I know that there’s a reason why I need to be alone/To show me there’s a silent place that I can call my own. - Supertramp

I’m planning to write a substantive post tomorrow, when I’ll be off work and have the house to myself for most of the day… but until then, I invite you to check out this review of a recent history of the Greek conversion to Christianity.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is proud to announce the publication of their newest volume: Dancing God: Poems of Myth and Magick, a collection by Diotima.

This collection of poems spans the ages from the timeless sagas of the ancient gods to the modern commuter train - it spans the human heart from the beginnings of love to the depths of grief.

Diotima, author of “Refuge: Tales of Myth and Magick,” and “Banish with Laughter: Essays of Myth and Magick,” opens her notebooks to share her poetic musings, her songs of triumph and despair, her life and loves.

1. An interesting interview with Thista Minai, author of the recent Artemis devotional Dancing in Moonlight; read the interview at Sequential Tart.

2. Ursula K. LeGuin’s latest novel, Lavinia. I am *LOVING* this book; I’ll probably offer an in-depth review when I’m done, but right now I just want to savor it.

3. Tom Stone’s new book (history? mythography? travelogue? I’m not sure exactly how to classify it) Zeus: a journey through Greece in the footsteps of a god.

A few months ago, I posted about a project I was involved with at work, investigating ways to increase my Fortune 500 company’s charitable donations. I am pleased and proud to announce that it has paid off, and my company is now negotiating a contract for disposing all our unsupported computers (and other equipment) with a registered nonprofit group that specializes in refurbishing and reselling at a steep discount to other registered nonprofits (they responsibly recycle anything that can’t be used - no landfills and no third-world dumping).

Yay for the power of commitment!

This week is going to be busy, and next week I’m traveling on business and won’t be able to blog; so I’m not going to post again until May 5th (unless something comes up that just can’t wait… and blogging emergencies are pretty rare ).

You have to be one with your whosit and do it for the joy of making it way cool. - Christopher Bingham

Interesting quiz, and fairly tough - this is is the one that has been talked about in the news recently as reflecting a general decline in Americans’ civic literacy. I think it’s a pretty good touchstone, although a certain amount of bias is evident in some of the economics questions (that doesn’t necessarily mean I *disagree* with their bias, just noting that it is present).

I scored 80% - how did you do?

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

I recently came across this poem/benediction by David Miley, another UU Druid blogger; I am reposting it here with permission (thanks, David!). May it move you as much as it has moved me.

There is a Sound

There is a Sound,
That supports the World.

It is tree dance
And brook babbling.
It is summer storm and volcano.
It is in us and apart.
As loud as sleigh bells -
Still, you may not hear it.

Touch tree.
Face fear.
Light fire.
Dance in moonlight.
Make love.
Sing.

The Sound is silent
Until you sing it.

Here’s a very cool video of a Japanese farmer making a new shimenawa (the braided rice-straw rope that marks out the sacred in Shinto tradition) and shide (zigzag paper streamers) at the New Year (these items are often replaced at this time, both for spiritual reasons and because, being made of straw and paper, they are fairly ephemeral). Shimenawa are always seen at Shinto jinja (shrines), and they may be hung in or outside homes as well, either inside at the kamidana (household shrine, lit. “god-shelf”) or outside to decorate for a festival or other special occasion.

The reasons I call this an example of “everyday sacred” should be obvious. No priest is needed to bless the work or its result, and if there are any prayers associated with the process they’re not obvious from the video (I don’t recall learning of any in my reading; if anybody knows of such, I’d be interested to hear about it). He’s just sitting on the front step with the kids running around playing, rolling his straw on the ground and the bed of his pickup, using what appears to be a screwdriver to poke the shide firmly into the rope… and at the end, he has a sacred object. This is the sort of thing that I think Jeff Lilly was talking about recently in his posts on “organic religion” and the future of paganism.

(hat tip to The Old Tokaido for the video link)

Edited to add: BONUS LINK: how to make a cardboard kamidana (great craft project for classrooms)