Pagans- new identity or new spirituality?

By Kelly Moody

Having Pagan friends and being involved in the Pagan community has made me analyze many aspects of the culture. What was previously biased and derogatory connotations associated with paganism such as witchcraft, evil spells, ugly witches, wearing all black, worshipping the devil, which are all definitely falsities of paganism are still identifying factors for pagans. i go to drum circle almost every week and most of the people there wear all black, boys and girls with black eyeliner, t-shirts with references to the stereotype of 'paganism' rather than what it actually encompasses. It just seems to me so many people identify with it because of the mysteriousness of it to the rest of society, because it is an 'other' culture. With the way identity is shaped today, people take paganism and turn it into a way to commune and to belong to a group rather to even understand or identify the spirituality of it. Most of the people who go to drum circle don't even actually participate or even understand what the drum circle is about. they stand around the outside, being social, being there because they feel they belong there. The people within the drum circle, the drummers, dancers, trancers are in another world. They ARE the world. There is a definite dichotomy between the people at drum circle for the sacredness of the event and the people there for the self-identity of the group. the problem is when the two groups merge in ways that can cause disrespect for the others. The attendees that are there for the identity will often be loud, throw cigarettes in the circle, fight outside of the circle and this distracts and disrupts the sacredness of the circle itself, and the people who are there to celebrate mother earth, to feel the connection between themselves and all other things. the actual sacredness of paganism, or what the reemergence of neo-pagan culture celebrates, is a sort of reaction to the lack of the sacred in our society. It is a realization of the disrespect for the earth, an attempt to commune with nature again, to re-sacredify the earth and nature. the sad thing is that all of this happens in the middle of Norfolk, with a fence and parking lots surrounding the circle, often airplanes and transfer trucks fly overhead. that which constantly keeps me intrigued despite the 'scensters' or the 'airplanes/parking lots' is passion of the circle, the energy of the circle. The love these dedicated people have towards the earth, the way they make this love a part of every aspect of their lives. Its admirable, and it feels genuine.

