I just finished writing daily hymns to Poseidon for the past month, so I hope readers will forgive a tendency to use oceanic metaphors as I ponder this week in the Pagan savings challenge. Some economists love the idea that, "a rising tide lifts all boats," although some have questioned whether the sentiment -- which is attributed to President Kennedy, but was actually borrowed by him in turn -- is more grounded in reality, or just a recipe for grounded boats.
With just a few short weeks left, I certainly feel that this tide, crafted of my will, is lifting my boat just fine. The growing pile of cash I see before me each week is a testament to my will and my relationship with the spirits of money.
A day late, yes, but never a dollar short! That's what I get for making my weekly savings contribution on Sundays; it was a relaxing day when I picked it, but now it's packed full of worship and a nine-hour work shift. I performed my duties to the money spirits, but did not record that fact here.
Speaking of worship, mine yesterday was occupied by Poseidon Asphaleios, since I'd just written a hymn honoring Poseidon the Securer. Building a stable foundation is what the Pagan savings challenge is all about, at least it is for me. It's working, too: while I save for a fireplace insert, other factors are at work to make my family more secure in its heating. Thanks to a state loan program, our house will soon have insulation, after spending its first ninety years without any. Pretty amazing for a home in the northeast.
A few months ago, my fellow blogger Deborah Blake wrote about establishing a daily divination practice, something which I have have been doing, first with my personal coin divination system and more recently by using the Lymerian oracle. Recently, in response to the question of, "What will today bring me?" I drew kappa, which means, according to the translation of Apollonius Sophistes, "To fight with the waves is difficult; endure, friend."
Usually that one doesn't give me a super-good feeling.
This past week has been a tough one on the household budget. If money flows, then my household was at the top of a hill watching it flow down and away at an alarming rate. When money is leaving faster than it's arriving, it can lead to some interesting reactions . . . such as a stronger urge to spend what you've got, to stock up for bad times. Or to choke off the flow entirely and preserve what you've got, even though this will also likely stop the inward flow as well.
It's hard to save money when it feels like you don't have any.
I took an unscheduled blogbatical as we moved into the darkest time of the year, but I have emerged excited that I missed celebrating perhaps the most important historical festival for my patron deity.
Today is when the festival honoring Poseidon, called Poseidea or Poseidonia, was celebrated in antiquity. It's a reconstructionist's nightmare, because virtually no record of what went on has been discovered, but the good folk of Elaion put together a Poseidonia ritual based on their understanding of what festivals were usually like. I didn't see the announcement until just after the agreed-upon time to practice apart together, and I was already late for Quaker meeting, so I had Poseidon close to mind as I joined my local Friends in worship. (I am not a Quaker, although I attend meeting for worship; I have pondered how Quakers and polytheists fit together for awhile now.)
Those are some wonderful insights, Jamie. I'm sure the innocent people in Egypt are stunned to be meeting the new boss, same as t
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