It’s so Easy Being Green

Posted on 05 Jan 2011 by Ruadhán McElroy

Since I know a lot of people who are or wish to get into crafting, I figured I’d pass along Lupa’s handy guide to shipping green. I don’t think most of the people who read this blog will need to know everything here, but you never know.

I admit, I don’t plan out my shopping list for Whole Paycheque, nor do I let the presence or absence of a “Go Green!” logo dictate what I buy — in fact, I’m convinced the overwhelming majority of it all is a scam of some variety, and looking at the differences in price alone between Regular Bag o’ Beans and Organic Veganic Bag o’ Beans, I think there’s more money in this latest incarnation of the “Go Green!” fad than a lot of the people buying it all are willing to admit.

Still, there’s a point where I just think it makes a lot more sense to do little things that will reduce the carbon footprint — just little, miniscule lifestyle changes that will make a big impact on the planet, over the long run. So, here’s my advice to urban polytheists who may not have considered them in the pressures from the greater pagan & polytheist co0mmunities to “go green”:

*cook from scratch, whenever possible. If you need some tips or advice, watch some episodes of Alton Brown’s Good Eats. I love his show for a lot of reasons (primarily the concept of “Julia Child meets Bill Nye the Science Guy”), and one of them is that most of the foods he cooks on the show are familiar, “classic” Western/North Amerikan foods made from scratch. He explains just how cheap and easy it is — most things take no more than 45minutes — and he makes it clear when pre-prepared ingredients (like canned tomato sauce, for example) are just fine. His episode on canning and preserving is a must-watch. The gratan on his Potatoes episode can be easily prepared in front of the television. He also stresses exactly what tools and appliances you will need for a task, which ones have superfluous (and pretty much useless) features, and how nearly everything in your kitchen should be a multi-tasker, except the fire extinguisher — this saves money, storage space in your kitchen, and saves space in landfills, should something ever break or break down beyond repair.

I really don’t want to guilt-trip people who don’t regularly have the time, but if you find cooking from a recipe enjoyable, it’s totally worth setting aside an hour on your days off to cook a meal from scratch. You’ll be avoiding all the excess packaging from convenience foods, and it’ll probably taste better, too.

*especially if you have a “container garden” (indoors or out), try composting. I’ve recently seen small “composting containers” at Target, designed to go under the sink, but I just use an old bucket that cat litter came in.

*repair things before buying new. Sometimes, it’s just far more cost-effective to get a new thing, I admit, but clothes can be mended, even attractively so, a plate can (usually) be pieced back together with non-toxic glue, and your computer probably isn’t “broken” but full of spyware and minor vira that you can get rid of (and prevent) with proper software (that doesn’t even have to cost you a penny — I recommend Avast). If you build your own computer (and no, I don’t mean by selecting options from the Dell or Gateway website), you can replace each individual component as it needs it — but if you buy something off the shelf or one of those all-in-one-piece jobs from Apple that looks pretty, you’ll probably have to sink another couple thou into a whole new machine, even though it’s just the DVD-RW drive that’s broken. I’m also really tired of seeing people who replace things that are still in perfect working order. I’ve taken to darning socks and patching my jeans in front of the television over the last few months — yes, eventually, something is going to be beyond repair, but I figure that a card of darning needles and a spool 300yds of thick cotton thread cost $5, two of which will last you a lifetime, and a pair of socks can be mended with maybe a yard. A new six-pack of crew socks costs $7 — and if you go through socks like I do, you’d be replacing that once or twice a year; I don’t know about you, but that’s $14 a year I’d rather use on other things.

A lot of this just seems pretty no-brainer to me, cos I grew up with it, but it honestly surprises me how much people admit to me that it never crosses their minds to do simple things like repair those Fair Trade Organic Cotton socks instead of replace them — probably because they grew up in a nuclear family culture where everything is replaceable, and a “lifestyle” can be easily purchased for $19.95.

