The Fire of Summer

Can you believe Summer Solstice is in just 10 days? Have any plans? Around here, we're thinking of activism-oriented work. Normally I like to make cool drinks, soak in the sun, and generally...frolic. But this year? No, I think not.

This year, in the midst of a social justice uprising...I can only say that it's time to keep working. Collectively, much has been accomplished already. This is the work, right now - we have to be present and do our part to end systems of oppression. #BlackLivesMatter has sparked what we intend to manifest into the revolution we ALL need.

So this is what I'm doing for the Festival of Summer. I need to figure out the best way to attack a whole host of social justice issues. Here is the list of reforms I made:

• Inclusion - we need to bend our efforts toward ending systemic inequality toward ALL marginalized groups. #BlackLivesMatter, first and foremost, but lets not forget our Indigenous populations, women, our differently abled communities, the LGBTQIA community, immigrants from all over the world, and everyone else.
• Reform the police – demilitarize, give social worker tasks to social workers, fire ALL rapists and racists
• Environmental protections – put them back in place and make them MUCH stronger (Green New Deal)
• Institute sustainable energy sources
• Universal health care
• Forgive student loans
• Free college, at least state schools
• Address the housing crisis
• Living wages for ALL
  
• ABOLISH ICE
• Term limits for all legislators
• Fix gerrymandering
• Abolish the electoral college
• Vote by mail for all states
• Repeal Patriot Act
• Institute stronger criteria for eligibility for President – psychological exam, financial records, not allowed if pending lawsuits and criminal charges
• Abolish daylight savings time
• Switch to the metric system

What would you add? How are you attacking racism and all of the systems of oppression? As for me, I've been making calls, writing letters, sending texts, having tough conversations, cleaning house on social media, and donating funds.

Magically, I feel we got some good momentum started on the recent Full Moon #June5thGlobalSpiritualProtest. Now it's time to keep the fire burning. Keep doing the work, in both the mundane and magical realms.

Good News, Americans!

The United States Supreme Court has made two rulings that will hugely impact the life and well-being of millions of citizens. Subsidies for the Affordable Care Act have been upheld, which will allow millions of Americans, including yours truly, continued access to healthcare. Marriage equality is now mandatory in all 50 states, providing dignity for LGBTQ couples.

We still have work to do in this country. Some days I am ashamed to be an American. Today is not one of those days. Today I am proud of the highest court in the land. Today, I can hold my head up high and say that we got on the right side of history. I have been writing about activism a lot this year, and in those writings, I have alleged that the cultural war is over. The forces of progression, social justice and equality have won.

Today, we won.

All Americans will benefit from these laws. We need to realize that when ALL of our citizens are healthy, our collective health care costs go down. When ALL of our citizens are able to marry the person they love, we are stronger as a nation. Families become more stable and secure. Children grow up feeling loved, with a deep sense of belonging.

When we are ALL healthy and happy, we can accomplish even greater things - together.

Today, WE WON!

Light for All

Last Litha, I watched Twelve Years A Slave and got fired up about slavery. Then as now, with the light at its peak, I look into the darkness. The darkness that the human soul is capable of is staggering, just as our acts of compassion and love are sublime.

This year, yet another white man opened fire on a group of innocent people. In this case, a black church in SC. Mark Morford, a writer who I greatly admire, wrote about this tragedy. His premise was basically that guns are evil and we shouldn’t have so many of them. But I don’t think it’s so simple as that.

First of all, restricting gun ownership is not a guarantee of less violence. Look at England and seriously tell me that this premise is true. The facts do not support it. Guns are not the problem; our culture is the problem.

Our culture is sick, and I have to wonder – what archetype are we playing out here? Is America The Doomed Paradise? Or is it simply the symptoms of a cultural paradigm shift? Since its inception, the United States has been a patriarchal system dominated by white men. It took us almost a full two hundred years to give legal equality to our citizens in terms of basics like voting and fair treatment.

Let that settle in for a moment. It’s 2015, the country is 239 years old, and we are still working for full equality of all citizens in the Land of the Free. A country whose founding document states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Popular opinion is changing quickly. As the older generations fade away, the younger generations are stepping to the fore. More and more, we see Americans becoming more accepting of minorities of all kinds – women, minority races, different sexual and gender orientations and religious minorities.

