Pagans are Givers

a A number of people have very kindly donated to our Earthwise Campaign for Heifer International (1) and I am reminded, yet again, that Pagans are Givers.

Not enough attention is paid to the fact that Pagans give - quietly, kindly, and consistently - many thousands of dollars and a great deal of their personal time and effort to mainstream and earthwise causes. I hear about the work they do all the time. I'm going to highlight that work here, whenever I can.

Here are two examples to brighten the holiday season:

This came in from a Pagan woman in San Jose:

Hi Sia! Happy Holidays...I wanted you to know that this (campaign) is awesome! In fact, all of the employees at my company gave up our X-Mas gifts from the company to give the money to this organization, and we bought 2 goats, 1 water buffalo and 1 Heifer.

(This same gal also made a donation to our campaign. Thanks, Tina!)

This note arrived from another Pagan gal who is giving to more than one charity this year:

(My partner) and I are doing some Heifer gifts this year for the first time... they have *finally* created alternative gift cards to their old Noah's Ark theme.....My main avenue for helping folks is sponsoring children through Childreach. I am currently sponsoring a girl in Uganda and one in Sri Lanka. Childreach works not only with the children and their families but with whole villages upgrading sanitary infrastruction, building schools, etc. If one can't make a monthly commitment there are always campaigns like disaster relief for AIDS prevention to which a one-time donation can be made.

Thanks for letting me know about your campaign.

Hugs, R.F.

Thanks, folks. Those are the Pagan stories we need to hear.

Blessed Solstice & Happy Holidays,

Sia

Notes on Heifer International & Our Earthwise Campaign:

On behalf of Earthwise people everywhere, Full Circle is raising money to buy seeds, goats, chickens, cows, bees and other farm animals to give to needy families via Heifer International. Can you spare $5.00? If so, you can help heal hunger and create peace this season.

Heifer International will use our donations to provide livestock and training to families around the world helping them feed themselves and earn money by selling milk, eggs, and wool. In return, these families promise that they will give the offspring from their animals to other families in their community. It's a path out of hunger and poverty, and it begins with us.

Go to our campaign page at Heifer Intl: https://secure.ga6.org/08/endworldhunger

(The site is run by this non-profit and it is secure) .

The direct website for Heifer is here: http://www.heifer.org/

If you want to get more involved, your group can start their own campaign:
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2253305/

and check out their nifty catalog:
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/

100% of all monies raised goes directly to Heifer International.

Illustration: This is a small copy of piece by Yvonne Gilbert, a well known painter and illustrator of children's books including Per and the Dala Horse by Rebecca Hickox, A Christmas Star Called Hannah by Vivian French, Tutankhamun: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh by David Murdoch and The Dictionary of Fairies and Iron Wolf, both by Richard Adams. Ms. Gilbert lives and works in England. This image comes from one of her annual holiday cards. More of her wonderful images can be seen at her homepage.

Mother Wit for Yule - Having fun and doing good.

I just received a lovely note from a circle in California. They read an old article titled Mother Wit for Yule and changed their traditions as a result. They say they now enjoy the holiday more:

"Thank you so much for the article. After reading it last year, we discussed these ideas, and changed the way we do things here for Solstice in our women's circle.....we simplified our gift giving, focused on our priorities (friends, family and loved ones) and considered Mamma Gaia, those in need and our role as priestesses. As a result, our preperations for the holidays were a lot less stressful and a lot more fun, and much, much more meaningful. We also took a vote, and as Pagan group we bought a cow (!) this year via Heifer International and donated it to a needy family in honor of the Goddess. (1) We also cleaned out our closets and donated clothes and blankets to a women's shelter and brought along some new toys for the children there.....We wish you a Merry Yule & Happy Holidays."

Well.

That made my day.

They in turn, have inspired us to take part in the fundraising campaign for Heifer International. Can you help? $5.00 would make a huge difference to a needy family.

