This week's stew is lighter than usual fare, but with plenty to satiate your appetite. Happy Old Beltane, for those who celebrate today :) Our beloved Renee Avard is in the hospital. Please send her your well-wishes and healing thoughts. Feel better, Renee! We've moved the Song of the Week to the beginning so you can play it while you read. Thanks to Sally Dubats for the suggestion! The weekly totem is back by popular demand, and there's a lot of news to peruse. We hope your Beltane celebrations and festivals were all that you wanted and more. Spring has definitely sprung in this part of the world, and the earth is blossoming with beautiful colors. May your week be joyful! Now, on to the Stew!
So take time out to stop and really savor things around you. It's not being lazy. It's good medicine for your soul.
Happy Birthday this week to Glenn Hodshire, Lisa Strand, Dorothy Morrison, Lily Collins, Margarita Ruseldorf, Gwain Nighthawk, Darrin Parkin, Jody Weitzman, Christopher Penczak, TJ Christie, Cindy Bevelheimer, and Sandra Bateman Collette! May this be your best birthday ever, and may the next year bring you joy, happiness, peace, prosperity and abundance in all the best things!
Pagan Group Encourages Religious Tolerance
Pagans Shed Light on the Dark Image of a Faith in Nature and the Individual
Witchcraft: Tripura acts to stop tribals' killings
Papua New Guinea Witchcraft Killings: Government Considers Firing Squad Executions
Human Skulls recovery: Witchcraft the motive, reveal investigations
Girl (12) Confesses to Witchcraft
Pagan Witch Says Her Home was Targeted
Prominent Pagan Activist Helping New Port Richey Witch After Attacks
Good Morning, Sunday Stew readers! It's time to serve up this week's helping of Pagan Lore, so read on!
Sunday, May 5
On this date in the year 2000, according to a group called the Lemurian Fellowship, the legendary lost continent of Mu will rise up from the Pacific Ocean. In various parts of Mexico and Central America, centuries-old rain ceremonies are performed every year on this day by shamanic priests and priestesses of the Old Faith. The ancient Goddesses who preside over rain and fertility are honored and invoked with prayers and offerings.
Monday, May 6
On this day in the year 1938, the Long Island Church of Aphrodite was established in West Hempsted, New York, by the Reverend Gleb Botkin, a Russian author and son the court physician to the last Czar of Russia.
Tuesday, May 7
On this date (approximately), a festival called the Thargelia was celebrated by the ancient Greeks and Ionians in honor of Apollo, the god of the sun, prophecy, music, medicine, and poetry. The festival was held once a year on the sacred island of Delos, the traditional birthplace of Apollo as well as the Goddess Artemis.
Wednesday, May 8
In Cornwall, England, the annual Furry Dance is performed in the streets of Helston on this day in honor of the old Celtic Horned God in the guise of Robin Hood. The festival, which features street dancing and a daylong procession throughout the town for good fortune, is one of the oldest surviving Springtime ceremonies in the world. Theosophists commemorate the death of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on this day, which they call White Lotus Day.
Thursday, May 9
An annual rite called the Lemuria was performed on this date in ancient Roman times to appease the restless spirits of the dead (Lemures), who materialized on this day to haunt the homes where they had once lived. The Lemuria was also held on the eleventh and thirteenth of May. As part of the rite, black beans (symbolic of the Underworld) were tossed as offerings to the ghosts and a powerful prayer was recited nine times.
Friday, May 10
The sacred marriage of the god Shiva to the Goddess Meenakshi is celebrated annually on this date by faithful followers in Madurai, India. Sacred hymns are sung and offerings of incense and white flower petals are made at all temples dedicated to Shiva. Tin Hau, the Chinese Goddess of the North Star, is honored annually on this day with a festival in Hong Kong.
Saturday, May 11
On this date in the year 1659, the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned all celebrations of Christmas in the New World after declaring the event to be a Pagan festival of superstition and "a great dishonnor [sic] of God."
