Holiday Food Give Away to Cats In Need

Update on Black Cat Adoption Special:

I am happy to report that C.A.T. found homes for 11 black or mostly black cats (both adults and kittens) during the Black Cat Adoption Special last weekend. I happen to know that some of the cats went to very good Pagan homes (Don't ask - let's just say I have my sources). My thanks to those of you who read this blog or saw my notice at The Witches Voice and gave these beasties a home for the holidays.

Further Notes:

12/7 through 16 CAT will be offering $25 off the single adoption fee of any cat 1 year or older.

They will continue to offer the Better with a Buddy Program ($50 off the second adoption fee)

Extended Hours: CAT will be open later for even more adopting. M-Sat 10-7 and Sun 10-6 through the month of December. Lots of extra time for people to stop by after work - so tell all of your friends.

www.catadoptionteam.org

Holiday Pet Food Give Away:

Speaking of the holidays, the folks at CAT had a very good time yesterday handing out food to other shelters in the area. (click on the link for pictures).

So No Shelter or Rescue Animal Goes Hungry This Season

They came with cars, pickups, and large delivery trucks on Thursday, November 29 - sixteen shelters and animal rescue organizations from across the Portland metro area descended on CAT in Sherwood. They were picking up pet food donated by Castor & Pollux and distributed by CAT. Over 17 pallets of dog, cat, and kitten food were parceled out. Many organizations, like The Pixie Project—in NE Portland, took as many bags as a two-door coup would hold. Others benefited from the use of larger trucks like House of Dreams, which sent a large delivery truck.

Throughout its nine year history, CAT has made it a priority to build positive coalitions with animal shelters and rescues across the state. Organizations benefit through sharing best practices, information, and resources - all with the goal of saving more lives.

Today, CAT was able to share the bounty of a large pet food donation from Castor & Pollux with these organizations. Approximately 60,000 pounds of high quality organic pet food was given to CAT in November. CAT will keep about 8,000 pounds to feed the cats and kittens in its care through the coming year.

CAT wishes to thank Castor & Pollux for its generous donation.

Tis the season of giving, after all, and we Pagans are givers.
Why not see what an animal shelter or homeless shelter in your town might need? A few blankets or some food can really help.

If you live in the Portland Metro Area, check out the Cat Adoption Team and their 8 different venues where good cats are waiting to find a home for the holidays.

Regards to all here,

Sia V.

Art: Cat Wall Plaques by David Lawrence in both cotswall stone and terricota are available at White Winds

Related Articles:

Those Lucky Black Cats

Someone You Should Know: The Urban Monk

Meet The Urban Monk. I recommend his posts on the power of gratitude and on the Insult of False Kindness

Excerpt from False Kindness: Those were the words of someone, perhaps with kind intentions, but who had not been in her shoes; in fact, could not put himself in her shoes....Who can tolerate kindness like this? The people you help - they hold their tongue, they swallow their anger – for they need whatever you are offering. If they didn’t they might have shouted at you - who are you to come here with your smug advice, and your holier-than-thou attitude? .....his intentions were kind. But he lacked that understanding, he hadn’t climbed the mountain within.....Therein lies the insult. She becomes invisible – only his image of her, of what she should be, of what he should be like – only that mattered.

I'm not a Buddhist myself, although my husband is. I do find that Buddhist writings inform my Pagan practice to a very useful extent. Take what you need and leave the rest.

I hope to see more Pagan writers addressing issues such as forgiveness, compassion and gratitude as elements of Pagan practice. We practice these things every day - at least the Pagans I know do, and I hope that the ones you know do, too - but we do not teach enough about these issues in Circle or in the basic classes we offer to newcomers. Nor do we find much about this in Pagan books, even in the ones on ethics.

Sia

Bad Day - Stephen Colbert and the Pagans

It's been a bad day, news wise. How am I supposed to get through the holidays, the rest of the Bush administration, not to mention the war news and the next election, without Stephen Colbert?

