Author: JordanB

I grew up watching a show called Cheers. The theme song for that show had a chorus that went:

“Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name”

This song resonated with me in a number of ways. But one of them was I was a big nerd. My family, my teachers, even some of my “friends” thought that my hobbies were a waste of time, silly, immature, frivolous, childish. But my love for D&D and miniatures let me see places where people were treated the same. You were judged by your skill in the game, not by your gender, your race, or your wealth. These were outlets where people could unburden themselves from the shackles of the day to day grind and just be free to express themselves. Part theater, and part game, people could express themselves without judgement.

Recently I attended a convention in the Chicago area for these hobbies, and I was struck by how many people are talking about mental health. But of course we were. We grew up as nerds, being put down for our hobbies, being told that the games we played were either outright wrong (Satanic Panic of the 80’s and 90’s where the Christian right wing tried to ban these games) , or at the very least that it was silly and childish. The thing is, we were looking for a place to just be ourselves and be free to express our emotions.

Some of us were LGBT+, some were minorities, some of us were just frustrated pubescents and pre- pubescents, some of us just had no where else to actually feel free to say certain things or to act like a child; we had never had a childhood, we had been forced to grow up too soon. Whatever the reason, this was our escape. And people wanted to dump on us for having it.

So of course the community that grew around these hobbies is now talking a great deal about mental health, depression, and suicide prevention. We lost people. They never felt okay in the one place that they wanted to. They were made fun of, once again, for the one thing they tried to do for themselves. They found a place to be okay and maybe work through some things, and then other people decided to take it away from them.

There’s a difference between Networking, and a Community. We use the phrase family of choice quite a bit, because that expresses what a community really is. People taking care of each other, not just knowing who the other person is, but really caring for and being there for each other. Otherwise, you are just networking. At my convention I saw people break down, out in the open in front of everyone, and I saw them be held by their friends. I saw people go out of their way to encourage children, to bring people of every age, race, gender, and sexuality into the fold and to the table. I saw people stop talking, backtrack, and really listen when they were told that what they had just said was offensive, and they really meant it when they apologized.

My hobbies have nothing to do with my life’s work: to being Council for Covenant of the River. But at the same time, it kind of does. We all just want a place where everyone knows our name. We all want a place to be heard and held and understood. Of course my hobbies have turned towards talking about mental health. Of course my family of choice has done a great deal of work on trying to be inclusive. We all know what it was like to feel alone. No one should feel alone. You’re not alone. You just need to find your Cheers and they’re always glad you came. I hope that we build such an environment for you. If not, please let us know what we might do to help make it better.

Jordan

Summer is in full swing and so is Covenant. We, as usual, have a lot going on. Yard Sales, and Sanctuary care days aside we have Fort Collins Pagan Pride Day coming up, we just had Untamed, and we’re gearing up for our autumn events like Witches Ball.

It’s enough to make the head spin. So in that vein I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone that we can only do so much. No one expects any of us to be super human and do everything with a smile. We each have our limits, we each have our own home lives to attend to and all of that is okay.

We often say that everyone is welcome to participate as they are able. Not mandated to participate, not expected to give until it hurts. As we are able. You are all very giving and caring people, and Council thanks you for your participation whether it is every week or just from time to time. And yes, together we accomplish so much more than we could alone. But please remember to be gentle with yourself. Remain compassionate with others as they face the stresses of their lives. The saying goes: everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. So when you need to take a minute, a day, a week, or even longer for yourself, do that.

So as we celebrate our accomplishments and plan for the future, remember to make time for yourself. You are all precious to us and we will always have more to do, more to build later. But if you burn yourselves out it does no one any good at all.

Many, many blessings to all of you. Jordan

Who among you has ever made a special dish when not feeling well, in order to make yourself get better faster? At the very least we’ve all heard the cliche of chicken soup when someone is sick right?

