An Interview with Mr. Thalassa

Just for fun (and to see the oh-so-hilarious look on his face), I informed The Hubby (a.k.a. Mr. Thalassa and Daddy Man) that he was going to be on my blog.  I figure if its amusing enough, I’ll bring him back from time to time…

And I needed to take some time off from Yule blogging.  BTW, Happy Hanukkah!

Mr. Thal & Sharkbait

Me: So babe, tell us about yourself…

Mr. Thalassa: Well, I like long walks on the beach, the wind blowing through my Fabio-like locks, sunrises that could make you cry…running with scissors, shiny things, and viciously large explosions. All of those can be made better with a big cup of coffee.

Me:  You are such a dork.  Just sayin’.

Mr. Thalassa:  (laughs) And you love me for it…its not like you were specific!

Me: Yup, I definitely married you for your dork skills.  Who the heck else would put up with my Star Trek Marathons?  Okay…serious now.  Put on your serious face.

Where are you from? What was your upbringing like?

Mr. Thalassa:  I’m from the land of Cheese–from Wisconsin.  I was born in a small town outside of Milwaukee and both my parents were police officers.  My father passed away when I was six and my mom raised us.  I had ADHD–oh look, something shiny!

Me: Dude…I said serious face.

Mr. Thalassa: Sorry, I wasn’t listening…there was a squirrel holding keys on the window sill.

Me: (snickering) What was it like to have a mom that was a cop?

Mr. Thalassa: Um…how truthful do you want me to be here?  It was hard.  She was gone a lot and Mom brought work home emotionally.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my mom–she was one of the first female police officers in our county, and the first female to make detective.  But…it still sucked.  It did keep me on the straight and narrow though, if I got in trouble with the cops, they were calling my mom, you know? Really, I just had a better idea of how not to get caught.

Me: I am putting this on the internet.

Mr. Thalassa: Good point.  Let me go check on the squirrel with the keys.

Me: So, how did you end up moving  from the land of Cheese to the Bay?

Mr. Thalassa: I joined the US Navy because I didn’t want to be a farmer, or a logger, or a factory worker.  And school and I didn’t get along very well.  The ADHD, you know.  A lot of my friends had joined the Army, but my dad and my uncle were in the Navy, and I saw my cousin’s boot camp graduation.  I decided to be a sailor instead…and the Navy sent me here.

Me:  And the Navy thing?  What did that do for you?

Mr. Thalassa: Well, it gave me my beautiful wife…

Me:  Are you going for brownie points here?

Mr. Thalassa: Too obvious?

Me: Just a tad.  Don’t get me wrong, I know you are serious and I love you too, but…over all, how did the Navy change things up in your life?  Like…what you thought your life would be like, to where you are now?

Mr. Thalassa: Well, to start out with, I guess it really brought about my change in religious outlook and beliefs.  I had started to questioning my religious upbringing* and indoctrination before that–the history that was wrong, the moral inconsistencies, and stuff. But I didn’t really have any exposure to other ideas and beliefs until I was in my ‘A’ school**, where there was an unofficial Pagan group.

Me: How did that go, being Pagan and in the Navy?

Mr. Thalassa:  It was really never a problem.  At first I kept it on the DL, then later I found there were more and more Pagans among us folks in uniform. I don’t think anyone realizes how many military members are actually Pagan.  There are some problems–people that don’t understand who and what we believe, and those that don’t want to, that would rather keep their own negative stereotypes.   But overall, those people are a minority, I didn’t have any major issues.

Me: How did being in the Navy affect your Pagan beliefs and vice versa?

Mr. Thalassa:  It can be hard to practice in the Navy.  Its not on purpose, its not religious oppression or anything…its just the environment.  Like the physical environment.  You can’t burn incense on a ship.  Its a big gray boat in the middle of the sea…what about the green stuff? Steal a broccoli from the salad bar?  Clean some algae from a tank?

It can be hard to find other Pagans sometimes…not everyone is as comfortable being open about their beliefs as you can I, so it can be hard to find people at your duty station.  It can definitely be hard to participate in the wider Pagan community, just because you aren’t there.  Deployments and all.  And when you do go to places, a lot of people can’t relate.  There’s some pretty big ignorance that borders on bigotry for people in the military in the Pagan community.  That is changing a bit, but…heck–you were there, you remember that lady that called us baby killers at the drum circle at the festival we went to?

