I have feasted on roast pork, which the Ancient Celts believed was the food of immortality. The magical pigs belonged to the God Manannan; slaughtered in the evening for the feast, the pigs were reborn again in the morning. (Just as the leftovers of my feast will be resurrected for most of this coming week…) [...]
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Filed under: Halloween, Urbanism, Wheel of the Year
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press Writer, is reporting that end-of-life planning has survived the critical hysteria and is still in the Democratic health care bill released on Thursday. This is the provision for Medicare-paid counseling that Sarah Palin, who now admits that she’s gone rogue, called “death panels” for seniors. If. by some fluke, the provision [...]
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Filed under: Pagan Values
Dave Haxton at MacRaven, Fox News in Raleigh, NC, and a host of other bloggers and online newspapers are reporting that Pastor Marc Grizzard and 14 other members of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, NC, are planning a Bible burning and BBQ for Halloween Night. Yep, Bibles… And the works of heretics like [...]
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Filed under: Christians, Halloween
I just about went nuts when I decided to keep a blessings journal. By the time I got to Day 20 of my 30 day project, I was feeling decidedly ungrateful for the opportunity! But i had a lesson in gratitude Sunday, so I thought I would take a minute to enumerate my recent blessings. [...]
Oh, never laugh when a hearse goes by, For you may be the next to die… They wrap you up in a big white sheet, And bury you under six feet deep. The folks at The Family Plot invite you to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Create a Great Funeral Plan Day.” The Family Plot: [...]
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Filed under: Pagan Values
Does Harry Potter promote witchcraft? Harry’s critics have been telling us for a decade that Harry and his friends do encourage young people to dabble in the occult arts. That’s one of the reasons Harry Potter series ranks 7th on the list of “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books.” So, if you were a wizard promoting [...]
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Filed under: Bookshelf
Samhain is coming; the Veil Between the Worlds grows thinner. We welcome our ancestors, and the Good Folk who live beyond the Veil… Let me say emphatically that I do not mess around with Ouija boards, automatic writing, or any kind of communication that purports to talk with “spirits” or “guides.” I mucked about with [...]
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Filed under: Halloween
Today is National Coming Out Day, and The Outer Alliance, an organization for GLBTQ science fiction & fantasy writers, readers, and their straight allies are blogging about coming out experiences. Many are posting excerpts from their Works in Progress. The dynamics of coming out are pretty much the same, whether you are publicly announcing your [...]
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Filed under: Bookshelf
Wow, the FTC may be monitoring this blog! On Monday 10/5, the Federal Trade Commission announced that its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials” will cover bloggers. Effective December 1, 2009, bloggers who review a product must disclose any connection with the producer of that product and reveal if they received “compensation” for [...]
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Filed under: Bookshelf, Politics
The sentiment among health care advocates in Washington is clear: Congressman Schock must be moved to vote in favor of health insurance reform. The vote in the full House is scheduled for October 12th, and this date is rapidly approaching. In Peoria, we will hold a rally on October 6th and kick-off an action to [...]
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Filed under: Uncategorized