Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Nora]

Beltane Bealtane in Irish Gaelic





Celebrating the Seasons
Also known as May Eve, May Day, and Walpurgis Night, happens at the beginning of May. It celebrates the height of Spring and the flowering of life. The Goddess manifests as the May Queen and Flora. The God emerges as the May King and Jack in the Green. The danced Maypole represents Their unity, with the pole itself being the God and the ribbons that encompass it, the Goddess. Colors are the Rainbow spectrum. Beltane is a festival of flowers, fertility, sensuality, and delight.
Prepare a May basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill and then give it to someone in need of healing and caring, such as a shut-in or elderly friend. Form a wreath of freshly picked flowers, wear it in your hair, and feel yourself radiating joy and beauty. Dress in bright colors. Dance the Maypole and feel yourself balancing the Divine Female and Male within. On May Eve, bless your garden in the old way by making love with your lover in it. Make a wish as you jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck. Welcome in the May at dawn with singing and dancing.


Beltane Customs

Sacred Time
Going A-Maying & Bringing in the May -- Merry-making and Nature communion. * Midpoint between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. * In Pagan Rome, Floralia, from April 27-May 3 was the festival of the Flower Goddess Flora and the flowering of Springtime. On May 1, offerings were made to Bona Dea (as Mother Earth), the Lares (household guardian spirits), and Maia (Goddess of Increase) from whom May gets its name. * Roman Catholic traditions of crowning statues of Mary with flowers on May 1 have Roman Pagan roots. * Marks the second half of the Celtic Year; one of the four Celtic Fire Festivals. Complement to Samhain, it is a time of divination and communion with Fairy Folk/Nature Spirits. * Pastoral tradition of turning sheep, cows, other livestock out to pasture. * In Pagan Scandinavia, mock battles between Winter and Summer were enacted at this time. * Building on older tradition of this time being a holiday for the masses, in the twentieth century, May Day has been a workers' holiday in many places. * Some say that Mother's Day, in the USA, Mexico, and elsewhere has Pagan roots.

Maypole

Forms include pole, tree, bush, cross; communal or household; permanent or annual. * In Germany, Fir tree was cut on May Eve by young unmarried men, branches removed, decorated, put up in village square, & guarded all night until dance occurred on May Day. * In England, permanent Maypoles were erected on village greens * In some villages, there also were smaller Maypoles in the yards of households. * Maypole ribbondances, with two circles interweaving; around decorated bush/tree, clockwise circle dances.

Flowers & Greenwood

Gathering and exchange of Flowers and Greens on May Eve, pre-dawn May Day, Beltane. * Decorating homes, barns, and other buildings with Green budding branches, including Hawthorn. * Making and wearing of garland wreaths of Flowers and/or Greens. * May Baskets were given or placed secretly on doorsteps to friends, shut-ins, lovers, others. * May Bowl was punch (wine or non-alcoholic) made of Sweet Woodruff blossoms.

Beltane Fires

Traditionally, sacred woods kindled by spark from flint or by friction -- in Irish Gaelic, the Beltane Fire has been called teine eigin (fire from rubbing sticks). * Jump over the Beltane Fire, move through it, or dance clockwise around it. * Livestock was driven through it or between two fires for purification and fertility blessings. * In ancient times Druid priests kindled it at sacred places; later times, Christian priests kindled it in fields near the church after peforming a Christian church service. * Rowan twigs were carried around the fire three times, then hung over hearths to bless homes. * In the past, Beltane community fire purification customs included symbolic sacrifice of effigy knobs on the Beltane Cake (of barley) to the fire, or, in medieval times, mock sacrifice of Beltane Carline (Hag) who received blackened piece of Beltane Cake; Maypoles in Spain were each topped with a male effigy which was later burned. Contemporary Pagans burn sacred wood and dried herbs as offerings in their Beltane fires.

