Greetings to all Full Circle friends and members,
In this July edition of our newsletter we have:
Greetings, all.
As I write this, Snakemoon is away on retreat, but before she left she did her usual great job editing and writing our newsletter. Creating this newsletter is a time consuming process for our team, but it’s fun (1). In order to lighten our load, I’ve advertised for a volunteer Proof Reader to help Snakemoon. If you know of anyone who’s qualified for this job, please let us know. The job description is in the link above.
Meanwhile, our Senior Staff are busy creating the Witches’ Ball website and organizing the ball itself, while I keep the home fires burning here at Full Circle Central, and organize our new Pagan Voting Project (see notes below). We have a Council Meeting every month, to make decisions and to check that everyone is on track. We all talk to each other by phone and via emails, as well. This isn’t just herding cats, folks, it’s herding cats who juggle.
It’s been a busy summer, but my husband and I have tried to keep a balance between our jobs, our volunteer work, our families’ needs, and play. We’ve found time to go birding and hiking, to see friends and our folks, and to attend a wedding in Oregon. The wedding gave us a great chance to view the Blue Moon on August 1st from Mt. Hood and then take that always-necessary trip to Powell’s bookstore). When you go to Powells (The City of Books) it’s always best to take a sandwich, a compass, and a whistle.
I threw my back out last month, (gardening, if you can believe it…who knew lavender was so dangerous?) and I was recently reminded of the gifts of good health and the need to take care of myself, as much as I take care of others. (Note to self: Get back to the gym!).
August is a time when we take stock of the spiritual and practical harvest we’ve sown and reaped this year. I mean the one that comes from the various life choices (big and small) which each of us has made these last twelve months. It’s also a good time to plan our personal harvest for next year; a rather serious matter considering the state the world is in.
We hope this finds you all well and happy, and that, like us, your gratitude list is a full one, and that it includes the blessings of friendship and community.
My ancestors used the wheat from their harvest to make wonderful breads for their feasts, but they also stored some of the seeds away for use in the future, and they used the wheat shafts to make corn dollies, wreaths, and art for their walls. May your harvest give you the things you need now, and in the future, and may it grace your life with beauty and meaning, as well.
Wishing you the blessings of the season,
Sia
(1) It works like this: I send her hundreds of links that I find on the web during my travels there. I try to send her items on a theme, but sometimes the bundles she gets from me are serendipitous and random. Snakemoon then puts all this together in a meaningful way and writes those witty intros we all love. Then one of us writes an essay. That done, she sends the final draft to me and I add in few things about FCE. Then we often have a final edit. This often involves a phone discussion about the flow of the layout, what we think you will like, and whether the tone fits what we want to say that month. Then I send the whole thing to Captain Lightening for distribution via the net, and you get a note in your mailbox.
Much ado about August
It’s time for many of us celebrate that lovely summer holiday, Lammas. Or, if you prefer, The Harvest.
Many Pagans celebrate the Lammas Sabbat (also known as Lughnasadh) the feast of the great Irish god Lugh, AKA Samildanach, which means "he of many gifts.” Lugh held funeral games in honor of his foster-mother Tailtiu, the goddess of agriculture who died while clearing the Irish forests in preparation for planting.
The School of the Seasons has some lovely suggestions for simple ways to celebrate this fruitful time of year. It’s a great time to meet with friends for a picnic, or for a walk to connect with nature. When my son was younger, we celebrated with a Jam-Jamboree (with salutations to one of the most whimsical of children’s books, Bruce Degan’s “Jamberry”). A Jam-Jamboree is a big bowl of strawberries, blueberries, black berries, and raspberries, eaten with the hands. Before we ate, we did several rounds of a seasonal call-and-response chant I learned long ago at a public circle (and I’d love to know more about the origins of this chant):
Green God (respond with “Green God”),
Corn God (respond with “Corn God”),
Sacred God of the Furrows (respond with “Sacred …”),
Growing God (respond with “Growing God”),
Green God (respond with “Green God”),
Come to us (no response, but you can clap or hit a drum here)
You do this in rounds, offering up new and often inventive pairs (Apple God, Sacred God of the Orchards; Dirt God, Sacred God of the Tubers; and of course, Berry God, Sacred God of the Brambles). See how many you can come up with.
