Saturday, October 26, 2013
Tempus Fugit
The wheel of time goes round and round. From our office window we see the trees on Sandstone Mountain are now bare. They've dropped their beautiful fall coloring.
This reminds us of the time fifty years ago when we applied for federal recognition of the Church and School of Wicca as a religious association. Fifty years and almost 60,000 students seems now to be a lot of work. It has all happened slowly and gradually, one step at a time. The heady days when the IRS was investigating us and our attorney was saying, "Don't worry"--while the IRS seemed to be saying, "Go directly to jail" are a long time and many autumns in the past.
Even with Gavin's serious surgery we're still looking forward to many more views of the beautiful mountain in its variety of colors. Soon the view will be white; but we know that white will be followed by spring greenery, and we think the future is looking brighter.
Blessed Be Y'all Gavin and Yvonne
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Pulltogether or die
Our friends of the First Nations have a saying: "Walk your talk." In other words, put your money where your mouth is; don't make hollow claims. Thinking about that idea, we reflect that in the Wiccan/pagan community fewer and fewer people are willing to do that. An example:
Recently we've* been trying to find Wiccans who will visit prisons to counsel--or even to chat with--the many inmates who claim Wicca as their religion or their spiritual path. So far as we know, no one has yet volunteered: not one single individual. Ten years ago we used to get volunteers, but not today.
And so once again it falls on us to do any visiting that gets done. Given our advancing years and given the state of our health, it's quite a chore to travel across country for perhaps a one-hour session with an inmate.
The sorry irony about all this is that it was through inmates (the famous Dettmer versus Landon case) that Wicca got final confirmation of its federal recognition as a valid religion. Now it seems that self-styled Wiccan/pagans in the outside community--"on the street"--are not willing to support inmates as inmates supported the Craft.
Big Brother is out there. In the last year three "churches" have been declared believers in a philosophy, not in a religion. If this keeps up, the Community will lose the federal recognition for which we Frosts have fought so hard and to which we Frosts have committed our lives, our strength, our creativity. In a recent blog we tried to encourage people to come together and form larger groups that would have more political power. The idea was that if we could agree on even a few of the most basic tenets, the Community might become a more visible presence and might work together to strengthen its validity in the public perception. The comments on that blog totally disgusted us. And beyond disgust: we were heartsick. Apparently, there is no consensus in the self-styled Community even on such an essential idea as the Wiccan Rede. In fact we wondered whether we should stop blogging altogether and simply save ourselves the heartache.
Quite frankly we're fed up with it all. We've been the Community's scapegoats for over forty (40) years. Well, Community, you won't have to bother with us that much longer. And if you don't pull together now, you never will.
The choice is yours. The future is in your hands. What sort of future do you want? Having to meet furtively in secret? Having to lie to your associates about how you're spending your time? Having to live again under total repression? Do you want to live in a spiritual void, wondering whether you are alone on the planet? (Ask an inmate how fulfilling Solitary is.) Or do you want to go into the future having a strong spiritual and mundane belief system to live by, that governments and individuals around the world cannot ignore?
If there were a coin engraved on one side with the word Privilege, its other side would have to be engraved Responsibility. Two of us have made our choice. If you have the testosterone or the ovarian fortitude, you can make the same choice. If you don't have those qualifications, ask yourself: Do I deserve to share in what the Frosts have won?
- - - - - - - -
* Throughout this blog "we" means "we Frosts".
Recently we've* been trying to find Wiccans who will visit prisons to counsel--or even to chat with--the many inmates who claim Wicca as their religion or their spiritual path. So far as we know, no one has yet volunteered: not one single individual. Ten years ago we used to get volunteers, but not today.
And so once again it falls on us to do any visiting that gets done. Given our advancing years and given the state of our health, it's quite a chore to travel across country for perhaps a one-hour session with an inmate.
The sorry irony about all this is that it was through inmates (the famous Dettmer versus Landon case) that Wicca got final confirmation of its federal recognition as a valid religion. Now it seems that self-styled Wiccan/pagans in the outside community--"on the street"--are not willing to support inmates as inmates supported the Craft.
