Reverence for preserving the purity of the land

NYC Protestant Church Apologizes To Native Americans For How They Were Treated 400 Years Ago

NEW YORK (AP) - Members of one of America's oldest Protestant churches officially apologized Friday - for the first time - for massacring and displacing Native Americans 400 years ago.

"We consumed your resources, dehumanized your people and disregarded your culture, along with your dreams, hopes and great love for this land," the Rev. Robert Chase told descendants from both sides. "With pain, we the Collegiate Church, remember our part in these events."

The minister spoke on Native American Heritage Day at a reconciliation ceremony of the Lenape tribe with the Collegiate Church, started in 1628 in then-New Amsterdam as the Reformed Dutch Church.

The rite was held in front of the Museum of the American Indian in lower Manhattan, where Dutch colonizers had built their fort near an Indian trail now called Broadway, just steps away from Wall Street.

The Collegiate Church was considered the "conscience" of the new colony, whose merchants quickly developed commerce with the world in fur and grains - till then the turf of the natives.

Surrounded by Lenape Indians, the Dutch colonists "were hacking men, women and children to death," said Ronald Holloway, the chairman of the Sand Hill band of Lenapes, who lived here before Henry Hudson landed 400 years ago.

The Indians dispersed across the country, eventually ending up on government-formed reservations. On Friday, some came from as far away as Oklahoma.

During the ceremony, Chase embraced Holloway and, as symbolic gestures of healing, the two sides exchanged wampum - strings of beads used by North American Indians as money or ornament. A boy representing the Lenapes and a girl from the Collegiate Church put necklaces on each other.

While Friday's ceremony exuded warmth and openness, accompanied by an Indian drumming circle and the haunting sound of a wooden flute, the feelings leading up to the reconciliation were mixed.

"After 400 years, when someone says 'I'm sorry,' you say, 'Really?' " Holloway said before the ritual. "There was some kind of uneasiness. But then you've got to accept someone's sincere apology; they said, 'We did it.' We ran you off, we killed you.' "

In New York City, the Collegiate churches are composed of four congregations including the landmark Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue led by the late Rev. Norman Vincent Peale.

The church plans to sponsor educational activities and exhibits to teach children history - including the Indian reverence for preserving the purity of the land taken over by the Dutch colonists.

Thanksgiving Prayer

I give thanks
for this sink of dirty dishes;
we have plenty of food to eat.

I give thanks for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry;
we have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

I would like to give thanks
for those unmade beds;
they were so warm and comfortable last night.
I know that many have no bed.

I give thanks,
for this bathroom,
complete with all the splattered mirrors,
soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory;
they are so convenient.

I give thanks
for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs cleaning.
It has served us faithfully for many years.
It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three meals.

I give thanks,
for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today;
It has baked so many things over the years.

The whole family is grateful
for all of the outdoors we are able to enjoy.
Children are healthy and able to run and play.

The presence of all these chores awaiting me
says "My family has been richly blessed."
I shall do them cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully.

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings,
I give thanks, that I can hear.
There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible,
I give thanks that I can see.
Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising,
I am grateful that I have the strength to rise.
There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic,
when socks are lost, toast is burned and tempers are short, my children are so loud,
I give thanks for my family.
There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines
and the menu is at times not balanced,
I give thanks for the table and the food on it and the people around it.
There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous,
I am grateful for the opportunity to work.
There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day
and wish my circumstances were not so modest,
I give thanks for life.

Written by "anonymous". Modified from original post on another blog.

Words of Aradia: Concerning Magick

These words are taken from Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi:

There is a force which dwells in all things, which is called the Numen. The power of an object is the power of its Numen. This essence has, of its own accord, a definite consciousness. If you are in harmony with the Ways, then you may call upon any Numen which you desire, and it will assist you. This is but one aspect of Magickal rapport.

Know that all things of the same nature (or essence) are as links in a chain. Through one you may influence the other. By this law do we make use of clay puppets. Yet even the mind is linked by thoughts and has power to reach out on its own.

The substance of Magick is best controlled and directed through the use of ritual. Ritual attracts power and through repetition it is accumulated.

Certain channels of power are formed through ritual, which becomes a link to a desired response or contact. Thus do we make use of the secret signs, symbols and gestures (which are empowered). Repetition is necessary as well as consistency.

As Strega, we draw power down from the Moon and also do we draw power from Nature. The God and Goddess oversee our works, as do the Grigori. When our Magick does not produce the desired effects, it is because a greater power resists its power. This is often a sign that the nature of the Magick was improper. Yet it can be that another Strega works against you. If this becomes the matter, then seek this person out and resolve your differences.

Understand that you must always work in harmony with the phases of the Moon, under the blessings of the God and Goddess and in accordance with the laws and ways.

The Moon symbolizes the hidden things revealed in darkness. The night is the side of life which is unknown. The light of the Moon is subtle and active on hidden levels. So too is our Magick.

The powers which are obtained through the knowledge of the Old Ways are neither good nor evil,it is only the way in which you use them that is good or evil.

