Polishing the Mirror (Chap 1-2) via Ram Dass

Next on my reading list for Formations for Modern Pagan Ministry is Ram Dass’ Polishing the Mirror. I have heard a lot about Ram Dass over the years, though never got around to reading him. Probably for the best, as I would not have really appreciated his work or approach before.

While 2 chapters into it, he has packed a lot into his book while simultaneously keeping it very simple. To this point, there are two things that have thus far stood out to me that I want to mention as I continue to process it.

Firstly, I thought his comment, ” And at that moment, I realized that people arrive at spiritual understanding through a much wider spectrum of experience than I ever anticipated” (p. 5). No surprise there, but it was in the context of somebody listening to one of his speeches who did not seem to fit in, yet who still profoundly got his message. I can relate to the not seeming to fit in, while still having much more occurring internally that may be externally present.

Secondly, when Dass was speaking about his experience swimming with a dolphin, he held onto one, Rosie, and had a profound experience. He commented, “The wild creature model of who I had thought she was had stopped working” (p. 20). Rosie became a combination of a teacher and a guru at that moment, helping him to experience a higher level of consciousness in a way he did not expect. It is through this image of learning and experiencing in more profound ways than we expect that I really started to appreciate the author, and in that way his message.

Lots more to still process in this text, though it is off to a good start.

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Musings on Spiritual Activism (Chap 1-3 by McIntosh and Carmichael)

As I shared in my last posting, I am starting to wake my blog up from a deep sleep and wanted to share a few initial thoughts related to the first 3 chapters from Alastair McIntosh and Matt Carmichael’s Spiritual Activism: Leadership as Service.

To be fair, I have only read the first 3 chapters, and am NOT planning to write this as a book review . . . far from it. I am using this space to maintain a running notebook of thoughts and ideas related to the readings for a course I am taking.

The first three chapters involve the notion of activism as related to community, spirituality, and transcendent or mystical states of consciousness. There are many personal examples and, woven throughout, are some references to support the authors’ conjectures. However, I am a bit at a loss to appreciate their flow. In our class this past week when we started to talk about our perspectives of the readings, I  characterized the book as one that needs a good editor, as I have trouble seeing how the paragraphs and sections connect to tell a coherent and clear story. In this way, I am not entirely sure if the text is a general musing on spirituality, an attempt to convince or persuade the reader to do or believe something, or something else entirely.

Remember learning about the different types of writing styles–Expository, Persuasive, Descriptive, or Narrative–some time way back in school? While I have not thought of this classification in some time as I never really had the need to, this book makes me wonder about it. The authors give various arguments for or against things they are seeking to demonstrate (such as should we consider mystical states as authentic aspects of human experiences or intellectual assaults on spirituality and how there may be logical reasons why this may not be defensible), yet they do not provide enough evidence to support their claims, many of which people have argued about for centuries without effectively being able to convince or persuade others. If anything, in raising the issues and not providing sufficient exploration into them, they appear a bit unsophisticated and unaware of who their audience may be or what it may know.

I will continue reading the text as it is a course requirement, and hope that my initial thoughts on it are incomplete and missing something. This has happened before, and I hope it may happen again.

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Formations for Modern Pagan Ministry

I am taking a course at Cherry Hill Seminary this summer, Formations for Modern Pagan Ministry. This course is a very new idea for me, as I tend to approach Pagan practices and beliefs as something I personally practice and enjoy studying, rather than something that involves the notion of ministry.

Perhaps this is due to my solitary practice or my previous difficulties in this area as a Catholic, but needless to say this summer will present lots of learning experiences to come.

I just may post a bit more about this journey here…

PantheaCon 2017 Reflection

This was my first PantheaCon, and I have never met a warmer, welcoming, and spirited group seeking to share and learn / experience together the richness of what it means to be Pagan.

I had the opportunity to attend PantheaCon 2017 last weekend, and have been thinking about it and processing the experience all week. For anybody who is not familiar with it, this is the largest (indoor) Pagan conference in the country, and with over 2,000 attendees, it may also be the most inclusive. There were young people and older people, those with various (dis)abilities, shapes, sizes, colors, cultures, creeds, and levels of understanding and intensities. Children and dogs were present and welcome, too!

