Yaqui Joke
by Ted L Glines
"The only thing more deadly
Than a living Yaqui man
Is a dead Yaqui man,"
Or so they say.
And the gringo hears this medly
And he is scared and shocked,
Oh so easily shocked,
But it's only Yaqui play.
The dead Yaqui Brujo,
A dead thing full of worms,
Oh the power of worms,
Is an old Yaqui joke.
A joke that only few know,
The uncaring dead,
The powerless and dead,
So say the Yaqui folk.
But the gringo hears the tale,
Sees the dead with awesome power,
Oh dark and ghastly power,
And runs away in fright.
His mind does fairly quail
Before imagination's monsters,
Gaunt and grusome monsters,
Which scare him in the night.
While the Yaqui in their glory
Slap their knees and laugh,
Oh what a hearty laugh,
As the gringo runs away.
"The only thing more deadly
Than a living Yaqui man,
Is a dead Yaqui man,"
Or so they say.
Author's Notes: True anecdote from the Brujeria, which is the religion of the Yaqui Indians. Just ask any Brujo. A Brujo (broo-ho) is a male child born to Yaqui Indian parents, just like a Bruja (broo-ha) is a female child. But, to the white-eyes, a Brujo is a witch full of frightful dark powers. Eats babies and stalks virgin sacrifices under the darkly moon. Given lengthy training by dad or mom, and a Brujo (or Bruja) may learn the healing uses of barks, leaves, flowers, and herbs and minerals, and the Brujo may become a healer ("witch doctor"). Yaquis laugh at the gringos who cringe as the gruesome masked Brujo dances among the tourists.
Wizard
by Ted L Glines
Little boy peeks in my cave
looks scared - I knew he's brave
"Welcome my son!"
"Don't kill me," he quavers,
"I won't."
"Are you a wizard?"
"Yeppers," smiling, "that's me."
"Do you turn little boys into toads?"
"Nope."
"What do you do?"
"I walk on the wind
and I test mortality,
I write silly poems
'bout love and morality,
and I eat at McDonalds
just like you."
"What will you do to me?"
"I will help you grow."
"That won't hurt, will it?"
"It might," said I,
"I will help you grow into a man
... worth knowing,
watch your spirit growing - glowing,
but there's a price along that way,
a toll of tears for you to pay
when you dance the path that's true,
for you will be a wizard too
and I will pass my staff to you."
Author's Notes: A blessing or a curse? Wizards know. No one ever accused Gandalf (or Merlin) of being jolly. Then again, this is the promise made by all good dads to their most promising sons. Isn't it?
Light Blessing
by Ted L Glines
Breathe deeply,
Relax completely,
You can hear naught
But the sound of my voice.
Breathe deeply,
Relax completely,
You're falling in trance,
You've no other choice.
The bright white light
Enters your head,
Flows down to your heart,
White blaze in the night.
Focus your spirit
On the warmth and the Light,
You're on it. You're in it,
Your soul is pure bright.
All there is,
All you are,
All wrapped up in this.
Feel the Love of our Goddess,
Feel Her hug,
Feel Her kiss.
Breathe deeply,
Relax completely,
Awaken to Life,
There's no other choice.
Breathe deeply,
Relax completely,
Our Goddess is You,
You speak with Her voice!
And this tiny wish
From me to Thee,
Walk in Peace, walk in Love,
And forever Blessed Be!
Author's Notes: Is there anyone here who is old enough to remember Dick Sutphen? I have never (yet) been to Sedona, and I have never met the man, but he is an old friend who taught me a small thing.
Texas Witches
by Ted L Glines
Our wonderful Internet has something for everybody. Can you imagine anything as unlikely as a "witch" out here in Texas? After all, this is the "Heartland," the "Bible Belt," and these Texans would not know a witch if she bit him on the nose and turned him into a Stetson-wearing toad. But there is a really really huge Website named The Witches’ Voice (TWV, or "Witchvox") which carries literary works from all over the world and from all of our 50 states. And our fair state of Texas is well represented among the witchy writers and poets, recently presenting some 800+ poems by Texans. Gosh, I account for 145 of them, myself (Whoopie-ti-ti-yo – zap - you’re a toad)!
