China's massive earthquake this month killed as many as 80,000 people, leveled over 400,000 homes, and threatened dams and lakes, bringing out an unusual, grassroots goodwill in the process. It also affected a number of crucial sanctuaries for China's unofficial mascot, and one of the world's most beloved (and threatened) animals: the panda. While most pandas are safe at the famed Wolong Panda Reserve, which is part of a 7-sanctuary UNESCO World Heritage site, the sanctuary is so badly damaged that it will probably have to be relocated, staff told state media today. Nearly half of the base's 86 pandas have been evacuated to another sanctuary in Sichuan, eight have been sent to Beijing on a previously-arranged Olympic trip. and, after the capture of five escaped pandas, one is still unaccounted for.
.......The earthquake, which struck during the "love"-prone phase of some of the pandas' reproductive period, caused the pandas to freeze in trees and stare at the sky, resisting their handlers' entreaties to come down. Their unusual behavior reportedly began prior to the quake -- one group rose from a listless spell and began to pace back and forth -- leading to speculation that they knew that a natural disaster was immanent -- a skill that would put them in league with the Thai elephants that supposedly predicted the Asian tsunami of 2004 minutes before it struck.My thoughts are with the people of China and Burma today, especially with the parents who lost their children when so many of the schools collapsed and the many people who are now facing floods and starvation.
I first met Kuan Yin years ago in a small California mountain town called Weaverville. This historic mining town contains the famous Joss House, one of the oldest active Chinese temples in the United States...It is known by the lovely name of "The Temple of the Forest Beneath the Clouds" and it is dedicated to Kuan Yin.And in case you are wondering that picture of me was taken (ahem) some years ago.
The Chinese settlers who lived in California back then were surrounded on all sides by hostility, prejudice and mistrust. Their complex belief system was thought to be mere primitive superstition. This temple gave them a place where they could come together as a people, a place where they could share their experience, strength and hope with one another. It also gave them a place where they could seek out and speak to Kuan Yin.
Kuan Yin teaches that mercy and compassion are for everyone. I believe this is why her worship spans centuries, cultures, geography and religions. This Goddess dwells among us here on earth and she understands our grief, anger, fear and hopelessness. She does not preach, she listens. She does not demand our obedience rather she lets her own actions light the way for those that wish to follow her example. She is love, compassion and mercy personified and we need her now more then ever.
Kuan Yin does not pick and choose; her love is for all beings, including those of us who bring our troubles upon ourselves...
...Whenever I am tempted to lash out in anger, I think of that Tong War. It reminds me that compassion is a dynamic force. My tradition teaches that this force must be directed outwardly, as well as inwardly, in order to be effective. For me, this means that I cannot fight intolerance or prejudice directed towards me with more of the same. I can defend myself and my loved ones, never you fear, but I can do so in a way that leaves my integrity intact. More then once the thought of Kuan Yin has kept me from playing the fool in someone else's game. This is what is meant by right action. It does not mean "no action" or "reaction", it means action that is taken from a position of wisdom, understanding and strength.
Have I mentioned that I just adore Ian McKellen?
No doubt you've heard that he is to be in the film version of The Hobbit. I first saw him in Acting Shakespeare in 1983 at the Westwood Playhouse in L.A. (1) I'll watch anything this actor does but to have him play Gandalf again is ice cream on the theatrical cake.
Over the years, though, I have gone from shrugging my shoulders and thinking "not my thing," to being genuinely concerned about what goes on in the name of some "sex-positive" and "sacred sexuality" work. I know many people who have been hit on, manipulated, and used by workshop leaders. Some Pagans who do this work seem to claim "sex-positive" as an excuse for having really bad boundaries—ironically, while supposedly helping others create healthy boundaries. And such an edgy field naturally attracts narcissists, who are more interested in pushing limits than encouraging authentic sexual expression—and yes, there is a difference.I recommend reading her entire guest post titled Sex & Revolution over at the Wild Hunt blog.
.....Had the Pagan sex-positive movement devolved into a freedom of speech test for exhibitionists? In that case, what we were doing was not revolutionary at all; it was reality television.
