Funk Babblings

This past weekend I wore myself out, and I'm only now starting to recover.

( Friday night drumming )

( Saturday Witches' Ball )

( Sunday bleh )

Sunday night we returned from PSG, very hot (it was 105 in the shade much of the week) and tired. I'm better now. At one point I had stories, but I don't remember them now. Except that Margot Adler is really cool.

Now I'm watching it rain and trying to remember the last time I saw that particular weather phenomenon.

The latest entry in the who-can-be-the-more-backward-state rivalry between Ohio and Indiana....

"Judge: Parents can't teach pagan beliefs"

An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge's unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."

The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.

Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, kept the unusual provision in the couple's divorce decree last year over their fierce objections, court records show. The order does not define a mainstream religion.

Apparently the judge is concerned about the discrepancy between the pagan parenting and the Catholic school the kid attends.

The comments on this over at Daily Kos are also interesting, among other reasons, for showing that lots of non-Christians go to Catholic schools, and also that fundamentalists exist even in "non-mainstream" religions.

Every year around this time the mainstream press notices pagans, especially Wiccans. (Though chronarchy has been known to do special help with outreach later in winter.)

Locally, the daily paper discovered the weekly hangout of the Canton Area Pagans. (nontacitare and I have missed that gathering lately due to work, though I briefly considered going this week.) Interesting that they start the story with "Don't call them witches."

Then we have the national story of the day, "School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches". The big quote there is, "I do lots of things that are not revolving around wearing a black outfit and stirring a cauldron."

Meanwhile, I still need to think of a costume for this weekend.....

I'm currently reading The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, by Ronald Hutton. I finished chapter five last night, and so far the book is fascinating (though the small print is a bit scary at first). It's useful for getting insight into the various worldviews and structures that went into the creation of Wicca (at least Gardner's brand of it).
( Read more... )

Well, we returned from Pagan Spirit Gathering Sunday night around 8pm. I had to miss Comfest for PSG this year, but I think I made up for it by making it a very musical PSG.

Before we left we were somewhat apprehensive about going, for various reasons. One of those was that last year when we returned from a very wet PSG we found three inches of water in the basement, due to a broken pipe. This year the worst that we found was that ants had discovered a cookie we'd accidentally left on the counter. (Luckily it was in a container that somewhat impeded their access to it.)

One notable aspect of this PSG was making the 11:00 news on Cleveland's notorious channel 19. They tried to get in both through the gate and through the woods, then buzzed the morning meeting with a helicopter. How a private event in the woods of southern Ohio is considered news in Cleveland is beyond me.
Check out the resulting report:
[Windows Media stream] [32MB MPEG] [Stills & more info] [Wisteria's Report]

Anyway, this PSG was really good for me. I feel quite refreshed.

( Read more... )

Now we're going out of town again this weekend (to Columbus). So I guess we'd better get unpacked soon so we can re-pack.