Happy Birthday, Cybele

April 4 is the birthday of Magna Mater, as the Romans called Cybele, an ancient mother goddess. She originated in Turkey, and her followers spread though-out the Middle East and over to Rome. She was a prototype for later goddesses such as Hera and Juno.

Today is also Easter. Unlike Cybele's birthday, which is always on April 4, Easter is all over the place. Originally linked to Jewish lunar cycles, Easter occurs on the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. The word Easter comes from Eostre, a minor fertility goddess in the grand tradition of Isis, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite and Venus. The animal symbol for Eostre was the rabbit, which became the Easter bunny. In short, Easter is another Christian theft and renovation of pagan concepts. It seems paradoxical, since Christians scorn paganism as barbaric.

The concept of a murdered god being resurrected, was old and often repeated before the Christians wrote their version for the Bible. Being patriarchal, the entire Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition has reduced the role of women in its retelling of ancient myths and legends. The mother goddess usually played a part in the resurrection of the heroes of yore. For example, Isis restoring Osiris is an early, and common, version.

Christianity doesn't represent any improvement over Paganism. In fact, much is lost. Christianity has lost connection with the cosmos, mother earth and timeless cycles.People pay close attention to dates, hours and minutes, rushing around to tax cycles, seasonal fashion pitches and new annual models, demanding heat when cold and cold when hot, rather than acting in accordance to nature.

Here we are in 2010, on the biggest holiday of Christianity, and big time Christians are all over the news. The Pope has announced that humanity is in crisis and deep change is necessary to save us all. It is attempted misdirection away from the sexual predations of his minions. His idea of change is we all quit thinking for ourselves and follow him and his obsolete organization to the grave. My idea of change is everyone who calls themselves a Catholic abandons that bloated bastion of medieval superstition, and accept the fact we live in the 21st century.

I'm still thunderstruck by how people claiming to be Christians can whole-heartedly support war, murder, torture, bigotry, and prejudice. It also amazes me how supposedly intelligent people can watch Fox propaganda and believe they are getting the truth. I wonder what the percentage of overlap is.

A ranking Cardinal said faithful Catholics would not be swayed by all the gossip about sexual abuse. He's probably right, since the faithful seem to think ritual, imitation cannibalism, during mass, contributes to the spiritual life. That sacramental rite was distilled from a first century pot luck, known as agape in Greek. Every body in the church met and shared whatever food they had to make sure no one went hungry. They also shared common property, being early communists, as well as Christians.

OK, I got that bit of peevishness out of the way. I ranted in the previous post in support of gay rights and gender equality. I went off half-cocked with the wrong time on the city council meeting. The Missoula city council will discuss the anti-discrimination bill on Monday, April 12. We wouldn't need anti-discrimination bills or hate crime legislation, if so-called Christians would act like real Christians.

That last statement leads to a question: What is a real Christian?

No Photos, No Music, Just Ranting, Sorry

On Monday, April 12, the Missoula City Council will discuss the proposed anti-discrimination bill and many people on both sides of the issue will show to state their views.

I don't know what it is like to be gay, but I know what it is like to be bullied. It began when I started school, because I was one of the smallest kids in the school, and I wore thick glasses, a rarity in those days among grade-schoolers. "Hey, 4-eyes!" was the signal I was about to get my ass kicked. In middle school, came "Chuck you Farley," another signal I was about to get my ass kicked. Calling me Chuck still puts me in fight or flight mode.

For years I ran from bullies, until I learned that didn't work. Pop said he always just whipped the shit out of bullies, but he had a twin brother to back him up. However, he still insisted I stand my ground and fight back. My track skills atrophied, and I took more beatings. I began to berserk a bit and cause more damage to my attackers than it was worth and then during the four years of high school, I grew 10 inches and gained 48 pounds.

The first time I was called a queer in high school, it was being used synonymously with nerd, and I didn't know the already accepted urban meaning. Strange and odd I had in aces, and that was the dictionary definition at the time. I have been called queer many times since then, because I like to converse with friends, and quite frankly...well, some of them are queer.

It wasn't always so. I had a friend come out in college, and for some time I shunned him, as did many others. I'm not sure exactly where the tipping point occurred, but I recognized his being my friend as more important than his sexual orientation. He never represented any threat to me. That was in Eugene. Later, whenever I passed through San Francisco, he and his partner always had a place for me to stay. We hit a place called the Cabaret one night and had some serious fun.

