Of Spice and Craft

Fire-stories for the 6th Annual Brigid's Poetry Festival

2011-02-02T23:14:00.001-06:00

The Creatures of Fire Tell a Story

The creatures of fire tell a story.

First are the bees,

Bound in gold and wrapped with night.

"Listen," say they,

"We will tell of a woman,

Our very own woman who wraps us in words,

In flowers of sound soft as Her touch.

We supplicate, we give of our own,

Sweetest honey laid on Her tongue,

Carried in quivering jaws by our most

Rarified Queens.

Trembling legs touch softest lips as

We pay homage to beauty,

We homely and meek,

To truth and Her words

Give homily."

Second is the fox,

Fur flaming and ruddy with light.

"Listen," says he,

"I will tell of a woman,

The forest's own woman girded with fire

Who keeps us the blade and the well.

I supplicate, I lay at Her feet,

Give Her my eyes and long-furred ears,

Bodily, if I must! lay down before

Her Flaming Arrow.

I will meet Her glory with stoutest heart as

I pay homage to mercy,

I, wily and dash,

To shaft and to tip,

Give homily."

Third is the snake,

Sun warmed and labyrinth-curling.

"Listen," says she,

"I will tell of a woman,

The night's own woman who mounts on the fire,

Rides wailing through roads left unseen.

I supplicate, I slip 'round Her throat,

Slip out of skin in the frenzy of

Sliding on the sun-warmed skin of Her,

The Flaming Crown.

Kiss Her naep with my fairest belly as

I pay homage to remedy,

I, lowly and wild,

To heat and Her heart,

Give homily."

Last is the poet,

Flaming pen and shaking hand.

"Listen," says he,

"And I will tell of a woman."

re: "13 Things I LOVE About Pagans!"

2010-12-19T22:26:00.000-06:00

This post is in response to Star Foster's post "13 Things I LOVE About Pagans!" at Pantheon, the Pagan Blog at Patheos.

The post was a fun romp, but I admit to heartily disagreeing with the inferences made in her #2 favorite thing. She says:

"We have a long and illustrious history. The Great Pyramid, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, Teotihuacan and many other wonders were built by Pagans. Philosophy, astronomy, chemistry and mathematics all have Pagan foundations. Story goes, even NASA rockets have been shaped by Pagan culture!"

There is so much going on in that small paragraph that I have trouble with. Teotihuacan and Aztec religion, for instance, have virtually nothing to do with our community. In all the history of the modern pagan movement, indigenous traditions from this hemisphere have had an extremely low impact on who we are today. Our traditions were imported from Europe in the middle of the last century. Insinuating that these native traditions are a part of our history is extremely misleading.

I believe that the confusion and disconnection is in the usage of the word "pagan" in her context above. To say that all of those different historical cultures were "pagan" is, at best, a misnomer. At worst it is a rude and inconsiderate response to the self-identity of religions worldwide, past and present.

"Pagan" is a term originally coined by Christians, historically referring to rural Europeans but eventually being used to mean any non-Christian religious tradition. The history of the word is vitally important, hailing from the period when Christianity began to grow in Europe. At the time its Latin derivative was almost synonymous with "hick" or "hillbilly", indicating that the person being called pagan was from a rural area, and generally unlearned or unsophisticated. Keep in mind that Christianity was growing mainly in the cities, and so those outside of the cities were quite likely still practicing their indigenous traditions.

We as a Neopagan community have accepted the pagan label, but it's important to remember that this label is Christian-given. As a community that has embraced the word and made it our own identity, we need to recognize that both in ancient history and in modern times the term has not been accepted by most other non-Christian traditions. Scholars today are moving towards a pagan definition that does not automatically equate it with any and all polytheisms worldwide, and modern pagans should be encouraging this change.

We self identify as Pagan, and I encourage it. I can promise you, though, that Hinduism doesn't. Nor do Shinto, Voudou, or Native American traditions. Nor did, as far as history tells, the Egyptians, Aztecs, or even the Romans accept the word Pagan as their own label. Self-identification should be something that our community is supporting, not negating.

In short I can't consider "The Great Pyramid, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, Teotihuacan and many other wonders" to be a part of a single community's history. The history of Neopaganism as it is practiced in the West is distinctly European in origin, influenced of course by ceremonial magical practice which was in turn interpreted from sources such as Jewish Kabbalah and Ancient Egyptian religion.

We need to be mindful of the history of our own name, and be careful in recklessly applying that name to others who may not care for it. It is very true that we have a long and illustrious history, but it is not the same history as that of Egypt or Mexico. They intersect, perhaps, but they are not the same. There are many different polytheisms, and it is irresponsible to call them all pagan.