May Waters

Rolling in May Eve dew or washing face in pre-dawn May Day dew for health, luck, beauty. * Getting head and hair wet in Beltane rain to bless the head. * Blessing springs, ponds, other sacred waters with flowers, garlands, ribbons, other offerings. * Collecting sacred waters and scrying in sacred springs, wells, ponds, other waters.
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/beltane.htm


Beltane

Find this year's date in the multifaith calendar
Beltane is a Celtic word which means 'fires of Bel' (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.
Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community. In spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.
Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.
Other festivities involved fire which was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility. Cattle were often passed between two fires and the properties of the flame and the smoke were seen to ensure the fertility of the herd.
Today Pagans believe that at Beltane the God (to whom the Goddess gave birth at the Winter Solstice) achieves the strength and maturity to court and become lover to the Goddess. So although what happens in the fields has lost its significance for most Pagans today, the creation of fertility is still an important issue.
Emma Restall Orr, a modern day Druid, speaks of the 'fertility of our personal creativity'. (Spirits of the Sacred Grove, pub. Thorsons, 1998, pg.110). She is referring to the need for active and creative lives. We need fertile minds for our work, our families and our interests.
Fire is still the most important element of most Beltane celebrations and there are many traditions associated with it. It is seen to have purifying qualities which cleanse and revitalise. People leap over the Beltane fire to bring good fortune, fertility (of mind, body and spirit) and happiness through the coming year.
Although Beltane is the most overtly sexual festival, Pagans rarely use sex in their rituals although rituals often imply sex and fertility. The tradition of dancing round the maypole contains sexual imagary and is still very popular with modern Pagans.
The largest Beltane celebrations in the UK are held in Edinburgh. Fires are lit at night and festivities carry on until dawn. All around the UK fires are lit and private celebrations are held amongst covens and groves (groups of Pagans) to mark the start of the summer.



Edinburgh traditions

Beltane in Edinburgh

White Woman performer © Every year on 30th April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh thousands of people come together for a huge celebration to mark the coming of summer. The evening begins with a procession to the top of the hill led by people dressed as the May Queen and the Green Man (ancient God and Goddess figures representing fertility and growth).
The May Queen crowns the Green Man, in a ritual similar to that carried out by Wiccan Pagans (who follow a structured set of rituals). The winter ends when the Green Man's winter costume is taken from him and he is revealed in his spring costume. A wild dance takes place and the Green Man and the May Queen are married.
The main element of any Beltane celebration is fire. On Calton Hill torchbearers carry purifying flames and fire arches are used to represent the gateways between the earthly world and the spirit world.
Most of the imagery used in the costumes and rituals comes from the Celts and from Scottish folklore. Other influences come from indeginous people world wide. For instance, the symbol of Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron, can be seen on the faces of some of the performers, and the Geisha traditions of Japan are evident in the dress of the White Women (assistants of the May Queen). Due to the ecclectic nature of the celebrations, Edinburgh's Beltane is not recognised as a religious ritual by many practising Pagans.
Fire arch ©

• The blue paint of the Blue Men refers to the woad used by Celtic warriors.
• The May Queen's male consort is the Green Man, sometimes called the May King, Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood or the woodland faery Puck.
• The Red Men represent mischief makers, Pan-like figures who live for the moment without a care in the world or inhibitions.
• The White Woman and her handmaidens protect the May Queen and attend to her later in the evening. They are the order and discipline in the face of the Red Men's chaos.
• Torch Bearers are an important, trusted group. Dressed from head to foot in black, with blacked out faces, their hair covered, they are protected from fire and other elements. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religi...eltane_1.shtml

Love

Nora

[modwiz]

Posted by Carmody (here)
Apologies for my over the top communique on circumcision.

I purposely stated it that way so the issue becomes uncomfortable so it can be looked at for what it is. My words may seem harsh, but not only do they have the ring of truth but they are essentially true.

Like a person born with a disability that affects and shifts their entire being...the same is true with circumcision. It is not seen or understood as to the depths of it's affects as it is as deeply intertwined with the given being, as is humanly possible.

It is very difficult to see a mask that is so deeply imbedded that is is part of the given person on all levels. After the ego issue, this is probably the biggest issue, within the given male who has been circumcised.

It is also exceedingly difficult to look at as the chemically derived neural separation from the incident (that came from the incident itself) makes it even harder to reach. think of, for example, the difficulty of reviewing the visual/mental recollection of lets say, your entire family being slaughtered in front of you. That kind of internal level of recall and issue clearing difficulty. And more.

Actually more difficult by a good margin. We are talking about a situation that is below conscious thought by about as big a factor is is possible to imagine.

This kind of situation is launched out of the hind-brain, which is the connective tissue for all developed response (of any kind, in all directions, in and out) and consciousness. And that is a body response emotional animal response/directive/fundamental-design, thus reaching it or realizing it from the conscious mind is exceedingly difficult, at best.

Please, Carmody, do not circumcise your statements.

[ulli]

Posted by Calz_Avaretard (here)

Posted by PurpleLama (here)
Pagans are the nicest people I know.

