PaganSquare


PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

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American Kleptocracy

Why has Luigi Mangione, slayer of healthcare CEO what's-his-name, become a modern-day folk-hero?

Easily told.

He's cute.

Yes, Americans really are this superficial. So were the ancient Greeks.

People love the beautiful. Studies show again and again that the good-looking regularly receive better grades and lighter sentences than the rest of us.

Is this really news to anyone?

People hate the American healthcare industry.

We hate its greed, we hate its unfairness, we hate its untouchability. Get sick, risk financial ruin.

We're sick of a so-called “healthcare” industry that actually prioritizes profit over care.

With its uncaring, (literal) life-and-death power over us all, why in the world wouldn't we?

People hate the corporate takeover of America.

Corporations run America, and we hate it. Why in the world wouldn't we?

It's even official, now that the president elect, himself a convicted criminal, is appointing his fellow kleptocrats to “legally” run things.

Even supposed left-leaning billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg are now lining up to—you'll pardon my Yiddish—lekh Trump im tukhis.*

Of course we hate it.

People are sick of having no recourse.

Americans have lost confidence in a bought-and-paid-for “justice” system from which the wealthy can buy any verdict they like.

When even the Supreme Court is corrupt, what other recourse is there?

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Light My Fire: DIY Massage Candles

Making massage candles is very similar to making any other type of potted candle. I recommend using soy wax as it is so gentle on the skin. Soy is also nice and soft, so it melts easily and stays together in a puddle after melting and can be reused for us thrifty crafters. It won’t irritate your skin unless you have a soy allergy; if you have an allergy to soy, you can use beeswax instead, which is widely used. (For example, beeswax is in nearly every single Burt’s Bees product.) The addition of the oils prevents it from hardening again and enables your skin to absorb it. Essential oils or cosmetic-grade fragrance oils are also added to create a soothing atmosphere. All soap-making fragrances, which are also soy candle safe, are perfect choices for scenting your massage candles. Try the basic directions below to make your first candle. For every three ounces of wax, you’ll add one ounce of liquid oil and one-quarter ounce of fragrance. I suggest making two candles in four-ounce metal tins while you master this craft.

You will need these elements:

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
My Own Private Ithaka

Every August from infancy on, I’ve been carried or made my way to a quiet beach on the Maine coast, where there’s nothing to do but play in the surf or lie in the sand, gazing at the sea.

 

From the shore, you can see a small island hugging the horizon off to the east. Two green humps divided by a swath of meadow, just far enough away that you can’t really tell what may or may not be there. Over the years it’s kept watch over my personal stretch of ocean, providing the setting for childhood fantasy, teen daydreams, and adult contemplation.

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Welcome to Kafiristan, the Land of the ...

An Island of Paganism in a Sea of Islam”

The Kalasha people of what is now northwestern Pakistan have begun their celebration of Chaumós, their month-long Winter Solstice festival.

Numbering some 4000, the Kalasha are something of a miracle: the only remaining Indo-European-speaking people who have practiced their traditional religion continuously since antiquity.

Though, unsurprisingly, some Hindu nationalists have claimed them as Hindus, their religion is actually closer kin to the Vedic religion as practiced by the Indo-Aryans when they first entered the Indian Subcontinent some 3500 years ago: the ancestral ground from which the various “Hinduisms” later arose.

 

Who Is Balumain?

During Chaumos, the god Balumáin rides into the Kalasha valleys on a steed with flaming hooves to bring back light and bless the Kalasha people for the coming year.

It's unclear what his name means. The Kalasha themselves no longer remember, and various scholars have construed it variously.

His identity, however, is not in question. His secret name, used only in certain chants sung by a handful of elders at high points of the festival, is Indr.

He is the Indra of Vedic mythology.

 

An Indian Thor

Though no longer actively worshiped in Hinduism—to the best of my knowledge, he no longer has any active temples in India—Indra was the major god of the incoming Indo-Aryans' pantheon: the Divine Thunderer, chiefest of gods, akin to Thor, Taranis, Perkunas, Perun, Jupiter, and Zeus.

