#you have someone like stephen who was essentially forced into religious life and we know he didn't want to

[cosmic-walkers]

okay im gonna get off of steve and tom wolf hall parallels but i can't get over the whole father parallel things.

the more i think about it, the more at least in the show the whole wolsey bastard situation probably pissed stephen off because he saw how dorthea was essentially treated the same way he was treated by his own father. wolsey probably reminded stephen of his own father, in a negative way. because he had to have known about it. he probably had such a high opinion of wolsey at first, and then saw how dorthea was hushed away like a nuisance, and again, that is what happened to stephen. it's like they were both punished for being born out of wedlock.

which is so funny because the contrast to thomas is that thomas also saw wolsey as his father, a father figure who saved him and whom he loved. one who would never hurt him, and actually gave him the chance to be well, him. they were both essentially 'sons' of wolsey, sons that he had brought up, both lowborn just like wolsey but they also had such different views. and stephen started to resent him, even if in secret. at least in the show - because historically wolsey and stephen were besties.

i know we don't really develop into stephen's mind, but we know his parental situation in the book is a sore spot for him and i *think* that context is left out of the show. but that would've been another awesome parallel between them.

now tho, if stephen and thomas were friends, and stephen saw how thomas treated his own bastard now that probably would've given thomas some points in his book--

[tlbodine]

1970s: Supernatural Young Folk

Since we did murderous infants last week, I thought that would segue nicely into the next two films on my 1970s horror list: The Omen and Carrie. 

Directed by Richard Donner, The Omen (1976) is the first of a film franchise concerning a family who unknowingly adopts the Antichrist. After his newborn dies shortly after birth, an American ambassador of great wealth and ambitions to the White House is convinced to take another baby, whose mother died giving birth. He agrees to the swap, raising the child as his own and not telling his wife about it. But young Damien is an odd, quiet child, and misfortune follows him. As shadowy figures step into the family’s life, and people around them begin to die in odd circumstances, the father’s suspicions are raised...but not in time to save the family from disaster. 

The Omen is an interesting case. It certainly cashes in on the religious-horror themes that had previously been popularized in earlier films like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist. There are a number of Omen novels as well, which were in fact written as novelizations and tie-ins for the original screenplay, not the other way around! 

The film unspools at a slow pace and gives essentially no lines to young Damien, who is not so much an agent of evil in his own right as a figure who inspires evil deeds and misfortune. It’s not even entirely clear how much awareness or agency he has in regards to his demonic powers -- although the iconic final scene, where he looks back at the camera during his father’s funeral and smiles, sure hints to a sinister undercurrent. It’s a genuinely chilling visual. Another memorable and chilling scene involves uncovering the graves of Damien’s birth mother (who is inhuman) and the baby (who was clearly murdered after birth). The score is quite effective, too, if a bit overwrought. 

I will say that, in the context of the films we’ve watched so far, the leading couple have probably the healthiest marriage...but it’s a low bar to clear. The husband of course keeps a major secret from his wife re: the identity of their child, and at one point he refuses to allow her to abort their second child because he wants to....prove a prophecy wrong. Neat. What’s striking about The Omen is how, just like in It’s Alive!, a story that should ostensibly be centered on a mother’s struggles and trauma is instead focused on just how hard/inconvenient fatherhood is. 

The hardest thing about watching The Omen in 2020 is that, at this point, it has been copied and satirized so many times that it can’t help but feel hopelessly derivative. It is extremely hard to watch the film without thinking of Good Omens or even the recent horror-comedy Little Evil, which directly satirize the film. The concept is interesting -- what if shadowy forces conspired to place an evil devilspawn in the hands of wealth and power -- but at this point perhaps audiences are too cynical. We expect the devil’s spawn to come from wealth and power, tortured priests notwithstanding. 

* If I were to retell this story, and I might one day, it would be from the perspective of a parent who is convinced of his child’s evilness and uses it to justify his cruelty. The question of “What awful power could cruel belief inspire in someone” is one that I find infinitely more interesting than religious horrors but, well, that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. 

** I really do actually recommend Little Evil, which is very funny and also an oddly wholesome take on the premise. 

Carrie, made in 1976 by director Brian DePalma (yes, the guy who made Scarface and The Untouchables) came out two years after Stephen King’s debut novel and played a big role in rocketing King’s career. It stars Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie and a young John Travolta before he became a punchline. 

I remember watching Carrie for the first time as a young teen -- maybe 14 -- at a sleepover, and it resonated with me then and continues to resonate with me now in a way that is probably all-too-common for young girls. If you have ever been bullied or outcast, this movie is likely to hit close to home. 

The story centers on shy, socially awkward young Carrie, a teen who lives alone with her religious fanatic mother whose idea of parenting involves reading Bible verses, smacking her child with a Bible, and locking her up in a closet. Thanks to her sheltered upbringing, she has a hard time relating to the rest of the world, and her classmates spring on her for it with the cruelty of wild dogs. But what they don’t know is that Carrie has powers of telekinesis...and when she’s pushed too far, the whole town suffers her wrath. 

Carrie is a great, primal story of pain and revenge, and although it’s been remade several times, the remakes feel utterly unnecessary. You get everything you need to out of the original, thanks in part to the authenticity and vulnerability that Spacek brings to the role. 

