The Issue of Prayer

The Indiana House of Reps. has reinstated the tradition of prayer before its sessions. Apparently the ACLU's taxpayer-led case fell through; they're now looking for an involved party such as a Representative or Senator, who would be required to subject themselves to the prayers because they are members of the assembly. (Well, theoretically ... it seems they've switched the presentation around so dissenting members can skip the prayer and then show up for roll call.)

I have mixed feelings on the issue of prayer before convening a governmental session. I can see the argument that allowing someone to express their faith does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of that faith. Rather, it is an endorsement of their right to express that faith -- essentially, a mark of freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

However, I know how Indiana rolls, as they say. The vast majority of these prayers are of varying Christian denominations, with perhaps a few scattered Muslim or Jewish nods here and there so they can claim diversity while still keeping it in the Abrahamic family. While Rep. Bauer and the others profess to be open to prayers from leaders of all faiths, I have serious doubts regarding their willingness to accept a Hindu presenter, for example, let alone a Druid, or a Wiccan, or an Asatruar. How about a solitary asking for the guidance and blessing of Melek Taus or Inanna? I have to wonder whether there are credentials and requirements necessary in order to secure an invitation in the first place. And let's face it, modern Paganism is a movement that is largely comprised of individuals and minor groups such as groves/covens/throths, etc., who don't necessarily practice a formal ordination or adopt a hierarchy that would be recognized by one of the mainstream religions.

And what happens if an atheist wants to stand before the assembly and asks not for the blessing of the gods, but for compassion and common sense from their fellow men and women? Would they be given the chance to express their lack of faith in the divine? To keep things equal, they should be. And yet ... I can't see Rep Bauer endorsing that right, for some reason.

I suppose it boils down to the familiar old "religious decorations on public ground" example -- to be fair, the rule will have to apply to all or none. I'm not holding my breath.

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Journey to the Deep, Dark Woods

Gunnerkrigg Court is one of my most favorite webcomics of all time. Tom Siddell has managed to spin a wonderful story about school, and robots, and and friendship, and talking to dead people. It's a world in which gruff, eyeless girls from another dimension accidentally pull you along when their mind gets yanked into a scary place, and the Big Bad Monster gets bound into the stuffed wolf doll your mom made you, and the forest at the other end of the bridge really is full of living shadows and faeries and even Coyote himself. It's a world of myth and weird science and all the things I love. I wish I could write these things half as well, never mind drawing the story, too.

As always, I'm loving the current storyline. Coyote has taken an interest in the main character -- a young school girl who also happens to be a spiritual medium -- and has invited her to visit him in the dark forest. There is tension between the denizens of the forest and those of the school, so Annie, brave girl that she is, must leave her escort at the bridge and undertake the journey alone. (As is only right and proper.)

The echoes of the mythic hero quest invoked by Siddell has been a delight since the comic began, and now I find myself anxiously awaiting the new pages to see what happens next. How will the journey change her? (As all such journeys do.) And how will our heroine change the deep, dark wood?

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The Path: Musings on Eclectic Panentheism and Faith

I've been having an interesting discussion with someone who contacted me out of the blue after seeing my profile on a Pagan site (which I'd completely forgotten about, naturally). He's a Buddhist and a seeker; currently non-religious, if I'm reading his tone right, but with a Christian background. He's also curious about other people's religions -- what they believe, and why. Lately it sounds like he's been talking to people of varying Pagan bents about their paths, and asked me to explain mine: eclectic panentheism.

I don't think it's a concept I articulate very well to other people, unfortunately, so this was a good excuse to ponder the meaning of it all. I first came across the word "panentheism" (as opposed to panthesim) in Pagans & Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience by Gus diZerega. A few years ago, I'd read that and Michael York's Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion in the hope that I'd find some clues that would allow me to talk to my mother about religion again -- no luck in that, but they did cause me to re-evaluate and re-define my own path, so I consider it a win.

Here's the gist of my original reply, tweaked slightly after some rethinking.