When do you celebrate the Cross Quarter holidays? On the 1st of that month? On the Full or New Moon? X Many Days past the last holiday? Or when the stars are in a particular place? Widdershins has some new ideas on choosing a cross quarter date that might prove helpful.
More things to do in August include getting out of the heat by visiting some of the new teahouses (of the August Moon?) that have opened in the San Francisco Bay area. Many offer a range of Asian or ''world tea'' experiences, and will undoubtedly put you in the mood for a visit to the Silk Road (coming soon to a Witch’s Ball near you!).
You might also want to consider harvesting something abundantly useful: fiscal security, along with its partner-in-growth, fiscal responsibility. In this month’s Guest Essay, Jacqueline explores interesting ideas about abundance and want, both of which are very primal needs/fears that mosey their way to the front of the psyche in times of stress, as well as in times of harvest.
The Olympics opens this month (oh, what, you didn’t know?), although inside information says that they’ll be lucky to have the infrastructure built by then! However, there’s one group that’s not looking forward to the games: a hardy band of Hellenic pagans—worshippers of the 12 Olympian gods—who have seen their main religious festival, the Olympics, become a bloated commercial extravaganza, their sacred flame sponsored by Coke.
Meanwhile, animal lovers in Canada and around the world are currently trying to prevent the poisoning of thousands of stray dogs in Athens, just prior to the Games. (If you want to help, please sign the petition at this link).
On a happier note, researchers at U.C. Berkeley are helping to reconstruct the Temple of Zeus, just outside Athens. This website contains some beautiful pictures of the site, and lots of good information on ancient Greek culture.
And then, there’s Burning Man. A week of exuberant recklessness and unadulterated creativity in the middle of a really, really hot place. Unlike anything anywhere else, Burning Man is large scale, weeklong ritual that culminates in the burning of a giant wooden structure. This year’s theme is “The Vault of Heaven” and artists from around the world will create ephemeral art on that theme for the festival. Did I mention that there’s quite a crowd of people who return every year? SF Gate Columnist Carol Lloyd explores the question, “What happens when a band of naked, fire-worshipping anarchists attract a massive following?” Well for one thing, they create a city—Black Rock City—complete with infrastructure, departments, city services, subdivided blocks with addresses and, yes, that apogee of municipal control: zoning. The festival, which started in 1986 on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, sometimes ripples back here to its origins in the Bay Area. For example, there was July’s Fire Arts Festival, which featured "wearable fire sculpture" costumes and a huge (flaming) metal structure that resembled a crown of thorns set ablaze by the artist.
WITCHES BALL 2004: THE SILK ROAD
A few updates
Tickets are on sale now! The price goes up to $25 on September 1st, so if you’re going to attend, it’s a smart idea to get your tickets now.
Costumes: It’s only a little over 2 months away! Time to start thinking about costumes. If you’re looking for some great ideas for Asian costumes, check out the Feast of Lanterns festival. Would you prefer your character to come from the romantic city of Venice? Then check out the Venice Carnival Guide.
Batty for Bats: As announced in the July newsletter and on The Witches Voice, The California Bat Conservation Fund is this year’s winner of the Gaia’s Guardian Award. In the spirit of all things batty, do visit the Backyard Bird Company and check out their Victorian Bat House. And enjoy pictures from Britain’s first BatCam (same Bat Time, same Bat Channel!)