Amantani Island Homestay experience

By Kelly Moody
This summer i traveled to Peru and Bolivia and during part of the time there we stayed with a family. I relate this experience to this class because of the uniqueness of the people we stayed with. We traveled to Amantani Island, located in Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. They fact that it is located so high up in the air plays a big role in the dynamic of the culture of the Lake itself, a group of people on one island may never ever interact with a group of people on an island within viewing distance because of the way time is seemingly slowed down on this lake due to the way our biology is affected my the environment. Distance feels further because it takes more to get from place to place. Its kind of like how mountains separate people who could actually be quite close together, but physically it is hard to interact with each other. The lake feels so much bigger than it is, the islands feel so much bigger than they are because of the oxygen level. These people have adapted their lifestyles to this climate. On Amantani Island, 1/3 or more of the people have NEVER left the island. They don't know what it is like to have that faster speed, that time is viewed differently in a city like Lima, closer to sea level where more oxygen is abundant. But in reality, if those people have never left, then how would they even understand at all? i know when we came back down to Lima after being approx. 12,000 feet up for almost 2 weeks, i felt so disassociated and confused. Imagine also the myth associated with living on such an island and having never left it. That island is YOUR world. They have no way of having the global view like we do in the West, because they do not have the technology to do so. Yet they are so happy. we are fooled(like many people in our group unfortunately, with the eurocentrism they brought with them) into thinking they need to adopt technology, they need to adopt to the modern world. Their simple(but not really simple, just less dependent on technology) lifestyles create another reality for them. The island has never even had electricity. The only sense of the outside world they have is these strange people from far far away..'tourists' that bring strange material things, that they can live without but take in anyway because they're gifts, because they don't see the long term implications of the taking of these western material things. Yes, when you stay with families there, you must bring gifts. I had such a moral dilemma before going on the trip--what can i bring them that won't ruin them? Its really hard to find anything, and you also don't want to disrespect them, maybe they expect really new innovative things. Anna and I, my roommate for the trip and on the island, decided to bring things that wouldn't be too terribly unintentionally westernizing. We brought paint sets, paint pads, sticker books( for the kids), pens and pencils--and for fun Anna brought neon colored Hawaiian leis. Pens and pencils...what does that imply? literacy? and the reality is, most of the people on the island are not literate. They only have one store on the island, they rarely use money within the island culture, therefore don't need to have that concept of record keeping with regards to money. Though more and more, people are leaving the island to work in the portside city of Puno, or trade goods in Puno for other crops like quinoa. It is becoming more necessary for literacy on the island, hence the one school(that meets a few times a week, and a teacher from Puno comes to teach all of the children). More children can read and write than adults. The family we stayed with was very interesting. It seemed that everyone lived with the grandparents, and they were the heads of the household. There were two younger children, probably 5 and 8? I could not tell who the mother was, but there were about 3 women who lived in the house. They all looked older than they actually were. The girl that took us places and showed us around was only 16 years old, out of school and could not read or write. with the kind of lifestyle that sustains them on the island alone, there was no need for it. I noticed my family got up really early and tended to their gardens all day long, eating and resting some of the time, or going to the shore. The lifestyle on the island was very agriculturally based, and each family had their own section of land that seemed so much bigger than it was, the families seems so much more separated than they actually physically were because of the air. It was like an invisible quietness in between things, once you finally got to where you were walking to, suddenly reality began to emerge again. It was the most interesting thing i observed. Most of the island is above the tree line, very arid, clean and breezy. When walking from one home to the next, or from one side of the island to the other, going up or downhill, it was like running a marathon taking one step. All of us in our group were in this oxygen deprived subreality, holding our munya up to our noses to open our lungs more. Munya is this wonderful herb they use there to deal with the oxygen, it also is great for digestion and for sickness. Before i went to the island i was really sick from the food(bacteria is different, sanitation is different) and after staying with the family, eating their home grown food(10 different kinds of potatoes, qunioa soup and omelets were the usual meals--very good food) and drinking munya tea with every meal, i felt so healed. It really disappoints me that you cannot find munya ANYWHERE, not even in other parts of Peru, i think it is only found around the Lake. It is the best tea I've ever had. Its different from coca tea, where you can buy the leaves or tea bags anywhere in Peru, any store.
The main thing i wanted to emphasize in this post was literacy. Though the family was not literate, one night Anna, me and the grandfather of the family tried to get in a conversation about our language differences. It was very hard because Spanish was their second language and also ours. Their main language on the island is Quechua though ethnically they are of Aymara descent. Quechua is the language of the Incans, and Aymara is also a language that goes with a ethnicity of a group of people in Peru before the Incans conquered them and enslaved most of them. On nearby Taquile Island, and the Uros Islands, more people speak derivatives of the Aymara language. Anyway, when we were talking to the grandfather in the broken Spanish that we knew, suddenly to demonstrate something to us, he pulled out a pen and paper, obviously a gift from some former hostel inhabitants. He carefully wrote down hello, and goodbye in Quechua for us. He also signaled for me to write in Spanish and in English the same words for hello and goodbye. It was a very interesting moment, because through the mediation of the paper, we could understand each other. The whole time staying with them, the only real way we could communicate was through hand motions, laughs and smiles. I so much wanted to talk to them about their religion or their favorite foods, views on life. that's not possible with the language barrier. But with the paper there in between us, for a moment we understood. He spoke 'hi', i spoke 'yosparasanki'. It wondered how much else he could write, if his daughter or granddaughter could not even read or write.
Though i was very happy about our brief connection through paper, i wondered how me being there, how any of their guests being there had profoundly affected their way of life, or way of viewing the world. With us, they now know there is something OUT there, and does that in a sense dislodge them from the reality that is their home? Their world once was the two hills--pachamama and pachatata (mother and father) where the 2 sides of the island would race to the top of each hill, and if the pachamama won they would have a good harvest that year. the Pachamama always won. But now, what is the significance of that to them? Is it the same?