Like his brother Thunderers, his chiefest deed, as celebrated repeatedly in the hymns of the Rig Veda, is his defeat of the dragon Vritra.

 

What Has the Thunderer to Do with the Solstice?

Why invoke the Thunderer, of all gods, at the Winter Solstice, of all times? The Kalasha themselves no longer remember.

Italian anthropologist Augusto Cacopardo, a lifelong student of Kalasha religion and culture, though, has a theory: that, in its original configuration, Chaumos was precisely a festival that celebrated—and, indeed, actualized—the god's primal triumph over the chaos-dragon.

The name of Balumain's foe has been long forgotten, but an early night of the festival, featuring torchlit processions, is still called by the Kalasha Nong Rat, the “Night of the Serpent.”

 

A Vedic Key

Why does Indra fight Vritra? He does so to free the Waters, Cattle, and the Sun, which the monster has greedily imprisoned in a cave.

O lord Indra: you caused to appear the hidden rays held captive in the cave as the Sun, releasing them to all the people, says the Atharva Veda (20:40:3).

It seems likely that a similar myth once underlay the Kalasha festival.

 

More and Many More

On the final day of the festival, as the Kalasha dance to honor the god's departure from their valleys, it is said that Balumain counts the people. If they number more than in the previous year, then there will be yet more of them in the year to come.

In the face of a hostile Islam, Kalasha culture is currently undergoing something of a renaissance, driven, among other things, by the interest shown in them by Western scholars and, indeed, the knowledge that, here in the West, there exist those of us who are intentionally choosing to return to the Old Ways that are theirs by right of inheritance.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    Yah-who? ;-)
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    So, during the eight days of Hanuka Yahweh battles Leviathan to free the rains and bring water back to the land of Israel. That a

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Freyr - Wikipedia

 

I

Caput apri defero

reddens laudes Domino

 

“A boar's head I bear,

rendering praises to the Lord.”

 

The Boar's Head Carol

English, 15th century

 

II

...cum ingenti Priapo

 

“...with a huge 'Priapus' [= erection]”

 

Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis (ca. 1080)

Description of the idol of Freyr [“the Lord”] in the Great Temple at Uppsala

 

III

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Voodoo Baked Beans Recipe - Masterbuilt

 

I didn't work for almost a year after I got back from the UK, so money was tight. When Yule rolled around, I had to get creative.

(In retrospect, I have to say that that was one of the happiest years of my life, though I lived pretty much exclusively on beans and rice, and vegetables from the garden.)

Fortunately, my friend Robin—who has (among other things) the distinction of having been the very first Robin in a community of many Robins—was (and is) a big-time Terry Pratchett fan.

Now, those of you who know Pratchett's work will know that Hogswatch is the Discworld equivalent of...well, Yule. So on the Eve of Hogswatch, during the day while she was off at work, I recorded the first of my Hogswatch gifts that year on her phone machine.

 

Hogswatch is coming, the goose is getting fat...

 

The next day, I recorded the second.

 

We wish you a happy Hogswatch...

 

The next day, the third.

 

I'm dreaming of a white Hogswatch...

 

Every day for thirteen days she got another Hogswatch carol. Some, of course, were better than others.

 

Up on the rooftop, piggy trotters:

out jumps the jolly old Haw-awgfather...

 

(Personally, I think that this one counts as an improvement on the original. Reindeer don't have paws....)

On the thirteenth and last day of Hogswatch, of course, she got that old classic:

 

On the Last Day of Hogswatch, my true love gave to me...

 

Needless to say, I only sang the last verse.

Last modified on
Ring My Bell: Your Feng Shui Relationship Corner

As you walk into your bedroom, the relationship corner will be at the far right in the back right corner. Your love and sex energy will be nurtured there, and you might well consider placing your altar there to serve as your personal wellspring of Eros.

Look at this area with a fresh eye—what is cluttering your love corner with “dead energy”? Half- empty perfume bottles or near-empty cosmetic bottles could be impairing your relationship energy. You must cleanse your space of unhappiness and clear the area of clutter by getting rid of all unnecessary objects and tidying up. To further cleanse the area, ring a hand bell anywhere clutter has accumulated, giving special attention to your bed linens.

Last modified on

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