This concept is nothing new, and it’s not just “old wives tales”. In fact there are cultures who have their entire cuisine based around this concept of food being medicine, or being essential to optimal health. Of course today there is an entire field of food science dedicated to finding out why a food is good or bad for you, and searching for the optimal human diet. But I’m talking about cultures that have been practicing this for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Chinese Medicine is probably the most well known example of this, balancing the body with Yin and Yang foods, but also working with the various flavors of spice, bitter, sour, sweet, and savory to adjust the body to counter what ails it. But less known are other cultures that based their entire cuisine upon similar ideas. Many Native American tribes of North America used food to keep the body healthy and in balance as well. Ancient Greece and Rome also had this concept with many recipes we have from that age specifically including the ailments it is good for treating. Pliny the Elder wrote: “Garum is [an] exquisite liquid. . . a choice liquor. . . it’s capabilities of healing all form of ailments is well known.” Gallen a well known physician at the time wrote: “Garum can be used to treat ulcers, dysentery, and sciatica. It regulates the bowel, and gives one energy and vitality.” And while this is just one food item they wrote of, they wrote this way about many, many foods.

Even in Dark Age Europe many recipes took on a tone of magic spell rather than what we would consider a traditional recipe today. In fact some nursery rhymes originate with those recipes: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot 9 days old. A simple recipe for soft porridge of peas and root vegetables that could be kept for up to 9 days by reheating it each day to boiling.

Okay, so the ancients had some ideas about health and diet, so what? Well, modern food science is starting to acknowledge that while they may have gotten a lot of the “why’s” wrong of what it does inside the body, they weren’t too far off on the ideas of which nutrients help keep us healthy. And any food culture that works on the concept of balance automatically had a leg up on keeping people healthy. “Overall, these beliefs and attitudes shape the food culture of the study population into one that greatly values both eating pleasure and healthy eating. The importance of traditional beliefs about the hot-cold properties of food in this study population is consistent with findings from previous studies in many regions of the world including Asia . . . and can lead to a properly balanced diet.” (Inam et al., 2003; Manderson, 1987; Mellin-Olsen & Wandel, 2005; Wandel, Gunawardena, Oshaug, & Wandel, 1984; Wu & Liang, 2018)

So I say cling to your food cures and traditional recipes. As long as they have not been fully debunked by modern science, and they are safe to eat go for it. I know I have my favorite coldbuster soup which for me works wonders. You are not alone in your belief in food to heal, and science is starting to say there may be something to it. We’ll bring more on that next time it’s my turn to blog. 😉

Coldbuster Soup:
Saute 1 large diced white or yellow onion in olive oil, add 4-8 large cloves minced garlic and reduce heat, add 1 liter of your favorite broth, add 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp of ground nutmeg, 1 tbsp ground ginger, 2 tsp ground cayenne pepper, 1 tsp turmeric, pinch of salt and black pepper as well as basil to taste. Drink it while piping hot.

We fail. Therefore we ware human.

And that is not a bad thing. Failure is often a dirty word. Ooooh, you failed. Guess what? So do I, so does everyone. It is from failure that we learn.

There’s some stigma around trying and failing for some reason. Much like the stigma around not knowing something, anything. Like seeking knowledge, like being undecided is some dirty word? Undecided means you are still gathering information. Not knowing, and admitting it, that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. It’s a learning process. Failing too is part of a learning process. Trying and failing is part of the process of getting good at anything.

It doesn’t matter what the thing is, ritual, magic, art, public speaking, anything at all. You have to try first. And really when you think about it, trying should get a lot more credit than most of western civilization tends to give it. Did you put yourself out there and actually try? If so, you are doing better than a large portion of the population. If not, well, that’s what the majority does. Not trying is safe. Trying requires bravery. We should honor that. And that means embracing failure.

Think about it. Would you rather have a friend who tries and fails, and admits their failures? Or would you rather have a friend who never tries? They don’t try to see your side, they don’t try to expand themselves, they don’t try to do anything new?

You want to do something great? Try. And that means failing first. Show me someone who has never failed, and that is someone who has never tried, never excelled, never expanded themselves.

I embrace and honor your trying, your seeking, your learning, your failing. I fail too. I fail hard.

Jordan

Pollyanna.  A word that we have learned to associate with someone who is constantly happy, who seems to never actually see the bad in people or circumstances, dangerously naive.  Ideas that, in this modern world of social conflict, seem almost ridiculous.  You might even get killed if you just walk around thinking everyone is nice and honest! 