MY DREAMS - Mrs. LE (LE, KIM-CHI)

Dr. KIP REDICK
RSTD 337
LE, KIM-CHI
Date: September 27, 2007


MY DREAMS

When I was a young student in Viet-Nam, I used to dream about my education.
Some nights I dreamed I was late in coming to my class, when all the doors were closed. I stood, waiting along time with no one in sight. I was nervous, and then I woke up. I was very happy that I was not late to class. The other day I dreamed that I turned in my test papers late; but my teacher gave me a last chance for five minutes, I was very nervous. Then I turned in all the drafts, and then I notice my test papers still on my hands. I was scared I would fail. Then I woke up. I was happy again. After that day, in my dreams, I saw my lost bicycle was suddenly appear in my garage. I was very happy. Then I woke up and I felt silly.
Now I have a chance to read the book “Philosophy of Religion” from Gary E. Kessler. Shankara explains: “when we awake from our dreams, we think we know the ways things really are rather the way they appeared to be in our dreams. However, what we call being awake is just dreaming on another level. Beyond this is another awakening, and from the point of view of that higher knowledge, this is all appear to be a dream.” P. 51.
When I read the way Shankara explains “Dreams”, I feel very interested. Based on what Shankara says, how are we supposed to know what is real and what is a dream? Shankara seem to be saying that being awake is similar to dreaming but on another level. A dream can feel the same as being awake in certain cases.




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BAD NIGHT TO GOOD NIGHT - Mrs. LE

Dr. KIP REDICK
RSTD 337
LE, KIM-CHI
Date: September 27, 2007


BAD NIGHT TO GOOD NIGHT

Oh my old lady! Oh my old lady! This is Mrs. LE; I am close to seventy years old. I am very interested in going to school.
Some nights I could not sleep well because I did not pass the test well. Some nights I woke up around 2:00AM then I could not fall back to sleep again because some of my readings are still behind or home works are not finished. Then I asked myself: “Why do I have to go to school? Then I answered: “I am interested in building up my knowledge in many ways”. After that I did my home works, and I read the books. I am very happy reading some stories that I have always wanted to know. Now I can read the books. For example: In the book “Original Visions – The Religions of Oral Peoples” from Macmillan, I knew about: Nature and Society, The Sacred, Myth, Ritual etc…Some of the tradition of some countries such as: South Australian Tradition, North Australian, Central Australian etc…, and some of Olmec religion, Mayan religion, Aztec religion, Incan religion, Maori religion etc…also some of native of the Far North, native of the Eastern Woodlands, native of the Plains, native of the Northwest, and native of the Southwest etc…
Finally, the bad night turned out a very good night and I continued learning.



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unique catholicism in peru and bolivia

By Kelly Moody

Religion in Peru and Bolivia is very unique because it is defined by colonialism and syncretic because of that history. The way Catholicism was used in this part of South America and may be the case for many other parts of South America allowed for a unique Christian lens for the sacred. This is a sense of the sacred that appealed to the local people and to the colonizers, it adopted parts of both worlds to the religion in order to fit in this specific environment. Because of the way Peruvians (or the people that later became Peruvians) viewed nature, the Catholicism that merged out of this conversion had many more nature-based elements than other forms of Catholicism in the world. The Franciscan monastic order came to Peru (Saint Francis of Assisi) and flourished because of it already nature based ideology. This religion would had never worked in an environment like Peru's without the natural elements. People here rely heavily on saints and virgins that embody elements that take from the previous religions. There are saints and virgins for every town and for different purposes. There is a famous virgin in Copacabana, Bolivia, is called the Black Madonna. It is said to have performed miracles in the past and it is so treasured by the local people because it looks like them. It has dark skin. When the statue was 1st made, it was shunned by the catholic church for looking so 'native' or 'savage', for bringing the holy 'down to their level', when in reality, creating this virgin allowed for the people to relate to her, to put faith in her. After she was decked out in gold and elaboration, it satisfied the catholic church, made up for the supposed 'flaws', in a sense 'divinified' her. So it still stands now in a beautiful Mediterranean style(odd for this region) cathedral.
People here set up alters where they perform various forms of witchcraft, but since that term is so loaded with bias, we can call it material divinations towards God through the form of amulets, spells, potions, etc. People here believe in The God of the Catholic church but they put that energy towards God through worship of the Pachamama or mother earth. These alters are dedicated to the Pachamama, because to them the world revolved around reciprocity. The Pachamama provides them with food, shelter, life, and they owe her gifts and charms, coca leaves, llama fetuses, condor carcases. these are offerings, sacrifices of llamas is common on occasion. These things NEED to be done because of the harsh conditions present in Peru both socially and environmentally. though they believe in God, they still practice these rituals of giving back to the earth, with the hopes of getting something back in return. they feel as though they can steer what they receive in the direction of something specific by purchasing amulets or offerings to set at altars in churches or homes. virgins in each town are often decorated with expensive offerings in hopes of getting what the offering symbolizes. A frog for example, can come in the form of a wax amulet, carefully carved and sold in witch markets (a famous one located in La Paz, Bolivia) which symbolizes good luck. There are symbols for food, money, shelter, love, healing as well as numerous others. (this is a picture of an altar in the witch market in La Paz, Bolivia. You can see charms, coca leaves and a llama fetus on the left hand corner) Coca leaves are especially important because they are seen as sacred. Why is that so? In the Andes mountains, the climate is harsh. the oxygen low, the sun bright, the lifestyle hard. Many people in this area live an agricultural lifestyle where they work seven days a week on little food because they cannot afford food. Coca leaves provide a source of relief for the altitude(drinking coca tea is a common remedy for altitude sickness), and it also suppresses hunger. They put coca leaves on their altars, give offerings to the Pachamama through the form of coca leaves, thanking her for giving them the leaves to help them through life.
Something you can't help but to notice in the churches in Peru and Bolivia is the use of art to portray ideas(most people here are illiterate). Many traditional images such as the last supper are heavily altered to appeal to the local people. In one example of the Last supper, the dinner was a guinea pig(common dish of Peru) and the disciples mostly dark skinned. The chakana(mentioned in previous post) is also seen in the churches.