Earthwise Campaign Page for Heifer International

(The donation page is run by this well known non-profit and it is secure. 100% of all funds raised goes to H.I. You can donate at our page at their website, or go directly to their main site.)

Heifer International will use our donations to provide livestock and training to families around the world helping them feed themselves and earn money by selling milk, eggs, and wool. In return, these families promise that they will give the offspring from their animals to other families in their community. It's a path out of hunger and poverty, and it begins with us.

Blessed Solstice to you all & Happy Holidays,

Sia & the folks at Full Circle


(1) They choose one of my favorite charities. My partner and I just donated a goat.

Note: I would gladly give this women's group public credit for this, but they wish to remain annonymous.

Illustration: This is a small copy of piece by Yvonne Gilbert, a well known painter and illustrator of children's books including Per and the Dala Horse by Rebecca Hickox, A Christmas Star Called Hannah by Vivian French, Tutankhamun: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh by David Murdoch and The Dictionary of Fairies and Iron Wolf, both by Richard Adams. Ms. Gilbert lives and works in England. This image comes from one of her annual holiday cards. More of her images can be seen at her homepage.

Seasonal Silliness: Can We Find Harmony in Difference?

Tis the season to be silly....

They are fighting over Christmas Trees at the Seattle airport. A Rabbi saw their 14 decorated trees and asked for a Hanukkah menorah to be added to the display. In the spirit of peace and goodwill, airport officials said "Nope" and took down all the trees in the middle of the night. The Rabbi, horrified, said that this was not what he wanted. People complained, and now the trees are back up. A menorah may be added next year. Somewhere during the Christmas Wars, the dominant culture forgot that these trees are actually Pagan symbols.

This quote at Tolerance.org sums up the way I feel about this issue.

"Tolerance is respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance is harmony in difference." (UNESCO)

"We view tolerance as a way of thinking and feeling — but most importantly, of acting — that gives us peace in our individuality, respect for those unlike us, the wisdom to discern humane values and the courage to act upon them."

I love the idea of “harmony in difference”. For those of us who are Sci-Fi geeks, it's very Star Trek. I also love the concept of "peace in our individuality" and the note about courage and wisdom is very much like the work we do in the Spiral Steps Support Groups.

This is why I wrote The Christians and the Pagans. It is also why Spiral Steps is open to all who respect earthwise ethics. We could have made Spiral Steps a Pagan only group (1) but recovery is so much wider and deeper than that. If I had made our groups into a Pagan ghetto then I would be cutting us all off from the lessons we could learn from people with a different life experience or worldview. So I made it about ethics and values, instead, which is something that people on different paths can share. I, for one, have a lot to learn, and I need as much life wisdom and as many examples of right action as I can find.

So, since I believe in holding the mirror up to my own soul, I have to ask this question: What are my own challenges with tolerance these days? Well, for example, I have my arguments with Islam. The fundamentalist version of this belief system is as dysfunctional and toxic as the fundamentalist (read authoritarian) versions of Christianity, Judism, and Paganism. (Plus that "abhore the infidel" thing has a frighteningly familiar ring to it). And yet they do attempt to focus on charity and justice. So, I've ordered some books about the history of this religion, and I'm looking at the ways in which women in these regions stand up for their rights, both within this religion and outside of it. My question is this: What are the values that we share? and How can we live in peace with our differences?

I'm also looking into pre-Islamic culture. There is some fasinating stuff there. The crescent and the star symbols seem to have originally belonged to a goddess very much like Diana. (Well, well.). There was a fasinating period of semi-tolerance, high culture, and scientific exploration in Spain when it was controlled by Islamic rulers in the middle ages. Christians, Jews and other religions all had rights. Women did OK, many owned businesses, and in some cases women and Jews fared better then they did when the Christians took over the region. It's interesting reading thus far.

Sia

Regarding art: Is she a saint, a goddess, a priestess or something else entirely? You decide.