Switching Over to LiveJournal

Here's the link:

"Why don't we drive in the rain....o for a ride in the driving rain" -- Driving Rain, Paul McCartney

That about sums up England's weather. Seriously, it rained almost non stop but that in no way hindered our ability to have a grand time. Back to the vacation summary...which Mab has done such a better job at in her blog than I could...can I just tell you to go over there and read about our trip there, or is that cheating? LOL

I've said it a number of times, but it deserves saying againg...the BritGrovers are truly wonderful and the whole vacation with them was surreal in the manner that we felt like we were so at home with everyone of them. Dirk and I are already planning a return trip once we figure out how to pay off this trip!
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Now, the weather in Colorado....that's a WHOLE 'nother story. It's been gorgeous here. On Sunday morning, Dirk and I packed up Allie and Matilda to make the 4 mile round trip trek down to the farmer's market to pick up something for dinner. It was such a nice morning and the girls loved their jaunt. The best part was when we got back they immediately flopped down on the couch and we didn't hear a peep out of them for hours.

Speaking of Peeps, we were successful in our plan to incorporate the love of Peeps into Britian...(insert evil cackle)....

I'm trying to get my work finishing up this morning so that I can nip off to the pool this afternoon while the boss is on a plane and out of touch. :)

However, the best news of the day is that I am expecting an extra special, super duper delivery next week! I have so admired Amy Rawson's Finnoula sculpture since the day I first saw it and recently had the opportunity to negotiate the purchase of it from the current owner. (insert VERY happy pagan dance)

If Jesus Were Here Today, He Would Be Called A Witch by Carl McColman

This was posted on a local Pagan/Wiccan list this week. It's an interesting read. Thoughts?
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If Jesus Were Here Today, He Would Be Called A Witch by Carl McColman

Thirteen reasons why Jesus, if he were here today, would be a Witch. No single one of these reasons prove the Witchiness of Jesus; but taken as a whole, they make for a compelling case.

1. Jesus criticized the hypocrisy and legalism of the religious status quo, and chose to embrace an alternative spiritual path. Matthew 23:1-36. In Jesus' day, the religious establishment included the Pharisees and Sadducees, dominant factions in first century Judaism. Jesus' alternative path followed the radical teachings of his mentor, John the Baptist. Nowadays, in Europe and the Americas the status quo is mainly Christianity; the path of the Goddess -- Wicca -- is one of the most compelling of available spiritual alternatives. Many people who embrace Wicca have the exact same criticisms of Christianity that Jesus is said to have had about the religious establishment in his day. Hypocrisy, legalism, blind obedience of the rules to the point of ignoring spiritual values like love, trust,and freedom -- these are
the problems Jesus attacked in the official religion in his day, and that many Wiccans today see in the religious status quo of our time. Perhaps Jesus, were he here today, would join Wiccans in criticizing mainstream religion and trying to find an alternative way.

2. Jesus was a psychic healer. Luke 6:19; John 9:1-12. Luke comments that "all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them." And John recounts how Jesus made a magic healing paste by mixing his saliva with soil from our Mother, the Earth. For Jesus, healing was a central part of his spiritual
identity. Witches, likewise, rely on herbal wisdom, natural foods, and psychic practices like reiki to bring healing and comfort to themselves and their loved ones. Sadly, the Christian religion rarely encourages its followers to take responsibility for their own healing, but rather colludes with a medical establishment that keeps people passive in regard to their own wellness. Jesus the healer has much more in common with Wiccan healers than with churchgoing "patients."

3. Jesus acknowledged the divinity within each person. John 10:34-36. All he was doing was quoting the Psalms, but Jesus emphasized it"You are gods." Throughout the Bible, Jesus uses mystical language to illustrate the essential unity between humanity and divinity. How sad that the church founded in his name lost that sense of human divinity, and has instead stressed the "fallenness" and "separation" that keeps
humanity alienated from the divine. Incidentally, this is an indirect affirmation of Goddess spirituality, as well -- for if we are gods, as Jesus quoting the scripture insists, then both men and women partake of the godly nature; implying therefore that God encompasses both the masculine and feminine dimension of life. So the "God" whom Jesus worships incorporates both the God and the Goddess as revered by Wiccans.

