Seeing Red. {Monday Morning Mini Rant}

Photo by XK Media

Our house is situated very close to a highway and we often see livestock trucks going by. No matter how many of them drive by, it never takes the edge off the effects of seeing them. Given that we are at a set of lights, often the trucks will be stopped for a spell and we can hear the animals kicking and stirring up a fuss. We can hear how frightened the animals are.

These trucks are a reminder for me of how fucked up our society is and how we are going about many things the wrong way.

It might sound odd coming from a vegetarian, but I actually have no ethical issues with folks eating meat. What angers me is the process of how meat gets to most of our tables.

We could be going about it in a more sane and caring way. Apparently that costs too much. These mega farms and mega corps don't want to dole out the cash that might actually give these animals a better of quality of life AND a more humane death.

It is this ass-backwards thinking that makes sometimes feel that we as a society deserve nothing short of collapse.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Monday Musing: WTF?! {Belated, Ranty Edition}

So, I don't know if you all have heard about this yet, but there is a little girl in Brazil who was impregnated by a her stepfather, who is also suspected of sexually assaulting her sister:

The girl, aged nine, who lives in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, became pregnant with twins.

It is alleged that she had been sexually assaulted over a number of years by her stepfather.

(article jump)

Police believe that the girl at the centre of the case had been sexually abused by her step-father since she was six years old.

The fact that she was pregnant with twins was only discovered after she was taken to hospital in Pernambuco complaining of stomach pains.

Her stepfather was arrested last week, allegedly as he tried to escape to another region of the country.

He is also suspected of abusing the girl's physically handicapped older sister who is now 14. (BBC article, read the rest here).

Disgusting.

The little girl ended up having an abortion, for which the medical professionals and the mother of the girl were excommunicated from the Catholic Church. But what of the rapist?

Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, the conservative regional archbishop for Pernambuco where the girl was rushed to hospital, has said that the man would not be thrown out of the Church, because although he had allegedly committed "a heinous crime", the Church took the view that "the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious". (Emphasis mine, check the rest of the Independent article here).

So, let me get this straight, a potentially life-saving procedure is more evil than raping and impregnating a little girl? What does the Vatican have to say about this?

A Vatican cleric is defending a Brazilian archbishop's decision to excommunicate several doctors who performed an abortion last week on a nine-year-old girl who became pregnant with twins after alleged sexual abuse by her step-father.

"It is a sad case, but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated,'' Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told the Italian daily La Stampa.

"Life must always be protected. The attack on the Brazilian church is unjustified," Re was quoted as saying. He also heads the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. (Emphasis mine, check out the rest of the CBC article here).

Life must always be protected, huh? What about the little girl? Does her life mean nothing?

What would it take for her piece-of-shit rapist to be excommunicated? If she were to carry the twins and die in the process? Would he be held accountable for all three lives?

Somehow I doubt it.

It's bloody clear that the Church is more concerned about controlling the bodies of women and children, than punishing those who violate those bodies.

Of course, this is nothing new with the Church. It is a vile and corrupt institution. To me it has no business being a beacon of morality, or imposing its morals on us. I see it as a blight on civilized society.

"The law of God is higher than any human laws," Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said in an interview on Globo television. "When a human law is against the law of God, that law has no value." (CBC article)

Yes, I am a spiritual person. However, I don't seek to have the laws of my Deities enforced on those who do not follow Them. Unfortunately it cannot be said of the Catholic Church (as well as other religious institutions).

If we are going to live in a civilized society, then civil law should be based on logic and reason, not the laws of some God.

In a civilized society it is a disgusting thing to rape little girls, one that is more deplorable than having an abortion. Especially when it's to save a life.

In a civilized society the life of a person comes first.

Apparently the mother of the little girl brought her to a second doctor, after the first one said that her life would not be at risk to carry the twins to term.

I don't know about anyone else, but if my 80 lbs, 9-year-old daughter was carrying twins, and was told that her life wasn't in danger, I sure as hell would get a second opinion!

I'm not a medical doctor, but 80 lbs 9-year-old + twins does not = low risk pregnancy.

There are also rumours flying around on the web (which I have not seen in any media, never mind unbiased), that the little girl was forced to have the abortion. If that is the case, then to me that is equally repulsive as forcing her to go through with the pregnancy.

The real victims are the girls. My hope is that they will get a chance to heal, and to have happy, fulfilling lives.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Monday Musing: Honouring Our Ancestors

'It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.' Plutarch

Across continents and cultures, there have always been ways in which we humans have honoured the deceased, especially our ancestors. From actual ancestor worship, elaborate rituals for the dead and funeral customs, to celebrations of ancestors such as Día de los Muertos, there are many ways in which we have and do pay homage to those who have passed.

Around this time of year, here in my home we celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died, which is highlighted by feasting, ritual, and the like on Samhain.

Around the middle of October we dedicate our altar to those we have loved, whether they were a family member, friend, or pet by placing photos, belongings, and other mementos. We also decorate it with the lovely gifts that Mama Nature has left for us such as leaves, acorns, feathers, etc that remind us of this time of year.

We believe that this time of year is when the 'veil is thinnest between worlds', which makes Samhain the perfect time to commune with the dead as well. It is also a new year for us (well, at least in the spiritual sense), so we also do divination to see what the upcoming year has in store.

