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Sunday, October 05, 2008

Vacation, T-minus 6 days and counting. Business class.... tomorrow! Yipe!

Accccck!

I'll be at work tomorrow at 7 am and won't be home until at least 9:30 in the evening, and then I have to get back up at 6 am to go to work the following day. So I'm afraid there won't be any Writers Choice questions this week either. Sorry about that. But I go on vacation on Saturday... for a whole week! And I promise, after I sleep, and sleep some more, oh and after sleep, um more sleep? I'll try to catch up on posts here. Even if I have to write them in advance and pre-post them now that Xanga has that option.

I am also very sorry about not posting the Pagan holidays for last week. I feel guilty about it since it's basically a cut and paste job from my old angelfire site to here, with some adjustments for previously missed typos and new info. If it ever happens again that I am unable to post, and you are curious enough to look for the days on your own, they can be found here: http://www.angelfire.com/de/poetry/Holy_Days/month.html

Tattoo
the webnovel so far...

Chapter 1: Blood is Thicker
Chapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbroken

Chapter 2: A Farewell to Arms
Chapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with what she has
Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an ass

Chapter 3: Small Sacrifices
Chapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
Chapter 3.4 in which there's more to the moon than meets the eye
Chapter 3.5 in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened

Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to Come
Chapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
Chapter 4.3 in which Glory adopts a pet
Chapter 4.4 in which Glory gets a surprise, but decides she should not have been surprised at all

October 5th

The Nubaigai festival of Lithuania is celebrated by reaping the last sheaf of grain from the fields. On some farms, the last sheaf, called the Old Woman, is dressed and danced with. Food, drink, dancing, and games are also part of the festival.

This is the second occasion of the opening of the Mundis Cereris. Ceres, Mania and the Manes were honored.

October 6th

Hindu worshipers of Vishnu celebrate a nine day festival honoring their god. Haribodhini Ekadasi is included in this festival. This is the day that Vishnu wakes from a four month long slumber on a subterranean bed of snakes. The faithful bathe in sacred waters, chant his name 1008 times, and make secret offerings of alms by hiding them in unripe pumpkins. People who fail to honor the god Vishnu at this time risk being reborn as roosters or human mutes.

The second day of Mania was called the Mundus. The passage to the underworld would open to allow the spirits passage to the world of the living. The living could also travel to the land of the dead and back.

Bast appears to Ra on the 20th day of Hethara.

October 7th

Pallas Athena was honored in Rome as the goddess Victoria, personification of success and triumph.

The 21st Hethara was a Feast day of Ma'at.

October 8th

Chung Yeung, the Festival of High Places, is a Chinese holiday honoring the legendary scholar, Huan Ching. Living in the village of Joo-an more than 2000 years ago, he was warned by a sage to take his family into the high hills to save them from a disaster that awaited everyone in the village below. After warning everyone, he took his family away and later returned to find every living thing in the village dead. The day is celebrated by hiking and kite flying which is thought to carry away impending evils. Kites often are flown in the form of bats, fish, and butterflies, creatures of good omen. Picnics include chrysanthemum wine and special cakes said to bring good luck and career advancement when eaten in high places.

October 9th

Felicitas, a goddess of good luck and joy, is associated with the Genius Publicus "spirit of the people" and Venus Victrix.

Ra judged the dispute between Set and Horus on the 23rd day of Hethara.

October 10th

The 24th day of Hethara was the Day of Going Forth of Isis.

October 11th

Vinalia, a Roman Bacchanalian festival was held to celebrate the tasting of the new wine. The festivals of Jupiter include the Meditrinalia today though his connection with the goddess Meditrina is obscure.

October 12th

The alleged "wickedest man in the world," Aleister Crowley, was born on this day in 1875. He was a member of several sects and founded the order of the Silver Star (Argentinum Astrum). His form of magick (as he spelled it) was unfortunately based on sex and drugs, and he died alone, scandalized, and bankrupt in 1947.

Fortuna Redux is the Roman goddess of successful journeys and safe returns.

On the 26th day of Hethara, the Black Land was given to Horus, and the Red Land was given to Set.