Something I really appreciate about Carrie is that it has a reasonably light touch. Compared to other types of misery-porn (cough, Joker, cough), Carrie doesn’t present a world where everyone is maliciously cruel. Sure, many of the people in her life are awful, but there are plenty of others -- like her well-meaning but ultimately misguided phys ed teacher -- who try to help but go about it the wrong way, or just don’t know what they’re really getting into, or whose gestures go awry. And that seems more authentic to me. Carrie’s world is painful not because everyone in it tries to cause her pain, but because no one she encounters is able to do anything to solve her existing pain -- and that feels very true-to-life.

Anyway, by this point in history you surely don’t need me to tell you what happens in the story: She’s invited to prom, voted prom queen as a joke, and then “pranked” by having a bucket of pig’s blood dropped on her, humiliating her in front of the school and triggering her murderous telekinesis before going home and dispatching of her mother. The thing is that even though the revenge does not end well -- she literally brings the house down upon herself -- it is incredibly satisfying to watch. In real life, hurting the people who tormented you probably doesn’t help, but boy is it cathartic to watch on the screen. 

Bonus: Try the Carrie drinking game where you take a shot every time someone in the movie gets slapped. You’ll be properly fucked up by the end of the film. 

Double Bonus: After Psycho, I think Carrie has more screeching violins than I’ve ever heard in a film. It works, though, as a nice auditory signal of her power. 

[jsbowie-blog1]

Sexuality across representation and discourses

The Mammy is one of the oldest controlling images for black women. The Mammy was typically described as a woman who took care of the white slave owners children. She is typically depicted as a desexualized overweight woman, she is made to be unattractive. She is the complete opposite of conventional beauty standards based upon Eurocentric features. In contrast, she is a dark-skinned, older, and overweight woman, typically made to be unintelligent. She is the polar opposite of a white, blonde hair, blue eyed, skinny, straight hair woman. Her image was created to perpetuate the myth that black women were unattractive and unintelligent. They created a desexualized character to protect the idea that white men, particularly slave owners, were not attracted to black women and therefore could not rape them. The Mammy was seen in several movies, commercials, and mainstream media. For a long period, the only role black women could receive in the media was the Mammy image. The most famous example being Aunt Jemima. When asked why Aunt Jemima products were so successful, a historian suggested: “Aunt Jemima’s ready-mixed products offered middle-class housewives the next best thing to a black servant: a “slave in a box”. The Mammy can even be seen today in characters such as Medea. Most stereotypes we see in this age can have some roots in the Mammy character such as the “Sister Savior”, as described in Stephens article.

(This image is from an old Aunt Jemima package, found on google images)

This image is the Jezebel. Another very old controlling image used to stereotype black women’s sexuality. The Jezebel is the antithesis of the Mammy, and is an image we see much more often than the Mammy now, and also has been shaped into several other images. African sexuality was viewed as erotic, when colonizers came to the continent and saw Africans nudity they mistook it for lewdness and promiscuity. This archetype was created to justify the rapes of African slaves. The Jezebel is characterized as a woman with an insatiable sex drive who drives men to temptation (stemming from the bible’s Jezebel). In essence, black slaves could not be raped because they desired sex so much, therefore slave masters were simply giving them what they desired. This image continues as we see black women hyper-sexualized and fetishized for their black features as well as assumed to be more sexually promiscuous and “freaky”. The Jezebel can be seen spread through common stereotypes such as the “Freak”, Gold Digger, Welfare Queen, and Video Vixens. This image has been used as a tool to control black women’s sexuality as well as hyper-sexualize and fetishize black women. Black women are sought after for their mythical sexual behaviors and eroticism because of such stereotypes.

(image found on Google images : searched Jezebel Archetype)

The Diva is a sexual script given to African American women. She is described as fair skinned, slim, and straight hair. She comes from middle class. In essence she is independent, however she chooses to men who are higher in status to therefore elevate her own. Men still shape who she is as a person despite this proclaimed independence. I used a picture of myself because in description is it an image that I fit. My sister, my mother, and myself, prided ourselves on being “Diva’s” throughout my life I have basically been considered a Diva. As an African American, your womanhood cannot be fully shaped without a man’s placement in your life. The idea that even someone who is essentially independent but still depends upon a man is damaging. It teaches adolescent black girls that they aren’t complete until a man makes them complete. Also, your status in society is contingent upon the men you sleep with, which is not true. Of the sexual scripts prescribed to black women, the Diva seems the lesser of the evils, however it is still extremely problematic. 

Another sexual script is the Earth mother.  The Earth mother as described by Stephen “...appears to have a more developed sense of self as expressed through an Afrocentric political and spiritual consciousness that is obviously part of their everyday discourse and worldview. Traditional views of beauty are openly challenged by the Earth Mother’s beauty expectations and ideals embedded within an Afrocentric framework.”

I took this picture for my snapchat. As I’ve grown and become more politically aware of my existence and my place in the world I’ve moved towards spirituality. I have also chosen to embrace my hair and rebel against Eurocentric beauty standards. I have also embraced brujeria and african styled “witchcraft”. I love stars and crystals and all things magical. This has scared people within my culture as well as men. Stephens describes that the spiritual mother has a lower pool of eligible men because of their beliefs. Spiritually aware women tend to scare not only men but many people in the black community and that is because we defy notions that stem from colonialism. We reject patriarchal and racist standards.

This is me and my best friend. The next sexual script is the “Freak”. She is sexually promiscuous in her own right, she is “overtly” sexual.