Always, please remember: Polytheistic ≠ Pagan.

Walking

2010-10-12T22:47:00.003-05:00

I took a walk tonight. I rather enjoyed myself, I have to say. It's been a long time since I've done anything like that, any of my late night walking. I used to feel the need so often and almost always took msyelf up on it. This neighborhood typically feels oppressive to me, though. Unwelcoming. It was nice to get out.

Autumn is truly approaching, after such a long wait. There's a tiny touch of chill to the air, leaves begin to carpet the ground. The scent of fall rides on the breeze. I do love the smell of rotting leaves - it reminds me of a mother's mourning dress. The heartbroken mother wears a veil of bare branches, a bodice of fog, and a long train of molding wet leaves.

The rabbits are out in spades tonight, as well. It's nice to see. I appreciate their directness, their focus on a goal. It helps to move my mind along.

The night is long, but not for me. Good night.

Worship

2010-08-12T12:00:00.003-05:00

I am not too proud to worship at God's feet, yet nor am I so ignorant that I ignore the rest of Her.

My experience of God is informed by my experience of the world. All of the Gods show themselves in our world, They are present here. When I worship the world, I worship them. Our world is the most direct path to God.

Kiss the ground and kiss God's feet in awe, kiss the Mama's belly in love.

Apple-Pumpkin Upside Down Pudding Cake

2010-02-15T21:26:00.003-06:00

This is a really fun recipe. The name is long, sure, but it's pretty damned straightforward. Makes a great desert and it's really easy to make.

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 C Sugar

1 t Baking Powder

1 t Baking Soada

1/4 t Salt

1/2 t Nutmeg

1/4 t Ginger

Wet Ingredients

1 t Apple Cider Vinegar

3/4 Vegan Milk Substitute (Almond, Soy, or Hemp)

1/4 C Canola Oil

3/4 C Pumpkin Puree

Apple Filling

6 Apples, cored, sliced thinly

1/2 C Sugar

A couple splashes of lemon juice or ACV

Clove and Cinnamon to taste

Mix up the apple filling and spread it across the bottom of a lightly greased cake pan.

Mix your dry ingredients up well, and of course mix your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Fold the wet into the dry just as you would with any basic cake batter. Pour this over the apple filling and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes at 350. After 20 minutes test with a toothpick or sharp knife to make sure how it's doing.

When the toothpick comes out clean just allow the cake to cool a wee bit and serve. High quality vanilla ice cream would be wonderful with it, I prefer coconut ice cream.

Let me know if you try it out!

And So Spake the Fiery Arrow

2010-02-02T01:15:00.003-06:00

This is a contribution to the 5th Annual Cyberspace Poetry Slam for Brigid.

A Hearthside Lullaby

Who will you be,

My darling?

My child.

What will you do

Sweet child?

Sing to the stars

my shepherd dear.

Sing to the flame and the ground.

Cry out for the dark

My darling,

My child.

Sing the Sun up from your heart.

And where do you walk

my darling,

My child?

Your eyes stray so far from the lambs.

Do you see the dawn,

the sky,

My brave one?

Where do you feet long to step?

I'll look to the lambs

Child,

Sweet child.

You look to the Sun

and walk.

Busy Life

2010-02-01T22:58:00.003-06:00

I'm trying not to look at my calendar anymore. February is just as busy as January was, with March looking no better, really. Then in April I start school at Cortiva. And it's pretty shockingly non-stop from there.

I ran a lot of errands today, but two of them are particularly fun and worth mention.

First, I went to Gethsemane Gardens and picked up some OG potting soil and a couple different sizes in small pots. When I got home later in the day I rushed into my bedroom to pot my wee baby mandrake.

I'm very excited for it. It's growing so wonderfully.

My second fun errand for the day was to go to Devon and buy some powdered soapnuts. I'll be washing my hair with them for a while and seeing how that goes. I've heard fantastic things, and it's a very popular Ayurvedic remedy for a variety of scalp conditions. So we'll see.

Springtime Longing

2010-01-31T21:30:00.002-06:00

I don't know why this is, but I'm already tired of winter. I'm typically good with Winter - we're on good terms. But I think that the more work I do with plants the more I want to be around them again while they're active. I'm hoping to garden this year, and I always take walks through the woods as often as I can.

I'm really needing spring right now. It's certainly out of the ordinary for me but I'm desperate for the growing season. Strangely I'm also dying for the longer days, the lighter fare. Very out of the ordinary.