Someone asked me the other day why I like him so much. Here's a good description of the man:

... an aversion to tyranny; advocacy of an unbridled free press; wry, homespun humor; humility, or at least the appearance of it, in dealing with others; idealism as well as realism in foreign policy; willingness to compromise; and tolerance of contrary views, particularly in religion. Such traits enhance social capital and should "distinguish America...in the messy struggles that confront a new century." (1)

Oh, and he's Pagan friendly:

"When Colbert was a student in Chicago, he studied improvisation with the legendary Del Close. Close was a personality so unpredictable that he has been called “the Ted Kaczynski of modern comedy”; before he died, in 1999, he bequeathed his skull to the Goodman Theatre, in Chicago. His hope was that he could play Yorick into eternity. As the artistic director of the ImprovOlympic, he had a legacy at least as memorable. “One of the great things about Del was that he was a pagan,” Colbert said. “When he was teaching, he would take out this pentagram necklace that he wore and flash it at you,” he continued. “I’ve been to my share of new-moon celebrations." - New Yorker article on Stephen Colbert

(sigh) I want my Daily Show. I want my Colbert Report. Oh, and I'd like my civil rights, back, as well.

Set some rules.
Don't worry if the rule makes sense,
the important thing is that it's a rule.
Arbitrary rules teach kids discipline,
if every rule made sense
they wouldn't be learning respect for authority,
they'd be learning logic.
- Stephen Colbert (from I Am America And So Can You)

Come on, folks! Pay the writers fairly for their work, and let's all get back to making fun of things, lest our eyes fill with so many tears that we can't see our way clear to make change.

Yours,

Sia

(1) Walter Issacson writing about Ben Franklin.

Links:

Interview with Stephen Colbert

The Colbert Report

Related Articles:

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: Honorary Pagans

The Daily Show Writers Explain the Strike To Us

Black Cat Adoption Special

Black Friday can be about a lot more then rude crowds and shopping. I support a nonprofit No Kill Cat Shelter in our area, and they are hosting a Black Cat Adoption Special. If you want two cats, they are also offering a discount under their Better With a Buddy Program (1) . If you live in Portland and the six surrounding areas, and are looking for a cat, here is one good option:

Black ‘CAT’ Friday Adoption Special

Celebrate the Beginning of the Holiday Season with a New Kitty Companion — After a hectic morning shopping for all those Black Friday deals, stop by the Cat Adoption Team for some soothing kitty companionship. In honor of “Black Friday”, the Cat Adoption Team is offering a very special adoption discount on all our black or mostly black cats.

WHAT: $25 off adoptions of black or mostly black cats/kittens
Approximately 100 cats or kittens of all shapes and sizes are black or mostly black and looking for a home for the holidays.
WHEN: Black Friday, November 23, through Sunday, November 25
WHERE: Cat Adoption Team
14175 SW Galbreath Dr
Sherwood, OR

And at the 9 adoption outreach locations across the metropolitan area (www.catadoptionteam.org for locations)

Click here to see a list of cats:
(Kittens are not listed individually, but they have over 50 - 200 available at any given time)

Outreach Centers:

Clackamas: Clackamas PetSmart

Beaverton: Nature’s Pet

Beaverton - Washington Square: Washington Square PetSmart

Hillsboro: Hillsboro PetSmart

Portland: Pet Loft on Macadam Ave

Tigard: Tigard PetSmart

Tualatin: Tualatin Petco

Tualatin: Tualatin PetSmart

Wilsonville: Wilsonville PetSmart

Hours vary store by store.

ALSO: Put a gift under the CAT Giving Tree
Find that purr-fect gift for the cat lover in your life in our lobby store
Buy a CAT 2008 Faces of Love Calendar for only $10 – make a great gift

Get information on the upcoming Santa Paws Pet Photos in December

The Cat Adoption Team (CAT) is the Pacific Northwest’s largest non-profit, no-kill cat shelter with its own full service veterinary hospital on-site. CAT’s mission is to work with the community to save the lives of homeless, sick and injured cats and kittens by offering shelter, adoption, foster, hospice, spay/neuter and veterinary services to end needless feline euthanasia. A leader in the shelter community with its extensive shelter medicine, adoption and foster care programs, CAT cares for 400 to 600 cats and kittens on a daily basis with the help of a dedicated team of staff and volunteers at CAT’s main shelter in Sherwood, foster homes and various outreach locations throughout the Portland Metro area. CAT not only partners with the community but with local county shelters, rescue groups and veterinary offices to take in cats that might otherwise be running out of options due to medical problems or space constraints. CAT saves over 3, 000 lives per year and relies heavily on the support of the public and generous volunteers. Thank you for visiting our site and helping us save lives!