I am not at all saying either my friend or myself are freaks. However something Stephen did not point out is how darkskin women are constantly hyper-sexualized in comparison to lightskin women. Much like how black women are typically described to be more sexual and less pure than white women. This same standard applies across racial groups depending on who is fairer skinned. My actions sexually do not hold the same weight as a dark skinned woman. Not only that, behaviors from darker complected women also tend to be seen as either more aggressive or sexual, even if that is not their intention. In the media the freak is typically a dark skinned woman. If it is a light skinned women her behavior is not overtly sexual. Lightskin women typically are portrayed to be gold diggers rather than a freak. Where freaks are seen as worse than gold diggers because they love sex just for pure satisfaction rather than for rewards. This idea that women simply enjoy sex, in the same way that men do, is a foreign idea to people, especially the black community.

(This picture is from cosmopolitan magazine)

This is a picture of Blac Chyna. The next sexual script to describe black women is the Gold Digger. This woman uses sex in order to gain material or monetary value. She relies completely on men for her livelihood. Gold digger is something that can be used for all women, but the demonization of the black gold digger is specifically unique. Celebrities like Amber Rose and Blac Chyna have become infamous for “using men” to acquire wealth. White women such as the Kardashians and many other women don’t receive as much hate for the same nature. The hate many people carry for Blac Chyna can be seen as direct hatred towards black women. When young white women marry men in their 80s they don’t receive the same energy, in fact its fairly common. No one blinks an eye when we see an affluent older white man with a younger trophy wife. But when a black women does the same its an issue. In most cases, it is not clear that a woman is a gold digger. Blac Chyna for instance became famous because of her relationship to famous rapper Tyga who is also the father to her child. She stayed with him until he left her for another woman. When she moved on she received rampant backlash for moving on to Robert Kardashian. While I may not know the ins and outs of their entire lives the initial treatment of Blac Chyna who was faithful to a man before he was even famous and was dumped after is rise to fame makes it clear how people view black women and their sexuality as a whole. When families like the Kardashians can use their sex appeals and scandals to rise to fame as well as increase their wealth, black women cannot.

The next sexual script is the Baby Mama. This photo is of me, my son (Zaiden), and Zaiden’s dad. The baby mama is described as a women who traps men and is the mother to a man’s child and NOTHING more. This happens when an illegitimate child is born. The baby mama is believed to purposefully get pregnant in order to force a man to stay in her life, as well as provide financially. I grew up in an urban area. Most women with children are considered baby mamas, however people often tell me I don’t fall into this scope. But I am the mother to a child, one I had before marriage. People tend to exclude me from such categorization because “I’m doing something with my life” or my child’s father is white so it doesn’t really count. The way I see people treat and talk about young black mothers but try to exclude me from the group is infuriating. This image has been long depicted upon my community with images such as the “welfare queen”. I know many men who were raised by single mothers and absent fathers and they still carry this stereotype in their minds. They forget their mother was probably called a baby mama. Black mothers, specifically young ones are constantly demonized, while white young mothers are glamorized with tv shows such as teen mom, or even the treatment of Kylie Jenner vs the way black moms are treated.

(This image was taken from twitter)

This is Cora Simmons, a character consistently depicted in Tyler Perry films and plays. She is the “sister savior”. She represents traditional views and the religious foundation of African Americans. She is moral, obedient, and saved. Being African American and growing up in the church this script is something that is common to see. In movies there is always a saved grandma or middle aged woman who is the moral compass and gives the gospel. This depiction can stem from the mammy because it is a desexualized caricature which is the care taker.

[phynxrizng]

NINE NOBLE VIRTUES

Nine Noble Virtues

The Odinic Rite lists the 9 Noble Virtues as Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, and Perseverance.

It would be hard to get much argument on any of these values from anyone. They simply and briefly encapsulate the broad wisdom of our Gods and ancestors.

In virtually every statement of values applied to Asatru, Courage is listed first. As Stephen McNallen has said, courage and bravery are perhaps the values which the Vikings are best known for. However, despite our history, few of us face such turmoil as a literal battle for ones life. In fact, I believe it might be easier to manifest courage in such a situation than to do so in the many smaller day to day occurrences in which courage is called for.

The most common of these occurrences for modern Pagans, is the courage to acknowledge and live ones beliefs. It is also, sadly, the one that we most often fail at. While we may often be full of the type of courage that would lead us to face a shield wall, many of us quake at the thought of the topic of religion coming up at the office or a friend asking what church we attend. We won't offer easy answers, but we ask this: if you toast the courage of your ancestors to fight and die for what they believed in, can you trade away your religious identity for a higher salary or social acceptance?

In an essay on values there is also the question of moral courage. The way of Tyr is difficult to lose ones hand for ones beliefs but, Tyr thought the price worth paying. In a million ways modern society challenges our values, not just as Asatruar who are estranged from mainstream religious practice, but for religious people in an increasingly not just secular, but anti-religious culture. Values are also not in favor in modern society. Breaking or getting around the rules is encouraged to get ahead. Living honorably is simply too inconvenient. I think most people, Asatru or otherwise, find this repugnant, but the only way to change it is to have the courage to refuse to take part in it.

The second virtue, that of Truth, is the one that most led our kindred to embrace the Odinic Rite's statement of values as our own. Early in our discussions, we decided that no matter what values we chose to hold out as our own, truth must be among them. It is a word that holds so much in its definition, and includes such a wide variety of moral and philosophical beliefs that we were all drawn to it as a simple statement of what we

At least one of the reasons we wanted to adopt it was the simple issue of honesty. As Bill Dwinnels said at a recent sumbel while toasting truth and honesty: if you don't want people to know about something, don't do it. Truth, in the sense of honesty, is essential to personal honor and also to any system or morality that is not based on rigid legalism. If one is to uphold an honor code, one must be brutally honest with oneself and with others.

Truth is also the Truth that comes with a capital T, the kind of Truth that one talks about in terms of religion or morality.

