The Guillotine: You are SO Stupid That You've Killed Your Planet

The Guillotine: You are SO Stupid That You've Killed Your Planet

Save the Humans

Fist Happy Thanksgiving Day to all.
This is a cross post from my other blog Rain City Gnosis. If you have read the rants over there don't worry. I haven't either.

Now I know that is an odd way to start a blog that is so full of gloom and doom but today is Thanksgiving. I have been ranting for weeks now about the sad state of affairs that is our planet. I have not offered any solutions. Why you ask? Because no one likes to be told what to do. No one wants a solutions or we would have one already.

This is what I do know. When I was a child everyone threw everything away. Newspapers, cans, Ok the bottles went back to the store to get the nickel deposit back but then they stopped requiring a deposit and those went into the trash as well. Things like 'Love Canal' happened. DDT was sprayed on all the food. Slowly people took notice. But what to do?
You can't just change the way everyone does everything overnight. It takes time. When people are concerned it seems overwhelming. It is too much at once. So you have to come up with some little something that EVERYONE can do. Not just some people.
Everyone can recycle. Everyone can reduce. Everyone can reuse. Ok so that is just the boy with his thumb in the dyke trying to prevent the water from rushing in and destroying the village. It is a stick in a raging torrent pretending to be a damn.
BUT, it is a start. Eventually the three R's become the norm.

so now everyone is in a huff about the economy. Why? Do I need 14 pairs of shoes? Do I need to whine about my next door neighbor when she puts up a chicken coop? I can support Urban Sustainability. I can give spiritual gifts at Christmas instead of expensive things that are forgotten about four months later. I can drive the same old car that I have had for the past 11 years and repair it rather than buy a new one.
Ok, so this doesn't stimulate the economy. I know. However it stimulates the spirit. Not only of me but of those around me. Maybe if enough of us twigs stick together we can create a damn that stops the flow of destruction.
Will it be enough? Will change come fast enough? If not, then the planet will continue with out our species. You see it isn't the planet that we need to save. The planet will go one. the question is will it go on with or without humans?

Most people I have known fall into one of two categories. They either think that no matter how bad things get, that in the end God won't let the planet be destroyed. Jesus will come back on clouds of glory with trumpets blaring and the 'bad' people will be thrown into a fiery pit and the earth will be returned to some sort of paradisiacal state. The others seem to think that modern science will take care of all our woes. The planet will be able to continue to support our ever growing population on to infinity. We will produce more food, live longer, had still have large families. Some how the other species that live on this planet will be content to live in a zoo or an aquarium or terrarium.
We are in a closed environment people! We live on a rock that is hurling through space. Where are ya gonna go when it is a trash heap? Save the planet? I say:

Save the humans.
1: Stop breeding like flies. Quality of people over quantity.
2: Stop treating our planet like a giant toilet.
3: Value education over war. i.e. put the money into education not wars.


So what will I do for Thanksgiving? To show that I am grateful for what I have I will not over indulge in food. I will not cook more than we can eat. I will not get wrapped up into the hype that the holiday season is about shopping, spending, giving material gifts or GETTING THEM. I will spend time with a joyful heart with friends, family and strangers. I will pray, meditate and give back to the planet.

What will you do? The future is in YOUR hands. If not you then who? If not now then when?

Has Buddha Been Reincarnated?

Dia De Muertos

I find it interesting that we have Halloween on October the 31st, then Dia De Muertos or Day of the Dead on November 1st, but the church uses November the 1st for All Saints Day and puts off All Souls Day until the 2nd.

I have to ask myself why this is. the pagan origins of celebrating the time when the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead is common in so many cultures. Today at a Dia De Muertos celebration in Seattle Center I was privileged to witness a group of South American Native dancers dance an ancient dance and preform part of the old religious traditions of this time of the year. One of the members of the dance troop said that originally this took place over forty days of dance and ritual.

In the Celtic calendar, and today for many Neo-pagans and modern day Wiccans Samhain is one of the holiest days of the year. The modern celebration of Halloween is only a sad reflection of what the rites really meant. The harvest aspect of Samhain is mostly lost in modern city society. Still it warms my heart to see all the kids dressed up in costumes and running around begging for candy. I still look at this as the day when every little girl wants to grow up to be me. When they come to the door dressed in long black dresses and wearing pointy hats I love to look at them and say "you, know, we don't really wear those silly hats". The look on their mothers faces is priceless.

