In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Lughnasadh blessings, Women's Task Force of the Parliament of World religion releases statement, bison return to Alaska, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of August 1, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

      The Genjo Koan As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings. As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death. The buddha way is, […]

                             The Lioness of Brittany Jeanne de Belleville was heroically depicted in this illustration from an illuminated manuscript. There is something about a female pirate that stirs the imagination—and evidently the loins.   Googling women pirates turns up a torrent of pictures—heaving breasts straining against thin shirts, hair flowing in the wind, cutlassor pistol held menacingly sometimes with a cringing victim at her feet.   There are drawings old and new, woodcut prints, fantasy paintings, and plenty of posed photos, some with even less clothing.   In fact, there were, indeed famous lady buccaneers most famously Grace O ’ Malley, the Queen of Umaill and Chieftain of the Irish Ó Máille...

The Supreme Court gave Biden the green light to end the policy—so what’s stopping him?

Canoe & Kayaking Event! Join Randy Jennings and Director of Lifespan RE Robin Ahearn for some evening canoeing and kayaking at 6 pm on August 9,16, and 23! This is open to all members of the congregation. RSVP’s to Robin requested. Some canoes and kayaks are available, but we ... read more . The post Religious Education News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Come help serve summer lunch with SCM Summer Meals Program, feeding the 80% of Schenectady school children who qualify for free school lunch. Volunteers are needed to pack and distribute lunches, play games and do crafts projects with the kids. UUSS is scheduled for August ... read more . The post Schenectady Community Ministry Summer Meals Program appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The legal battle over Chi’chil Bildagoteel (Oak Flat) is now headed to the Supreme Court. Continue reading Mining at sacred Apache site heads to Supreme Court as religious liberty case at The Wild Hunt.

Today was a day that it was a good to have a back-up plan. We went to Barcelona with the intention of taking the train to Zaragoza. Once we got there I found out that we needed to have our passports with us in order to buy non-regional train tickets. Of course, we didn’t have […]

Taken with a Fujifilm X100V Just click on the photo to enlarge it   One of the joys of living in Cambridge is being able to walk it’s many large green spaces, four of which — Coe Fen, Midsummer Common, Stourbridge Common and Ditton Meadows — regularly have cattle grazing upon them. Stourbridge Common, where this photo was taken only a couple of days ago, usually looks very green, and very English, but, right at this moment, after this month’s record-breaking temperatures and low rainfall, the scene reminded me (green Willows aside) more of the scenes of cattle grazing one can see in many a classic US Western. This feeling was undoubtedly only added to by the fact that I was shooting with a lovely jpeg recipe by Justin Gould cal...

I sat quietly at the Seiðr ritual as person after person pleaded “tell me what to do.” The fear and uncertainty are real. Let’s understand why we ask these questions, and how we can learn to deal with them even if we can’t answer them precisely.

    The Layman was once lying on his couch reading a sutra. A monk saw him and said: “Layman! You must maintain dignity when reading a sutra.” The Layman raised up one leg. The monk had nothing to say. This is an episode from the Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Yoshitaka Iriya, and Dana Fraser’s translation […]

  The USS Nautilus under the Polar ice cap. On August 3, 1958 the USS Nautilus , the U.S. Navy ’ sfirst nuclear powered submarine, crossed the North Pole under the Polar icecap.   Under the command of Captain William R. Anderson, 111 officers and crew plus four civilian scientists were on board when the ship submerged off of Point Barrow , Alaska and sailed without surfacingover 1,000 miles before passing under the Pole.   She then continued submerged until she finally surfaced between Greenland and Spitzbergen on August 5.   Within days the achievementwas touted to the press as a scientific breakthrough as part of the widely hyped International Geophysical Year.   President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Anderson the Legion of Meri...

