Walk Cheerfully Over the World

Full Journey Moon

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This was written as a first word for my Quaker community, West Hills Friends. First words are a 3-5 minute report on how god is moving in your life right now. As the school year ends I have been thinking about my first year as a teacher, and this is definitely how god is moving in my life right now  :)


I made it. The last days of the school year are over and done with, grades entered, last paperwork filed and it is summer time! My first year teaching was hard. I mean, everyone said it was going to be hard, I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea it was going to be HARD. Like, really, really hard. Looking back on my year I am left with ambivalent feelings about how our public schools work, but I came away crazy in love with my students and with the science I have been trying to introduce them to this year. We go into teaching, especially teaching middle school, in the hopes of changing our students and changing the world but I walked out of my school that June afternoon knowing that I had been changed as well. In 1656 George Fox wrote a letter from jail in which he reminded Friends to "be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you" 

I did not walk as cheerfully as I would have liked to through this first year of teaching. I showed up at school the same day the students did and felt like I was behind the curve every day. The schedule and pace of a modern middle school are grueling and I didn't yet know how to hold time and space for the kind of human interactions I always wanted to. I got tired, depressed and even angry sometimes. But that of God in each of my students cheerfully stepped forward and blessed me each day.

Middle schoolers are intense people. They are growing so quickly that their abilities, preferences and priorities change daily. Their emotions are right under the surface, but their defenses are high. Each and every one of them was a strange, amazing and special spark of light in my life this year. S--, a beautiful, tall girl who was so worried about failing that she wrote notes to me on each test about how sorry she was that she didn't know anything and was going to fail - and got As on all her tests. C--, a guy with a round freckled face and dark hair who came dressed as a zombie baseball player at Halloween and cried when I told him I was going to email his mom because a big project was still missing. Mom was not pleased, but didn't make a big deal out of it - just made him do the work and show it to me even though I said I wouldn't score it. D--, who couldn't sit still or control his voice for even 10 minutes at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year sat quietly while other's spoke, raised his hand and waited his turn, and shared his very thoughtful comments on natural resource use and robots. I love these kids in a way that I can't even understand, like the way I love god.

I might not have been the pattern or example I wanted to be every day. Modern public schools can be inhumane places where the schedule is more important than the people. I told kids to sit down and be quiet more often than I would like - but what are my alternatives when I have 38 thirteen year olds in a room with exactly 40 seats and twelve learning targets to "get through" in 9 months. But I must have been pattern enough to be a blessing and be blessed. Late in the spring, A--, a smiling faced, touseled hair guy who was always full of "did you know..."s, held the door for me one morning. I thanked him and he replied "Anything for my favorite science teacher!" I waited a beat, and then mock exclaimed "hey! I'm your ONLY science teacher!" M--, a tall, studious and quiet sixth grader blossomed socially this year in my class. At the beginning of the year she had a really hard time being in a group with a couple rowdy kids and at parent teacher conferences her mom said "You really saw Miranda and that made all the difference for her." By the end of the year she was holding her own against all the rowdies in the room. E--, a troubled young man who also loved science but shut down with any pressure to do work, agreed to a deal with me at the end of the year. If he wrote a paper on a topic of his choice I could give him a passing grade. He did, much to everyone's surprise - and it was good, and on time. His support teacher complimented me, "He has done more work for you this year than for any other teacher in this school this year or last."

George Fox wrote "Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you" I guess this is why we become teachers, right? To be the kind of teacher we hope every kid can have, to change the world one person at a time. To be a human oriented person in a schedule oriented system. There's no guarantee that it is going to be easy, but in all the countries, places, islands and nations we can, with our life and conduct, walk cheerfully over the world and answer that of God in every one. Everyone, like B--, and L--, and O--, S--, and K--. George Fox claims it will bless them, and I know it has blessed me just to try.

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Full Journey Moon 2012: Splendiferous Adventures

Full Journey Moon 2011: June is Pagan Values Blogging Month

Full Journey Moon 2010: The Journey Moon

Full Journey Moon 2009: A Journey for the Journey Moon


This post is very much about my Quaker identity. Check out my other posts labled Quakers for more on that aspect of my spirituality and life.

Hedonism and Big Juicy Good

New Journey Moon

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God
and I have become
like two giant fat people living
in a tiny
boat.