It's common to talk of different peoples having different "truths," but it's equally important to remember that while we acknowledge that each person or people has their own belief as to what Truth is or where to find it, there finally is a single Truth. This is not the Truth as we believe it, but ultimate Truth. While we may respect other people's truths and seek our own, we must never forget our search for The Truth.

Like the Holy Grail of Christian legend, it may never be ours to reach, but when we cease to search we

Honor is the basis for the entire Asatru moral rationale. If anything comes out in the Eddas and Sagas it is that without honor we are nothing. We remember two types of peoples from ancient times: those whose honor was so clean that they shine as examples to us and those who were so without honor that their names are cursed a thousand years after they lived.

Good Asatruar should always strive to be among the former.

However, honor is not mere reputation. Honor is an internal force whose outward manifestation is reputation.

Internal honor is the sacred moral compass that each Asatruar and God should hold dear.

It is the inner dwelling at peace which comes from living in accordance with ones beliefs and with ones knowledge of the Truth of what one is doing.

It is something deeply personal and heartfelt, almost akin to an emotion. It's a knowing that what one is doing is right and decent and correct.

In many ways while the most important of all the virtues it is also the most ephemeral in terms of description. It is all the other virtues rolled together and then still more.

The best way I have found to describe honor is that if you are truly living with honor, you will have no regrets about what you have done with your life.

Fidelity is a word that is far too often defined by it's narrow use in terms of marital fidelity.

By the dictionary it simply means being faithful to someone or something. In marriage this means being true to ones vows and partner, and this has been narrowly defined as limiting ones sexual experience to ones spouse.

While I have found this to be great practical advice, many treat fidelity as if there were no other ways in which one could be faithful or

For we Asatruar fidelity is most important in terms of our faith and troth to the Gods.

We must remain true to the Aesir and Vanir and to our kinsmen. Like marriage, Profession (the rite in which one enters the Asatru faith, similar to Christian confirmation or Wiccan initiation) is a sacred bond between two parties; in this case an Asatruar and the Gods. In order for such a relationship to work, both must be honest and faithful to each other.

Asatru, although currently being reborn, is at its roots a folk religion and we also uphold the value of fidelity to the ways of our ancestors. This is why historical research is so important to the Asatru-folk: it is the rediscovering of our ancient ways and our readopting of them.

In any discussion of the values of Asatru, discipline is best described as self-discipline. It is the exercise of personal will that upholds honor and the other virtues and translates impulse into action. If one is to be able to reject moral legalism for a system of internal honor, one must be willing to exercise the self-discipline necessary to make it work. Going back to my earlier criticism of society, if one rejects legalism, one must be willing to control ones own actions. Without self-discipline, we have the mess we currently see in our culture.

Looking at discipline in terms of fidelity, we see a close connection. Many Pagans go from faith to faith, system to system, path to path. Asatruar are much less likely to do this. The discipline of keeping faith with our Gods and the ways of our ancestors is part of our modern practice. In this way, we limit ourselves in some ways, but we gain much more in others.

Hospitality is simply one of the strongest core values at the heart of virtually every ancient human civilization. In a community/folk religion such as our own, it is the virtue that upholds our social fabric. In ancient times it was essential that when a traveler went into the world he could find some sort of shelter and welcome for the night. In modern times it is just as essential that a traveler find friendship and safety.

In our modern Asatru community, we need to treat each other with respect and act together for the good of our community as a whole. This functions most solidly on the level of the kindred or hearth where nonfamilial members become extremely close and look out for each other. It can mean hospitality in the old sense of taking in people, which we've done, but in modern times it's more likely to mean loaning someone a car or a bit of money when they need it (that's need, not want).

Part of hospitality is treating other people with respect and dignity. Many of our Gods are known to wander the world and stop in at people's houses, testing their hospitality and generosity. The virtue of hospitality means seeing people as if they were all individuals with self-respect and importance. Or perhaps from time to time, they are literally the Gods in human form. This has profound implications for social action in our religion. Our response to societal problems such as poverty (that's poverty folks, not laziness) is in many ways our modern reaction to this ancient virtue.

In terms of our modern community as a whole, I see hospitality in terms of frontier "barn raisings" where a whole community would come together and pool their resources.

This doesn't mean we have to forget differences, but we must put them aside for those who are of our Folk, and work for our common good.

Industriousness

Modern Asatruar must be industrious in their actions. We need to work hard if we are going to achieve our goals. There is so much for us to do. We've set ourselves the task of restoring Asatru to it's former place as a mainstream faith and by doing so reinvigorating our society and culture. We can't do this by sitting on our virtues, we need to make them an active part of our behavior. Industry also refers to simple hard work in our daily vocations, done with care and pride.

Here's a few concrete examples. If you are reading this and don't have a kindred, why not? Stop reading now. Go and place ads in the appropriate local stores, get your name on the Ring of Troth, Wyrd Network, or Asatru Alliance networking lists, and with other Pagan groups. Put on a workshop. Ok, now you're back to reading and you don't agree with what I'm saying here? Well, be industrious! Write your own articles and arguments. Write a letter to the editor and suggest this material be banned better that than passivity. Get the blood moving and go out and do it. That's how it gets done. The Gods do not favor the lazy.

The same holds true for our non-religious lives. As Asatruar we should offer a good example as industrious people who add to whatever we're involved in rather than take from it. We should be the ones the business we work in can't do without and the ones who always seem to be able to get things done. When people think of Asatru, they should think of people who are competent and who offer something to the world.