But Pollyanna isn’t who you think she is.  I encourage you to read this short children’s book written before WW1.   What I remember the most from reading this with my kids is “The Glad Game”.  It’s probably what gave her the modern reputation we think of.  Pollyanna does not fail to see the pain, the deception, the unfairness of the world she lives in.  She sees loneliness and anger in others and her empathy lets her realize how that feels.   So perhaps, what I will tell you will make you think of all the times you were caught in depression or grief or all kinds of pain and some fool walks up and says “cheer up, what have you got to be sad about? At least you’re alive”. Your lips tighten, you hand clenches at the insensitivity.  In some ways the Glad Game might feel like that to you, at first, even when it’s you saying it to yourself.  Because the Glad Game started like that. 

Pollyanna was expecting to get a doll in the mail.  A mistake was made and instead the box held crutches.  She was crushed.  But her father taught her that she could, if she wanted to, try to find something “glad” in every situation.  So Pollyanna, somewhat like the fool in the above example, decided that having the crutches but not needing them was something to be glad of. The difference is, she saw this for herself and decided to accept the idea.  It wasn’t forced upon her by a “well meaning” stranger. 

After that, she made a game of it, a challenge to herself, to find just one thing, no matter how small, to be glad about in any given situation.  Sometimes it seems that no one could be glad in some of the situations she finds herself in and she would be the first to tell you that, yes, it’s a stretch and yes, it is a really foul situation. She is now an orphan living with a strange relative in a new place, afterall.  But it’s her personal challenge.  She doesn’t say it’s easy.  She says that you might have to look long and hard to find the glad thing.  She calls it a game but really, it’s a challenge she has set upon herself.  She can choose to not find what is glad, if she wants to.  

But you know how it is, when you get an idea in your head… especially if you are my Capricorn daughter, that you WILL DO IT no matter what anyone else says.  That’s what it means to be Pollyanna.  The courageous choice to find even the smallest thing in the darkest of times to be glad about.  Honestly, I have to admit, if it was me, even if I saw the tiny glad thing I’d probably just tell it to fork off, that it didn’t help the overall situation.   

As an adult, there’s more complexity to life and finding a glad thing is not always enough to get through the situation.  But perhaps it can be your good luck charm, your talisman, the little red bead you have tied on a slender tie around your wrist.  It is nothing.  It is not valuable but you wear it because it is a good luck charm for you.  The glad thing you find in your drive through Hades can be that, another red bead.  Maybe it doesn’t change a single thing, except maybe you, just a little, and you don’t even notice. 

Besides the Glad Game, the other thing you need to like about Pollyanna is she is an early pioneer in the art of self care. While you trudge through situations where the Glad Game feels like an absurd joke, it might be time to make quality time for yourself.  Aunt Polly is no mother.  She keeps Pollyanna busy doing chores all the time just to keep her from getting in the way.  But Pollyanna is having none of it and she tells her aunt so.  She tells her aunt that all that work doesn’t leave time for living.  Her aunt counters that such is nonsense because of course Pollyanna is living.  Pollyanna outlines for her aunt all the things she wants to be doing, from playing outside to being with friends, and reading.  You know, all those childish things we should all be making time for!  And then she says the thing that makes me glad, “That’s what I call living, Aunt Polly. Just breathing isn’t living!”

Three things to remember about Pollyanna:
1. She is not naive. She sees all the negative things and realizes the pain they cause.
2. She works very hard on her “game”, to find that one glad thing in a day which is starting to feel perilously close to a day of “not living”.  
3. She asks for the time, makes the time, and takes the time to do the things that make her happy, that refresh her, so that she feels alive, not just breathing.  It is extra hard to play the Glad Game when you have overburdened yourself.  (of course, just breathing, as an intentional practice is definitely living!)

So when you play the Glad Game and tell someone that, even though the entire day sucks old bananas, there is this one good thing you found and they laugh and say “You are such a Pollyanna.”  You can reply, “Thanks for the compliment.”

Blessings,
Chel

(“Pollyanna” by Eleanor H. Porter, c.1913)

Imbolc for the ancient people of western Europe, especially the people of the British Isles and Gaul, was a sign of change in the seasons. They would begin around this time to notice the lengthening of the days, and they would see their cattle (especially sheep at this time) start to produce milk. It was a sign that they should take stock of their food stores to weather the last part of winter. But it was also a time of divination, reading the weather on Imbolc was a long standing tradition. If the weather was bad, it would be an early spring, if the weather was good you were said to be in for a long winter. Of course today this tradition is mirrored by the groundhog.