Bullies have been with us, since human history began, and they have been mirrored in nature forever by the larger stealing food from the smaller. They try to appear powerful by terrorizing those smaller and weaker than themselves. Since they fear any they perceive as different than themselves, they are always looking for excuses to attack others. Carefully created propaganda can have bullies bellowing in herds. Look around this country, and you will see the process in action. Our last national administration was made up mostly of bullies, and the media is still full of them.

Back to today's issue of equal rights for all people no matter their sexual orientation. A bunch of Bible thumpers are yelling abomination, and shouting they have a right to discriminate and god is on their side, yadda, yadda, blah, blah. The dictionary meaning for discriminate is "to recognize a distinction." We're not talking about discrimination here; we're talking about prejudice: "preconceived opinion which is not based on reason or experience." In short--ignorance.

Personally, I don't care what consenting adults do with each other, as long as they don't force others to participate. I have big problems with the snake handlers in the south and the traumas they inflict upon their children. Those assholes shouldn't be allowed to have children. Meanwhile, homosexuals have no more tendency to prey on others than heterosexuals, but the Bible thumpers don't want them adopting or teaching children. Speaking of Bible thumpers, dare we bring up how the world's largest religious bureaucracy is lumbering around hiding and defending the sexual predations their minions have practiced for centuries?!

Sinead O'Connor was so right about the pope on SNL, and the catholics came out of the woodwork to harass her everywhere she went.

That pious dress-wearing man condemns other men who wear dresses. That strikes me as hypocrisy. In fact, just thinking about that whole mess angers me too much, and I must change the subject.

The Dalai Lama is coming. This guy is the real deal. He has a firm spiritual base, is still learning, is willing to admit his mistakes, looks for dialog and is a true agent of peace. May all the powers that be bless him and this visitation.

I took time out to read the comics. Some of the oldies in constant circulation start to finish include Bloom County, Boondocks and Calvin and Hobbes. My selection varies as some come and go, and others change, but I'm serious about finding laughs every day (seems almost an oxymoron). I linked the home site for the biggest batch of titles I know to Facebook. I'm going to restore the comics links on this blog, too, but not right now.

All Christians blindly following the neo-con agenda need to read the sermon on the mount and other teachings by the man they call Lord, before the conservatives chop everything out of the Bible they consider too liberal. Look at what Jesus said not what every jump-on-the-bandwagon scam artist through the centuries said. Don't look to current religious leaders for your answers, because they are full of shit, and they've sold out to the dark side. Those frauds haven't changed since Jesus' time when he compared them to tombs whitewashed outside but full of rotten meat and dead men's bones.

Yes, I'm talking about the pope again, and the Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson, Hagee, Dobson, and all those self-righteous fakers. They appear to be sheep only to lead the sheep, and are wolves. That's bad imagery, because I like wolves.

Back to the dunderheads who will be at the meeting shouting against equal rights for everyone. I'm not sure I have time to waste on such ignorance, but I should be there for my friends on the other side...

Life presents another dilemma.

I didn't even turn my computer on all day yesterday. I'm thinking of making that a regular ritual. Now, I've blown my pipes clean with a rant and can get on with other things today. I sat down to rant about the war, Obama, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but this is the 21st century, and it is way past time to allow all humans equal rights, with, of course, the exceptions for those wishing to harm others.

Equal Rights 4 Everyone

Monday Musings and Rants

Kitchenpoet and Zola

Presidents' Day Protest

It is time to loudly voice my opposition to war in general, and specifically to this mess the last moron got us into and the new smart guy is willing to continue. I intend to adopt full Uncle Sam mode on Presidents' Day to stand at the Wilma end of Higgins Bridge with an anti-war sign in hand. Everyone is invited to join me there on Monday, February 15, at noon. You can bring a sign protesting the war or any issue you prefer (i.e. the supreme court's sell out to corporations). I will have some sloppy, quick signs I made with magic marker to hand out, and a marker and blank paper for you to get creative. Of course, I guess it's possible I will be only one there.

A recent attempt to switch from coffee to tea failed miserably, and I can only conclude I am addicted to coffee rather than just caffeine. At this point I would just like to say god bless Butterfly Herbs.