Website: http://www.catadoptionteam.org/

Telephone: (503) 925-8903

(1) Bring home a couple of friends and enjoy a $50 discount on any pair adoption for cats and kittens. Adoption discounts qualify at the shelter in Sherwood, pre-adoptions out of foster care, any of CAT’s adoption outreach locations. Double your fun for half the price.

Pagan Shopping:

Black Cat & Pumpkin Catnip Blanket

Related Articles:

Those Lucky Black Cats

Italy's Black Cat Day Aims To Halt The Killings

Links:

Wise Bread: Living Large On A Small Budget

Help Others on Black Friday through Heifer International

Hate Crimes Towards the Other

Today, the Wild Hunt Blog talks about Hate Crimes Towards the "Other", and Rowan Fairgrove reminds us that today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a day to remember the dead, and to make sure that such crimes find no place in our society.

Rowan writes:

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Today is the 9th annual DoR.

I have had many friends who have transitioned over the years.

My first experience was with a wonderful transwoman I met at the West Coast Lesbian Conference in 1973. I got a taste of the challenges she faced when she was trashed from the stage by author Robin Morgan. We were staying at the same place and were, as far as I could tell, the only people there with any Goddess consciousiness. We became lifelong friends.

I am entirely committed to the idea that people should have control of their identities and the right to adjust their body to match."

Rowan

Thank you, both.

I would also like to take this moment to congratulate Professor Dumbledore for coming out of the closet this year.

Not everyone was happy to hear that, especially here in the U.S., and J.K. Rowling got quite a scare, when a religious fanatic accosted her at a signing.

Edward Rothstein at The New York Times makes this important point:

"There is really a puckish impulse at work in Ms. Rowling’s declaration, a provocation evident in the books themselves. She sets the epic in a British school long associated with landed privilege and wealth. But throughout she undercuts the claims of that old world. Those who believe in the importance of ancestry and inherited powers turn out to be easily corruptible and morally blind — tools for Voldemort.

Her heroes are the hybrids, the misfits, those of mixed blood, all bearing scars of loss and love: the half-giant Hagrid, the mudblood Hermione (whose parents were not wizards), the poverty-stricken Ron, the orphaned Harry. Perhaps speaking of Dumbledore as gay was just a matter of creating another diverse rebel against orthodoxy.

This is the formula for much popular fiction, but Ms. Rowling refuses to be content with simply rejecting the old order and championing a morally vague multiculturalism. The pure-bloods here are blinded by their pride, but Harry and his friends see something more profound, a threat that goes beyond self-interest and identity. This is why Dumbledore’s supposed gayness is ultimately as unimportant as Ron’s shabby clothes. These wounded outsiders recognize the nature of evil, and finally that is what matters."

----------

We love you, Albus. And you, too, J.K. Hang in there.

Sia

Related Articles:

San Diego Mayor Supports Gay Marriage

Inclusion & Acceptance

Differently Oppressed Folks Need Protection, Too

Someone You Should Know: Midori Snyder

Meet the author of The Innamorati:

"(The book) was written as a passionate exercise: I wanted to create a novel full of food, sex, magic, and the brilliance of the Commedia dell'arte in 16th century Italy. I wasn't sure when I left for Milan in 1994 what exactly I was writing -- but a year of living there, traveling throughout the north (especially Venice during Carnevale), then down the coast to Rome (with stops to small and magical towns along the way that all had mazes of one kind or another, layers of ancient Etruscan civility, Roman grandeur, and Italian folk cultures) left me with enough visual nutrition, stories, and experiences to last a lifetime.

And food, food, food. After I had been living Italy a while, I read a murder mystery set in the same time period and location as my own novel -- yet it became quickly clear to me that the author had never visited the location (placing a Cathedral in a town I knew didn't have one) -- but most grievous of all, 100 pages into the book and none of the characters had stopped to eat. When I mentioned this to an Italian friend she looked horrified. "Not even pasta?" she exclaimed and shook her head."