While I get that some people honestly don’t have time, I also get that others are simply using “I don’t have the time” as shorthand for “I’m going to watch telly for six hours straight and not do anything else, cos I really can’t be arsed to!” I get that some people are disabled, I get that some people need an hour or so to just unwind and not do anything else — but I also get that some people are just lazy and think buying things can make them a better person without doing anything else.

Posted in general pagan community, Green, Hellenic polytheist community | 5 Comments

John Cooper Clarke

Posted on 31 Dec 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

There’s a reason I’ve posted this here rather than my diary. Unfortunately, for you, I feel compelled to leave it at that.

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More Winter Holiday Ranting

Posted on 27 Dec 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

I came across a comment on The Wild Hunt1 yesterday, and I just had to comment on a sentiment that I often see that I find problematic:

[link]
Yule is the religious aspect, and Christmas is the fun. I like that the religious is separated from the fun, because for me at least, it keeps things in perspective. No different than Ostara/Easter. (I dare anyone to try to take away my chocolate bunnies!)

Do you see the problem I see?

Now, please don’t get me wrong, I have no personal issue with pagans who celebrate what they consider to undeniably be Christmas2; this may be due to family obligations or simply honouring one’s family traditions for personal reasons. I may have issues for the mainstream pressure of buying for the sake of buying and attempting to one-up each-other and one’s own efforts from previous years to see who can accumulate the most debt — but I also grew up dirt poor, and I understand that it’s completely possible for Christmas to happen on a shoestring and without family members guilt-tripping each-other for failing to meet bourgeois standards of rampant waste “expression of love”.

No, the problem I see is the implication that one’s own holidays are religious and thus an obligation and thus drudgery — but somebody else’s holiday? That’s FUN!

My Dionysia celebration is hell of fun. My friends who do Yule used to do a party every year — seemed pretty fun, to me.

There’s something to be said for the idea that if you don’t enjoy something, then don’t do it. Yes, sometimes you have other things hanging on it, so you hate it, but you do it anyway. But if you’re parents and siblings don’t do Yule or Saturnalia, then you don’t have any family obligations to a pagan holiday that may be necessary…. I highly doubt anybody has an employer who mandates it…. You’re presumably part of a pagan/polytheist religion because you got on with it (and enjoyed it) more than Christianity…. So why the implied bore? What’s so wrong with your pagan holidays that THEY can’t be “fun”, too?

If you’re part of a polytheistic religion and it’s not enjoyable for you, then YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG. If you don’t get any real enjoyment out of your pagan/polytheist religion, then I’m sure it can get along just fine without you — find a more liberal sect of an Abrahamic religion, or be a secular humanist with a secular Christmas, and leave the rest of us alone to enjoy our non-mainstream holidays. We don’t need people who are only a part of this for the sake of being all different and spooky — believe me, we’re far better off with people who love these gods and love these traditions and consider these holidays to be something more than just “religious” while something else is what’s “fun”. And if you’re a pagan and you really *do* find your pagan celebrations enjoyable, then why not THINK about how you’re describing what you do to others? THINK about the words you use, what they mean, and what you’re implying when you say that some-one else’s holiday is what’s “fun”.

Why don’t more modern pagans actually READ about the holidays (holy-days) they honour, and learn that the ancient festivities involved far more than a candle and a prayer, and that there is absolutely NO connection whatsoever between Jesus and chocolate bunnies. Seriously, these are fertility symbols, co-opted by Christianity. Call them what they REALLY are.

1: Yes, I know, the comments there are only slightly above mainstream news blogs, lately, but I just couldn’t help myself.
2: No, I’m not talking about the latest trend among some prominent polytheists & pagans who should know better, trying to liken many modern Yule, Saturnalia, etc…, celebrations to being “Christmas-ised” — the plain truth is that, for the last two or three centuries (possibly longer, depending on where you’re from), Christmas is the holiday that’s been pagan-ised. The majority of “Christmas traditions” and “Christmas symbols” come from pagan sources, so guilt-tripping pagans for decorative evergreens, holiday cakes and cookies, gift-giving, and other festivities the mainstream tends to associate with “Christmas” — and forthermore, for having a whinge cos some choose to have the big festivities on the 24th/25th of December really comes off as failing to do one’s homework. Remember, not only were these polytheist traditions first, most solstice-time celebrations lasted for several days or more.