4. Jesus lived close to nature. Matthew 8:20; Mark 1:12-13; 3:13; Luke 4:42; John 18:1. Jesus took a vision quest in the wilderness; he loved to pray in the mountains, slept in gardens, and made a point of telling his followers that he had no house to live in. Frankly, it's hard to imagine him driving an SUV or worshiping in an air-conditioned church. If Jesus were here today, I suspect he'd live in an ecologically sustainable intentional community, and he'd advocate a sacred duty to the Earth with the same zeal with which he advocated care for the poor and the downtrodden.

5. Jesus believed in magic. Matthew 7:7-11. Only he called it prayer. "How many of you, if your child asks for a fish, will give them a stone?" "If you ask for it in my name, it will be done." Churchgoers often see magic as different from prayer, because prayer is timid and uncertain"Not my will, but thine." By contrast, magic assumes that the Divine Spirit loves us and wants to bless us in accordance with our highest desires. When Jesus prayed, he prayed with confidence, not timidity. And he taught his followers to do the same. Nowadays, magic may have fancy window dressing (light this candle, recite this incantation, etc.) but it still comes down to the same thing Making a request for spiritual blessing. Jesus' vision of prayer is like Wicca's vision of magicIt's based on trust and love, unlike the prayer of church religion, which is based on fear, self-criticism and self-doubt.

6. Jesus could command the weather. Matthew 8:23-27. Witches have a long-standing reputation for being able to conjure up storms and otherwise control the weather. Jesus, like any accomplished weather-witch, possessed a similar set of skills. He did this both actively (like when he calmed the storm out in the Sea of Galilee) and
indirectly (as he was dying, he caused darkness to reign in the middle of the day).

7. Jesus had a profound relationship with the elements. Matthew 14:22-26; Luke 3:16; Luke 8:22-25; John 9:6. Jesus could walk on water; he could command the wind; he baptized with fire, and he used the soil of the Earth to make healing pastes. His spirituality was primal and grounded in the power of the elements. Modern-day Christianity is abstract, sterile, and antiseptic -- it is a religion of books, words, and mental concepts. But Jesus, like most modern-day Wiccans, found vitality in the energies of the natural world.

8. Like a shaman, Jesus could channel spirits. Mark 9:2-8. One of the most profound stories in the Bible is that of the transfiguration, when Jesus conjured the spirits of Moses and Elijah. To his followers, this demonstrated Jesus' authority as a spiritual leader. Later on, Jesus tells his followers that they will do greater works than his (John 14:12); ironically, though, Christianity does not permit its followers to invoke or conjure spirits. But invocation of benevolent spirits has been a part of shamanic spirituality since the dawn of humankind, and modern-day Witches follow in this shamanistic tradition when they Draw Down the Moon and the Sun, calling the spirit of Goddess and God into their Circles.

9. Jesus was comfortable with sensuality and eroticism. Luke 7:36-50. One night, while dining at a respectable home, Jesus received a sensuous foot washing from a woman, who used oil and her hair to wipe the teacher's feet. The host and the other guests were scandalized, but Jesus saw it as a perfectly lovely expression of affection and hospitality. In fact, when comments were made to Jesus, he responded
by saying basically, "What's your problem?" Alas, the religion that bears his name has evolved into an erotically repressed spirituality, more like Jesus' uptight host than Jesus himself. Paganism and Wicca, meanwhile, are spiritual systems that celebrate sensuality, sexuality, and the basic goodness of pleasure. Jesus, who got criticized for being a pleasure lover himself (Matthew 11:19), would no doubt be at
home in Wicca's celebration of the goodness of nature and the body.