Eliphas Levi died today in 1888.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Thanks to everyone

Thanks to everyone who was concerned about my mom. She's home now after about a week of the doctors basically ruling everything out in order to assume it was the one generic thing that you can't really check for. Basically, after copious tests and groups of doctors wandering by to ogle her charts and tell her nothing, they finally decided she had gastroenteritis, which is inflammation of the stomach lining. It can be caused by a food allergy, food poisoning, a virus, alcoholism or drug use, or some unknown reason. Basically, the doctors don't know what causes it or caused it in this case. They told her to take prylosec (SP?) for the rest of her life and sent her home with a parting shot of morphine.

If my mother had not had insurance, I'm sure she would have been home within a day or so with this diagnosis. Instead, they kept her for observation and annoying tests. Granted the nurses were all very nice to her, but the doctors were mainly indifferent if not downright apathetic. I really do not like hospitals. I don't think they know any more than most well read people. In fact, sometimes for all their tests, they know less. The only thing a hospital can give you are tests and prescription drugs. That's the only thing you can't do for yourself. And for that, they demand thousand. Quite the racket they have.

My mom is a big baby. I'm not poopooing her illness, but you can tell, when you spend enough time with her, how she acts with different people. Earlier today I caught her scarfing salt and vinegar chips, so you know she's feeling better. I asked her if she's feeling better and she says "a little." About an hour later, someone calls on the phone and she was talking with this weak, slurry voice to who ever it was. It annoys me so much. I mean, she may still feel a little sick, but not as sick as all that apparently. I hate people who play a baby when they're sick for more sympathy. If you're sick, I'll take care of you, but don't play it up. If you're just a little sick, I'll still take care of you. Don't act like a big fakey baby, mom.

What annoys me more is that I had a total freak out at work because of her. The day she went to the hospital, she told me she might be in the hospital when I got home. My sister is the drama queen, but she gets it from my mom. In our own ways, we both take after her. My sister gets the drama in general and applies it to every aspect of her life, but my mom is more of a moody melodrama queen. She doesn't say much... it's her tone and her body language. Her voice gets all low and mopey, slurry and weak. She groans and sighs as she moves. I get that from her. If I'm thoroughly peeved, there's no mistaking it. I don't say anything, but you can tell.

But the day she got sick, I went into work and about five minutes before we opened, my sister called the store from the hospital and told me my mom was there, and they were doing tests, etc etc. I had one hour of supervisor time before my break and being such short notice, I decided to wait for my break before asking to leave. But then I had all this work to do for this week's merch change outs and NO ONE was around to help me because of corporate's new policy of cutting the heck out of our weekly hours. I had to do a bunch of stuff just to get ready to open and then I had to do a bunch of stuff that absolutely had to be done which I could have given to anyone if there'd been someone to give it to. I had already been feeling migrainous (I know that's not a word but it should be) for two days with an upset stomach and wandering headaches and tension between my eyes). Also take into account that the day before, I dropped a ton of DK books on my back and arm (DK makes these HUGE picture books and they were going on sale), and I was in a completely "I will rip your frikkin' head off and use it as a football" mood.

So when the general manager came in, and the Inventory Manager (who I had opened with) and she were on the stock room, I went back and intended to tell them what was going on, but I ended up completely freaking out. She had sent around an email about how tight the kids section was and that she could not fit books in there the night before. I'd gone back first thing that morning and because no one else had decided to do anything about (which meant another email would have been forthcoming), I shifted the entire section to give her more room where she said she needed it. When I told her I shifted to give her room, she said in this confrontational voice that there was No Room there and she didn't know Where I got it since she Knows how to shift. It was all I could do not to scream at her, but in my state of mind, it was entirely the wrong thing to do to challenge my competency. I am darn good at my job. If I say there's room, there's room. Don't tell me you did it and you know how to do it and there's no room because you did it yourself the previous night. No, I'm not a liar and if I tell you something, you can bet on it that there's three frikkin' empty shelves now in the section you told us was tight.