The good part, for which I am grateful, is that our neighbor came to our door to talk to us. He asked whether we would mind if they took down trees in the area between our two properties. He wasn’t sure of its status, but I told him it was a “paper road” that likely […]

Sunday, August 7 All Shall Be Well 19th Annual Joint Summer Service You are invited to the annual Joint Summer Service of neighboring UU churches hosted this year by First Church of Lancaster.   The Service will be on Sunday, August 7th at 10:00 AM and will be in-person at the Lancaster church and also online   [ … ] The post Sunday, August 7 ~ All Shall Be Well ~ 10:00 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Don’t mind us. We’re just getting through this heat wave by chilling with our summer reads, TV shows, and podcast binges. A tall glass of lemonade, with or without additive, really pairs well with them. Don’t judge! Need some recommendations? We have plenty!

After missing two years as result of pandemic precautions, the conference that focuses on Southern magical practices returned and was met with success. Continue reading Mystic South returns after two-year hiatus at The Wild Hunt.

        Other Side of Nothingness: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being Brad Warner New World Library, Novato, 2022   A Review James Ishmael Ford   I was offered a copy of Brad Warner’s new book, the Other Side of Nothingness in exchange for a review. I said sure. To be […]

As the Temple and City of Jerusalem burn Titus's Legions make off with the loot including the Menorah from the Holy of Holies. By traditionit was on this date in 70 CE that Roman Legions under the command of Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the future Emperor Titus, set fire to the Second Temple in Jerusalem destroying it and much of the city.   The date is commemorated by Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the Hebrew Calendar. In 66 the Zealots rose up and expelled the Romans from the Judean capitol .   They held sway there for four years.   But they were divided by factionalism and were actively opposed by the Phariseesand the Sadducees who were bitterabout the Zealot’s lack of obedience to traditional Jewish law and to the authority of t...

Ivan lllich plays a small role in my book The Wisdom of  Our Hands, as I mentioned in my chapter on Tools, the need that we place emphasis on tools that offer what Illich called "conviviality." There's an excellent article about Illich in the summer edition of American Affairs: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2022/05/the-corruption-of-the-best-on-ivan-illich/ Illich’s examination of schooling helped lead him to a broader thesis he called “paradoxical counterproductivity.” This was a dynamic that took hold “whenever the use of an institution paradoxically takes away from society those things the institution was designed to provide.” It is not simply that school fails to impart knowledge; it also degrades and cor­rupts knowl...

        Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being Brad Warner New World Library, Novato, 2022   A Review James Ishmael Ford   I was offered a copy of Brad Warner’s new book, the Other Side of Nothing in exchange for a review. I said sure. Now the pile […]

The Senate votes soon on a major legislative overhaul that could affect the future of climate and immigration policy. Here’s why it matters.

The pagan holiday of Lughnasa traces its roots back to old festivals that celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. In northern Europe, early August was the time when agriculturalists would begin to know what kind of grain crop they’d harvest this year. And they’d begin to have fresh grains again, instead of having to … Continue reading "Lughnasa"

In July 2022, Side With Love hosted the Climate Disaster Response Workshop for individuals interested in organizing in their communities to respond to climate disasters, led by Rachel Myslivy, Climate Justice Organizer, and Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Justice Organizer. What now? Watch the recording of the Climate Disaster Response Workshop View the presentation slides ( Slides ) ( PDF ) View the Climate Disaster Preparedness for UUs Guide Continue the conversation: join the #issue-climate-justice Slack channel We invite you to join our Green Sanctuary Team Meetings, which take place virtually on every third Wednesday of the month at 5PT - 6MT - 7CT - 8ET . These community conversations are open to anyone who is interested in tran...

The annual report issued in June by the U.S. Government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlights the countries and entities around the globe where religious freedoms are under serious attack or being threatened. Continue reading Commission releases report on religious freedoms around the world at The Wild Hunt.

The current state of my study . . . Thankfully, I can down tools for a little while during August and try to rest up before recommencing work in September. So, in consequence, I won’t be posting anything here until then. However, it struck me that I might post a useful holding post at this point to direct readers to Jeffrey W Robbins & Clayton Crockett’s excellent and very clear essay called “A radical theology for the future: five theses.” It represents well the kind of direction my own theological thinking has been moving in for the past decade and I’m very grateful to the authors for writing it in the first place. So, in case it helps any of you I post a link to it below.  As always, thank you to all my readers for your sup...