Posted in general pagan community, in the media | 8 Comments

Why Dionysia?

Posted on 25 Dec 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

Now, I’m not here to judge those friends of mine in the pagan and polytheist communities who do Christmas; I’m actually ratherambivalent about the whole subject, and I figure that just so long as some-one isn’t trying to tell me which holidays I “should” or “shouldn’t” celebrate, I’m just fine.

So, then, why do I celebrate Dionysia, if not for the smug sense of superiority?

Well, as a sort of Unverified Personal Gnosis, I’ve come to merge a lot of Saturnalia traditions into a Dionysia, and I tend to justify this based on the fact that much of the Christmas traditions originated with Saturnalia, and then you get a lot of the older Christmas symbolism, including ivy, pomegranate, and grapevines1 have ancient ties to Dionysos.

Now, historically, the Rural and Urban Dionysia were theatre festivals, and I do tend to keep this in my own way. Lacking the money to go to the opera or ballet (and really, the only ballet you’re going to see around this time is The Nutcracker, and I have a Russian production on DVD, thank-you), this tends to become a self-imposed film-fest, and my tastes run all over the place.

The reason I tend to include the traditions typically associated with Saturnalia and/or Christmas is very simple, UPG-based: As a teenager, at home by myself one evening during the Christmas school holiday, I’d had a brief vision of an infant crowned in vines and laying atop a basket filled with the winter fruits. I’d thought little of it at the time, but in recent years, I’ve come to associate that vision with this holiday season, and so I’ve come to pick up the habit of inserting a lot of those traditions into Dionysia.

These include:

  • decorating my evergreens (rosemary, laurel, faux pine wreath) with glittering objects, including lights, tinsel, ornaments…
  • FRUITCAKE! No, serious, holiday cakes are a very ancient polytheist tradition, and a well-made fruitcake is something to choke a baby for.
  • feasting with my (surrogate) family, when possible — that last part added because, seriously, the only time I had available this year to get my wisdom teeth pulled was the morning of 16 Boukatios (22 December, Gregorian calendar), and only just today have I been able to start eating foods slightly more-solid than cottage cheese and applesauce.

Gift-giving, I can take or leave, cos the important part is the decorating, the food, and the thirteen days of watching some of the best (or the best of the worst) films I can find. I can’t afford to buy stuff for everybody I know, but cos my flat-mate offers to get me stuff I honestly need (like a pair of winter boots or new jeans), I do try to get him something small and fun. I also try to get special “cat spoiling food” and maybe new little toys for the cats, but mainly cos I have few bad memories surrounding Christmas itself, and see no harm in it, since the toys these cats like best tend to be stuff made from scrap.

That’s it, really. No guilt tripping about how you just may be a “bad pagan” if you buy gifts for your family; if only cos I tend to assume that those who actually read this blog are intelligent enough to know not to just buy tonnes of useless crap for the sake of buying it.

So whether you’re celebrating Saturnalia, or Dionysia, or (oh noes!) are doing a secular Christmas with friends or family, I hope you and yours have a happy one this year. I myself an dealing with the teeth just fine and am already several days into the nightly films and fruit smoothies.

1: My source on the latter two would mostly be the little info cards at Bronner’s CHRISTmas Hell, a year-round Christmas store in Frankenmuth, Michigan — which has billboards advertising for it as far south as Florida.

Posted in hellenic polytheism, Hellenic polytheist community | Leave a comment

Pagan Friday Five

Posted on 24 Sep 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

1) What does “desecration” mean to you?
“To divert from sacred to profane”. Of course, if I got in a huff over how frequently people in this Abrahamic society desecrated even the basic mythology of ancient polytheists (not just Hellenic mythology) as “just stories” that they can re-tell for their own purposes, or desecrate ancient philosophies (even those I disagree with) into something pseudo-Christian, I’d give myself a heart-attack. If the gods see fit to punish the misdeeds of others, through me, I’d be called to do that, and I’m not. I have my opinions on things, and that’s about it.

