Blessings,
Oraia

In the introduction, I mentioned a great (great!) audiobook I’ve been listening to, called A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson.  The audiobook makes for very entertaining listening, but I’m sure the print version is great (!) as well. 

As promised, here is the sigil/character for Arcturus, aka Alchamech, from Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy:

The Terra segment on larimar was suggested by Meical abAwen, host of the Pagan podcast (and now blog) Earth & Magick.  Thanks, Meical!

In the main segment, I mentioned (and highly recommend) the book Meditation for the Love of It by Sally Kempton.  And I mentioned a specific set of qigong exercises I’ve been doing, called “Eight Pieces of Brocade.”  Here you can find a video of instructor Jesse Tsao demonstrating that sequence.

During the break, I played promos for Pennies in the Well and Lamyka’s Wiccan Podcast.  And at the end I mentioned the upcoming Pagan Podkin Supermoot in Salem, Massachusetts.  If you can make it, it sounds like it’ll be a great time!

Thanks for listening!
- Oraia Sphinx

Raindrops turn to seeds of ice
Gathered up in both my hands.
On the altar of my heart,
Fire melts and sends them up:
An offering as precious
As any other sacrifice.

(Written by Oraia Sphinx, 6/29/11)

I mentioned in the introduction that I released a short special episode between last month’s show and this one.  You can find that in the iTunes feed, or by following the direct link given above.  I also had a few announcements about interviews I’ve done recently, one for the Pagan Podcast Spotlight by Tim Titus of The Juggler, and one with Lamyka of Lamyka’s Wiccan Podcast.  I was on her June 14 episode, titled “Oraia of the Stars.” 

Lamyka also pointed me to the Solar System Scope program online, which I really enjoy playing with.

In the Astra segment, I once again mentioned Vivian Robson’s book The Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology, as well as Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy.  These are going to continue to be primary references for astrological and magical lore about the stars and constellations outside of the Zodiac, though I may not mention them specifically in the future.

And since the main segment was a contribution to the Pagan Values Blogging and Podcasting Month project, please visit their blog to see many more contributions, and consider creating your own!

During the break, I played a promo for Borealis Meditation, and a show bumper courtesy of Chris Orapello of The Infinite and the Beyond.

As always, thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the show. 
- Oraia Sphinx

- Oraia Sphinx

In the Astra segment, I promised some links about how to tell time using the position of Ursa Major.  You can see the basics here, and at this other link you can find instructions for making a handy “star clock” that will tell you the time.  In that segment, I also included some material from Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, and mentioned Vivian Robson’s The Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology.

And that’s it for links and references in the segments; in between, I played a promo for New World Witchery, and a show bumper courtesy of Kakophonos.

As always, thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the show. 
- Oraia Sphinx

After a recent comment I made about dancing around a question rather than answering it, one of my podcast listeners wondered, jokingly, if I was considering a career in politics.  I laughed and replied that politics wouldn’t know what to do with me – but that’s not entirely true.  Never mind the fact that I don’t have access to the big money required to run for office these days; there’s also the matter of my Pagan religious beliefs.  Our political system would know exactly what to do with someone who does not adhere to one of the “big three” monotheisms: exclude them.

Realistically, this applies to adherents of most of the “big three” as well; we have just recently elected only the second Muslim ever to be in Congress, and the idea of a Muslim running for president seems laughable in our current political climate.  While there are a number of Jewish people in Congress, only one has been nominated on a major-party presidential ticket.  Even under the Christian umbrella, it wasn’t so long ago that Catholics were suspected of being too beholden to the Vatican to be trusted with the presidency, and today Mormon candidates are scrutinized for their beliefs as well.  Whether overtly or covertly, religion is made an issue in our political culture, to the point where it seems absurd to imagine a Pagan running for president – or even Congress – without facing opposition based on religion.

The United States Constitution stipulates, in Article VI, that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”  And yet, we have religious tests all the same.  In addition to the exclusion of various religious groups from serious consideration for office, when moderate or liberal Christian candidates are challenged for not being sufficiently Christian, or accused of being secretly Muslim (as if this would disqualify them), this is the imposition of a religious test for public office.  When candidates for public office proclaim that they would never appoint a Muslim or an atheist to a cabinet position (which is also a public office), this is a religious test as well.

Does it make a difference that the “religious test” is not something being officially imposed by the government, but instead functions as an unofficial litmus test during campaign season?  Personally, I feel that while it may not violate the letter of the Constitution, it certainly violates the spirit.  When the very idea of a Pagan president, or an atheist, or anyone not Christian, seems so completely out of the question, how can we claim not to have such tests?  Even to think of a president whose religion we don’t know sounds ridiculous.  So I would argue that what we have is an unspoken, de facto religious test for public office.

Obviously, individuals are free to vote for candidates according to whatever criteria they choose.  But the notion that a candidate’s religion should be taken, on its own, as a disqualifying mark against him or her – or, conversely, as a necessary credential for a leader – needs to be challenged whenever it is used.  And seeing as we are heading into yet another presidential campaign season, I expect it will be used quite frequently, one way or the other.