Sponsors: Please visit our Gold Sponsor for the Witches’ Ball: Xecentricities Corsets – they can make a corset in any size and in any fabric you want, and since they are made for you, personally, these are very, very comfortable.
the Care and Feeding of The Goddess of Liberty
It’s been said that the character of a nation can be seen in its symbols. One prominent American symbol is Lady Liberty, also known (interestingly enough) as the “Goddess of Liberty.” This feminine spirit sits atop the US Capitol building (where she is called the “Statue of Freedom),” but she’s best known as Ellis Island’s “Statue of Liberty.” Sia says, “If you consider the idea that deity might be something that is the direct action of the thoughts, deeds, wants, and dreams of a people over a long course of time, taken to a higher level, then … not only is Lady Liberty a Goddess, she is a powerful one!”
The Goddess of Liberty lives in Texas?
Nearly sixteen feet tall, and weighing just over 2000 pounds, this zinc
statue—placed on the Texas Capitol Dome in 1888 where she stayed until the mid
1980s—probably represents Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, justice,
and arts and crafts. Athena served as
protectress of the democratic city-state of Athens. Little information about the Texas statue’s
origin created an aura of mystery for decades.
The Statue of Liberty (or is it Isis?):When Italian sculpture Auguste Bertholdi created the image he portrayed in one piece, the two great muses in his life: The statue pays homage to the body of his beautiful mistress and carries the face of his beloved mother.
Bernard Weisberger wrote a definitive history of the famous statue that stands in
New York Harbor. One passage from his
book notes that:
"The world at large is totally ignorant of the occult symbolism which
lies behind the famed statue of liberty which sits astride the harbor of New
York, symbolizing its true inner character and purpose. The sculptor who
made the great statue was Italian. His name was Auguste Bertholdi. His work was
greatly influenced by the ancient sculptor Phidias who made gigantic statues of the
ancient goddesses, particularly Athena, the "goddess of wisdom" and Nemesis
(another name for Venus), a goddess who held a cup in her right hand. Before
beginning the Statue of Liberty project, Bertholdiwas seeking a commission to
construct a giant statue of the goddess "Isis,"the Egyptian Queen of
Heaven, to overlook the Suez canal. The statue of Isis was to be of "a
robed woman holding aloft a torch"
(Statue of Liberty: 1st Hundred Years, Bernard Weisberger, p.30)
The "Goddess of Liberty” Stamp: An interesting discussion of this stamp, referred to by an admirer as "the lady with the chicken on her head," can be found at journalist Gary Griffith’s site. (That isn't a chicken. It's an eagle. Really.)
The Goddess in Tiananmen Square: Who among us who watched the news in 1989, can forget the Goddess of Democracy, the man in front of the tank and the student massacre in Tiananmen Square?
Latin origins of the word: LIBERTI, LIBERTINI. These two words express the condition of those who, having been slaves, were been made free. But there is a distinction between the two …
Full Circle will soon unveil our web page for The Pagan Voting Project:
Goal: To Register Earthwise voters nation-wide
and to encourage them to vote in the November election.
How: Using Goddess of Liberty banner ads
(created by artist Abby Willowroot) which link to a non-profit, non-partisan
website which registers voters. Web
Builders are welcome to take and post these Goddess of Liberty graphics on
their websites and thus help us encourage others to vote.
What Happens: People can sign up to register on line by following the links from these ads. They can also read about the candidates and the issues at this registeration site. We won’t tell folks how to vote, but we will encourage our community to become informed and active citizens.
Wait! There’s More!
Friends of FCE will be able to purchase Goddess of Liberty t-shirts,
mugs, mousepads and totes. Show your
Pagan Pride this fall, and note that We’re Here, We’re Pagan and We Vote. Look for these to appear at CafePress very soon. Money earned from the sales of these items
will go to fund Full Circle and The Pagan Voting Project.
Supporters: The Witches' Voice
& SageWoman Magazine
Organizer: Full Circle Events
Staff on Task:
Art & Web Graphics: Abby
Willowroot
Website: Captain Lightening
Text & Links: Sia & Laurel
Help with Promotion: FCE Newsletter, The Witches’ Voice & Blessed Be, Inc.