In full agreement ... yet it keeps getting me in trouble with my wife as I continue to stay awake past my "bedtime" and hence sleep until last minute time for work missing out on family time ...

*sigh*
P
I love my family ... and I love you all ...

We'll have to ask eaglespirit to tone down his love love love cry.
If Calz picks up any more balls they will all end up on the floor.

[ulli]

Posted by Carmody (here)
Polarizing study:

Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-0....html#firstCmt

"Love thy neighbor" is preached from many a pulpit. But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the highly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics and less religious people.

In three experiments, social scientists found that compassion consistently drove less religious people to be more generous. For highly religious people, however, compassion was largely unrelated to how generous they were, according to the findings which are published in the July issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The results challenge a widespread assumption that acts of generosity and charity are largely driven by feelings of empathy and compassion, researchers said. In the study, the link between compassion and generosity was found to be stronger for those who identified as being non-religious or less religious.

"Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not," said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. "The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns."

Compassion is defined in the study as an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at a personal risk or cost.

While the study examined the link between religion, compassion and generosity, it did not directly examine the reasons for why highly religious people are less compelled by compassion to help others. However, researchers hypothesize that deeply religious people may be more strongly guided by a sense of moral obligation than their more non-religious counterparts.

"We hypothesized that religion would change how compassion impacts generous behavior," said study lead author Laura Saslow, who conducted the research as a doctoral student at UC Berkeley.

Saslow, who is now a postdoctoral scholar at UC San Francisco, said she was inspired to examine this question after an altruistic, nonreligious friend lamented that he had only donated to earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti after watching an emotionally stirring video of a woman being saved from the rubble, not because of a logical understanding that help was needed.

(more at link)

This is quite thought provoking.
Just like circumcision messes with deep levels of a person's being so does religious instruction.
And I doubt if children who are raised by atheist parents or cultures can really escape feeling obligated by some code of ethics.

On the other hand, the independent exploration of one's feeling world might still reveal shocking surprises such as being helpful to undeserving vampirical deceiver types and at other times ignoring situations which genuinely warrant an altruistic response.

And for someone like me who is now living in a developing country it is easy to become overwhelmed by the neediness of one's environment and end up totally confused, with no clue where to begin.
As an obvious foreigner I am a target for sob stories the moment I show my face in public.
Here being blonde spells money and free rides.

[araucaria]

Posted by astrid (here)
Fascinating interview - KC with remote viewer Courtney Brown

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n5CccCbvkY

Looks like he will be coming back again,
so much more to talk about

Thank you so much for this video.

It sounded very like Brian O'Leary with... Kerry

[ulli]

One more thing about the developing world:
when looking at it like this
I find it is best left undeveloped.
I took this picture on Sunday when we went for a drive and had lunch by the side of this lake in a hotel called Casa Turire.

[ulli]

Another sky picture, same day, an hour earlier, different exposure

[dan33]

Wow! Nora. I'll print the BELTAINE post.

Thanks!

[dan33]

Posted by eaglespirit (here)
The Dreamscape is Showing Itself Through the Heartbeat of Higher Love...
May It Touch All Around and Abound...from the Here and Now!

Gifted a Wizard-Ware Coat of Nature Last Nite...
a Humble Nod of Gratitude, It Shall be Worn with Heartfelt Harmony : )

I always read Eaglespirit's messages as a child watching cloud's shapes.

One cloud, one letter (ha, ha..forget about it)

[dan33]

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by PurpleLama (here)
That website is a total spoof. It is a fictional church in a fictional town. It's funny as hell (pun intended) for a fully recovered fundamentalist christian, IMO.

When I saw the picture of the car I knew it had to be a spoof.
Thanks for clarifying. Will sleep better now.

PURPLELAMA drives a Bugatti in an initiation ceremony.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSFX9vrwJf8

[Nora]

Posted by dan33 (here)

Posted by eaglespirit (here)
The Dreamscape is Showing Itself Through the Heartbeat of Higher Love...
May It Touch All Around and Abound...from the Here and Now!

Gifted a Wizard-Ware Coat of Nature Last Nite...
a Humble Nod of Gratitude, It Shall be Worn with Heartfelt Harmony : )

I always read Eaglespirit's messages as a child watching cloud's shapes.

One cloud, one letter (ha, ha..forget about it)

Eaglespirit always comes swooping in at the right moments.


