Beltane Comes In With A Bang

After many late freezes and springtime snowstorms, we finally got a few nice days here in the Midwest, just in time for some wild storms and tornadoes. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Beltane!

Sol and Winter Solstice

 

And so it begins; the yearly nonsense over "Happy Holidays" and "Merry Christmas". It really doesn't matter, I suppose, as long as you remember to keep Sol in Winter Solstice!

Summer Solstice 2015

Happy Summer Solstice. Today is not only Fathers Day, but also the longest day of the year. Because of the earth's axial tilt, which gives us our seasons, the sun shines directly on the northern hemisphere, and it is summer above the Equator. This day is also a Pagan Sabbat, the time of the mystical marriage between the Holly King, who rules from now until Winter Solstice, and Mother Earth. This holy day is not only about the upcoming harvests, it is about balance. Blessed Be!

Io Saturnalia!

Ah yes! The highly extolled Reason for the Season! It's balance, of course, but that is hard to see during the things we often do at this time of year. From the Julian calendar date of December 17 to December 23, slaves and masters would change roles, leaders and followers would step into each other's shoes, freedom of expression would take the forefront, children were given a lot of freedom, and revelry and mirth were foremost on everyone's agenda. Such was the winter holiday season in Rome, until about the fourth century, when festivities were required to calm down, in order to preserve the assets and positions of those whose rule was protected by christian clergy.

Saturn is usually not represented by dancing and debauchery. He is primarily a God of order. Legend has it that during the Golden Age, under Saturnalian rule, men were more equal to one another and were required to work together effectively in order to achieve results anywhere, and role reversals were celebrated during Saturnalia to remind everyone of this. Our Ancestors were truly ingenious at times; not only did they cure seasonal affective disorder with a festival of lights, they made a fun and irresistible party out of an important lesson about balance in life. So why would we celebrate Him with role reversals and massive, albeit temporary, upheavals? Obviously, human relationships were known to stagnate, and such reversals were almost a guaranteed cure for everything from the winter blues to complacency about necessary change.

Gifts were also given during this celebration. Fun items and gag gifts were traditional, children were given toys, and; of course, food was always a favorite. Could modern Christmas possibly, ahem, be a carryover?

So there you have it! Balance is the reason for the season! Io Saturnalia!

Sunset Tonight

Season's Greetings

Sol In Winter Solstice

Jared Bowes, Kansas, And Axial Tilt

Just when I thought Festivus was finally over, the ACLU in Kansas noted that Jared Bowes, of the Kansas Department Of Commerce had disappointed them in the year 2013 by using his government email account to remind everyone that jesus is the reason for the season and that he is king of somewhere, and that if everyone has been good this year, Santa Claus would leave presents under the Winter Solstice Tree, or something like that. No worries about those who truly don't believe in christianity, and no sensitivity to those who might feel pressured, upon reading the newsletter from the department, to act if they believed in something they do not, in order to avoid any discrimination that may result from not being christian.

Doug Bonney, of the ACLU states that he has received a lot of complaints about the "overly christian-centric atmosphere" in Kansas government. This comes as no surprise to me. It also does not surprise me that Jared Bowes's statements about christianity were edited out of the newsletter; sadly, not before it was read by some of the recipients. Here is what Bowes had to say for himself:

"Let me be forthright in saying that my sole intent was to extol King Jesus as the 'reason for the season."

Here's what Bonny had to say about the whole mess: “People might, for example, say, 'I’m a Jew; I’m not really welcome here,' " Bonney said. "That’s the danger and that's the purpose of the (Constitution's) establishment clause. It’s to keep religion out of government because there is no official government religion in the United States. There cannot be. We’re a pluralistic society, and people have all kinds of religious beliefs.”.....Topeka Capital Journal

We are a pluralistic society. This is what Kansas, collectively, just doesn't understand, from the silly little school my children attended in Frankfort, Kansas, before I found that I could tolerate no more; to the insensitivity of a vocal government employee who uses his government email account for the presentation of imaginary icons as fact. The reason for the season has a lot more to do with axial tilt than it does with Judeo-Christian mumbo jumbo, and the only appropriate way to attribute spirituality to the season is to remember to keep Sol in Winter Solstice!

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

 

The season is cranking up again! Please remember to keep Sol in Winter Solstice!

 

 

Waning Moon

 We have a waning moon.

 

 Time to BANISH like a BOSS!