give me a solstice to celebrate any day…

 "there are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. there is only our natural world. 

religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds" ... 

anne nicol gaylor, founder, freedom from religion foundation

why is it presumed everyone is christian - or that at the very least everybody celebrates christian festivals? there are many that aren't, and don't... we aren't, by constitution, or law, a christian country... we don't have a state religion... we are a nation encompassing many beliefs - and yet we only close down for christian 'observances' - whatever happened to separation of church and state?

like many i don't believe in the christian god or christ - hey, jesus i'll concede existed, a documented historical figure – but i believe, as do others, he was just an ordinary man fighting for reform within the judaic religion he followed - a man who could be considered a religious revolutionary - not son of any god… after his ‘martyrdom’ christianity and it's bible certainly became one hell of a fairytale - and one brutally intolerant doctrine...

i'm not wiccan, pagan, jewish, islamic or buddhist either - i don't follow any of the myriad spiritual or religious doctrines that make up our society... i consider myself an earthling, one of many sentient life forms inhabiting this earth… my belief lies firmly within nature - in the natural world and all it’s wonders, the equality & complementarity of all creatures of this planet, home to us all...

i have to ask though, if you are christian, do you follow the basic, important tenets of your christianity – the 10 commandments, the religion's 'rules'... the 6th commandment – though shalt not kill - is an interesting one... do you partake of the death industry? do you eat the product of someone else's 'kill'? do you wear someone else's skin? if so how does that fit within the christian ethic?

 

i hate the in-your-face crass commercialism and consumerism pushed heavily at this time of year, and i feel sickened at the 'saturation' of  repugnant advertisements exhorting  people to eat flesh - the dead, cooked carcasses of once living beings displayed with such morbid delight in the anticipation of the taste of suffering and death… the brutality and cruelty perpetrated by the death industry is horrendous…  

 

paul mccarney once said "if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian"… but I came across this graphic and couldn’t help but nod my head in agreement…

and there's still more life seen as commodity - the factory farming of our companion animals - more cruelty and abuse... and many from these deplorable facilities end up in shelters... please don't help this cruel industry continue to exist... 'animals are for life, not just for xmas'... if you are looking for a companion, please consider offering a forever home to a shelter animal desperately waiting for rescue, for the chance to know compassion and love...

 

ahhh yes, the summer solstice - far worthier of celebration... we are all dependent on the changing seasonal cycles, and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere – where “the earth’s south pole is tilted towards the sun ... is, usually, the longest day of the year” – is due to occur on december 22 this year – far more crucial to the earth's well-being than xmas... happy summer solstice...

old superstitions die hard…

"fingers crossed"…

it rolls off everyone’s tongue so easily… i grew up with the "fingers crossed" saying when hoping for something to turn out well, to have a positive outcome… but ever wondered where it came from? i hadn’t thought about it significantly before - but then i went to use it earlier… all of a sudden i was intrigued by 'whose' superstition it was based on and had to check it out…

tt’s not so easy to discover the origin though – so here’s a few of the ‘origins’ I came across…

purely christian...

"The theory of a Christian origin of crossing your fingers is based on early periods in the religion's history. During these early times, Christianity was an outlawed religion and the disciples of Christ usually formed a secret society. To protect the identity of the sect's followers, secret hand signs were developed so the members could recognize each other." http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-origin-of-crossing-your-fingers-for-luck.htm

majorly christian...

“Crossing fingers - Generally this means "wishing for good luck or fortune". Another interpretation could be seen as "here's hoping". The gesture probably has pagan / Christian origins where the gesture was believed to ward off evil. As such, folklore believes that crossing the fingers when telling a lie somehow offsets the evil of the lie... Some historians believe that crossing your fingers is a hidden or secret way of making the Christian sign of the cross - a sure-fire way of defeating demons. As a gesture it has both positive and negative symbolism. Luck or lies.” http://www.aquiziam.com/gestures.html

"The custom of crossing your fingers for good luck is fairly common. Superstition states that the act of crossing one's index and middle fingers brings good luck and wards off evil spirits or witches." http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-origin-of-crossing-your-fingers-for-luck.htm

“Crossing one's fingers is a quick and easy way of making the sign of the cross to shield oneself from diabolic powers. It is also easy to keep them crossed, thus ensuring lasting protection from the devil's tricks.” http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsf.htm

           

purely pagan… 

“Another theory suggests that the sign pre-dates Christianity, when it was believed that benign spirits dwelt at the intersecting point of the cross, as in the Solar Cross (also known as Pagan Cross, Sun Cross, Wheel Cross, Odin's Cross or Woden's Cross). In Europe, the sign was made by two people; the first to make the wish and the second to support it. Linking their fingers firmly would squeeze and energize the spirits into beneficial action.