Big Brother is out there. In the last year three "churches" have been declared believers in a philosophy, not in a religion. If this keeps up, the Community will lose the federal recognition for which we Frosts have fought so hard and to which we Frosts have committed our lives, our strength, our creativity. In a recent blog we tried to encourage people to come together and form larger groups that would have more political power. The idea was that if we could agree on even a few of the most basic tenets, the Community might become a more visible presence and might work together to strengthen its validity in the public perception. The comments on that blog totally disgusted us. And beyond disgust: we were heartsick. Apparently, there is no consensus in the self-styled Community even on such an essential idea as the Wiccan Rede. In fact we wondered whether we should stop blogging altogether and simply save ourselves the heartache.
Quite frankly we're fed up with it all. We've been the Community's scapegoats for over forty (40) years. Well, Community, you won't have to bother with us that much longer. And if you don't pull together now, you never will.
The choice is yours. The future is in your hands. What sort of future do you want? Having to meet furtively in secret? Having to lie to your associates about how you're spending your time? Having to live again under total repression? Do you want to live in a spiritual void, wondering whether you are alone on the planet? (Ask an inmate how fulfilling Solitary is.) Or do you want to go into the future having a strong spiritual and mundane belief system to live by, that governments and individuals around the world cannot ignore?
If there were a coin engraved on one side with the word Privilege, its other side would have to be engraved Responsibility. Two of us have made our choice. If you have the testosterone or the ovarian fortitude, you can make the same choice. If you don't have those qualifications, ask yourself: Do I deserve to share in what the Frosts have won?
- - - - - - - -
* Throughout this blog "we" means "we Frosts".
Monday, May 27, 2013
Morphing of Words
Of course we all know that words change their meaning over time. One of those that always amuses Gavin is virgin. In the (Welsh) Laws of Hywel Dda given in the White House on the River Taff, it is decreed that a nobleman may marry only a virgin with two healthy children. Obviously virgin didn't mean intact, as it has come to mean currently in the United States.
A simple little word such as nice might confuse you when it is applied to an adolescent, for it means exact, as in a nice distinction ... that is, if any distinction can be exact.
When it comes to other words such as hag (see Yvonne's thoughts below on hq/crone) the Christians have had a field day. Crone also falls into the same category, although of course Chronos is the elder god, the god preceding all others.
Yvonne muses:
Only Mecca itself surpasses Hagia Sophia in the reverence it receives from worshippers and tourists. Sophia means wisdom, but what does hagia mean? Hagia means holy! A word from ancient Egypt gives the clue: hq or hk is a holy woman.
Because of assorted malevolent propaganda masters working through the centuries, hk/hq has morphed into hag. Likewise with crone: one crowned (cf corona) with wisdom and maturity, meriting our deep respect.
My thinking is prompted by reflection on hk/hq and on crone. If I'm perceiving everything wrong, please give me information (specific information with sources, not just vituperation) that will set me straight.
A simple little word such as nice might confuse you when it is applied to an adolescent, for it means exact, as in a nice distinction ... that is, if any distinction can be exact.
When it comes to other words such as hag (see Yvonne's thoughts below on hq/crone) the Christians have had a field day. Crone also falls into the same category, although of course Chronos is the elder god, the god preceding all others.
Yvonne muses:
Only Mecca itself surpasses Hagia Sophia in the reverence it receives from worshippers and tourists. Sophia means wisdom, but what does hagia mean? Hagia means holy! A word from ancient Egypt gives the clue: hq or hk is a holy woman.
Because of assorted malevolent propaganda masters working through the centuries, hk/hq has morphed into hag. Likewise with crone: one crowned (cf corona) with wisdom and maturity, meriting our deep respect.
My thinking is prompted by reflection on hk/hq and on crone. If I'm perceiving everything wrong, please give me information (specific information with sources, not just vituperation) that will set me straight.
another day, another tornado
Yvonne reflects.
