Witches Brew

Where has the week gone? Saturday afternoon, April 25th, I helped staff the Global Village booth at the Earth Day Celebration at Forest Park Nature Center. Global Village, if you haven’t been in the shop, is a Fair Trade store in Peoria Heights. Our little booth was stocked with Fair Trade coffee and tea, slavery free chocolate, lovely, inexpensive jewelry and colorful clothes that did not come from a sweatshop.

It was a gusty, overcast day, and we were expecting a deluge of rain. Luckily the canopy did not blow down, and we only got a few rain drops. In fact, the sun came out as we were packing up for the day, and the parking lot quickly turned into a sauna. So I was feeling all sweaty-gritty by the time we met up with other GV volunteers at Chef Leo’s Cafe for dinner.

Chef Leo’s opened at the beginning of April inside the Peoria Bread Company at 1400 NE Monroe in Peoria. It was a cool, calm refuge after a day spent with a moody Mother Nature. At first glance, it seems a little stark. The floor tiles are black and white, the walls are stark white with a row of vivid, abstract acrylic painting marching around the room. The table cloths are black.

Dinner hours are 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Tuesday thru Saturday. We started arriving about 5:30. There were nine of us, and we had made reservations, but I felt like a we had arrived about 30 minutes early for a party. Dave, our very genial waiter (the only waiter for our large party and two smaller ones), seemed rushed and distracted. The ice tea was weak, and the bread for the bread baskets was still in the oven. But once we all got our water glasses and fresh tea, and warm bread, we all seemed to catch a collective breath and mellow out. Then we got down to the FOOD and some lively conversation.

“The concept behind the creation of Chef Leo’s Cafe,” according to their website and brochure, “began as a conversation between friends concerning the need for a restaurant that would offer high end vegetarian items and other organic and natural products. The idea was to work with local farmers who specialized in growing organic produce, free range chicken and grass fed beef. Utilizing a network of people dedicated to exposing the community to healthy alternatives.” And Goddess bless them, because Chef Leo’s is making good on those promises. Half of our party selected the special for the evening, a vegan lasagna. The portions were huge, looked gorgeous, and smelled wonderful. Two other people selected an eggplant ragout served over an equally huge slice of bread.

A dedicated omnivore, I had two “grilled lamb chops with saffron vegetables and red bell pepper sauce.” The pepper sauce was delicate and did not overwhelm the lamb. It also came with a generous portion of basmati rice. Another omnivore had a large dinner salad with grilled chicken. My lamb was about $18.00. I think the salad was about $12-14. The lasagna was less than my lamb, more than the salad… They also offer a filet of beef or rib-eye. Prices seemed about right on those, about $23-25.

The only disappointment was the “grilled mushroom polenta with roasted vegetables.” None of us knew what to expect on that one. We guessed mushrooms stuffed with or wrapped in polenta. Actually, they were diced, mixed in the polenta and then the polenta (which is fancy for “corn meal mush”) was grilled. The woman with the polenta said it was dry. It looked a little greasy to me…

Dave, when the rush was over, told us that Chef Leo’s is still in the process of working out the wine list. He promised some good wines at moderate prices and some more expensive selections. The restaurant serves Fair Trade coffee from Global Village. We were too full to entertain any thoughts of dessert. Chef Leo came out to thank us for dining.

Chef Leo’s is also open Tues thru Sat, 11:00 am t0 2:00 pm for lunch. They offer soup, salad, veggie sandwiches and a bison burger. And on Friday and Saturday you can buy bread from the bakery. On the the Near North Side of Peoria, it might be a bit out of your way, but you won’t regret it. You might want to call (309) 676-7790 or (866) 770-3895 for dinner reservations.

We are coming to the end of Heifer International’s Pass on the Gift Month Heifer International seeks to end poverty and hunger around the world by providing livestock, training, and support to small farmers. Through Heifer, you can purchase a hive of honey bees ($30), a flock of chicks ($20), a goat ($120, or a share for $10) or even a cow ($500, or a share for $50). The recipient is required to pass on the gift, donating the firstborn of their animal(s) to another member of their village.

Around the world, in villages ravaged by war, disease, and natural disaster, old men and women struggle to raise a generation of orphans. Milk and eggs, which we take for granted, can stave off the life-long damage caused by malnutrition and can provide cash for education. Manure from livestock goes into the fields to fertilize crops. Even more important: people who were victims are now herdsmen and entrepreneurs, marketing honey, wool, or cheese.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the suffering in the world, but you can make a difference. If you don’t know what to give your parent for Mother’s Day/Father’s Day, give donation in their honor to Heifer. Ask your church group or scout troop to purchase a water buffalo ($250, share $25.). Just need some good karma in your life? Need the gods of prosperity to shine upon you? Make a donation.

I am glad to be a Blogger United for Hunger & Hope.

For the first time since I got my digital converter box, I am really, truly impressed. It’s a calm, windless night. For some reason the converter box shut itself off once, but reception has been uncommonly good this evening–and Cecile B. DeMille’s extravaganza is eye-popping! I don’t know if The Ten Commandments even looked this vibrant and jewel-like on the big screen.