But the idea that this day centered around change remains, and personally I find it fitting that it be paired with divination as well. Because the seasons, the cycles, the stories of the Gods and Goddesses, and all the ancient legends mean little if we do not apply them to life today. If we cannot learn from our faith how to be better, more, different, then what are we doing with our spirituality? Faith exists not to serve the Gods but to serve the people. So we look to the day’s message of change, and it’s ties to divination, and what does it tell you?

It tells me that change requires introspection, thought, and care. In the human sphere of influence this has always been true. Change without direction or purpose is simply self aggrandizing, it’s change for change’s sake. But change when taken on with a purpose, and care for what the outcome may be is change for good. And I mean that in all senses of that word ‘good’, it is good vs evil kind of good, it is good as in good for you good, and it is change for good in that it lasts. Long after our bodies have gone, what will we be remembered for? I think we will be remembered for the way in which we treat one another and the things we left behind for others. What traditions will we form? What ways will we leave a positive mark on the world, or at least on our communities?

None of this means that we need obsess over our legacy, everything in moderation. And it does not mean that every change comes about exactly as planned (there is no way I would have believed you when I was 20 if you told me that someday I would be a member of this Council) change comes often in its own time and own way. But as we walk through the world we can be mindful of the change we are making, look ahead to see if it is something we like tying our name too, and if not we can adjust accordingly. We will never know all the outcomes of our lives or the work that we do. But we can take the time to try and think before we act. To plan. We can take time to be introspective and apply all that we know before we begin. And that is an enormous gift we possess.

Today I give thanks for this gift and all the multitude of gifts that we have. I give thanks for the community that loves and supports one another. I give thanks for change. And I hope . . . and more importantly plan, to be a positive force for change. I wish you all the best and brightest of blessings! Hail the returning of the sun!

Blessed Imbolc!

Okay, I’m a few days from mid-week, but I thought of what to write and jumped right in!

With my Milagro Box craft coming up, I’ve been thinking about the word “miracle” and all the ways we use it in our culture and what it really means in a more sacred way.  A Milagro, as an object, is from the cultures of Mexico and in Spanish “milagro” means “miracle” or “surprise”.  No pun intended but I was surprised to read that. But when you think about it, a lot of things we call miracles ARE pretty surprising.  The physical “milagros” from Mexican culture, are small charms of many different objects. We will be using the charms to create boxes for purposes sacred, magical, or simply decorative.  The ways the Milagro charms are used in Mexico, that I have read about, are varied and seem pretty magical in my mind. Placing some kind of intention in the charm and carrying it for healing or protection or offering it to a saint in the hopes of answered prayers reminds me of my magical practices.  After all, a spell does seem pretty miraculous when it works, and a lot like prayer when I am crafting it.   

Miracle is a word that might seem to be only religious.  We hear it a lot from folks from certain religions who tell us that something they prayed for and then happened was a miracle of God. I can’t disagree. I think that the folks of these faiths are probably thinking that miracles can only come from God and perhaps that they are mostly spectacular events that seemed unlikely.  (surprise!) I think we limit ourselves and our own power when we give all the miracles to the supernatural.

With Imbolg right around the corner, I am of a mind that miracles are about to begin in earnest as the Universe’s powers of growth return or perhaps I might say, when the Goddess begins to awaken.  It’s not spring but neither is it full winter. Thankfully, we are past midwinter and if you go outside on Imbolg and look closely, you will see small bits of green beginning to return and maybe even crocus awakening.  Whether it is the grass you take for granted or the lovely bulbs who are here for such a short time, life is coming back to the earth.  This can be nothing short of a miracle.  These things have looked “dead” for months. 