I won't go more into about our rituals as they are personal, but there are various ways in which one can take advantage of the little extra 'activity' happening at this time of year. I had done a post previously about herbs associated with death, which might come in handy if one is wanting to connect with the departed.

Besides the Samhain/Halloween recipes that I had posted a little while back, here are a few webbys with recipes appropriate for this time of year, and the dead:

Funeral Food from Cooks.com

A Black Feast from Widdershins

Día de los Muertos Recipes

Regardless of one's spiritual (or non-existing) beliefs, I personally think it is important to honour our ancestors, for reasons that are perfectly summed up by Edmund Burke:

'People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.'

Sláinte!

Laurel

Harvest Moon Blessings and an Etsy Update

For some of us, today is the Harvest Moon. I hope you all get to go out and enjoy her! To get you in the mood, here is a video of Neil Young's Harvest Moon.



And a small Etsy shop update, I am now offering readings, and to date I have posted a Haindl Rune Oracle Reading with more to come!



Sláinte!

Laurel

Monday Musing: Beyond Food Stamps and Soup Kitchen Line Ups

Photo from stock.xchang

I am sure that most of us are already aware that there is a real food security crisis going on pretty much all over the world. Some would blame this on high petroleum prices, or food commodity speculators, or bad growing seasons.

Personally, I see it as a symptom of how we produce our food in general: from huge industrialized farming; monoculture; the mass use of petroleum based fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides; GMOs (genetically modified organisms); shipping food thousands of miles to get to our plates, and so on.

When it comes to addressing these issues, some obvious solutions are smaller farms, producing organically, buying local, and growing and preserving our own food. But what about those who can hardly afford Mr Noodles and Spam?

This is a real serious issue in my area. According to the Ontario Association of Food Banks 2007 Hunger Report almost 320,000 people used a food bank in Ontario in 2006, and in Northern and rural Ontario, the number of users were 2 to 3 times higher than the provincial average. In the same report, it was stated that 22 percent of Ontario food banks do not have enough food to serve of their clients, and that 20 percent had to purchase half or more of their food stock outside of their community.

In my city of just over 50,000 residents, our local soup kitchen, The Gathering Place between 2003 and 2007, they served over 85,000 meals. In a report released by the District of Nipissing Social Services Administrative Board it was found that personal income is 21 percent lower in my area than the provincial average, and that more than 14 percent of the household live below the poverty line.

To top this all off, 16 percent of all personal and household incomes are coming from government assistance (a large amount of those are on Ontario Disability), and recipients of Ontario Disability would need to spend at least 24 percent of their income on food to meet nutritional requirements.

*sigh*

Are you still with me after all of those depressing stats? I hope so, because here is the good news: there are people who are actually doing something about it.

There is a group of us who are a gaggle of us who are growers, local foodies, environmentalists, and anti-poverty activists, and we are scheming. At this point almost everything hypothetical, but we do know that we want to grow organic produce for people on low incomes, and encourage social service providers (such as food banks) to grow their own food, and get some community gardens up.

The following are really excellent projects that are going on, and perhaps you can draw some inspiration from them for your own community.

The Rhizome Collective

Homeless Garden Project

Food Share

H.O.P.E

The STOP

M.O.B.Y

City Farmer

LifeCycles

Sláinte!

Laurel

Monday Musing {timely edition}: Lessons From a Feathered Visitor

Photos by Ken Thomas


Yesterday I had a Cedar Waxwing on my balcony railing, which is pretty odd, as I have never seen one there before, and they are not exactly plentiful like the crows and gulls.

Whenever I have a critter come into my life, I am keen to find out what lesson they might have for me. I believe that these animals are messengers and teachers, and there is plenty to learn from their lore and what they symbolize. Often people call these critters Animal Guides or Totems.

I scoured the web trying to find some lore about the Cedar Waxwing, and pretty much came up empty. So, turning to my trusty copy of Animal- Speak by Ted Andrews I found a small section of Waxwings.

According to Ted Andrews, Waxwings symbolize gentleness and courtesy, transformation and new consciousness, as well as mask-making and ceremonial wear.

He also calls Waxwings 'polite', and says that they are often sighted passing food to each other (learning how to share is a lesson I think that just about all of Humanity needs!).

Then he says that these are questions brought by Waxwings:

Are others extending the courtesy you deserve? Are you extending them the courtesy that they deserve? Do you need to start seeing yourself and others from a new perspective? Are you possibly not being gentle with yourself?

Well, definitely something to think about.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Monday Musing {belated edition}: A Snapshot of the Larger Picture

Photo by Jonathunder

Sweet and musky dirt underfoot
Fallen young blossoms in hair
Lifeblood smeared on hands
A painting of what our Mother would look like

Meant to dwell among the Antlered and Unfettered Green
To dance as a flame and sing of forgotten ecstasies with
The Tongue of Herne
To heal the marred Sacred and protect against
The mechanisms of profanity

Instead I fear to cross the threshold and step into my Life
I keep myself wrapped in the safe and familiar depression of Home
A Feral creature wilfully incarcerated just so I can stay
Far away from Them