Once again I have gone off on a tangent. Where was I. Ah yes, complaining that the church as co-opted a pagan sabot by calling it All Saints Day. Why All SAINTS on November 1st!!! Sure have a day for all the saints, that's fine, but NOT on the day for ALL the dead. You will notice that they couldn't get the festival out of the hearts of the people. They couldn't keep native peoples from Ireland or France way over to Brazil or Mexico. Honoring our ancestors and celebrating the Turning of the Wheel is a natural part of who we are as a part of nature as opposed to being outside of nature.
But then here we have the Church telling people that this day is only for the super special people that lived lives that were expectable in the eyes of the Church. Since they couldn't wipe it out, they relabeled it as All Saints Day. But since they really couldn't get it out of the psyche of the people they tacked on All Souls Day after. Why not let October 31st and/or November 1st as the Day of the Dead, the time when the we reflect on our own mortality and how fleeting our time is on this earth.

Let's look at what wikipedia says:
The custom of setting apart a special day for intercession for certain of the faithful departed is very old. But the celebration of general intercession on 2 November was first established by St. Odilo of Cluny (d. 1048) at his monastery of Cluny in 998.

All Saints Day used to be on May 13th and coincided with another pagan festival, so when it was moved to it's current date, why chose Nov. 1st? If it was too close to one pagan holiday why not pick something else all together? Or is that to the pagan every day is a holy day so it would have been hard to pick one that wasn't?

At least with the harvest festival of Samhain that has it's connections to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth that can be seen in the changing of the seasons on a yearly basis if not in our own lives until we come closer to the end of them, then with the Dia De Muertos on the following day, moving from harvest to death, then All Souls on Nov 2nd we can see the same sort of need to feel close to our dead being played out in the Requiem Eucharist. The three days flow so well together, community, pagan, christian. Yet when we try to toss All Saints in the middle of it, for me it takes away from the inner connections with the dead by narrowing it to only some day.

What really baffles me is that modern Gnostic churches don't see this. They continue to follow the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. OK, to put it even more plainly, The Ecclesia Gnostica is the largest modern Gnostic church and since they have put so much into their website and maintain such a great liturgical calendar, theirs is the calendar that seems to get followed.

In my parish we are guilty as charged of doing this. I am proposing that a different date be found for an All Gnostic Saints Day. I have no idea when in the Church year this could be squeezed in but it is worth looking into. After all why are Gnostic Churches trying to just duplicate the Roman Church from the rituals to the Archonic hierarchal system of authority.

I don't mean to throw the baby out with the with the bath water. The liturgical calendar follows the life of the Christos and the cycles that it runs threw serve a purpose that we need to follow. I am simply saying that we don't need to just follow the bouncing ball and do everything that the Roman church does. If anyone in the Gnostic community has a good idea as to when All Gnostic Saints Day should be celebrated, send me an email. I too will be pondering and praying on this. If nothing else I can see All Souls Day being moved to Nov 1st to be the days the Day of the Dead and putting All Gnostic Saints (or All Saints of the Gnosis Day if you will) to November the 2nd.

Just a thought.

Rev. Mother M+

The Beauty of the Gnostic Sophianic Eucharist

The Eucharist is such a beautiful ritual. It uplifts my spirit and I touch the Divine during the service. It was at mass years ago that I first felt that connection and wanted to become a priest so that I too could perform the sacred rites and help others come to that same place that is beyond time and space yet ever present and now. It is the Eternal Now.
Today's mass was one of those days that the Eternal Now felt eminent and close in a way that I can not describe in words. The Real Presence of God among us. The ebb and flow of all the cosmos flowing around. Angelic energies gathering around and aiding us in the Great Work.

It was all of this yet something more, and none of that. I was reminded of the scripture "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."–Matt. 18

Today's mass was like that; there was only my server and myself in the chapel today, but the Divine was tangibly there. You could feel it like electricity in the air. That is a horrid description but I can't think of a better one at the moment.

Tomorrow I will have been ordained a priest two years. I still know that it was the right choice for me.

If you are in the Seattle area, I hope you will make it to mass some time soon. We are a fledgling parish but participation in the eucharist can and will help uplift you into the Light and increase in you the Gnosis of the Divine. This I know.

