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**This post is rooted in recent current events, and has foundations in my experience as a mental health chaplain. The content may be upsetting or triggering to some**
"Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
I’ve spent the last 13 years living in some level of crisis. Not the “my life is in danger” kind of crisis, but more of an ongoing state of being triggered and having to attempt to reframe. I have many spiritual tools I’ve used to survive this. I have a black cup into which I channel dark thoughts. I have a strong connection with deity when I feel in despair, a connection fostered with meditation and time in nature, and with animals. I have made strands of prayer beads, and when my brain was spinning when I was trying to get some sleep, working my way along that strand was a life line. And I’ve spend time tending my ancestor’s graves.
But the source of my distress has now moved out of my house – how I made that happen is a story for another day – and I can catch a breath. Literally. The day she moved out was very long. I was up and out at 7:30 and got home 12 hours later. The house was empty and I had the sensation of bracing myself for a blow that didn’t come when I came home. I took a breath. Then I took another. She has always taken up a lot of psychic space. She would spread herself out and occupy space, always choosing the best spot for any activity, most often the spot her father liked. Then she resisted being moved. As I write this, I could compile a list of petty offenses, and if that were the only issue, then it would have been a more simple matter. No doubt she would have done what adults do and gotten a job and moved herself out. She has a degree in engineering after all. But she also has serious mental health issues. She has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, autism - which would have been really helpful to know when she was growing up, and most recently OCD has been added to the list. But beyond all that, she was just not a nice person.
...A long overdue update. Spring is upon us (as the rain beats down on my window here!), and I feel like leaving this Winter is almost akin to clambering from a very deep, dark hole...
For the past two months, I've been pretty much confined to home. I've been very ill, both mentally and physically, and while I have a fabulous doctor looking after me, it's been ridiculously hard. Not least because I'm a bad patient. If I'm not able to do something with my days, I get frustrated, which leads down the path to... well, bad thoughts. Spiralling down is an apt metaphor, but not fun to live.
An Egyptian student struggles to make her voice heard in a corrupt system. Hindus in America are denied the opportunity to enshrine their religious symbols beside those of Christianity. And a comparison is made between the dystopia depicted in Children of Men and Europe's ongoing refugee crisis. It's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly take on political and social issues from around the world. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
The world's a wonderful and diverse place full of many different kinds of people. And with the variety of nations and races comes the entwined variety of religion. For this week in Faithful Friday we take a look at the religions around the world, what the future has in store for them, and how they've changed throughout the years. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
In today's PaganNewsBeagle, we have our Watery Wednesday community news. A watery festival in New Orleans; Paganism and depression; Jewitch ancestors; remembering Margot Adler; a new CSI episode features Wicca.
Bridging the Element of Water and magickal communities, last weekend's Anba Dlo Halloween festival in New Orleans combined environmental issues with Voudon ceremony.
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