Halfway to tears, I ticked off my problems on my fingers. I said, I'm still sick from two days ago with this stupid migraine that never comes. My back and arm hurts from where I dropped those stupid books on it (which BTW, no one cared about at the time, no one wrote up a report for, and the other manager, who was not there, heard me crying about and asked if I'd "hurt my pride" /grits teeth/). No one filled in the manager log again, and it's not fair that it is always left for me when I open in the morning. I said my mother is in the hospital and I NEED TO LEAVE" but I said through tears, that I would finish what I was working on because there was NO ONE to help me.

They wanted to let me go right away, but I insisted on finishing this huge project that I had started. Honestly, I needed the time to calm down before driving and to take my mind off my mom. Staying active was my only tactic. I probably scared quite a few customers who asked for help. I helped them, yes, but they probably thought I hated them. But this project, it absolutely had to get done and I knew it wouldn't if I left.

I did apologize to them the following day for freaking out and crying all over the place because honestly, I was deeply embarrassed by my loss of control. But on the other hand, I think I needed a good cry in general with all that's been going on and frustrations at work and at home. I haven't sat down with my general manager yet and laid it all out on the table, but I want to. The problem is, she never does anything about anything that I tell her. Her attitude is that she is a "shoulder to cry on" but does that actually get anything done? Not usually. I know in most ways, she's as helpless as the rest of us because of the asinine things Borders is doing with payroll and our current crop of cafe loafers, but I also feel left out in the cold with regards to the help I can expect from my coworkers. In the mornings, it seems like if I open with the Inventory Manager, he scarfs up anyone who's free for his projects and then I end up doing everything for merchandising all on my own. I don't typically complain because I'm a "suck it up and get it done" kind of girl, but on top of everything else, I'm just sick of not getting help when I need it (as rare as that may be).

Anyway.... that's what happened. My mom's home now and apparently feeling good enough to scarf salt and vinegar chips, take out the trash, and clean up her car. No wonder her stomach was sick when she eats all kind of garbage and passes up any food I offer to make for her. She has a tastycake every night before she goes to bed. She has coffee for "breakfast." If I did not watch her, she'd only have cakes and sweats for her meals. I swear, it's like taking care of a child and it's always been this way. There's a reason she used to call me "grandma" and ask me if I needed a rocker when I was still a kid... because I was always the responsible one and she was always the big child. The only good thing to come out of this is that her stay in the hospital was a good start to going cold turkey on smoking. Of course, within a few hours of her coming home she asked when I was going to take her out to eat as her reward (which I promised her if she ever quit). Mom, you are so not sick, not sick at all....

This is the reason I rarely let my family know how I'm feeling. No matter how ill I feel with my migrainous tension or my aching back and arm, she trumps me and is not even really sick aside from what she tells me. Her actions kind of negate her words. I feel like a jerk for thinking that BTW, but it's true. She doesn't act sick, unless she wants someone to think she's sick, like when she's talking to someone on the phone. I'm not unsympathetic, but in the same breath, I feel sick too (my back is a total knot), but I'd make her food and I'd take care of her if she needed it.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I'm just a shadow to my mother

Well, the "open house" in kids on Saturday was horrific. We were way understaffed for the number of freeloaders, I mean families, that showed up. Of course, the plus side to this is that my manager has sworn that we will have sufficient staff for the Halloween party. This is especially important since I haven't had one volunteer, not to help me with setting up or making the games or running the event. Nothing. So many people say they love Halloween, but what they mean is... "you do all the work, I'll be happy to enjoy it after the fact."

In other news, twelve days until my vacation starts; eight days till my business class starts. I don't remember if I've brought this up since I'm generally exhausted enough to forget when and what I've eaten, let alone what I've blogged about. lol But when I decided, once and for all, that I would take these business classes and try to open my own store, my mother was all for it. She said she and her boyfriend (now husband) were getting older, and they didn't want to continue in the same jobs they have (my mother cleans for people and he is now a trucker, formerly a roofer). They'd be overjoyed to give me a hand in the store, blah blah blah. Then the other day we were discussing the store, and she basically took it all back and said I was wrong, she never said that, blah blah blah. When I stopped talking to her since she insisted I was wrong and she said she never promised to help me out, she got upset with me because I "always do that." "That" being clam up when she has one of her little memory lapses. She said I don't "communicate." Then a few days ago she's talking to me about working in the store again like the other conversation never happened, and she got upset when I didn't want to talk to her about it and told her we had this discussion and I was NOT going to talk to her about it again. My mother is 51 and I honestly don't know if she's schizophrenic or getting senile, but I am so tired of her changing her mind every time we're discussing something important to me. I told her that I would just do it all on my own like I always do. I told her I might even decide to move out of state, maybe Maine. Then she wanted to know how she could help if I did that since she won't move out of the area until her mother (my grandma) dies. And , "Did I wish her mother dead?!?"

