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I figured if anybody might know, you guys would. I recently came back from a pretty insane journey and I'm looking for info about the Inuit Goddess Nujalik. There is like...nothing on her. ANYWHERE.
Can anyone at least point me in the direction of a good book of Inuit myth?
This is wayyyyyy outside my normal pantheon. Obviously.
Thanks guys. |
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"Cypress fought admitting it, but Leroy had mediated her relationship with the City of New York. She couldn't stand it when he was gone. His horns and his arms offered her horizons where she was free to see what she chose, feel what she had to, be what she dreamed. Now she was constrained by cement, noise, thousands of people she'd never had to take seriously. Whole blocks of black people without trees. Dance studios that looked into other dance studios. Or vacant lots crammed with tires, garbage, used strollers, broken bottles, and stench. Leroy alone had shielded her from this. Now her landscape had no natural elements. In California, one was cognizant of the planet: that the earth and sea were forces to contend with. New York without Leroy was bereft of any humility, dwarfing the sun, violating the waters, crowding nature into a yard called Central Park."
(----ntozake shange, sassafrass, cypress & indigo) |
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1. Only cook what you really, really want to eat. It will make the hard work of peeling and chopping so much more worth it in the end.
2. Make sure your fridge and pantry are well-stocked with fresh, simple, real-food, cookable ingredients (rather than boxes of processed, frozen, or otherwise ready-to-eat foods). Buy groceries frequently, and try to come home with at least one seasonal fruit or vegetable every time.
3. Decide what to cook in advance, based on what you have available. Planning not only saves time and money. It also makes cooking an enjoyable creative process rather than an overwhelming daily chore.
Make sure your fridge and pantry are well-stocked with fresh, simple, real-food, cookable ingredients (rather than boxes of processed, frozen, or otherwise ready-to-eat foods). Buy groceries frequently, and try to come home with at least one seasonal fruit or vegetable every time.
Gordon Ramsay’s menu planning tips from Epicurious
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/14755.html with  comments.
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It’s been one months since my wedding. While it feels too early for any solid conclusions about the institution of marriage, there’s one thing I know for sure and that is that dinner is important.
Growing up, I took eating at the table for granted. My mother was a full-time home-maker, not just a typical “stay-at-home mom”, but also the person who took care of the house, tended a big garden with fruit trees and vegetable plots, cooked, baked, sewed and knitted. We not only ate home-cooked dinner at the table, but also home-cooked lunch, and home-made breakfast. To me it’s always been a given that families eat dinner together because this is what families do.
Living on my own as an adult, I never cooked much. I preferred restaurants or take out, mainly because I ate most meals on my own. Having experienced dinner as a family affair all my life, it felt strange to prepare food that was not going to be enjoyed by several people. Cooking is a labor of love, and I didn’t have anybody to love that way.
All that changed when I first moved in with the man who was going to become my husband. Both of us love to cook, but we discovered that each enjoys different preparation methods, different meats and vegetables, different spices, and different flavors. This makes life interesting. After a lifetime of reluctance, I’m learning to appreciate beef, and my husband, much to everyone’s surprise, actually enjoys asparagus. Some days I cook, other days he does. On many occasions we both contribute something to the meal, and we already have specialties.
Sharing the work of cooking is certainly a gratifying experience. It is, after all, a joint creative process. But there’s more to dinner than just making food. In the past few weeks I noticed that simply sitting at the table and eating together, day after day after day, is an extremely bonding act. And I realized something. Families eat dinner together, but eating together makes families. It is a highly powerful tool in maintaining and supporting the bond between family members. It’s as physical as sex, as spiritual as friendship, and as practical as a joint account.
My family of origin’s love for food is very likely one of the things that keeps it strong, and I probably should thank my mother for raising us with fabulous cooking and daily meals eaten by the table.
Yesterday my husband made roast beef, mashed potatoes, marinate mushrooms and grilled vegetables. It was delicious.
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/14541.html with  comments.
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EVER since childhood, I have been honing my skills for living the life of a Radical Feminist Pirate and cultivating the Courage to Sin. The word "sin" is derived from the Indo-European root "es-," meaning "to be." When I discovered this etymology, I intuitively understood that for a woman trapped in patriarchy, which is the religion of the entire planet, "to be" in the fullest sense is "to sin." - Mary Daly from "Sin Big," The New Yorker, February 26, 1996
Without the poles of black and white, the middle pillar does not form. Mary Daly lived as one radical, elemental, essentialist pillar, opposing an opposite radical essentialist pole. In her lifetime, and partially because of her work, that pole of opposition changed. She never really did.