Her blog is In the Labrynth

Enjoy,

Sia

Over the hill, into Faerie

Don't you just love it when good writing transports you into another world?

Excerpt:

It rained and the leaves blew and the wind tossed the branches and it was, well, it was wonderful weather for a witch. It's the kind of wind and rain that comes when the weather's changing, when the cold front of winter is rushing in to push the warm front of Samhein off to sea, the liminal space at Hecate's crossroads, the point when things bubble and change and are transmorphed in Cerridwen's cauldron....The forest was so full of such amazing, incandescent, burning, living color, and the air and the sky were so grey and the river was so covered in that mist that happens when the water from the sky is making love to the water in the river....just-like-that, you realize: "One extra step, and I'm over the hill into Faerie."

Speaking of faerie worlds, our friend Pixie has been very busy of late - check it out.

Sia

Related articles:

Hern Song

Fairyworld Photos

Of Pixies and Burning Man

Photos from Faerieworlds in Oregon by Pixi of Pixi Vision Productions. Used here with permission.

The Daily Show Writers Explain The Strike To Us

From the Raven Series - Copyright held by The Ink Witch

Issues surrounding the Hollywood writers strike are many, varied and complex. Thank goodness we have the Daily Show folks to explain it all.

Speaking of writers and writing, you might also wish to read Anne Hill's post titled Women Publishing.

Update 11/6:

The Daily Show Archive - How It's Changing The Way We Watch TV
Excerpt from Salon.com article:

"A five-year-old episode of The Daily Show is pure gold...a fact made plain by the launch of the show's new Web site last month. Before, seekers of already-aired TDS material had to make do with the limited clips available on the cluttered Comedy Central home page, or try their luck among user posts on YouTube. At the new site, they can search the past nine years of episodes in their entirety—more than 13,000 clips, with tools that allow you to sort by air date, content, number of page views, or viewer rating. It's a library of the show, organized with an archivist's attention to detail and a fan's affection for signature moments.

...Playing around on the Daily Show site, I saw for the first time how the Web might really change TV—not by streaming a promotional teaser here and there or allowing users to post random screen grabs on YouTube, but by providing searchable online databases of years' worth of content that are updated to include current episodes. When The Daily Show does come back... I may well start watching even new episodes this way: at my desk in the morning, instead of on the couch at 11 o'clock at night. Multiply that defection by the size of the show's fan base and the subsequent migration of advertising dollars from screen to Web, and the writers' demand for a piece of the online action starts to make plenty of sense."

Jon Stewart's Greatest Gay Moments

Enjoy,

Sia

Art: A print I purchased some years ago at PantheaCon from the lovely Ink Witch

Rescuing Birds in the California Oil Spill

58, 000 thousand gallons

....of bunker fuel, no less! *

From Access News:

The University of California Davis is still leading the charge Monday in continued wildlife rescue efforts following the 60,000 gallon fuel oil spill in San Francisco Bay last week.

Three veterinarians and a veterinary technician arrived at Fort Mason Wednesday to organize the rescue effort and begin treating injured birds. By that afternoon there were 21 seabirds being treated, all of them surf scoters, according to UC Davis veterinarian Michael Ziccardi, director of the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network.

The Cordelia center is a 12,000-square-foot, $2.7 million facility capable of caring for up to 1,000 sick birds. It is the major Northern California rescue center in the statewide Oiled Wildlife Care Network, which comprises nine rescue facilities and 25 organizations prepared to care for oiled wildlife on short notice.

At each California rescue center, UC Davis wildlife veterinarians work in partnership with local, trained wildlife rehabilitators. At the Cordelia center, those rehabilitators are staff members of the International Bird Rescue Research Center.

CNN notes that the oil spill could effect wildlife and fishing for many years to come. The link also has pictures and video links.

Fisherman and the general public are also effected. The CBS5 Site reports that

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom also proclaimed a state of local emergency Tuesday as a result of the worst Bay Area spill in nearly two decades, citing the possible conditions of "extreme peril" to local residents that have arisen.

Fishermen concerned about contamination from the spill had sought a halt to Bay fishing activity. The governor's action delays Thursday's scheduled start of the highly anticipated commercial season for Dungeness crab and interrupts the catch of sturgeon, halibut and other species by sportfishermen.