We
keep bumping into
each other
and laughing
-Hafiz

I joke that I gave up vegetarianism after college to become a hedonist. Little did I know how fruitful of a spiritual path hedonism could actually become. Over the last year or so I have allowed myself to indulge in all manner of earthly pleasures gastronomic, aesthetic, carnal and ecological. To my surprise and delight, I have found that these joys are not a diversion from spiritual pursuits but have been a yellow brick road leading directly to the Divine Wow.

Ascetic traditions ask followers to rise above the sea of emotion and physical sensation that are a leading cause of suffering. “Suffering rises from attachment to impermanent things,” the Buddha says. Monks and seekers from traditions Eastern and Western have been encouraged to abstain from certain foods, intoxicating beverages, the entanglements of romantic relationships and even the sensual pleasures of art and music for fear that they will dull or distract the soul from its journey towards God With a Capital G. In my experience, the unencumbered mind can soar to intellectual heights in this kind of pursuit. But there’s not much laughing there. Or ice cream. Or roasted duck, champagne cocktails and two hour make out sessions. And honestly, who wants to live in a world or go to a heaven without those thing? 

Indeed, those things have not stopped or distracted me from my connection with The Eternal Bliss. As my focus shifted a few chakras down over the last year the realizations are no less real or even less abundant, they are just of a different kind. Just the other night, while lounging contentedly, I said to the gentleman sharing my bed, “The Buddhists say Namaste – the divine in me greets the divine in you. Right now I wish there were a word for ‘the loving in me greets the lover in you.’” But there are no words for that kind of thing, just a squeeze, a kiss, a smile and knowing that this is All Good. My experience mirrors that of the Sufi understanding that all love, all pleasure, is a practice run for the love and pleasure we find with God. 

The renunciate’s ideal of detachment offers one path to the Kingdom of Heaven where we hurt no more. Radically deep connection is another way. In nature there is individual tragedy – the mouse must die for the owl to survive – but the web of connection keeps the mouse, the owl, the Fir tree, the fungus and everything else in Harmony. Rather than floating above the waves of emotions and physical sensation that are the root of hurt, this body and connection based search for That Which Is Wonder, invites me to dive into the ocean of life. There is pain and grief there; water up your nose and sand in your shorts. Feeling certainly causes a lot more tears than thinking, but that can’t get in the way of experiencing Big Juicy Good. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said to me once. “Well, there’s heartbreak at the end of this no matter what,” I replied, “’tis the human condition. Let’s not be afraid of that, ok?” The only way to feel ocean currents on your skin, to feel your heart ready to burst at the beauty of an azalea bush the size of your bedroom, or to experience the pleasure of a salumi plate and a crisp pinot gris on a warm spring evening is to dive in rather than float above. At least get in the boat with us  :)

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Yes, it has been a long time since I've posted. My life has been very full of doing and not so full of writing. But I try. And so here is a piece I wrote recently that shares a little of what my life is like these days. Hope you enjoy it, but more than that, I hope you are enjoying your own journey.   

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New Journey Moon 2011: Perseus and the Journey Moon

New Journey Moon 2010: Journey Moon is New

New Journey Moon 2009: Journey Moon

Splendiferous Adventures

Full Journey Moon

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My personal astrologer and hero, Rob Breszny, gave me this lovely gem of a horoscope early in the Journey Moon:

"Virgo, there's at least a 50 percent chance that the coming days will be over-the-top, out-of-the-blue, and off-the-record. I'm half-expecting florid, luscious, and kaleidoscopic events, possibly even rococo, swashbuckling, and splendiferous adventures. Are you ready for all this? Of course not. That's the point life will be trying to make: nudging you to learn more about the fine art of spontaneity as you improvise your way through unpredictable lessons that will lead you toward the resources you'll need to succeed."

He was so right that I haven't had time to tell you about it. Many of them have involved dogs, and men, and mud and sunshine and food and friends. Trust me, it's been a crazy month full of rococo and splendiferous adventures and journeys. How has your Journey Moon gone? 

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Full Journey Moon 2011: June is Pagan Values Blogging Month

Full Journey Moon 2010: The Journey Moon

Full Journey Moon 2009: A Journey for the Journey Moon

A Playlist for the Journey Moon

New Journey Moon 

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It is the Journey Moon, the time when summer is here and living is easy. People set out to seek their fortune in the world and have adventures. That is very much what the Journey Moon is like for me this year, and I need some good traveling music. Luckily, I was given an iPod touch for my birthday last year and have been making great use of it. 