The popular gesture grew out of the pagan belief that a cross was a symbol of perfect unity; and that its point of intersection marked the dwelling place of beneficent spirits. A wish made on a cross was supposed to be anchored steadfastly at the cross's intersection until that desire was realized. The superstition was popular among many early European cultures.” http://www.scribd.com/doc/44602448/Charles-Panati-Extraordinary-Origins-of-Everyday-Things

to add to that… 

“To ensure the wish stayed in place and on the wisher’s mind, it was often tied to the finger with string, a practice that eventually evolved into a memory aid.” http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/why-do-we-cross-our-fingers-when-wishing-for-luck-and-where-did-the-practice-come-from

and now… 

“… As time passed, the rigors of the custom eased and a person could wish without the assistance of an associate. It sufficed merely to cross the index and the middle fingers…

Over time the ancient custom of the "crossed fingers" of friends degenerated to a wisher crossing his own fingers and finally to today's expression "I'll keep my fingers crossed," with the well wisher never actually doing so, and no one expecting him or her to.  What was once deliberate and symbolic has become reflexive and insignificant—though not obsolete.” http://www.unicornlady.net/superstitions/superstitions.html


hmmm, this one gesture can identify me to likeminded people, ward off evil, allow me to lie without consequence and bring me a whole lotta good luck - wow - what duality - it spans both good and bad... 

hearing that phrase is going to conjure up a whole different image in future!!! don't you just love the etymology of words and phrases - the power and politics of language...

etymology of a word....

"The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek, the letter Χ is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Christmas." wikipedia

the  word  is  deeply  rooted  in  christianity,  regardless of  the  influence of pagan  and pre-christian  beliefs  held and  rituals  once  practiced - these were  violently  'stamped out', important seasonal ceremonial dates usurped and corrupted  by the christian invaders, and then incorporated into the christian calendar - no matter your reasoning, you can't get away from the  fact that  xmas, by it's mere name, is a christian celebration.

ironic then that Section 116 of the 1900 Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia - the Australian Constitution - provides that:

The Commonwealth of Australia shall not make any law establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance**, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

** isn’t it then an imposition on those that don't observe christianity that most of the country closes down on december 25?? according to the above, and in the words of elizabeth evatt,  "we are not by constitution a christian country", so why do we have a public holiday on this religious occasion  and not any other days of significance celebrated by other religions?

a paper by the Bertelsmann Foundation titled "Australia: High level of religious identity paired with low level of belief" makes interesting reading if you're into statistics - 30% of australians claim no religion, with that group being one of the most rapidly rising populations...

 

the assumption that everyone is christian and therefore must celebrate xmas is anathema to me - we're supposed to be a secular society - by calling it xmas and celebrating it as xmas the status quo is maintained - the christian stranglehold remains - i cringe - my beliefs and conscience don't allow me to prop up or support any christian 'celebration'  - its' persecution of womyn over the centuries has been barbaric and brutal  - misogyny one of its cornerstones ... just call me a heathen and heretic please, but never a christian...

as we all live by the months of the year defined by our civil calendar regardless of religious belief in australia, doesn’t it make more sense for the community as a whole to celebrate the end of the old, and the start of the new year with all its possibilities for change – shouldn't everybody, no matter what their religious or political beliefs, feel included and welcomed - shouldn't everybody be part of the celebration - shouldn't it be a celebration of community, not religion?

however, the most widely used civil calendar is the gregorian calendar – another imposition of the christians – this time pope gregory xiii - "the gregorian calendar reform contained two parts, a reform of the julian calendar ... together with a reform of the lunar cycle used by the church along with the julian calendar for calculating dates of easter."

