The Cost of Inaction

Today I read about the Winnemem Wintu and other tribes who gathered together for a practice run of a protest they will hold in the near future to protect their sacred ground and coming of age ceremony from the encroachment of heckling tourists and residents.  I was all fired up to write a scathing post and maybe a letter or two about how shameful it is that this kind of discrimination still takes place.  I was all ready and set to write about how ashamed and disgusted I am of being an American when I am reminded that our Native tribed are still abused, downtrodden, and essentially treated as second-class citizens in this country, even now in 2012.  I was just about to put pen to paper to write that it’s disgraceful that no one does anything about this issue to the point that the tribe is forced to civil disobedience just to be heard.

And then it hit me.

I, with all my fine words, all my well-meaning rage and disgrace, am really no better than the ignorant government.  Because, you see, my fine words and I are sitting in an office, or at home behind a computer.

Doing nothing.

There are plenty of people who pay lip-service to an ideal, plenty who will bemoan the state of the world without doing anything to actually fix it.  They do nothing.  And today, it hit me so hard that I paused in my work, leaned back in my cushy office chair, and actually thought about it.  With utmost surprise and shame, I realized that although my intentions were of the best, I have in fact become one of those people.

I have done nothing.

Where are the movers and shakers of today?  Where are the protesters, the leaders, the American system-breakers of this new era?  Where are the Susan B. Anthonys, the Martin Luther Kings, the Gandhis?

They’re sitting behind a computer, wrapped up in Facebook or Twitter or Angry Birds, frustrated by the world if they have any feeling or awareness left at all but still choosing to do nothing–either because they choose to or because they simply don’t know how.

I love technology.  I really do.  I’m good at it, and I’m old enough to remember a time when there was no cell phone, no personal computer, even no Internet (gasp!).  I think technology is a wonderful tool.  But we have become so focused on the next status update, the next text message, the number of Likes and friends, the next YouTube viral video, that I believe we have forgotten how to truly function with each other as human beings.  We have now been told and taught for many years that technology is the way to go, the way of the future.  And we follow blindly as sheep, herded to the next “amazing” gadget that’s really not much different from the previously amazing gadget released six months ago.  We allow technology to consume our attention and become an excuse to do nothing.

Yes, I realize the irony of using a blog and Facebook page to get this message out when I have just briefly expounded on the “evils” of technology.  But both blog and Facebook are tools.  We must learn to use them properly.

We cannot continue to do nothing.  There are too many important issues that need addressing in this world.  The rights of Native Americans in the US is only the tip of the iceberg.  What about the rights of women and children in third-world countries, protection of animals and the environgment, governmental abuses, corporate abuses, pollution, cartels, violence, and prostitution rings and slave trade?  Hiding behind computers, using the “anonymity” of the Internet, all of it must end–or be used properly–if we are to make real improvements.

I have done nothing.  Even these words will do very little because they are exactly that–just little words.  To fix the world, to make it better, more than words is needed.  Action is needed.  Solidarity and a sense of right are needed.  A reminder of humanity is needed.  We are all connected.

I will no longer be a sheep and do nothing.

Will you?

In the News: ‘Scientific evidence proves why healers see the “aura” of people’

I stumbled across this post from Psypost entitled “Scientific evidence proves why healers see the ‘aura’ of people,” published May 5, 2012.  The post says that researchers at the University of Granada have been able to explain the claims of healers of being able to see the aura around people.

I am all for scientific research and curiosity.  If eventually science is able to explain the aura and other such things, then great.  That’s fine and dandy.  However, I have some serious doubts that this “scientific evidence” holds much credence.  Not only does it sound as if the “research” extends to nothing more than interviews with “healers,” but there does not seem to be any measurable scientific evidence presented at all–at least in this posting. I’m no scientist, but from what I understand of scientific research, you need quantifiable data to examine, and it sounds like their “data” is taking the word of people who claim to be healers and able to see the aura.

University of Granada researchers affirm that healers present synesthesia, a neuropsychological phenomenon involving a “mingling” of the senses. The results of this study have been published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition. The authors remark the significant “placebo effect” that healers have on ill people.