Me:  Yeah, I remember that one.  Probably the most blatant one I’ve run across.

Mr. Thalassa:  And that one Druid writer…he wasn’t a fan of military Pagans at all.

Me: Isaac Bonewits?

Mr. Thalassa: Yeah-the one that said you can’t be in the military and be Pagan.  I think he died a while back, so I’m not going to say anything bad, but…  (sighs) He wrote some good shit, but that was…just dumb.

Me: Do you think that had something to do with us hitting it off?  We had both the Navy thing and the Pagan thing in common?  I know you dated Navy girls and Pagan girls before me, but never in the same fabulous package.

Mr. Thalassa: Ha!  You are right there…  At the very least, it made things easier.  Being to relate and all.  I mean, most of our real life friends were both. And even when you go to a festival or a ritual or something, those are the people you have stuff in common with first.  Even before people with the same tradition or beliefs as you.

Me: Ah…Yeah, I’ve talked about this before.  Do you think then, that there is more commonality between different sorts of Pagans from being in the military than there is between civilian Pagans?

Mr. Thalassa: Oh, heck yeah.  I’m not saying that we have the same opinions and beliefs on anything…our perspectives run the gamut just as civilians.  But we have something that binds us.  We have necessity.  We can get together and put aside our spiritual egos, if you will, to support one another, instead of bickering over who believes what and why.  I mean, yeah–we can still disagree with that stuff, but at the end of the day, we don’t bitch about it the same way.

Me: What do you mean?

Mr. Thalassa: I’ve read some of those whiny blogs about whose really Pagan or not over your shoulder…I’d like to see them try to be Pagan on a ship.  You can’t do it, do it well in a way that lets you grow…you can’t do that without support.  And you don’t get to be picky about who that support comes from.  Our Pagan discussion group on-board the ship was sponsored by a Catholic priest, and we had a ton of non-Pagans show up, just to learn what we believe.  And when we had the occasional asshole show up, it was Chaps that kicked them out first.

And my chain of command was pretty cool about it too…they would rotate my watch schedule to attend the meeting.  Even on the (ship name removed) the Chaplain was cool.  The ship sucked, but the Chaplain was cool.  He was actually pretty thrilled to find out there were Pagans aboard, as we both know they don’t really do that good of a job educating Chaplains about Pagans.

Me: You think that’s about it?  I know you have to get ready to work and all…and it would be awesomesauce if I could talk you into vacuuming before you leave.

Mr. Thalassa: Yeah, I should start getting ready.  Ugh, I really don’t want to work evenings this week.  You know…this wasn’t as awkward as I expected.  It was actually sort of fun.

Me: Lol, I love you too…

*The Hubby was raised in a very religious and very conservative Catholic family.  He attended Catholic schools until his 10th grade year, including a year at an all boys boarding school.
**’A’ school is the Navy’s term for a training school after boot camp that offers job-specific training.

…just a myth

I think you are wrong.

I expect you think I am wrong too. And guess what? That is perfectly okay.

Really. I am not offended by the idea that you think I am wrong. I’m not offended by the idea that thinking I am wrong means that you think you are right. I’m not offended by the idea that you have a radically different world view than mine.

Don’t get all exited by my lack of offense though…I am offended by some things.

I’m offended when you use your beliefs to dictate the legality of others actions. I’m offended when you misrepresent other beliefs out of ignorance or asshattery (or both). I’m offended when you make criticisms of other beliefs while refusing to put yours to the same scrutiny.

I think you are wrong.

Because if I didn’t, I’d be in your church praying to your god.

~as said by me, in conversation with two very nice young Mormon boys that came a-knocking on my door (we always invite them in for cookies, lemonade and good-natured discussion and debate) about a year or so ago

Maybe I should start at the beginning.

A week or so ago, Star Foster posted a rejection of Jesus on her blog (I might often disagree with her, but there’s also interesting stuff there), as did another blogger that I follow, and in response, a third blogger I follow responded with some humor (and perhaps a wee bit of snark).  All of this was in response to a rather presumptuous and fairly obnoxious ill-informed post by a Catholic blogger over at Patheos, which garnered quite a reaction (I think this one was the best).