A Prayer for Hospitality Workers - Week of August 8, 2022 Grace and Generosity support and sustain all those who work in hospitality and related trades and businesses. May each and all be treated with respect, dignity, and generosity, recognizing the hard work of showing up night and day to...

Compassion for Campers made the front page in July 2020.  Sue Rekenthaler and Patrick Murfin set up gear for distribution at the First Methodist Church in McHenry masked for safety during the pandemic. Two years ago, with most of the country still pretty much on Coronavirus lock down and most of the McHenry County unhoused were locked outof shelters and daytime places of refuge Compassion for Campers struggled to adapt to the new reality and get our friendsand neighbors the gear they desperately needed.   We established twice monthly distributionsat rotating church sites in Crystal Lake, McHenry, and Woodstock.   But the logistics of storing and transporting our supplies to and from the sites each time was daunting.     Worse, the d...

When I was a kid, my favorite store was Barnes & Noble. I’ve always been a reader, and quite frankly, I’ve only ever really felt qualified to work with books. I started out with the starry-eyed vision of publishing everyone has: editing. I learned in graduate school that being an editor probably wasn’t for me and, feeling a little hopeless toward the end of my graduate career, took a marketing and sales class. It changed the game for me.

My trip to Walden Pond lead me to do some reading of Thoreau's "Paradise  (To Be) Regained" in which he reviewed a book (at Emerson's suggestion) written by John Adolphus Etzler, a German engineer who proposed a scheme through which men would no longer have to do diddly squat. Etzler in his book, The Paradise within Reach of All Men, without Labour by powers of Nature and Machinery (Pittsburgh, 1833), proposed a utopian scheme in which the sun, the tides and wind would be harnessed to do all things, much the same way engineers are proposing now. Thoreau found a few things wanting in Etzler's scheme and it's best to read it yourself, as you can do here: https://gutenberg.org/files/63459/63459-h/63459-h.htm not just for a view of modern ...

Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd recently joined Rev. Erika Hewitt for a spirited conversation about how our Unitarian Universalist theology informs the the art and craft of worship.... Continue reading "The Alchemy of Worship"

As my wife takes our daughter to bed for a well-deserved nap, Hanne takes her bicycle out of the shed, hands me the map, a helmet, and a bottle of water. In less time than it takes to recite the runes of the elder futhark, I am out adventuring. Continue reading Column: Nordic Heritage and Scandinavian Idyll at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (6 August 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (6 August 2022)"

  I used to write lots of letters to the editor, especially to our local McHenry County, Illinois daily newspaper the Northwest Herald .   Not so much anymore.   The paper kept cutting back on maximum length—it is now posted at just 250 words, although I have seen letters printed that exceeded that limit.   Your long-winded scribe can hardly write a good morning in 250 words.   In addition, the responses posted on-line were often so filled with vitriol and hate—and not uncommonly actual threats of violence—that it was discouraging.   Even the Herald editors recognized that problem and now don’t allow comments.   Anyway, I have this blog platform on which to share my blathering. Illinois syndicated politics and government c...

"Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing for long years. And for this reason, some old things are lovely warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them."—D.H.Lawrence We will each be forgotten at some point, and yet what we've created and passed along selflessly may live in other hands through extended self. Parker Palmer, suggests this poem as an allegory for teaching.Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand Of precious wood. When it was finished, All who saw it were astounded. They said it must be The work of spirits. The Prince of Lai said to the master carver "What is your secret?" Khing replied, "I am only a workman: I have no se...