When I heard this morning that Mary Daly died yesterday, at the age of 81, I pulled my 1973 copy of "Beyond God the Father" off the shelf. I must have bought it used in the early 80s when I was angry, disaffected, and very, very, young. I was a newly minted Witch, a feminist, and upset with the status quo. I recall that even during that time in my life, her opus Gyn/Ecology was too angry even for me. Years later, however, her Wickedary of the English Language charmed.
Mary's thinking was thorough, deep, shocking, and very, very problematic. She was notorious for good reason. An essentialist, she had no use for men, overall - though as a scholar would sometimes quote them in her works - and considered transsexuals to be products of Frankenstein. She did not take into account criticisms of women of color. Unwavering in her quest to overthrow patriarchy, she held her radical feminist pole until the end. Even though I disagree strongly with her, I am grateful for her years of thinking.
There are and will be those who think I have gone overboard. Let them rest assured that this assessment is correct, probably beyond their wildest imagination, and that I will continue to do so. - Mary Daly, from Outercourse
Imagine 1950s America. Imagine wanting more than anything to study philosophy and theology. Imagine being told you could not because of your gender (or any other "other-ing" that may arise). Imagine wanting it so much, you found a way regardless. Mary did. She went to Europe to study, living on not much, dedicated to the mind. Imagine exiting school at the beginning of a new social movement in which white women were throwing off the shackles of the delimited social system. Imagine having studied some of the very systems that gave rise to this. Imagine having the power to write, to think, to make change.
Mary did. The Goddess Movement would not be the same without her. Contemporary Paganism would not be the same without the Goddess Movement. The radical essentialism of thinkers like Daly was a challenge to the pole that said "only men can communicate with the divine". That pillar that she went up against? Mostly it has changed, leaving behind laughable relics, some of whom unfortunately still hold a measure of power. Yes, inequality still exists and yes, I am still a feminist, but things have gotten better. Much, much better. I don't know if Mary Daly was able to see the battles she actually won.
Holding the identity of "the oppressed" keeps one oppressed or in reaction forever. In coming into autonomy, we throw off that identity and forge a vision of one who has a right to be, as one is. We have done that as women, as queer people, and as Pagans. In speaking to the legacy she bequeathed to Paganism (or paganisms), this is part of it: we have learned in a few short decades to move from clinging to a mythology of brutal oppression and into a taking of our place as a viable spiritual path that need not exist in reaction and that need not take on the role of victim. We are becoming our own people.
I am grateful for this growth, and grateful for the radical - nay, Piratical - thrust that made this foray toward adulthood possible. Thanks for sinning, Mary. We look at sinning differently now because of it.
I will close with a benediction written by Mary Daly herself, which is a piece of the(a)logy that sings, and a glimpse of the middle pillar that, despite her stalwart holding of one pole, still shone within her, somewhere:
There have been and will be conflicts, but the Final Cause causes not by conflict but by attraction. Not by the attraction of the Magnet that is All There, but by the creative drawing power of the Good Who is self-communicating Be-ing, who is the Verb from whom, in whom, and with whom all true movements move. - Mary Daly from Beyond God the Father
Blessed be. |
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Ingredients:
1 litre milk
2 tablespoon coacoa
5 tablespoon sugar
100 gr. dark chocolate
5 pods cardamom
2 cinammon quills
chilli powder
1/3 cup grand marnier
Directions:
1. melt chocolate with 1 cup milk in a bain-marie.
2. boil the rest of the milk in a saucepan
3. add melted chocolate, coacoa, sugar and spices to the pan
4. stir gently, and cook for 1 more minute
5. serve hot.
The drink is lovely with ice cream, chocolate chip cookies or brownies.
Especially good on rainy days.
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/14321.html with  comments.
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This is a modest list of favorites. I don’t pretend to include every culinary surprise that winter has to offer, and there are, admittedly, a lot of amazingly delicious options. I like:
Avocado. An excellent source of “good” fat, they say, but this is also, one of my favorite winter foods. A bountiful tree in my mother’s garden gives beautiful, perfect fruit every year. Avocado is simply delicious on bread, with just salt and pepper. Also wonderful in a tomato salad, or mashed with hard-boiled eggs and onions into a divine spread.
Kohlrabi. Bought fresh in the market, in my case. I never tried to grow Kohlrabi when I was in the country, and now it’s not really an option, living on the fourth floor. I add it to a colorful salad of fresh vegetables or pickle with carrots, radish, cauliflower and cucumbers. It’s lovely and refreshing.