I do believe it’s possible to see auras.  I do believe healers exist and that energy healing exists.  I couldn’t do what I do in spells if I didn’t believe it’s possible to manipulate energy to achieve a specific goal.  Sure, it sounds crazy.  I’m fully aware of how utterly quacked it sounds, as are a number of people I know who work spells.  It sounds mad.  But I also can’t deny that I and others have achieved results by working energy.  The aura is basically a type of energy field.  It’s not a leap for me to go from working spells to seeing the aura (although I, at present, cannot).  I would trust this research a lot more if they had included data from aura photographers.  Those who have been in that business for many years would be able to give scientists boatloads of data, I’m sure.  Then include the healers.  But then they would also have to define what a healer is, what “healing” means, what “aura” is, and so on.  I don’t know if these researchers did any of this–I haven’t been able to get my hands on the original paper–but it doesn’t sound as if they did.

My point here, I suppose, is that science is more than welcome to attempt to prove things like auras, ghosts, ESP, and all the rest, but if they’re going to do so, then stick to actual science and proper scientific method.

Happy Memorial Day

Today in the US is Memorial Day.  While the holiday has become overly commercialized with sales, sales, SALES, it is still a day to remember those who have fallen in service to the country, no matter what their position.  It is a day to thank those who currently serve for the sacrifices they have made and the duties they have taken on so that we do not have to.

How many of us have held a gun?  How many of us have shot at another human being?  How many of us have been in or near a war zone and heard the terrifying sounds of battle?  We are privileged in this country in that we no longer have a draft and there is no mandatory service for all citizens.  It is a choice to join the armed forces.  For many of us, we choose not to join.  But there are those who do choose to fight and serve, to protect, to try and make the world safer for those they leave behind at home, and some make the sacrifice of their lives.

I, for one, and grateful that there is no mandatory service and no draft.  I could not live the life of a soldier, physically or emotionally.  And I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to watch my younger brothers go off to war if there were a draft or, again, mandatory service.  These thoughts make me appreciate all the more the sacrifices that soldiers and their families make every day.

In the past decade, Pagans serving in the military has gained more prominence as the questions of Pagan military chaplains and Pagan symbols on headstones have arisen.  We did win the right to display Pagan symbols for fallen Pagan soldiers on their headstones if they so wished, and Pagans are gaining more permissions within the military to further their spiritual practices.

For more reading about Paganism in the military, here are some links to good articles and websites:

• “Honoring Our Pagan Fallen on Memorial Day,” Jason Pitzl-Waters at The Wild Hunt.
• The Pagan Institute Report–a bit outdated, but holds some good information from previous years.
• “The Pentagon and the Pentacle,” Carl McColman, Beliefnet 2010.
• “An It Harm None: Pagans, the Military, and the C.O. Question,” Stefani E. Barner, Llewellyn articles.
• Warriors and Kin, a website devoted specifically to Pagans serving in the military.

Weekly Deity: Calliope

Calliope is the Greek goddess of epic poetry and one of the nine Muses.  Her name is pronounced “kha-lie-oh-pee” and in Greek: καλλιοπε.  She is considered to be the Muse of Homer when he wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad.

Attributes

This goddess is typical shown as a young, beautiful woman.  She is fully-clothed in robes.  Often she carries a writing tablet and may be shown with a scroll or book in hand instead.  Sometimes she wears a golden tiara.

Usually the nine Muses are shown together, but one or two are important enough for are prominent enough in various myths that at times they are shown on an individual basis.  Calliope is one of those who may be shown without her sisters because of her prominence in numerous myths.

Mythology

Calliope is the eldest of the nine Muses, and while the Muses are nonuplets (nine siblings at once), they aren’t generally said to look alike.  Her sisters are: Clio, Erato, Urania, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Melpomene, Thalia, and Polyhymnia.  Their parents are said to be Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.

Calliope is perhaps the most active of the Muses in terms of mythology without her sisters.  She was a lover of Ares and bore him four sons: Biston, Mygdon, Odomantus, and Edonus.  All four grew up to become the founders of Thracian tribes that bore their names.  Later, she bore two more sons, Orpheus and Linus, to either Apollo (more likely) or the Thracian king Oeagrus.  Calliope does eventually marry Oeagrus, but her sons are more likely sons of Apollo given their talents with music.  Linus is known in mythology to be a great musician and he taught Orpheus and Heracles music.  Orpheus learned poetry from his mother and combined what he learned from her with the music he learned from Linus and became a great singer–so great that he moved Hades and Persephone to tears with his song when he went into the realm of Hades to fetch his wife back to the living.