Normally I would simply have left my commentary on the matter in the comments of their respective blogs if I felt so inclined, but a few days ago one of my favorite bloggers left me a comment that made me think of that long-ago conversation.  It also made me think about handling the most fundamental disagreement that comes from two opposing world views; when two people think they are right, they automatically think the other person is wrong.  Since being “wrong” is usually seen as a bad thing, we are pretty much conditioned to have a negative reaction to being told (explicitly or implicitly) that we are wrong.

For all that I write about having manners when discussing religion,  I don’t think that having manners means leaving disagreement behind.  In all actuality, I think that part of having manners is being respectfully honest.  The honest truth about religion is that the only thing that determines “right” is belief.  It goes without saying that I believe I’m right (or at least more right than the next guy), or else I’d have different beliefs. It also goes without saying that people with diametrically different and even opposed beliefs believe that they are right as well.  So, we can’t all be right (unless there are multiple dimensions of reality or some other wacky string theory idea); nor can we independently and objectively verify who might possibly be right (there’s no way to dip out the measuring spoon for god).

Unlike Star and John, I’ve never felt the need to “divorce” Jesus or reject Christianity.  I’ve said it before–I was raised in a liberal Christian tradition, leaving Christianity was based in a disagreement with the basic claim of Christian theology, the need for salvation.  Because I’ve never believed in a need for salvation, a literal belief in Jesus has never been a necessity for me, and because I was raised in an environment free from the mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical abuse that sometime accompanies stricter Christianities, I’ve been free to look at the story of Jesus in a different and ultimately liberating way…as just a myth.

I’ll admit, there is small part of me that loves calling it “just a myth” in the same tone as those who call evolution “just a theory”.  Of course, that same (bitchy) part of me also enjoys agreeing that evolution is indeed “a theory”…and pointing out that even more, it is a scientific theory, and there is no “just” about it .  But really, “just a myth” is only an insult if you don’t understand what a myth actually is, or the importance of myth.

Myths are traditional stories that explain a culture’s historical beliefs on the origins of the world and mankind, the relationship of mankind with the gods, the place of gods and man in the world, the values of the culture and the desired behaviors of members of that cultre (usually by demonstrating what happens when one doesn’t fulfill them).  More importantly, myth is the collective search of humanity for truth, meaning and significance in the experience of life, so that it resonates beyond the merely physical (and short) time that we are alive into something more.  While myths can be rooted in factual events or completely made up (but often believed to be true), they embody a truth that deeper and more meaningful that a literal truth could be, because it is not merely a literal truth (and even when one knows they are not).   Myths are the collective ideas that define us–our values and what we value (which are not always the same thing), and how we view and interact with the universe and with each other.

Religions don’t need their stories to be literally true, it is people that need to believe their mythology as literal truth.  Perhaps because we have been programmed to think that we have to be “right”, and if we are “right”, then everyone else must be “wrong”.  Or maybe its because we have been conditioned to think that only the literal truth matters.  But a story doesn’t need to be literally true to be important and it doesn’t need need historical accuracy for it to have meaning.  I don’t need my religious beliefs to be “right” to be true, and I don’t need them to be literally true to be right for me.  Nor do I need to formally reject the ideas that I think are wrong for me…its enough for me that I just don’t believe in them or follow them.  The mythology of the Bible and the Abrahamic faiths is just as legitimate (and no more) as the mythology of the Celts, the Greeks, the Norse, the Egyptians, etc.  They are all just as legitimate, and still, just a myth.

The Bandwagon

I always find it interesting when a topic starts making the rounds.  Generally, when I blog, its about whatever the heck pops into my brain.  Sometimes stuff pops into my brain by virtue of what I’ve read on the news, or on other blogs, or seen in real life.  Sometimes I then find that other people have been thinking and writing about the same topics, and it seems I’ve joined The Bandwagon.  I really hate that.  Occasionally I make a conscious decision to join The Bandwagon, but my general rule is to jump out of the way when I see one hurtling towards me.  Today though, I’m just going to blab about The Bandwagon (and my conflicting thoughts about it), in the context of two currently hot topics making the rounds in the Pagan blogosphere–veiling and obesity.