Strawberries. Sweet, seductive, delicious. There’s not really much to elaborate about this classic (and classy!) fruit. It is, in my opinion, far better than any processed candy out there to satisfy a sweet tooth.
Kiwi Fruit. Nature’s sweet and sour surprise for winter. I sometimes slice it and serve with strawberries and champagne.
Hot Chocolate. Cooked from dark chocolate, fresh milk and excellent spices. When it’s made from scratch at home, and contains nothing processed, this can be a fabulous drink. Do check out my spicy hot, chocolate drink recipe.
Tea. Everybody recommend green tea for health reasons, but I’m not a culinary fan. I prefer herbal tea (from whatever happens to grow in my garden). Mint and lemon vervain are my current favorites.
Lentil Soup. It’s one of those foods that never looks goods but always tastes wonderful. It contains enough protein to keep my belly full, and it’s delicious enough to make my taste buds happy. I especially love my mother’s version to lentil soup, and plan to publish it here soon.
Stews. Meat, rice, potatoes, root vegetables and mushrooms… all slowly cooking together in one pot with herbs and spices… I like to mix and match ingredients for winter stews. I never know how exactly the meal would come out, but somehow, it’s never short of fabulous.
A brief history of chocolate at the Smithsonian
Timeline of Soup
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/13895.html with  comments.
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Winter is as usual late to arrive to my small part of the world, but in these early days of December, I’m ready for my winter shopping.
Statement boots. Grey suede (the ones in the picture are Missoni). Red hot chili leather. Something in cream/off-white too. Knee-high with killer hills.
Simple, classy white buttoned-up shirts. I don’t usually wear any, but in the spirit of the runways, I’m willing to try the new office chic… for the office!
A simple black pencil skirt. See above about office chic. Has to have a superb cut, though, and be stuningly sexy. Otherwise, no good.
Plaid pencil skirts. Because I love plaid. The fabrics are usually comfortable and soft on the skin. The pattern is classy. The feel is cosy. Works for me.
Dresses. Lots and lots of long-sleeved winter dresses. They should be feminine, sexy, but not too revealing. Also, comfortable is important, especially for winter dresses. This means they should be warm enough but not that warm that I suffocate in the office’s central heating. For colors, I’m thinking forest green, brick red, and some fabulous blue.
Trench coat? Don’t know. This item appears on every must have style list, but being the small woman that I am (4′10″), I’m somehow never sure that such a long winter garment will do me justice. We’ll see
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/13655.html with  comments.
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hi all--
the dustbunnies are looking for enthusiastic singers (and musicians) for the revival, which will be happening again (in two ballrooms, so we can fit twice as many people as last year). anyone interested should contact the choirmaster, ron miller: rmil0987 at gmail dot com. anyone interested in speaking parts, ushering, or other help, please contact jenya: jentb at hotmail dot com. minimal experience required, just the ability to make a joyful noise.
thanks, and see you there!!
v |
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To the year we often refer to as 2009 A.D. or C.E. or e.v. (Gregorian), but is also known (for the most part, since the years don't all start at the same time - so I might be off by a year on some of these) to some as:
89 psU (Poundian)
IV:17 A.N. (Thelemic)
137 E.P. (Pataphysical)
CCXVII R.E. (French Revolutionary)
1430 AH (Islamic)
3193 YOLD (Erisian)
Year of the Earth Ox, 4706 (Chinese)
5121 (Mayan)
5770 AM (Hebrew)
6009 A.L. (Illuminati)
(Thanks for the above to 'Uncle Bobby' for his Multicultural calendric observations.)
Thank you to this year that was. Many experienced much hardship and challenge in your course, and I do not exclude myself from this common grouping. That said, I also experienced a year of breakthroughs in a number of important and meaningful areas in my life and work. I made some wonderful and fun art, began new friendships and professional relationships, shed heavy and restrictive burdens, redirected and focused my outlook and work, and generally rocked 2009 hard!
Sure, I and many close to me experienced loss, grief, and crisis; many of us had to make hard choices, sacrifices, and cope with demons of both our own making and those outside our manufacture or control. That said . . . those things happen all the time, are part of life. As much as any one of us experienced something in particular this last year, none of this is unique - just the opposite in fact. Where our frustrations, our troubles, our struggles, look the most epic - where we experience feelings that are so strong we doubt anybody else's ability to comprehend, there we have stumbled, I think, into a current so archetypal as to be neigh-on universal.
So, as I thank the passing of this year that was, I see it as not truly gone as I take its lessons forward with me. May we meet this so-called '2010' together, and may we rock it even harder!
