HAPPY FIRST BLOOMING!! It’s SPRING! Our weather totally wasn’t ready for this two weeks ago… But now, we even have a nest outside!!
This Pagan’s thoughts on Easter+__________:
The theme of a god or goddess who dies and resurrects is as old as the seasons and finds its way into just about every mythology I can think of. There is no good evidence to tie Ishtar and Easter together beyond the fact that they use the same life-death-rebirth theme which comes free in every mythology starter kit. Correlation does not imply causation.
by the author of the blog Stone of Destiny (in the comments)
I had to thank him profusely for that. For the past few days I’ve been inundated with the “Easter comes from Ishtar” meme on Facebook. And so, my public service announcement (which I guess makes me fall into category #4 in his actual post) is that Easter does not come from Ishtar, and (for that matter) Eostre might have nothing to do with it either.
There are plenty of things I find more annoying than this habit among Pagans, but…its still pretty annoying. If someone wants to celebrate Ishtar at Easter, that’s their own business (as well as the-possibly-not-historical Eostre for Ostara)…but promulgating it as some sort of persecution complex about how all our holidays were “Co-opted by Christianity” or trying to make it some superiority gig because “ours came first” is just…well, I’m never sure if its ignorance (willful or not), deliberate disingeniousness or just plain intellectual dishonesty, but either way, I’m lacking the energy to point it out for myself this year.
Meet Sapphire, the Ostara Fairy! First Blooming is the time when the trees start to leaf, the flowers start to show off their riotous beauty, and its the favorite time of year for Sapphire, who loves the bright colors of eggs, the soft fluff of newborn bunnies and the fresh scent of spring air. Chickadee says that she lives in a field of tulips, under a tent woven by spiders, from their spider silk (not the sticky kind). She has a path of bottle caps as stepping stones that lead the way from her tent to the Crystal River, where her very best good friend Emerald lives (you might remember that Emerald is the fairy for Beltane, but if you don’t that’s okay…we’ll be talking about her soon!).
Sapphire’s job is to organize the springing of Spring. She talks and sings songs to the soil to help seeds sprout, puts baby birds back into nests when they fall out, and finds the best patches of sweet clover for baby bunnies. We can help her do these things too, in our own neighborhoods, since its really hard for her and her friends to be everywhere. Sapphire knows that she can depend on the little witchlets to take care of their Place, so that she can concentrate on the Places of the world without a witch.
Right now I’m…making dinner and having a drink. I really like simple and easy dinners after a long day. Especially anything with an easy clean-up, one dish to wash is best! Two frozen chicken breasts, two dozen halved brussel sprouts tossed in olive oil, and a halved yellow squash face down on a baking sheet (all sprinkled with a smattering of garlic salt, basil, and lemon pepper) at 375 degrees F, and 45 minutes later, dinner is served! Delish!
We are watching the neighbor’s baby, which has brought out Chickadee’s desire for a baby sister. The hubby and I are pretty sure we are done–we’ve replaced ourselves, and I tend to think that environmentally, that is enough. Still, sometimes I get the urge to have another cuddlebug…and while that could probably be a blog post all on its own, what I was really going to mention was the conversation that just came out of this event. It went like this:
Chickadee: Mom, I want a baby sister.
Me: Babies are expensive and a lot of work.
Chickadee: Well I can feed her, and rock her, and make sure she doesn’t choke.
Me: They are still expensive.
Chickadee: Well that’s not fair! Babies should be free! Why does it cost so much to buy a baby?!?
Me: Phee, you don’t buy a baby! They don’t come from the store!
Chickadee: Well, duh! They come from your va-GI-na. But you still have to pay to get them out.
I have to say, I’m a pretty darn proud feminist liberal momma at the moment–my six year old not only realizes that affordable medical care should be a “duh” idea, but she ALSO uses the correct terminology for lady parts (all my fault, with help from the hubby).
And, while we are on the subject of vaginas…really? REALLY?
And now, for something completely different…
- Check this out! Totally on my list of summer fun places to take the kids!
- Also, a GF recipe for cakes and ale!
- And a totally adorable craft!
- I might be starting a new job soonish…but first, I need to stop procrastination blogging and finish my security clearance package! (it can take months for a security clearance to come through, in the mean time, the busy season at work is picking up)
- I’ve been thinking about writing a book on Pagan(ish) parenting…but its just an idle thought.