I’ve considered talking about both of these (the first in the context of dress as an extension of religious expression, since I don’t have much to say on veiling in particular), but given the current hotly contested debate on both…I find myself unwilling to be a part of a train wreck quite yet (at least without getting this out of the way).  From the outside, both “discussions” are filled with a heck of a lot of attitude, derision, and sanctimoniousness on the part of people that seem to feel entitled, or even obligated, to pass condemnational judgement on what personal actions other people are participating in (personal actions, I might add, that don’t affect the commenter)(and yes, I realize I just turned a noun into a non-existent adjective).  As a member of a community that generally prides itself on its open-mindedness and acceptance, I find myself to be a bit saddened by the insensitivity and hypocrisy that I see in these conversations (lest I sound like I’m practicing condemnational judgement, there have been some beautiful statements of understanding and sensitivity as well).

And so, I think a more important thing to discuss right now is The Bandwagon, and how it affects the conversations that need to be had within our communities, and in a wider society.

The first thing that I want to get out of the way is the idea that The Bandwagon is always bad, because its not.  The Bandwagon can actually do some good.  It brings attention to things we might not notice otherwise.  One person can get drowned out in a crowd, but 10, or 20 or 100 or more people all talking about the same topic can bring to our attention an issue we should be informed about or alert us to action that we should be taking.  The Bandwagon has the capacity to act as a vehicle for discussion and debate across a community that allows for the inclusion of voices that might not otherwise be heard.  It also establishes tracks for others to follow by virtue of paving a way that might not have existed before (yes, I know the puns are awful) and can sort of ease the way for newcomers.  But the very nature of The Bandwagon that produces these benefits also produces its pitfalls.

The Bandwagon is an ephemeral and amorphous undirected phenomenon, open to just about any interested party for the duration of their interest.  And here in lies the problem.  Lots of people jump onto The Bandwagon just because its there.  They don’t bother to take the time to know their fellow riders, they don’t take the time to know what The Bandwagon is about from all perspectives of its issue, they don’t take the time to figure out where The Bandwagon has been or where it is headed, and when The Bandwagon is no longer convenient for them, they will leave.  This lack of commitment to The Bandwagon leads to a lack of respect for other participants and can damage whatever issue or cause The Bandwagon is addressing in a way that leaves a giant mess for those individuals that actually care.

As an example, lets take a look at veiling in Paganism.  Until a few months ago,  I wouldn’t have given a second thought to someone that told me that they covered their hair as part of their commitment to their deity (or whatever other spiritual reason they had for doing so).  After all, I have encountered people that stopped cutting their hair as part of their personal Paganism, people that incorporated tattooing and/or piercing as part of their personal Paganism, people that make all sorts of seemingly odd (in terms of mainstream fashion) stylistic choices as part of their personal Paganism (kilts, fairy wings, leather studded dog collars, even plain dress), etc.  I’ve even met a person that thought their personal Paganism called them to never again wear shoes (unfortunately, they were in the military, and that didn’t quite work out for them).  But then, Star Foster wrote a blog post on the subject, which cause a slight kerfuffle, and has ultimately led to a bit of a debate, some of which has been a bit harsh (just read the comments on some of the links).  Veiling seems now to be a popular thing–if not to try out, at least to talk about.  Everyone seems to have an opinion about it.  Some of them seem to be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction against certain prevailing stereotypes, others are downright hostile, but for the most part…they seem to be fairly supportive, or at least ambivalent.  In  some ways, The (Veiling) Bandwagon seems to be doing some good by  raising awareness about the hostility that people that choose veiling can face, to inspire a new form of spiritual expression for those that might not be happy with their present choices,  and to create spaces for those that veil to engage in communities they might not have otherwise known about.  But, on the other hand, its also brought out some of the latent intolerance that has always been part of the Pagan community.

That latent intolerance, I think, is The Bandwagon’s biggest problem.  If you are going to jump on board, you need to do your homework first.  Failure here leads to all sorts of problems later.  For the love of all that is good and holy, don’t join just because it is something new and different.  Get to know the people that are actually involved in the movement, learn about its history, and take the time to figure out what direction it is headed into.  Determine the level and scope that you are willing to commit to The Bandwagon, and then decide if and how you are going to join it.  And, if you aren’t going to join it, figure out if your criticism is actually necessary or if its just a bunch of hot air.  If all I cared about on a particular topic was disseminating my opinions on what someone else is doing (particularly when what they are doing has little effect on me directly), then I’m not sure that I’m really being authentic in terms of what is meaningful to me, and I’d hope I have enough common sense and courtesy to treat the subject in a way respects the people that *do* find it meaningful.  I can state my opinion in such a manner, but I think that is ultimately a disservice to those that are a part of The Bandwagon and those that may be interested in being a part of it when one does so from a position of privilege without acknowledging that privilege and working to overcome the lack of understanding I have because of it.  Even worse though, is when the opinion is flat-out insulting and even damaging (or expressed in such a way that it seems so).