Or, in other words, a year from now may I be able to say "my 2010 goes to 11!"
Pax et Lvx!
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Beneath New Year's Resolutions is always the beating of either want, need, or desire. But sometimes these "I wants" are really a variation on "I should". Those sorts of resolutions are usually not kept. A resolution where we have examined the underpinnings, and decided this is an actual want that we are willing to engage will around for our own betterment and further strength or joy, often get kept. A resolution built on true desire - where want and need have joined with our life force and activated our intention - can blossom.
What keeps us from desire? What plunges us into self-loathing or the punishing nature of "I should"?
"I should" is not good enough for the heart and soul. If that is all our resolution is about, perhaps we can set it down for now, allowing space, time and energy for a deeper want to arise.
This coming Gregorian year, what do we actually desire? Are we willing to do some cleansing work, put intention into action, and move our life's energy toward that desire?
When we can say truly, "I want", we can then resolve to say "I will".
We can say "I do" to desire.
As usual, I leave you with one of the most successful spells I have yet written, that stemmed from a great desire I had around five years ago. It is still working marvelously. I would be pleased if you would pass it on as a toast tonight. Repeat after me:
"Love. Health. Prosperity. Knowledge. and Great Sex!" |
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Everytime I turn around, my little 10'x11' bedroom has more altars popping up!
( Take a tour? )
I was going to write a bit about each one but... I've decided against that. I don't really want to explain them. I want them to be understood in their own unique way. |
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1) Take a breathe before I speak, or act.
2) Eat less, buy less, waste less.
3) Calm down, for heaven’s sake.
4) Count my blessings, every day.
5) Cook every day.
6) Grow some food.
7) Write. Just write.
8) Finish paying for the past.
9) Love my husband. He’s the one.
10) Be grateful for my home and family.
Mirrored from Housewifing.
This entry was originally posted at http://amuletica.dreamwidth.org/13262.html with  comments.
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Dec. 30th, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
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Wisdom doesn't need to mean always seeing the 'big picture'. Sometimes, wisdom can be recognizing you're far to close to be in a position to see it.
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in case I dont get back on soon enough.
2009 has been a HELL of a year. I have lost ALOT. I've gained some. But mostly I've lost ALOT.
Not a totally bad thing. Because when you're stripped down to the bare bones, that's it! You're brand new all over again. I am going into the new year REALLY feeling like things are actually going to be new, from scratch.
I have all of these bits and pieces left of my life that I have to find a way to put back together. And the pieces that don't fit? I'll have to chuck them out the window too!
Notable things this year(not in chronological order):
Convo
Joining a coven
Losing my apartment
Moving in with HPS
Losing place to stay AND Coven
Falling hard, playing hard,...dumping HARD
Betrayal by my two closest friends
Ups and downs with spirituality
The death of Clay
Initiation into Minoan Brotherhood
Dancing Naked at Yule
Getting my grandmother and sister out of my life for GOOD
Help from friends (and folks I consider TRUE family)
Yeah-thats about it I think.
-Edge |
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Funny thing about LJ . . . the dead never unfriend you. Damn, that means something dunnit?
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I am grateful:
( previous )
27) that L. went shopping with me.
I don't like shopping, and it helped immensely to have company. Also, I was happy to join a musical friend at her favorite pub for some fabulous caroling with instruments. Electric cellos rock!
28) that my loves get along.
It's important to me that the people who are closest to me know one another. I'm truly grateful that R. and L. not only know each other, but have developed a good friendship.
29) that I sang in an episcopalian church as a child.
R. and I went to Christmas eve mass at the church I grew up singing in. I have recently come to appreciate the openness of this church, and went out of my way to tell them so. I was never told that it wasn't okay for me to be there, even though I was not a parishioner, and I was also never told that who I was wasn't okay. I'm grateful because I now know that this would not have been true at many other churches.
30) for family.
Even though I couldn't be with my bio-family for Christmas, I was with my chosen family, and that was wonderful. Yeay for Cheesy Potatoes!!!
31) that R. wants to drive most of the time.
Unfortunately she is also human, and rear-ended someone in the madness. Fortunately everyone was okay, but the insurance will need to be dealt with. R. then drove all the way up to N. Hollywood so we could see friends and back. I don't like driving, and can get stressed out in the passenger seat.
32) for new toys!
Yeah, I like new toys. R. and I both got new phones, since she needed one, and they were on sale at sprint. We also have a new gaming system, that can play my old games, so that made me super happy. We also got to give presents, which I love to do. (I don't like the shopping, but the giving is fun!)
