Ok, I am sortof going off on a tangent with this one, but this is really bugging me.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was trying to get information on the Russian/Georgian thing on CNN, I had to sit through the endless babble about the presidential candidates and their christian faith. The impression I got was a credibility issue, apparently the more jesus they have in thier hearts, the better able they are to lead this nation. 

In a day and age when the credibility of America as a nation is in question and the whole world has come to see us as a materialisic, warmongering country, my vote is going to go toward the candidate that can pull us out our economic rut, heal our foreign relations, not put America in a dangerous position, and most important, treat all things related to environmentalism and global warming as a very serious issue.

How does an individuals religious beliefs come to play in this? They don't. And as I watched the duckspeak on tv I wondered what would matter to me as a pagan in this election, in the same contex as how christians relate thier faith to the candidates. 
For one, religion is very personal to each individual and should not be presented in the public realm.  I worry that the majority of the voters in this country are voting soley on how good of a christian Obama and McCain are.  Which also says to me that we are still hung up on the abortion/gay marriage thing.  What petty standards to hold our future commander-in-chief by.  We did that eight years ago, and look where it got us. 

For the other, and this is coming from personal experiences, most of the really bad stuff I see people do and have experienced myself have come from hardcore, fanatical christians.  The kind of people that think and act as if their path is the only correct one and everyone else must follow that path without question.  And they also use that faith to exploit and harm people for their own gain.  Ole' King George had made public many times he felt justified by his faith to continue with the war overseas and to fuel his "crusade" against terrorism.

I am tired of living in fear of someone elses beliefs. I am also tired to politicians basing their morality on a belief system that is highly immoral.  One does not need religion to moral.  And one does not need to be a christian to be a good leader.  To be the leader we need that person in question needs to remember what it means to be an average everyday citizen.  To solve the problems that we everyday citizens bitch about around the water cooler.  To remeber and act in a way that says the people are more important than anything else in politics.  Not only to the people in this country but to EVERY HUMAN BEING on the face of our wonderful home. 

I do have to say that not every christian is bad or evil and are very kind and do not use their faith as some kind of weapon.  And if there happens to be a christian reading this right now, then I have to say thank you for not being closed minded and accepting other beliefs and the people that follow them.  Paganism means so much to me, the highest is openmindedness and acceptance of others.  If I am correct, Jesus taught love, of others and your higher power.  He's cool with me, the vast majoraty of America' hate and ignorance is not. 

And thank you, reader, for sitting through this rant.  I welcome any comments and arguments. 

Since I am such a music junkie, and starting with last weeks Rush tune, Every week I will post lyrics from bands in my vast collection that are postive, insightful, and slightly pagan oriented.  Todays may or may not go along with my rant, but "Trick of the Tail" is one that expresses the outsider in a world of fear. 

Trick of the Tail

Bored of the life on the city of gold
Hed left and let nobody know.
Gone were the towers he had known from a child,
Alone with the dream of a life
He travelled the wide open road,
The blinkered arcade,
In search of another to share in his life.
Nowhere.
Everyone looked so strange to him.

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And wept as they led him away to a cage
Beast that can talk, read the sign.
The creatures they pushed and they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again.
But soon they grew bored of their prey
Beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt.
Oh
No.

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out.
He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out:
There, beyond the bounds of you weak imagination
Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold.
Let me take you there, show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept.

And so we set out with the best and his horns
And his crazy description of home.
After many days journey we came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out.
We followed his gaze and we thought that maybe we saw
A spire of gold - no, a trick of the eye thats all,
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard:

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance

Hello friend, welcome home.

Performed by Genesis, written by Tony Banks

Hello everyone. 

It just dawned on me that its september already and its still very hot outside.  I know living in michigan we have strange weather here, but in my 25 years of living in this state, it usually gets cooler at the end of august.  Global warming a joke? I think not.

This week I am going to present a blog about politics and the apparent need for religion in it.  How does a pagan relate to a christian president?  How do their morals reflect my own? I'll cook this up in a couple days, soo.....

Last year when I got my kitten I made a promise to her...That we would grow together....

4months

and in our first year together we have grown quite a bit...and still growing, in mind body and soul.  Thank you my little girl, for being a reminder, and a wonderful friend.1year

Ok, now that a few days have passed, my jaw is settling down now, although I still can't chew much of anything.  No more steak for me.  Unfortunatly how they got this bad was a bacteria that is passed along throught my dads side of the family, and mixed with not taking care of myself in the growing years means I am paying for it now. 

Not much going on this week, just healing and maintaining my abstinence of chemicals.  I'm winning too. No more urges or cravings.  Once we heal and get ourselves fully cleaned out, we can start the real magical work.  I try to refrain because I do not feel my energy is healthy enough. 

No more excuses here.  And not since i've found this wonderful community of pagans who inspire me to do more and be more.  Thank you everyone.

Tala, i'm going to look into this reike you spoke of, i've been hearing a lot about it latley. And to leave you all with a bit of inspirational rock lyrics (hear's to you jodi)

Rush - Freewill

There are those who think that life is nothing left to chance,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot conceive.
"The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign"-
Blame is better to give than receive.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still haven't made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear-
I will choose Free Will.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them- they weren't born in lotus-land.

All preordained-
A prisoner in chains-
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate.

Each of us-
A cell of awareness-
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.

Written by Neil Peart

I just had 7 teeth yanked out.  My jaw is extreamly numb and I can't feel the lower part of my face.  Just had to share that with someone today :)

And our "healthier venture" is going well.  Into our second week.

Good Morning everyone. 

Today I must make a note of personal victory.  Since monday I've had this terrible chest cold and headache.  While on the one hand it sucks cause I don't feel good,  I am quite thankful for the cold because I was not able to smoke all week. I've been struggling with smoking for years now, and most of the people who know me know I find unique was to glorify the act of, but it doesn't change the fact that cigarettes are terrible and hurt more than just yourself.  An ex girlfriend of mine called them slow suicide, and she was right.  I started because I would go off on these rages and would wind up breaking things and scaring people, and needed some thing bit more powerful than my inability to cope with life.  Well people do grow up, and I have grown much calmer and positive minded, and I havent broken anything in a couple years soooo, why am I still smoking?
Well there is no correct or justifiable answer to that question. Nicotine addiction is something else.  Has anyone seen the commercials where the person can't do anything or function without a cigarette (the lady with the car was hilarious)?  Well sadly that portayal was true. My mother is even worse.  The car does not run or go without a smokey treat. 
My chest still hurts and with a little attention from my new companion I am feeling better, and I treat every glob of crap that comes out of my lungs and throat as a victory in itself. My body saying "see that? thats the garbage you've been putting in me for the last six years. enough."  I don't argue with my body or insticts.  They have more common sense than I do.  I'm just glad I've been able to make it four days without nicoteen. I should have enough strength in my self to carry out the rest. 

And now for a little magical stuff for you readers this morning.  Most of us use color association with our spell and daily life and I would like to mention a great alternative to the "crayola" varitey of the color pallate and suggest your local Home Depot or any store like it.
We were in HD yesterday looking for a blue to paint an outside door with.  My special friend is of the christian faith, but very open minded, and I had her read some of Scott Cunningham's "The Magical Household". She wanted to try his suggestion of the color blue on thresholds to see if it could calm some of the turmoil going on in her household.  So we were standing there at HD looking at all the paint cards and I realized this would be great for finding the right color for a spell.  We were doing that anyway trying to find the right "calming" blue color.  Although she wanted something metallic along with it.  Also to aid with my chest cold I picked a yellow card (Behr SG330), rubbed it all over my arms and stuck it in my back pocket.  Well the headache soon went away and I could breath a little easier. I think I will stick this card in the medicine cabinet for the next ailment to come around. 

So if anyone is having color problems, just go see the goofy guy behind the paint counter, he'll be glad to help and not even know why.  We had Chris, and he mixed up a wicked metallic periwinkle. 

Have a good weekend everyone.