Last winter I mostly listened to podcasts like On Being, Radio Lab and Snap Judgement. I find the stories told in these kinds of programs to be amazingly inspiring and I learn something new every time I listen. This spring, however, I noticed a shift in my habits. All of a sudden I was listening to music again. Being the analytical girl I am, I of course have some theories about why this might be. It has been an amazing emotional journey lately, and I really felt my focus shifting down a few chakras as the days got longer this spring. On days when I am feeling comfortable in my emotions, or enjoying manipulating them I listen to music. Other days I want to retreat back to the cool comfort of my intellect and I queue up Jad and Robert over at Radio Lab. It has been an interesting journey into previously uncharted territory this spring. And it has had an awesome soundtrack.

Here is the final version of my epic Grabbing the Tiger By the Tail 2012 Mix. I've provided links to videos for the songs wherever I can and if you need more information about any of them, let me know. Allons-y!

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• I Won't Back Down - Johnny Cash 

      A solid pump me up, Grab the Tiger By the Tail kinda song sung by a solid, Grab the Tiger by the Tail kinda guy. "Well I know what's right. I've got just one life in a world that keeps on pushing me aroud but I'll stand my ground. I won't back down."

• Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen

     "So you've been broken and youve been hurt, Show me somebody who ain't. eah, I know I ain't nobodys bargain, but, hell, a little touch up and a little paint... I just want something to hold on to.

And a little of that human touch." Bruce explains it all, again.

• Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet) - Tom T. Hall

     What's important in life? Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money. Don't believe me? Ask Tom T. Hall. 

• St Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr

     Every mix needs a 1980s power theme, right? Well, here's this one. "I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea, I can feel St. Elmo's Fire burnin' in me." Also, 21 year old Rob Lowe with this hair cut. Yes please.

• What would Brain Boitano Do - Southpark Soundtrack

     A question to ask in every situation. The answer will always be helpful. (Note: the video link above is from the Southpark movie and so is not entirely safe for work, small children or your grandmother. Unless you're grandmother is really, really cool.) And for some totally gratuitous fandom, check out this video of this song, with a Doctor Who video montage. Be still my beating heart. 

• If I had a Million Dollars - Bare Naked Ladies

    It was sweet in 1992 and it is sweet in 2012. Haven't you always wanted a monkey? 

• Birdhouse in your Soul - They Might Be Giants

     In the mid 1980s They Might Be Giants began recording songs, fake advertisements and other bits of joy onto an answering machine cassette and publishing the number in local New York papers like the Village Voice. By 2008 they had recorded over 500 distinct songs for what they called Dial-a-Song and have become kind of a big deal, if I do say so myself. "Not to put to fine a point on it, say I'm the only bee in your bonnet. Make a little birdhouse in your soul."

• Hakuna Matata- The Lion King Soundtrack

     "Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase. Hakuna matata, ain't no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of our days!"  Actually inserted right here on the play list is Tenacious D's F&#k her Gently. It is not safe for work, children, grandmothers or most people with a sense of decency. But it's on my playlist and you might think it's funny. 

• Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

     Another one I love to sing along to very loudly. "I want your love and I want your revenge. I want you love, I don't want to be friends." The link above is to the Oregon State men's acapella group singing the song, but if you haven't seen the original video, go here.

• Nowhere Fast - Fire, Inc.

     The 1984 cult classic "rock n roll fable" movie Streets of Fire is like a strange ghost from my childhood. For years I wasn't sure if it was a figment of my imagination, but the soundtrack was there in my dad's cassette tape collection. This one, produced by the same guy who produced Meat Loaf's 1992 Bat Out of Hell II album, is one of the greatest rock n roll songs ever written. "Everybody's going nowhere slowly, they're only fighting for the chance to be last. There's nothing wrong with going nowhere baby. But we should be going nowhere fast."

• I Want it All or Nothing at All - Bruce Springsteen

    Bruce Springsteen lays it out in black and white. Thanks, Bruce. Also, imagine what trouble the guy who shot this video went though to get this footage in 1992. Thanks, man.  

• What Makes you Beautiful - One Direction

     Boy bands are great summer fare, right? This is my Driving to Meet a First Date, Pump Me Up For Anything song right now. For the proper experience, sing this at full volume with all your windows down while driving through a really hipstery neighborhood. Then listen to the song a second time. That's the way I do it these days. You might appreciate this amazing parody. I do. 

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 What music have you been listening to? Do you make mixes or playlists? What are important elements for you in a good mix? What journeys are you undertaking this summer? 