This doesn't just apply to vocational work, but to the entire way we live our lives. It is just as much a mentality. The Vikings were vital people. They lived each day to its fullest and didn't wring their hands in doubt or hesitation. We should put the same attitude forward in all that we do whether it is our usual vocation, devotion to the Gods, or leisure time.

Industry brings us directly to the virtue of Self-Reliance, which is important both in practical and traditional terms. Going back to the general notion of this article, we are dealing with a form of morality that is largely self-imposed and thus requires self-reliance. We rely on ourselves to administer our own morality.

Traditionally, our folkways have always honored the ability of a man or woman to make their own way in the world and not to lean on others for their physical needs. This is one of the ways in which several virtues reinforce and support each other. Hospitality cannot function if people are not responsible enough to exercise discipline and take care of themselves. It's for those that strive and fail or need assistance that hospitality is intended, not for the idle who simply won't take care of themselves.

In terms of our relationships with the Gods, self-reliance is also very important. If we wish the Gods to offer us their blessings and gifts, we must make ourselves worthy of them and the Gods are most pleased with someone who stands on their own two feet. This is one of the reasons for the Asatru rule that we do not kneel to the Gods during our ceremonies. By standing we acknowledge our relationship as striving and fulfilled people looking for comradeship and a relationship, rather than acting as scraelings looking for a handout from on high. It takes very little for a God to attract a follower, if worship simply means getting on the gravy train. We, as Asatruar, are people who can make our own way in the world, but who choose to seek a relationship with the Gods.

In mundane terms being self-reliant is a simple way to allow ourselves the ability to live as we wish to. In simple economic terms, if one has enough money in the bank one doesn't need to worry as much about being fired due to religious discrimination. We can look a bigot in the face and tell him just where he can put it. It's also nice to have something in the bank to lay down as a retainer on a good lawyer so we can take appropriate action.

On the other side of this is self-reliance in the sense of Henry David Thoreau, who advocated a simple lifestyle that freed one from the temptations of materialism. Again, here we are able to live as we wish with those things that are truly important. Religious people from all faiths have found that adjusting ones material desires to match one's ability to meet them leaves one open for a closer relationship with deity and a more fulfilling life. While our ancestors were great collectors of gold goodies, they didn't lust for possessions in and of themselves, but for what they stood for and could do for them. In fact, the greatest thing that could be said of a Lord was that he was a good Ring Giver.

Being self-reliant also means taking responsibility for ones life. It's not just about refusing a welfare check or not lobbying for a tax exemption, but also refusing to blame ones failures on religious intolerance, the patriarchy, or an unfair system. The system may, in fact, be unfair, but it's our own responsibility to

In societal terms, we have become much too dependent on other people for our own good. As individuals we look to the government or to others to solve our problems and as a society we borrow billions from our descendants to pay for today's excesses. Most problems in this world could be solved if people just paid their own way as they went.

The final virtue is Perseverance which I think most appropriate because it is the one that we most need to keep in mind in our living of the other values. Our religion teaches us that the world is an imperfect place, and nothing comes easy. We need to continue to seek after that which we desire. In this imperfect world there are no free lunches or easy accomplishments especially in the subjects we have set before ourselves. If we truly wish to build an Asatru community that people will hold up as an example of what committed people can do, then we must persevere through the hardships that building our religion is going to entail. We must be willing to continue on when we are pushed back. If one loses a job for ones religion, the answer is not to go back and hide, but to continue until one finds a vocation where one can more forward and live as an Asatruar

Finally we must persevere when we simply fail. If one's kindred falls apart because of internal strife, one should go back and start over. Pick up the pieces and continue on. If nobody had done this after the disintegration of the Asatru Free Assembly, this would probably never have been written. We must be willing to continue in the hard work of making our religion strong not just when it is convenient and easy to do so, but when it gets hard, inconvenient, or just plain boring. To accomplish without striving is to do little, but to persevere and finally accomplish a hard fought goal brings great honor.

Source (Written by Lewis Stead from the Raven Kindred's ritual book)

Found in, Witches of the Craft.com

Reposted by, PHYNXRIZNG

[marcusssanderson]

50 Compassionate Empathy Quotes

Our latest collection of empathy quotes on Everyday Power Blog.

Empathy can be defined as the capacity to understand and share the feelings of others. It is the ability to be aware of other people’s emotions, experiences, and perspectives.

Empathy is one of the most important skills you can practice in life. It is crucial for our personal development, relationships and society as a whole.  We need empathy in order to form harmonious relationships, minimize stress and enhance emotional intelligence.

Although being empathic requires skill and can often be tricky, you can develop the skill by practicing some simple habits. You can practice empathy by taking the time to observe others around you and genuinely caring about their wellbeing.

When you hold conversations with other people, take a moment to listen to them rather than simply rushing to reply. This will help you understand their emotional state and the deeper motivations behind their statements.

Empathy is best built upon mutual understanding. So as much as you learn about other people’s experiences, it’s also important that you open up about your own feelings and experiences.

Although it can be easier said than done, being empathetic is one of the best ways to make use of your Everyday Power and make the world around you a better place. Here are some powerful empathy quotes to highlight its importance and encourage you to practice it more.

