"What Is...?" Wednesday

I read a book for Harper One recently and reviewed it last Monday. It was a good book too but I lost a friend of eight years and it broke my heart...Why? Because I chose to be tolerant and see the world of Islam through the Prophet Muhammad's eyes by reading this book. Sadly, that wasn't the only thing that happened, I got angry tweets about it on Twitter as well because the author was disliked so much... Am I going to stop reading...NO...am I going to stop reviewing...NO. I always expected to get crap for being a Pagan, I however, did not expect crap for being tolerant and understanding. So here's today's "What Is Wednesday" post....


Religious Intolerance

Religious intolerance is intolerance against another's religious beliefs or practices.

The mere statement on the part of a religion that its own beliefs and practices are correct and any contrary beliefs incorrect does not in itself constitute intolerance (i.e., ideological intolerance). There are many cases throughout history of established religions tolerating other practices. Religious intolerance, rather, is when a group (e.g., a society, religious group, non-religious group) specifically refuses to tolerate practices, persons or beliefs on religious grounds (i.e., intolerance in practice).

Wikipedia

It looks like intolerance is the new trend and a more horrible trend for the world's future can hardly be imagined. How might this poisonous trend be stopped? Fear and suspicion are powerful forces, but we have resources to combat them: clear consistent thinking; specific  principles based on equal respect for human dignity and understanding.

Because intolerance is  caused by fear, we also need to confront it on the emotional level, using everything we know about the workings of emotions such as fear, sympathy, disgust, and respect. One thing we know is that demonization of "the other" is far easier if people know nothing much about this "other," and have never been encouraged to think what the world looks like from that different viewpoint. In order to move beyond a climate of fear, then, we need more than good principles: we need the cultivation of sympathy, and therefore we need approaches through education and understanding, not just through argument and hatred.

Tarot Shadow Work- Coping Skills

Continuing "Into the light..." we eventually come to coping skills. Now this is a subject not so near and dear to my heart because it seems like I've developed quite a few of them over the years and it's very difficult to examine just how they came about. At one time in my life I had thought that I come to a sense of peace with my childhood issues but those pesky coping skills rear their ugly heads sometimes and I must then admit that they exist and dig deep into my memories in order to understand just "why."

Basically all coping skills are,  a set of defense mechanisms we set up in order to protect ourselves from the harshness of our reality at a given moment. Most will begin in the psyche without even so much as a concious thought on our part and really never come to our attention until a situation reminds us of the traumas we endured. Take for example myself...as a child my father was a very loud, raging alcoholic and my mom and I never really knew what might send him into a tangent or even when this rage would happen.

I learned to make myself invisible and draw as little attention to myself as possible but on more than a few occasions in my twenties, when around someone who had been drinking and getting loud and obnoxious, I would suddenly find myself turning into that terrified, shy little girl who would do anything just to melt into the walls. I used to berate myself for that feeling but now, working through this book, I am able to see the past clearly and understand the root of my reactions.

Emotional pain is a strange creature and many of us in this world, count ourselves  very lucky to have had survived such childhoods... but on the same token, we must never let those traumas and resulting defense mechanisms that made us the survivors, define who we are today. That in itself seems to be a real challenge somedays but then I realize although  I AM a survivor... it doesn't control who I am as a person. 

Next week I will explain the first of several coping skills and how they became Shadows, effecting us in our rational, adult lives.

Social Commentary- Bullies

* Bullying includes a wide variety of behaviors, but all involve a person or a group repeatedly trying to harm someone who is weaker or more vulnerable. It can involve direct attacks (such as hitting, threatening or intimidating, maliciously teasing and taunting, name-calling, making sexual remarks, and stealing or damaging belongings) or more subtle, indirect attacks (such as spreading rumors or encouraging others to reject or exclude someone).

* Almost 30% of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a recent national survey of students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves.