Monday, May 20, 2013 saw yet another tornado tear up Tornado Alley, again destroying town after town with particular activity at Moore, Oklahoma. Does anyone else see a pattern here, or see grounds for speculation based on a long-term view of events?
I can't help musing. In the 1800s untold thousands of First Nations peoples were killed and displaced from the lands they had inhabited and cherished since time beyond memory. Don't get me wrong: the slaughter and ethnic cleansing were impartial. "Don't take this personally. We just want you dead or out of the way. Here. This black book will comfort you--or it would if you could read King James English."
A web search names nation after nation that got such treatment, labeling the nations "Native Americans" or "Indians", giving us a choice between two further insults. Among those nations listed we found Plains Apache, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cayuga, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek, Delaware, Ioway, Kaw, Keetoowah Cherokees, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Miami/Peoria, Missouria-Otoe, Modoc, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sac and Fox, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, Wyandotte, Yuchi.
If my usage constitutes yet another insult, I ask pardon: My mistakes are those of ignorance, not of ill-will. My own Cherokee grandmother was often quoted around the table,
"I don't want any preacher throwing dirt in my face at my funeral. Just give me a banjo solo."
Thus a thought occurs to my deviant mind:
The guardian spirits of those nations are fed up to here with the way white (make that pink) people have usurped and abused those beautiful and beloved lands. Said spirits may now feel they have waited long enough for an apology or for any symptom even of awareness, let alone remorse, and have declared payback time. Hence the events of the tornado season. If I am wrong in my thinking, please correct me with specifics.
Blessed Be Yvonne
Monday, May 20, 2013 saw yet another tornado tear up Tornado Alley, again destroying town after town with particular activity at Moore, Oklahoma. Does anyone else see a pattern here, or see grounds for speculation based on a long-term view of events?
I can't help musing. In the 1800s untold thousands of First Nations peoples were killed and displaced from the lands they had inhabited and cherished since time beyond memory. Don't get me wrong: the slaughter and ethnic cleansing were impartial. "Don't take this personally. We just want you dead or out of the way. Here. This black book will comfort you--or it would if you could read King James English."
A web search names nation after nation that got such treatment, labeling the nations "Native Americans" or "Indians", giving us a choice between two further insults. Among those nations listed we found Plains Apache, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cayuga, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek, Delaware, Ioway, Kaw, Keetoowah Cherokees, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Miami/Peoria, Missouria-Otoe, Modoc, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, Quapaw, Sac and Fox, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, Wyandotte, Yuchi.
If my usage constitutes yet another insult, I ask pardon: My mistakes are those of ignorance, not of ill-will. My own Cherokee grandmother was often quoted around the table,
"I don't want any preacher throwing dirt in my face at my funeral. Just give me a banjo solo."
Thus a thought occurs to my deviant mind:
The guardian spirits of those nations are fed up to here with the way white (make that pink) people have usurped and abused those beautiful and beloved lands. Said spirits may now feel they have waited long enough for an apology or for any symptom even of awareness, let alone remorse, and have declared payback time. Hence the events of the tornado season. If I am wrong in my thinking, please correct me with specifics.
Blessed Be Yvonne
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Consortiun of Wiccan Groups
It has been high in our list of priorities for many years that we who practice the Craft need greater numbers to speak with authority (with a single voice, if you will) on a range of topics.
It seems to us that the only way such a thing can happen is if we form a new consortium of churches and other groups to identify some shared ideas that we can all subscribe to. We believe that some form of democratic organization of associated groups will be able to speak with greater authority than we Frosts alone (or indeed, any isolated voice) could muster.
To this end, then, we believe it might be possible to use our (Church of Wicca) website to put up a page for each group that wishes to join, where they can outline their philosophy and perhaps see who salutes. After all, the website is very high up on any of the search engines, and does achieve hundreds of hits a day. Just now it is limited to promoting the Church and School of Wicca alone, but it could easily be expanded.