  Compassionate empathy quotes

  1.) “All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” ― Tahereh Mafi

  2.) “I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” – Maya Angelou

  3.) “Empathy is simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of you’re not alone.” – Brene Brown

  4.) “You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” – John Steinbeck

  5.) “The highest form of knowledge is empathy.” – Bill Bullard

    6.) “When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.” – Susan Sarandon

  7.) “It’s the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else’s pain.” ― Pat Barker

  8.) “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” – Albert Einstein

  9.) “Anyone who has experienced a certain amount of loss in their life has empathy for those who have experienced loss.” – Anderson Cooper

  10.) “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia

  Empathy quotes to help you understand and share the feelings of others

  11.) “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”― Ernest Hemingway

  12.) “The struggle of my life created empathy – I could relate to pain, being abandoned, having people not love me.” – Oprah Winfrey

  13.) “Empathy means both understanding others on their own terms and bringing them within the orbit of one’s own experience.” – Jacob A. Belzen

  14.) “I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.”― Mahatma Gandhi

    15.) “Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It’s the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own.” – Barbara Kingsolver

  16.) “Empathetic presence involves listening to someone’s pain with what I call the five A’s: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection, and allowing.”— David Richo

  17.) “Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.” – Barack Obama

  18.) “One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”― Shannon L. Alder

  19.) “I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.”— Roger Ebert

  20.) “The only way to change someone’s mind is to connect with them from the heart.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

  Empathy quotes to inspire and teach

  21.) “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” – Marcus Aurelius

  22.) When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems. – Stephen Covey

  23.) “The opposite of anger is not calmness, its empathy.” – Mehmet Oz

  24.) “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”― F. Scott Fitzgerald

  25.) “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  26.) “Empathy is connection; it’s a ladder out of the shame hole”  – Brené Brown

    27.) “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.” – Alfred Adler

  28.)  “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” – Jesse Jackson

  29.) “Empathy requires knowing that you know nothing.” – Leslie Jamison

  30.) “Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.” – Eric Zorn

  Empathy quotes to encourage you to display it often

  31.) “Sometimes all a person wants is an empathetic ear; all he or she needs is to talk it out. Just offering a listening ear and an understanding heart for his or her suffering can be a big comfort.”― Roy T. Bennett

  32.) “Empathy is like giving someone a psychological hug.” – Lawrence J

    33.) “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” – Meryl Streep

  34.) “When a good man is hurt all who would be called good must suffer with him.” – Euripides

  35.) “The state of empathy, or being empathic, is to perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person.” – Carl Rogers

  36.) “Empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing.” – Marshall B. Rosenberg

  37.) “There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

  38.) “Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus for creating change.” — Max Carver

  39.) “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” – HARPER LEE

  40.) “If it is not tempered by compassion, and empathy, reason can lead men and women into a moral void.” – Karen Armstrong

  Other inspirational empathy quotes

  41.) “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” – Mohsin Hamid

  42.) “We have to teach empathy as we do literacy.” – Bill Drayton

  43.) “Empathy is a special way of coming to know another and yourself.” – Carl R. Rogers

  44.) “When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones. You actually understand them.”― Criss Jami

  45.) “Empathy represents the foundation skill for all the social competencies important for work.” – Daniel Goleman

  46.) “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt

    47.) “If we can get man to the moon, we can get man to walk in each other’s shoes.”— Mary Gordon

  48.) The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away,. There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.” – John Connolly

  49.) “We need empathy, we need the eyes that still can weep.” – LYDIA MILLET

  50.) “Empathy comes from the Greek empatheia – em (into) and pathos (feeling) – a penetration, a kind of travel. It suggests you enter another person’s pain as you’d enter another country, through immigration and customs, border crossing by way of query: What grows where you are? What are the laws? What animals graze there?” – Leslie Jamison

  Which of these empathy quotes is your favorite?

Empathy implies truly understanding, relating to, or imagining the depth of another person’s emotional state or circumstance.

When you try and experience other people’s realities, it will help you get along better and feel better. Hopefully, these quotes have inspired and motivated you to practice empathy and be the best person you can be.

Did you enjoy these empathy quotes? Which of the quotes was your favorite? We would love to hear all about it in the comment section below.

The post 50 Compassionate Empathy Quotes appeared first on Everyday Power Blog.

[eichy815]

An Open Letter to the GOP U.S. Senate Caucus

Dear Republican members of the U.S. Senate:

Most of you have no idea who I am, and probably assume I’m just some random nutcase on the Internet.  That’s fine.  But I still hope some of you might end up reading this.

I’m not a nationally-recognized pundit or journalist.  I’m not some Beltway insider.  I’m a “nobody.”

I’m a white male Millennial – born and raised in Wisconsin.  I come from a Republican working-class family.  My parents and sister are all devout Republicans who support the GOP almost unconditionally.

I’m also a moderate Independent when it comes to my own ideology.  I’m openly-gay.  Religiously, I’m an agnostic Pagan who leans polytheist in my spirituality. ��I have a medical disability that can sometimes affect my ability to travel.  Philosophically, I believe in rational egoism.  I’ve voted for a combination of Democrats, Republicans, and third-party candidates throughout my life.  And, like many others from all across the political spectrum, I loathe when people go overboard with political correctness.

Like I said, you probably will think I’m nuts.  Most people do.

However, my purpose in writing this “open letter” to all of you is my hope that you’ll recognize the diversity that truly exists throughout every corner of our nation.  Not all citizens on the West and East Coasts are liberal.  Not all citizens in Middle America are conservative.  And, above all else, Americans place high value on politicians who are going to stand up against corruption and defend the working person – even if it means taking a risk by breaking away from the rest of the pack.

I see the GOP headed down a very dangerous path, so I’d like to ask you to reverse course...before it’s too late for *ALL* of us.

