Goddess

Maiden,
Mother, Crone, Wife,
Warrior, Midwife, Witch -
Queen of all of her creation,
Holy

Holy
is the starry-eyed, rainbow-hued,
the brightness of the sun,
soft glow of moon,
dark night.

Paganism

What do I mean
when I say that I am a pagan?

First
I am both a
pantheist & a polytheist & panentheist -
I believe in plural gods
and gods in
and as
and of
everything.
Existence is constantly becoming
and that becoming being
is plural
and divine.

Second
I am a believer in the magical
or supernatural
or paranormal
or whatever you like to call it -
that which is in the realm of the occult,
occluded and mysterious,
the ancient religious mysteries
and holy secrets.

Third
I worship especially the Goddess,
who has many names and faces,
who is mother to all,
the self-sufficient holy virgin,
the ancient crone older than time who knows all things,
the moon and the sea,
the starry-eyed and rainbow-hued,
the eternal child,
the ageless source,
the most benevolent,
the Highest of the High,
and the center of everything.
Mother, maiden, warrior, witch.

A fourth thing:
I am a seeker of alternate explanation
as well as absence of explanation
and reject the belief in the completeness of science -
not the possible benefits,
but the sole devotion
to scientific method, explanation, and pursuit.
Other means exist,
are desireable,
often offer alternate or even better benefits.
These include the artistic, literary, and creative means,
as well as the religious and magical previously mentioned,
in addition to other means
like familial, or plural, or historic,
just to name more.

Fifth
I attend to the natural holy cycles
in the wheel of the year,
the turn of the stars, planets,
in the sky.
I take these cycles as evidence

for a sixth claim:
the recurring self
is in a cycle of death to life
and back again -
a cycle as eternal
as the universe itself.

Seventh
I accept the laws of change,
which dictate reactions to actions
as well as reward and punishment,
on the scale of causality
and also scales greater,
like karma.

 This leads me to eighth
distinguish between
beneficence and maleficence
through harm versus kindness,
and all degrees between,
and a principle of harming none,
not even oneself,
excepting only defense,
which must be reactive
or preventative
rather than pro-active
and preceding
any harm or threat thereof.

Then ninth comes
a respect for ancient traditions
and ancient peoples,
the first ways and the first knowers,
and hence also a preservation of
relics, chronicles, and the elderly,
as well as ancestor-worship.

This is tied to the tenth meaning
of my statement that
I am a pagan:
an impetus to preserve and conserve the earth,
the ecological systems,
and the geologic stability we need
to survive not only as a species
but also as a kingdom of life on earth,
as inhabitants of this
wandering star
we call home.
It is our duty to ourselves,
our co-inhabitants -
the other Terran species,
every blade of grass,
cold virus,
and elephant herd,
as well as our duty
to the rest of hte universe
to keep our orbit round our star,
to preserve this solar ecological system
so as to save the Milky Way Galaxy
as a whole,
for should our galaxy fail,
then the entire universe is at risk,
just as much as destroying a pond
can kill a town,
a population,
a butterfly.

Mixed at Intersections

Imposter syndrome runs rife through my blood,
Passing for white with privilege - and loss;
Never knowing my place, I bear my cross -
Of my forefathers' sins, there are a flood.
Generational traumas through me bud,
The mark on my genes and mind they emboss;
Disability-tempest will me toss -
Mental-emotional clouds o'er me scud.
To heal these wounds within myself I must
Seek restorative justice, somewhere find
The means to overcome violent lust
Which in the past created my own kind;
Without healing there can be no real trust,
Every fate is with others' entwined.

Child at Play

Childhood is a series of games,
If privilege one's childhood frames,
Until time and age one's life tames;
Children will play.

As a teen, play goes up in flames,
Actions take more serious aims;
The goals of play much time thus maims,
Childhood at bay.

Trumpty Wumpty

Trumpty Wumpty told a big lie,
Trumpty Wumpty thought he was sly,
All the president's troops, sources, and men
Couldn't stable his great genius again.

Divine Contact

When I awoke, the woman spoke: "We must now leave for to achieve what duties must be be done just." I thus replied: "In bed I lied, and would now lay throughout the day, but for your words - we tend the herds."

The herder's work is never done,
For the herd must never decrease,
If we are to survive for long,
Then our working must never cease.

I traveled from here to there, some many miles far to see the star of day rise high in cloudless sky; shivered the dog, my eyes in fog until the turn of sun to burn off the cold mist, and light us kissed.

I want to say that life is good
But sometimes it feels uncertain,
Unless the gods rise up and pull
To show what's hidden by curtain.

One day, when I exhausted by lack of sleep was, took a short pause to listen to the sheep and ewe, in reverie one came to me; and then she said: "Carefully tread, 'tis holy hill," and so on till...

When the gods choose to us to speak
We must listen in reverence.
Unless we can recognize them,
There's no cure for our ignorance.

"You must now pay a fee for clay are your two feet, the holy meet." So out I took my wealth - a book - but it was not wisdom she sought: "Only in gold may you pay, told are we who keep sacred land steep."

Sacred are those who wisdom loves,
But wisdom loves not the wealthy;
They are sick with greed and distrust,
With love can never be healthy.

So her fee paid I, and then fade disguise away, showed now what lay behind her lies, mortal who dies - not the divine, nor any shrine, merely a hut, trickster of smut. I was a fool, used as a tool.

Trust not your mere mortal eyes for
Easily deceived are humans,
Better to stick to working the flock
And meddle not in divine plans.

Impatience

Is

waiting

permanent

or just the way

now?

Play

The frustration of
a solitary child at
play is only matched by two.

To the New Year

May this be the year we all find love, give love
to all those in need; may this be the year we
all are kinder, gentler, better than before;
may this be the year we all prosper as one.

May this be the year we end the hunger of
billions by feeding them, ourselves learn to be
giving without it being a heavy chore;
may this be the year all hatred ends, is done.

Out with the old, in with the new; as below - so above.
We eat greens, peas, cornbread, pork, for health, wealth, prosperity;
as within - so without. May those who have less now have more;
as the universe - so the soul. Bring us all good fortune.