Inspiration: Declare Yourself & Rock the Vote websites. Iron Jawed Angels, The
West Wing, and our very unladylike
great-grandmothers, bless them, who thought the vote was worth fighting
for.
Why? Because lightening candles isn’t enough.
This project should be unveiled by mid-August. Look for a special announcement at Full Circle and The Witches Voice websites.
"Think
government isn't about you? How many of
you have student loans to pay? How many
of you have credit card debt? How many
want clean air and clean water and civil liberties? How many want jobs? How
many want kids? How many want their
kids to go to good schools and walk on safe streets? Decisions are made by those who show up. You gotta rock the vote."
…Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing)
More information about this project will be
forthcomming… To watch this work unfold, go to the Full Circle Central Blog
Sia
Harvest some tasty meals! It’s time to cut the corn and reap the wheat. Gourmet Sympatico takes a look into the cooking of Mexico and the Meso-American “corn” civilization of pre-Columbian times, some 700 years before the Christian era. As wheat is to Europe, so is corn to the Americas. Gourmet Sympatico notes this about corn civilizations:
The staple food of all the Indian tribes, corn was the link between man and the gods, both a common bond and a source of quarrels among the tribes. Though the young ears could simply be boiled and the juicy kernels bitten off, Indian women learned other ways of using and cooking corn. They served it as a kind of porridge, "atole," for breakfast. When simmered with meat, it became "pozole," and the women transported it to the fields in gourds to feed the workers. Ground into flour, it was made into tortillas, the flat rounds that were either soft or crunchy, or into tamales, stuffed with beans or vegetables. Corn was also part of feasts: the flour, dissolved in water, was set aside to ferment in order to make a strong beverage flavored with chilies or chocolate.
Cajun Minted Chicken Wings & Mexican Corn Bread: I don’t think I need to say another word about these two recipes from “Herb World,” except possibly “gaaaaaah” (think Homer Simpson, drooling!).
Furry, finny, feathered folk
Real men love cats: Scott Howe is a volunteer for the Oregon Humane Society who helps people pick the right kitty for their homes. He agrees that cats can be great pets for guys, including younger men like himself. Men with active lives that include hiking, skiing or spending time with friends after work can be good cat parents, especially if they adopt a couple of cats, who can keep each other company.
All Puppies, All The Time: So, it’s come to this—The Puppy Channelsm is just "puppies, puppies, puppies," accompanied by little more than relaxing, instrumental music. In tests across the U.S., people have said they want The Puppy Channelsm on TV. (Might be better than a lot of what's on now.)
Kool K-9s: When Karen Eldred, vice president of the Carolina Animal Protection Society (CAPS), heard about the K-9 units in Iraq, she was determined to help support these dogs. She found a way:
Send hot dogs specially designed canine cooling vests
These are purchased through donations by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, the international arm of The HSUS.
Cats, too, serve with our troops overseas. Staff Sgt. Rick Bousfield of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team led the mission he dubbed Saving Pvt. Hammer. Pfc. Hammer is an adopted Iraqi tabby cat born last fall at a base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.
More on Dogs:As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear. And when you and your pooch next want to work on communication skills, why not take a walk at Lighthouse Field State Park in Santa Cruz where dogs are very welcome.
Elephant repellant: Wondering how to handle those pesky elephants buzzing around the yard, ruining crops, and leaving really big piles of, um, debris? The Elephant Pepper Development Trust recommends chili peppers! Speaking of elephants, a judge gave a Tennessee zoo 6 months to report on Ruby’s mental health, after the she was moved and separated from her best friend, Gita, as part of a captive breeding program.
