I was sitting in a starbucks before going to LA Valley Pride to volunteer at the Obama booth, and this nice artist drew a portrait of me and handed it to me.? So I took a photo of it and posted it here.? I had a nice afternoon at pride.? It was a smaller one than the main one in west hollywood but that did not matter to me.? I enjoyed it.
The Sabbats
| Samhain | Oct. 31 | Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, Samana, Strega | |
| Samhain is a time of remembrance of those who have passed into the next life. It is a time when the veil that separates the seen from the unseen is at it’s thinnest. During Samhain it is very easy to communicate with those “other” realms. Divination comes easy at this time of year. | |||
| Yule | Approx. Dec. 21 | Winter Solstice | |
| Yule is the celebration of the rebirth of the God who died at Lammas. Yule is a dark time. During this time of the year we await the return of light. | |||
| Imbolc | Feb. 1 or 2 | Imbolg, Candlemas, Oimbolc, Brigantia, Imbolic | |
| Imbolc is a happy time. It is the return of light to world as we leave the dark winter. It is also a time to honour the goddess Brigid (pronounced breed) | |||
| Ostara | Approx. Mar. 20 | Spring Equinox | |
| Ostara marks the first true day of spring. The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth from her sleep, as the God stretches and grows to maturity. He walks the greening fields and delights in the abundance of Nature. | |||
| Beltane | May. 1 | May Day, May Eve | |
| Beltane is celebrating the union of the Goddess and God, and thus is also a fertility festival. Also celebrates the returning sun (or Sun God). | |||
| Litha | Approx. June. 20 | Summer Solstice, Midsummer | |
| Litha is when the time for play starts to wane and the time for study starts to wax. At this time of year the Goddess enters her mother aspect. | |||
| Lughnasadh | Aug 1 | Lammas, Lughnasa | |
| Lugnasadh Is a time of mourning because of the passing of the God. It is a time of remembrance of all that the God has given you that year, and it is the time of the first harvest. | |||
| Mabon | Approx. Sept. 22 | Fall Equinox, Autumn Equinox | |
| Mabon is the time of the final harvest of crops. It is a time of rest and a time of balance, because day and night are of equal length. | |||
One thing that you rarely see in california is an autumn tree with changing leaves such as this. It was nice going to a park and being in nature. See the other photos from Laumeier Park in previous post. Thanks.
Added two new word press plugins so I can post and manage from the blackberry and it looks to be workin great.? If I can learn to type with the tiny keyboard better 🙂
Two-Spirit People, or one called a ‘Berdache’,? are individuals sometimes categorized as either gay or lesbian, transvestite or bisexual. Those who, in many Native American Cultures, who are respected and looked upon as people who are both male and female in spirit, making them more complete, more balanced than simply a man or a woman. Before those from Europe came from across the waters, and took over their land, these people were part of the ‘norm’, connected with the very heartbeat of the life force we are all part of. Even today, Berdaches are accepted in many American Indian societies and in other settings.
Some native cultures described people who have some degree of homosexuality as “Two-Spirit People.” People who have both the spirit of a male and female combined in one body. In these cultures the two-spirited person was very important and very honored. They are looked at as a messenger from Spirit, the wise ones, the seers of things unseen. Their gift of having two spirits allowed them to see, feel and understand things that others could not. They were healers, the medicine men/women, the keepers of wisdom and of spiritual understandings.
Unlike European Americans, gender or sexual divergence did not threaten the Indians. Berdache males in particular often became healers, surgeons, counselors, therapists, high religious priests, shamans, witch doctors and medicine men. They were regarded as a kind of holy men.
In pre-contact times, native American people had a great reverence for these Two-Spirit people. Quite naturally they viewed Two-Spirits as extraordinary sources of information about human nature. Two-Spirits were healers, artists, prophets — whatever their personal vision impelled them to be. The native world had great respect for personal vision. If you were born a male, but came back from your first vision quest at 13 years and said your vision told you to live as a woman, your choice was honored. You even got a new name celebrating your choice! Likewise the woman who said she wanted to live as a man, love as a man, even fight as a man, was able to do that freely.
The preceeding are exerpts from various books on the subject of the Berdache Man.