...(Governor Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that) "The oil spill was the result of "unbelievable human failure," he said. "Then on top of it, it takes that long to react to the oil spill so by the time the next day comes around, the oil is all over the bay."

* Bunker Fuel: Environmentalists have called for a ban on the type of oil that spilled into the bay:

Sticky, packed with pollutants and slow to break down, the type of oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay by a cargo ship is an ecological nightmare loose on the waves, say environmentalists.

The spill, which has prompted a massive cleanup and federal investigation, inspired the group Friends of the Earth to ask Congress to ban the use of so-called bunker fuel.

"Bunker fuel is the dirtiest fuel on the planet," said Teri Shore, campaign director for the marine program at Friends of the Earth, which has started a petition drive seeking a ban.

Update 11/15 - People are helping in the most unusual ways. Read Hecate's post titled Locks of the Bay

Links:

International Bird Rescue Center

Save the Bay

Marine Mammal Center

Wildlife Rescue Effort - Palo Alto

Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley

California Raptor Center at UC Davis

Gaia's Guardians

To report oil sightings call (415) 398-9617
To report oiled wildlife call (415) 701-2311
To submit a claim for oiled property call 888-850-8486

Further Information:

Cleaning Wildlife Improves After '71 Spill

Video: Caring for Birds

Let's Praise Selfless Bird Volunteers

Governor Halts Fishing, Blasts Oil Response

Here's How You Can Help
- from Gary Bogue, Contra Costa Times:

Here’s how you can do it:

Organizations and caring people who do this work can ALWAYS use donations of funds and materials or ideas to help them do their jobs.

** International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia:
This is a nonprofit organization that is cleaning oil off the birds caught in the San Francisco Bay oil spill, even as we speak. Donations help them cover many expenses and keep their facility staffed with volunteers. Find out how you can help by going to the Web site at http://www.ibrrc.org

If you don’t have a computer, just send a tax-deductible check or money order to: IBRRC, 4369 Cordelia Road, Fairfield, CA 94534. Questions? Call: 707-207-0380 ext. 109.

------------------

Have you ever seen the San Francisco Bay? It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Or, at least, it was.

It's been my experience both as a wildlife rahabilitor and as someone who follows this sort of news, that 50% of the birds treated will still die. Blessings on those out there who are saying as many creatures as they can. This is backbreaking, heart wrenching work.

Wildfires, earthquakes and now this. Our thoughts and best wishes are with our friends in California.

Sia

Will We Do What It Takes To Address Climate Change?

A recent BBC pole conducted in 21 countries found that people by and large are more willing than their governments to do what it takes to address climate change.

According to the BBC, 83% of respondents throughout the world agreed that individuals would definitely or probably have to make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of climate-changing gases they produce. Some 70% said they were ready to make personal sacrifices.

You can read the results of their pole here, and participate in our own, small poll in the top right hand corner of this blog.

The United Nations Global Environment Outlook Report makes it very clear what is at stake.

With its Geo-4 report, the United Nations tells us that most aspects of the Earth's natural environment are in decline; and that the decline will affect us, the planet's human inhabitants, in some pretty important ways.....the report covers the whole range of environmental issues, and the links between them... In these climate-obsessed times, it is often forgotten that issues like forestry, fresh water supplies, agriculture, biodiversity, and the spread of desert land all connect to each other and to climate change.

Are you ready to take action? Here are 10 Simple Things You Can Do.

Want to ge more involved? Then visit the Climate At Crisis site, and see what you can do personally, locally, nationally and internationally to promote change.

It's in your hands.

Sia

Links:

Billions Face Climate Change Risk

Gaia's Guardians

Art: Herb Goddess by Sharon Grove at Fantasy & Goddess Arts. Go here to order prints.

Five Mountain Days

The fall fog is here at last. It comes on little cat feet, straight up from the river, purring and rubbing up against our trees, till it stops a mile or two below us, where it curls up and takes a nap. Most mornings, I can look out over our back deck, to see a lake of soft white fog covering the river valley below us. The sun is shines on our mountain and on the mountains beyond the valley and between us is the fog. Looking Northeast, I can see all the way to Washington state and there sits Mt. Adams with it's cap of snow, stately and peaceful.