SSSSo, now we know: Apparently, there’s been a raging debate about whether snakes evolved into limbless creatures on land or in the water. Scientists at Penn State’s Eberly College of Science say they know …
Crows in Asian Culture: The crow (qua) occupies a special part of Vietnamese folklore, and the language abounds with expressions that reference these interesting birds: den nhu qua (as dark as a crow), gia mo bat qua (playing the dumb), senh na qua cap (a careless hen loses her chickens to a crow), mua qua (buying something for its face value), do qua mo (an unworthy person), etc. To the Vietnamese, a crow is a symbol of evil and darkness, cupidity and voracity.
World Music Fest: The San Francisco World Music Festival 2004 celebrates its Fifth Anniversary with another exciting gathering of some of the most interesting musicians in the world.
Dancing toward Harmony: After a few warm-up stretches, they were clasping hands, sprinting around in circles, trying to avoid bumping into each other while laughing the whole time. What made this scene out of the ordinary was that the teens were both Jewish and Muslim, and they came together not only to learn about each other’s culture, but also to get to know each other as individuals.
Opa! The Greek Dancers of Monterey Peninsula teach and perform traditional and modern folk dances from the mountains, islands, and tavernas of Greece.
Everything else
Harvesting Help: Brigid's Heart, a group based in Southern California, is raising money for the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter which serves homeless families. They started collecting money at the Midsummer Solstice Festival put on by C.O.G. but it’s not too late to donate!
Wanted—a Knowledgeable Priestess: From Vicki Noble’s MotherPeace newsletter comes this announcement. She prefaces it by saying, “I have joked for many years that there are, unfortunately, no jobs for temple priestesses in our contemporary culture. Now I stand corrected.” The Temple of Sekhmet in Cactus Springs, Nevada, is seeking a new Wiccan priestess. The current priestess is retiring for health reasons. The temple includes a residence where the priestess will live rent-free, and a guesthouse. The Priestess will receive a monthly salary and benefits. Anyone who takes on this job needs to conduct ritual but also provide hospitality to visitors, keep the temple in good order, maintain good relations with the Shoshone people to whom the land belongs and support the antinuclear activism converging around a nearby test site. She should also be conversant with the ideas of the gift economy. Please reply to Genevieve Vaughan at the Center for the Study of the Gift Economy, www.gift-economy.com.
Urban Legends: Our friend, Howard, says, “An "urban legend" is not the same thing as a "fictional tale" or an "apocryphal anecdote," although many people mistakenly use the term in that sense. A tale is considered to be an urban legend if it circulates widely, is told and re-told with differing details (or exists in multiple versions), and is said to be true. Whether or not the events described in the tale ever actually occurred is completely irrelevant to its classification as an urban legend.” Howard mentions the sites referred to above as good places to get information on Urban Legends, and suggests that, for the same sort of info about the political scene, try Spin City. According to Howard, “… these guys question the facts on both sides, and seem slanted at getting to the truth.”
The Goddess of Ecology: Ochre is looking for people to interview for his thesis about the Goddess movement and ecology in people's lives.
Shop Till We Drop? Even in a bad economy, Americans seem to have a fixation with shopping and spending. Why is that? What does it mean for us, as individuals, and what does it mean to our future as a country? Finally, how do our spending habits affect people overseas?
We would like to thank these July donors for making this newsletter, the calendar, and our charity work possible:
Joseph W. * Linda G. * Nicole C. * Cloudy S. * Dj * Kaye-Alisa R. * Stacy’s Wag’N Train * Vicki R. * Gary M. * Ibis de Villa * Gary M. * Donna Lee A. * Sara L. & Roland S. (Two generous readers from County Antrim, Ireland, who took the trouble to send us American money. Our thanks them, also, for the beautiful card from the Hearth UK project) *
Please also visit our Gold Sponsor for the Witches’ Ball: Xecentricities Corsets
If you would like to become a Full Circle Sponsor, please send $5.00 - $20 for a year’s membership to Full Circle via paypal to our PayPal email at: membership@fullcircleevents.org. (1)
The funds collected pay for: FCE Newsletter, the website, our community calendar, our various charity events (like The Witches Ball), the Pagan Voting Project and other efforts. Full Circle is a non-profit Earthwise group staffed entirely by volunteers. All are welcome. Thank you for your support!