In England, Christmas festivities had been banned by the Puritans seven years earlier. It wasn't until the year 1660 when Charles II was restored to the throne that the law banning the celebration of Christmas was repealed.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week full of great things! See you next week with more Pagan Lore,
Karen
Televised Trials
Now that another trial is winding to an end in the living rooms across the country, I wonder where the networks will go next in their scramble for ratings. The first one of these "made for TV" trials I remember was OJ Simpson and that fiasco. As Americans held their collective breath, we watched the whole thing over and over and over. It was discussed on local stations, national news and became a huge media circus.
Then the nation sat glued to their TV sets watching the Casey Anthony trial. I personally found the whole thing appalling and was horrified by the fact that people allowed themselves to be suckered into watching the media feeding frenzy. Every look, every whispered conversation, every outfit that Casey Anthony wore were dissected and debated at length by the media. And America allowed itself to be pulled into the whole thing.
Now we get to watch Jody Arias and it is the entire thing all over again. What comes next? Do the networks decide that watching executions makes for good ratings? Will we allow ourselves to get pulled into whatever the media thinks makes for good TV?
First of all, why do we care? It has nothing to do with us! Whether that defendant is found guilty or innocent isn't going to change our lives, but can you imagine what it is like for the jurors in these cases? When the media and America have decided the guilt or innocence of the defendant those jurors have had their faces emblazoned everywhere. They have to live with neighbors who perhaps disagree with the decision. How is this changing their lives? Does it mean that jurors will be afraid to convict someone for fear of everyone knowing and disagreeing?
In my opinion, this is a stupid and dangerous thing to do. However the jury decides, the media has already convicted the defendant and consequently, so has America. Would you want to be in the position of that person?
The Sunday Stew is a free, weekly publication serving the Pagan community. All submissions are copyrighted to their authors, and opinions expressed are strictly those of the author, not necessarily those of the blog owner. We love your feedback, so please be sure to leave a comment or email Kallan with suggestions for improvement.
Song of the Week with Kestril Trueseeker
Right about now is one of my favorite times of year. I'm lucky that the cherry blossom trees on my block bloom a bit later than others in my area. The petals are just beginning to fall now and I like taking the time to just stand under one, even if just for a few moments to soak it all in. In a week from now, most of the blossoms will be gone I imagine. But taking the time to appreciate their beauty and this moment in my life in general is balm enough for my soul to keep me to the next spring and the next blooming season.
So take time out to stop and really savor things around you. It's not being lazy. It's good medicine for your soul.
Happy Birthday this week to Glenn Hodshire, Lisa Strand, Dorothy Morrison, Lily Collins, Margarita Ruseldorf, Gwain Nighthawk, Darrin Parkin, Jody Weitzman, Christopher Penczak, TJ Christie, Cindy Bevelheimer, and Sandra Bateman Collette! May this be your best birthday ever, and may the next year bring you joy, happiness, peace, prosperity and abundance in all the best things!
In the News
Paganism No Longer Cloaked in Mystery
Pagan Group Encourages Religious Tolerance
Pagans Shed Light on the Dark Image of a Faith in Nature and the Individual
Witchcraft: Tripura acts to stop tribals' killings
Papua New Guinea Witchcraft Killings: Government Considers Firing Squad Executions
Human Skulls recovery: Witchcraft the motive, reveal investigations
Girl (12) Confesses to Witchcraft
Pagan Witch Says Her Home was Targeted
Prominent Pagan Activist Helping New Port Richey Witch After Attacks
Pagan Lore with Karen Szabo
Good Morning, Sunday Stew readers! It's time to serve up this week's helping of Pagan Lore, so read on!
Sunday, May 5
On this date in the year 2000, according to a group called the Lemurian Fellowship, the legendary lost continent of Mu will rise up from the Pacific Ocean. In various parts of Mexico and Central America, centuries-old rain ceremonies are performed every year on this day by shamanic priests and priestesses of the Old Faith. The ancient Goddesses who preside over rain and fertility are honored and invoked with prayers and offerings.
