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She waits beneath

Barely constrained

One of the things I love about Paganism is the ability to find beauty in strange places. What is beauty? What do we perceive as beautiful? Nature? Art? Music? Those would seem easy. But the sort of art I like may or may not be the same type of art that you like. I’m not a fan of abstract art. This piece on the left leaves me cold. (By Cesbou*) While I could stare for hours at 19th century landscape paintings. Here’s one from Thomas Cole.

You may not know the story of how Arachne defied the Goddess Athena with the beauty of her weaving, and you may know the story of how Arachne, born again as a mortal woman helped the hero Theseus defeat the Minator. But you probably do not know the tale of what came after.

In her 2002 editorial on incarcerated Pagans Anne Newkirk Niven writes about the value of ministering to that population. She sensibly points out that such folks will not be confined forever and will at some point exit the system. Cherry Hill Seminary offers literature for incarcerated Pagans at a very nominal fee. *

Niven tells us that not all Pagans feel such ministry is worth the effort. But it is worth noting that the US has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Since the 80s, incarceration in federal prisons has soared 800%. A great many of those who are confined were committing nothing that Pagans would view as an ethical violation: they were taking some form of illegal drug. And such policies are inherently racist. People of color are locked up in far greater numbers than those with fair skin.

I only know one person who is an open atheist and I don’t tend to have any opinion when I hear discussions about the existence of god. I’ll confess that I feel somewhat sorry for atheists. I think its kind of sad that they don’t get enough joy and satisfaction out of a religion to justify a bit of faith when needed. Most humans practice religion of some kind. It has been fashionable in the twentieth century to bash religion and declare it one of the major causes of human suffering. My father-in-law was one such. Culturally Jewish, his father fled the Czar when he was found to be a Communist. Harry believed firmly in an afterlife, but he had bad things to say about religion. All while participating in his Jewish community. This might seem a paradox, but it really isn’t. Judaism does not dictate belief, only behavior, and by all means debate away!

I didn’t agree with Harry, although I did agree that there had been religious wars and persecution. Religions must be part of our biology and thus serve us in a survival capacity, otherwise we wouldn’t make so many of them! It comes down to a few simple ideas. Our brains want to create stories about what happens to us. We have a biological need for meaning. (For more on this I recommend the works of Eugene D’Aquili and Andrew Newberg.) What survival need does this serve? It creates hope. Hope allows one to continue in the face of fear, anguish, and physical or emotional pain. Without hope, we are more likely to give up. For our ancestors, giving up would have, more often than not, meant death.

I’ve written a bit about land based Permaculture, a food production system that works with Nature instead of against her, and produces a great deal more food per acre than industrial farming. Powerful as this system is, it can only take advantage of part of our planet. Now it seems there are those who are innovating similar techniques in the oceans.

Brenn Smith runs Thimble Island Oyster Company. This is not industrial aquaculture with its unhealthy and badly fed fish. Brenn grows seaweed, scallops and mussels, oysters, and clams using a system he calls 3D ocean farming. The seaweed, mussels and scallops he grows on lines strung under water, while below on the sea bed are oysters and clams. Such farming creates a thriving ecosystems as native species are attracted to the farm because the farm acts as an artificial reef and storm surge barrier. Smith reports more than 150 different species in what was once a barren sea bottom. And it is highly productive. He produces more food on 20 acres of ocean using this system than he used to get from 100 acres.

What does a sustainable future look like? And how do we get there? The book Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future contains a collection of essays on the subject. Perhaps the more important question would be what kind of influence can we, as Pagans, have? We don’t have the numbers to effect elections except perhaps locally. But we can talk to people. Interfaith is one such path. But so is FB and getting involved with local politics.

Visioning sustainable food production covers a lot of ground for me. As a Pagan, I take solace in the Earth. I want to see my planet in a healthy balance with its residents, with relationship being the basis for interaction. Industrial food production does not support the relationship model, but permaculture and biodynamics do.Read More