2) If you could teach Christians one thing about your religion, what would it be?
That we invented everything, including many of the “Christian ideals” they hold dear.

3) Do you like public pagan events like Pagan Pride Day?
I like the idea of such events, but I don’t go either through lack of money or lack of transportation.

4) What tv shows or movies with themes related to your religion do you like?
I have this bad habit of liking the films that most other Hellenists hate. I enjoyed 300, I liked Troy in spite of the apparent “removal of the gods”, I’ve been chastised on the forum I’m in charge of for defending Alexander (though this may be because I’ve only seen the final “Alexander Revisited” cut). I’m not going to dig my hole any deeper.

5) Is the autumn equinox relevant to your religion?
Not as relevant as it is to others. I observe the seasons changing, but there are bigger festivals.

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

Pagan Friday Five

Posted on 21 Sep 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

Yes, I realise it’s Tuesday, but I’ve had a busy weekend both on and off the Internet.

1) What secular thing do you find religious meaning in?
I can’t easily narrow this one down, there’s really so much. There’s also a lot that I’m into that most people may regard as “secular”, but which has a spiritual history. I think if I were to pick one thing that’s ostensibly secular and historically so, but which I’ve found spiritual meaning in, I’d say it’s the Mod & Trad Skin subculture. I think I was meant to discover that Dexys Midnight Runners record when I did, and I think I was meant to meet all the wonderful people I’ve met who are a part of this wealth of art, literature, music, fashion, and philosophies.

2) When does your religion matter most to you?
Again, this is hard to say, but I think I feel the most spiritually connected when I’m happy, for any reason. A lot of people turn to religion for meaning when they’re experiencing sadness or loss in order to find comfort, and I do that myself, but the Moirai are a big part of how I accept most of that sadness and loss, and if this is where the threads were woven, I understand that I cannot change that. But my happy moments feel so much happier when I feel like this, too, was fated, and that the gods themselves may even find this a happy occasion.

3) What role does divination play in your religious practices?
I’m well-versed in tasseomancy (cup readings, be it tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments) and have explored water scrying. Before a lengthy depressed period following my surgery, I was reading my coffee every morning, but since I’ve been feeling better, I’ve been out of that habit and really should get back into it.

4) How do you meet other pagans in your area?
Through mutual friends. I know of no co-religionists in my immediate area, and some of my friends in Lansing are “generally pagan”, which works for them.

5) Are there pagan-friendly businesses in your area?
Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room is the first that immediately comes to mind, and across the street and up a few doors from there is Falling Water, but they don’t have anywhere near the selection. There’s another book-and-doodad store in Pinkney, but I forget the name, and that’s about a half-hour drive from here, anyway.

Posted in Friday Five, general pagan community, Modern spirituality, Urban Spirituality | Leave a comment

A pair of quotes

Posted on 19 Sep 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

From Hellenismos Today by Timothy Jay Alexander (context: introduction to Hellenismos):

“Hellenic Reconstructionism allows for a great deal of diversity in beliefs and practice because of the very nature of ancient Greece.” (pg. 19).

and in the following paragraph (also pg. 19):
“Each city-state [polis] had a unique religious calendar. They had their own versions of the myths. The practices of each city-state could almost be described as separate denominations or even religions.”

See for yourself, this page available on Google Books preview (also, screen-cap taken for when he re-sets his Lulu preview permissions).

From this, we can conclude what I and others have been saying all along; indeed, it supports my theory that Hinduism is the way that polytheistic religions evolve naturally (after all, Shinto shows many parallels, albeit with a uniquely Japanese take on it), and that Hellenismos will be best served through the establishment of diverse sects and philosophies, Thiassoi to specific deities (including less popular minor deities, such as Kirke [for you modern-day Pharmakoussai]).

