Here are a few pictures from Arwen's site -- right-adjusted.

I was just wondering. I listened to a few different conversations lately, and have read a few articles where individuals debated the need for magic in their spiritual paths, and it gaxve me cause to wonder: what do most people -- of the many pagan paths -- believe about the importance of ritual and, more specifically, ritual magic.

And I wonder this because I can't imagine one without the other.

Now I'm stopping short of saying that you're wrong to exclude magical practice from the practice of pagan religions, but I have to admit that it feels wrong.

One of the things I value about this path is that through magic, I'm able to experience a real mind/body/spirit connection with my path, and I can take a much more active role in seeing my needs fulfilled.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the matter.

Living in Indiana, I see this everywhere these days. A while back -- not really certain how long ago really -- but the state sanctioned at dark blue license plate with the large white words, "In God We Trust" written on them. And though I am not 100% certain of this next statement, I do believe we -- the tax payers -- fund a large percentage of these plates because they can be purchased as the least expensive of all the vanity plates.

I really do not like these plates! Besides for all the other reasons a partially persecuted pagan would dislike the idea of these plates, they really highlight the incredible stupidity of many of the vehicle operators who choose to display them. Really? ... you ask. Well, here's an example.

This morning I was traveling on a major highway, on my way to work, when a 40-something woman cuts me off, pulling wildly out of her stopped line of traffic only to swerve out of control into mine, causing me to have to make the decision to either take her life by driving over top of her vehicle, or to swerve myself, hopefully not cutting someone else off in the process. When order returned to the situation, everyone was miraculously safe. So, you might ask, how was I greeted by the woman whose life was spared by my expert driving and a lot of luck?

She flipped me the bird! Not only did she flip me the old proverbial bird, but in her rear-view mirror I could read her overly collagen-enhanced lips as they mouthed some of the most vile words. And just as the memory of the situation was beginning cool, I could plainly see her license plate, that tax-payer supported, constitutionally questionable license plate, saying "In God We Trust"

And though not proud of it, I couldn't help but to say to myself, though aloud, "Typical christian!"

OK; so this isn't a normal post, but sometimes you just need to unload.

The last few weeks have not been the product of anything I have consciously engineered. I discovered that my father is dying of cancer, that I owe the IRS from 3 years ago, that my company is going to outsource my department, and my 15 year-old Golden Retriever had what we thought was a stroke.

My father, I knew he had cancer, and I knew that his surgery -- which by no means is a guaranteed solution -- had supposedly removed all the cancer. All but 2 of his lymph nodes came back benign, so he proceeded to take preventative chemotherapy. The doctors all said that he was doing well, great in fact, for a man of 82. But his weight never stabilized, and he began another round of incredible weight loss. After several months of chemotherapy, a few months of recuperation, and then several rounds of post treatment testing, the word was in -- the cancer had returned, and with renewed strength. After consulting multiple specialists, he has decided to proceed with a highly-experimental cocktail of chemotherapy drugs that are designed to give him a few more months. A FEW MORE MONTHS! Hardly a way to spend your last few months.

The whole IRS thing just complicates an already complicated life. I keep records, of course, but who can really go back 3 years and with a clear head figure out where they made mistakes. I don't even know if i still have that version of TurboTax. I'm screwed; I'm just going to pay it.

And I could spend days writing volumes of information about this whole outsourcing initiative. So when did we as Americans fall so closely into bed with India anyway? Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of friends who are originally from India, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but I have seen more outsourcing initiatives to Indian companies return such poor customer service, and in the end, cost the companies more money -- real money! Even after 3 studies have determined that we are already running with more efficiency at less cost than an outsourcing arrangement would bring, our management continues to march forward in an effort to claim the latest corporate buzzword for their own.

Perhaps the potentially worse thing that could have happened -- my dog becoming so ill -- turned out to be much better than we could ever have thought -- initially. Greta started her trek across the yard that sunny Friday afternoon, with firm footing, and completed it by collapsing. We had no idea what it could be, except she was exhibiting outward signs consistent with stroke. We rushed her to the hospital where they quickly ruled out stroke, but diagnosed her with a condition that is not too uncommon in very old Golden Retrievers -- idiopathic vestibular syndrome. This is an unexplained inflammation of the nerve that allows one to differentiate between up from down, and right from left. And although that was indeed the diagnosis, it was then discovered that its cause -- at least in her case -- was due to a ravaging infection in both her ears. The infection was significant enough to have eaten away both of her ear drums -- completely. With fiber-optic imagery, they were able to pass behind where her eardrums would have been, and actually resolve the nerve tissue, which was grossly inflamed. With time, lots of antibiotics, and physical therapy, Greta will once again trot across her yard, explore the pathways we created for her throughout the garden, and swim in the pond of which she is so fond. And she still will end up costing me less than the IRS.

I guess it is these difficult times that cause us to question our beliefs, to test our faith, as it were. And so I look both inward and outward to make some sense of this string of mixed karma.

OK; I have been absent from blogging for awhile, and I am determined to get a few other things off my proverbial "plate" so I can get back to what I love doing more than anything else, ... well, almost anything else, ... writing.

So here are a few titles representing topics that have caught my interest as of late:

Let me know if any of these interest you, or if you have any interesting information to share on these topics, or send me your link if the interesting information is on your site/BLOG.