Panentheism, as I understand it, is the concept that the Divine is both immanent (pervasive within the material world) and transcendant (above/apart from the material world) at the same time. Which sounds contradictory, but ... take this example. I look around and see a beautiful lake, surrounded by trees and rocks and ducks. The wind blows, clouds dance across the sky, and the sun beams down on me and five of my closest friends. As a Pagan, I see my gods and goddesses as the core of being within all of these things. Sometimes I may think of that infusion as Spirit; other times, just the subatomic attraction that holds molecules together. For all I know -- or care, honestly -- they're the same; in any case, that connection is a thread of the Divine; the common element that runs through everything in creation. It is the gods, inherent within nature.

At the same time, I also pray; when I pray, I'm not addressing my prayers to that common binding thread that runs through the lake and the tree, but to specific deities who are individual faces of the Divine. They have personalities, and duties, and power to shape this world. We learn from their stories just as we learn to respect the forces they represent. Oya may be the storm crashing down on me, but she's also the wife of Chango, and a mother, and a psychopomp, and so on.

I think the concept is pretty familiar to most Pagans, it's just that, for the most part, we understand it intuitively without bothering to pin it down and define it in theological terms.

There's a dearth of scholarly writings on modern Paganism, as far as I can tell, but that's slowly changing under the guidance of writers like diZerega and York (both on the faculty now at Cherry Hill Seminary), Chas Clifton, and a handful of other names and publishing houses (e.g., AltaMira) that escape me due to the vagaries of this allergy-med fugue. For me, that's a welcome change from the over-abundance of books on witchy spell recipes, dream interpretation, past lives, crystals and astrology that currently make up 90% of any given bookstore's "metaphysics" section. I still rely on the anthropology and sociology shelves for most of my purchases, since I'm more interested in the history and mystery of Paganism (ancient and modern) than in recreating someone else's ritual. 'Cause honestly, let's face it -- how many stores actually include Paganism in their Theology section?

In any case... As mentioned above, it was diZerega's book that initially helped me re-evaluate and better understand my own approach to spirituality, as well as the approaches of others -- for example, how panentheism differs from pantheism, polytheism, etc. I suspect the distinctions are largely of interest to scholars and geeks, but it seems reasonable that anyone who follows a particular philosophical or religious path should take the time to think through the whys and hows of their beliefs and practices. Not only for the purpose of intelligent discussion, but also for your own personal understanding. Faith is an intensely personal aspect of a person's worldview-- or at least, it should be, in my opinion. I still can't help but cringe inwardly when it appears to be an excuse for lemming behavior or willful ignorance.

Mind you, I know I don't have all the answers -- and neither does anyone else, as far as I can tell. But faith, to me, does not mean you check your brain at the door. It should not be blind, nor should it be unyielding. What it should be: an evolving understanding, tempered by experience, evidence (when available), perspective, and a willingness to question and re-evaluate.

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Daigotsu Yori

The amazingly awesome Steve Argyle has finally posted the scarily perfect Daigotsu Yori picture I commissioned last year for Will (whom he assumed was my husband, apparently ... heh). The picture is dark, so it's hard to see the depth of the detail to the work in the online version -- she's actually holding a scorpion-tailed sword in one hand. (Yori is a character from a recent L5R game; in this incarnation, she's a former Scorpion courtier turned Spider samurai-ko.)

Steve was incredibly busy with other projects when he took this on, so it did take a while, but it was well worth the wait. I was happy with it, and Will seemed pleased. Now if only AEG would make her into a card for the CCG...

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What a Beautiful Day for a Revolution

Earlier tonight, I had to take a drive. It'll probably be the last of the season -- an insanely beautiful night, the crown of a lovely autumn day just begging for a bit of flying and singing. Inkubus Sukkubus was playing when a particular line struck a chord:

Her magic is the power of change
She leaves no single thing the same

At 11:00 PM, November 4, 2008, Barack Hussein Obama hit 284 electoral votes to become President-Elect of the United States.

While we're still -- at 1:50 AM -- waiting for that last 1% to finally declare Indiana a blue state in the national race, which I never thought I'd see ... tonight, I have watched in awe from the declaration through McCain's gracious concession speech to Obama's subdued acceptance. This is the first time in my life that I have felt this invested in an election; it's the first time I've watched the speeches with such amazement and relief and pride.

Over the last two years, Mr. Obama has been consistently steady, calm, eloquent, intelligent and inspiring. While no one can expect him to solve the problems of this country overnight, he continues to give us hope that they can be solved. And for that, we are grateful.

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