    I searched my blog for the terms “defining” and “religion.” So I know those words appear twenty-six times in my various reflections. One of them from a year or so ago was even titled “Defining Religion: Or, a Fool’s Errand.” The title is probably a truth… No doubt religion is a complicated word. […]

The National Weather Service calls this “oppressive” heat and humidity. When I got up at 6:00 a.m., the temperature inside the house was 81 degrees Fahrenheit, and it was maybe two degrees cooler outside. I went for a walk while it was still relatively cool. A light breeze was coming in off the water, just … Continue reading "Heat and humidity"

A cursory glance can notice a tiny thing, yet sometimes the tiniest things can cause the greatest damage. Take tineola bissellielta, the not-so-innocent common clothes moth. Continue reading Column: The Common Clothes Moth and the Gift of Renewal at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Sunday (14 August 2022) at 1215 PM or immediately after the worship service (whichever comes later) for a special congregational meeting. You can attend in person in the sanctuary or you can attend via Zoom. We must have a quorum for this meeting. All are welcome to attend but only active … Continue reading "Special Congregational Meeting (14 August 2022)"

Please join us next Tuesday (9 August 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Summer religious education is more art and activity-based. All children and youth are with us in the service for the first 20 minutes or so and then are dismissed to their activities. On this Sunday we will pause on painting the mural and design some unique works of art we can wear. Children and youth … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 7 August 2022"

Please join us on Sunday (7 August 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. Recent news events have seen repetition of the mistaken notion that the United States is “a Christian nation.” Those who say this often point to the founders and to references to God in some of our … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 7 August 2022"

Every month, we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. For August 2022, we have chosen Basic Necessities — a diaper bank providing diapers, period products, and incontinence supplies to all who need them, at no charge. Basic Necessities is a … Continue reading "Basic Necessities — August 2022 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

Please join us this Sunday (7 August  2022) at 11:00 AM for “Power for Good” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (7 August 2022)"

Early New England meetinghouses, used for both public worship and for town meetings, differ from later church buildings in a couple of ways. First, meetinghouses lack the axial orientation of churches. A church is rectangular, and you enter through the main door in one of the short walls. The congregation is aligned along an axis … Continue reading "Meetinghouse"

Are the Gods part of Nature? Some of Them clearly are. Others, I don’t know – although I tend to think so. What I know is that I worship Them because They are good and holy and worthy of worship. And so is Nature.

Kon Tiki under sail.  She flew the flags of not only Norway of other nations represented on the crew or which offered material support to the voyage including Peru, Italy Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. On August 7, 1947 the sailing raft Kon Tiki crashed into a barrier reef off an uninhabited islet near Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu Group of French Polynesia. The ship’s Norwegian crew led by explorer Thor Heyerdahl managed to drag the craft safely to the beach.   After a few days of being stranded, they were rescued by Polynesian natives from a near-by island who came to investigate the source of unusual jetsam that had washed up on their shore.   It was the end of a grand adventurethat Heyerdahl would chron...

      Rabindranath Tagore died on this day, the 7th of August in 1941. He had been seriously ill for five years, and many considered his death a release from unmerited suffering. He was 80 years old. Tagore was born on the 6th of May,1861. He was a Bengali poet, a musician, and an […]

We tend to see ourselves, not from within, but as a reflection of our interactions with others. I  reach out and grasp the nearest object, and feel its weight and texture. It is a bit harder to do that with myself, so when it comes to grasping my own purpose in life, there can be a challenge. I suspect that's true for others as well. Yesterday I shared a poem about Khing, the master carver, whose work, and the perfection of it, required work first upon himself, on the discovery of self that led to finding the perfect tree without whose participation the work would have been trivial and of little account. The interesting thing is that when one commences upon the search for the realization of self, we discover no distinct boundaries. Ther...

What does it mean to truly welcome people into our faith community?

We completed our hundredth hike of 2022 yesterday and we made it a special event. We took the ferry to Angel Island and climbed to the top of Mt Livermore which incidentally is one of the rare mountains named for a woman – Caroline Livermore. The panoramic views from the top were amazing. We could […]

TWH speaks to transgender and nonbinary Witches about their reactions to the recently released "Declaration of the Traditional Gardnerian Wica," which has been described by many in the Wiccan community as transphobic. Continue reading Trans and nonbinary Witches respond to “Traditional Gardnerian Wica” declaration at The Wild Hunt.