33) that I have many friends who are happy to listen to me.
I often will talk with someone who I haven't seen in a bit, and they'll remind me that they are a phone call away. I am very grateful for all of the people in my life who I love dearly, but don't have the time/energy to maintain frequent contact with. You know who you are. Knowing that you all are in my life and willing to connect when we can sustains me, even if I don't reach out at that moment. |
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( follow the holy cupcake )
Thanks for looking! |
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make this post for awhile. I know, I never post...but today I have a little story to tell. So one day the week before last, I came home to something on my front porch.
( Read more... ) |
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[The following is from a larger current project of mine, on tracing the contours of Desire]
Post dinner and wine in a Los Angeles living room, I listened to some works in progress by pianist Dana Reason. She sat at the holiday card covered piano with pages and pages of scores in front of her and played. I was startled by the brilliance of both the compositions and the playing itself, as well as by the fact that she was willing to share uncompleted work with us... and it was good. Very, very, very good.
After the impromptu performance, several of us discussed the difficulties of being a female (and blond!) jazz composer while the shouts of children, banished to another area of the house, rose and fell in counterpoint. Dana has been training since age 3. She is taking a risk right now, experimenting more and more with form - with what I teach in my own work as guideposts or anchors to the processes of intuitive connection - in the midst of which she can fly. Through all of this talk of study, of composition, of challenges with sexism, industry expectations, and of risking with a shift into a new mode of expression were two threads twining tightly around each other. These were the threads of remaining true to self, and of following desire.
How do we continue to follow desire, even when huge obstacles arise? How do we remain true to ourselves, and take the risk of setting down the small cup in favor of the larger? What keeps us going? And what undermines us?
For someone like Dana Reason, I would hazard to guess, what she desires is also her True Will, the work of her God, leaving her little choice but to follow along in hot pursuit. But what about for the rest of us who may not have tapped into that yet? How do we approach desire? This is a large subject, of course, and one that will not be plumbed in this one entry. But let us take one facet and begin examination.
Desiring is like falling in love. Or perhaps falling in love is the kindling of desire. There is an object and a subject that are seeking to become one thing, like a woman at her piano, making music from the mind and soul. We are overcome with desire and what then? We need to make a decision whether or not we will pursue or thwart desire, whether it will be relegated to the realms of fantasy or we will enact will and move toward daring.
People who follow desire, who feel the first rush and then enact their intention around it, are the people who create art over and over, who start humanitarian organizations, who do great things, whether in the public eye or through reaching one being at a time. One definition of desire is to follow a star. To set off on a journey with uncertain end. To risk safety for the unknown. To follow the beating of your own heart’s rhythm, regardless of what others may think of the song.
We do want to communicate. We do want to share. But genius always includes the element of the unexpected in it. Surprise is at the core of innovation. Do we really want to create the same things over and over? Is all we really want, some comfort? I don’t think so, or why would desire keep occurring, at the most inconvenient moments, calling us to someplace new? Even the best map cannot tell us what we will encounter on our journey, and the best journeys may begin with a charted course, but always veer off into the unknown.
I heard desire both in the piano notes and the conversation that followed, and I liked the music it made.
Are we willing to surprise ourselves? |
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Living in an extremely small space now, I've placed all my big statues in storage for the time being.
Here is what I'm working with:
 Whilst Pondering:  peaceful |
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I am grateful:
( previous )
22) that I get support in developing my career at work.
I got into a career exploration program that started in September and meets every month until June 2010. We've done several things with the Myer's Briggs Typing, and will also be seeing panels of people in different career paths. I appreciate that I can do this for free, during work hours.
23) for new friends.
I met some new folks and we went out for gelato. They are really neat, and I hope to see them again.
24) for vacation.
Even if it is bittersweet. I would not have chosen to take this time off, but since I have it, I am glad for the longest vacation I've had in 3 or 4 years.
25) that I have talented friends who love music.
I went to see a friend sing in a choral ensemble, singing a collection of beautiful sacred music, and it was glorious. I love this kind of music, and miss singing it. I might even consider going to a church... I also went to another friend's carol singing at a pub, with an electric cello, guitar, pipes, flute, and a few other instruments. It was great fun, and I want Chuck's cookie recipe.
26) that I have become a better listener.
Listening is a skill that helps my relationships work better, and I'm glad of that.
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We all have it, that shining crown upon our brows. What keeps us from recalling this?
The sacred fish swims deep in sacred pool. The holly berries ripen on the bush.
Gaudete. We are born. Every moment. Every day.
Christus est Natus. That means you.
Right now. |
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