Sharing an article: "Spiritual and Metaphysical Perspectives on Meat" from Astrarium - and world prayer circle for animals

Blessed be! I hope everyone had a great Litha. We had a nice little ritual out in the field behind my home, next to the beaver pond. We used the growth energy of the season to call in the things that we wished for (for ourselves and others) in the coming season. We did abundance magicks for ourselves and also called out for the growth of compassion and kindness toward all non-human creation...especially non-human animals who are so horribly impacted by our species' practices.

Thinking about the manifestation of this goal, I think of two steps that should help. One is continued self-education and reflection. Gwen and I are both about to take the "mastery/facilitator" classes for Dr. Will Tuttle's wonderful book, "The World Peace Diet." I can't recommend that book enough. A facebook friend that I was lucky to meet, Mat Walker, put a great article on his website, Astrarium, that is influenced by Dr. Tuttle's work. Mat does a lot of the hard work and research for us on how many different spiritual traditions have interacted with the issue of animals in our diet. His article can be found here and I highly, highly recommend it:  http://theastrarium.com/metaphysics-meat/



Then, step two. I think this is a committed spiritual practice in which we put forth our intentions for the kind of world and society we would like to see. Will Tuttle and his peers have thought of this, too. They have a daily prayer for the animals at noon, and everyone who cares to is encouraged to participate. There are more details here:  http://www.circleofcompassion.org/

If folks have other ideas for manifesting a kinder world for non-human animals, and a world that is more sustainable environmentally, please feel free to share in the comments section. Peace and Blessed Summer season to you.

I often forget that not all Pagans are Vegan, and not all Vegans are Pagan. For me, the two fit together so naturally that part of me is always shocked to be reminded of this fact. Veganism fits so closely in with the basic beliefs of most if not all of the different traditions of Paganism because we are taught to do what we want as long as we harm none.

 Leslie and I recently went to Salem, Mass for a long weekend with a detour back to Maine on Saturday. It was a fun way to celebrate my Birthday and the annual Maine Vegetarian Festival as well. As we browsed the many shops, I was saddened by the amount of leather, feathers and other animal parts on magical tools that we saw in these shops. As part of our weekend, we took a tour through the Witch Village Museum. The tour guide stated that this number one belief that we we are ok as long as we harm none, and she even said that she participates in a little bit of dog and cat rescue in her spare time.  What struck me is that how she like most people clearly only considered not harming  pets, and did not include animals that are commonly exploited for "food" in with those animals that we should not harm.

This made me really wonder why Pagans don't see the connection between "Harm None"  and eating animal products. Harm none means harm nothing, not just don't harm the cute and cuddly pets but continue to take part in the meat and dairy industry that exploits, harms and kills animals because they "taste good". To me, Harm none means simply that. I believe in living a lifestyle that truly does not harm animals or humans. The feathers that I do have were gifted (shed) by birds and were not killed to obtain them. And I believe there are more beautiful ways to decorate my magical tools than to cover them with materials that were obtained by harming a living being.

Vegan Earth Day

Now both Ostara and Easter are behind us, and Beltane is just around the corner! I am very excited to see my baby garlic peeping cautiously (yet with increasing optimism) out of the garden beds. It was preceded by the brash chocolate mint, which was clawing it's way through last year's dead tangle. And in the front yard the chives are at least three inches tall...leading the way for everyone (along with the dandelions and crocuses). Yay! Spring! The beaver-built pond in our back field is now populous with birds, including a lovely pair of geese. It is so good to see them all again!

I think earth day and the activities that go with it are a great way to head into Beltane. Beltane is full of spring energy and passion. For those of us who want to turn this metaphor toward activism, earth day is a great avenue.

Never forget that veganism is great for the environment. It always makes me a little sad to watch environmental education type movies that totally miss animal agriculture as a major part of the problem. But environmental groups are catching on. Just recently, the Center for Biological Diversity put up a new campaign urging people toward a vegan diet due to environmental impact of animal foods. For instance, they give this sobering piece of info:

"Every minute, seven football fields’ worth of land is bulldozed to create room for more livestock and feed crops — land that was once habitat for wild animals and biologically diverse ecosystems that play a key role in absorbing carbon dioxide and filtering water sources."  (Smithsonian Institution, 2002)


They don't start people off as full-bore vegan, but suggest reduction. And their campaign slogan is great: "You have at least three chances a day to save the planet."

Their campaign is called "take extinction off your plate" and I love this message, as well. We need to remember that it isn't only the slaughtered animals who are killed when we consume meat. Other species are going extinct because animal agriculture is taking away their habitats and their water. It is such an important set of facts for vegans to know. To get some great info and talking points from their site, check it out at: http://www.takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/ 

Also FARM (farmed animal rights movement) has a great earth day campaign with tons of environmental info. And their beginner's' veg pledge is going on right now! Check them out at: http://www.greenyourdiet.org/

and I hope you had a lovely earth day!

5 Ways to Celebrate Vegan Easter

A sure sign of spring is the Easter holiday making its pastel-presence known in every marketplace. “Easter” is a Christian holiday, but it has become a cultural celebration as well. Easter also occurs in the same time window as Passover and other religious holidays, like the neo-pagan holiday of Ostara. All three of these religious holidays have an egg as part of the seasonal motif, and they all do something to celebrate springtime energies.

Whether it is the secular event or a religious tradition, this is the time of year to celebrate themes like new birth and fresh beginnings. If you have children, they may be seeing their peers celebrate and want to join in. You may have a community or family tradition that celebrates, as well. So here are five ideas for veganizing what I will call “Easter,” though you may call it something else.