If this was a “one size fits all” religion, then why, when looking into the actual history, do we discover that different poleis did things differently? And if all these thirty-odd Hellenic tribes allegedly respected each-other as equally Hellenic (as one kid recently dared to alleged to me, a philoboeotian, in an e-mail), then what was the deal with Athenians regarding Boeotian Hellenes as “barbaros” (non-Hellenic speakers — after all, such chauvinisms usually come from Athenians, both past Athenians and modern Attic-focused polytheists)? There is a wealth of Hellenic diversity that should not be ignored or cast away because of the agendas of an extreme minority.

Posted in Hellenic history, hellenic polytheism, Hellenic polytheist community, Modern spirituality, the gods are laughing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Who is a “Recon”?

Posted on 15 Sep 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

The dictionary defines reconstruction as:

1. to construct or form again; rebuild: to reconstruct a Greek vase from fragments
2. to form a picture of (a crime, past event, etc) by piecing together evidence or acting out a version of what might have taken place
[World English Dictionary]

It can therefore be fair to say that Religious Reconstruction is hardly the act of making something exactly as it happened or was done before. That’s not to say that reconstruction is not sometimes meticulous, but it’s also not the act of making a broken vase unbroken — after all, more often than not, you can see the glue holding the fragments together, and most significantly, you can almost always see that there are fragments being held together. Another popular analogy is to take a house that has been damaged by flood or by fire and rebuild it. You’re not going to make it exactly as it was before, you know this. If the house was old enough to have lead paint in it, well, good luck making it exactly like it was before. If it was that old, then there was probably some electrical wiring and water or heat piping that would not fit with modern codes — again, good luck with that. A thing that is reconstructed is never exactly the same as it was before — if it was, then it wouldn’t need to be reconstructed, that’s just basic facts.

Furthermore, how to reconstruct, say, ancient art is often debated by art historians, art restorers, and archaeologists. A basic Google search for “reconstructed Venus de Milo [Aphrodite of Milos]” will turn up many different ideas of how the statue’s arms should be positioned and what, if anything, she’d have in her hands. Some of these ideas are obviously not supported by easily sourced evidence of how the statue was originally found and what she was found with, but some of the photo-manipulations obviously show skill and knowledge (albeit, knowledge of basic art) that these would be fair hypotheses if there was no other evidence.

Religious reconstruction is nothing more than forming a hypothesis, an educated guess, and more often than not, forming several hypotheses of what could have been, or what upgrades to the electrical wiring would need to be made. While there is a wealth of evidence in existence of what the ancient Hellenes (and other tribes) did and did not practise and believe, there are still a lot of gaps that could use some putty, a lot of corroded pipes that need replacing, and a lot of questions whose original answers have long crumbled away into dust, but those questions still need answers.

The long and short of it is that arguing over who is and is not “recon” is no less mental masturbation than any other mental exercises that have no real-world applications. It’s not as important as actual practise; if you’re actually practising your religion in a form and spirit consistent with that of ancient Hellas, then this will speak for itself. If you are not, then that is between you and the Theoi to judge whether or not it is improper or impious.

Posted in general pagan community, hellenic polytheism, Hellenic polytheist community, manifesto, religious reconstructionism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pagan Friday Five

Posted on 12 Sep 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

1) Do you believe in the concept of “sin?”
I don’t believe “armatia”, in the ancient, polytheistic context is on the same level as the Christian concept of “sin”, even if a few modern Hellenic polytheists translate it that way. “Armatia” is often defined as “missing the mark”, not “transgression of Divine law”. “Hubris” is “excessive pride in one’s abilities [typically claiming one's skills exceed that of a Deity] and [in Attic law] shaming another publicly”, not “transgression of Divine law” (further on hubris, etymonline.com cites an ancient definition of “presumption toward the Gods”, again, not the same thing as “transgression of Divine law”).

2) What non-pagan person influenced your religious identity?
Derek Jarman

3) How do you keep religion an active part of your daily life?
I do.