10. In his own way, Jesus practiced the Wiccan Rede. Matthew 5:21-22; Matthew 22:33; John 8:32. The core ethical principle in Wicca is the Rede"If you harm none, do what you will." There's two components to this teaching Non-harm, and freedom. It's a basic principle; you have spiritual freedom, but not to the point of harming your self or others. Compare this to several of Jesus' teachings. Matthew tells us that Jesus was so committed to the principle of non-harm that he regarded the intent to do violence as bad as violence itself. Meanwhile, John quotes Jesus as saying "Truth sets you free." But what is the truth that sets us free? The truth of love, trust, healing, and divine grace; in other words, the universal truths that can be found in any spiritual path. The opposite of harm is love. "Harm none" is another way of saying "Love your neighbor as yourself."

11. In his own way, Jesus advocated Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:32-36; Luke 12:22-34. John quotes Jesus as saying "Do not let your hearts be troubled" and "love one another as I have loved you." Throughout the Gospels, Jesus says "Do not be afraid." He suggests his disciples "become like little children" -- in other words, be trusting and openhearted. It's such a simple message, and today Wicca embodies the spirit of perfect love and trust; indeed, traditional covens require the phrase "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" as a password to gain entry into circle. Christianity, meanwhile, preaches a message based on perfect anger and perfect fear God is wrathful, and unless a person is fearfully obedient, he or she will be tortured for eternity. That's the opposite of what Jesus stood for. Love and trust leads to healing and liberation, whereas fear of judgment leads to depression and spiritual passivity.

12. His enemies accused Jesus of being under the influence of demons. John 8:48; John 10:20. It's an old tactic. When the people who have religious power want to dismiss their critics, they accuse the critics of being demonically possessed. That's what the Pharisees said about Jesus, and nowadays that's what the religious right says about Wicca. Jesus was someone who loved the average person on the street, but had
little patience for religious bigotry and self-righteousness. No doubt Jesus would feel he has more in common with Wiccans than with the fundamentalists who attack them.

13. Jesus was killed, unfairly, for his "blasphemy." Mark 14:63-64. Thankfully, Wiccans nowadays don't get burned at the stake. But tens of thousands of people -- mostly women -- did get killed in Europe for the "crime" of Witchcraft. Even if these people weren't Witches, the fact remainsThey were brutally murdered for religious reasons. Well -- so was Jesus. Modern day Wicca looks to the victims of the Witch
burnings as heroes of the Goddess faith, just like Christians see in Jesus their own spiritual hero. Jesus, meanwhile, was the kind of man who would rather side against the killers and the executioners. Given the fact that, throughout history, far more Christians have killed Witches than vice versa, it's easy to see Jesus embracing the Goddess, working to heal her children, and calling those who bear his name to repent of their violence.

"I'm gonna buy me an airplane, fly all over your town" - Goodmorning, Little School Girl -- Grateful Dead

Whew -- where to start....I can't even put into words what a fabulous holiday we had. I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generousity of all our friends in Britain. The weirdest part was that we didn't feel like we were thousands and thousands and thousands of miles from home in a strange country with people we'd never met before. It was an odd sensation of just falling into another life -- Jo and I talked about how it felt at at moment we could say "I'm going to go home now, but give me a call later and we'll talk about what we want to do tomorrow."

But, first things first....the start of our trip was a long flight to Frankfurt, Germany where we then jumped on a train to Strasbourg, France which is in the Alsace region. When we arrived at the train station we waited for hours, seriously, for the person who was supposed to come get us. The scariest part was that we were not in a "tourist" area -- very few people spoke English and we were exhausted and just wanted to lay down. Just as we were walking down the street with all our luggage to check into a hotel room for the night, around the corner came our ride. Apparently, when we got to Frankfurt we got to the train office just in time for them to rush us onto a train that we never should have been able to make -- so we arrived in France 2 hours early. LOL. I can laugh about it now.