And you know what, I'm just sick of it. I'm not going to ask her for help any more. I'm not even going to assume she's going to help. I'm not going to discuss my plans. She can't even decide if she wants to help me, and I'm not going to deal with it any more. No I don't want my grandmother dead, but I think on some level my mom does or she wouldn't have brought it up. I'm frustrated with my job, but that's small potatoes compared to how frustrating my mother is sometimes. Last time she couldn't get her stories straight was my birthday when she promised we could go somewhere and then turned around and tried to make plans with my sister and I'm just kind of sick of playing second fiddle to everyone else in her life. I just feel like she thinks I'm always going to bow out gracefully and make way for everyone else and I don't want to any more. I think I've been more than patient in terms of what I put up with from my family. I don't ask them for a darn thing. I wasn't asking her for money or time. She frikkin offered! And then she changed her mind or forgot she offered and I just don't feel like I can depend upon her for anything. She will always turn around and make other plans because I am just not that important to her unless I am right in front of her and then we will make plans until someone else is in front of her and then the plans go out the window.

I may just be overreacting because of everything else going on in my life, but I honestly feel like I am all alone and the only person who's going to make it happen is me. I can't even depend upon her for moral support, but you know if I do manage to make money with my own business, or even if I don't, you know my family's going to be right there with their hands out. Moving to a different state would almost be a relief, even if being alone is "outside of the my comfort zone" in terms of having people to fall back on if I run into trouble (ie FAIL). I just can't trust them. You know? I'm tired of waiting for them to treat me like I have some importance in their lives. I'm important too.

Tattoo
the webnovel so far...

Chapter 1: Blood is Thicker
Chapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbroken

Chapter 2: A Farewell to Arms
Chapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with what she has
Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an ass

Chapter 3: Small Sacrifices
Chapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
Chapter 3.4 in which there's more to the moon than meets the eye
Chapter 3.5 in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened

Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to Come
Chapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
Chapter 4.3 in which Glory adopts a pet

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

wcfq 21a: Villains

Writers Choice Featured Questions Week 21
Powered by ShareThis

Who are your top five favorite villains?
Avenger41

In no particular order
-the Frankenstein monster (book, not movie version)
-Eric, the Phantom of the Opera (again, book, not movie version)
-the Borg Queen
-the Alien-human hybrid from Alien Resurrection
-Sylar from Heroes

Those who have never read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley have really missed the boat. If you think you know the monster from movies, you really don't know him at all. The monster, far from being a shambling, groaning zombie homage to the power and sacrilege of science, is a horrifically scarred, but far more humane being than the doctor who created him. The monster is scarred physically and spiritually, but soaks up its surroundings like a sponge. It learns language in a matter of months, both speech and writing. In many ways, it is philosophically more advanced than the "good" doctor. Though it goes on to commit atrocities, it is in essence seeking the attention of its creator like any neglected child. Denied love, it still seeks it's parent's devotion, if not love, then hate. In my mind, I identify with the monster more than any other creature of horror. The monster is my misanthropic self denied... If I had chosen hate instead of love when I was at my lowest point....