Your thoughts on this topic will be appreciated, especially on the idea of whether it would be an association, a consortium, an information booth, or ... who knows? Let's be very clear on one thing: We're not talking Mount Olympus here. It might resemble a town hall, where people could reveal their thoughts and beliefs and perhaps find others of like mind. The key point is that the Church of Wicca would not be in control, except in this aspect: if we really objected to something, we could remove the page from the website--but it would have to be a very dramatic disagreement, maybe something on the level of child pornography. We don't think such a thing will happen.
It seems to us that the only way such a thing can happen is if we form a new consortium of churches and other groups to identify some shared ideas that we can all subscribe to. We believe that some form of democratic organization of associated groups will be able to speak with greater authority than we Frosts alone (or indeed, any isolated voice) could muster.
To this end, then, we believe it might be possible to use our (Church of Wicca) website to put up a page for each group that wishes to join, where they can outline their philosophy and perhaps see who salutes. After all, the website is very high up on any of the search engines, and does achieve hundreds of hits a day. Just now it is limited to promoting the Church and School of Wicca alone, but it could easily be expanded.
Your thoughts on this topic will be appreciated, especially on the idea of whether it would be an association, a consortium, an information booth, or ... who knows? Let's be very clear on one thing: We're not talking Mount Olympus here. It might resemble a town hall, where people could reveal their thoughts and beliefs and perhaps find others of like mind. The key point is that the Church of Wicca would not be in control, except in this aspect: if we really objected to something, we could remove the page from the website--but it would have to be a very dramatic disagreement, maybe something on the level of child pornography. We don't think such a thing will happen.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Venus and the Megalithic Yard
Those of you who are interested in the ancient measure, Proffesor Alexander Thom's megalithic yard (MY), would do well to investigate the book Civilization One by Christopher Knight and Alan Butler (ISBN 978-1-907486-09-8). Messers Knight and Butler investigate an early unit of measure which was accurate within millimeters from the northern Hebrides to southern Europe. The unit of measure has a relationship too with the Minoan culture's foot.
The first fact that comes as a surprise to many is that the old Summarian civilization used a circle of 366 degrees. That circle with its 366 divisions was obviously based on the length of the year (approximately 365 1/4 days). The diameter of the earth had early on been calculated by accurately measuring the length of one degree. The question has always been: How can you develop a measure using this fact?
You yourself can do a similar experiment: Working on the day of spring or autumn equinox, set up two poles of equal height, say 50 MY (Megalithic Yards) apart, in an E --> W direction, and two more poles in a N --> S direction. Measure the time it takes for the shadow of the first pole to be the same length as the shadow of the second pole. You must measure the shadows to better than a millimeter and the time to less than 1/10 second. The measurement results in a full polar circumference of the earth of 48,221,838 MY.
The ancient Sumerians used a base 6 for their calculations, so they separated each degree into 60 minutes and each minute into 6 seconds. When you divide this out, you find that one second of the full circumferance of the earth turns out to be 366 MY. You might call this a coincidence--but it isn't.
If you erect two poles separated by one degree of arc, then you can determine how long a star or a planet takes to traverse the distance between the two poles, measuring this time by the swing of a pendulum. The same mathematical trick that we use in casting our circles can be used to accomplish this. If you cast a circle of diameter 233 units and then divide it up using a 2-unit stick, you will find that you get one degree of arc per division. When you do this for a star, you find a pendulum length close to half a MY, but not quite, and certainly not within the accuracy to which the megalithic monuments were built.
It occurred to researcher Robert Lomas that perhaps the ancients used not a star but the planet Venus. Working with Christopher Knight (see above), Lomas had found that Venus was hugely important to the builders of megalithic sites. For example, New Grange was designed so that the light of Venus came into its central chamber for only a couple of minutes every eight years.