The following is the best ode to springtime that I think I can make.

Miso Corn Soup

8 C Veggie Broth

3 C Corn, mashed up

1/2 C White Miso

1/2 C White Wine

1 C Green Onion, chopped

2 t Cumin

1 t Orange Zest

1/4 C Soy Sauce

1/2 C Parsley, chopped

1 block Tofu, diced

Heat broth to a simmer. Add all remaining ingredients with the exception of the parsley. Heat thoroughly for 15 or 20 minutes, allowing the flavors to marry well. Add parsley, heat on low for an extra 5 minutes. You're all done.

Enjoy the springtime!

From Dinosaurs to Massages

2010-01-08T16:38:00.000-06:00

For most people, including myself, the path to a true life’s goal is usually fraught with distractions. I was a pretty typical little boy in that. I wanted to be an archaeologist and find dinosaurs or an astronaut and tread on planets as-yet-undiscovered. I wanted to be an Egyptologist and meet millennia-old mummies and treasure.

These are the fantasies of every boy still trying to find out who he is. It wasn’t me, though. It didn't take the younger me long to grow into a realization that has continuously born me forward though life. He - that is to say, I - wanted to help people. I’ve seen a lot of sick and unhappy people as I’ve gotten older, and the need to do something about it has pressed in on me more and more as time’s gone on. Being a doctor, though, was never much of a thought. I’d seen too much of the allopathic system to have much faith in it. Hospitals were cold and unfriendly and left me with a bad feeling in my gut.

So I looked elsewhere for healing. I’ve grown to have a deep respect for those modalities known as “alternative”, the traditional and the holistic. I've even studied the basics of a handful of techniques, herbal therapy and energy healing foremost among them. Everything I’ve learned and experienced has led me to believe that true health is expressed as a balance inside and outside of a person, between that person and his environment, both internal and external. I also think that in order to achieve that we need to foster a reconnection of these forces in people, and also go about remediating the massive level of stress that permeates our society.

Massage therapy is a practice that helps to start a person along the path to that sort of health. One of the bitterest enemies to a healthy life is a continuously high stress level, and the use of intentional, therapeutic massage can help to bring a person’s body into a calmer, more receptive space. It’s why I think that massage therapy makes a fantastic standalone healing modality, but also a wonderful springboard for finding new practices. It’s easy to incorporate into an existing practice, as well, and it can almost always find a useful space in a person’s treatment plan. I’m attracted and excited by it’s versatility and openness.

As I said before and as I've known since I was a young boy - I want to help people. Healing is simply the act of fostering health, and that's the only thing that I can see myself doing with my life anymore. Everything else is just a memory to me and never in my life have I felt so drawn towards a path.

So I'm done with studying the basics of too many different systems and never going anywhere with them. I want to commit to one system of healing at once and truly study it. Massage therapy seems a wonderful starting point and a truly fantastic modality in its own right. Studying massage will help to give me confidence to explore and incorporate other healing systems. Going through and completing a program of study in massage therapy will allow me to do automatically upon graduation what I’ve been aching to do for years now – heal people.

Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup

2009-11-27T20:55:00.002-06:00

Or; It Tastes Better Than It Looks Soup

I love soup. I really do believe that it's one of the ideal methods of food production. Soup and loaves of pretty much any kind. Everything else is great, of course, but soup takes the proverbial cake for me. Not that I've ever considered making cake soup. Don't even think it.

I had a few too many potatoes that were starting to get a little old. I've also yet to properly experiment with the nutritional yeast that I bought a while back. The potatoes alone didn't seem enough, and I had a big hankering for some broccoli soup, so here we are. I overdid it on the cumin, but it all worked out.

I don't have it in me right now to write a real recipe, but here's the basics. Take a lot of potato and a lot of broccoli and chop it all up. I'm a crazy man, I know, but I (admittedly) shave the florets off of the broccoli before boiling it down. I like to add it at the end to preserve the great color and mildly different flavor. Add a small chopped onion and boil the lot of it. I used my gallon-sized glass cooking pot and nearly overflowed the poor thing.

If you made as much soup as I did (a full gallon!) your veggies will take a while to boil. In the meantime you can take care of your spices. I always mix them up in a little bowl before adding them to whatever I'm making. That's cumin, rosemary, basil, turmeric, garlic, and epazote. Make sure to add some salt. Take it easy on the cumin and rosemary but feel free to go crazy with the turmeric and epazote. Trust me, it all works out in the end. You can see my compulsively collected broccoli florets in the foreground.