If you don’t know me, I put my heart and soul into a pretty big garden every summer.  I feel like Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s apprentice waving my trowel like a magic wand, conducting the magic to grow the plants that make the neighbors say “how do you get it to do that?” “Miracle Grow?”  haha!   Well, I can’t say “magic” unless it sounds joking, but “it seems like a miracle, right?” is sometimes a good answer.   And it’s true.  Every flower is a miracle.  I don’t cure cancer but I do make lots of flowers, small and fleeting miracles. Miracles, big or small, from a big G god, a goddess, the Fae folk, the Universe, or just random surprises,  are all around us.  Put your hand on your chest.  You aren’t doing anything to cause it but your heart is beating and keeping you alive.  YOU are the best miracle.   You can create your own miracles with the miraculous spirit you have.  On Beltane my children used to leave May Baskets for the neighbors.  Surprise!  The neighbors got a happy miracle and so did we when we hid and watched their reaction.  

Magic, prayer, and focused thought are tools which can help us to intentionally create miracles for ourselves and for others.  Miracle Grow is actually well named – the surprising magic of watching plants say “oh my god, thank you for that!” and start to grow. I give them blue stuff, they grow.  Magic nitrogen potion. 

Go ahead, call a car crash that didn’t kill you a miracle.  It was. Recognize the miraculous when your sickness got better when the doctor told you it wouldn’t. Sometimes, with modern health care, we can take babies for granted. But a baby is pretty freaking miraculous.  But don’t forget the smiles you create, the plants that return when winter lets them go, every breath you take, and the comfort your breathing gives another person who loves you, when you ponder the meaning of miracle.  (Tuesday my youngest kid turns 26! Miracles abound!)

What are miracles? Certainly the surprises we were not expecting when we had given up hope. But it’s not just that, not just the big things and the surprised person screaming “It’s a miracle!!”. I think miracles are simply Life, and all the myriad of surprises we give and find as we walk life’s paths. 

Blessings (and miracles!),

Chel

I know shoveling is not our favorite activity, and driving or walking in the snow isn’t always fun. But we are in a record long dry spell, in the middle of a drought.

Human impacts upon mother nature have changed our climate drastically already. And now the chickens are coming home to roost. If we don’t get a very wet, snowy winter, there will be some hard times ahead for all of the western half of our country. There won’t be enough water for crops. We may have to have water rationing. And the fire season may be incredibly dangerous.

So I think perhaps you will forgive me, and even join in with me in praying for snow. The weather forecast today says some rain, and tonight a little snow, but it’s less than an inch of accumulation. We need some heavy prolonged snow this winter. So that’s what I am praying for: several heavy snow falls all winter long.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I love the peacefulness of a dark night. I love the magic of the dark moon. And when midsummer rolls around I find myself kind of falling into a funk. It’s like a sunlight overdose.  I call it the “noon of the year”.  But interestingly, when midwinter (Yule) rolls around, the peace and the magic of the dark are not enough to keep me at peace.  Now there seems to be too much darkness.  I know, that sounds strange coming  from me.  But every afternoon the day leaves sooner but instead of the peaceful night rolling in to calm me, I somehow feel cheated.  It can’t be night at 5pm, but it is.  It’s interesting that my mind prefers the darkness and would like it if midsummer would pass over with less intensity.  But here, in the season of increasing darkness, I call out for just an hour or two more of light, please.  I think my body takes it kind of hard, no matter what my mind tells me about the beauty of the night. Deep down inside, no matter what we think, what we know, scientifically, the world seems to be dying and with it, our bodies suddenly fear that the darkness is not a calming night but a never ending descent into the darkness of the underworld. 

This slowly encroaching fear is  why our ancestors stoked up the fires and got the neighbors together for a party to remind each other that life is still bright and hope is not to be forgotten no matter how short the days.. It’s why we tell the tale of a young king fighting to bring the light to his kingdom and the tale of the old king yielding his time of dwindling light.  The Holly King is often depicted as a Santa Claus looking fellow and I like to imagine that the Holly King puts a gift of light in my stocking as he surrenders his throne.   The light has been fading so low but on Yule, it will begin to return and thus the hearty cheer that we made it to Yule when that night finally arrives..  Much winter lies ahead, but no matter the weather or how dark it still feels, in less than three weeks we will  know we are on the way back.  “It’s dark, but it’s not scary” (Jewish Wedding Band)

Blessings
Chel

A new kind of blog this time. Let us know what you think of this audio post. Chel and Jordan sat down to talk about their introductions to Paganism and to Covenant. Click on the play arrow below. If you have trouble let us know.