Blessings,
Rev. Mother Marsha+

Ecumenical Buddhism: Burning Incense Is Psychoactive

Ecumenical Buddhism: Burning Incense Is Psychoactive

All I can say is it is about time that science has acknowledged that which priests and priestesses throughout history around the world have always known. Burning incense puts the spiritual practitioner into an altered date of consciousness. By studying alchemy we can learn how to create blends that aide the seeker in reaching different inner planes. It can also boost the work of the magician to bring about the results that he/she is seeking when in ritual.
Each blend of incense has it's own spirit. Some hang low to the ground, others waft to the heavens quickly. One blend will burn off quickly and leave a hint of a scent behind and another will burn slow and fill the room with it's essence. Scent is our most powerful sense. It can transport us to a place we haven't been to in years with just a small whiff of oder. If it can do this, how can one even doubt it's ability to aide us in rising on the planes or increasing a magickal working?

This is all a part (but not the whole by any means) of why we use incense in the Gnostic Liturgy of Divine Light or Eucharist.

Rev. Mother Marsha+

Boo Fun in B-Town

B-Town Boo Fun.

As usual we went some where without a camera. I know your shocked. Erik and I decided to go to 'down town' Burien today for the Boo Burien festival. Last year I just happen to be there because I was picking out wine at Vino Bello
This year my next door neighbor invited us well in advance so we could join the fun and watch the great dane across the street compete in the dog costume parade. Last year Libby won first place dresses as a ballerina. This year she went as a army soldier and took two prizes. 'Scariest' and 'Professional' I don't know how it was scary, but I am glad she won. She has had a hard life and it is nice for her to have a day that is all about her.

We start out by parking a ways off and walked over to Vino Bella for the Saturday wine tasting. I have wanted to do this ever since we moved back to Burien. It was about time. We ordered the Cheese Flight of artisan cheese and crackers and let the wine pour.

The first wine was a Drius Pinot Bianco 2005, a lovely white that wasn't too sweet or two dry. I'd love to serve it on the porch in the summer with fruit. Next came the Sanbastian Barbera d'Asti 2006. Not Erik's favorite but I enjoyed it. A very light red wine that was fresh and fruity. I'd buy it but at 23 bucks a bottle why buy something that I love and he won't drink.
Our waitress got number three and four reversed for us, so that is how I will review them here.
We next had the Sudtiroler Lagrein Dunkel 2006. all I can say is Luscious!!! But Erik like the Reverdito Dolcetto d'Alba 2006 better.

The Dolcetto is an Austrian red that is so far north that it seems more like an Italian. Or that is what she told us. To be honest I enjoyed it, but while she said there is nothing really like it, it reminded me of the basic wines we usually get. We bought a bottle at $23.00, but I would rather have splurged on the Lagrein Dunkel at $37.00.

Next came the Zardini Amarone Classico 2003. WOW!!! So this is what a $68.00 bottle of wine tastes like! We got a bottle and are going to save it for a special occasion. It is unusual and has a depth of character that I am not used to getting in the $9.99 a bottle stuff that is my normal fare.

Lastly but certainly not least was the dessert wine, a golden colour wine called Nontiscordardime 2004. The word means "Do not forget me" and it would be hard to forget this amber treat. Honey, dried figs and apricots, sweet and just a bit is all you need. I love the description that said "It is elegant, harmonious, warm and intriguing". That sums it up perfectly. So we bought that one too. $64.00.

I have never done anything that opulent in my live, spending that kind of money on one day out much less on wine. She waived our tasting fee (of ten each) when we bought three bottles so it was like getting the Dolcetto for three dollars. Oh yeah, I can justify anything. :)

Now that we were warm and glowing (ok a bit buzzed) from the wine we walked back to the car and put the bottles away so we wouldn't be clicking about Burien like a couple of winos then went to our favorite coffee bar. 909 Coffee and Wine I love this place. I love that my friend Heather is their pastry chef. Heather if you read this the brownies were the best today! We got some coffee and a treat used the restroom before popping out to watch the Dog Parade.

So in lieu of photos from our own camera here is a link to the Burien Bog aptly call the B-Town Blog

So for all you Burien locals that have promised to come to Holy Gnostic Eucharist it is tomorrow, maybe we will open one of those nice bottles after mass.

Rev. Mother Marsha+

Slow to Write

I have been slow to write lately. No real reason. Mostly I have been sucked into 'facebook' and can't seem to come up for air.
Fall has come to the Emerald City and so have the rains. The leaves are such wonderful colours. I love walking underneath them this time of year. On this trip to Seattle Center we went to the Lucy's Legacy exhibit. If you are in Seattle or if it comes to your town, go see it. It was wonderful.

I am training a new person at work and busy with the little parish, but I hope to be posting more in the not to distant future.

Until then,
Blessing be upon you.