While we're waiting now for the veggies to finish boiling you can take a look at my real workstation. That's the pantry, there, with a tiny counter top. Sadly that's the only place in my entire kitchen with a plausibly usable outlet. Ridiculous, but what can you do? When the veggies are nice and soft take them to the blender. Reserve a bit of the water beforehand - we'll get back to that in a moment. Presently we're blending crazy amounts of potato and broccoli. Blend most of it to a smooth puree (how I wish for an immersion blender) and mash up the rest a little bit so that the soup is a little chunky and hearty.

Pour all of this into your original pot. Take your spice mixture and throw it into the reserved water. Whisk it all together. Add a bunch of nutritional yeast. Seriously. A bunch. Go crazy. Pour this into your soup, add some almond milk (not too much!). I made a gallon of soup and only used maybe 1/4 C of almond milk. Just make it a little creamy. Stir this entire concoction well. The colors are going to do some odd things, but just let it settle. The milk and spice/yeast mixture will look vaguely like runny cheddar cheese, which is going to turn your soup a bizarre and unsavory looking orange color, as if liquefied broccoli was looking slightly queasy. That may not be too far from truth, but the broccoli will get over it. Pretty soon the soup will be a pretty stunning green, and then you're all set. Let it simmer for a half hour or so to come together, and serve. Make sure to serve this soup with copious amounts of bread, as shown above. It's only proper. After all, this is a soup.

It turned out great. Maybe I'll write an actual recipe for it one day.

Thanks

2009-11-25T08:43:00.001-06:00

I can't really say that I celebrate Thanksgiving anymore. It's hard for me to reconcile the holiday that most Americans celebrate with the National Day of Mourning held in Plymouth or the other events nationwide like it. Today is always a poignant reminder for me that most Americans are willfully ignorant of the history of our country and/or of the current conditions surrounding the surviving Native tribes that were here before European settlement. Today is a reminder of that history and of those conditions.

There are other issues for me as well. I can't really appreciate the comical farce of a President "pardoning" a random turkey (and what crime is being pardoned, exactly?) to the amused naivety of the rest of the populace while hundreds of millions of other turkeys are slaughtered. Ignoring any animal rights or sustainability protests I might have, this is just a part of the American habit of ignoring the dirtier aspects of our communal actions. I can't take part in that, and remembering the history and continued problems surround Thanksgiving doesn't put me in much of a celebratory mood.

I do think that there's a genuinely good spirit in the hearts of people when they sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with their family. I don't protest that, or wish for it to come to an end. I don't even truly want to see an end to Thanksgiving. I only wish that more people would bring acknowledgement and respect for history with them to the table, and maybe an honest desire to see a better America. Instead so many people - certainly not all, but probably most - bring nothing more than empty stomachs and empty minds.

So I don't celebrate. But I do give thanks.

To the land on which I stand, from which I receive sustenance, I give thanks.

To those spirits in this place that help to guide and teach me, I give thanks.

To my friends and teachers who help to support me through change, I give thanks.

And to the Ancestors of this land, to the foundation and Greater Spirit that gives life to this place, I give honor.

Vacation

2009-08-10T20:17:00.002-05:00

I never mentioned, but I'm on vacation! Yay!

I of course forgot my camera and feel dumb as a post because of it. I was walking across one of the bridges today at Niagara Falls and this woman strikes up a tiny conversation and says "Would you like me to take a picture?" while she looks me up and down, no doubt searching for a camera on my very travely looking person. After telling her that I didn't have a camera with me she gave me the strangest look, as if I was some sort of pink wildebeest wearing that backpack, and just walked down the bridge.

Tourists. Bah.

Anyway. I'm in Niagara Falls at the moment, and leaving tomorrow. I got here by way of Toronto, and will be leaving to visit NYC for the first time.

There will be more later, especially back posts from things I've journaled about on the trip.

Until then!

Pagan Holidays at autumntwilight

2009-06-11T12:11:00.002-05:00

Interesting post (with equally interesting comments) by Theo over at autumntwilight.

Check it out!

Bones and Blood

2009-05-29T21:24:00.001-05:00

Water is fluid.

It comes to our shores from ocean or sea. Currents will carry the same water around the world and back again. Storms will carry it any distance, in any direction. It is placeless, eternal, and shared amongst the world.

Rock, stone, tree, bone. These things are static. Things of earth are rooted and concrete. They inhabit a place for so long that they become nothing but place. Earth knows nothing of maps or path - everything about the Earth is present and immediate.

It is the same with blood and bone. My blood comes from my ancestors and connects me to them. It connects me to my living relatives, no matter where they are across the planet. It is the nature of blood and water to flow.