Love

Nora

[astrid]

I can vouch for that study
being the preachers daughter I
can reel off many examples of this in action.
One of the most traumatic and confusing for me
was when one of my brothers friends was thrown
out of home . He was at our house with my brother
and at the time I was making lunch an omelette
This kid , Phil was watching me he was starving hadn't
eaten in days . So I asked him if he wanted me to make
him one and of course he agreed . Half way through the
process my father walked into the kitchen and Phil
was thrown out the front door and the omelette pan and all
was thrown out he back door . I was sent to my room.

This event sticks in my head as soon after I left home
myself in total disgust I could no longer call these ppl
my family and that my home . Truth be known I had
already long " divorced" them but this was the final
straw . This is why the road back to spirit was such a
hard one as tangled up in my neuro pathways with the
concepts of god was always some degree of trauma,
confusion and hypocrisy .
They were so worried about keeping up appearances
that they totally forgot any core teachings of the Christ
Basically for my father the church was a place he could
hide behind and express his out of control ego .
And in the church there are many many justifications
for wheeding control and abusing power,
and he found and used most of them .

[ulli]

Posted by astrid (here)
I can vouch for that study
being the preachers daughter I
can reel off many examples of this in action.
One of the most traumatic and confusing for me
was when one of my brothers friends was thrown
out of home . He was at our house with my brother
and at the time I was making lunch an omelette
This kid , Phil was watching me he was starving hadn't
eaten in days . So I asked him if he wanted me to make
him one and of course he agreed . Half way through the
process my father walked into the kitchen and Phil
was thrown out the front door and the omelette pan and all
was thrown out he back door . I was sent to my room.

This event sticks in my head as soon after I left home
myself in total disgust I could no longer call these ppl
my family and that my home . Truth be known I had
already long " divorced" them but this was the final
straw . This is why the road back to spirit was such a
hard one as tangled up in my neuro pathways with the
concepts of god was always some degree of trauma,
confusion and hypocrisy .
They were so worried about keeping up appearances
that they totally forgot any core teachings of the Christ
Basically for my father the church was a place he could
hide behind and express his out of control ego .
And in the church there are many many justifications
for wheeding control and abusing power,
and he found and used most of them .

So you were doing the Christian thing yet he saw a different situation...
possibly he perceived his daughter flirting with some neighborhood kid under his roof without his permission.
Seems to me that his over-reaction was a sign of a sense of powerlessness which made him grasp for authority and control.

My father once had a similar overreaction when I was 18...and had let our dog off the chain.
Our dog was always running around free and I couldn't understand why he was suddenly chained.
No one had told me that he had developed a bad hunting habit, and was going after some neighbor's chickens and killing them.
As soon as I freed him he was off, straight up the hill to where those neighbors lived.
I knew then I was in trouble.
When I got back my father had torn up every single Beatle poster I had on the walls of my room.
I was shocked, but probably not as shocked as he was once I left for London a few weeks later...arranged by my mother.
I never returned to Germany other than brief visits. Every time I did I got sick,
and once in 1994 even had a life-threatening appendicitis and ended up in hospital.
Have you ever had a chance to remind him of that incident?

I never did have a chance to address the issue, although I saw my father a few more times.
Each time I saw him he had become more convinced that there was a major conspiracy by the US to destroy the classical German heritage.
He died in 1980, around the time I first saw the 11:11 on clocks, and soon after I started to get informed about ET and cover-up.
Hmm....

[MariaDine]

Insomnia makes me find pearls of wisdom ...lol

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wsj5tWuUM

[eaglespirit]

Posted by modwiz (here)

Posted by eaglespirit (here)
The Dreamscape is Showing Itself Through the Heartbeat of Higher Love...
May It Touch All Around and Abound...from the Here and Now!

Gifted a Wizard-Ware Coat of Nature Last Nite...
a Humble Nod of Gratitude, It Shall be Worn with Heartfelt Harmony : )

I call it WizardWear. That is a name I composed for a line of clothing, if there was the way and will to make such a thing happen.

I like that you and I never uttered the phrase and yet you knew the phonics of it.

Them Thar Higher-Knowing Channels are interesting, aren't they Modwiz and All? : )
Methinks they Be flowing and connecting stronger each day now, now, now!!!

[MariaDine]

ANOTHER VIEW ...ON 2012 ! ....another pearl of wisdom to take in the heart...