(1) Yes, we’re raised the price of Sponsorship from the original asking price of $5.00 - $13.00 to $13.00 - $20.00 Many of our members wrote last month it to say that we just weren’t asking enough! But if $5.00 is what you can afford, please know that we are very grateful for your support.
Sia & the folks at Full Circle
We have hundreds of events listed on our California Community Calendar.
Here is just a handful:
· A variety of celebrations of Lammas/Lughnasadh
· Steinbeck Festival
· World Parliament of Religions
· Aloha Festival and the Nihonmachi Street Fair
· The Butterfly Ball
· Nisei Week, and various Japanese cultural festivals
· Classes on the Gendron Tarot, the Celtic Ogham Tree Alphabet, and psychic development
· Lots of Renaissance festivals throughout California
· Burning Man
· The Scottish Games
· Shakespeare Festivals
· Quilt shows
· Crystal, gem & bead fairs
· The California State Fair
· Lots and lots of food festivals
· Doti’s Fabulous 50’s Party (a charity fundraiser)
· Vision Quests, candle making classes and open rituals
· Native American gatherings (open to the public)
· Bark N Wag Fundraiser for the Humane Society
There are lots more, with new events are added every day. Click on the Full Circle California Community Calendar to access the list. If you want your event listed, please go to our calendar page and click on the link that says “Submit Event.” The on-line form is simple and very easy to use. Questions? Please contact our Networking Coordinator ScoutGhost at scoutghst@sbcglobal.net
************
ESSAY:The Fiscal As Sacred
by Jacqueline Waters
I've been working on my relationship with money for the past
year or so. At 18, I went straight from my parents' home to sharing an
apartment, and a bank account, with my spouse-to-be. I had, until a
year ago, 11 years after leaving my parent's home, never been fiscally independent
a day in my life.
My parents have great credit, although when I was a child, they had no savings,
no retirement plan - nada. Money and bill paying was a big secret in my
home that had to do with mom being in a bad mood, a spiral notebook she kept
hidden, a pile of mail and a closed bedroom door. The only thing I was
ever told about money was that we didn't have any. I never had an
allowance or any money of my own until I got a part-time job at 16. Most
of the money from that job went to the Denny's restaurant chain. My friends and I spent hours and hours
hanging out there after work, getting a late dinner after the mall closed and
drinking endless cups of coffee. What was left of my paltry earnings was
spent on too many Llewelyn books and too much sterling silver jewelry.
I jumped from my parent's place into my first apartment with my soon-to-be
spouse. No education and no experience with money left us both ill
prepared for the job market and the reality of
barely-above-the-poverty-line living. We sure were handed a lot of credit
card applications after our wedding, though!
We applied for every one and promptly maxed them out. Digging
ourselves out of that took quite a few years.
My approach to money has always been to close my eyes, do my best not to look,
and deal with the mess afterwards, or better, find someone else to deal with
it. I couldn't call a utility company to straighten out a bill without
hyperventilating. The mantra trapped in my head went something like this”
“I am terrible with money - I can't
handle money issues - I will screw it
up - I will always be poor - I will
never have enough.”' Despite being a practicing pagan since I was 16 and
knowing that your thoughts create your reality, I didn't know how to really
*believe* or live this knowledge. And so when money came up my breath
would get short and I'd begin the chant in my head, creating a spiraling mess
of a fiscal reality.
At age 29, after 9 years of marriage, my partner and I decided to dissolve our union.