My bones come from the earth. From the place of my birth. A mother eats from the soil of her home, and that then hardens to bone in her womb. Bone is a part of the land much as a tree is, or a boulder.

Blood will flow, and with it passion. Passion may take one to many places, but the bones know where they're from, where their own native land is. My bones come from this land, and this land is my native home.

An Alternate Immune Support, Part One

2009-05-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

I'm always interested in a new way to treat something. I don't believe that the answer to any ailment is a single medicine, and every alternative will have it's own quirks that allow for a healthy personalization of a treatment.

I started an Elderberry glycerite a few days ago. I've never made a glycerite, so I was excited to try. Beyond that I've been wanting to experiment with an alternative to Echinacea. Echinacea isn't strictly good for long term use and I wanted to try something a little bit more gentle. Elderberry is supposed to be a fantastic immune supporter and a mild tonic. It's also a diuretic.

That's all I've got. I'll post again once I've processed the slurry.

Bear Pride and the Inevitability of Human Prejudice

2009-05-25T21:17:00.003-05:00

This weekend marked my first ever Bear Pride event. It was just as fun as I could have hoped. Saturday was a dance party and "Mr. Bear Pride" Contest, and Sunday was Wet n' Wild at Steamworks. There were plenty of very attractive men, and the variety of temperament and attitude was a wonderful deviation from the traditional view of what "Bear" has to mean.

All too often "Bear" is held up as this standard of gay masculinity both inside of the Bear community and inside of the larger Gay community. The Bears look at it as a badge of pride to be carefully gaurded and the larger community sees gruff, demanding exclusion.

The truth, of course, is very much more complicated and precarious. For being a small sub-community the Bear community is surprisingly diverse in its constituents. There were black men and white men, latinos, asian men. Some men were hairy as sin while others didn't have anything but smooth skin from the neck down. Ages ranged from 21 all the way to a few men who must have been 80 or older. Of course there was a spectacular range of body types from lithe, lean, and defined to thick, chubby, or just plain bulbous.

There was, as I mentioned before, also a delightful variety of humors. It seemed that everywhere you looked there were stern, overtly masculine men. That's to be expected, honestly. But in every glance you also got the fun queens and the men who aren't ashamed if you know that they knit or cook or the like. It's like any large group of people, I suppose. You have your social butterflies and your loners. Most people, of course, are somewhere in between. There's always a wide range of mannerisms to be found, although sometimes that creates schisms.

You can imagine that the Bear community isn't exempt from plain old human prejudice, as much as it pains me to say it. One hopes that when a community forms outside of "normal" social boundaries that said community will be peaceable inside of it's own construct. This is almost never true, of course. The Gay community is already composed of the outcast, the hated, the irregulars. The Bear community then subjects itself to even further classification and boundaries. If the Bear community was internally peaceable this further division wouldn't necessarily be an issue, but there are still problems inside of the community.

The young sneer at the old, the old scoff at the follies of the young. The chubs resent the otters and the muscle bears pretty much snub everyone. The leather bears look down on those of more mainstream sexual tastes. There's so much more. I could list these various prejudices for countless lines. I don't really feel like doing that.

The problem here isn't that the young cubs prefer sexual trysts with other young cubs. That's a matter of personal preference, and it's not even true across the board. Personal preference is not to be confused with prejudice. It becomes prejudice when a young man can't even bring himself to talk with someone more than 10 years older than him, or when a cute little muscle bear doesn't want to dance next to the big chubs on the dance floor. As in far too many human interactions personal preference quickly becomes prejudice through rudeness and insensitivity.

I have my own personal preferences. I prefer men not much larger than myself in girth. I generally don't enjoy the sexual company of men more than twice my age, though this is more of a case by case situation as time goes on. I'm not often into men who consistently wear makeup or do crazy things with their hair. I don't like it when men wear scented product. There's more, of course. Little things that sometimes matter, sometimes don't. I try not to let this become prejudice, though. There's no need to be rude or hurtful. Kindness can go a very long way in preventing harm by silly prejudice.

I'm admittedly a grumpy ass, but I'm very rarely unkind. I never aim to actually hurt someone, and I don't really understand how people can actually intend it.

I do believe I'm beginning to ramble. Long winded isn't my normal style. To surmise, I had a fun weekend. The only downside was that I couldn't help but notice just how egotistical and rude so many of these otherwise wonderful men are when they meet someone who doesn't fit their personal definition what what a Bear should be. It's an enormous pity and we're better off without.

an update of moving importance

2009-05-25T09:52:00.011-05:00

So, I repeat, we moved.