Mind you, I do believe it is fair to criticize a candidate’s approach to governance even when – or especially when – that approach is rooted in religious principles.  When a candidate says they will govern our secular republic according to the teachings of their religion, this runs into a different set of Constitutional problems, which also need to be addressed.  Requiring our country’s leaders to steer clear of imposing their religious beliefs on others is not, in itself, a religious test for public office.  (I feel the need to say this explicitly, given how some people like to claim religious persecution when they are prevented from persecuting others according to their religion.)

As for me, I have no plans to run for political office and be a Pagan test case to challenge all of this.  That’s not my calling (plus there’s still the matter of big money standing in the way.)  But I will be watching, this election season, for the ways in which religion is used both to praise and criticize candidates, and to establish this unspoken religious test for public office we’re not supposed to have.

The question in the Astra segment was a followup to Episode 28, which was about the effect of precession on the Zodiac, and whether your Sun sign is still really your Sun sign.    If you haven’t listened to that one yet, it gives a lot more information than my summary here.

In the Terra segment, I promised a link to a list of potentially toxic minerals and stones that you don’t want to add to elixirs or drinking water.  This article on the Witch School website is the best summary I’ve found so far – but again, better safe than sorry when it comes to things you put into your body.

Also in the Terra segment, I mentioned the Borealis Meditation podcast, with our friend Kathleen at the helm.  If you can’t get enough of minerals and geology, give her show a listen!

In the main show, I mentioned a book I’ve brought up several times in the past: Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword, by John Whiteside (Jack) Parsons.  It really is an awesome little book that has been very influential on my thinking.

During the break, I played promos for Pennies in the Well and Iron Powaqa Radio.  And at the end of the show, I announced my new Etsy shop; again, if there is a particular astrological symbol you would like to see sooner rather than later, let me know and I’ll make sure I get to it asap.  I also mentioned my planned visit to Salem in September for the Pagan Podkin Super Moot!  I’m looking forward to meeting podcasters and listeners alike – let me know if you’re going to be there, too!

If you have any questions or comments about the show, you can email me, or send a  message via Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for listening!
- Oraia Sphinx

But even more than that, I’m a big fan of making the most of those currents, so while Mercury retrograde is notorious for harboring miscommunications, it can also be an opportunity to become more mindful of our language.

At its best, this involves mindfulness on both sides of any communication.  When we are speaking, we want to try to make sure we are expressing ourselves clearly, and that what we are saying is what we really mean.  And when we are listening, we want to be mindful of where we might be misunderstanding what is being said.  In emotionally charged conversations, it’s even more important to be mindful of the effects our words have on others, and of how much we may be reading into the other person’s words.  Words don’t exist in a vacuum, and their effect on us is not entirely detached from our own inner state.

It helps to be aware of differences in the context and connotations of words – something may seem contradictory or nonsensical in the absense of certain other information, and assuming that everyone has the same information we do is often a direct path to misunderstanding.

Similarly, words often have more than one meaning, not to mention multiple connotations and possible regional differences in the way they are used; I’ve seen more than one flame war start over different readings of the same word.  In each case, it wasn’t that anyone was wrong about the meaning of the word, they just had very different ways of using it, and then attributed their own understanding of the word to the other person’s use of it.  Even when it doesn’t spark angry responses, this sort of misunderstanding often leads people to talk past each other without realizing that they aren’t actually discussing the same thing.

So if we can take the misunderstandings and miscommunications that seem to crop up while Mercury is retrograde, and use them to become more aware of our words and our reactions to words, I say it’s a win.  And it takes some of the heat off poor Mercury – he’s hot enough as it is, after all, being so close to the Sun. 

(Have you seen the new pictures from Messenger? Awesome!)

In both the introduction and the main segment, I mentioned Peter Dybing’s donation page, collecting for Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres.)  Or, you can visit the organization’s page directly by following this link.  In  my discussion in the main segment, I referenced a couple of books that touched on Pagan approaches to theodicy:

A World Full of Gods, by John Michael Greer
Beyond the Burning Times, by Gus diZerega (whose name I may have mispronounced; if so, I apologize!)

Another book I didn’t mention by name, but which is a good resource for understanding concepts like theodicy, is An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, by Brian Davies.  It’s a textbook that I’ve used mostly for reference to refresh my memory about different concepts I’ve encountered in other places, but it’s pretty readable.  As with most resources related to philosophy of religion, it’s heavily Christian-influenced, but the basic principles still offer a lot of food for thought.

But getting back to the earlier part of the show, here is the link I mentioned in the Astra segment: a reproduction of the image of Draco and the Two Bears depicted by Gaius Julius Hyginus, referred to by Agrippa in his Second Book of Occult Philosophy.

Embedded in this post you can see pictures of my two apophyllite specimens; click for larger versions.  I couldn’t manage to really capture the details of the crystal cluster at left, but you can get an idea of the two very different shapes between that one and the picture below.  The color on the cluster shades from green up to clear, although at this angle, the green shows through the clear tops of the crystals.  And I think the sharp crystal growing in white stilbite came out pretty well, although the photo still doesn’t really do the color justice.  They’re both about the same size overall, by the way, which you can gauge using my fingertip propping up the crystal cluster. 

During the break, I played promos for Borealis Meditation and The Infinite and the Beyond.  And don’t forget, you have until the end of March to send me your questions for the April Q&A episode and be entered in the mystery drawing!  You can email me, or send your question via Facebook or Twitter.  Just please let me know that you’re submitting it as a question for the April episode.

Thanks for listening!
- Oraia Sphinx