Indian Dreams 9/24/07 Bryan Trumble

I found one of the quotes from the movie Black Robes particularly interesting. I believe it was the chief who said "Dream is more real than life or death. A dream is real. It must be obeyed."
This quote struck me as interesting because it seems on one hand very similar to western thought, and on the other almost completely opposite. The ‘modern’ culture of the world is so extremely different from the culture portrayed of the Algonquin natives in the movie Black Robes. The Indians lived off of the land and prospered when the land prospered and suffered when the land suffered. This helped them to develop a very close relationship with Mother Earth and influenced their spiritual views about the earth. In this sense they came to hold their dreams as sacred foretellings by the spirits of what was to come. They viewed the state of dreaming as the most real and considered someone weird if they could not dream. In short a dream for them was like a revelation and they were supposed to happen quite often.
Similarly the west views spiritual awakenings as extremely important. All of the Abrahamic traditions begin with a divine revelation from God. This revelation is held in the highest regard and there are generally multiple revelations throughout the sacred texts. The revelations are considered some of the most real experiences one can have, the point at which they are most closely connected with the divine. Yet these experiences occur generally while the person is awake.
In contrast the western view of dreams is much less spiritual, and viewed with a much more scientific lens. They are viewed as random mental activity, and held with very little regard as to their importance, and one would certainly be considered weird to think that their dreams were foretelling the future. In this way the west seems to value revelations, yet since they believe that the revelations generally come while one is awake they hold dreams with little prophetic regard.