These are what we call five mountain days, those crystal clear days we get in spring and fall when facing directly east, you can see the mountains Jefferson, Hood, Adams, Rainier and St Helen's in the distance, forming a silver and green chain along the cascade range. I see them on my drive to work most days. I drive through farmlands and past past berry and apple orchards and the odd alpaca ranch, with these shimmering mountains leading the way. I still can't believe I get to live here.

The air is clear and a bit moist, a perfect time for a safe burn, so many of our neighbors make bonfires using the brush and wood they have cleared from their land in the past year. The scent of clean wood fires on a clear, breezy day is heady stuff.

My inner clock is shifting as dark comes earlier each day. One morning I woke up at dawn, and watched a sunrise turn the clouds pink from our deck while an owl hooted it way home. Last night, I woke up at 3 am and went out to watch the winter stars. It's clear enough up here to see the Milky Way. Orion's belt was low in the sky and the Seven Sisters sparkled brightly just above our roof.

The geese are traveling, traveling, traveling, singing as they go.

Proposition 49 passed, which means that this beautiful place will last a while longer.

Friends are coming soon and will stay for a visit.

We have a new kitten, a little rescue, who is learning to trust us.

Today is my day off. I will drive down the mountain to take in our recycling, and then I will work in the garden.

Sia

Image: Fogcat

Links:
Overview of Portland, Oregon - one of my favorite cities

If You Love Oregon

Bee & Iris
Originally uploaded by WitsendPhotos

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sia

Links:

1,000 Friends of Oregon

My thanks to WitsEnd for the photo

Paganism: An Audio Interview with Margot Adler and Prof Kandace Cant

Today I would like to share an audio interview with Margot Adler and Prof Kandace Cant (History Dept., CSN) that aired on KNPR Radio. (Link below). Two things stood out for me when I heard this. First, a comment by Ms. Adler in which she said that Paganism was more about what you did, then what you thought. I find that to be true. Paganism has no set dogma (although it does have ethics and values) and there are no Pagan Thought Police. Here at Full Circle, we think actions are more important than words or titles. As I have often said, Doers make things happen and their actions light the way for those that wish to follow their example. I love Doers.

I was also struck by her observation that more Pagan groups she knew of were becoming involved in interfaith work. The search for what we at Full Circle call The Great Hearts is an on-going quest. To paraphrase something I've said in different ways and in different venues for many years now: We have seen the true Enemy and it isn't one religion, political party or group or even that-Witch-down-the-street-who-offends-you. The true Enemy is a lethal combination of prejudice, fear, lust for power, fanaticism and ignorance. If we look carefully, we can see that the Enemy sits, like a canker in the rose heart of every world religion, every spiritual path and political movement, every new Enlightenment and in every age and culture. When we founded Full Circle I told our Council members that this was the time to reach out to those Great Hearts who could be found in every religious, spiritual and secular community. We did reach out, and it worked. In 2004 I wrote this: We will know (the Great Hearts) by their works and by the fact that these people reject the real Enemy, even when they find it (like Saruman, like Wormtongue) hiding amongst their own. These like-minded people will join with us to create peace and justice - all we need do is ask. Will we waste yet more time arguing that a Dwarf cannot possibly work with an Elf or will we stand together and fight side by side, as friends?. (1)

This NPR podcast offers an interesting interview with two very involved and thoughtful women. I think you'll like it. You can find the podcast and other forms of this interview to download here along with some useful links.

Update 11/6: Here is a print interview with Ms. Adler at The Wiccan Pagan Times about the revised 2006 edition of her book, Drawing Down the Moon.

The Wild Hunt Blog also interviewed Ms. Adler. You can read that interview here.

Excerpt: Which voices within modern Paganism today do you feel are shining a light towards our future? Who are we not listening to that we should?

"I really don't know how to answer this. I think we are beginning to have real elders, people who have been in this movement for 40 years, and some of them have real wisdom to impart. Then there are young people, often the third generation and second generation Pagans are a really interesting phenomenon, and some of them are dynamite!!!! I also love that there are actually books that are deeper than mine at this point...I started out when there were few books around, except for Murray, Gardner, Graves, Lethbridge, Justine Glass, and a few others. "Triumph of the Moon" is utterly brilliant! I think we have to keep true to the anti-authoritarian, pluralistic spirit at the heart of contemporary Pagansim. It is truly an antidote to the authoritarian religions of our time."