Eric, the Phantom of the Opera... here is another monster woefully under represented in the movie rip offs of this classic novel. It's hard to believe that when this book first came out, it almost faded into obscurity. Of all literary monsters, Eric is the most well-developed. He is possibly the most developed character in the entire book. Funny that very few movies have used his name. In all of them, he has been The Phantom, universally scorned and feared for his hideous countenance. Though like the Frankenstein monster, capable of incredible acts of cruelty and savagery, all Eric craves is love. Though others may read the Phantom of the Opera and sympathize with Christine Daye, I think she was selfish and spoiled. I think she led poor Eric on so that he would continue teaching her, and when the viscount fell in love with her, she saw no reason to continue her singing career or her relationship with Eric. Though his reaction might be seen as a bit extreme, when taken in context with his experiences, one can't help but feel sorry for him... perpetually alone and excluded, betrayed by all of society despite his genius. Eric is in many ways like the Frankenstein monster, and yet while the monster is a child seeking his father's approval, Eric is an outcast seeking some tether to keep him in love with life, to literally make life worth living.

The Borg Queen... how insidious she was. She was the very essence of the lure of scientific advancement. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. She is at once the dream of advancement and the horror of blind consumerism. The true horror of the Borg is not that they will assimilate, but that they see individuality as unnecessary and even counter productive. In place of individual thought, there is the will of the Borg Queen, suppressing any thought but the continuation of the colony, in fact, taking over the role of instinct. The Borg Queen is a corruption of all the laws which currently govern society and the individual. She is the final incarnation and triumph of "Big Brother." As those who have been "rescued" from the Borg have reported, there is an allure to the total acceptance to be found among the Borg. Once the very concept of resistance has been purged through the process of assimilation, there is comfort and completion in the million voices of the Borg all murmuring in one's brain at once. And the Queen is at once their master and their voice.

The Alien-human hybrid from Alien Resurrection had a strange charm for all of its grotesque humanity. Though it had a head like a skull, there was a sweetness, an innocence in its eyes, even as it was whacking the face off its alien mother or gnawing on the head of one crazed scientist. (If you ask me, she was sick of being called a "beautiful, beautiful butterfly.") The thing is, like the Frankenstein monster, she was looking for her mother, and she saw that mother in Ripley. It's hard to say what her thought processes might have been since she never spoke, but it's well known that the aliens had a "racial" memory based on their host. Who knows how human that hybrid was really or whether it was entirely sane. In any event, the hybrid was pitiable if only because it never asked for its existence. And though it seemed to be a cold-hearted killer, we can see that in some ways, it still craved a mother's love. It's almost worth exploring an alternate reality where Ripley embraced her "daughter" instead of killer her. Hey, that's what fanfics are for!

Finally, last but not least, is Sylar, the newest addition to the pantheon of memorable villains. All my favorite villains have some patina of humanity... some scarred portion of their psyche... some warped vision of what humanity could be. Sylar may be a cold blooded killer, but like many, it stems from a need to be... special. He wants so desperately to be more than he is that he uses his "special" ability to mimic the abilities of others (once he manages to crack open their noggins). And while some might consider him mad, and maybe he is, he maintains a certain humorous and dark chivalry about him. He's like the black knight. You see what he does, you see what his goals are, but you never really see what he is thinking or feeling except in rare glimpses. When he killed his "mother," you can almost see a child who only wants the approval of his mother, who hoped to delight her with his display. It's quite obvious she's already a little off balanced mentally even before he puts on his show, so who's to say what psychological trauma he may have suffered at her hands in the past. Speaking as someone who knows that the smallest, most insignificant slight can have far reaching psychological consequences, it may be that his mother never intentionally harmed him, but living in a household where attention and approval are constantly withheld is as damaging as any physical or outright psychological abuses. Sylar is a wounded hero, I think. He has made some poor choices, and I believe (without revealing spoilers) that he is about to be played and royally $crewed by the b1tch queen of the show. Whether or not she is telling the truth, the evil she represents makes Sylar a pale shadow by comparison. I think there is potential for his redemption, but he's not willing to see it. He wants to place himself on a pedestal with humanity, and even other gifted people, far below himself, but with random acts of kindness, he shows that he's not quite as monstrous as he and others believe him to be.

There are other monsters on my list of favorites, but these are my top five villains. If it were a top ten, I'd have to add:
JTHM (there really should be more comics....)
Dracula (movie, not literary or historical)
Maximillian the silent, killer robot from Black Hole
Captain Nemo (in all his permutations, but especially as portrayed by Vincent Price)
Cthulhu (just because there has to be a Great Old One on this list)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Writers Choice Featured Questions Week 21

five questions for this week
unfeatured questions stolen from the featured question chatboard, dated from October of 2007
Please use the new Share button to answer these. That makes it almost like the regular featured questions.

