you a “Merry Christmas”–they have no fucking clue which holiday you celebrate, or even if you DO celebrate one. When I was in retail and food service, we were told to not specify a holiday unless the customer did. Hell, it wasn’t that long ago (10 years maybe?) that the so-called “War of Christmas” didn’t actually exist, and people didn’t give a shit about the seasonal wishes you gave them. I wish my Christian family and friends a “Merry Christmas;” I wish most of them had the same respect to wish me a “Happy Holiday” unless they know the specific one I will be celebrating this year (and how many of you ever asked?)

And to those of you that ARE looking to “put Christ back into Christmas” (if you’re even still reading), read this article about the various celebrations held at this time BEFORE Christ was even born. Or think about all the traditions that are pagan in origin. And finally, before you remind me that this country was formed as a Christian nation, don’t forget that the Pilgrims and Puritans who came here for religious freedom didn’t celebrate Christmas because it was considered too pagan.

Blog Neglection

Once again it’s been almost a month since my last post–apparently the start of the semester has taken over my life (which is surprising since I really have almost no work in either of my classes, and my two internships have been rather dead until just recently). I have been kind of putting a lot of time into my spiritual blog as well as the Hellenistai Media Project, which is a media review blog for all types of media (books, plays, movies, etc) that might be of interest to Hellenic Polytheists.

Other than that, it’s basically just been that I’m lazy…and I’m going to be going quiet again since Ellie’s brother is getting married this weekend and we’re leaving tomorrow for the weekend. Speaking of weddings, Ellie and I finally picked a date (and a back-up on the slightly off chance that our 2012 date will already be claimed when we finally pick a venue). If you want to read about the wedding planning and don’t already follow it, read my wedding blog!!