Paganism, for all its easy entry and near-universal acceptance of difference, is riddled with minefields if you scratch below the surface. For instance, we value self-empowerment and individualism, yet we loathe leadership, which is a natural outcome of being empowered. Diversity itself becomes a trap when, in upholding the principles of relativism, we are unable to set basic standards of accountability.
Yet in order to progress as a New Religious Movement or whatever the heck we are, we must resolve these questions in some way. If everybody's mileage varies, how are we to determine whether Workshop Leader A is a power-hungry predator or a brilliant, unorthodox teacher? If Pagans as a rule don't trust leaders, are we fated then to end up with leaders who are fundamentally untrustworthy?
Here is my challenge to you:I have done this (on and off) for years, and today I renew my dedication to doing more of the same. One example will be the article I wrote recently for PanGaia, which will appear in their Money issue. The publisher asked me to tell the truth, pretty or not, and I did.
......Don't tell me that community is important in Paganism. Tell me about finding your first Pagan community, and about that heady rush like first love you felt for it. And about the crushing pain that followed the first betrayal (the leader that was manipulative; the grove member who stole; the coven-mate whose oaths didn't keep her from outing one of you) and how you came to terms with it. How you learned to embrace the Pagan world despite its flaws--or dedicated yourself to eradicating them.
... Don't give me your ideas on Pagan life, my sisters and brothers. I have ideas enough of my own. And don't give me answers, because ours is a religious movement with hundreds of answers, thousands of answers.
Give me your experience. Give me the marrow and the meat of your spiritual life. Because, unless you write it down, no one else ever will. Only from you can I receive this gift: your own lived Pagan journey.
Flaky people are everywhere, not just in the Pagan community. Alas, they are often the most charming and enthusiastic people we encounter. ....We don't pre-judge anyone but we do pay close attention. What you say is not as important as what you do and how well you play with others. If you let us down, we'll release you with blessings, wave goodbye and wish you well. Then we'll get on with the work we have on hand.
Some people come to us and want to give us their power. To this we say "Thanks, but no thanks." None of us want to be Gurus. We believe that being Pagan means accepting responsibility for yourself, your actions and for the quality of your life. We believe that it means claiming your own power and not giving it over to someone else....Occasionally, we'll have someone approach us who wants to pad their "Pagan Resume"...These people often want to start at the top and they are disappointed to find that we don't care very much for titles around here. You may be Lord Duck-a-Muck or a 5th Generation Atlantian or even an Elf-friend. That's fine, but when you're here among us, you're just one of the gang.
For this and other reasons, I ask our people to read books on subjects such as:We then sat with our volunteers and work out ways of dealing with certain situations. "Praise people very publicly, " we say, "and correct mistakes privately". "Don't spread gossip". "Listen more then you talk". "Remember" to place principals before personalities." And most importantly, "Fight fair when you disagree and treat each other with respect."
- Active Listening,
- Positive Confrontation
- Codependency & Dysfunctional Family Systems
- Group Dynamics
- Stress & Anger Management &
- Effective Management Techniques
Not everyone has these tools placed in their toolbox during childhood. Some of us have to add them in as adults. I know many Pagans who can claim to have 50 books on ritual techniques in their library but they don't own a single book on conflict resolution. I believe that this is one reason why so many Pagan groups don't last.
When we do use a title such as "Leader" we have a wyrd way of defining it. A "Leader" at Full Circle is the one you see doing the donkey work. This comes as a shock to some people. We've had folks approach us who want to have all the "fun" of leading, that is, they want to pick and choose all the interesting tasks for themselves and they want to have other people do the dull and boring jobs. Other types think that leading means telling other people what to do and doing nothing at all themselves...We think that being in charge of something means that you do the most work of anyone in your group. It means you're the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. You do whatever needs doing. If that means you clean the toilets before an event, then so be it. Don't laugh, I've done that. The closest I've ever gotten to holding a Staff of Office is that toilet brush.
So it goes.
Hook that thing up to a can opener and they can rule the world.
Sia
My doodle, "Up in the Clouds," expresses a world in the sky. This new world is clean and fresh, and people are social and enlightened. Every person here is treated as family no matter who they are. The bright sun heats this ideal place with warmth, love, and brightens everyone's day.
Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan province, where is only 20 KM away from the epicentre was also attacked during the earthquake happened suddenly. Fortunately, most of pandas there were transported to safe place by the staff in time.
A platoon of soldiers parachuted into the park and is attempting to reconnect the road from there, Zhang said. More than 5,000 people live in the 200,000 hectare (494,000 acre) reserve, which has about 100 giant pandas living in the wild, according to the park's Web site.
The quake reportedly killed five staff members and destroyed or severely damaged all 32 of the reserve's panda houses.
And despite the massive operation some of the 1,600 pandas living in the wild in the Sichuan district remain missing, three of them on the world famous Wolong reserve which was just 20 miles from the epicentre of the quake.
Times are hard, I know, but if you can spare some funds, both people and animals in these regions need your help.
Click here to see video interviews with Stephen Speilberg, Cate Blanchett and Harrison Ford.All the classic ingredients are thrown into the mix - murky temples with devilish contraptions, ancient pictographs scrawled on walls, and horrible creepy-crawlies scurrying over the imperilled heroine.
Director Steven Spielberg has largely jettisoned computer generated effects (much to the chagrin of tech freak Lucas) with the result that the film's action sequences have a visceral, physical quality you rarely find in modern-day blockbusters.
An extended sequence with Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett careering through the rainforest, swordfighting astride two army vehicles is a pure adrenalin rush.
As ever, Spielberg brings both humour and visual flair to sequences where other films are happy to provide mere spectacle.
Cate Blanchett plays a Russian baddie
...reverence isn’t measured by how many times a devotee falls to their knees, recite rote prayers, sing a little ditty of praise, dance a little step or two, or anything else so basic and rather juvenile. Orisas should find such displays appalling. In the new philosophy of Ifa a devotee’s true reverence is measured by the depth of their integrity, the strength of their trust, the accuracy of their understanding, and the intensity of their drive to truly learn as much as possible and apply those lessons learned to our lives.As always, take what you need and leave the rest.
Goats and humans have a long history together. According to About.com:For several years, the city of Wilsonville has hired a herd of goats to chomp down invasive plants such as ivy and Himalayan blackberry at city parks and greenspaces.
The goats have been so successful that the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District would like to use targeted grazing as one of its preferred weapons against invasive weeds and plants. The district wants to move toward sustainable, ecological weed control and away from methods that relied heavily on chemicals.
"The district is thinking about how to do things in a more sustainable manner," said Robert Wise, a senior project manager with Cogan Owens Cogan who is advising the district on an updated strategy plan. "We can't keep doing the same things because it just doesn't work for our planet."
Domestic goats (Capra hircus) were among the first domesticated animals, adapted from the wild version Capra aegargus. Beginning about 10,000-11,000 years ago, Neolithic farmers in the Near East began keeping small herds of goats for their milk and meat, and for their dung for fuel, as well as for materials for clothing and building: hair, bone, skin and sinew.Today there are more than 300 breeds of goats, and they live in climates ranging from high altitude mountains to deserts. Recent mtDNA research suggests that all goats today are descended from a handful of animals and may have been domesticated in a handful of different places. Archaeological data suggest two distinct places of domestication: the Euphrates river valley at Nevali Çori, Turkey (11,000 bp), and the Zagros Mountains of Iran at Ganj Dareh (10,000). Other possible sites of domestication include the Indus Basin in Pakistan at (Mehrgarh, 9,000 bp) and perhaps central Anatolia and the southern Levant. Other important archaeological sites with evidence for the initial process of goat domestication include Cayönü, Turkey (8500-8000 BC), Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria (8000-7400 BC), Jericho, Israel (7500 BC), and Ain Ghazal, Jordan (7600-7500 BC).
One of the most famous links between goats and ancient civilizations can be seen in the stories about the God Pan and in many elements of the Horned God. (For a hilarious read on the Goat God, read Tom Robbin's book Jitterbug Perfume). Goats were often sacred to the Goddess, although much information about their links to ancient fertility Goddesses has been lost to us. Keep looking; where ever you find the Lady of the Beasts and herding cultures, you will find the Goddess and her goats.