What a terrible commentary of our youth today...even sadder is that parents are allowing this behavior to occur. I often ask myself why bullying is becoming more common and I have to wonder sometimes if it may have to do with the staggering amount of parents that have to work outside the home or even two jobs just to make ends meet? I think mostly is is a combination of factors and working parents are simply one example.

Take myself for example...I work out of my home to ensure that my two youngest children  have a firm foundation of what is right and what is wrong. Trust me, I'm not by any means saying that parents working outside the home are all wrong but what about those working parents that are aware of their bullying child but choose  to ignore this behavior and hope it will go away or just get to wrapped up in their own needs and wants, leaving their child to do as he/she wishes?

I am having  this issue right now...  my former roommate's 13 year old daughter has been singling out my eight year old. How many written complaints...how many calls to the local authorities (before my child gets seriously injured) is it going to take to stop this problem? Why is it that this parent has chosen to let this child get away with such deplorable behavior and sometimes even condoned it...? Even more sad, when did parents start acting the same age as their bullying child?

Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox for now. I truly hope all the parents out there will sit down with their children and let them know that this is unacceptable and no one should have to live in fear.  To learn more about this topic and how to prevent it please visit Talk About It, a terrific website!

Anxiety Show Thy Face

Last week, I started working with the Star of Discovery in "Tarot Shadow Work, using the dark symbols to heal" and the first position was the Tower. This week I will move on to the second position called Anxiety which questions "When do I get nervous, anxious, touchy or sensitive with others?" The card I drew for this point of the star is The World.

The shadow keywords for this card are missing the joy of the moment; looking for happiness outside yourself; wishful thinking; not taking charge of your life and it's choices and hanging on to the past. looking back on my childhood, I can see how these shadows developed but had never addressed them and let them follow me and become larger. I now must fill in the blanks about how fear has caused me to feel anxious.

My anxiety is an issue that I've struggled with for far too long and upon examining that fear I have come to realize that it likes to rear it's head when my routines or habits are interrupted or threatened. I absolutely hate change, probably because as a child there was so much of it and I was never really sure when or how it might occur. As an adult I must accept the fact that life is constantly changing and evolving and often is for my benefit whether I want it or not.

I must realize that when I feel anxious or sensitive around others it's time to step back and think to myself why I might be reacting this way...is it an issue of change that I am trying to resist?.....are there repressed feelings that I'm trying to avoid? I do carry a great deal of sadness but have always thought that the old adage "Time heals all wounds..." applied and sooner or later I would be able to look back on the once painful memories and eventually they would not hurt so much.

I think this card and it's position might take me a couple weeks so I will probably mull these things over and blog next week on anything new I may discover about myself.

Stranger Than Fiction

Today in history the final witchcraft law was replaced by the "Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951." "Excuse me?" you might say...Well, after looking it up to see just what this was all about, this is what I learned......

The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 was a law in England and Wales which prohibited a person from claiming to be a or other spiritualist while attempting to deceive and to make money from the deception (other than solely for the purpose of entertainment). It was repealed on 26 May 2008. There were five prosecutions under this Act between 1980 and 1995, all resulting in conviction.The Act was replaced by new Consumer Protection Regulations following an EU directive targeting unfair sales and marketing practices.It also repealed the Witchcraft Act 1735. It is sometimes said, erroneously, that until 1951 British law recognised witchcraft as real. In fact, the 1735 Act was the first to recognise that magic is impossible, explicitly stating that it was an act against fraud.

Wow, I had to read that one about three times just to make sure I read it correctly! Sadly though, there are those individuals out there who do use the guise of spirituality in order to decieve those who choose to believe and I understand why this act was drafted. I sometimes wonder when I wear my pentagram necklace out in public, if that's what people may be thinking but then I must stand back and realize that I proudly wear my necklace in order to dispel the misinformation....I gladly tell folks about my spirituality and maybe one by one we can educate the public that we are not all like the few who put us in question.