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New Journey Moon 2011: Perseus and the Journey Moon

New Journey Moon 2010: Journey Moon is New

New Journey Moon 2009: Journey Moon - it's always interesting to look back and see synchronicity between the years in a given season. The anxiety and restlessness I describe in this post feels very current, though our weather is much better this year  :)

June is Pagan Values Blogging Month

The Full Journey Moon

Full Journey Moon 2009: A Journey for the Journey Moon

Journey Moon 2010: The Journey Moon

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"We must not be afraid to discuss the values and virtues and ethics we have discovered in our contemporary Pagan faiths. There are enough books on rituals and spells and prayers to last us a few generations… lets start writing works on confronting poverty and hunger from Pagan perspectives. Let us set aside the fear of prejudice, and the once glamorous but now tattered and worn mantle of the outsider and the rebel, and take pride in ourselves and our faiths, in our works and lives and worship and in our Pagan communities and our larger communities." - Pax, author of Crysalis

June 2011 is the 3rd Annual Pagan Values Blogging Month, a great project that aims to get pagans of all stripes to be both thoughtful and vocal about the things they care most about. Some bloggers have chosen to confront broad topics of historical pagan values, or the values and ethics of movements, traditions or denominations within contemporary paganism. From both a practical and ethical standpoint, I can not begin to discuss such broad and impersonal topics but can only speak as to my own beliefs and values. I am a pagan, but I am also a Quaker and Quakers put great emphasis on speaking only as far as your leading takes you; to not go beyond the measure of light that we have been given. I can only speak about my own values and beliefs, but I hope to be able to discuss how my background in both pagan and Quaker thought and worship have informed my values.

June 2011: What do I value?

My personal value s are inspired and informed by my dual identity as both pagan and Quaker. I see the core of my values as a two sided coin with relationships on one side and self actualization on the other. The interaction of these two forces creates a motion that we physical beings live within, a motion and a force that does the work of building, rebuilding and healing our world.

As a pagan I see the root of my spirituality as a deep connection between myself and a mother goddess spirit, who in turn has a deep connection with every other person, animal, plant, and non living thing on the planet. The Mother loves me like her special child, but she loves you, that guy over there, this tree, my dog, the soil, thunderclouds, bushtits, spiny lobsters and wildfires just as much. I am bound fast to all the myriad things in that strong and vast web of loving connection. It is easy to forget our connection to the goddess and the rest of creation, but by constantly seeking knowledge, experience and wisdom we can become better citizens of this interconnected web.

Quakers see a similar web of connection through what they call the Light of Christ present in each person. By recognizing that God works through all people, all people must be listened to, cared for and treated as an agent of the divine. Coming out of that realization Quakers see personal authenticity and individual seeking as important components of a spiritually rich life. We can not listen to the voice of god if we are busy with unimportant things and practicing the fine art of discernment is highly valued in Quaker communities.

When I first started meditating on the question of what do I value the very first thing that came to mind was education. I spend vast amounts of time in my own personal life learning things so I can be a smarter, wiser and better person. I read voraciously, practice skills of observation and discernment, enjoy sharing what I know with others. I created a vision statement for myself last fall and used the phrase “I am an ambassador of the universal divine on a journey to explore life on earth and share what I discover.” It is my job to constantly work to get better, smarter, bigger, happier, and wiser. Quakers and other Christians call this becoming more Christlike. Some pagans call this becoming a priestess. Psychologists call it getting closer to self actualization and Havi might call it destuckification or biggification and Rob might call it cultivating pronoia. Whatever we call it, it is of the utmost importance to me.

In fact, I am prone to thinking it is more important than it is. I tend to value intelligence over genuineness, cleverness over bigheartedness and worldliness over simple faith. All virtues can become vices if taken to an extreme and I am grateful that I have been presented with a number of lessons to remind me that humility is a worthy virtue as well.

Many of those lessons come through experiences with community. Quakers believe that a true leading from god will be verified by the discernment of the community. My pagan theology says that nothing is truly virtuous unless it benefits the community, and nothing can be evil if it has benefit to some member of the community. Ed Espe Brown, the author of the Tassajara Bread Book and an early spiritual mentor of mine, wrote once that living in community is like living in a rock tumbler. He feels his time at Tassajara Zen Community was a time when he was rubbed against other people and his sharp edges were worn away into smoothness. I’ve met people who don’t have strong communities and I think of them as like the 40 foot long gypsum crystals in the Naica mine in Mexico. They are beautiful and perfect in their own way, but fragile, sharp and brittle. Tumbled rocks, rocks that have rubbed against other rocks in the community of a stream or a rock tumbler, are just as beautiful but with a sense that they have been tested and hold up against the forces of life. A community of seekers, acting authentically and with caring, can be that testing ground and polisher for a person. 