Monday, May 6
On this day in the year 1938, the Long Island Church of Aphrodite was established in West Hempsted, New York, by the Reverend Gleb Botkin, a Russian author and son the court physician to the last Czar of Russia.
Tuesday, May 7
On this date (approximately), a festival called the Thargelia was celebrated by the ancient Greeks and Ionians in honor of Apollo, the god of the sun, prophecy, music, medicine, and poetry. The festival was held once a year on the sacred island of Delos, the traditional birthplace of Apollo as well as the Goddess Artemis.
Wednesday, May 8
In Cornwall, England, the annual Furry Dance is performed in the streets of Helston on this day in honor of the old Celtic Horned God in the guise of Robin Hood. The festival, which features street dancing and a daylong procession throughout the town for good fortune, is one of the oldest surviving Springtime ceremonies in the world. Theosophists commemorate the death of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on this day, which they call White Lotus Day.
Thursday, May 9
An annual rite called the Lemuria was performed on this date in ancient Roman times to appease the restless spirits of the dead (Lemures), who materialized on this day to haunt the homes where they had once lived. The Lemuria was also held on the eleventh and thirteenth of May. As part of the rite, black beans (symbolic of the Underworld) were tossed as offerings to the ghosts and a powerful prayer was recited nine times.
Friday, May 10
The sacred marriage of the god Shiva to the Goddess Meenakshi is celebrated annually on this date by faithful followers in Madurai, India. Sacred hymns are sung and offerings of incense and white flower petals are made at all temples dedicated to Shiva. Tin Hau, the Chinese Goddess of the North Star, is honored annually on this day with a festival in Hong Kong.
Saturday, May 11
On this date in the year 1659, the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned all celebrations of Christmas in the New World after declaring the event to be a Pagan festival of superstition and "a great dishonnor [sic] of God."
In England, Christmas festivities had been banned by the Puritans seven years earlier. It wasn't until the year 1660 when Charles II was restored to the throne that the law banning the celebration of Christmas was repealed.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week full of great things! See you next week with more Pagan Lore,
Karen
Sparkle & Shine with Sosanna
I like to post things here that make me happy. There are so many things in the news and in the world that really bum the crap out of me. Today I want to talk about another one of my passions. Tattoos.
Most that follow my blog (Confessions of a Modern Witch) will be familiar with the fact that I have some body image issues. I’ve struggled back and forth with weight gain and loss the majority of my life. I’ve been as much as 300 lbs. and as low as 110 lbs. I eat right and have cut out much of my sugar but because I have a desk job so I spend a lot of time sitting. When I was working out, which I hated, I was able to drop the weight. Since I’ve stopped working out, it has come right back.
I have a tendency to adorn myself with sparkles so that I can make myself “prettier”. Growing up, I didn’t get much encouragement from my family and in fact was told just how unattractive I was. Those words made me feel awful. As an adult, I just wanted to be pretty.
I change my hair and adorn my body with jewelry and tattoos. I love, LOVE tattoos. I am lucky enough to have a hubby that does wonders with the needle. I’m able to look up a design, send him the pictures and within hours I have a wonderful tattoo drawn out and an appointment set with my very own personal tattooist.
Just a little over two weeks ago a e-Zine that I write for often put up a note that they were looking for Hecatean Ink for an upcoming issue. Askei Kataskei is a quarterly e-zine that is published as a free PDF download at Lulu. I wanted a special tattoo, one that contained an ambigram.
An ambigram is a word that can be read upside down and right-side up. I have the word “Witch” as an ambigram on my neck surrounded by bats flying up my neck. I started searching for correspondences for the Goddess Hecate and decided I wanted to stay with the animal correspondences. The dog, the serpentand the owlare all animals that are said to be familiars for the Goddess.
Even though some people believe that tribal is the tattoo of the eighties, I happen to love it. So I searched the web for tribal images of her familiars. I came up with three that fit the bill. Hubby had wanted to give me an armband on my right side to match my left for just over a year so we focused on that area. My original band had plumeria flowers. Plumeria flowers are most fragrant at night; this is the same time of day that Hecate is said to be most active.