The Two Of Swords

In this card, we can see a small blindfolded white cat in a rose colored dress sitting on a bench on what appears to be a pier with an ocean (or at least a lake) behind her. Her swords are poised upwards , one in each hand and they look to be at equal distance and height from each other. In the purple sky behind her we can see a waxing crescent moon.

Looking at this little kitty I am struck by the question "Why does she sit blindfolded with the swords in her hand, when she can very easily put down her swords and remove the blindfold?" "I wonder why she sits there rather rigidly when she might not have to.." To me her face looks rather pensive as I can see no visible frown nor smile.

In studying the Two of Swords, the common interpretation is that it implies that you are faced with a decision and perhaps you are in a state of denial about the importance of your choice. Notice the blindfold on the cat...maybe she chooses to remain blind about this decision and cannot or will not look at the truth... or even acknowledge that it exists. The swords seem to indicate a barrier between herself and something (or someone) else.

The most obvious barrier that I can imagine would be a closed heart. When we cut ourselves off emotionally, we sever the connection that allows our love to flow outward and even inward for that matter. Sometimes this action is necessary but every time we close off our heart... it seems to get more difficult to open it again. This is the very nature of the question that I asked myself this afternoon regarding a matter that perplexes me as of late.

Upon reflecting on the Two of Swords, I must automatically confront the fact that perhaps something about this situation I've been ruminating on is fearful to me and from this I must move on to the next question..." Why does this frighten me so?" I most decidedly did not like the answer the little cat was trying to bring to my attention at first but I found myself realizing that this card was indeed appropriate for the situation at hand.

I simply must accept the fact that there are fears present but not to let that fear become a stalemate in which I cannot make progress in any direction. "Maybe it's okay to set aside these fears and take the chance...maybe this won't be as fearful as I had imagined..." Sometimes to make any forward movement, we must take that chance... risk that rejection... because without it, we would not encounter some of life's greatest moments or opportunities.

Fear Not The Devil

This is one of three cards in the tarot deck that have a tendency to strike fear in the hearts of those who's reading it turns up in...The Devil. This card, despite the depiction, is really not all that scary if you know a little bit more about it.

The Devil in the tarot deck has little or nothing to do with the frightening winged skeletal creature, in fact, this card is all about bondage...bondage to outmoded ideas that are no longer useful...bondage as in addictions....bondage to our weaknesses and bondage that comes from letting our boundaries be crossed without respect.

When I look at the two little figures that are chained to the pillar, one can only notice that if these little animals really wanted to, they could quite easily slip from the chains that hold them. Why do they stay...is it out of duty...is it out of fear....? Change is a life altering event but if we continue to sit in fear and remain chained to the old ways, what a sad lonely life lies ahead of us.

It takes greater courage to shed our fears and take bold new steps to improving our situation and our outlook on the world because if we can change our own world, what's to stop us from enacting that change in the world around us? Try something positive and new today and see how it affects the world around you.

By The Pale Moonlight

Today I decided to work with my cards again and asked "What should I write about in my blog today?" Oddly the cards gave me the moon, once again it shines in my thoughts...This card has a strange dreamlike quality about it, in which a grinning moon beams it's light down upon a nighttime scene where a crayfish can be seen in the foreground crawling from a glistening stream. There are two characters in the distance holding what appears to be staffs of some sort and farther beyond that is two tower looking mountains that may indicate a passage way of some sort. To one that is not familiar with the tarot, it might appear oddly frightening and surreal but I often see this card as lighting the path with it's pale light so that you will not stumble or get lost. I thought about the Moon card a great deal and it suddenly dawned on me that there is a message here. I had been having vivid and unsettling dreams over the past few days and always wake to this nagging feeling that just seemed to follow me throughout my day. I don't usually have these kind of dreams and I found myself slightly off balance because of it. Perhaps the Moon card is telling me that these dreams are trying to release my inner fears and doubts that I have in my life right now and my subconscious is lighting these fears so that I am able to see them clearly for what they are and move on and release them. Fear is easily banished when illuminated and examined.

(Deck: The Tarot of the Magical Forest)