Relationships and biggification. Self actualization and community. The inward focus and the outward push. Like yin and yang or male and female, the pull between these seemingly opposing forces creates motion that propels us forward. In the end, I believe we will be judged by our actions but the impulse behind our actions is vitally important. All of the other things I value like safe and clean food, protection of the natural environment, equal rights for all people, the reduction of pollution and waste, the increase of beauty and truth are rooted in this interplay between an inward seeking and an outward connection. We must actively care for our communities, both human and non-human, and we must base that care in the interplay of inward and outward, benevolent altruism and informed self interest. What is good for the web is good for me, and what is good for me is good for the web. 

Right now our web is sick and hurting. There are bright spots of self actualization, healing and beauty but there are more places of bleakness, brokenness and despair. I believe that we are here, in the physical, mental and spiritual form we are in because God needs this form to do some specific work. There are things that can only be done with our human bodies, human minds and human hearts and we must find out what those things are and do them. The dual impulses of becoming more authentically ourselves and becoming more authentically in community is the way forward to find that work and successfully do it.

Perseus and the Journey Moon

The New Journey Moon

New Journey Moon 2009: Journey Moon is New

Journey Moon 2010: The Journey Moon

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Once upon a time, an oracle in the Greek city of Argos told the king that he would be killed by the son of his daughter, Danaë. The king quickly shut his daughter and grandson, Perseus, in a wooden chest and set it adrift in the sea. After two days and two nights the wooden chest made landfall and was broken open by a man named Polydectes, the brother of the king of this new land. Danaë and her son lived on this new island for many happy years and one day Polydectes asked Danaë to be his wife. When Perseus, now a young man, objected Polydectes sent him on a quest to bring back the head of the Gorgon, Medusa. Perseus promised to bring the head as a wedding gift for his mother, but Polydectes was sure the young hero would never return.

The Story of Perseus, as told by John H. Haaren and A.B. Poland

When Perseus had made his promise, he went out from the palace and sat on the cliffs of Seriphos. While he was gazing at the white-capped sea, Mercury, the messenger of the gods, appeared before him and promised help from himself and from Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Minerva would lend her shield, Mercury offered his sword of light, and both agreed to guide him to the land of the setting sun, where the three Gray Sisters lived. These sisters would tell him the way to the home of the Hesperides. The Hesperides were beautiful nymphs who had three magic treasures, which Perseus must get before he could reach the land of the Gorgons.

Leaving Seriphos, Perseus began his long journey to the land of the setting sun. When he arrived there he found the three Gray Sisters. They were the strangest beings that he had ever seen. They had among them only one eye and one tooth, which they passed in turn from one to another.

When Perseus reached their dwelling the door was wide-open, and so he walked in. He was overjoyed to find the three sisters all taking a nap, with their one eye and one tooth lying beside them; and he quickly seized both these treasures. That done, he awakened the sisters and inquired of them the way to the home of the Hesperides. At first they refused to tell him, but when they found that he had their eye and tooth, they quickly told him how to go. He then gave them back the eye and the tooth. It did not take him long to reach the home of the Hesperides. It was an island in the Western Ocean. The nymphs had been told by Minerva that he was coming. So when he arrived they gave him welcome and agreed to lend him their magic treasures.

"The distance across the sea to the home of the Gorgons is great," said one of the nymphs to Perseus. "Take therefore these winged sandals of gold. With them you can fly through the air like an eagle."

"The Gorgon's head," said another of the nymphs, "must be kept in this magic wallet, lest you look upon the terrible face and be turned to stone."

"To get near the Gorgons," added the third, "you must wear this cap of darkness, so that you may see without being seen."

The hero then slung the wallet over his shoulder, put the sandals upon his feet, and the cap upon his head, and vanished. As swift as lightning, he crossed the dark waters and reached the home of the Gorgons. They were all asleep. Without looking at them Perseus held up the shield of Minerva and saw reflected upon it the frowning face of Medusa. With one blow from the sword of Mercury he struck off her head, and without looking at it placed it within his wallet. Then he hurried away from the weird place.

The other Gorgons awoke at once and followed him in furious haste; but as he wore his cap of darkness they could not see him, and with his sandal wings he flew so fast that he was soon too far for them to follow.

As he was flying along the coast of Africa he heard the sound of weeping. He looked down and saw a beautiful girl chained to a rock at the water's edge. Hastening to her, he took off his cap of darkness that she might see him and exclaimed, "Fair maiden, why are you chained to this rock?"