The mind is most receptive to the influence of power when the person is intoxicated or asleep (within two hours of awakening). This is true also of trance, which is induced through chant and dance.

The mind which dreams (the subconscious) is directly linked to the Moon Worlds (the Astral Realms) just as the mind which knows the daylight (the conscious mind) is directly linked to the Physical World. It is through the dream mind that the Moon Worlds are contacted. It is through the Moon Worlds that Magickal influences and Magickal forms, are created. These in turn, influence the Physical World.

It is the purpose of symbols to speak to the dream mind, and plant the Magickal seeds which will manifest. It is the purpose of rituals(and spells) to establish the patterns of power. These patterns are established to either draw upon power or to raise power (or both).

Magickal and ritual correspondences are incorporated to take advantage of the Numen qualities in objects, times of power, links to Deities, and states of consciousness (awareness).

The art of Magick is a blending of inner or personal power with that of the natural powers and divine powers.

Magic & Menses & the Moon

Taken from LaVecchia
"I don't know about other traditions of stregheria, but in the Arician tradition, we're taught that a woman, while menstruating, draws magical energy into herself and then sheds it with her menses. So, it depends on the type of magic being done as to whether she should attempt certain workings or be around others while they do one. Sorta like the certain phases of the Moon can aid or hinder your workings, depending on what they are.

For instance, if she is working a healing magic, she could draw out any "negativity" and then shed or ground it, utilizing the natural process her body is experiencing then. But if she were trying to establish or build up something, that energy would be drawn into her and then grounded. For example, during ritual work, if a woman in the boschetto is menstruating, she waits outside the circle while it is being magically established, so she doesn't draw that energy into herself. Once the circle is cast, she then enters the circle to celebrate the ritual.

So, no, there is nothing "bad" about doing magic whilst menstruating. Some types of workings would be enhanced while others would be hindered or completely negated. You just have to learn how to work with the process."


And followup from Raven:
"According to the Teachings, the blood flow during the time of the "period" absorbs energy and carries it with the blood. On a metaphysical level, menstrual blood is a form of waning energy, as it is derived from the breaking down of material within the female's body. However, it also contains the essence of fertility transformed into the promise of renewal. So, while it would be a good time to do healing work for others (since the blood will absorb energy from the other person and ground it) it would not be a good time to raise energy intended to send to another (unless the blood itself came along with it, attached to a charged object or something of this nature).

We have noted that casting the ritual circle is sluggish if women are bleeding within the circle. We have also noted that the presence of women on their period tends to drain off energy that we are trying to pass to another during a ritual. Again, this is because the women is absorbing or grounding the energy into herself.

However, there are many "positive" uses for menstrual blood in magick. If you have a copy of my book The Wiccan Mysteries, there are some examples on pages 226-228. In this section I talk about blessing the crops with menstrual blood, anointing the dead, and so forth. This addresses the "captured" fertile essence of the blood that flowed from the womb, connecting it with the renewal of transformation."

The moon's phases are typically divided in Stregheria into Dark, Waxing, Full, Waning. Streghe also say the Moon is Dark (no moon showing) for 3 days and Full for 3 days. The Full Moon is of couse when we do lunar ritual, the Veglione. The Waxing Moon is when energies build, the Waning Moon is when energies ebb. Dark is the time of enchantment and possibilities.

Many people assume that there is an "optimal" menstrual cycle for pagans. A menstrual cycle during a Full Moon can feel wrong. But there is no wrong. When you cycle, you cycle. The feeling of "wrongness" comes from the fact that Full Moon the energies associated with a menstruating woman can feel like they are in opposition. A cycle at the Dark Moon is a bit more easy to take. It is a time of mystery and possibility and power. A women bleeding for days and not dying is one of the original human mysteries. A menstrual cycle in the waning phase of the moon will also feel more aligned with the moon's energies.

My menstrual cycle is naturally longer than the 29 day lunar cycle. This means that my natural cycle will shift over the course of the year and occur in anyone of the eternally shifting moon phases. This perhaps is why no matter what magic I feel the need to work, I can always find a way to work *with* whatever the moon's energies are at the time. The only time I tend to avoid working magic are those times when the Moon is "void of course".

There are some that say that standing in the moonlight will adjust a woman's cycle. But no amount of standing in the moonlight has changed this for me. Nor have I seen my cycle change as a result of being around other women. But this may be related to the fact that I have typically worked and lived with other men more than women. And then there is the ability to control our cycles with birth control pills. What I have done is time my birth control pills such that I now have a cycle in the waning of the moon and am completely finished with my cycle by the time the moon is dark. But should I stop taking the birth control pill my cycle will naturally shift into a longer period, closer to 32 days. Then Over time my cycle will again slowly shift so that it swings in and out of phase with the Moon. And I just have to learn how to work with the process.

Some initiate females who have to work solitary have choosen to celebrate on the 3rd day of the Full Moon if they are mensuating at this time. They feel that it better aligns their physical energies with the Moon's (waning) energies.

For the God - inspired by Shadowfest 1999