In short, we are beginning to fulfill the vision of this country’s potential. The culture war has been won by fair and progressive ideas and attitudes. I believe that what we are seeing now is the desperate, frenzied efforts of the vocal minority of the old guard to stem the tide of change. These regressive, bigoted voices are intensifying their efforts to retain control over the hearts and minds of US citizens.

We have a choice – what do we want to be? As a nation, is this only a safe place for white Christians that believe in “traditional values” that aren't loving or traditional at all? Or is this actually a place for everyone, where all citizens have equality and freedom?

I think that what we need to understand is that freedom is the ability to do what YOU want to do. Unfortunately, many of the cultural battles in the news today are espousing an incorrect premise – “freedom means telling OTHERS how to live”. This is patently untrue.

Time for a history lesson! Ever heard of John Locke? He was a political philosopher whose ideas were extremely influential in the creation of this country. He was a radical for his day, and in light of our current conflicts, I say that he’s still relevant and radical today:

“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions...”

Locke, John. The Second Treatise of Civil Government. 1690.

To paraphrase his view on the role of government:

“The function of government is to remove the use of force between citizens.”

What’s it going to be, America? Is our country free for some, or is it free for all?

As for me, I will live as I always have done. I will harm none, unless it is in self-defense. I will continue to speak up for equality and freedom for all. I will vote. I will treat others as I wish to be treated – with courtesy and respect. Even the people that don’t believe that I have the right to exist or to be who I am - even they will be treated justly by me. Especially them, to be honest.

Today, on this hot, bright day of Summer Solstice, I strive to remember the lessons of my God: the Sun shines equally on all. The urgent life force of animals and plants continues to strive and struggle for existence in all conditions, no matter how challenging. We must shine. We must go on. There is beauty yet in this world. We can help it to grow, every day, with every choice we make.

A blessed Solstice to you all. Blessed be! 

Happy Litha One and All

Today the sun is at its peak. The plants are riotous with growth, and we are already enjoying luscious fresh vegetables and fruits. The animals are playing, mating, birthing, growing. The fervent, unstoppable striving for life of the God as Green Man is at its peak. The Earth herself is fecund, gravid, bringing forth new life over and over again with unimaginable abundance. I wish the blessings of the Gods upon all beings on this day of joy.

Yet as with all things, there is a shadow side to this holiday. As a species, humanity has come so far in its conception of the world. Of life and its meaning. Of our place in the scheme of things. The evolution of our interconnected global village has revealed the amazing variety among human culture. It is accepted as fact that all humans, regardless of race or gender, are human. All sentient, thinking, feeling beings, capable of the full spectrum of emotion and behavior.

But it was not always so, and some people still do not accept this fact. Today I watched a film, "Twelve Years a Slave", which chronicles the experience of a free black man who was kidnapped and enslaved in 1841. Not many minutes had passed before my partner remarked that I would be soon be yelling at the TV. He was right. Mere words cannot express the intolerable choler of rage that filled me. 

I can remember when I first learned about slavery. I didn't take it well. It is no easier for me now, some 30 years later. I didn't understand it then, and I certainly do not understand it now. Oh, on some intellectual level, I can see the outlines of the justification of this behavior. But my heart does not accept this crime against humanity, against the Earth's children, against the Divine.

For we Pagans know the truth of the matter. All beings, whether they be human, animal, plant or mineral - ALL BEINGS CONTAIN THE DIVINE ESSENCE. All beings are constructed of the same energy, and that energy IS the Divine. This is the Spirit which connects us all. Spirit IS all. 

It is important to note that this energy is the building block of the Earth herself. The reality is that this entire planet is a giant organism. Even physicists are catching on to this fact. Go read some Fred Alan Wolf and see what I mean. Environmental educators and pioneers of the field like Thomas Berry, Aldo Leopold, John Muir and Edward Abbey knew this truth. Go read them as well. Some terms are different, but the spirit is the same.

"The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects."

-Thomas Berry

If this is so, then all beings have value. All beings have a right to existence, or at least the chance to exist. All beings deserve dignity and respect. From the lowliest zygote to the mighty mountain, we are all one.