Will Rogers would buy a newspaper on the way to the theater, walk on stage and use the material he found for his comedy act live and spontaneous on stage. He's one of my heroes, and I wish I had the wit to emulate him. Witless or not, I must comment on some headlines and stories I've seen online.

"Exxon Mobil Profits fall 23% in 4th Quarter"

Isn't that a sad story? Those poor bastards only made $6 billion during the final three months of last year. I swear that just brings tears to my eyes.

Many people in Haiti have reason for tears. It's a smashing disaster. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost and ruined. In the midst of this tragedy a gang of Christians tried to abduct a bunch of children, hoping to convert the young heathen, while claiming they only did it for their own good. They didn't go through channels, file paper, nothing, and left some parents unable to find their children. Those righteous bastards remind me of the pompous gasbags claiming slavery was a good thing for allowing the descendants of slaves to now enjoy the benefits of living in our beloved country.

Can you tell I'm pissy about the state of the world and looking for some hypocrites to take it out on?

WWOZ in New Orleans is my most common soundtrack here in my workroom. The joy brought to the people of that city by the Saints has me happy for their wins and rooting for them in the Super Bowl. 

People should be reminded of how that wonderful city went beneath the waves and was ignored by the criminal assholes occupying the white house at the time. People died because the rich people in power didn't give a shit about poor people dying and being forced from their homes. It was negligence equivalent to murder. Then they helped their corporate cronies to move in and profit from the situation. Recommended reading: The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.

Domestic Spending Freeze

That's a load of bullshit in the raygun style. Military spending continues to increase. We don't need to spend more than every body else in the world on our military. We don't need to spend half of every tax dollar on defense. A small portion of the money spent on killing people and preparing to kill more could provide health care to everyone in this country. A tiny portion of the money could rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and schools. 

A toast to the young anarchists in Zootown and their Food not Bombs project. That is a worthy message. You would think Christians might agree, since Jesus seemed to be more concerned with feeding people than killing them. Unfortunately, most who label themselves that way and worship his name are only into the names and not his message of love and openness.

I'll wrap with another headline and comment.

"Can talking to the Taliban stop the war?"  

I hope so, because trying to kill all of them isn't working worth a shit.

The Original Holiday

Am I the "bah, humbug!" type a friend asked. Oh, yes, indeed I am. I try not to rain on anyone's parade, but Christmas just does not melt my butter. I think the lies about Santa Claus were the beginning of my disaffection, and it grew, as the holiday was an annual disappointment. The music was awful, too.

When my doubts about the existence of the jolly old elf in red led me to ask my parents, they assured me he was real. I launched an energetic defense against my doubting peers, but when I discovered they were right, my parents had lied, and I had born the scorn of my friends for it, Christmas lost it's glow. Years later, my parents resented the grandparents honest answer to my sister, when she asked the same question. I was with the grandparents, because honesty saves embarrassment.

Later, I would discover Santa wasn't the only fraud linked to Christmas. History showed no evidence whatsoever that Jesus was born on that date, or even that time of year. Placing it on the calendar was a political act.

The solstice was the original holiday, and, for me, it is still the true holiday. The ancients studied the heavens, and they knew the movements of the sun and stars, the progression of the seasons and the faces of the moon. Their rituals were linked to those natural cycles.

The winter solstice merges reality and metaphor. It is the turning point of darkness and light. The sun, our primary source of light and warmth, seems to have moved away, and the nights are long. The solstice marks the time when the dark has grown to its greatest point. Now the sun will turn back to the northern hemisphere. Many ancients celebrated the birth or rebirth of their gods at or near that time. Apollo, Baal, and Sol Invictus were all dedicated to the return of the undying sun. The solstice also marked the resurrection of Osiris. Choosing December 25 as Christ's birthday made it easier to convert the worshipers of Mithra, whose birthday was being celebrated on that day, with just a simple name change.

The solstice signifies a turning point in an eternal cycle. It symbolizes revival, renewal, recovery and resurrection. The old is discarded; the new is introduced.

Everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning so that return leads to flowering. Hurry nothing artificially. The flowering of spring is still a distant hope, but we move towards it, and the ripening which will follow.

Ching says return is the stem of character, which leads to self-knowledge, as one turns from the confusion of external things and back towards the inner light. The oracle also says it is always wise to follow the examples of good people. Return leads to success.