Which brings us to our second example, the recent discussion of obesity in Paganism.  This is a bit of a more recent and more hotly contested discussion, which seems to have been accidentally sparked by Peter Dybing.  There have been a number of posts in response: some outraged, some a bit less outraged, some thoughtful, some humorously indignant, some kindly critical, some detailing previous personal experiences at opening this can of worms.  The posts themselves aren’t so much the issue, as the commentary that often flows afterwards.  Its sometimes hard to tell going back, once an author edits or eliminates some of the worst offenders, but in many cases, both tone and actual words are downright insulting.   Also, in this case, a good number of the people involved just have no freaking clue what they are talking about, and the rest only know the poorly reported talking points of incomplete science (and some of them seem to think that makes them an expert). The reality is that there are so many factors that have to do with weight–genetics, ecology of gut micro-fauna, base metabolic rates, activity level, muscle efficiency, dietary content, etc, and even then, those factors are only the tip of the iceberg of the factors that contribute to health for The (Obesity) Bandwagon to be meaningful. And, in this case, I fear that the amount of hubris and idiocy flying  around is probably going to do more damage than good.

Humans like things to be simple.  In this case, fat=unattractive=unhealthy=bad, thin=attractive=healthy=good.  The dichotomy here has been pretty clearly defined by society, and the manner in which the topic has been introduced in the Pagan community has unfortunately not taken the reality of complexity into play.  This leaves one side speaking from a place of privilege, and the other pissed off.  Not a good way to do any good.  The only simple fact about any real issue is that its not simple and it can’t be reduced to an equation.  The Bandwagon is not, and by its very nature, cannot be equipped to handle complex issues.  The Bandwagon has no driver, no road, and no brakes.  Sure, it can bring attention to complex issued by reducing them to a simple soundbite, but unless the participants of The Bandwagon are willing to do the hard work behind the scenes and after The Bandwagon has crashed, to create meaningful and compassionate conversations, The Bandwagon usually just runs people over like an avalanche or a derailed train.

So, where does that leave us?  Heck if I know…but I’d hope it would leave us all more thoughtful without our words and deeds.  I’d hope it would leave us more compassionate with one another, more prone to complete research and looking at the big picture and listening to one another without jumping to conclusions.  I’d hope it would leave us more likely to leave The Bandwagon and engage in real, meaningful conversations and projects that celebrate diversity and cooperation.  I’ll keep hoping, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

 

 

 

 

put your money where your mouth is

Everyone has a cause–some hot button issue that gets their dander up, something that they are willing to go the extra mile for, some idea or ideal that they consider part of their very identity.  At least one, and sometimes many. Something that we feel strongly about, that speaks from our soul and is representative of our fundamental values about life and living.

Your cause might be about the status of human rights in this country and others, about the plight of children living in poverty, about access to reproductive health care for women, or to preserve and protect biodiversity by limiting human degradation of the environment.  Your cause might be for the promotion of  equitable employment and equal compensation, about supporting the efforts of families to raise their children in healthy environments, protecting high risk populations from abuse, exploitation and neglect, or to preserve religious freedom for all people by protecting government from church-sponsored lobbyists.  Your cause might be none of these things, or all of them.

But more important than what our opinion is on any given cause is what our actions are:

• What do we do about our cause(s) on a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly basis?
• How do we act out our beliefs (and/or represent them) with integrity in our everyday actions?
• How do we promote our beliefs in a way that honors the dignity of both ourselves, AND those with diametrically opposed values from our own?

Because its not enough to have a cause. You have to act on it as well.

Luckily there are tons of ways we can do that!

Go out and vote.  Write your congressman.  Exercise your First Amendment rights and protest.  Listen to those that have been marginalized.  Speak out against injustice and ignorance.  Practice socially responsible consumerism.  Insist on sustainable practices from the companies you do business with.  Pick up trash or plant a garden.  Tutor a kid, donate some money, or ride your bike instead of driving.  The list is long…but above all, practice what you preach.

