Second Class Citizen

*sigh*

There are those of us who remain unsurprised by the reality of the world at large. I am one of those who is constantly dissapointed by it none the less. For those who do not know, i live in Springfield, OH. For those who do not know, I am a lesbian.

For those who have watched the video and read the previous statement, prepare for Rant Ignition.

I spoke on behalf of the LGBTQ community at one of their previous meetings regarding the general public opinion on an ordinance which would have created protection against LGBTQ discrimination in housing and work in Clark County. While federal law prevents discrimination from refusing to HIRE and HOUSE an LGBTQ person based on said identity, it does not prevent firing or evicition based on the aformentioned. I believe in not fixing something till it is broken, but I have faced discrimination in the past both on the job and home front with this issue and I went as a representitive of a local organization to support the LGBTQ rights.

I was not the only one by far. The room was (like this night) standing room only and many people held strong opinions on this issue. Most of which I am greatful to say were in SUPPORT of this ordinance, hoping to bring a better state of acceptance and tolerance to Springfield’s darkening image as Amercia’s most depressing town.

I am profoundly depressed and resentful at the moment. A mood which I am sure will eventually pass or at the very least smoulder into a deep brooding anger that violates the laws of time and space to create a hole of black energy which will consume this universe as we know it.

To put it succinctly ladies and gentlemen, I am miffed.

 

Children’s Book Reviews

I’ve been looking for a project for some time, something both to keep busy, fill out my WP a bit more, and attract some attention to my blog and my shop. This in tandem with my current classes in Children’s Literature lead to only one inevitable conclusion.

I’m going to do a book review once a week. But instead of looking at adult literature, I’m going to be focusing primarily children’s lit. I am still working on all the criteria & formatting, but the books will be those which specifically lend themselves to paganism and witchcraft either intentionally or unintentionally and would be excellent additions to any home library of children’s bookshelf. I will give a preview of what the review will include below, but I also want to get some feedback as to what I could include and any books out there people would like me to review to start out with.

IF YOU WANT TO SUBMIT A BOOK FOR REVIEW:
*Children’s Literature is primarily anything written for someone under the age of 12. Anything for an older age group could be considered adult literature as more mature content is included and thus the content becomes more subjective to interpretation. The books I will be reviewing will be for those 12 and under.
*While I will be including books which are intentionally written by and for the pagan community, I also want to include those with paganism and witchcraft subtext which may or may not be on purpose.
*I will give points for plot, how well it engages it’s audience , artwork, how accurate it’s information is and how well it conveys it. These will be as unbiased as I can make it regardless of the books intentions. After all, a crappy book is a crappy book.

BASIC FORMAT FOR REVIEW
-Cover Art-
Title:
Author:
Illustrator:
ISBN:
Publishing Company:
Year:

Genera:

Format:

Theme:

Brief Plot Summary:

Review:

Points:
PLOT
ENGAGEMENT
ARTWORK
ACCURACY
CONVEYANCE
CREATIVITY

 

Mardi Gras

For those of you out there who don’t know what Mardi Gras is or why it is important, allow me a brief indulgence.

Mardi Gras is a southern holiday (all thought it enjoys many incarnations around the world) that sprang from the Catholic Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent where you give something up for 40 days in order to celebrate Jesus’s victory of sin and death. It is, in short, a chance to indulge in all the vices before you have to give them up and be ashamed. It is particularily popular in the South and especially in New Orlenes, attracting thousands of tourists every year, most of whom flash their tits to aquire beads which come by the dozens for less than $1.

But at the end of the day, this is as close to a pagan festival as one can get short of Samhain which is generally accepted by the public. Like most celebrations it had throughly pagan incarnations which existed before the advent of the church so it really should come as no surprise that it continued till modern day. The more repressed and constrained a society the more the need exists to retreat into our animal nature and exist as baser creatures. And mind you, I say this with no condescending nature at all.

For me, we celebrated this in our schools with King Cakes, masque dances, and parades where we covered ourselves in glitter and masks and gave out beads and chocolate coins.

Most don’t know, but this also carries a special significance for Voudo followers as well, as they don’t separate it from their secular practice. It was a prime time for celebration and spiritual possession by the lwa.

For me, Mardi Gras is important as a part of my southern heritage. I am from southeast Texas, right up next to Louisiana, so there were a lot of things we celebrated that just simply don’t come around up here in the North. Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras, First Day of Deer Season (shit we got a week off school for that)! I havn’t seen anyone do those since I got up here and to me, they are still important parts of how I grew up. In their place have come celebrations like Oktoberfest and this bizzar tradition of serving bratwurst and saurkraut new years Day.

Mead Making

Now I’ve never been one to pretend I’m patient. Not in the least, but few things make me tap my feet more than having to count down days. And few things drive me more nuts than being on the day before something. So needless to say, mead making is an exercise in patience for me. One I desperately need to work out more often.

