Veterans' Day, November 11th in the United States, will happen in the coming week.  As usual, I have something to say about that.

We also had a tragic shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.  That's the physically largest military installation in the country, and also home to the Fort Hood Open Circle, one of the best military Pagan groups you'll find anywhere.  I don't know if any of their members was directly involved, but having lived and worked on military bases as much as I did, I can say that the mere fact that it happened on their base means that they're involved and affected.

I'd like to offer you something to think about, and it is something that might not have occurred to you.

And it kind of ties in with one of the main points I was already prepared to make, but the news of the day underlined the point far beyond anything I could accomplish.

If you are looking for learning, there is plenty in the news today that qualifies as learning for The Craft (or whatever you call what we do).  And part of the learning process is to recognize where a lesson might be found.

Blessed Be!

It's Samhain!  For many of us (including me) it is the biggest, most important, most major Sabbat (and holiday, for those who choose to differentiate) of the year, especially from a spiritual standpoint.

This is the time of year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest.  Because of that, this is the time of the year when it is easiest for us to reach across the veil - and for those on the other side of the veil to reach out to us.
It is also the time for celebrating endings and beginnings (as well as beginnings and endings).  And with that, there are many wonderful opportunities!

It has been a while since there has been a ritual celebration on this podcast, and this time it is extra special because it is a "simulcast" with our companion video podcast "Uriel's Gifts/ Mass For The Shut-Out."  But of course, there are things which can be done with audio that are not as easy to do with video, and so here we get to "see" the crowd that comes for this celebration and have a major celebration in a major temple.

And that's one of the wonders of Samhain.  This is the time when we can use all I've mentioned here to harness our inner vision and see what we can build from it!

Blessed Be!

Samhain will soon be here.  In fact, it is close enough that we can begin making use of its power now!

Samhain presents us with some special opportunities.  It is a celebration of ends and beginnings and beginnings and ends.  After all, you won't have an end without a beginning, or a beginning without an end.  An end to something is the beginning of something else.  The  beginning of something is the end of something else.  It is also the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest.  It is a time when we can reach out to the people on the other side of the veil, and they can reach out to us.  Two aspect of one basic fact.

Add to this, the inner vision you have for the future.

And here is the opportunity to conciliate past, present and future.  It can also  be an opportunity to clear up any unfinished business with someone on the other side.

It's not that these are impossible at any other time, but now is when it is easiest to do so, and that means that the energy you might have expended in the work itself can be used to harness the result.

All this and more awaits you at Samhain!

Blessed Be!

"Little Hitlers" is a term coined in Germany during the Third Reich to describe those lesser functionaries whose egos exceeded their authority, and who did not let their lesser status keep them from exercising more power than they were actually entitled to.  And, in the Soviet Union, there was the assortment of "apparachniks".  And don't think that we can't find them where we are living today.

They take many forms.  They can be civil servants; assistants to actual or purported bosses; glorified clerks with "manager" or "engineer" in their title; people in the office, neighborhood or church who cannot mind their own business, and sometimes even clergy.  And as to the latter, no denomination has exclusive right to that distinction - or exemption from it.

It's important to recognize what they are up to.  It is also important to know how to deal with such people.  Some of them are in a position in which it might not be a good idea to confront them.  But to do nothing would be to surrender - and you probably can't afford what you'd lose by doing nothing. 

But what do you do?

I've been speaking about challenges in the tinme leading up to Samhain for a reason, and Samhain is nearly here. 

Let's see what can be!

Blessed Be!
 

This is an episode that someone does not want you to hear!  No kidding!

Personal responsibility is something which some people just don't like.  For them, personal responsibility means that they can't blame as much of what goes wrong on other people, other things, or even The Divine!  Most of us
know someone who points to a traumatic event in their past and blames the sad state of their life on that.  A few of us have even heard someone claim that a shortcoming was because of something in their ancestry, their culture, or the way life was like at sometime before their own birth.  And, most of us can think of the time we heard someone talking about something which happened being "God's will."

Have you ever noticed that such responsibility-shifting is so often accompanied by logic that does not survive close examination?

And here I will freely admit that you will never have control over everything that happens in your life.  But, it might be surprising (to some) how much you can control of what follows in such an event.

And here we harness a basic principle:  with responsibility comes authority.  And so, taking personal responsibility means that you take on personal authority. 

And with that authority will come even more!

Blessed Be!
 