Native American Festival

By Kelly Moody

This summer, there was a Native American Festival at the Hampton Coliseum that me and a few friends attended. The festival had vendors that sold many native american crafts, jewelery, literature etc. On the second floor of the coliseum, booths were set up for an array of native american cultures from the tidewater area and descendents and members of those tribes were respresented at each booth. They each had histories of their tribes, where the tribes were oriented geographically and what their lifestyles were like, and how they are trying to sustain their lives and cultures lives now post-colonially. In the stage area of the coliseum were performances from various tribes throughout the day. Each tribe did their dances and some tribes joined together for dances. While this was a very interesting and educational experience, i had a view stipulations and critisicms. I wondered about the former relations of all of these tribes coming together to create a "native american experience" for non-native americans. How do they assert their indivuduality by conforming to the eurocentric label of 'native american', and were they as unionized pre-european takeover? I thought it was interesting to analyze how their identity has changed, how much more they need to assert their culture now to seperate themselves from the rest of american culture, but the way they do it is very original and american. There are positives and negative aspects to this identification and unionization through the label of 'native american'. A positve aspect is the unionization itself, the fact that former groups that may not have gotten along or did not have relations, now come together as a force. The Native American Festival itself is evidence of that. Each individual native american culture can assert themselves within, but they all come together to become more powerful within the larger American society. Also, it is an educational experience, a chance to share with the public their way of life, their heritage. It is a great opportunity. Another positive from this is that they are reasserting their identity, emphasisizing their heritage more, in order to avoid as much as possible the homogenization into the rest of society. It gives them a place, it helps them maintain their traditions even if it is not in the same context or way that it used to be maintained. A negative of this though, is the meaning of this remergence, and the quality of this kind of festival, by dramatisizing what 'was' are they really being true to what was? An example of this was their clothing, it looked nothing like traditional Native American clothing, there were bright synthetic neons and shiny patterns, very mixed with modern fashion and traditional style. Is this genuine? Overall i felt as though this festival was a good thing. Though the tribes may not be completely maintaining their traditions, it is good for the public to understand how this land once was, a least a shadow of what once was, the kinds of people who cohabited here and what their lifestyles were like.

the andean chakana

By Kelly Moody

Andean religion is very rooted in the environment from which it is derived. The Andean cross or the Chakana symbolized the connection between the important ecological and spiritual elements in the lives of the people who live in this region.

Three animals that are found in different regions of Peru(mostly Andean culture but much more complicated, indigenous rainforest plus catholicism is present too depending on what region you are in) include the condor(now endangered), the puma(sometimes a jaguar or other cat is significant), and the serpent. These three animals hold special meaning to Andean people because they symbolize the three worlds. The upper world is represented by the condor(the condor is a very large bird). the middle world and literally our own world, what WE are, is represented by the puma. The lower world is represented by the serpent. This layering of worlds and animals that represent worlds is seen in the shape of the chakana. It is like geometric totem. One animal rolling into another. With the cross, you can see a set of steps that go up, and a set of steps that go down. This signifies the upper world, middle world, and lower world. Condor, puma, serpent. The four points on the cross represent the four directions. The points in between the directions represent the 4 elements. The circle in the middle is the unifying factor, the circle of life. Sometimes a spiral is seen here, or a triangle within a circle(with 3 points= 3 worlds). In this culture, a lot of things are done in threes to represent the importance of the 3 worlds. Coca leaves(an important crop for Andean people) are put together in threes, given as offerings to the pachamama(mother earth) as a way of giving back, continuing reciprocity.
What is also interesting is how much these three animals are used throughout Andean culture. Some cities are actually built in the shape of these animals. Machu Picchu is said to resemble a condor. The Ururbamba river that runs through the sacred valley in the Andes is in the shape of a serpent and Cusco--an important Andean and Incan city is shaped like a puma. This symbol, which represents the three worlds and the three animals that represent the worlds is found all over Peru and Bolivia as well. It was an important symbol to the Incans, you can see designs incorporating the symbol in much of their architecture and carved in their stones. Even some preincan societies used versions of the symbol suggesting that the environment and fauna were so connected to the people who lived in this area through their interpretation of the world, it was carried on from one society to the next. The layers of religion and culture in Peru and the Anders is fascinating. There are numerous preincan cultures(nazca, tiwanaku, for example) whose language, culture, and religious elements were carried onto the incans who conquered them, and now the Catholicism that then conquered the incan religion is still very apparently mixed with Andean elements.
The southern cross is even see from the Andean sky as well as many other animals reflected in their view of the constellations. (serpent was cut off on right)

LE, KIM-CHI - CNU on Labor Day

Dr. KIP REDICK
RSTD 335
LE, KIM-CHI
Date: September12, 2007


CNU ON LABOR DAY


Labor Day is a national holiday. When all the government offices and public schools are closed; why did the students and their professors at CNU had to attend school?
On that day, I presumed administrative office at CNU was open, I came early to do some business with them, but I was surprised that all were closed. I saw the parking lot near the Administration office was empty. When I came to my class some students said, “Why are we going to school?” Then they told the teacher that some colleges close by such as: ODU, William & Mary, TNCC etc… were closed. It looks like only CNU opened. Last year was the same. Students complained to teachers, but teachers couldn’t solve the problem.
As a senior student, I am calling this matter to attention of Professor Kip Redick requesting if you think this is a good suggestion, then please contact whoever can solve this problem, and then next year CNU will close entire school on the Labor Day in fairness to all professors. I don’t mind going to school, but the professors should be treated equally fair to other schools. Also if the administrative people at CNU can have off on Labor Day, then I think the faculty, staff and students should get a break as well.
Thank you, Dr. Redick, for taking care of this matter and I pray that God and Buddha bless all of us.