what's wrong with using  the lunar or solar cycles to mark the passage of the days, months and years - humans seem to have this inane need to ‘control’ the change from one season into the next by having set dates for these transitions to occur between - the environment doesn't work to a timetable - it complements and is affected by the cycles of night and day... moon and sun...

homo sapiens - the one species that refuses to adapt to its environment – always striving to harness, change and control the natural elements… when will we get over this  need  to conquer and subdue, when will we realise there is no basis for this ridiculous superiority complex – it’s humans that have fucked up the world – hardly superior!!!!

i am so over this time of the year - so sick of  hearing 'discussions' on what animals will be eaten, how they'll be cooked, the 'merry xmas-ing', the xmas carols, the crush of the supermarkets and shops, the aggression and frustration engendered in people that are up to their necks in debt because the presents have to be more and more expensive each year - the millions (billions?) spent on so many useless items while filling the coffers of the multinational corporations and making the profiteers very happy...

it's such an indictment on humankind that there are so many desperately needy causes trying to stay afloat while they provide assistance and sustenance to so many while so much is wasted in this selfish, throw-away society... isn't the christian mantra 'peace and goodwill'?? haven't seen much of it... and then there's the number of drunken idiots around - seen lots of them...  and of course there's the fact that family conflict and violence escalates at this time of year... ah xmas - such a joyous, cheery time... it can bring out the worst in people...

hibernation is looking good for the week leading up to xmas next year!!!!

i'm not gonna write about it again...

but i'll mention it's that christian 'pagan celebration rip-off' time - easter - and if you weren't following my blog last year you can check out my previous post "another stolen fertility celebration"... oooh, but when you've got the bottomless-pit munchies, walking through a supermarket can be a dangerous thing - all that chocolate on display - forget the shopping list - you can live on chocolate can't you - found the aisle, now where's that fair-trade chocolate???"



caught up with larry-the-librarian the other evening... had a very pleasant 'chin-wag'... shared some organic home produce with him - so nice to be able to share something you grew, made, cooked, whatever, with friends...




hoping to catch up with sailor lily week after next sometime... 'tis her birthday on the 18th april and mine on the 21st - i'm on holidays for the week then, yes!!!! - so can't wait to see her and meet the wee baby Finn...

i finished reading The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale - i really enjoyed it but it did take a while to get into...

have another book by the same author - The Queen of Whale Cay : The Eccentric Story of 'Joe' Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water - that might be my next read when i finish my current book...

i've been having a nice relaxing weekend so far... almost finished an easy to read (and follow) mystery - Hidden by Katy Gardner - watched an interesting movie last night - 1408... not bad at all if you're into supernatural phenomena etc. - based on a stephen king story....

i've been thinking about what to write about next... thought seeing as how last year on my birthday i started a series of reminiscences of the 60s, i might tackle the 70s this time... an exciting and interesting era - from protests, gough whitlam, disasters to disco (or was disco a disaster too?) - but more of that closer to my birthday!!

i've just finished watching a really, really good movie...


The Bank job ... "Based on the true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery which was hushed up at the time by a Government gagging order. The real story of how one of the biggest robberies in British history took place." read more here.

talk about fucked political morality, graft and corruption... i highly recommend it!!!! one of the best movies i think i've seen in a while!!! brilliant!!!!



just a wee digress before i finish... we're coming up to 12 months in this house - waiting for the agents to let us know when they're coming to inspect the property (they've already bailed once!!!) - hope we get an extension on the lease... this is a grouse house to have two living areas - it's like having your own large flat (duplex?) or half-house - with outdoor areas - and neither of us has to deal with the other human house-dweller if we don't want to (and that happens a lot more these days!!!) - or we can have companionship if we want it... the animals have a wonderful time going between living spaces and different human contact - i luv it, and they luv it... and of course me old girl Allie would find it very difficult (not to mention traumatic) to have to get used to a different place...

since turning 50 a few years ago i just luv having my own space - i need it... solitude is not a dirty word - it's a necessary, sanity-saving interlude to the hustle and bustle of dealing with the outside world - if you work with the public you'll know what i mean!!!!

on that note, it's ciao for now...