"Alas!" she said, "I have been offered as a sacrifice to Neptune. You cannot save me, however much you want to."

Her words made Perseus the more determined to help her. "Why is Neptune angry?" he asked. "And who has dared to treat you so cruelly?"

"I am Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of this land," replied the maiden. "My mother boasted that I was more beautiful than any nymph in Neptune's palace. Her pride enraged Neptune so that he raised great storms and sent a terrible monster to devour our people. The priests said that if I were offered to him the rest of the people would be spared."

Then with the sword of light Perseus cut the chain which bound Andromeda to the rock. At this moment the monster, huge and ugly, came plowing through the water. Perseus could not be seen because he had put on his cap of darkness, and before the creature could harm the maiden its head was cut off by the sword of light.

On his swift-winged sandals Perseus, with Andromeda in his arms, now flew to the palace of Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

There had been many glad weddings before that of Perseus and Andromeda, but none was ever more joyful. For he was admired as a wonderful hero, and everyone loved the girl who had been willing to give her life to save her people.

After the wedding Perseus went back to Seriphos, taking Andromeda with him. When he reached the island Polydectes was in his palace feasting, and Perseus hastened at once to the banquet hall and said to the king:

"See! I have brought that which you desired."

With these words he held up the head of the Gorgon. The king and his courtiers gave one look and were instantly turned to stone.

The Gorgon's head had now done its work; so Perseus carried it to a temple of Minerva and there offered it to the goddess. Ever after she wore it upon her shield, and its snaky ringlets and frowning face are to be seen upon her statues. The sword of light was given back to Mercury, who also returned the winged sandals, the magic wallet and the cap of darkness to the Hesperides.

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Faithful readers of my blog will know of my recent enjoyment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books. I have a real soft spot for young adult fantasy novels and these are some of the best examples of the genre I've ever read. In these kinds of books the authors can use the cover of the fantasy elements to present and explore The Big Questions In Life that teens are beginning to grapple with. If I didn't feel such a strong calling to be a math teacher I would want to be a middle school literature teacher so I could explore issues of parent/child relationships, friendships, loyalty, duty, life calling, reciprocity, betrayal and revenge that permeate the Percy Jackson (and so many other YA Fantasy) books.

One element so clearly present in these books is the theme of the hero's journey. Joseph Campbell, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes the hero's journey as an archetypical myth in which "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man." That pretty much sums up Percy Jackson in 50 words or less.

One of the reasons that Annette Hinshaw's calendar has remained such a deep well of inspiration for me is that each month is an archetype that resonates with both the outer experience of the season as well as my own inner life at any given point in the year. This month is called the Journey Moon, that time in early summer where it is easy to imagine setting off on a quest of your own and a time to examine the quests you are already on. No matter how tame we may see our lives as, we are on a journey through life. It can be very useful to have the stories of outer journeys to foreign or magical lands to help us frame our own, often more tame, journeys through relationships, jobs and daily life. There are fabulous forces all around us, and we all come back from our adventures with the power to bestow boons. They just usually aren't as spectacular as the Hesperides or a Gorgon Head and can often be mistaken for luck or nothing special.

What journey are you undertaking this early summer? What supernatural forces are aiding you a long the way and what wonders have you already found on your quest? What is your favorite Hero's Journey tale - are you more a Odysseus and Beowulf fan or a Star Wars and Harry Potter fan? George Fox or Guatama Buddha? Spiderman or Bilbo Baggins? Whatever kind of journey you are on, god bless you and keep you well as you wander this summer. Bring back souvenirs! :)

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The first three images come from Olive Beaupre Miller's The Adventures of Perseus found in her 1920 The Treasure Chest of My Bookhouse. They were accessed through the Florida Center for Instructional Technology Clearninghouse clip art library. Search for the keyword Perseus. The photo is probably copyright of George Lucas or something, just don't tell anyone I used it, OK?

The Journey Moon

I've been having a heck of a hard time writing this post. Here it is, practically the end of the Journey Moon and all I have is a few scraps of thoughts written down. There have been other things in my life I've been having a hard time doing, too. It makes for an interesting situation that has got me thinking.