Many cultures believe the plumeria have properties associated with the dead and is related to the Oleander plant which is toxic. Some believe the flowers provide shelter to ghosts and demons and in Bangladeshi culture they are associated with funerals and death. In Sri Lanka the flower is associated with worship. With all these references this was a fitting flower to grace my Hecate tattoo.
Today it’s healing and I can’t wait to sit down with hubby and try to take some great pics to submit to the e-Zine. Until then, I’ll share these with you on my Pinterest page. I am completely in love with it. One of the newest things that make me sparkle and shine.
Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
Uncharted Seas with Captain Dave
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.![]()
Offering the Sacrificial Carrot
Clik here to view.
Offering the Sacrificial CarrotWe live in the country of the Big Mac, the Whopper, the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, the BLT, tuna salad, shrimp cocktail, beef jerky, eggs & bacon, pork rinds, and Buffalo wings. We hit the drive-thru, the convenience store, or just pick up the phone and have it delivered in 30 minutes or less or it’s free!
Where does it come from?
We have distanced ourselves from what meat is, where it originates, how it makes it to our plates – in fact, we have made it such a sterile affair that when we see images of an animal being slaughtered in some remote village, we are so disturbed as to want to take action against the barbaric practice.
What is barbaric is how our own meat makes it to our tables.
When food becomes an industry, it takes on a whole new level of being. The focus is on mass production over animal care. Quantity over quality. As the demand grows more and more due to the advertisements from clowns and kings and cute redheaded girls, the concentration in the same amount of land increases and dangerous growth-inducing drugs to produce the meat faster, as well as concentrated antibiotics to combat the inevitable illnesses are introduced.
Animal Sacrifice
The practice of sacrifice in certain religions such as Vodou, Santeria, and others, is regarded as horrific by those of us in Western “civilization”. Part of that reason stems from the underlying societal structuring that we have all been indoctrinated within. It’s taking a life, so it must be evil, right? Bloodshed for a religion – how horrible! The poor animal! This has to be stopped!
The primary reason, however, is due to how sterile our own relationship to that bacon in your refrigerator and that turkey breast in your freezer have become. We have practically forgotten that these were once living, breathing animals.
So, why sacrifice? Why is a living animal killed in ritual? Why do we often see images of goats having their throats slit, oxen being bled, chickens having their heads chopped off…during religious worship?
What’s that all about? (read more here)
Sunshine's Meanderings with Kathleen Lane
Televised Trials
Now that another trial is winding to an end in the living rooms across the country, I wonder where the networks will go next in their scramble for ratings. The first one of these "made for TV" trials I remember was OJ Simpson and that fiasco. As Americans held their collective breath, we watched the whole thing over and over and over. It was discussed on local stations, national news and became a huge media circus.
Then the nation sat glued to their TV sets watching the Casey Anthony trial. I personally found the whole thing appalling and was horrified by the fact that people allowed themselves to be suckered into watching the media feeding frenzy. Every look, every whispered conversation, every outfit that Casey Anthony wore were dissected and debated at length by the media. And America allowed itself to be pulled into the whole thing.
Now we get to watch Jody Arias and it is the entire thing all over again. What comes next? Do the networks decide that watching executions makes for good ratings? Will we allow ourselves to get pulled into whatever the media thinks makes for good TV?
First of all, why do we care? It has nothing to do with us! Whether that defendant is found guilty or innocent isn't going to change our lives, but can you imagine what it is like for the jurors in these cases? When the media and America have decided the guilt or innocence of the defendant those jurors have had their faces emblazoned everywhere. They have to live with neighbors who perhaps disagree with the decision. How is this changing their lives? Does it mean that jurors will be afraid to convict someone for fear of everyone knowing and disagreeing?
In my opinion, this is a stupid and dangerous thing to do. However the jury decides, the media has already convicted the defendant and consequently, so has America. Would you want to be in the position of that person?