Climate change continues to decimate lands held sacred by Indigenous peoples for generations

        HONEST TO JESUSThe Zen minister considers the religion of Jesus & A Christianity that can be James Ishmael Ford “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but […]

Usually considered Charles Bulfinch's masterpiece the Massachusetts State House on the crest of Beacon Hill in Boston looked like this in 1827 shortly after its completion.  It still dominates the old city, its dome now shining with gold gilt. Not only was he the first American born professional architect, but he was also the most important until the dawn of modernism and the technological revolutions of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.  He set the tonefor both religious and public buildings and left his direct stamp on two great cities. Charles Bulfinch was born in Boston on August 8, 1763.  His father Thomas was one of the city’s leading physicians and the family was prominent in social circles.  He grew up and came of age...

There is a real world out there. The Hindu concept Maya suggests that what we see is an illusion, but that's not to deny the reality of what we see, hear or touch but rather, our interpretation of it. Punch the door and your fist will hurt. Pet the cat and it will purr.  Throw the stick and the dog will chase it. The door was real. your fist is real, the pain is real, the cat is real and the sound that the cat makes is also real. The stick was real and if you're lucky the dog will bring it back. The illusion refers to our making unreal distinctions between things that deny the complex yet simple relationships between things, drawing and redrawing those lines that keep us apart and separate from each other... lines that prevent us from s...

BBC News has an article today on how Gen Z is an activist generation. The article has the usual platitudes, like Gen Z activists are different because they’re digital natives — um, we’ve heard the same thing about the Millennials. And Gen Z activists are different because they feel like there’s not much hope for … Continue reading "Gen Z activism"

The robins are trying once again–for the third time–to raise young in a nest on our back porch. The two previous times either the eggs never hatched, or the young died very soon after. I hesitate to even post this, for fear they will fail again–but, this time, both the father and mother are staying […]

This summer, children joined us at the beginning of each service for a Story for All Ages. As we look ahead to our Back to School Blessing on Sunday, August 14, we're pleased to share a list of the stories Shannon has delighted us with each week. The post Stories for All Ages appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Back-to-school season won’t be the same this year. Right-wing lawmakers continue to attempt, and in some unfortunate cases succeed, to pass legislation forcing educators to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout US history. Yes, the pearl clutchers are on the umpteenth leg of their Critical Race Theory Mass Hysteria Tour, even though it’s been pointed out that CRT is taught at undergraduate and graduate levels, not in K-12 curricula. Which brings us to an important point.

In this week's Pagan Community Notes, the Oglala Lakota Nation Tribal Council votes to exclude a Christian missionary, repatriation of cultural art, and more announcements and news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of August 8, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Indigenous wisdom drives a campaign for the preservation of culture and community in Louisiana.

Last week we went into Barcelona and went on a Spanish Civil War walking tour organized by Nick Lloyd and Catherine Howley. It’s been reviewed in the Guardian and other places. In many ways, it has been the best thing we’ve done in Spain: by turns educational, provocative, and emotional. The tour took place almost […]

An anti-Free Soil cartoon shows party leaders as warlocks brewing up a poison pot. The history of third party movements in this country is strewn with failure, futility, and frustration.   Yet often they set the stage for great change to come.   That was certainly true of the first important third party, the Free Soilers born on August 9, 1848 at an outdoor convention in Buffalo , New York ’ s Court House Park. The party arose from the bitter debateabout the status of territories recently obtained by conquest in the Mexican War.   Southern zealots wanted the whole territory including parts of Texas , New Mexico (including the future Arizona), California, and parts of the future states of Colorado , Utah, and Nevada open to slavery w...

Canoe & Kayaking Events! Join Randy Jennings and Director of Lifespan RE Robin Ahearn for some evening canoeing and kayaking at 6 pm on August 9,16, and 23! These evening paddles are open to all members of the congregation. Our August 9 trip will take place at Kiwanis ... read more . The post Religious Education News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

We will celebrate the new church year on Sunday Sep. 18. Stay tuned for details on what that celebration will look like. In the meantime, collect a small water sample from a place you visit this summer that brings you sustenance or symbolizes something important ... read more . The post Annual In-gathering Service: Water Communion September 18th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

New research challenges previous held consensus on the Philistines, their origin, and the structure and establishment of their culture in the Levant. Continue reading New insights into Philistine religion and their enigmatic culture at The Wild Hunt.