If this is so, then no being can be owned. At least, not in the Westernized conception of ownership. The Earth too cannot be owned. Does the flea own the inch of the elephant's hide on which it resides? No. Instead, we are but stewards and caretakers of a fleeting and ephemeral nature. Even our bodies are worn but for an eye blink. They too, return to the Earth of which they came.

So on this blessed day of Litha, of the Summer Solstice, take a moment to reflect. Take a moment to honor those before us who endured captivity, indentured servitude and slavery. Take a moment to honor the animals who have lost their homes to urban development, who have died in inadequate zoos or from neglectful owners or abandonment. Take a moment to honor those who have fought and died for their belief that things should be different. Take a moment to lend support to those beings who still live with cruelty, exploitation and abuse.

Take a moment to commune with our Mother Earth, who has suffered so much for our evolution, yet who continues to love and provide for us.

Take a moment to look into the shadow, that the light may shine ever more brightly within you and that the beauty which surrounds us this Litha day may become ever more precious. 

Join me, brothers and sisters. Speak up for what is true and right. Stamp out intolerance and cruelty wherever you find it; replace it with compassion and love. Let us shine the light of respect and reverence into every corner of the globe. Let us make each step we take be a prayer.

So mote it be!

Justice: A Pagan Perspective

What is justice in a faith with no central authority? We have no one Book to live by. We have no Pope, no hierarchy of clergy. If justice comes from divine command, how do we Pagans hear that command? How do we decide as a group what is just? DO we decide as a group?

Earlier, I wrote about honor. Part of honor is considering what is just in a particular situation. Before we can act honorably, we have to first understand the concept of justice, then learn how to apply it in our lives.

The problem with justice is that historically, conceptions of justice have differed widely through time and by culture. So even as a so-called cardinal virtue, it is hard to pin down. At various times, conceptions of justice have been based upon divine command, natural law, brute force, desirable consequences, and occasionally, by consensus.

The dictionary doesn't have much to say about justice, defining it as "the quality of being just, impartial, or fair". Thanks, Websters! Several more sources talk about a court system. The majority of definitions are recursive; they have the word "just" or "justice" in them.

The synonyms are more illuminating: fairness, justness, fair play, fair-mindedness, equity, evenhandedness, impartiality, objectivity, neutrality, disinterestedness, honesty, righteousness, morals, morality (source: Google).

There are a couple of common themes among all this diversity: consideration of the needs of the group and basic morals.

Here's where I think Contemporary Paganism* can shine: we are encouraged to look within and know ourselves. When we do this, and truly confront our issues, examine our biases and learn about other people, other cultures, and gain a reasonable perspective of the world's history and humanity's place in it...justice is something you feel.

Forming a personal sense of justice can thus be said to consist of:

• Self-study
• Sorting out personal baggage
• Broad knowledge of peoples and culture
• Understanding of history & the role of humanity in it

What I'm proposing, essentially, is that any mature, reasonably self-aware person with a basic education ought to be able to feel what is right and what is wrong.

Contemporary Paganism also facilitates direct experience. In my humble opinion, it's hard to harbor too many crazy beliefs, or to stomach injustice, when one has directly communed with or experienced the Divine.

I'm not a big fan of divine command as a system of morality, because that implies specific information that has been written down, interpreted, re-interpreted ad infinitum and crystallized into dogma. And let's be real: when we talk about divine command as a system of thought, we are generally referring to some form of Judeo-Christianity**.

No offense meant, truly: but some of those ideas are real stinkers. There is no way I will ever agree with a system that devalues half of the population due to gender, another chunk for their sexual orientation, followers of every other religion, and possibly others due to ethnic background.

Having said that, most religions do have in common a loving, creative deity and/or divine force. Certainly, my experience supports this viewpoint. And being in tune with that force is to value things like harmony, equality, fairness...wait a minute. We're back to synonyms for justice again.

Lastly, Contemporary Paganism is in itself a model for justice as a means to serve the needs of a group. Our population is incredibly diverse. Most of us are minorities in some way, whether it be our lifestyle, sexual orientation, gender identity or just by virtue of being followers of a non-mainstream religious path. We believe in magic. We live in harmony with the Earth. We tend to be, well, a bit colorful. As a result, our community is extremely tolerant. No matter how fringe-y, no matter how strange, we’re all part of the circle in the Pagan community.