 

1)      Use plastic eggs for baskets and hunts. Fill them with vegan sweets. Sites like www.veganessentials.com have whole sections of Easter-basket friendly candy. You can also make your own vegan chocolates or egg-shaped cookies. If your children want to decorate eggs, craft stores sell wooden or plaster versions.

2)      Donate to a vegan education and advocacy organization so they can educate the public about Easter holiday risks to animals like rabbits, chicks, and ducklings.

3)      Donate (time, wish list items, or money) to a pet shelter or animal sanctuary. These organizations often get flooded with “Easter” animals who have been surrendered or abandoned. Perhaps your family can do a volunteer day or an educational visit.

4)      Take veganized Easter or Passover type foods to family dinners, religious celebrations, and potlucks. “Betty Goes Vegan,” by Dan and Annie Shannon, has a whole Easter menu and Passover menu. Mayim Bialik has great, traditional Passover fare in “Mayim’s Vegan Table.” Between the two books we’re talking maple roasted tofurkey, hot cross buns, sweet treats and matzo ball soup. So much of these holiday traditions has to do with “comfort food.” By giving people cruelty-free options, we can help them see it is possible to move away from reliance on items like eggs and ham.

5)      Tap into the energy of the season to plan your garden. You can micro-garden inside with containers, or have an edible landscape outside. Two books that might help are “Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces” by Patricia Lanza, or “Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” by Toby Hemenway.

 

Let’s celebrate spring right along with the rest, and be proud our cruelty-free choices. I’m wishing you a happy holiday season and a beautiful, peace-filled spring.

Ostara

Here we are at Ostara again, a spring celebration that focuses on fertility and other types of new beginnings. It is a time for "growth" of many different kinds. One of the key symbols of the season is the egg. This is not limited to pagan Ostara, but can also be seen in Jewish Passover feasting and in Christian Easter. Not to mention the secularized holiday, which is all about new spring clothes, egg hunts, candy, and ham dinners. Sigh. But we can counter these exploitative practices in vegan paganism. The Shannons suggest in "Betty" that an avocado can be used instead of an egg in ritual feasts because it has the same shape and the same "germination" energy, since it has a giant seed in the middle. I really like this idea.

I made a maple glazed holiday roast from "Betty Goes Vegan" for our Ostara night feast. This has a vegan flavor profile that is about as close to honey-roasted ham as we would want it to be. And for our ritual we honored the Goddess Eostre, as well as the animals who are so often exploited this time of year, like rabbits, chickens, pigs and ducks.

I took the opportunity to get some egg-shaped candles from a local craft store, and we also got little wooden egg cutouts for divination sets. We thought that colored "eggs" made into divination tools would satisfy the urge to have colored eggs around. It was fun to make the "eggs" and I made mine in the seven chakra colors. I figured I could pull one once in a while and use it to inspire a meditation on that chakra. As a reiki practitioner and musical healing enthusiast, I always want to work with the chakras and their correspondences.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy and here's hoping you have a great Spring!

Shadow is sulking a little because I wouldn't let him eat the egg candles. :^)

Eostre in the center, with a vegan sugar-bunny. The wooden eggs we turned into divination sets are behind her.

maple roast from betty goes vegan

yum!

All Snakes Day (March 17)

I read an interesting tidbit somewhere (wish I remembered where) about "St. Patrick's Day" being reclaimed by some Pagans as "All Snakes Day." The idea is along the lines of celebrating snakes and pagans rather than carrying on the covert or overt themes that suggest St. Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland is a metaphor for Christianity driving the old faith out. I like the idea of celebrating it as "All snakes day." So enjoy, and hug a snake today. I'll include a picture of my coauthor, Gwen, doing just that at a Salem Witches' Ball.

Snakes are often associated with transition and sensuality, and connection to the earth. Snakes and other reptiles are also often associated with the element of fire. Many ancient traditions associate snakes with knowledge...especially spiritual or magical knowledge.



In celebration of All Snakes Day, I did a veganized version of a traditional St. Patrick's day type dinner (as I remember growing up). I made soda bread from Veganomicon (Isa Chandra) and boiled dinner from Betty Goes Vegan. Here are some photos to show that we can have yummy, traditional and cultural foods without any animal products!

raw vegan birthday

Hi, happy birthday to me! Here's to getting another year older, LOL. But at least I did it with style by making my own raw, vegan birthday cake. I used the recipe for "coconut snow cake" from Ani Phyo's book, "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen."

It was good but I think I put too much banana in the cake, making the texture a little too hard. I had pre-chipped bananas so I had trouble estimating what “five dehydrated bananas” was. But one of my mom’s coworkers asked so many questions about the cake that I sent her a piece and Mom said she liked it. She actually ate the whole piece right there, when she had said she would just try a bite.

And on my bday I went to lunch with Mom and her coworker at our fave Thai place, that makes me vegan food to order. They gave me a $20 gift certificate too!

Then it was a regular rest of the week until Saturday, when Mom, Gwen and I went out. We went to see “The Monuments Men” and then went to dinner at Miguel’s, a Mexican place in Bangor that we love. The movie was good, by the way. Just  a little sad, of course, but very educational too.

Miguel’s has a niche at serving as much local organic as possible and catering to people with dietary needs like gluten free or vegan. They have a regular looking menu for a Mexican place, except there is vegan meat, cheese, and sour cream available to use in virtually every entrée. Most of the vegans I know, including myself, love that we can go there with omnivores and everyone can order off the regular menu with no fuss. Plus it’s just really good food.

I got my usual of veggie fajitas with spiced tofu, vegan cheese (daiya) and sour cream (probably follow your heart). And as usual I had to take half of  it home. The next morning I fried up a little more seasoned tofu and then made a fajita scramble out of it. It was gooood.

  
So here's to another year of being even more healthy and happy than ever!