Yes, in the limbo between Passover and Easter, I am once again rolled between love and loathing for this pompous, overblown monster of a movie. DeMille went to such pains to recreate Nineteenth Dynasty Egypt. The sets are monumental. The costumes are a bit funky, but close enough for Hollywood. The relationship between the Pharaoh Sethi (Seti I) and Neferteri (like the relationship between the God Ra and his daughter Hathor) is perfect. Trouble is, there is no Egyptian records of the Israelites in Egypt. There are no records of massive slave labor in the building of monuments. There is no record of the Exodus. DeMille’s Egypt is “digital,” sharp, colorful, and clear. The Old-Testament Exodus is set in a mythical Egypt. It’s “analog.” By the time I got to my favorite part, the Golden Calf and the orgy, I was so bored that the scene just slid right by my eyes.

And I need, right now, to understand the power of Ihy, the Golden Calf. An illustration in Hathor Rising: The Power of the Goddess in Ancient Egypt. (Alison Roberts, Inner Traditions, 1995), shows a wall relief: “A herdsman entices his anxious cattle across water by carrying a young bull-calf on his shoulder.” And here I am, fifty-eight years old, out of work, and looking for the next phase of my life. Like those anxious, eye-rolling, heifers, I’ve got to keep my eyes on that wriggling, bawling calf and not worry about the hippos and crocodiles in the river. Ihy is the golden sun at dawn. I need to keep my eyes focused on the horizon and the breaking of a new day.

Roberts writes, “Renewal through Hathor comes about only by surrendering, letting go and moving to her rhythms.” Like a temple dancer I need to be limber and flexible. Oh, Little Calf, show me how to dance.

The Riverfront Museum is “on”! Maybe. The referendum to raise $40 million (through a .25% increase in the Peoria County sales tax) has passed by the skin of its teeth, and it wouldn’t surprise me if opponents called for a recount. If this museum is going to be built, Build the Block supporters need to get their mojo on. It’s time for some serious Downtown magic.

Actually, the eye-catching signs that went up last fall around the empty Sears block were, magically speaking, pretty good. A successful spell should roll off the tongue and engage the senses. It should create a strong visual image of what the spell-caster wants to accomplish. Sigils–like charms or tattoos– are written symbols that can be charged with magical power. So images like “Slam Dunk” with a basketball plunging through the net in “D\/nk” are potentially very powerful. Colorful exhortations like Play it again, Peoria, Ground Breaking!, The Sky’s The Limit!, etc. do seem charged with magical intent.

But…there’s a lot of resistance to this project! So here’s one witch’s advice. It’s time to court the deva of the Sears block, and enlist its help.

“What’s a deva?” you are asking. According to Christopher Penczak in his book City Magick, “Devas are energies, or spirit forms, who create the patterns of reality on higher levels of existence. The word is originally from Hindu myth, meaning something akin to angel, but the New Age has adopted it to mean creators, or angels, of nature.”

The Romans called the guardian spirit of a place its genius loci. And it seems to me that in spite of all the bright and happy crap on the plywood walls, the deva of the Sears block is seriously cheesed off!

I am thinking, before we see any real progress on the Riverfront Museum, we might want to “make nice” with the deva. Would some flowers be too much to ask? You know, a little altar at the crossroads there at Main and Water Street with some ribbons and a candle or two? Maybe some sweets…. Pinwheels or wind chimes… Maybe some personal messages: “Dear Deva, I can’t wait for the new IMAX. Please, please, pretty please! Love you!” A guitar serenade or two…

Penczak goes on, “Some devas are called “overlighting,” because they organize their peers into subcategories around them… All cities have a devic spirit in control of them, In many ways, this is the spirit of the city itself. The overlighting deva of the city organizes the other spirits. The deva of New York City works with the deva of the Empire State Building, the deva of the Statue of Liberty, the deva of Central Park, and the devas of the East and West Villages.” We might want to stop and ask ourselves who is the overlighting deva of Peoria. WHERE is the ovelighting deva of Peoria? If it’s out on Allen Road these days, then need to call it home.

Penczak says, “Call on them in ritual. They want to make contact with you. Doing magick on their territory is going to effect them. The energy you send out for your spells will be working through these city architects… These spirit forms want to be in partnership with us. They want to be acknowledged by the mystics living with them. They are all waiting to be asked.”

Before the truth finally dawned on me–the Egyptian Goddess Hathor was alive and well–I had hints, some broad and some subtle, that Somecow wanted my attention. The discovery of Heifer International was, for me, one of those subtle but profound affirmations of a her presence.

Let me say, Heifer International in a Christian charity. OK. Pagans, who tend to loath religious institutions and hierarchies, have not yet taken to the intricacies of forming non-profits–there are notable exceptions, of course, but we just don’t organize the way the Christians do. But we do give! And I recommend Heifer International.

Heifer has 180 projects in 50 countries. A small donation can provide chicks or ducks or a hive of honeybees to a poor family, giving them both a source of nutrition and a source of income. In many war-torn, AIDS-ravaged countries, smaller animals are a God/dess-send for grannies and orphans. In some places, your donation can provide trees for a reforestation project. A larger donation can provide goats, pigs, a cow, or even a llama! (I set myself a goal of buying a cow on the installment plan, but I have fallen behind on my payments. A whole cow is $500, but shares are $50 each.) Heifer provides training along with the animals. The recipients agree to pass on the first-born of their stock to another member of their village.

April is “Pass on the Gift” month. On the Heifer website each day of April has a theme with success stories. Today, April 6th, is “Manure Day.” I confess, I don’t often celebrate the joys of manure, but it can be used to enrich fields, be dried for fuel, or converted to gas. Tomorrow’s theme is “World Health Day.”

So if the latest unemployment statistics are getting you down, and the stock market is playing havoc with your 401K, do yourself a favor and read some good news for a change. Then “Pass on the Gift.”