Eagle's Perch by Ernie Stanley

Surrounded by fuzzy trees, perched above 100 yards symbolizing American tradition I discussed with my friend just why someone would be where I was then. Oddly, and though unconnected in motive, I found myself fulfilling a campus search for a sacred place (though to me it was quite profane) and why such a place would be considered such. From my high chair I knew why this place was built, and immediately gained a sense as to why such a place would be appropriate. Up there, where I was, I could see quite far and quite well.

Potomac River hall was to the right, a symbolic representation of one man’s vision, a big sibling to the York River hall, appearing nearly identical, but not quite so. James River shadowed Santoro, not much more than a modernist collage of undecorated lit windows stood before us, bland and bleak though stirring memories of light-bright and other childhood toys. And past the fields, past the imminent residence halls I stared down the entirety of University Place, even past Warwick. The beaming street lights which decorated the road cast my gaze. This was realization - I could locate nearly every building and every piece of campus peaking into the sky. This was clearly the eagle’s perch.

And then the marvel ceased suddenly, overcome with the epiphany that the tracks of light which streaked the sky over campus hid things far more beautiful than manicured bushes and village architecture. The stars were nearly invisible over campus. This astounded me, despite all the books, the academia and learning resources, there was no hope of anyone seriously studying the sky or any part of nature. Seeking them I turned, scanning the surrounding area. Stars were there, a few at least, but for the most part masked by the pollution of thousands and thousands of lights. And as I searched for the sky, I realized that CNU’s campus was the biggest polluter of them all. What did surrounding community feel, so dark compared to this abomination of lights and noise? How they must dislike the vision of the one who brought such light and noise to this section of the world and masked their sky?

I realized that I could not possibly fathom the amount of responsibility of the man whose position I know occupied, and though the view radiated power I knew I was not supposed to be where I now sat. In fact where I sat probably should not be a seat at all. And so with somewhat of an empathetic realization I left the President’s Box.

Chrissy Jaeger - Sacrifice the one for the whole

This is my first blog, I really have no idea what I am doing because I have never "blogged" before, so here goes nothing:
I was reading in Original Visions, and on page 59 Carmody has been talking about sickness and how sickness is based on the assumption that wrongdoing has occured. "The sickness of the individual threatens the tribe..." There is this underlying idea that the individual holds responsibility for the ill fortune of the tribe. This also works vise-versa as Carmody mentions. But I want to focus mainly on this idea of the individual. The next paragraph begins to bring up solutions to this problem, one of them being sacrifice. For this tribe usually an animal sacrifice of sorts is the solution to get the attention of the gods. I am reminded of a story in the bible of the Israelites traveling in the desert awaiting their promised land. God gives the Israelites strict rules and one guy out of the all the tribes of Israel breaks these rules. This causes the all Israelite tribes to suffer. Once this man confesses to his sin, he is taken and stoned. This sacrifice is made in order that the Israelites may again be in harmony with God. So, what is it about sacrifice? Why not just change the sin- or shun the one individual who was causing wrongdoing that jeopardized the tribe? Why a sacrifice? My real question comes from this -Where did people get the idea that sacrifice pleased gods or God?
It seems to me that the only way to discover what would please the gods or God, would be a "live and learn" kind of experience, or that God told the people what he desired. Hopefully it would be more along the lines of God telling the people what he desired, otherwise people are sacrificing others with no assurance that there will be a desirable result. So, then we are brought back to the question why sacrifice? Why is sacrifice in some form often the answer, for many oral traditions, to fix the problem? Is it that blood is the way to cover, or wash clean what has become damaged or dirtied?