Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

- Robert Kennedy

 

 

Circa 1945

 

C. 1945  Antifa

 

Chances are if you were born in the last century or whenever, if you were paying attention in American History class in High School this photo is familiar. It should be. The iconic image (while staged) was all about the sacrifices your parents or grandparents made during World War II to overcome fascism and defend democracy. Most everyone in the USA was against fascists back then and for good reason. It was on the rise, evil as can be, and an existential threat to freedom and democracy.

It's said what goes around come around and, as you may know, it's back. It's back, on the rise, and must be challenged yet again. This time around, the rise of fascism is not coming from the Axis powers but from right here in the "Land of the free and the home of the brave."  Fascists are in power in Washington, DC and the vast majority of the U.S. and world population know it. Fascists were the enemy during WWII and they still are today. It's as simple as that.  

 

 

   

Winter Solstice of our discontent

 

We will outlast them as We did in the past

even though they make the present intolerable 

leave havoc in their mindless path cluttered

with the wreckage of decades worth of good

their arrogance and stupidity polluting our land

and their own monuments of mud and pain

each passing day they lose the ground beneath 

them and any balance they may have had gone

stay strong we will outlast them 

Tree of Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let us meet beneath the Tree of Peace

where warring nations first buried hatchets

and strangers learned of the ways to

bring it together to bend with weather

as Eastern White Pines reach skyward

toward sun and rain and alchemy down

to roots and their relations other nations

vast web unseen a dream waking in

time to see you or be you in a way

the strangers laid them down later

to rise again on the great water far off 

this land until in time few remained

and the pain took hold the strangers 

told, return now beneath this pine 

see what you can find when blind.

 

 

 

The Theft of Yule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The term "Yule" was misappropriated from Germanic Pagans by proselytizing Christians as part of the Christmas observance. That was a long time ago. A whole lot of that spiritual theft took place in AD or Anno Domini, the period after Christ was said to be born. Some Pagans converted, some did not, but the new religion and its many proponents were vehemently driven. Their numbers grew. It was new and improved? We guess that depends on how the conversion was undertaken, peacefully or not. History tells us a lot of "or not" took place. Countless Pagan idols and sanctuaries were trashed, many Pagan beliefs were corrupted and turned into early Christian symbols. Enter Yule. 

"Yule, the winter solstice, is a time of great symbolism and power. It marks the return of the sun—when the days finally begin to get a little longer. It's also a time to celebrate with family and friends, and share the spirit of giving during the holidays." notes this observer. My  amateur research took me to far darker tales of destruction and oppression and that was just in the Middle East. In what is now Europe the coercion was similar. "As Christianity ‘triumphed’ over the course of the fourth century, so too did Christians' growing intolerance for pagans, and also Jews and ‘heretical Christians’. In the traditional narrative, Christians ended the fourth century by persecuting pagans and coercing their conversion. The political conflict was constant."  Recall the Crusades? How about The Inquisition and witch burning?  

Modern day Inquisition fans (think Christian Nationalists for instance) are quick to claim "Pagans worship the Creation not the Creator". Let's look into that. The so-called "Creation" is Nature, the Earth. It is something we can walk around in, feel, see, touch. It is what we call reality. It is also something we can love, something we might defend, something we might worship like "The Great Mystery" some indigenous people refer to. Have you seen the "Creator" recently? If so, please share the evidence.

One Pagan practice that was often shunned in ancient times was sacrifices, both animal and human. Most of us humans are appalled by such violence today unless it's on-screen or in the ring or butchers department at the store. We go to war because we feel we must and we sacrifice our young men and women to do so. It is said by devout Christians that "Jesus died for our sins". That was a sacrifice, yes? Have you ever thought about the meaning of all that? 

Time marches on and it is getting late. I don't wish to spoil your Holiday and I would like to think, in this day & age, you don't wish to spoil others' Holiday?  Happy Yule.

 

 

 

The Return of The Mad King

 

We never thought to see such a thing

yet here it is with extra madness and

a certain darkness on which to bring

fight or flight and imagining 

the worst or worse or a nothinging

or the resignation waiting in the wings

be prepared for somethingings

the show must go on regardless of an

audience or cast or even a stage to

stand upon or walk through or set

on fire yelling into the audience 

he is back gather up your things and

be prepared.

 

[ Typos intended   - d.o. ]

 

Welcome back

 

 

 

 "In the 1980s, researchers excavating a cave in the Judean Desert, in Israel, uncovered a seed that was subsequently dated to sometime between 993 and 1202 AD, making it approximately 1,000 years old. Testing of the seed suggested that it was still viable, so the research team planted and tended to it. A little while later, it sprouted. Now, 14 years later, the tree has grown to maturity.....The researchers have also found that the tree belongs to the genus Commiphora, which belongs to the same family as frankincense and myrrh."

 

While you were away trucks and chainsaws

were invented and used to clear the land 

without much thought or consideration with

fire that soon grew to consume whole forests

across the land now naked empty afraid 

back then you spread shade on Crusades and they

fought over gods and Dominion that we see today

and, believe or not, the return of mad kings

and their henchmen and women who should

know better but don't and prove that every day

sorry to have to tell you this but it is as ever

what we now call amiss and you are living

with this, again.