Theo and I have our own place on the very northern edge of Chicago now. We're literally half a block from being in Evanston. It felt like the boonies at first, but I've gotten used to it. That I can walk to work now is rather helpful.

The new apartment has its quirks, of course. Hot water only truly happens in the shower. The kitchen light doesn't work (my fault!). The cat has gotten herself into the chimney twice now, and we're not even supposed to have a damned chimney.

It's also a very pretty apartment, I admit. Very large, lots of open space. There's a full pantry, which is possibly my favorite space in the house.

Here's our mantle and fireplace. It's in the south, which is pretty neat.

So here's the rest of the main room, still disheveled from the move. In the first picture you can see all the way to the back door, through the study and the kitchen!

I promise that more pictures of the space will appear, but only as my photography ends up improving. Here's a little bit of a fun craft project, though.

I had to figure something out to do with the lids to our pots, since I can't stand having them in some random cabinet, and I also can't afford the counterspace to use one of those ridiculous lid racks. So I did this. It hangs below my wonderful spice shelves.

That's really everything I have. Here's a picture of our heinously evil cat to end.

Ooooo, evil!

A Singer's Remedy

2009-05-20T15:08:00.002-05:00

So we moved. More on that later.

Last night Sooj and K showed up on the doorstep. That's always a really nice find, even when expected. We hung out here for a while and got them settled in, then had Shivian over to hang out for a bit. There was I-HOP involved, and then more house time.

Sadly Sooj is feeling under the weather, and has had some throat problems the last few days. As she has a concert tomorrow she's needed a bit of a vocal pick-me-up. Here's an easy, classic remedy for a sore throat and cough. I like this recipe because it promotes healing of the throat as well as easing the cough and the discomfort.

Ingredients
1 Tb Yarrow Flower
2 t Licorice Root (chopped)
Juice of One (1) Lemon, fresh
1 Tb Honey, more to taste

All ingredients preferably sourced organically/locally. Steep Yarrow and Licorice in approx 4 fl oz water (about 2/3 capacity of average mug) for 5 minutes. Remove herbs and add remaining ingredients. Stir well, drink as needed.

A Veggie Mexican's Breakfast

2009-02-10T22:17:00.003-06:00

I'm feeling rather tired. I have two days of work ahead of me, and then it's off to Flint. I'm visiting my family, and hopefully some friends. I have a lot to say, but I'm not really sure what it is. There's a bond on my heart - I need a change to loosen the knot. I'm hoping to do that with my trip to Europe, but I think I'm also going to take a quick trip before that, just for a weekend. Sometime in the next couple months.

This was my breakfast this morning. It was my first time working with TVP, and it was rather nice.

Vegetarian Chorizo and Eggs
Serves Two

1/4 Cup TVP
3/8 Cup water
1 T Chili powder
1 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Epazote
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
A few pinches of Cumin
More salt to taste
2 - 3 eggs

In a skillet heat the water to a simmer. Add the TVP and heat on low, letting it reconstitute. It'll be a bit wet - it should be as you'll be letting it fry off. Add all your spices at this point and mix well. Add the oil of your choice, enough to get the pan nice and slippery. Turn the heat up to medium and fry for a minute. Add the egg and mix it all up, scrambling the egg slightly in the pan. Cook through. You may wish to add a bit more salt at this point to taste. Spoon into warm tortillas and eat!

Knowing Magic

2009-02-04T22:32:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Theo and I were walking home from Leona's and talking about magic, as we are often to be found doing. When we finally emerge onto the street, coming down from the El station, Theo mentions a little idea about how knowing your magic is more important than actually being able to do it. I can't agree more.

I see too many otherwise talented witches around me doing sub-par, unimaginative magic because they don't know their theory. These people never stop to consider the how or what of magic, they just do. And they get results. think though, just think about what could happen if these witches considered how the spell is put together, what the spell affects and why. Magic would all of a sudden be adaptable, changeable. All of these beautiful, wise witches would be so much more effective than they are now because their spells would be theirs again, not the copyrighted property of some mainstream publisher.

I guess what I'm saying is that to own your magic you must first understand it. The next time you do a spell really think about what is happening. How is this going to work? Understanding theory is paramount to memorizing spells and techniques. Knowledge is the bastard stepson to Wisdom.

A Rice Cooker and Mock-Thai

2009-02-04T20:19:00.002-06:00

I'm so happy with this new rice cooker in my kitchen. It satisfies the deepest, laziest urges that I have, and believe me when I say that I have some crazy lazy urges.