Annette Hinshaw says that the Journey Moon is the lovely time in the early summer perfect for setting out on a journey. The weather is nice enough to give you a fighting chance at dry roads and there's a little lull in the work between lambing or planting and shearing or harvesting. One of the possible reasons I've been having a hard time with this post is that the weather sure doesn't feel like Journey Moon weather around here. Our paper, The Oregonian, had a story on the front page today saying that we've had 18 straight days of rain. Portland, Oregon is known for it's wet weather so having a story like that on the front page is a bit of a big deal. I make a concerted effort to not complain about the rain - I live here for a reason, and in general I love the climate - but this has gotten a little ridiculous, especially since it hasn't just been rain. It's been hail and windstorms, cold, wet days and colder, wetter nights with no breaks at all! My garden is drowning, my driveway is a lake, my lawn a creek and my car is starting to grow it's own moss based ecosystem. This is no time for a journey, this is a time for curling up in your bed with a good book.

Another reason that I might be having such a hard time coming up with something to say about the Journey Moon is that I really am too much in the middle of my own Journey to have much thoughtful to say. The image of a journey is a powerful image in religious and spiritual thinking and our sacred and secular stories are full of people making journeys. Many people see their own spirituality and even their whole life as a journey or a path that they follow. Some of us see this path as being revealed to us as we walk, others see a more clearly marked way in front of them. My spiritual practice has been leading me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole and the new information, new thoughts, new insights, and new connections are coming fast and hard. I haven't had time to synthesize anything yet, so how am I supposed to write a blog post?

Journeys are inherently arduous. If they weren't hard then it would be a trip or a jaunt or a picnic, not a journey. And this one is feeling hard right now. I had a great conversation the other day with a mentor of mine about why I am having trouble getting some seemingly simple mundane things done in my life. She reminded me that sometimes you are just too busy doing things to do other things. Sometimes your brain and your spirit are busy processing or handling things, maybe even subconsciously or at some other level you aren't fully aware of, and that is pulling your energy away from what you consciously think is the most important thing you should be doing.

Last weekend I attended a class at my Quaker meeting where the pastor gave us a background in Quaker history and Quaker thought so they have some good talking points when asked about their new church. Very little of it was new information to me but it was great to have it presented by our vibrant, funny and very knowledgeable pastor. He told us all about Martin Luther and Henry VIII and the religious and social turmoil that marked the 17th century in England. We talked about George Fox and about his insight that all humans carry the divine spark inside them allowing a direct, unmediated connection with the divine. What an optimistic, hopeful idea! Though Mike, and most of the people at my church, are quite Jesus centered I was happy to see a real respect for individual thought and understanding that language is not ever adequate to describe our experience of the divine. Mike said that the best spiritual conversations he ever had were when both people spoke their native language and then attempted to translate, rather than trying to speak in a foreign language when talking about God. It feels good to know that my native language will be received, maybe not always understood, but received in this new home I'm finding.

When I am feeling full of thoughts I always head for the woods. A good two hours of thinking and talking to myself surrounded by trees, watching my dog get to be a dog, can make all the difference. I think of it as a time to sort through all the new information and make sure it gets filed and put away correctly. While hiking this weekend I made a connection between my conversation the week prior with the core ideas of Quaker belief - my feeling lost is not a moral failing, it's a part of being a human being. And I don't need to feel bad about needing help, or about feeling lost. I have the power within me, or within my relationship with God, to move forward. Once I reconnect with that power the obstacles in front of me will shrink to their real size instead of looming so large as to seem insurmountable.

Once I re-established my connection doing that other task came easy. And writing this blog post seemed doable. I still may not have much to say, but at least I'm here writing.

I recently described the current state of my spiritual journey as being like walking a labyrinth, only its so huge that you couldn't possibly see where the center is. I see all these other paths coming close, winding away, twisting over and around my own and I have no idea which of them I might end up walking on myself, or which of them I might end up splashing right into the middle of. All I know is that my job is to keep my feet on the ground in front of me, walking one step at a time, to keep my ears open to the voice of the spirit leading me on and to keep my eyes open to see the glory all around me.

A Journey for the Journey Moon

One of the major themes of the Journey Moon is the balance between the security of a homebase and the renewal of new horizons. Annette Hinshaw says "we can die of having no roots as surely as we can of not moving." I feel like I've spent the last few years getting settled and growing roots. I don't think I'm ready to go adventuring again in a grand sense, but I was ready to get out of town earlier this month. Sometimes, going just makes you realize what you have left.