What in the world is a Texas witch? I do personally know a few Texans who call themselves "witches," but (like poetry) they defy definition. It was Mark Flanagan who said "...defining poetry is like grasping at the wind - once you catch it, it's no longer wind." That’s about the way it is when you try to define a "witch," Texan or not. Religion does not seem to have many benchmarks to separate witches from Baptists (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are regarded and worshiped equally). Witches do not believe in Satan – maybe that’s one difference. All witches would love to come up with a spell to "turn the water into wine."
So would most Baptists, for that matter, especially those who, like me, live in dry counties. Speaking of "spells," we find the spells of witches to be about healing and support, just like prayers (but especially empowered). Their religious graven images are different, for Baptists versus witches, and mean very different things. Someday the two of them may grow close enough to debate that issue (I’d love to be there). No, I think that lifestyle may be the arena for definition. And I believe that "witch" is an improper label, sorely misrepresented and misused by Hollywood and Church alike (my apologies to Buffy-fans). A better label might be "pagan," though the two seem to be interchangeable.
If I were to choose a neighborhood where I could be sure that no wife or kids were abused or neglected, I might well choose a suburb full of witches. With a central credo of "harm none" or "harm no one," such neighborhoods abound in smiles and laughter (no hatefulness allowed there). Yes, it is more about lifestyle. Environmental issues are very high on the witchy priority list, for they view the Earth as their nurturing home, and it would be well to keep it in good working order. Very high on their list is animal welfare and many witches are in the front lines trying to help the countless pets left behind to starve and die in New Orleans, and in many works to prevent the misuse and extinction of whole species. I had the opportunity to go aboard a Greenpeace ship, and found its dedicated crew to be made up of witches (pagans). One must admire men and women who will put their lives on the line to stop a corporate factory ship from harvesting a family of whales (I saw the horrendous videos). It is interesting, the number of witchy people I know who work in forestry services and law enforcement ("to serve and protect" fits them quite well).
So, if you lived in a Texas town, how would you know if your neighbor was a witch? Truthfully, you probably would not know. It’s a dumb question, really, because you probably wouldn’t know if an ex-convict was living next door to you (far more likely in the state of Texas). Have a caution, though, if the house next door has a marshy pool in the back yard – chock full of toads! (LOL)
Spinach
by Ted L Glines
Look deep into my spinach,
what is it you have seen?
Your destiny is plain to view
in lines and swirls of green.
My spinach is special,
I grow it in my yard,
and sing it to power
with the lyrics of a bard.
Picked with tender care,
I bring the leaves inside
and waft them through my incense
where your hoping dreams abide.
Boiled in Holy Water,
as I sing a merry spell,
these leaves are steeped in spirit
by candle, book, and bell.
I talk to the spinach
before I cast your fate,
and I see in your eyes
that you can hardy wait.
Look deep into my spinach,
soggy soggy green,
and there you see your future
in the spinach of a teen!
Now say the magick words,
"Miggle, piggle, wiggle, "
and you can bet your paycheck
that this poem makes me giggle!
Author's Notes: This one is a bit of a spoof on the "witchy" kids and the "spells" they weave. Okay, so I'm not a teen! I wouldn't count too much on the spinach, either! LOL
Coven
by Ted L Glines
Being bored with life contrary
as a Pagan solitary,
I went and joined this famous coven
expecting magick, frights, and lovin,
but I found myself surprised
as I quickly realized
that this circle they called witchy
was really rather bitchy,
there was DancingSpiderGirl
being rude to Satan's Pearl
while our Priestess grandly lurked,
casting spells which never worked,
and the incense overpowering
made me want to pause for showering,
but - I spied the cauldron stewing,
bubble boiling it was brewing
eyes of newts and dragon tooth
(potion for eternal youth?),
but nay - twas never meant for drinking,
just a prop for arcane thinking,
meant to entertain us all
at this (*beeping*) witches' ball.
Author's Notes: Some covens are like that (maybe most of them), wannabes all in halloween garb, entertaining themselves as best they can. Whether punk, witchy, Goth, (baptist?), it's as real as your own belief. You'll know the craft when it finds you. Or not. Osio!
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Pagans Then and Now
by Ted L Glines
A recent dialog prompts me to (attempt to) make a few comparisons, based upon my own studies, about pagans as they were originally versus pagans as we know them today. And, within that, it is important to note that there is no possible stereotype (one size fits all) which will define pagans then or now. That said, we can look to see what may be seen, and try to get a clearer picture.
Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions. The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This group may include some of the Dharmic religions, which incorporate seemingly pagan characteristics like nature-veneration, polytheism and reverence of female deities, and are thus diametrically opposite to the Abrahamic faiths. Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as shamanism, polytheism, or animism. The term is also used to describe earth-based Native American religions and mythologies, though few Native Americans call themselves or their cultures "pagan". Historically, the term "pagan" has usually had pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir in Islam. In modern times, though, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used by some practitioners of certain spiritual paths outside the Abrahamic and Dharmic religious mainstream to describe their beliefs, practices, and organized movements. ~Wikipedia (This is the best definition I have been able to locate, but it remains largely a non-definition.)
During the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, an empire which was itself pagan, the legions and cohorts encountered pagan tribes all across Europe. Celts, Druids, and Goths, are the pagan names most remembered from that time. The fact that the Goths sacked Rome certainly made them stand out in memory. The Druids were also well known as tellers of fortunes and were utilized by the early European kings, and the Druids seem to have gotten an unearned reputation for being the soldier-arm of the Celts. In actual fact, the Celts did quite well at fighting their own battles, much to the chagrin of the Romans.
Some of the European pagan tribes were nomadic hunter-gatherers, moving from place to place with the seasons as hunting/fishing opportunities varied around the year. Other tribes, the more well-known ones, had become agrarian and had built permanent homes and villages. Their religions tended to be earth-centered and concerned with fertility, crops, and hunting. One outgrowth of those interests are the structures still remaining as artifacts, which seem to be about accurately showing the winter solstice and summer solstice, and we find this to be true in pagan artifacts found all around the world. After the winter solstice, the shortest sunshine day of the year, the Sun is born and grows in strength until the summer solstice, the longest sunshine day of the year, when the Sun diminishes day by day toward the winter solstice. The Sun was extremely important, the giver of long days, good hunting, and good harvests, so it is no surprise to find the Sun worshiped as a god. And the Moon, always changing shape and color, had her place as a major goddess. It is upon bricks such as these that the art of astrology was birthed and developed so well that it flourishes today, and, of course, was the mother of astronomy.
And the question arises: What would a pagan, living today in San Mateo, California, have in common with those pagans of yesteryear? On what level would they see eye to eye? Would they be able to coexist? With the possible exception of homeless people, it is difficult for me to visualize any current-day American being equipped to survive in the earth-based cultures of the early pagans. Those were tough people; they had to be to survive. If you were helpless, they left you to perish, and (forgive me for saying so), most modern people are helpless. Perhaps that may sound cynical until you try to imagine a suburban American being in any way useful in the daily survival efforts of an early pagan clan or tribe. If you took away our high-powered rifle, our fishing tackle, and our camos, we’d have to hunt ... for a convenience store (little joke, there).
One wonders if there might be any similarity in the religious practices of modern Druids/Celts, and their long-ago forebears. I am sure that they both would claim a high degree of relativity, but I am also sure that they would not be able to prove their case. Other than some relatively modern artwork depicting "ancient" arcane pagan rituals, we seem to have a dearth of source documentation. There are, however, artifacts remaining to be studied (in museums) which may eventually shed some light on this murky area.
What we do have is documentation bearing on Grecian, Roman, and Egyptian pagan practices, a selection of which seems to have carried into modern-day pagan practices and witchcraft literature, and in the process has created a literary muddle overlapping into Celtic "lore." One can find many such "authoritative" books on the shelves at Books-a-Million and Barnes & Noble. One might as well learn to be a pagan by carefully absorbing what Hollywood has presented in "Charmed" and "Buffy ..."
The current state of pagan "lore" lends itself to entertaining comments and questions. On MSN, there are a large number of pagan witchy sites, some of them serious, but most of them being kids who mix a bit of make-believe with plain old socializing. Recently, on one of these latter sites, a young man asked, "Can anyone tell me how to invoke dragons?" Forgive me, but the recollection still makes me giggle.
So, with few comparisons, we find no absolute answers. Perhaps, if the young fellow manages to invoke his dragons, CNN will be so kind as to bring us the news on that. Until then, Dear Reader, Blessed Be!
Priestess
by Ted L Glines
You are the cauldron
stirred and stirring
the maker who brews
intricate stews
the wizard of oneness,
and on your loom
the binder winding
chaos threads
red and black
yellow and white
into one holy fabric
of unity devine,
you are
a microcosm
under eternal glass
where molten stones
cast goddess light
soul bright
dispelling shadow,
for dark
cannot endure you
dares not defile
the temple of
~~ you ~~