Who are your top five favorite villains?
Avenger41

Do you think being too optimistic can also be a bad thing?
EpicRain

What do you think is the stupidest - or most pointless - stereotype or label that people use to judge other people today?
writing_a_song_for_you

Do you think you're desensitized? If so, to what?
LoveAtFirstLove

Would you really want to drink from the Fountain of Youth?
Sesslerite

Answer any one or all of these questions in the coming week. I try to mix the whimsical with the serious here, so hopefully there is at least one question here for everyone. Again, since Xanga has been so thoughtful as to add the new SHARE button, please use that when answering any of these questions. Using the Share button allows you to answer the question almost in the same way that you would a normal Xanga-sponsored featured question.

September 22nd

Mabon was to the ancient Celts a festival in honor of the Welsh god Mabon son of the goddess Modron though it has also been attributed to Queen Mab of the fairy people. It is called Alban Elfred by the Druids and Winter Finding by the Asatru who consider it sacred to Frey. The autumnal equinox is the date of the second harvest, this time of fruit. Blackberries, sacred to Brigit, must be harvested between now and Samhain or left for the pookas, fairies who receive all unharvested fruits after November 1.

In Japan, the autumn equinox is Higan, meaning "the other shore" or heaven. To honor the dead, on this day Buddhists visit cemeteries and pray for the souls of their departed ancestors.

The Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred to Demeter and Persephone, begin tonight.

Karpo, goddess of autumn, and Carman, goddess of poetry, were honored tonight and tomorrow.

September 23rd

This is the first day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries. They continued for nine days in honor of Ceres and Proserpine (Roman) or Demeter and Persephone (Greek). The first day of the celebration was called agormos, "assembly," as the worshipers first met together. A gathering was held of candidates for initiation. The guides gave precise instructions, knowledge of which was necessary in the course of the initiation. In the evening, matrons journeyed to the rites in oxen drawn carriages. A select company of Athenian matrons, referred to as the Camphorae, carried a small coffer or basket called the kalathion of Ceres. Within the basket were the comb of Ceres, her mirror, a serpentine figure, and some wheat and barley. The procession ended at the temple, where this sacred charge was left with the greatest solemnity.

Mielikki may be considered a Finnish Artemis. She is a protector of animals. She may also be called Mimerkki, Mieulutar, and Mielus. Mielus means "friendly" and Mieli means "mind" or even "intelligence."

On the 7th day of Hethara, Atum was honored.

September 24th

Day of Going Forth of Isis is commemorated on the 8th day of Hethera. Ancient Egyptians marked the approach of the planting season by commemorating the death and rebirth of Osiris. There was music, dancing, and ceremonial planting.

In Santeria, this is the feast of Obatala. In the Yoruba language, Obatala means King of the white cloth. Mythology says that it was a male Obatala that was sent by Oludumare from heaven to Earth to create the human being and to rule as king, but he is blamed for creating defective humans after getting drunk. Humans were meant to be made according to a pattern given by Olodumare. Since that day, Obatala has been forbidden drink, and his children are also forbidden alcohol.

The second day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries was called the halade mystai from hals "to or into the sea." The initiates were commanded to purify themselves by bathing in the sea. After their self-baptism in this holy water, they put on new clothes of linen and were called hydrani.

September 25th

For about two weeks, Durga Puja is celebrated in India in honor of the ten armed goddess Durga, Divine Mother of the Universe. She conquered the many headed king of demons, Mahisasura. During the festival, children express their respect for their parents, and adults settle quarrels with friends and neighbors. Many family reunions are held during this festival.

In 1985, the Senate passed an amendment denying tax-exempt status to Wiccan groups.

On the third day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries offerings were made including barley from a field of Eleusis.

September 26th

A solemn procession transpired on the fourth day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries. The holy basket of Ceres was moved about in a consecrated cart. On every side, the people cheered Ceres. Following the cart came women called the kisophoroi, who carried baskets in which were sesame, carded wool, grains of salt, a serpent, pomegranates, reeds, ivy, and ceremonial cakes.