4) Who knows you’re pagan, and who doesn’t?
Most of my friends know explicitly. I can’t think of anybody off the top of my head who’s an important part of my life and doesn’t know.

5) When did you first identify as Pagan?
Age twelve, though from ages 18-22, I was all “I’m spooky, hail Satan”.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Shriekback – SACRED CITY

Posted on 22 Aug 2010 by Ruadhán McElroy

(yes, this is basically C&P’d from the Hellenistai Media Project)

World Domination Records, 1992

Before I begin, I want you all to know that this wasn’t my original choice for review today — no, that was originally going to be an Ataraxia album that is now being put off for later. Maybe I was “instructed” to review this one instead, cos all I know is that, aside from the car ride to and from MichiCon at Oakland University last night, I’ve been listening to this album for the larger part of three or four days (not all of which has been logged on Last.FM), and even when I’ve been listening to other things, this is what I hear with my mind’s ear.

Shriekback are probably one of the most delightfully intelligent pop-rock bands in existence. Think of what Roxy Music could have been in Brian Eno had stuck around and they absorbed Gary Numan at some point — or maybe that’s just my fantasy? Or maybe I’m cutting Numan a little too much credit?

Now, you may be asking why I’m reviewing this one, after all, Oil & Gold has the song about Nemesis; most likely, though, you’re probably not asking yourself that, and I’m just geeking out. The plain truth is, this is not only one of my personal favourite Shriekback albums, it is my personal opinion that this is probably their most spiritual album.

Most of Shriekback’s albums are just different enough from each-other that each can possibly pass for a concept album, and many really do have loose lyrical themes connecting most of the songs, in which case, Sacred City is an experimental art rock album with songs about spirituality and the city of London.

Much like some of the songs from Oil & Gold, the instrumentation on much of Sacred City is apparently influenced (at least in part) by the same sort of pan-Mediterranean folk music that Dead Can Dance seems to have made their careers on, but unlike Dead Can Dance, the apparent electronics drive this into a set of rock rhythms that evolved from the proto-”post-punk” sound that came from XTC (the band Shriekback frontman Barry Andrews was a part of before Shriekback); don’t get me wrong, Shriekback very much has their own sound, and it’s also obvious how and why they were influential on what would later become techno-industrial (especially their first two studio albums), but the jangling guitars and stealthy bass-lines don’t leave Shriekback out-of-place in a record collection featuring Love & Rockets and Japan.

Of especial note on this one are:

“(Open Up Your) Filthy Heart (To Me)”, a literal love song to the city. The tempo is between ballad and lullabye and addresses the city as an ancient entity, something that has had many expectations placed on it, but rarely, though occasionally, loved for what it is — not just its history and majesty, but its very essence, its soul.

“Beatles Zebra Crossing?” is about the cross-walk featured prominently on the cover of The Beatles’ album Abbey Road. Seems an odd choice of topic for a song, but that little patch of land contains so much history, both personal and communal, back to the era of the Roman Empire.

“Hymn To the Local Gods” probably has the most broad appeal to the Hellenic community, if only because it both paints a romantic portrait of culture-wide polytheism in general, and portrays the Gods as living and very much still alive, suggesting that “they never died, we only lost their number”, and even encourages to “leave a fire in the window, Pour the wine under the underpass” and renew worship and libations, ask back the local Gods.

Album ender, “Every Force Evolves a Form” is a very close runner-up to “Hymn To the Local Gods”, and the message of the lyrics is pretty much the title, but orchestrated in a full-bodied piece ripe for dance.

Again, I admit, this one probably doesn’t have as broad appeal for the Hellenismos community as the album I had originally intended to review today, and if anybody gets disappointed with that I apologise, but really, it could have been worse — my tastes are just varied enough that I can say that, eventually, I’m going to review something of no interest to anybody else reading this, and most of you will probably hate it. But I don’t feel I’m wrong to recommend this one; it has apparent potential appeal to pagans and polytheists, and anybody seeking the sacred amongst the cities.

Sacred City lyrics
Shriekback on Amazon

Posted in media reviews, Urban Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment