In my various and sundry travels around the web I came across the following paean to Scarlet, the Goddess of Procrastination, on the website of the neopagan Ecclasian Fellowship. (It also shows up on the blog of PaganWitch.com.) There doesn't seem to be much in the way of GoP jewelry out there, although I gather that finished items would be sacrilegious.
Michele Mossop, via
Via Roman Officer:
Above: "This is a 1st to 2nd C. AD Copper Slave Collar Necklace that is attributed to a Meretrix (Roman Prostitute). It is 30.4 cm in circumference and is permanently attached with a hammered rivet. The front has five connecting circle dots (one on each side and three larger ones in the center), five being the number of the goddess Venus. The Romans also associated the metal copper with Venus, hence a metal that was favored by prostitutes."
Below: "This is a 1st to 3rd C. AD Copper Meretrix (Roman Prostitute) Pendant (. It is 6.7 cm x 5.9 cm. It is made to represent; a woman's head, the letter M, and three wavy arms (and hands) that are bound by a line (perhaps suggesting talents as a masseuse, or implying that the Meretrix was a slave). The cutout shows two facing birds, a Roman symbol for love. Turned upside down it may represent; a harp, flames, and three flowers. The Romans associated the metal copper with Venus, hence a metal that was favored by prostitutes. There is little doubt that this pendant is a suggestive advertisement."
The following Bell Labs movie--directed by Frank Capra!--was a reliable way for my elementary & middle school teachers to kill time. What I'd forgotten about this classic film since then was how religion dominates it early on--the biblical reference at the opening to offset the science & paganism, Mr. Sun as a bitterly nostalgic dethroned deity basking in the memory of past adulation, the use of Father Time's forward focus to skirt explaining creation before the film had a chance to establish its cultural cred. The overarching narrative frame is fantastic as well--the meta-play of fiction and fact, with the text escaping control of its authors, illustrates a point with which I've annoyed any number of graduate seminars: there's precious little in postmodernism that hadn't already appeared in cartoons.
Anyway kids, roll up your nap blanket and get your milk & cookies, 'cuz here he is . . . Our Mr. Sun!
Although the righteous folks at Miss Toronto Tourism believe that tarot card reading is too "dark arts" for beauty pageants, the Barbie Tarot reveals that it may be a perfect fit.
The video above attempts to lay the smacketh down on Christianity through a stylized montage echoing the style of the 911 Truth movement. Much of this will seem old hat--or old halo--to anyone remotely aware of comparative religion, but hey, it's an easy way to catch "Here Comes the Sun" until the Fab Four shows up on iTunes.
How will Christians defend the faith? Another heartwarming (ugh) video of a five-year-old girl reciting a psalm may do the trick for some, but I wouldn't be surprised to find believers taking a newfound interest in defending the Beatles' copyright.
Thor's hammer pendant from jelldragon.com
From a wire service round-up in today's New York Post:
A mead horn surely would make time in prison pass that much easier.
A Utah prisoner is suing the Department of Corrections for denying him his right to practice an ancient Nordic religion.
Michael Polk says prison officials have denied him the mead horn, rune staff, prayer cloth, sword and Thor's hammer that he needs to practice his religion.
Officials say the items were denied due to security reasons.
Polk will lose if he's looking to carry a real sword, staff and hammer--it's a slam dunk, really--but if I were one of the officials I would have provided the prayer cloth, if only to establish a record of reasonable accommodation. After all, a court did recently rule in favor of an inmate seeking to wear a Thor's Hammer pendant after guards failed to take his request seriously.
Here's a blast for the past via WFMU. Watch it without the sound off and you can feel how alien the styles in this 1971 video now appear. Listen to the sound for for a fascinating spiritual syncretism: magnetic fields, Stonehenge, dowsing, pagan ritual, laser-beam visions and Hare Krishna.
Judging from the switch from robes to suit and tie, spiritual speaker Prem Nawat doesn't do all the much speaking nowadays in front of naked hippies chanting in a field.
But the story isn't over. As noted on neopagan blog Views from the Cyberhenge, an Air Force Pagan/Wiccan congregation has encountered opposition to its attempt to get official recognition for its Wiccan chaplain. The interesting fillip: their candidate had already previously been approved as a Protestant chaplain. The congregation has an online petition to get help from Congress.
Alchemille's Secret Garden has a round-up of products appropriate for today's celebration of Lammas, a neopagan festival rooted in worship of the corn god. Among them: her own MAIZE jewelry, available on Etsy.com.
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The pentagram is the bane of many a Christian spotting symbols in pop culture, which is no doubt one reason some believers have co-opted the heartagram, a trademarked symbol of Finnish metal band HIM. The heartagram represents HIM's signature brand of "love metal", represented by the incorporating a heart into a pentagram.
Here's a picture of a Christian teen blissed out with a heartagram at a church youth group concern--one of several excellent pics in a Rolling Stone photo essay on Christian rock. But is HIM really a reference to Jesus? Satan-fearing fundamentalists would no doubt be shocked to learn that HIM sings about witches and "stigmata diaboli" To top it off, the band's name originally stood for "His Infernal Majesty."
But that's OK--should they be exposed to actual HIM recordings, kids who want to stay spiritually pure can simply put on these nifty heartagram ear plugs!
A while back there used to be a Numenist blog called Numenous Thoughts. Among its ruminations: a meditation on religious jewelry and how to respond to critical inquiries from Christians. Excerpts below:
From time to time, the question of religious jewelry comes up. Pagans are quite fond of wearing jewelry, and it's not uncommon to see a Pagan wearing multiple rings and necklaces. . . .
There are several reactions others have to Pagan jewelry. . . . The hostile person (generally, but not always, a Christian), will ask with clearly faked interest. You can tell they are asking just so they can use it to insult the wearer, coerce them into listening to some religious spiel, or threaten them with dire hints of a dreadful afterlife.
I've heard from younger people how they get followed and called names in loud voices, and Christian conversion pamphlets (like this Jack Chick tracts) shoved in their pockets, desks, or under their dorm doors, and even get rocks thrown at them.
Not all of these younger people were wearing the common Pagan jewelry: pentagrams and ankhs. Some were wearing less well known jewelry: the scarab, a "medieval princess" ring, a spider ring, a garnet cabuchon ring, a gold aspen leaf skeleton.
The problem seems to be (at least here among the more radical young Christian adherents) that any jewelry that isn't a crucifix or cross is automatically Satanic jewelry. And some of these young people are fanatic enough to be pushy and rude about their assumptions.
You know, sometimes jewelry is just that - jewelry.
And even if it is a symbol of one's religion or religious beliefs, is that really any concern of someone not of that particular religion? Is wearing a scarab any more or less objectionable than wearing a symbol of an implement of ancient torture?
We are a pagan family that treads lightly on the land and we worship Mother Earth and the Goddess in everything. I consider myself a green witch and have been called to explore our place in the 3- Fold Kingdom of Humans, Animals and Fairies, as well as re-establish our relationship with Mother Earth and her natural realm. I have a special interest in rebuilding the relationship between humans and fairies. As I progress in my spirituality I am able to access different levels of energetic beings.And here are the changes she makes in the family centered on the motocross son:
Starling Household Rule Changes Mission Statement: Starlings, on the track you may be the fastest. But you are in the spiritual slow lane of life. There will be no more motocross. I have taped off the garage using the ancient symbol of the goddess. Starlings, you have spent so much time dirtying up the external world that now it's time to purge yourselves and become clean from within. You will all make personal altars and you will meditate on your internal selves. This week we will put aside everything that honors Justin Starling. It is time to honor Samantha. Justin, you will tend to all of our needs, and that means helping to cook, clean, do laundry and whatever else we need.
Speaking of the reason for the season, American Atheists is selling a pagan solstice ornament "start a fresh Solstice tradition in your household."
Scoff if you will, but I think that Americans are more primed for this than you might think. Mother Nature, Heat Miser (the sun god), Cold Miser (the snow god)--what else is The Year Without a Santa Claus if not a pagan evangelistic tool? And of course, no self-respecting idolator could do without his (or her!) own household gods:
"For those who don't know their lore, they think I'm worshipping satan with my skin."
To learn what this spiritual tattoo really means, click the pic for the designer's explanation.
This past weekend someone arrived at the Blingdom by searching for "nude christian singles." This came as a big surprise to me, since those pictures are supposed to be behind a firewall.
I kid, I kid!
Still, Jesus did say "seek and ye shall find," and who am I to frustrate a seeker relying on this promise? So off I went on a sacred quest to find a link between the BofG and "nude christian singles."
The result . . .
Christian nudists!
(NOTE: Some links below obviously may not be safe for work.)
Although some Christians think that nudity is sinful, that opinion is by no means universal. The Naturist Christians site is a thriving online community, with discussions, photos, news and pertinent religious texts, including a chapter by the Pope. A real-world analogue is in the works: Natura, a Christian nudist colony now being created in Florida.
Want pictures? To keep this site relatively SFW I'll just post a sample link (free registration required for full access). As for the bling . . .
The Christian naturist jewelry market is somewhat under-developed on the web, but not so its counterparts. Pictured above: "Goddess" and "Worship" nipple jewelry sold by the Diablo Sun Devils Naturist Club. If you want to see Christian bling in a nudist setting, check out the Byzantine Church of St. Paul below, which is on a nude beach in Crete!
Believers the world over seem to have relatively little trouble discerning the mind of God. Google's Adsense, however, exists on a noumenal plane that seems to defy the dictates of pure reason. Below is screenshot of a Christian youth minister's blog to which Google helpfully appends ads for Wiccan jewelry.
Must have been the keywords "Blessed be"!
Birds are singing, buds are blooming, people are jogging--even if spring hasn't sprung it is surging, and with it comes anticipation of one of the world's oldest and most influential holiday celebrations.
No, not Easter. Eostre!
Neo-pagans around the globe have succeeded in reviving ancient celebrations of the Vernal Equinox, the formal start of spring. As the Venerable Bede documented in his Ecclesiastical History, Eostre is the Anglo-Saxon goddess whose Eosturmanath, or "Eoster Month," the Christians copied to make Easter. Today this pagan holiday is often known by its Germanic name, Ostara.
The Ostara necklace featured today is a nice example of holiday jewelry designed to highlight the holiday's theme of rebirth. The purple will be familiar to anyone who celebrates Easter, in which purple is the hallmark color signalling the turning toward new life. Lotus blossoms underscore rebirth, as the flower rises from the mud toward the sky.
While neo-paganism might not be standard fare in the mainstream media, it has produced a wide array of jewelry, much of it made right here in the godsfearing USA. Besides this pendant from North Carolina's Rosemary Thornton, check out this pendant from Balsamic Moon or, for unabashedly open pagan devotees, these Ostara earrings by Dryad Designs.
And don't forget the sacred eggs and bunnies!
An article in today's Syracuse Post-Standard reminds us that the purveyors of spiritual bling live not only in the ethereal net, but the material realm.
As the article relates, Seven Rays, a storied seller of new age books and jewelry, had announced that it would close this upcoming spring, but a couple entrepreneurial (and spiritual) employees are trying to keep it alive by opening a similar shop with the same name.
The key to success, the employees believe is community--while anyone can buy things on the web, stores such as Seven Rays offer classes and meetings for spiritual seekers. The new store would also have more things for kids.
If getting reborn in a new shell means we get more Buddha Beanies, I'm all for it! Here's wishing everyone at Seven Rays all the best.
Valentine's Day is tomorrow, so in addition to commemorating the complexities of Darwin Week, the Blingdom of God will go on a sacred pilgrimage to holy shrines of love.
We begin our travels at the heart of European civilization: the pagan Roman Empire. The week of love actually began yesterday, February 12, with an ancient Roman holiday dedicated to the goddess Diana.
Like the Norse god Ullr, Diana was a divinity associated with hunting, but she also was also something more: an eternal virgin.
Goddess of chastity, Diana was immune to Cupid's arrows. Nonetheless, she was a protector of women in all aspects of their lives, from warding off undesirable suitors to enduring childbirth.
What does an ancient holiday for the goddess Diana have to do with the present celebration of Valentine's Day? Ask your local Wiccan! Diana is a central figure in the growing Wicca movement, especially in the younger generation. While Venus may rule over love, Diana the Huntress provides a model of a woman who will not let her loves rule over her.