Enjoy,

Sia

Related articles

Pagan Doers
(a bit out of date, but still relevant)

The Christians and the Pagans

What's Past, Is Prologue

Titles, Schmitles

(1) From What's Past, is Prologue, written after the 2004 elections.

Image: Mossy Branches, Spotted Owl by Robert Bateman - available at Gallery One
The artists write: I see the spotted owl as a kind of hapless symbol of what we have to do to preserve a huge and very important ecosystem - the North American temperate rain forests. We go around to international congresses, telling others to stop cutting down their rain forests, when we are, in fact, much closer to cutting down the last remaining old-growth rain forests on our own continent. The spotted owl needs large tract of unbroken forest to survive. When these tracts are sliced up by logging operations, others predators come in. The spotted owl cannot stand the competition and becomes extinct in that area. - R. B.

98

98 rose petals were dropped into the reflecting pool at Arlington National Cemetery. One for each woman killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

May their families find comfort and joy in their memories.

Which brings me to a sad question: How many roses would we need to remember the total number of dead in this war when a full count is done?

Meanwhile, our President is obsessed with Code Pink.

My thoughts on this beautiful sunny day are with the men, women, children and creatures who have died because of this war, and also with those who are home, and trying to heal, without the full support and help they both need, and damn well deserve.

Excuse me, I have to go hug someone.

While I do that, you might care to read Hecate's post titled The Peace of Wild Things.

Sia

Molly Ivans on Code Pink:
(Gods, Molly, I miss you)

Excerpt: "Women peace activists, as rule, have totally solved the gnarly old dilemma: What do you do about hating the haters? If you’re a woman peace activist, this is Step 101—you spill love and calm and reassurance and, well, peace all over them. (Which is why it’s especially funny that George Bush is so afraid of Cindy Sheehan.)

For those of us who have not mastered this advanced technique, a Revolution in Favor of Kindness and Libraries seems like a nice idea. Anne Lamott, one of the funniest people in America, has developed a scenario for a Revolution With Good Manners, in which we are all extremely nice to one another. Good manners never hurt anything. “Our Revolution decrees that we will fight tooth and nail for these things, politely.”

I am still lamentably stuck in the middle—not that I hold with hating the haters ... we can all see where that leads—but I am always tempted to shout them down. “One, Two Three, Four: We Don’t Want Your F-ing War.” Now does that repel more potential supporters or attract more people who really need to sound off?

What I learned from Code Pink is that this is not an either-or question. The peace movement is a matter of And and And and And. You just keep adding more people, from those like Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in the stupid debacle, to the Iraqi Veterans Against the War, easily the strongest, most moving group of young people in America. They have learned in the hardest way what politics is."

Someone You Should Know: Dawn writing on empathy and creativity

This comes from Dawn's blog titled This Women's Work. Her is an excerpt from the post Empathy:

After one interview I ran through all the frustrating people I know and thought, “Yup, we’re missing empathy.” Like the woman who railed on about how things ought to be done without noticing that I was doing it differently and might feel insulted? No empathy. Like the guy who bragged for hours about his accomplishments without noticing that his companion was getting smaller with every word? No empathy.

And lord knows that I’ve been that blowhard, too, (and surely will be again and likely was just this morning) thinking more about my headlong role in a conversation than about the person I’m talking to.

This comes from her post titled The Renaissance Is Over:

I personally think that the model of the driven artist is one based on a male way of creating. Women have historically had other things to do. Things like raise the kids and cook the dinners and make the money so their husbands can go on being creative geniuses. I think that we need to look at other women artists for our inspiration or as cautionary tales. The women who have found a balance that appeals to us (and it may mean more work for some and more living for others), are the ones we can make our own personal imaginary mentors.

Read her work. You'll be glad you did.

Sia

My thanks go out to the Blessed Moon Family Coven for the link.

California Firestorm Updates - It's Not Over

It's Not Nice To Fool (with) Mother Nature:

In the Yes, and...? category today we have this well meaning commentary at Inquirer.net

"...perhaps nature is telling us through these wildfires that it’s resenting the urbanization of mountain and forest areas.