We had never had much, didn't own anything other than books, hand-me-down
furniture, and basic house wares so when it came to fiscally splitting up,
there wasn't much to haggle over or sort out. Yet, I have never been so
panicked, fiscally, in my life. Never having been on my own,
how would I survive? My negative money mantra came back with a vengeance
despite the fact that I was holding down one of the best paid jobs of my life
with every sign that it was secure with a promotion in the
wings. Still, I was making under $15K a year, owned nothing, and now
would be on my own. It’s not that my spouse had handled all the bills up
to this point and I didn't know how, it’s that we didn't
handle the bills at all, either of us. The bills just got lost or left
unpaid, even when we had enough money to pay them, because we didn't want to
deal. When it came to money, we never wanted to
deal. Terror and fear of our own poverty ruled almost every
decision.
I put off the financial separation from my spouse as long as possible, but when
it finally happened; I was surprised by the giddy feeling of independence and
freedom. Instead of feeling panicked and incapable, I felt tough, my
spine stiffened. There was no one else to save me from this now, I was going
to have to pick up my head and figure out all the things I had never been
taught, like how to balance a checkbook, create a fiscal budget and make a
rainy day plan because, now, there would be no one to rely on but me.
There was no choice left but to take a deep breath when the panic hit, ball my
hands into fists and will myself to face what I had been running from all my
life. I didn't want to know how little I had, how broke I was, I just
refused to look. I had learned from my parents that money was something
people like me just never had and that most of life's sorrow came from the
constant, uncontrollable pitfalls of fiscal life. Now, no matter how
I feared what I would see, I had to face it.
What I 'saw' when I finally looked at my fiscal life wasn't what I
expected. Sure, I didn't, and still don't, have much compared to the
'ideal' of the middle-class, American family I am spoon-fed to believe I need
and want to be like. I own no vehicle. My credit is shot. I
don't have cable, can't afford to buy my clothes first-hand unless on a
fabulous sale on rare occasion and I can't afford to go to the movies very
often. When I sat down and looked at the numbers, my fiscal reality,
I had to face what 'living within my means' would look like. I thought it
would depress me. It did not. It was such a relief to finally just
accept it, all that energy once thrown into denial was now free to hold me up
and give my strength. I had faced it. I knew my bank balance.
I paid all my bills on time. I shopped for only what I could afford and
needed. And I felt freer than I ever have before.
The blessing I never saw coming when I first sat down with a calculator and my
pay stub, shaking and on the verge of tears with fear, was the abundance that
would be revealed to me. When I stopped
fearing the poverty I was told by society I was living in, the tint of my
glasses changed hue. In open and un-fearful colors I saw my life anew and
what I saw overwhelmed me. I was wealthy in blessings. I
could suddenly see that although I made less money than many, many
people, I enjoyed my job, loved my co-workers, and felt valued and respected in
my work. How many people can boast that?
I was suddenly deeply aware that, although I rented, I lived in a home that was
more than adequate for my needs. I
could have my beloved pets, I could paint the walls any joyous color I pleased,
and my landlord was reasonable and fair. The house was a
wonderful walking distance from my bank, library, post office, food co-op, and
work. I had the joy of having my own garden for the first time ever at
this home and the yard has been my playground to do with as I pleased, despite
not owning the property. The neighborhood was full of trees and
friendly people walking and biking everywhere. How could I not feel lucky
when considering the living conditions of millions of others in my own country,
not to mention the world, that are unsafe and spiritually crushing? How
did I miss all this bounty?
I have enough, all my needs are met and then some. When I stopped running
from the numbers in my life and took responsibility for them, the myth that
happiness and wealth are things to be attained fiscally through constant
shopping and buying and consuming fell away. I learned all of this
because my back was up against a wall and my choices about the matter had
narrowed to two: sink alone or learn to swim.