Don’t get me wrong…sometimes its hard.  Sometimes its darn inconvenient. Sometimes we fall down, we get tired and we give up at seemingly insurmountable odds. Sometimes we are forced to compromise our ideals to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.  Sometimes we just make mistakes.  We are after all, merely human.  But we are also Pagan.  We are worshippers of imperfect gods.  We are not asked to achieve perfection because our gods are as much like us as we are like them. Instead we are tasked with picking ourselves up and to doing better or trying harder next time–we are tasked with “striving for excellence”.

It is not enough for us to just have our beliefs and let that be the end of the story.

Our job is to live our beliefs out loud and in our actions.  Our job is to put our money (or our time, effort and energy) where our mouth is.

***This has been a post for the annual Pagan Values Blogject–this year I’m blogging on my personal values and how they are informed by and in turn inform my spiritual and religious beliefs.  In past years, I’ve blogged on the values that are central to our family (hospitality, service, integrity, and conservation) as well as those that I think are uniquely represented in the wider Pagan umbrella  (respect, plurality, sacredness, and experiental gnosis).  Other posts this year for this year included “my body, my temple”, “pass it on”, and “live where you are (and love where you live)”.***

live where you are…

…and love where you live

Spirit of place is defined as the tangible (buildings, sites, landscapes, routes, objects) and the intangible elements (memories, narratives, written documents, rituals, festivals, traditional knowledge, values, textures, colors, odors, etc.), that is to say the physical and the spiritual elements that give meaning, value, emotion and mystery to place. Rather than separate spirit from place, the intangible from the tangible, and consider them as opposed to each other, we have investigated the many ways in which the two interact and mutually construct one another. The spirit of place is constructed by various social actors, its architects and managers as well as its users, who all contribute actively and concurrently to giving it meaning. Considered as a relational concept, spirit of place takes on a plural and dynamic character, capable of possessing multiple meanings and singularities, of changing through time, and of belonging to different groups. This more dynamic approach is also better adapted to today’s globalized world, which is characterized by transnational population movements, relocated populations, increased intercultural contacts, pluralistic societies, and multiple attachments to place.

from the QUÉBEC DECLARATION ON THE PRESERVATION OF THE SPIRIT OF PLACE

My Paganism is a religion of location.  Modern terminology might call it bioregionalist or topophilic.  More traditional terminology might say that it is based in the idea of “spirit of place” or by the Roman idea of genius loci.  My faith sits at the point where these definitions overlap, not wholly part of any of them, instead, part of all of them.

This is where we live.

Our home is about three blocks inland from where the sea meets the sky, but this is where we spend the largest chunk of time outside.

Most mornings, when the tide is low but on its way in, I start my swim here.  Every once in a while, I share my swim with a pod of dolphins cruising along just offshore.  More often, my only company is a couple of crabbing boats or a lonely sailboat out for an early jaunt.

Nearly every day, the kids dig in the sand and play in the waves at the beach that hosts this view.  They know which rocks the big crabs live behind, where to dig for soft shell clams, how to tell a boy crab from a girl, and all of the different kind of shells that hermit crabs make their homes in on our beach.  Chickadee has necklaces of jingle shells and Sharkbait, who can’t otherwise sit still to save his life, can hover motionless behind a ghost crab hole until its resident makes its appearance.

My husband and I held our children’s baby blessings in this place.  We have celebrated a number of holidays, religious and secular, here.  I have come to this spot in anger and frustration as well as joy and elation.  I have cried here, and prayed, and bled as well.

This is not just a place where I live, it is the place where I live.

There are a million different ways to live local– farmer’s markets, supporting small businesses, getting to know your neighbors, walking or biking rather than driving, volunteering for local charities, being a tourist in your own community, etc.  Every community is different and every individual’s situation is different, and the ways that we can participate in our local communities meaningfully vary widely.

But to be spiritually meaningful, it starts with really living where you are.  It starts with getting to know the spirit of your place, as a personal relationship with your land-base and your community.  To truly live where you are, you have to learn to love where you live as an active devotion.

***This has been a post for the annual Pagan Values Blogject–this year I’m blogging on my personal values and how they are informed by and in turn inform my spiritual and religious beliefs.  In past years, I’ve blogged on the values that are central to our family (hospitality, service, integrity, and conservation) as well as those that I think are uniquely represented in the wider Pagan umbrella  (respect, plurality, sacredness, and experiental gnosis).  Other posts this year for this year include “my body, my temple”, and “pass it on”***