Industrialists have carved out fashionable villages, hotels and resorts and other commercial establishments in areas previously untouched, unpolluted and unviolated.

Nature wants to claim back its lands and is telling man to “just back off” ... or else, man (sic) will get what he deserves. A stern warning from nature."

Gosh....ya think?

For more on how the California paradise is being lost, read California's Natural Born Killers at BBC.com.

Why Should I Care?

Because we can all expect more large scale, destructive fires in our states, as the problems created by global warming, rampant overdevelopment, the water crisis, the strain on both the nation's budget and the National Guard due to the Iraq war, and the population explosion impact us all. As Newsweek notes, wildfires are America's future.

George Carlin thinks we've got it coming. What do you think?

Updates:

Meanwhile, here is an NBC Update on the CA wildfires and this is one of the better blogs on the subject for those who live in the San Diego area.

One of the issues now is to find affordable housing for those affected by the fires and there are those no one thinks about, until they need their food picked or their houses cleaned: The migrant workers caught in the fires.

Animal Rescue Updates:

Horses:

One Santa Clarita man suffered severe burns when he went into a burning barn to save a dozen therapy horses at the Heads Up Therapy Ranch. He is at a local burn ward as we speak. Donations can be sent care of the ranch.

The Doghouse blog notes that Approximately 2,000 horses were housed at State fairgrounds, and many of their owners slept in the jockey quarters. According to a CNN story on animal rescue during the fire, some horses were kept in mall parking lots.

Wildlife

Wild birds also need help. According to the San Pedro Press Telegram, "Local wildlife rescuers are making room for injured and distressed animals displaced by fires ravaging the Southland.

In recent days, a few dozen aquatic birds and waterfowl forced from their Malibu home by smoke and flames have landed temporary shelter at the International Bird Rescue Research Center here, with more expected in coming days.

The center opened its doors to both wildlife and domesticated housepets on Sunday, when it began accepting ducks, coots and other winged creatures from a devastated wildlife center in Malibu's fire-ravaged canyons.

The center, staffed by volunteers and run on a shoe-string budget, says it will remain open for the duration...The center received an emergency grant from the International Fund for Animal Welfare to aid operations in coming weeks, and said it is willing to help other animal control authorities care for avian wildfire victims.

Anyone coming across an animal injured or left homeless from recent wildfires is urged to call the WildRescue hotline at (866) WILD-911.

To contact the IBRRC, call (310) 514-2753 or visit www.ibrrc.org."

Companion Animals

The San Diego Humane Society rescue teams continue to care for animals and pets effected by the fire. They offer a short slideshow about the work they are doing, and this update:

As of today, there are 165 animals directly receiving care from our staff at the Mira Mesa High School, down from 200 as people are returning to their homes. The majority of evacuees left are from the Ramona area. A Humane Society veterinarian was also on site today to examine pets and provide health care to any ailing animals.

Welfare checks on animals left in their homes continued today as the areas actively burning decreased. Volunteers and staff visited almost 100 residences and fed and watered over 409 animals throughout the county in Lakeside, Ramona and Jamul.

Some animals are suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Approximately 20 horses are being treated at the Lakeside Rodeo Ground for fire-related injuries. Unfortunately, there are also many dead animal that were found today and a total count is in the process of being tallied. Our thoughts and well wishes go out to those who have lost their animals in these terrible fires. The San Diego Humane Society does provide pet loss resources for those who have had to say goodbye to their animal friends. Learn more about pet loss support.

Though this is a terrible tragedy, we continue to be encouraged by the surviving animals that we are finding and in our ability to continue to help the community."

--------------

Thousands of people are out there, doing the good that's in front of them. How's that for inspiring?

Sia

Pet Links:

Protecting Your Pet in an Emergency

Pet Loss Support Hotline

Pet Loss: Groups, Books & Links

Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement

Some Prayers for a Deceased Pet

Saying Goodbye To A Pet: Rituals and Memories
(Includes a section on euthanizing pets titled "When It's Time To Let Go"O
Other Links

San Francisco Art Auction - Fundraiser for the Humane Society

Fire Report for the State of California

What to Save From a Fire - From Time Magazine