This did not happen because I had done a spell for money luck
or enacted a ritual to a Prosperity God. Like most of the enlightenment
that has come into my life, it was not a graceful process nor a particularly
dignified one. Although a few candles were burnt to help me through
the times when I wanted to quit and floor washes were applied to help me
attract assistance, I needed, the real force to make this change came
from within, from finding the courage to face this one little corner of my
ability to co-create the universe and my life. I did not have to live in
fear, nor do I have to live in emotional poverty just because I don't have much
money. The choice was mine.
By facing my fiscal situation at the very bottom rung of supposedly
middle-class America and opening my eyes to the richness in my life I have not,
therefore, accepted the fiscal climate of my country and become the Pollyanna
of the paycheck-to-paycheck working almost-poor. My willingness to enjoy the blessings of my physical and fiscal
life have not changed my views on our corrupt taxation system, rotting
healthcare system nor on corporate criminal greed at the expense of our
environment and our families. This
system is not fair and I, like many, am only a paycheck or two from the
street. I can barely afford my
'healthcare' plan and I have almost no savings to speak of. I worry about
my future and what I will do if I get sick or when I get too old to work and if
there will even be jobs available if I am hail enough to work then
But as I educate myself, speak up about our unacceptable
system and work to make changes in it, I will no longer allow fear
to rob me of the blessings I do have.
The next step for me is to take the embracing of my fiscal reality, or my 'green
energy' as an old mentor of mine called it, to the next level. I need
to go beyond using sheer will, I need to trust. In my head, I
believe in a universe that will meet my needs and expectations if I open myself
to it and believe I am worthy. In my head, I believe giving to my
community and to support worthy causes buoys this flow of energy and will bring
back more blessings and 'green energy' to me. When we stop clutching in
desperation to what little we have, we free the energy of life to come into our
life. That all sounds good, in my head. But oh, putting our
'beliefs' into action, that's the bitch, eh?
So here's my plan:
I took out the once-feared calculator and did the two seconds of math to find
out what 5% of my monthly income is. I've decided as sacred act to begin
to align my beliefs about money and my reality, I will donate that 5% per month
to charities and causes I believe in. I all ready do donate to causes and
on many occasions, I've donated far more than 5% of a
month's income, but now I will do it as a sacred, conscious act, an act of
spiritual self-care. I have taken a spiral notebook a dear friend gifted
to me when she moved away, and dedicated it to my new purpose. In it, I
record the amount of each bi-monthly paycheck I receive and what 5% of that
amount is. Then, under this, I record where I have sent this money off
into the world. It’s funny how life circles on itself - my mother's
spiral notebook of fiscal secrets and doom from my childhood has
become the spiral of fiscal trust and hope in my Now. I have made my
first recordings in it just this week and sent off my dollar seeds to organizations
for human rights, fair elections, and education.
Next up, taking a look at my blighted credit reports and beginning the long,
tedious process of sending off letters and waiting for replies in hopes of
amending it. I've read the books on how to do this and I know what I have
to do and I've felt the fear - and it may take me time to find the courage, but
I will. I've put the credit reports, still folded in their envelopes, on
my altar. I've lit my candles for courage and I've been meditating on
finding the roots of the fear that block me from acting. It’s only a
matter of time before I open myself to the divine universe and stop clutching
and closing my eyes. Wish me luck.
Jacqueline
(Jacqueline has been a practicing Pagan since 1989. She has written articles for New Witch Magazine, and various Pagan zines. She lives and works in Illinois. She can be reached for comment at: jzwaters@gmail.com)
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Happy Summer and good Harvest to all,
Sia, Snakemoon & the folks at Full Circle
FCE Newsletter Staff:
SnakeMoon is the Editor-in-Chief of the Full Circle Newsletter. She can be reached for comment at snakemoon@comcast.net.
Sia is the Publisher of the Full Circle Newsletter and the Council Leader for Full Circle Events. She can be reached at info@fullcircleevents.org.
Scoutghost is the Networking Coordinator for Full Circle Events. She can be reached at scoutghst@sbcglobal.net.