Once we got picked up, we met up with Dirk's parents and sister to travel to Woerth, which is about an hour or so outside of Strasbourg. We stayed in a bed and breakfast that was a 16th century farmhouse/walled fortress It was gorgeous and just a bit haunted.

France was incredible and I've never eaten so much cheese or drank so much really fabulous wine and saw some really stunning scenery. You can view the pictures we took here

Sunday afternoon it was back to the train station to make our way to the Netherlands, which required an overnight in Brussels, Belgium. We only spent a few hours there, but the first thing we did was find a bar so that we could get bottles of Chimay which is our favorite Trappist Monk beer.

Monday morning we jumped on a train to Amsterdam, which was a really beautiful trip through the countryside of Belgium and Holland.

Amsterdam, was, uh, interesting. Nothing like a city where you can see the Rijksmuseum for the Rembrandt exhibit, smoke spliffs in a cafe and watch hookers sell their wares behind glass windows on the street. We spent so much time walking around and one whole day riding a canal boat around the city, jumping on and off whenever we saw something we wanted to get a better look at.

The highlight of the trip though was meeting up with Branny -- who is a beautiful woman both inside and out. We had lunch with her and spent the afternoon wandering around town. It was sad to walk her back to the train station to say goodbye...but more on that later....

'Some think that happinness is measured out in years..." Hey Bulldog, The Beatles

I have plans for next Tuesday at 1 PM at The Bulldog in Leidseplein.

Life is good.

"Don't take no rhythm, don't take no style...." - The Stroke, Billy Squier

...Got a thirst for killin', grab your vile...

How long has it been since you heard THAT song??

Now the damn thing is replaying over and over and over in my head.... I think just for giggles I'll email my boss and ask him if he remembers how the song goes....LOL....he was a DJ in the late 80's and early 90's on a TOP 40 station and he just loves it when I get some old cheesy song stuck in his head...(snorting in my best Cerr impersonation). Nothing gets stuck in his head faster than "Green Acres"....

I started packing last night for our vacation -- I'm getting a little excited and a lot nervous about being away from work for two weeks. My boss is covering a lot of my stuff which leaves a tremendous amount of things to potentially be a complete disaster and a hell of a lot of clean up when I get back...sigh...

When I moved here I swore I was never going to have a job that I felt trapped to a phone with again...oh well....

ROTFLMFAO --- my boss just called -- ...now he's singing the Stroke..in between bitching at me for getting it stuck in HIS head....(cackling my evil witch cackle)...

"My, it´s been a long, long time" -- Another Time, Another Place, Bryan Ferry

Time is flying lately...whew...I feel like Dirk and I have been running non stop this year. But over all things are good.

We went to the Ballet the weekend before last and had a nice time (We saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame). We were supposed to go with Brian and Bella, but apparently I can't read because I told Bella the wrong date and they wound up going last Friday night. I met them before the show for dinner and we had some great Vietnamese food and the most awesome dessert shakes that I've ever had. (Dirk got stuck in a major traffic jam and wasn't able to meet us).

Saturday night we went over to a friend's house to hang out, eat snacks, drink margaritas and wine and it was a much needed break. We watched part of the movie "Sideways"; now I want to see the rest of it!

We've got a handfasting to go to this weekend and then a "date" on Sunday for brunch and to hang out together. However, we need to make the reservations for brunch under an alias -- for the past two Sunday's we've made reservations and then had to cancel. LOL Anyone have suggestions on what name to use?

I finally finished the skirt that I made to take on vacation -- what a pain in the ass it turned out to be...rolls eyes...but it looks nice. I have a few things left to pack into the box and then off it goes in the post to wait at Jo's house for us to come get it. :)

Ok, back to work for me for a few hours then I have to go get the dry cleaning, pick up my pottery, stop by the vet's to get Maxwell's T4 update (thyroid levels), go to the bank and then come back here and get started on laundry. Sounds like a great time doesn't it?