Over the weekend my mom and I went to Central Oregon, a prime vacation destination. My mom had heard about the Paulina Lake Lodge outside of LaPine so we went as a late Mother's Day present. The city of Bend is the main town in Central Oregon and is about a 3 hrs drive from Portland. In college I spent a fair amount of time in and around Bend for work and visiting friends so it was comfortably familiar despite the markedly different landscape. People think of Oregon as wet, verdant and soggy when the fact of the matter is that 3/4 of the state is high desert painted in shades of brown and dusty green. As someone who has spent years studying geology and biology it's always fun to watch the ecology change as you drive east over the Cascade Mountains. In some places you can actually pinpoint the line between the Douglas Fir and rhododendron forests of the wet west and the Ponderosa pine forests of the east.

We had a lovely weekend looking at mountains, lakes and pine trees. We experienced thunderstorms and clear blue skies, fantastic sunsets and drizzly rain. There was snow on the ground and overly warm air temperatures. Central Oregon can keep you reeling, that's for sure. We drove the Cascade Lakes Highway and saw quaint fishing lodges in stunning scenery. It was a fun filled weekend but the part that sticks in my mind most was on the drive home. Coming over the Santiam Pass out of Sisters I felt it and saw it. That same line in the vegetation between dry pine and wet fir was there on this pass too. And it felt good to be coming home.

I've always been a bit of a homebody and the few times in my life I've not had a "home" have been very frustrating times. I like my own bed, my own kitchen, my own shelves with my own stuff on them. In college I spent a number of years adventuring but always felt best when I had a home to come back to. Now that I have a home I sometimes feel a bit stifled and long for those carefree days of picking up and moving across the country just because I could.

I guess this is the lesson of the Journey Moon, isn't it? Finding that balance between growing roots and expanding your horizons. Where do you feel most comfortable? Are you a rolling stone or a home body hobbit? What do you do to break out of your rut?

Journey Moon is New

The new moon on May 24 is named the Journey Moon in Annette Hinshaw's calendar. It is the time of the blessed pause between the hard work of sowing and birthing and the herculean tasks of harvesting and raising young. It is the time of year where, in most places, the weather is sweet and warm but not yet oppressively hot and travel is at it's easiest. It is a time for exploring... exploring the physical world around us, the mental world in our heads and where the two intersect.

Just the other day as I was walking in a park near my house I spotted a playing card on the ground. I picked it up to see what it was... the queen of diamonds. I took her home, figuring she had something important to say to me. Playing cards and tarot cards are close cousins of each other and one can actually use playing cards as one uses the minor arcana of a tarot deck. I love the symbols of tarot and own a particularly fun tarot deck; The Inner Child Cards: A Fairy Tale Tarot by Isha and Mark Lerner. This deck uses well known charcaters and stories from fairy tales and fiction for the major arcana and the face cards of the minor arcana. For instance, the Fool card is represented by Little Red Riding Hood and the Tower card by Rapunzel. The Queen of Diamonds in a playing card deck is equivalent to the Queen of Pentacles in a tarot deck and in my deck the that card, called the seeker of Seeker of Crystals, is represented by the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz.

In a traditional tarot deck the Queen of Pentacles is an earth mother like figure. She is often thought of as nuturing and very resourceful, but willing to put those resources to use for others. Biddy, of biddytarot.com, says that the Queen of Pentacles represents "Want[ing] to establish yourself TO yourself, to find your 'centre' or place where you belong, and for words (prophecies) or ideas to come to light. Keep following your star and you will get your wish. You may have to wait but what you want WILL come. " In the Fairy Tale Tarot the Seeker of Crystals talks about transformation and spiritual growth through a journey. The Lion eventually finds his center by following his star. He is able to drop the facade of bravery because along his path he finds his true courage.

It's always good to have traveling food when you go on a journey. Cookies travel well and are always welcome, no matter where you find yourself. Last winter I made these Swedish Rye Cookies and loved them. Try making them in a shape that represents what you need or what you have. Try diamonds to represent the Queen and her blessings or perhaps find a lions cookie cutter and nibble them as you walk your own yellow brick road.

Swedish Rye Cookies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup fine sugar
1/2 tsp salt
coarse or powdered sugar for dusting

*Sift flours and salt together. Cream butter and cream cheese together until combined and fluffy. Add flour to butter mixture and stir only enough to incorporate. Knead gently to get the dough to stick together, form into a flattened ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill.

*Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with cutters. Sprinkle with coarse sugar now, or powdered sugar after baking. Bake for 4-6 minutes or until they are fragrant and just starting to brown around the edges. Don't let them overbake or they will be dry.

What path are you traveling during this Journey Moon? What is testing your courage? What resources are avaliable to you on your journey? Do you feel more like a Queen of Pentacles this month or more like the Cowardly Lion?