Let’s start with President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations.  I understand why most of you need to support a majority of them.  I understand that you want people with solid conservative credentials attempting (at least, in theory) to make our government run more efficiently.  If I was a member of the U.S. Senate, I’m sure there are a handful of Trump’s nominees whom I would even vote for, myself.

But we’ve seen how controversial so many of his cabinet nominees have been – much more so than Barack Obama’s, George W. Bush’s, Bill Clinton’s, George H.W. Bush’s, or even Ronald Reagan’s.  The fact that Betsy DeVos – someone who we all know is unqualified beyond precedent – barely squeaked by with a 50/50 tie-breaking approval vote only foreshadows what the next four years have in store for us.  Do you really want to risk your own political careers by ending up on the losing side of this struggle?

Personally, I’m most concerned about the nominations of Steve Mnuchin (U.S. Treasury), Scott Pruitt (Environmental Protection Agency), and Tom Price (U.S. Health & Human Services).  I hope I’m wrong about all of them.  But my biggest fear is another U.S. economic collapse – one that’s even larger and more severe than “The Great Recession.”  Economic stability, affordable health care, and averting environmental disasters are all deeply linked to prevention of such a collective downfall.

I don’t want to end up living in a world that is essentially “The Walking Dead minus the zombies.”  No one wants that.  Not working people, and certainly not the ruling class.  Because that wouldn’t be good for *ANY* of us.

I realize most of you will end up voting for the confirmations of Mnuchin, Pruitt, Price, and nearly everyone else who hasn’t yet been confirmed.  So the most I’m asking from you is to not be shy about publicly taking them to task if they appear to be basking in ineptitude and counterproductive policies.  Because, if the next four years end up becoming fiscally-volatile – those of you running for reelection in 2018 and 2020 are the ones who will suffer for it at the ballot box.  Yes, even in the red states.

Some of the proposed “budget-saving” decisions that, if the GOP goes along with them, I believe your party will ultimately come to regret:  getting rid of the National Endowment for the Arts, defunding PBS (sorry, I’m a huge fan of Mercy Street!), and closing down the Election Assistance Commission.  These are just overly-gratuitous and bad PR moves that will be used against you in campaign ads from Democratic challengers.  And for good reason.

We are watching.

I support robust vetting for legal immigration into the United States.  But President Trump’s short-sighted travel ban has created utterly ridiculous roadblocks for immigrants who are green card holders or who have work visas.  Wouldn’t you rather have the most talented people from abroad joining our citizenry...instead of Americans continuing to lose jobs to people in other countries as a result of outsourcing?

The TSA needs to be reined in when it comes to abuses against honest, law-abiding people.  Whether it’s racial profiling people of color, or the 2015 Hannah Cohen assault in Memphis – too many “bad apples” within the TSA have shown themselves to be disrespectful or outright contemptuous of airport passengers.  I hope you’ll all work with newly-minted Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to prioritize cracking down on this indecency from the people who are supposed to be protecting us (not harassing us).

Otherwise, expect more bad PR for Republican candidates up-and-down the ballot.  Eventually, some bozo TSA officer is going to create another Hannah Cohen incident that results in a fatal casualty.  Which major political party do you think will get blamed for that?

Public outrage against the Keystone XL Pipeline and the government’s mistreatment of protestors at Standing Rock is finally surfacing, after a majority of pundits and commentators had proceeded to ignore it this past fall.  As well it should.  For my part, I’m not categorically opposed to oil and gas pipelines across-the-board.  I’m opposed to building these pipelines under and over major sources of drinking water.  Americans don’t want our water supply contaminated.  If this reality is too inconvenient for Washington D.C., then that’s too bad.  We’re not going to just “shut up” about it.  In fact, we will use it against any politician who enables it during your future campaigns.

There should be a Congressional Water Sustainability Caucus to push for legislative solutions that seek to remedy geographic droughts throughout our nation.  Displacing citizens from arid zones into colder regions of the country is simply not feasible.

On that note, someone needs to do something about Enbridge Pipeline #5 at Mackinac Bridge.  This oil pipeline is outdated and potentially hazardous; it connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  If this pipeline bursts, we could be looking at a BP/Fukashima-level crisis contaminating the water of our Great Lakes – one of America’s last natural freshwater sources.

I’d encourage you all to work with freshman U.S. Congressman Jack Bergman (since it’s his congressional district) to get this pipeline safely taken offline and renovated in order to drastically reduce the chances that it will pose an ecological hazard in the future.

America has lagged behind the rest of the world when it comes to investing in renewable energy research – along with mitigating climate change, this is an opportunity through which the alternative energy sectors could generate unprecedented venues for newfound American job creation.  Why would you not support that?

The honeybee population is in crisis.  If bees, whose subspecies are quickly becoming more and more endangered, die off – our national food supply will be in jeopardy.  In that scenario, even the wealthy and upper classes will find their livelihood in peril.

Republicans and Democrats should be joining together to pass legislative initiatives that mainstream indoor agriculture – greenhouses, hydroponics, aquaponics – as the infrastructural “wave” of the future.  This, likewise, will create millions of new jobs.  It will make America competitive as a food exporter to the rest of the world.  And it will alleviate food insecurity within the United States itself to transform our agricultural industries into world-class models that are highly-sustainable.

Embracing such a platform will also greatly enhance your reelection prospects.

Also, if you proceed to gut federal funding from Medicare – let alone embrace a boneheaded “Premium Support” model that forces all Medicare recipients to use vouchers – it will be the death knell for the Republican Party.  Too many Americans rely on Medicare to keep their health care costs manageable and coverage accessible.

Vote to go along with that, and you *WILL* lose your seats...and find your reputations irreparably tainted.  That’s a promise.