I like that bit about turning away from external things. It is a counter-point to the yearly greed fest god's birthday has turned into. As I said, I celebrate the solstice. Darkness has peaked, the sun returns and spring is on the way. It is time to nurture small things and prepare for the new year.

I'm Pissed Again

And there is a fireplug to piss on, but what is it doing there?

And what am I pissed about this time? A little news crept through my screening system about McNut trying to blame the Democrats for the economic melt-down, while claiming it isn't really that bad, after voting for the neo-cons deregulation agenda for years. That pisses me off. They demand a "free" market, which means let them make all the money they can at everyone else's expense. They want everything deregulated and controlled by the "free" market. "Free market" is a meme, just as "democracy" is. Does everybody know what memes are? They are advanced advertising, mental viruses spreading with a false image plastered over a hideous reality. The people throwing these memes around are greedy enough to bring the whole system down. When they do, they hide their spoils and try to blame someone else for the situation.

While we're on the subject of hypocrites, I want to consider the disparity between what Christ taught and what Christians now believe. Jesus lost his temper when he discovered the money-changers in the temple. It is pretty plain people who sold religion for a profit and sought earthly wealth and power, while claiming to be holy were not his chosen people. The Bible said a few things about charity. It didn't say to cut charity to the bone, in order to get richer, quicker. Chogyam Trungpa wrote a book entitled "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, in which he discussed this problem in detail.

That's a couple of piss-offs for today, and I must be on my way. I can always add more here, or anywhere else on the blog. It's a basic that going to a blog and reading left-to-right, down the page reverses time as it goes from now to back then. With links, revisions and updates, it becomes more tangled.

Wishing all long life, health and happiness.

-30-

This Sunday's sermon

This is a day given over to sermons and sermonizing, and I'm going to leap right in.

There are people in this world who pretend to be what they are not. They are called hypocrites, and they've been around since homo sapiens learned to talk. A bunch of them currently run this country, but we don't have space here for all that. A lot of people are talking religion these days, and many of them are hypocrites. A lot of people say they are so pure Jesus is going to come take them away to heaven any day now, and I wish he would. Then the rest of us could start cleaning up the mess they've made. I will be proud to remain with the "left behind."

This just in: Christians invade and loot Eden.

Christian troops continue to rampage in Eden, causing millions in damage and scores of deaths every day. Over 1,000,000 peaceful residents have been killed. They call it collateral damage, which means it is incidental to the goal of bringing democracy and Christianity to the heathen. 2,000,000 more citizens have been forced out of their homeland to become refugees in neighboring countries. Another 2,000,000 are homeless, living in ruins, tents, caves and fields.

The big news is no one seems to give a shit. In addition to hypocrites, we are surrounded by sleepwalkers. You know the people, who think they are getting the truth from network television. I don't see much difference in television news, with few exceptions. NBC did a pro-nuclear news piece, with no disclaimer pointing out that NBC is owned by GE, the world's largest developer of nuclear energy. Fox makes me sputter with their blatant neo-con propaganda and name-calling. As soon as Fox leaped past CNN, in the ratings, CNN began to copy Fox in fluffy, bombastic style.

When it comes to news, my heroes are Amy Goodwin, Bill Moyer, Bill Maher, Walter Cronkite and some others. Cronkite went to Vietnam to see what the hell was really going on over there. He came back and told most Americans the truth for the first time. The warmakers covered their bases better this time, taking almost complete control of the media, before starting their latest catastrophe.

Back to the key word we started with, hypocrites. The religious leaders of our time are every bit as corrupt as those Jesus dealt with. Jesus said they only pretended to be holy, while being consumed by base passions. He called the priests soul-eating wolves. He said they cared more about appearances than reality. He likened them to white-washed tombs full of dead bones and rotten meat.

Nothing has changed; progress is an illusion.

Sermonizing leads to guilt and shame, neither of which is a good thing. I want mine to lead to awakening. Wake up! Consider the beauty all around you. It reminds me of the 60s, full of hope, ingenious creativity everywhere and drop-dead gorgeous women.

Speaking of shame, if you live in Missoula and you are not a member or volunteer of MAM (Missoula Art Museum), shame on you.

Once again, shout out: live and local. Add a toast of local brew, and remember to give thanks for all you receive. That's today's sermon.