Calliope is also said to mediate an argument over Adonis between Persephone and Aphrodite.  The two goddesses were so taken with Adonis’ beauty that they fought over who would be able to keep him.  So Calliope mediated on Zeus’ behalf and decided that Adonis should spend one-third of the year with each goddess and the remainder of the year in any place he chose.

Light and Dark Sides

The Muses are gentle, wise, and benevolent mistresses of their respective domains, and Calliope is no exception.  She is considered the wisest and most assertive of the Muses.

Calliope would be good to call on for aid in papers or projects, especially those projects that deal with writing, books, or poetry in some form.  Basically any task that requires patience, planning, and time could fall under her purview.  Epic poetry isn’t written in a day, which makes her a goddess of perseverance and patience as well as creativity and imagination.  She is particularly good for authors and musicians to call upon.

On her Dark side, she is perhaps a little too entrenched in her work.  It’s possible that she could be so involved in the project that other tasks get pushed aside to the point of neglect.  This is pure speculation, of course, since there are no myths about her actual work, only her relationships–but it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that this is a possibility.

Overall, Calliope, like her sisters, is a benevolent goddess who is willing to give aid when called upon for help with certain projects.

For more about the Muses as a whole, see my earlier post on the ladies.

Medicine and Healing

Conventional medicine is used by the majority of people in this country.  However, some people completely shun conventional medicine (i.e., doctors, hospitals, pills of any kind, etc.) in favor of holistic healing and natural medicine.  Others make an attempt to combine the two.

I lean more toward the third option of combining the two.  My personal choice is that conventional medicine and alternative medicine both have their place, and both have benefits and drawbacks.  That’s the position I choose for myself.

I do personally know some people who shun modern medicine, usually from a sense of great distrust.  The recent upheavals in the economy and health care industry likely have not helped matters at all.  And that’s fine for them to make that choice.  If they don’t want to see a doctor, I certainly will not force them or condemn them for the choice.  I may not agree, but it’s not my life, so I don’t have to.  However, I do take issue with those people who choose to not see a doctor for themselves but make the same choice for children who cannot make the choice for themselves or for elders who are old enough to make the choice, but may not be in a position to get themselves to the doctor without aid.

There is something to be said for not using modern medicine.  Modern medicine largely seems to consist of drugs and overmedication, which causes problems when it comes to viruses, for example.  There is also a danger with prescription medicine abuse.  That being said, herbs used for medicinal purposes can sometimes pose similar problems in that they can be used improperly, overused, and even abused, though that last is more difficult to do with herbs.

I understand the desire to not want to mess with modern medicine and operate only from alternative/complementary medicines.  A relative of mine does that.  She never goes to a doctor; doesn’t trust them.  And I have used alternative medicine options such as chiropractors, hypnotism, energy and color therapy, etc.

For me, the alternative-only approach doesn’t work.  It’s not something I would recommend.  I have migraines, for one, and I have yet to find an approach that takes care of them completely.  Usually I have to combine solutions.  In addition, birth control is a necessity for me in order to get through a cycle without ripping my uterus from my body.  Probably more information than you wanted to know–sorry–but it’s the truth, and it’s the biggest example I can think of for why modern medicine is required in my life.

As for those people who never go near complementary medicine, they could be missing out on something beneficial.  What falls under complementary medicine?  In many states, massage, acupuncture, chiropractors, reiki, herbal treatment and supplements, Eastern treatments and energy therapies, color therapy, hypnotism, and more fall under the label “alternative or complementary medicine.”  Massage can be great to help you relax, if you don’t mind strangers touching you (I mind, so massage doesn’t work that great for me).  Reiki and herbal treatments can sometimes be beneficial, depending on what you’re using them for.  But going the no-alternatives approach, those people could be ignoring possible beneficial therapies that can complement the conventional approach.

I also have relatives who would never be caught dead at an acupuncturist or chiropractor.

So that’s just my brief expression of opinion on the matter.  I can see both sides of the arguments for or against modern and complementary medicines.  When people ask me for advice, I usually tell them to go to a doctor first and go to alternative medicines second, especially if it’s an emergency or a life-or-death situation.

A short description of alternative medicine from the NIH: here.