Rites & Offerings

See this link for some solid insights and historical background on Rites & Offerings from Religo et Pietas.

The quotes are from the link above.
"A relatively simple rite is called the adoratio. It may involve a simple greeting such as saying “Ave, Ave, Di parenti.” This greeting is coupled with a gesture where in one kisses the back of the right hand just behind the knuckle of the index finger, and then touches the finger tips onto an altar or an image. It is specifically used when addressing one’s ancestors, so one approaches a family member’s tomb, or the family lararium within the home, or sometimes it might be a tree or other outdoor shrine."
Or blowing 3 kisses to the moon.

"Ritus Romanus was performed in the Latin fashion with the toga pulled tightly around the torso (cinctus Gabinus) and drawn up to veil the head (capite velato). "
This posture is often used in Streghe rituals.

"Other kinds of offerings were likewise selected according to the particular deity or the particular festival. Milk was used as a libation in the oldest rites. Generally Goddesses received milk libations, although there are exceptions here too. Venus is one Goddess Who usually receives wine as a libation. Where wine is the libation commonly used in Roman ritual, wine is prohibited in some rites."
Think about the energy and the god or goddess you are reaching out to.  Align the offering, its color, smell, composition with these characteristics. It is the essence of sympathetic magic.

"Every family, every clan or gens, every temple, shrine, and altar had their own traditional rituals, many of which changed over time."
And this aspect is captured in the very imporatnt Lare/Lasa Shrine of Stregheria.

Mardi Gras !!!!! Throw the baby out the window let the sun burn down!

Thank YOU!!!! Washington Post!!! and Jordan Flaherty!!!!

Wondering about Mardi Gras???  ... Read Five Myths about Mardi Gras

 

Then if you're not able to be here.... at least listen!

And think of the baby as a Mardi Gras King Cake Baby

For more on Mardi Gras Indians see Bury the Hachet

Listening to Whales and Silence

Classic Pagan Tenet:  Be still and listen.

and that's just what these scienctists did... they listened.... to whales and to the data

This is why I love science. We think things like this intuitively. Whales...water...sound... noise...stress. Can't you just hear the child's question?

But science shows us so that we don't have to wonder. We can know. Now we have to wonder if we humans are capable of change,of doing anything about this. Can we learn to live lightly on the earth? Can we learn to live quietly too?

Nature is the Great Teacher.

Because it's beautiful

Nicolas Bernard & Ludevine Furnon from Cirque Du Soleil,

Former Cirque du Soleil Artists and

Silver Medalist in Paris at the 31th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain,

performing at "Benissimo" Live TV show 2010.

 Music composed by Martin Villiger.

But our race is of the stars

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

The molecules in my body are traceable to phenomena in the cosmos

The iron from the meteorite and the iron from you blood

has common origin in the core of a star...

It is quite literally true that we are stardust;

in the highest exalted way one can use that phrase.

A Christian gets it and calls it her own

An article by Sallie McFague...  shows that it is possible for Christians to understand what we pagans have always known in our bones, or perhaps never forgotton.  We are all connected.
"... the ecological model claims that housemates must abide by three main rules: take only your share, clean up after yourselves, and keep the house in good repair for future occupants. We don’t own this house; we don’t even rent it. It is loaned to us "free" for our lifetime with the proviso that we obey the above rules so that it can continue to feed, shelter, nurture, and delight others. These rules are not laws that we can circumvent or disobey; they are the conditions of our existence and they are intrinsic to our happiness. If we were to follow these rules we would be living within a different vision of the good life, the abundant life, than is current in our consumer culture and that is destroying the planet."

"... take only your share, clean up after yourselves, and keep the house in good repair for future occupants."

Ah.... yep.... dare I say "Duh?"

She claims there are:
"two worldviews—the neo-classical economic one and the ecological economic view"
Ok... a classic "us" and "them" but Ok.

and that:
"The second model" (ecological) "sees the planet more like an organism or a community, that survives and prospers through the interdependence of all its parts, human and non-human."

and while the description of the ecological/pagan model is correct....

this is not:
"The second model rests on assumptions from postmodern science in its view of human beings as the conscious and radically-dependent part of the planet, and of the world as a community or organism, internally related in all its parts."

The "second" ecological model is NOT postmodern  It is shamanistic, pagan, primal, as old as dirt.  Only from a Judeo-Christian Genesis "have dominion over" viewpoint is it postmodern.

But if other Christians take what she has written and begin to *act* on it, perhaps there is hope.


 

We are all connected

Symphony of Science: We are all connected

[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically

[Feynman]
I think nature's imagination
Is so much greater than man's
She's never going to let us relax

[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature

[Nye]
I'm this guy standing on a planet
Really I'm just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There's billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks

[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We're made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself

Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned

I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we

[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??

(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)

[Feynman]
There's this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other

And it's all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it's all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature

Gods Behaving Badly

Above is the cover of the book and the original statute

Publishing notes from on Amazon say:
"Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse-and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.

Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees-a favorite pastime of Apollo's-is sapping their vital reserves of strength.

Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?"