Finally, allow me to weigh in on the U.S. Supreme Court.  A majority of Americans want justices who are judicially-moderate (rather than ideologically-liberal or ideologically-conservative) with independent ears while on the bench.  I find Neil Gorsuch to be a qualified and fairly reasonable candidate – even though he’s much more conservative of a nominee than I would have personally chosen.  And, obviously, no one expects a Republican president to nominate judicial liberals or judicial progressives.

However, we all know that if Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, or Anthony Kennedy step down before 2020, any of those three vacancies will be contentious.   I’ll go even farther than that:  it could be a game-changer.

If the GOP Senate Caucus “goes nuclear” by removing the 60-vote threshold for giving U.S. Supreme Court nominees an up-or-down vote, you will have shown America that you care only about hoarding power – rather than having a prudent, functional Judicial Branch.  I don’t care what Joe Biden said in the past or what Harry Reid did in the past.  You’re the ones in power now, and if you exacerbate that irresponsibility – you won’t recover from it, electorally.  I will personally lead the grassroots movement against any of you who vote to kill the filibuster.

Besides, once the Democrats get back into power (and we know they eventually will!), don’t you want to be able to filibuster any of the next Democratic president’s potentially extreme choices?

Senator Collins:  You are, by far, my favorite Republican in Congress, right now.  I enjoy your level head and your razor-sharp focus on results over rancor.  Keep it up, and keep talking with some of your moderate Republican colleagues.

Senator Murkowski:  I respect how you frequently put the needs of families, children, and rural communities ahead of partisanship.  You remember how they came after you in 2010; if you continue to support the voices of moderate Americans who reject judicial activism from the Far Right or the Far Left, we will stand behind you if they ever try to “Joe Miller” you again.

Senator Alexander:  I’ve admired you for a very long time, and I wish you had been the one elected to the presidency either time you ran back in 1996 or in 2000.  Please don’t taint your overwhelmingly positive legacy by “going nuclear.”

Senator Portman:  You are a compassionate father to an openly-gay son, and also a praiseworthy steward for apolitical working people across the Rust Belt.  Imagine an America where Obergefell v. Hodges is overturned, where abortions are no longer a safe legal medical option even within the first few months after conception, or where organized labor has absolutely no basic recourse against bureaucratic pencil-pushers.  You can help to prevent such a toxic and divisive eventuality from coming to pass.

Senator Heller:  You’re facing what will be a very competitive senatorial race in 2018.  With Nevada’s rapidly-changing demographics, can you really afford to eschew what appear to be the final remaining strings of moderation within the Senate chamber?

Senator McCain:  While I don’t always agree with you on many policies, I absolutely respect your commitment to making the Senate chamber a sensible place of respectful decorum.  Your daughter, Meghan, is also a terrific spokesperson for my own generational cohorts – including GenXers, Millennials, and members of the iGeneration who will eventually adopt certain moderate-conservative political positions. 

Senator Graham:  I admire your tough-but-pragmatic approach to foreign policy, as well as your tendency to place serious legislative discussions over sensationalism or showboating.  If you join your aforementioned Republican colleagues in demanding moderation, you will have enshrined yourself as a celebrated icon within the Senate chamber.

Senator Paul:   I really like how you’re willing to go to bat for civil libertarians and many tenets of social libertarianism.  Those ideals will be nullified if Trump, Pence, Ryan, or Bannon are able to put a bunch of Robert Bork clones on SCOTUS.

Senator Young:  You were the better choice over Marlin Stutzman.  As you begin what could be a very long and venerable Senate career in the mold of Richard Lugar, your ability to make and keep bipartisan allies will be critical.  The political pendulum always swings.

Senator Sasse:  During your short time in the Senate so far, you haven’t been shy about speaking up for what you believe in.  Think of how much good you’ll be doing for your constituents if you lead the way for Congress to break through on agricultural sustainability.  Do you really believe that a lack of overall judicial balance would be healthy for our nation?

Senator Moore-Capito:  You’re a champion for family-owned small businesses and environmental prudence.  West Virginians are known also for your independence.  Don’t jeopardize whatever modicum of civility is left in the U.S. Senate by supporting such a blatant power grab.

Senator Lee:  You will plausibly be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court yourself, at some point in the next decade or decade-and-a-half.  You’re one of the few staunch conservatives who would probably sail through as a “consensus” nomination – don’t you see the danger of letting a less-qualified conservative SCOTUS nominee weasel their way onto the High Court?

Senator Flake:  Since arriving in the Senate four years ago, you have been a voice of reason and displayed a passion for legislative diligence.  Right now, you appear to be favored for reelection in Arizona if you run in the General Election.  That will rapidly change if you participate in stripping filibuster power from the minority.

Senator Gardner:  I assume you want to get reelected to your Senate seat in 2020.  Colorado is a closely-divided “bellweather” state.  Eliminate the filibuster, and you will get TROUNCED in that presidential election year when anti-Trump sentiments will be at an all-time high.

Senator Tillis:  I’d say the same thing to you that I’m saying to Senator Gardner, although North Carolina is arguably more conservative than Colorado...it’s still a “wild card” in a presidential election year when you’ll also be up for reelection. 

I don’t have allegiance to either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.   If you would like to see my full “presidential” platform, you can view it here.

Oh, and by the way, if President Donald Trump ends up voluntarily resigning or being impeached before 2020...these same points equally apply to hypothetical Mike Pence or Paul Ryan presidential administrations.

That is all.

best regards,

– Eichy

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P.S. -- #HandsOffMedicare !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!