I went with a very simple recipe the first time through because I have never tried something like this before. Just some oranges and raisins to help make flavor and for the first week I have been monitoring the brew, cheching on it, watching for the bubbles (which yes I discovered are not really necessary for a functional mead) and then…waited…

…and waited…

.and waited…

…and kinda forgot about it for two weeks…

…and then my phone went off to remind me there was only a few days left until I needed to change the mead over and remembered I needed to sterilize everything to siphon it over.

It was an exciting moment for me! Not just because I was relieved to open up the bucket and see that everything looked the way it should.

*sigh of relief*

Also I feel the lack of engineering expertise when I’m trying to figure out how to work a siphoning hose. Yeah…doing it for the first time folks, remember that.

Spilled a little bit on myself and tasted it. Not sure how it should taste at this stage of the game but it was a little sour. Most mead I’ve had is sweet. Need to drop by Got Mead and see if it’s okay and if not what I can do to sweeten it up.

Now it’s sitting comfortably on my table, ready to sit and brew for another two months before being bottled. In another month I am going to start another recipe. I’m thinking something with ginger & peaches in it.

Cold and Flu Season

Urrrrrrrgh.

Hey, even witches fall victim to illness and the whim of the season urgggness. So it’s time to make things which help enable the betterment of your body.Some of these are just good old fashioned recipes my great grandmom used all the time, others are things I’ve come up with and learned how to make on my own.

1) Honey Ginger Lozenges
-1/2 th cup ginger cubed
-1/4 cup lavender (dried)
-1/4 cup orange juice
-2 tablespoons lime juice
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-4 tablespoons elderberry juice (or tincture)
-3 cups honey
-powdered sugar
-candy mold

1: Using a double boiler mix the honey, ginger and lavender on low heat for four hours.
2: Miz in the citrus elements and elderberry juice and heat for another 2 hours.
3:Use the powdered sugar to coat the candy molds.
4: Mix in the powdered sugar in small amounts until the mixture thickens. You may want to test the mixture and fill one or two candy molds, chill them, and make sure that they solidify enough to toss in powdered sugar and store.
5: Once the mixture is thick enough, fill the molds and let them chill for a few hours.
6: Place 1/4th cup of powdered sugar in the bottom of a bowl and toss the solidified lozenges around until they are coated.
7) Store in small tins.

Chicken Noodle Soup
-1 chicken, picked clean (in a pinch buy one of those already cooked chickens)
-2 cups chicken stock
-3 cups chicken broth
-1/4th cup corn
-1/4th cup peas
-1/4th cup shredded carrots
-1 hand full chopped chives
-1 hand full chopped celery
-2 tablespoons garlic
-4 tablespoons olive oil
-1/4th cup chopped onions
-1/4th teaspoon brushed black pepper
-1 tablespoon parsley
-1/2 tablespoon rosemary
-2 cans biscuits
-1/4th cup flour

1: Cook the chicken in the stock and broth and pick it clean, chop the larger breast and shred the small bits. Make sure to get all the bones out too!
2: Dump in all other ingredients save the biscuits.
3: Take the biscuits and cut them into small dumplings (into 1/6th), and toss them around in the flour a bit.
4: Plop the biscuits in one at a time and stir. Once they float to the top it’s ready to eat.
5: I prefer to serve it with fresh french bread to soak up all the goodness.

Peppermint & Lavender Tea
-Come on people it’s tea-
-3 tablespoons peppermint
-3 tablespoons lavender
-1 slice lemon
-honey
-3 cups water

1: Place ingredients in teapot strainer and pour hot water over.
2: Add lemon and allow to seep.
3: Add honey to taste and consume!

Happy Imbolc

Imbolc is a special time of year, especially for those of us who are getting some lucky springish weather appropriate to the season. Imbolc means in the belly and is the time of year when the ewes are either pregnant or lactating, promising the renewal of life to the earth. You begin to see early spring flowers like snowdrops and hyacinths, and maybe even some animals poking about if there is a break in the weather.

This is the time of year when the goddess is in wait. She has spent a long, lonely winter without companionship and now she is on the prowl for a lover and mate. She may sample many before consenting to become a wife, but she dresses as a bride to show her prospective marriageability. She is still young and wild and free and she is dressed in white, yellow and green to reflect the seasons colors.

In Irish mythos however, it is still the time of the hag Cailleach, who chooses the weather this time of year. If Imbolc dawns sunny and bright, be happy for the relief, because it means she is gathering firewood for the winter, which will be lasting much longer. I guess that’s bad luck on me because it’s positively beautiful outside right now!

I’ll be spending my Imbolc in school tonight but on Friday some friends and I are going hiking in a local nature preserve. We will bring the Bride doll I just made with us as well as candles and offerings (bird seed and such) and spend some contented hours in the woods praising the Bride.

Maiden Bride
Lady Bride
Come dance with me tonight
By the fires on this Imbolc eve
You husband there is waitin’
Your maidenhood he’s takin’
So dance with me until he pays you heed.

The Bride Doll will soon be for sale at The Red Lass Emporium for $25. Each doll is made only after it has been ordered and therefor you should expect some variance in the apperance due to material availability.