Realize that I have fought the anti-rice cooker fight for well over a year now, probably much closer to two. It's a single use appliance, says I. How dare you suggest such a thing, begone with you else you should taste my wrath! Even though I've never enjoyed cooking rice I always fought with long tooth and sharp nail against a rice cooker, rebelling against such a simple unitasker.

Enter my practical streak mixed with my truly strong desire to eat rice on a more consistent basis. Oh, the dilemma. Oh, the internal struggles. Not even Poe had internal struggles like mine.

In the end, of course, practicality and laziness won out. And I can't honestly say that I'm displeased. It's not like I was using that counter space anyhow. It performed like a dream, and the rice wasn't even too dry after it had been finished cooking and warming for a little while. No watching, no worries. Pour it in, flip a switch, and watch it go. I can't wait to experiment with different types of rice - this was just a long white grain.

Here's the quick recipe for the Mock-Thai Stirfry that I threw on top of it. Customize to suit your needs. The ingredients are almost certainly already in your pantry, and if not you should be deeply ashamed for not having such wonderful things as lime juice or soy sauce. Ashamed, I say.

Mock-Thai Stirfry
(serves however many damned people you need it to)

Ingredients

Mustard
Soy sauce
Lime juice (preferably fresh)
Tofu, cubed (Cubed seitan would work, too.)
Carrot, sliced
Broccoli, chopped
A small handful of flour (Preferably whole wheat. A few tablespoons should do it per 2 servings)
Spices and herbs (I used tumeric, sweet basil, epazote, and cumin. Small amounts of everything, heavier on the tumeric and cumin. Just the lightest touch of epazote.)
Cooked rice

Take your cubed tofu and pan fry it for a couple minutes over medium heat in some cooking oil to get it nice and warmed up. Mix the flour and your choice of spices together in a small bowl and sprinkle the mixture over the tofu. Toss it vigorously to mix. After letting that fry for a few moments to allow the flour to really adhere to the tofu you'll want to throw in your carrots and broccoli (you can also use peas, cooked potato, zuchinni... lots of options in the veggie department). Let this simmer for a minute or two, allowing the veggies to soften a little. Take the soy sauce and shake some into the pan. Definitely not too much, maybe the equivalent of 1 - 2 teaspoons per 2 servings, depending on taste. Squirt some lime juice into the pan and add some of the mustard to taste, no more than a tablespoon per 2 servings. Mix this up pretty well and it's ready to serve over rice! Quick and easy.

Candles in the Windows

2009-02-03T23:55:00.002-06:00

It is rather appropriate that Mercury went direct just before we lit the fires for Imbolg. There's a sort of poetry in seeing things set right just at the beginning of spring. Imbolg is a time for true beginning, for the manifestation of impregnation.

Many pagans who celebrate the Sabbats from a Celtic perspective have already celebrated their spiritual New Year, myself included. At Samhain we die, and acknowledge that death as the beginning of a new cycle, as nothing can renew itself until it is ended. Personally, I prefer to think of the death at Samhain as "La Petite Mort", seeing as how a renewal of the spirit is often exhilarating and refreshing (much like the namesake of that particular French phrase).

Yet however exhilarating or refreshing a renewal of soul may be at Samhain, it is still a death and we are still stiff and still in the ground during the winter chill. Winter, from Samhain to Imbolg, is a season of thought and stillness. We review the past cycle and think on the new. Our magics stay primarily internal a quiescent, leaning more into the realm of preparation than that of actualization.

And then there's Imbolg, the beginning of spring. Imbolg is the light at the end of a very long, dark, and cold tunnel. It marks the beginning of the reign of the Bright Lady, the Dame, the Muse. It is when our eyes open and our hands flex, wordlessly longing to start some project that waited out the winter.

It is also the time when the coming year finally begins to construct itself. We can begin to enact the goals we may have set for ourselves in the winter. We also attempt more exacting divinations. Questions were asked during the winter, of course, but the answers all relate to an internal landscape. The self is closed and still beneath the ground at this point. It is difficult to look into the next plot. But just as the winter has us waiting in the soil, Spring has us blossoming. Once above the ground we are free to look around. Spring, like autumn, is a season of transition. Unlike autumn, of course, we're transitioning to life, not death. Beginning, not ending.

So we act. We divine. We look to the coming year. A lot of spellwork in this season is meant to illuminate a path. Spring may be here in spirit but the weather still says winter, and we need to find our way back to the warmth and the sun. A great deal of time was recently spent in the Underworld, where we looked at ourselves and took stock. Now we take our findings to the Upperworld to flesh out the details of our base desires.