Self-study, self-awareness, a healthy perspective on the world and other cultures, tolerance, direct experience - these are things that Contemporary Paganism can add to the conversation about justice.

But what is our common ground of morality? The Rede is common – “so long as it harms none, do as you will”. The Threefold Law or Universal Law of Attraction is another widespread idea – that which you put out returns to you, often magnified. The Asatru path puts a lot of value on honor, keeping one’s oaths and family. Druids get philosophical about morality, questioning and considering what amounts to a way of balance, much like the Middle Way of Buddhism.

Think about it. What do you consider just? What is right? What is wrong? Do you think it’s all relative? How should we go about deciding what justice means as the Pagan community?

I propose that we come together. At conferences, at workshops, at rituals, at Pagan Pride Days, on your blogs and in forums. Let’s talk about it. Over coffee, tea or green smoothies, let’s hash it out.

Recently, I read a moving book by Starhawk – The Fifth Sacred Thing. She’s created a society that is so very beautiful a vision. It's a dream of what could be...a society in which the needs of the Earth, including the land and waters, animals and plants, is taken into account along with the needs of human beings. A society in which all races, cultures and religions are honored. Just go read it.

Check in with your heart. Go to the quiet, still place within and listen. In there, we know what is right and what is wrong. Feel it.





*Buddhism, gnosticism, hermeticism and other such paths as well
**And we in this context would be philosophical academics, most likely.

UPDATE: Single Gender Gatherings

I just returned from a powerful week's class, and I have so many thoughts I want to get out!! So brace yourself, internets - I'm about to get all intense up in here for a while.

First off, in my previous post, Gender, Sexuality and Paganism, I addressed the question of single gender gatherings in the Pagan community. Should we have them? How does that impact our transgendered community members? 

During this class I attended, I got the chance to speak with a young person who does not identify with any gender and is biologically male. He expressed feelings of exclusion created by attending gatherings with perhaps only one variety of single gender gathering - the red tent for biologically female women. 

He says to him, that having single gender gatherings enforces gender roles that do not fit him. He feels that we ought to focus on a post-gender model of humanity. In my younger years, I would have agreed whole-heartedly. Back then, I didn't see myself as a feminist. I naively believed that feminism was a dead issue that creates division. Why don't we move past that and just try to be good human beings?

Maturity has shown me that as a culture, the USA is not there yet. We still have gender inequality. We still have segments of the population that are misogynistic. Feminism still has a role to play in healing our culture. We also now are seeing issues of violence and discrimination against our trans community. Perhaps we need some sort of movement to address that. I'm not the person to do it, but I did sense a real need for one. I want to see our gender fluid, transgendered, transsexual, asexual and other identifications of people be honored and given equality with everyone else.

My personal opinion is that we've made a lot of progress in the social justice arena. That's fabulous, and I wholeheartedly support current and future efforts to continue our work. But what that means for us right now is that we are in the process of re-defining our gender roles. 

As we Pagans know, what is present in the whole (nation) is also present in each part (Pagan community). What does it mean to be a man, woman, asexual, or transgendered person in this day and age? What does it mean for our society as a whole? What does it mean for our Pagan community? What should we do about it?

It seems to me that part of what's behind these questions is the impact of Paganism upon our work to re-define gender roles. In following the Pagan path, we are reaching back to ancient wisdom and ancestral ways of being, even if we do not have intact lineages to work with. And surely, men and women did have specific and different roles to play in life. A few cultures had customs surrounding people of other gender identifications/sexualities, but not many that I know about.

I don't think we ought to get too hidebound about ancestral gender roles. I certainly don't have a wish to go back to being barefoot and pregnant, for example! As I've been writing, we have the rare opportunity to learn from the past and to create something new and better. Why not consciously build in support for our community members who do not identify as male or female?

This will mean that we need leadership. Someone has to lead the charge. Someone has to create a space. But what will we call it? If we have men's circles and women's circles (Moon Lodges, Red Tents, etc)...what is the third category called? 

The young man I spoke with suggested a solution that he has seen at least once: having a Sun Tent (biologically male), Moon Tent (biologically female), and a Star Tent (everyone else).

I like it. It gives us a way to refer to the various groups without treading on any toes. 

What do you think? I'd really enjoy hearing some viewpoints on this issue. Any LGBT-savvy people with an insight?