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOJqLEcgdsk

Uploaded by invisiblechildreninc on Mar 5, 2012

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

HOW TO HELP:
Join TRI or Donate to Invisible Children: http://bit.ly/yp5Ffv
Purchase KONY 2012 products: http://invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/
Sign the Pledge: http://www.causes.com/causes/227-invisible-children



FOR MEDIA INQUIRES ONLY: Monica Vigo pr@invisiblechildren.com

DIRECTOR: Jason Russell LEAD EDITOR: Kathryn Lang EDITORS: Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Jesse Eslinger LEAD ANIMATOR: Chad Clendinen ANIMATOR: Jesse Eslinger 3-D MODELING: Victor Soto VISUAL EFFECTS: Chris Hop WRITERS: Jason Russell, Jedidiah Jenkins, Kathryn Lang, Danica Russell, Ben Keesey, Azy Groth PRODUCERS: Kimmy Vandivort, Heather Longerbeam, Chad Clendinen, Noelle Jouglet ORIGINAL SCORES: Joel P. West SOUND MIX: Stephen Grubbs, Mark Friedgen, Smart Post Sound COLOR: Damian Pelphrey, Company 3 CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, Gavin Kelly, Chad Clendinen, Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Shannon Lynch PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Jaime Landsverk LEAD DESIGNER: Tyler Fordham DESIGNERS: Chadwick Gantes, Stephen Witmer

[ulli]

Posted by MariaDine (here)
ANOTHER VIEW ...ON 2012 ! ....another pearl of wisdom to take in the heart...

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOJqLEcgdsk

Uploaded by invisiblechildreninc on Mar 5, 2012

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

HOW TO HELP:
Join TRI or Donate to Invisible Children: http://bit.ly/yp5Ffv
Purchase KONY 2012 products: http://invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/
Sign the Pledge: http://www.causes.com/causes/227-invisible-children



FOR MEDIA INQUIRES ONLY: Monica Vigo pr@invisiblechildren.com

DIRECTOR: Jason Russell LEAD EDITOR: Kathryn Lang EDITORS: Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Jesse Eslinger LEAD ANIMATOR: Chad Clendinen ANIMATOR: Jesse Eslinger 3-D MODELING: Victor Soto VISUAL EFFECTS: Chris Hop WRITERS: Jason Russell, Jedidiah Jenkins, Kathryn Lang, Danica Russell, Ben Keesey, Azy Groth PRODUCERS: Kimmy Vandivort, Heather Longerbeam, Chad Clendinen, Noelle Jouglet ORIGINAL SCORES: Joel P. West SOUND MIX: Stephen Grubbs, Mark Friedgen, Smart Post Sound COLOR: Damian Pelphrey, Company 3 CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, Gavin Kelly, Chad Clendinen, Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Shannon Lynch PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Jaime Landsverk LEAD DESIGNER: Tyler Fordham DESIGNERS: Chadwick Gantes, Stephen Witmer

Thanks Maria.
But perhaps you need to see this movie as well to get a deeper idea of the agenda behind it all.
Not everything is what it seems to be.
Most people figured in no time that this movie was a fake, and the director went nuts after realizing he had failed.
I think he is still hospitalized after running naked through the streets of San Diego.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSSVEQp2DSU

[astrid]

It's amazing how one phone call can suddenly turn your
peaceful world upside down.

Requesting healing thoughts of calm so i can work out
how to process what has just happened,
right now I'm shaking all over.

Thanks to all

[Carmody]

Posted by MariaDine (here)
Insomnia makes me find pearls of wisdom ...lol

+90% of the time, I cannot get to sleep until I've had a new thought, a new understanding.

Ok. I'll admit the real figure. Near 100% of the time, not 90%.


Driven.

[tenacity1]

Posted by astrid (here)
They were so worried about keeping up appearances
that they totally forgot any core teachings of the Christ
Basically for my father the church was a place he could
hide behind and express his out of control ego .
And in the church there are many many justifications
for wheeding control and abusing power,
and he found and used most of them .

Astrid.. your post gave me the perfect opening to make my first post. Like you I grew up in a family that did not practice what they preached. Very early on, I began to feel that I was different than they were. I could not embrace their bigotry nor could I see "God" as this entity one put in a box.
Left home very early and found my path through years of wandering. Now, at 55, I feel that we do pick our families for the lessons they bring us. Took me many years to get here. the point is the journey and what learning is to be gained, not an destination. I feel blessed to have been invited here and hope you will all be patient with me, I am not very techno aware. Nor am I feeling quite able to truly jump in and post a great deal yet till I get my "Avalon legs" .I prefer the garden to technology and I am outside most of the day this time of year.. Look forward to reading more before I post again. I am posting from 2, 500 up a mtn , it's a beautiful half moon which makes the front garden glow,It's late..I think I hear my pillow call. Peace be with you all