Now we venture out of ourselves again and into the world. We join our friends and family in prayer to the Lord and Lady of Sun and of Fire, and we ask for their guidance.

It is often said that when we place a candle in the window at Imbolg we urge the Sun to return. I think, rather, that we are calling the Sun back to us, like an invitation to a lost lover. I think that by the end of the winter the Sun needs the candleflame, that dancing little point of light, to find a way back to us, just as we need the light to find our own paths out of the dark and cold.

Sun and Star that burns so bright,
Can you find your way by candlelight?
These dancing flames in my window burn
So that to me you might return.

The Leaving

2009-01-01T23:58:00.002-06:00

"I am a Selkie. No amount of wishing will make me a Satyr. This is what I am. Selkies stay until they leave, and the instinct for leaving is so powerful in us, far more powerful than the instinct for the sea. ... I long for the sea, yes... but more, I long for the leaving. I am restless, I am ready, and the leaving whispers to me at night. It says that I will breathe easier when the air is full of fog and seafulls, that I will breathe easier when I am at the start of a store, rather than at the end." -from "In the Night Garden", by Catherynne M. Valente

"When I am at the start of a story..."

In the past few weeks those words have found a firm home in my heart. A great deal of my time recently has been spent soul-searching, path-finding, shadow-working. Everything in me screams for a new direction and for change.

Stagnation leads to decay, and my life feels like it has been still for far too long. Like the Selkie-boy I am connected in part to the water, and like the water I cannot be still for long. A closed pond breeds nothing but sickness - health is impossible in a state of disconnection.

The worst of that feeling of disconnection is over. I'm healing. I'm beginning to let myself experience others again, but I'm still having trouble reforging a connection with myself. I feel lost. I don't know where to expand my Craft, and when I find an area to be expanded I don't know how.

Enter the wanderlust, the leaving. I need a drastic change in scenery. New experiences, new places. I need some time alone. When I say alone, of course, I don't just mean away from people. I can get that often enough, and sometimes more than I would like. What I need is to get away from the familiar. My life is feeling so stagnant and unchanging that sometimes I can't tell one day from the other. I've never wanted that for my life.

So I'll go. I'll seek and experience.

"The leaving had me, and I went with it."

Cranky Day

2008-11-24T20:17:00.001-06:00

What a strange day. I work in a store selling non-toxic, environmentally friendly products for the house. We happen to sell a zero-VOC paint. I had to mix quite a bit of it, and we happen to be out of a lot of our stock. I was down in the cramped, barely lit, stuffy basement for a total 5 hours mixing paint. It's enough to drive a man to craziness.

My job is enough to drive me a tiny bit crazy as it is, paint issues set aside. It sometimes bothers me a lot to see the green movement being corralled into the same blatant commercialism as the rest of society. Seeing as how I work in a green retail store, I see quite a bit of this. There are so many superfluous products making "green" claims - just because a product contains recycled material does not make it green. Just because a product has a solar charger on it does not make it green.

In my mind any honest and thoughtful move towards an environmentally friendly lifestyle also requires that you allow your thoughts to encompass the worlds of social and health-related responsibility. It requires responsible, thought-out spending (not claiming that I'm there yet, for the record!).

Most of all, though, any serious attempt at an environmentally friendly lifestyle absolutely requires a sense of sustainability and necessity. There's an alarming new trend in the green movement towards mindless consumer buying that has people buying products that are wonderfully eco-friendly but completely unnecessary in their lives. This is wasteful. This is not the sort of change, I think, that was originally envisioned.

People tend to forget, I think, that there are 3 "R"s. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Number three would ideally be the last-ditch effort. First you reduce your consumption as much as possible. Forgive me for being harsh, but simply because you recycle doesn't mean that you should take glory in throwing plenty of the one-use drinking bottles into your bin. Instead, consider limiting your consumption of one-use products. Remember to reduce, and attempt to reuse.

That's all for now. Excuse the rant.

A First Post

2008-11-18T10:18:00.001-06:00

I suppose I should get on this damned wagon. Good way to keep my thoughts together.

I'm feeling lazy at the moment. Here is a poem.

"A Dying Regime"

Neatly stacked cups

Surround me -

Turrets of my quiet coffee cathedral.

Majesty's forgotten,

Broken and squandered I lead the Masses

in prayers to the Decaffeinated Christ.

Daily I see the few, the barest handful,

The Devoted Parishioners.

still more are the lost souls coming

and going.

Never the same one twice.