When you measure the transit of Venus between your two poles, you see that you get various results. This is because the apparent movement of Venus is regulated by the fact that it moves around the sun as the earth does. If you use a pendulum to measure its transit, when you measure the slowest transit, you get a pendulum length of exactly ½ MY--and we mean exactly: to better than 1 part in 3,000. Thus you have a method of developing the MY with very high accuracy no matter where on earth you are. True, in a very few places, such as high mountains or deep valleys, the swing of the pendulum will be slightly off. In most cases, though, this will result in an error of less than 1 part in 10,000.
Thus you can develop the MY with the most simple of tools: pieces of string, some form of plumb-bob weight, and a measuring stick (which can be of any length). It seems that our ancestors were far smarter than we thought: not just pointing and grunting ....
Why should you go to all this song-and-dance? Because the megalithic yard is the unit of measure we Wiccans use in casting our circles for spiritual work. Good enough?
By the way, Civilization One also explores liquid and cubic measure, and shows that they were probably developed for trade.
Those of you who are interested in the ancient measure, Proffesor Alexander Thom's megalithic yard (MY), would do well to investigate the book Civilization One by Christopher Knight and Alan Butler (ISBN 978-1-907486-09-8). Messers Knight and Butler investigate an early unit of measure which was accurate within millimeters from the northern Hebrides to southern Europe. The unit of measure has a relationship too with the Minoan culture's foot.
The first fact that comes as a surprise to many is that the old Summarian civilization used a circle of 366 degrees. That circle with its 366 divisions was obviously based on the length of the year (approximately 365 1/4 days). The diameter of the earth had early on been calculated by accurately measuring the length of one degree. The question has always been: How can you develop a measure using this fact?
You yourself can do a similar experiment: Working on the day of spring or autumn equinox, set up two poles of equal height, say 50 MY (Megalithic Yards) apart, in an E --> W direction, and two more poles in a N --> S direction. Measure the time it takes for the shadow of the first pole to be the same length as the shadow of the second pole. You must measure the shadows to better than a millimeter and the time to less than 1/10 second. The measurement results in a full polar circumference of the earth of 48,221,838 MY.
The ancient Sumerians used a base 6 for their calculations, so they separated each degree into 60 minutes and each minute into 6 seconds. When you divide this out, you find that one second of the full circumferance of the earth turns out to be 366 MY. You might call this a coincidence--but it isn't.
If you erect two poles separated by one degree of arc, then you can determine how long a star or a planet takes to traverse the distance between the two poles, measuring this time by the swing of a pendulum. The same mathematical trick that we use in casting our circles can be used to accomplish this. If you cast a circle of diameter 233 units and then divide it up using a 2-unit stick, you will find that you get one degree of arc per division. When you do this for a star, you find a pendulum length close to half a MY, but not quite, and certainly not within the accuracy to which the megalithic monuments were built.
It occurred to researcher Robert Lomas that perhaps the ancients used not a star but the planet Venus. Working with Christopher Knight (see above), Lomas had found that Venus was hugely important to the builders of megalithic sites. For example, New Grange was designed so that the light of Venus came into its central chamber for only a couple of minutes every eight years.
When you measure the transit of Venus between your two poles, you see that you get various results. This is because the apparent movement of Venus is regulated by the fact that it moves around the sun as the earth does. If you use a pendulum to measure its transit, when you measure the slowest transit, you get a pendulum length of exactly ½ MY--and we mean exactly: to better than 1 part in 3,000. Thus you have a method of developing the MY with very high accuracy no matter where on earth you are. True, in a very few places, such as high mountains or deep valleys, the swing of the pendulum will be slightly off. In most cases, though, this will result in an error of less than 1 part in 10,000.
Thus you can develop the MY with the most simple of tools: pieces of string, some form of plumb-bob weight, and a measuring stick (which can be of any length). It seems that our ancestors were far smarter than we thought: not just pointing and grunting ....
Why should you go to all this song-and-dance? Because the megalithic yard is the unit of measure we Wiccans use in casting our circles for spiritual work. Good enough?
By the way, Civilization One also explores liquid and cubic measure, and shows that they were probably developed for trade.
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