A libation was offered to Dionysus and to the other gods, but it was a feast of wine from which Demeter abstained during her period of mourning. Therefore those already within the cult imitated her and did not leave their homes. It was probably on this day that the contents of the kykeon (Barley, water and mint-pennyroyal) were made ready. (see September 28th).

September 27th

In Mesopotamia, this is the Day of Willows.

The fifth day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries commemorated the Evening of the Holy Night. It was called the ton lampadon hemera, the torch day, because on the following night the people ran about with torches in their hands. The torches were typically dedicated to Ceres, and assertions were made over who should offer the biggest in remembrance of the travels of the goddess and of her lighting a torch in the flames of Mount Aetna. It was also called agyrmos (Hesychios), "gathering." In the morning the procession of mystai assembled, leaving the city by way of the potters' quarter and the Sacred Gate to march along the Sacred Road to Eleusius where it would arrive in the evening.

September 28th

Confucius is believed to have been born on this day in 551 BC.

Uroica, Breton goddess of heather and heather wine, is honored with the making of alcohol for festivals and sacred purposes with the Feast of Brewing.

The sixth day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries was called Iacchos, from Iacchus who accompanied his mother in search of Proserpine with a torch in his hand. From that circumstance his statue had a torch in its hand, and was carried in solemn procession to Eleusis. They danced and sang as they passed through Hiera Hodos, the sacred way, the resting place hiera syke, named for the fig tree that grew in the area. It is not known what sacred objects were brought from Eleusis to Athens five days before but only that, after crossing the Athenian border, those in charge of them stopped by the hiera syke. The objects were kept for a time in the Eleusinion of Athens and then brought back to Eleusis in the procession. The priestesses carried them on their heads in baskets. There were myrtle boughs in the hair and in the hands of the mystai. The white garments of the mystai were held in high esteem. Dedicated to the goddesses or kept as swaddling clothes for a new generation, they were the simplest sort of dress such as might be worn by beggars or travelers.

They stopped on a bridge over the Cephisus, where a hetaira engaged in gephyrismoi, or "bridge jests" with those that passed. She was playing the role of Baubo, who with jokes and lewd gestures eased Demeter mourning with laughter. This was the moment for the women to drink of the kykeon that they had brought along on their heads.

The salty Rheitoi watercourse was also crossed by bridge. Here the mystai probably identified themselves with the words that have come down to us as their password and sign of recognition. They are a summary of everything the initiated had to do before being admitted to the epopteia. "I have fasted, drunk the kykeon, taken sacred things from the kiste (chest) and, after the rites, put them in the kalathos (small basket), whence I put them back in the kiste (cista mystica)." These sacred things include sesame cakes, "pyramid and spherical cakes, cakes with many navels," pomegranates, poppies, fig branches, fennel stalks, ivy leaves, salt, and a serpent figurine. There are other holy items as well. Ineffable symbols of the goddess, marjoram, a lamp, a sword, and Ceres Comb, a euphemism used in the mysteries for a woman's secret parts. After this they entered Eleusis by a place called mystike eisodos, the mystical entrance to the Telesterion, "the temple of initiation." The roof of the temple was peaked and could be opened to serve as a kind of chimney to the fires which were part of the Mysteries.

The entire procession did not enter the Telesterion. It consisted of the mystai of the Lesser Mysteries and possibly of epoptai, who had already 'seen' Eleusis. Until they reached the Anaktoron, "palace," they were not initiated. This was a small edifice with in the main campus of the temple.

On the 12th Hethara, Osiris went forth to Abydos. This was also a Festival of Hapi commemorating the Creation of the Nile.

September 29th

Gwynn ap Nudd, lord of the underworld and the faerie kingdom is equivalent to St. Michael. Glastonbury Tor is his sacred mountain.

Heimdall, orderer of society and watcher for the Norse gods, is captain of 432,000 Einheriar, the chosen warriors who defend Valhalla.

On the seventh day of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries, there were sports in which the victors were rewarded with a measure of barley, the first grain sown at Eleusis.