This Week in Astrology
May 9th: Venus enters Gemini 11:03 AM
"Venus is in Gemini from May 9-June 2. In Gemini, we have a finger in every pie. Curiosity motivates us on romantic and social levels. "Variety is the spice of life" is the attitude now. We are sociable, communicative, and interested. We can be animated and fun but may also keep our distance on an emotional level. Attractions now may begin with words, as we tend to bond more readily on a mental level with Venus in Gemini. The shadow side of Gemini is fickleness". ~ CafeAstrology.com
New Moon in Taurus/Solar Eclipse occurs on Thursday, May 9th, 2013, at 8:29 PM EDT
Solar Eclipse May 2013: GoldMining
The Cosmic Story: Taurus New Moon Solar Eclipse
This video is about 23 minutes long. I found some of the insights really useful and hope you will as well. I'd love to get your feedback on it. Did you like it? Too long? Boring or Interesting?
Solar Eclipse May 2013: GoldMining
The Cosmic Story: Taurus New Moon Solar Eclipse
This video is about 23 minutes long. I found some of the insights really useful and hope you will as well. I'd love to get your feedback on it. Did you like it? Too long? Boring or Interesting?
Moon Voc Calendar this Week
Weekly Tarot: 8 of Wands
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Vanessa Tarot |
Eights: Structure
Wands: Raw Energy
"A sudden release of raw power, cutting through confusion and indecision, and setting things in motion. Rapid progress towards a desired goal, brought about by immediate and decisive action. Boldness and daring in love, business, travel, or spiritual growth." ~Facade
This is a great message for those of us who are working on projects of any kind. It means quick progress and rapid completion, but also that something new and exciting is on the horizon that will occupy us as well; something very inspirational. This is definitely the card that says "strike while the iron is hot", so take advantage of the energy available to you and move forward! Just one word of caution: be sure your resources and a plan of action are firmly in place. This raw energy can be very heady!
Weekly Totem: Chickadee
Key words and phrases: Bravery, Boldness, Cheerfulness, Truthful expression
Chickadees (also known as black-capped chickadees) are a favorite of bird-watchers in North America (they are native to this continent). They are known for being completely unafraid and are a delight to encounter. They seem to innately know friend from foe, and walk their truth with confidence. While they associate in flocks, they will only fly across an open field one at a time. They are known to nest in birch or alder trees. In ancient Ireland, alder was considered to be sacred, and laws were set up to prohibit the felling of alder trees. Chickadees always bring enchantment with them wherever they go. Recently, I was scolded by one for not having bird seed out when he was ready to dine. When I ceded to his request, he nodded at me, shook his tail feathers, and took off with his breakfast.
"To the Cherokee Indians, the chickadee is the bird of truth. It helps us to pinpoint truth and knowledge. One tale speaks of a witch by the name of Spearfinger who terrorized the entire tribe. She would wait in hiding to kill any passer-by. After killing them, she would stab the liver of the individual with her spear finger and eat it. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the witch as she was made mostly of stone. Then a chickadee landed on her, showing the tribe warriors exactly where she was vulnerable to attack, giving the warriors the victory.
Those who have a chickadee as a totem will learn to express the truth in a manner that heals, balances, and opens the perceptions. Truth is shared in a manner that adds cheer and joy to your own life and the lives of others." ~ Ted Andrews, Animal Speak
Chickadee can show you where your truth lies and how to find the knowledge within. Follow his example: be bold, brave and cheerful this week, and discover your personal truth.
The Shameless Plug
You will remember last month my "For the Love of Ly" week in which I shared excerpts from my favorite author of all time, Ly De Angeles. You may also remember that the updated version of "The Feast of Flesh and Spirit" would be released sometime soon. It's almost here, and I want to keep it on your radar. I know it went to the printers, and you can order it soon through Ly's Creative Space site. Don't forget to check out the Facebook Page for The Feast of Flesh and Spirit as well!
That's it for this week's stew. Mull. Digest. Enjoy!