Yes, there was a diversity of practices, belief systems, and religious plurality as well!

Given this festive event over President’s Weekend in San Jose, California, and given I took a flight before the sun came up on Friday morning and then back home after the sun went down for the red eye on Sunday evening, I felt I was intentional in my actions enough to embrace all the experiences I was able, while also not doing it to an extent that I did not take care of my own needs and comfort levels. In this manner, it was a success.

There were several people, sessions, rituals, and experiences that really made the time memorable for me. Moreover, many of these continue to have an effect on me, and before we get too far from PantheaCon, I want to share my top 8 memories from the event. Like the Wheel of the Year that helps us orient time in quarters and cross-quarters, I will do similarly, also in some loosely related order of their happening (and not necessarily in order of importance or impact).

I will not make any claim that one was better than the other, but my PantheaCon experience would have been lessened had any of these not been present.

      1. ADO Triskelion Ritual Connecting with Land, Sea & Sky & the Awen— I had been wanting to experience one of the Anglesey Druid Order’s rituals, and as it was led by Kristoffer Hughes, it could not have been more reverent, prayful, and hysterically funny than it was. That I met Kris in person after knowing him from a distance for many years made it only more special.
      2. The Awen I sing from the Deep I bring it — The second of the two sessions I attended of Kris’, and this time I was able to get two of his books I did not have. Again, for anybody who has never heard Kris present, he has a way of taking very serious material and making it so funny and fitting, that I can only wish I presented more like him. Next stop, Wales!
      3. Magickal drumming – Ritual/Ceremonial Drumming workshop — Don Schulz did such a wonderful session that I bought one of the drums he used during this before I left on Sunday evening.
      4. Into The Labyrinth: Change Through Movement — Laura “Tempest” Zakroff had me moving in ways that I usually do not. Nothing revealing or the like, but as I spend so much time living in my head instead of in my body, this helped me experience something that I often try to avoid, namely bodily movement and feeling comfortable in my own skin.
      5. Thanks to the Aquarian Tabernacle Church for hosting their “Drunken Divination Party.” Lots of fun, snacks, and drinks, along with the sense that there was a healthy community present; kudos Dusty! Not only was I able to get a fantastic reading from Phaedra Bonewits (she was spot on before even sharing my question for the cards), but I  also had the opportunity to spend time and many laughs with Shade, Cotodia, and Rick, all of whom contributed more than I was able to share back! Ever have the feeling that you have known folks much longer than the calendar indicates?
      6. My visit to the SHARANYA Hospitality Suite was a rich, rich experience, finally allowing me to meet with Chandra, the greatest spiritual nonprofit and fundraising professional I know!
      7. I was able to spend two occasions with my colleagues from AODA (Ancient Order of Druids in America) — Larisa, Mizket, Pkford, Carmiac, and Oliver. How good is that — speak and learn with and through these distant grove-mates over the years and finally meet, informally more than once, at PantheaCon! Next year we should schedule something as well, perhaps for the benefit of the larger Con!
      8. Finally, I had the opportunity and privilege to have deep and exciting conversations with Laura, who was kind enough to offer me a ride to and from the airport to the conference. Truly paying Karma forward and most humbly passing it on.

There are many others who I met along the way whose presence added to my experience, but I wanted to share this while we were still within the week from the Con. Thanks to the many who helped make this such a spectacular event. I hope to take what I learned and share it back tenfold.

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13th Annual Conference on Current Pagan Studies Take-Away Themes

I had the opportunity to attend and present at the 13th Annual Conference on Current Pagan Studies this past weekend at Claremont Graduate University, and it exceeded all my expectations!

Not only gaining valuable insights into questions related to my research in process, but I also had the pleasure of meeting some people whose work I have read, known, and discussed outside the conference but never met in person. Likewise, I believe I now have a new group of colleagues, without whose support and engagement I would not be able to sustain the academic work I have started doing in the area of Pagan Studies.

I wanted to share a couple themes that I found throughout the conference, in part as my own meaning-making process. While this list Continue reading “13th Annual Conference on Current Pagan Studies Take-Away Themes”

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