It's Neil Gaiman's American Gods with wry British humor.  It explores the concept of egregore
and the thought that our attention and worship feed the gods with the energy they need to exist.
The book is a fun way to look at the base "personality traits" of the gods and how hard it is to weave our modern life into "ancient ways". Keep a look out for the movie. IMDB says it's in "post production".

Take the time to Howl a little this Lupercus and shed, for just a little, while the cares of the modern world.   Take a look at this statue, a copy at the Louvre, which shows the "wolf cloak".

Why do Wolves Howl?

http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/wolf_why_howl.html Why do Wolves Howl? Lisa Matthews / Wolf Song of Alaska Volunteer

Howling is the type of vocal communication the wolf is most famous for (also in their vocal repertoire are whimpers, yips, growls, and barks). It’s no surprise that we are captivated by the sound of a howl, for as the mysterious song fills the vast expanses we are somehow reminded of, and are reconnected to, the wondrous aspects of nature that we may have forgotten about. Once a wolf begins howling, other pack members often show a strong tendency to approach that animal and join in. Lois Crisler has said, “Like a community sing, a howl is a happy occasion. Wolves love to howl. When it is started, they instantly seek contact with one another, troop together, fur to fur. Some wolves will run from any distance, panting and bright-eyed, to join in, uttering, as they near, fervent little wows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing.” While the functions of howling are not fully understood, several different types of howling have been identified, each used under different circumstances. Once thing is certain, howling appears to be the glue that keeps the pack together and plays a role in the formation and/or the maintenance of strong bonds between other members of the pack. Some members, usually those who rank lowest in the pack hierarchy, however, may be discouraged, or “punished” for joining in a howling chorus. One of the most often used howls is a call which reassembles the pack, such as after a chase, or if a wolf has gotten lost. This is a deep, loud, and guttural sound sometimes accompanied with a few barks. Howling seems to convey the location of individual wolves so they can reunite. As wolves range over vast areas to find food, they often become separated from one another. Because of its low pitch and long duration, howling is well-suited for transmission in forests and across tundra and can be carried several miles. If a wolf gets separated from the pack, howling soon begins. In one instance, it was observed that after a mother wolf became separated from her young on one side of a river, she howled to guide her pups to a safe spot to cross. When wolves return from a hunt, those who stayed behind will rush to greet them and howling may break out as well. Additionally, wolves will sometimes howl after a chase to celebrate a successful hunt. Before a hunt, a different kind of howl, the social howl, may serve to excite the pack members and bond them prior to setting out. This type of howl is one of sheer joy and is often heard as the pack gathers for a hunt. This social howl celebrates togetherness, pleasure, and friendship. Resting wolves will begin romping about with tails wagging while they sniff and press against each other. Then they will join in on the howl. Wolves will not, however, howl to initiate a chase and will be silent when actually hunting. The social howl is also used as a warning to wolves in nearby territories. This howl, therefore, has much significance between packs, as well as within. Inter-pack howling may sometimes go on for hours promoting speculation that the howling may function in territorial advertisement or maintenance, and may be a threat or warning. Howling to warn other packs to stay away is most often heard during the mating season, as well as when the pack is at the den or resting sites. Wolves responding to unknown wolf howls are warning the intruder that they will hold their territory and defend their mates, pups, or food sources. However, lone wolves who intend to travel outside their home territory do so silently, because a meeting with wolves in another territory may lead to a confrontation, which sometimes proves fatal to the intruder. Another type of howl occurs when a wolf is lonely. This is a rising and falling sound with a long slide at the end. This howl is heard mostly during the mating season when a wolf is looking for a possible mate and wolves tend to howl more frequently around the breeding season. A captive wolf might also howl due to a feeling of isolation. Some researchers have noted that wolves sometimes appear to howl simply because they are happy (a happy howl can sound “mournful”). For example, it has been observed that when a mother wolf is giving birth to her pups inside the den, wolves on the outside start howling and become very excited, prancing about. Once the pups are born the excitement increases and howling gets even louder. Howling appears to identify a particular wolf, much like a fingerprint does for primates. The many different qualities within a howl allow other wolves to know which wolf is doing the howling so they may identify each other and also those individuals who are not part of their pack. Several field researchers have even claimed the ability to distinguish specific wolves in a pack by their characteristic howls! Additionally, no two wolves will howl on the same note. There is harmony. If two wolves do start on the same note, one or both will change their beginning note. Why they do this is unclear, although some believe it makes the pack sound like a bigger group of animals and, therefore, more threatening to intruders. There is some evidence that howling might also supply information about their behavior, such as whether the wolf is walking slowly, pacing, or lying down. If such details can be detected in howls, they only occur among associated wolves that have learned to relate each other's behavior to the specific changes in howling. This is only one example illustrating the importance of learning during the socialization process of these intelligent animals. So, do wolves howl at the moon? It is safe to say that this thought is just a myth. Wolf howls have been inadvertently associated with the moon most likely because they are more active on brighter lit nights. If you are one of the fortunate ones able to hear a wolf, or a pack of wolves, howl in your lifetime think about all the reasons why they might be howling and, as Mark D. Martinson has said, “ When you hear a wolf’s howl, listen to it to the full. Feel its primeval beauty, way deep in your soul.”