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Greetings!

This is the second installment of blogposts concerning the Vision of Isaac Bonewits. In our first installment,  Back to Basics, we discussed the first point of Isaac's Vision, Excellence in Scholarship. Today, we will talk about Artistic Excellence.

“So, what are you guys doing for New Moon?”

I'm talking long-distance with a friend.

“We're having a discussion about cursing,” I tell her.

These days, we generally do at Full, and discuss at New. Mostly, it makes for a good balance; you need to get things done, but you also need to think about things.

“Touchy subject,” she replies. “Should be an interesting discussion.”

She pauses, then laughs, adding: “Assuming it doesn't break up the coven first.”

One time during the time period when I was learning how to follow the Goddess Diet to honor the goddess Sif, I was preparing for a potluck, and I went to the grocery store. I saw some corn on the cob. I thought, “That would be great to bbq. But I don't know whether it's GMO or not.”

Then I remembered that the GMO corn is a yellow corn. If the corn is some other color then it's not GMO. So I checked it and it was white corn, so I bought some. At the checkout, I was thinking, "I really hope I'm right and that I did this right for Sif."

I began this blog -- originally called Dreaming the Myth Onward -- with the intent of exploring what Jungian psychology had to offer to Pagan theology.  Neo-Paganism has been thoroughly permeated by an overly-simplicitic understanding of Jungian psychology -- what I have called the "de-godding of the archetypes" -- transcendent agencies reduced to mere symbols and metaphors.  And this has led to a disenchantment of the gods for many Pagans.  The growth of devotional polytheism in the last 15 years has been largely in response to this disenchantment of the gods.  I began this blog with the intent of "re-godding the archetypes" or, rather, re-enchanting the Jungian conception of gods.  

If you build the candy cottage, the children will come.

If you build a temple, people will come and, being pagans, they will, of course, bring offerings.

Offerings belong to the god, which makes them (by definition) sacred. So what do you do with them when they begin to pile up?

With consumables, that's one thing. Libations are poured out onto the ground. Token amounts of food are placed onto the earth (but never directly; they should always be placed on a layer of something biodegradable: leaves, grass, sticks). Food offerings in quantity traditionally revert to the temple staff; part of the god's responsibility to his people is to see that they're fed. (Richard Reidy calls this “reversion of offerings.”)

But the non-consumable offerings, what of them?

Afro-Caribbean faiths experience problems at the Rio Olympics. A look at how Hindus in the Midwestern United States. And a discussion of what Buddhism is and isn't. It's Faithful Friday, our weekly segment on faiths and religious communities from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Astronomers locate an Earth-sized planet orbiting our nearest stellar neighbor. The role of technology in national parks is examined. And evidence emerges that Tasmanian devils may be evolving resistance to a particularly deadly form of cancer. It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly segment about science and Earth-related news! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!