From George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. On August 10, 1988, more than 45 years after the start of internment, the United States government authorized reparations payments to Japanese-Americans detainedduring World War II. President Ronald Reagan signing the bill apologizing for World War II internment of Japanese-Americans and authorizing largely symbolic reparations. Ten weeks after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D . Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, ordering 120,000 people of Japanese descent—including 75,000 American citizens—into internment camps. The announced purpose was to protect the West Coast from sabotage and collusion with the enemy, but the perceived threat was...

Last weekend, Sadé and I went wine tasting at a vineyard called Mas Comtal in Penedes. I have been to a couple of different wine tastings before. When I was in Spain about 9 years ago when I visited to a big corporate cava producer. It was fairly unimpressive. It felt like a commercial venture–wine […]

Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a fair number of witches, occultists, Druids, and others say something along the lines of “I’m not Pagan.” I respect their choices and I understand their point, but I think there’s still value in the term.

“Liberty is not liberty when it functions at the expense of equity.” Liberty is not liberty when it functions at the expense of equity.  This is the basic premise of my research. My field is ethics with a specific focus on how religion and equity interact with individuals and society.  Considering the volatility of our […]

Join us for a casually spiritual afternoon of food, fun, and friends! Please Bring Your Own Picnic, chairs, blankets — whatever makes for your fun outdoor gathering. No BBQing available. Come enjoy our beautiful courtyard and grounds, courtesy of Dot Russell’s generous gift of summer landscape care, with additional furnishings courtesy of the Taynton family! After   [ … ] The post Sunday, August 14 ~ Bring Your Own Picnic ~ 11:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Honduran immigrant shares his powerful story of finding support in his asylum journey.

Cherokee people seek restoration of the name, Kuwahi, for the Clingman's Dome. Continue reading Cherokee seek to reclaim Kuwahi as name of Clingmans Dome at The Wild Hunt.

Chicago radical printers Salsedo Press adapted this French graphic by Eric Drooker from Éditions Libertalia for the first Women's March in January 2017.  It fits the current moment just as well. Those who want to own and control women’s bodies smugly thought they had completely triumphed when the Supreme Court, infected by nominees of a criminal President, tossed decades of “firmly established precedent” to drive a stake into the heart of Roe v Wade and abortion rights.   Red States fell all over themselves to put already enacted draconian limitations in place or to enact new, often bizarre means to coercionand punishment. But they were wrong.   In a little more than a month, women and their allies have risen up and spoken out ...

Populism is a political ontology, in which political being is centered on the question of collective identity. It is also a political theology embedded within constitutional democracy.

Jeff Milchen The January 6 Committee is doing its job admirably. Now we must make sure its work results in action.

This Saturday, August 13, 2022 from 2-3 PM I'll be at the Fayetteville Public Library for a talk, display of boxes and readings  from my new book "The Wisdom of Our Hands." The Fayetteville Public Library is located at 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, 72701 On Wednesday evening, August 17, I'll begin a series of demonstrations with the Central Indiana Woodworkers in the Indianapolis area. You will find more information on their website. https://ciww.org  I have been organizing tools and materials for a series of demonstrations. My talk on Wednesday evening August 17 will be open to the public and be held in the Carpenter's Local 301 Meeting Hall 3530 S. Rural St, Indianapolis, IN 46237 Coffee and Cookies at 6:30. Meeting and presenta...

We release the Hounds to round up some recent archeological finds from Türkiye, Egypt, and Germany! Continue reading Release the Hounds: Archeology edition – August 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

Peace is not the absence of war,it is the absence of the rumors of war and the panic for war and the preparations for war. Peace is not the absence of war,it is the absence of the threats of war and the rumors of war and the preparations for war. There’ll be no freedom without … Continue reading "Going to have to work for peace"

Three recent books provide new insights into the nineteenth century Transcendentalist movement. The Transcendentalists and Their World by Robert A. Gross (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2021). Robert Gross is perhaps best known for his brilliant use of social history techniques in his 1976 book, The Minutemen and Their World. Social history was a … Continue reading "Three books on Transcendentalism"

Prayer for School Staff, Week of August 15, 2022 Beloved, strengthen, protect, and support all those who work at schools. Bless those who drive buses, are crossing guards, and who greet parents dropping children off, greeting each child and helping them to school safely, saying “here you are welcome, here...