"Character" and "character building" have to be among the least-understood and often-misused terms in the English language.  And perhaps intentionally so, because they contain some powerful secrets for the benefit of those who wish to learn.

Those of us who have experienced time in military service and/or a few other experiences have experienced the mis-use of the term "character-building".  That's what we were told when we were assigned tasks which were demeaning, thankless and sometimes even outright pointless.  But then there are also those experiences which do indeed build character and they sometimes on the surface can seem similar to the ones which seem to be mostly degrading.  Can we see the difference?

And how does character get built?  What would make the difference between Mother Teresa and Charles Manson? 

How can a door be opened, especially for someone who hasn't seen many open doors in a while?

And in guiding our own character, what can we look for?

With this, we can find some wonderful surprises - and at the same time we can blow away some folks' pre-conceived notions!  Yes, it is true that it might not be easy, but it can have its fun times and lights of happiness.  You'll see,

Blessed Be!
 

It's one thing to describe how something might be done, it is another to actually succeed in doing it.

Conciliation (and reconciliation) seems to me to be a sufficiently hot topic that I felt it necessary to devote a second episode to actually getting it done.  After all, it is easy to say that something can be done, or that it should be done.  But in this case, it seems to me that you deserve more than just sayings.

After all, some of the principles and polarities which deserve conciliation or reconciliation are some of the same ones which inspire closed-mindedness on both sides of the issue - regardless of the issue.  And, there will be those who will refuse to believe that there can ever be conciliation.  But for the rest of us, there's something to be learned, discovered, and appreciated.

A good starting point is that eternal source of strife, the argument between evolution and creationism.  I have resolved the issue within myself to the point that I no longer see the need for disagreement between the two.  But, on the one side you'll have your creationists who do not wish to be confronted with facts beyond the scope of their narrow interpretation.  And on the other side, there are those whose replacement for The Divine is nothing more than "random coincidence."

Of course, if we go down this path, we are going to discover some other concepts which we might not have thought of, such as how to have unity without homogenzing ourselves!

Just how much might we be able to find conciliation or reconciliation for?  If we do, we can expect some good things!

Conciliation?  A revolution?  Of course, especially if you take a look at it!

Most of us have been dealing with the conflict between the higher and lower since we can remember, especially those of us who listened to such people as our Sunday School teachers, preachers, and some others.  Some of them made it seem as if it were wrong to have nice things if others didn't.  Many of us had that "guilt trip" imposed on us as children.  That's not the only example of higher versus lower, but that was the first one that came to my mind when the subject came up.

OK, so what if there were no real argument between them?  What if they could be brought into harmony with each other, so that they worked together?

That's what we're talking about here.  It's not simple, except perhaps in the minds of those who aren't involved.  But what a quest!

And the result is something perhaps more powerful than most people can imagine.  And it's waiting for you, for me, for each and every one of us.

Come, take a look.

Blessed Be!

Of all of my experiences as a cadet, none made quite as much of an impression as a training session in the subject of combat first aid.  The centerpiece of the training was an Army training film which summed up the initial first few steps into three basic steps.  And it was done with a form of expression which etched the three steps indelibly in my memory.

That was for physical first aid, and it was designed for a combat situation.  The principles of spiritual first aid are similar.  Of course, their is one difference.  In combat first aid, most people who are wounded know that they are wounded.  In combat first aid, it is likely that you will know who and what caused the wound.  Where spiritual first aid is concerned, it can sometimes take a while for someone to realize that they have indeed been wounded. 

But just like in combat first aid, the initial response once the wound is known can make all of the difference in the world!

Blessed Be!
 

I recently watched a re-run of an episode of Bishop Fulton Sheen's show "Life Is Worth Living" from the 1960's.  In this particular episode, he spoke about "rivets", which in this case is a term he used to describe the "anchor point" or focus (or foci?) of an endeavor.  I realized how right-on he was, and how his talk gave emphasis to some of the concerns I've expressed over the last few years.

It has to do with tradition.  You've heard me say that if you have a tradition, follow it.  If you feel the need to go a different way, then please do so, but don't disturb the people who continue to follow the tradition you're leaving.

Done the right way, it can be of benefit for both sides.  In fact, that's part of why we have such customs as "hiving off."  And there are many similar examples throughout history. 

Done the wrong way, it can be damaging.  In fact, it can bring down the whole thing.  That's why we hive off rather than letting those with a new way take over.  And done right, both can be strong.

And might it just be that if your path and mine are not the same, perhaps it might be because the world needs both of them?  See what you think!

Blessed Be!