The microcredit system is helping to keep the women’s families fed, clothed and on their feet. Mainly, it is allowing women like widow Vigoumide Ahouagbe to grow their small businesses without waiting to make a profit first. Ms. Ahouagbe can now boast several goats and pigs, a sign of wealth in this area of West Africa.
Goats are fun because they all have different personalities and have different little habits that can be amusing or interesting. Goats are very affectionate and especially during the summer, when they are too hot to be active, they like to just hang around people and get a good scratch. Most goats' favorite scratchy spot is around their shoulder but some even liked to be scratched in between their toes. It is very rewarding to see a goat you have raised from a baby grow up and have kids and grandkids of her own.Goats have a very interesting quirks. When I read ancient myths, I can see the impact that sheep and goat herding had on our ancestor's view of the world. After reading Shafi's post on Sheep logic vs Goat logic, I would have to say that I have met many sheep
The general populace, with their Sheep Logic, are desperate to be led, having no capacity within them to do so. They largely follow their whims and desires and though they perceive the goings-on in their surroundings and the chaos that envelops them from within, they are too blasé about them do not comprehend all that they perceive. Their limited mental vision and the grass they graze on obstructs their view from the perils that lie ahead. Living off the handouts of other countries plotting bigger schemes on their country, (they) live in a state of almost total unconsciousness.
They are lively and enthusiastic about life’s prospects, though they are deficient in terms of experience and, some times, competence....They are bold and brash, principally driven by an impulsive rush into things. Their skewed judgment of their own vulnerability hinders them from looking further ahead into the possibilities of their actions. Amused by their own frolicking, they are diverted from the flock, though their senses are promptly reawakened by the hint of fox’s presence.
Those of us who do community organizing work with a great many sheep and goats, cats and other animal archetypes. Each type has something to offer and each has challenges we have to deal with. My best advice is to learn how they think and how they view the world. (For a humorous take on this, read Issac Bonwits article Making Fauna Pagans). And by the way, learn to understand your own challenges, as well. Most leaders stumble because they fail to understand themselves. Word to the wise, if you are a goat, you are a nature leader and you will travel paths that more timid souls will avoid. You can also be stubborn, and this can get in your way. (Ahem....at least, that's what the older kids tell me).
The goats....are expert whiners and their Qalaad could be heard a distance away. Little floods could cause serious inconveniences to their health and a flash of lighting would agitate their nerves. If swept away they have little chance of survival and, as a habit, dip headfirst into the water. They are often heard making a racket of noises as they are seized by the surge.....Those who rule, with their Goat Logic, are very much short sighted and scatter at the slightest hint of a commotion. They are an impetuous lot and carry huge, impenetrable solid heads above their scraggy shoulders - a weight too much for them to bear and as a result of which they disappear after a short time. With an imprudent penchant for control, they lead their susceptible flock astray into parched fields and dehydrated pastures where the Jiilaal winds have swept away the very remnants of life from the surface.
Julia (Ward Howe) a poet and suffragist, began her work to honor mothers as a radical act. We tend to forget that mothers are, and always have been, politically and socially active....
...The many images of the Great Mother give us a sense of this. Her secret is contained within a paradox of seeming contradictions. She is both and equally, Kuan Yin and Kali, Isis and Morrigan, Aphrodite and Hecate, Lakshmi and Durga, Freya and Ha Hai-i Wuhti. In other, psychologically profound myths, she is portrayed as Medea, who destroyed her children in a fit of rage, and Lysistrata who organized other mothers, stopped a war and saved two cities in the process. To see only one, sweet side of a mother is to ignore the complex, empowering truth of Her; a truth we can’t afford to miss.
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
During the first two thirds of my life," Howe recalled, "I looked to the masculine idea of character as the only true one. I sought its inspiration, and referred my merits and demerits to its judicial verdict. . . . The new domain now made clear to me was that of true womanhood—woman no longer in her ancillary relation to her opposite, man, but in her direct relation to the divine plan and purpose, as a free agent, fully sharing with man every human right and every human responsibility. This discovery was like the addition of a new continent to the map of the world, or of a new testament to the old ordinances."
Outcasts and girls with ambition