                                                  Soldier Monks from Mt. Heie burned rival temples in 1536 by the Western calendar.   My trusty Wikipedia historical calendar, the secret weapon of a blog that most frequently offers almanac style history posts, informs me that, Buddhist monks from Kyoto , Japan ’ s Enryaku -ji   Temple in what is known as the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance burned the temples of rivals. The event is traditionally ascribed to this date in 1536.     Now I know next to nothing about either Buddhist history or medieval Japan, but that grabbed my attention.   After all, isn’t Buddhism supposed to be about peace and harmony?   At least that’s what my friends who spend their tim...

      “For our part, we regard her as neither the mouthpiece of hidden seers, nor as a mere vulgar adventuress; we think that she has achieved a title to permanent remembrance as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting imposters in history.” Report by Richard Hodgson for the  Society for Psychical Research. […]

As I settle into the house I find myself living most of my life in that space, surrounded by my allies. Hermes near the door, gathering small bright things like a magpie. Athena by the window, firm and steady and unexpected, watching with her grey eyes. The Good Neighbors at the threshold, honey in their cups and hawthorne close to hand. Continue reading Column: On Masks at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (13 August 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (13 August 2022)"

Please join us on Saturday (13 August 2022) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for our monthly building and grounds work day. Nearly all of the work maintaining our physical space is done by our members and friends who show up each month and do what needs to be done. There are tasks for all … Continue reading "Building and Grounds Work Day (13 August 2022)"

The united right in Charlottesville five years ago included Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, groups from the so-called Alt-Right, and militia members, some of them armed--the same groups that were the spear point of the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol and who are now calling for civil war because their Godfather is being "persecuted" for crimes he most certainly committed. The fifth anniversary of the White Riot known as the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia came and went on Thursday August 11 with remarkably little fanfare.   Strange because violent rampage was the introduction of an empowered white nationalist movement openly hoping to become a sparkto a new civil war.   Many of the players at the January 6, 2021 attempte...

    Florence Nightingale died on this day, the 13th of August in 1910. She was born on the 12th of May, 1820, into a wealthy English Unitarian family, in Florence and was named for the city of her birth. Florence was raised among the Unitarian intellectual elites, counting among her life long friends James […]

TWH weekend editor Eric O. Scott considers the good and the disappointing aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) Continue reading Editorial: The Inflation Reduction Act passed, and I wish I were happier about that at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us next Tuesday (16 August 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Summer religious education is more art and activity-based. All children and youth are with us in the 11:00 AM service for the first 20 minutes or so and then are dismissed to their activities. On Sunday (14 August 2022), Maggie Molisee will be back to work on the mural with the group.

Please join us on Sunday (14 August 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. Recent news events have seen repetition of the mistaken notion that the United States is “a Christian nation.” We will take a look at the troubling rise of Christian Nationalism in American politics and examine some … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 14 August 2022"

Please join us this Sunday (14 August  2022) at 11:00 AM for “Body and Spirit, United as One” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (14 August 2022)"

A color enhanced central section of the Native American buffalo hide paintings showing the last stand of the Spanish.  Historians call it a remarkably accurate depiction. Long ago and far away two empires and their native allies clashed in the middle of nowhere and things were never quite the same again although the story of what happened was nearly lost.   Sounds like the opening lines of some sword and sorcery novel or the voice-over narration of a new video game.   But it really happened along the banksof a river in what is now Nebraska.   The year was 1720.   This is what happened. In Santa Fe Governor Valverde of Nuevo México heard that Apaches of his province who often ranged far north and east along the western slope of the ...