I want to try to share a link to a great movie, free to watch, which was shared with me through the World Peace Diet community. If the link doesn't work, I'm sure you can find it by doing a search on something like, "animals and the Buddha film." Peace!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3fNIN36rRcUMm9hb0RXMEF1Vm8/view?usp=sharing
living it ecclectic pagan and vegan - rituals, recipes, struggles, and fun
Monday, November 24, 2014
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Gentle Thanksgiving
Well, I have been busy again. We had our gentle thanksgiving at the local animal sanctuary (www.peaceridgesanctuary.org) on Nov. 1 and on Nov. 2, we had a two foot blizzard which resulted in five DAYS of power outage for me and mine. Then the day after the power (and heat) came back on, I rushed to Boston to celebrate my step-mom's eightieth year on the earth. Now it's back to life as normal (as such) and things are just starting to feel a little more settled.
I don't have much time to write now, but I figured, 'tis better to have blogged a bit than never to have blogged at all.
So I'll leave you with this photo from our gentle thanksgiving, and warm wishes for your own holidays.
THIS is how you serve a turkey. <3 p="">
Peace!
I don't have much time to write now, but I figured, 'tis better to have blogged a bit than never to have blogged at all.
So I'll leave you with this photo from our gentle thanksgiving, and warm wishes for your own holidays.
THIS is how you serve a turkey. <3 p="">
Peace!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Mabon: Warm up for Tofurkey Day
So I know I'm a little late posting on Mabon. A lot late. It is currently rocketing towards my favorite Sabbat of the year, being Samhain.
Personally I have been having my struggles. In the past few months I have lost both of my 18 year old kitties, sisters, who I have lived with since they were tiny little babies. I have also learned that one of my greyhounds, Sable, has a bone cancer diagnosis, which is what I lost my last girl to (Stardom). So I haven't had a lot of emotional energy to write. But my focus in dealing with these losses and illnesses has been a mantra given to me by a friend..."love and gratitude." Every moment with my loved ones is precious. Every happy moment to be savored. Even in the midst of great personal pain, this has been tremendously helpful to me. My next article for SageWoman Magazine under my column, "Child of Artemis," will be dealing with this journey that we take with our companion animals.
Mabon is the holiday that I equate with "Thanksgiving," so it is an appropriate time to be contemplating love and gratitude.
As a vegan pagan, I always like to flag Mabon as a time when we can start preparing to have a "gentle thanksgiving" within our mainstream culture. Maybe "adopt" a rescued turkey at a farm sanctuary. Start planning and advertising a gentle thanksgiving potluck. Do a vegan food drive for a local pantry.
If you would like some extra support on a Gentle Thanksgiving event, FARM (farm animal rights movement) has a campaign for this. http://compassionateholidays.com/
So, happy compassionate holidays and as we rev up for Samhain, where we honor and remember those who have passed, let us already and always be living the path of "love and gratitude."
Personally I have been having my struggles. In the past few months I have lost both of my 18 year old kitties, sisters, who I have lived with since they were tiny little babies. I have also learned that one of my greyhounds, Sable, has a bone cancer diagnosis, which is what I lost my last girl to (Stardom). So I haven't had a lot of emotional energy to write. But my focus in dealing with these losses and illnesses has been a mantra given to me by a friend..."love and gratitude." Every moment with my loved ones is precious. Every happy moment to be savored. Even in the midst of great personal pain, this has been tremendously helpful to me. My next article for SageWoman Magazine under my column, "Child of Artemis," will be dealing with this journey that we take with our companion animals.
Mabon is the holiday that I equate with "Thanksgiving," so it is an appropriate time to be contemplating love and gratitude.
As a vegan pagan, I always like to flag Mabon as a time when we can start preparing to have a "gentle thanksgiving" within our mainstream culture. Maybe "adopt" a rescued turkey at a farm sanctuary. Start planning and advertising a gentle thanksgiving potluck. Do a vegan food drive for a local pantry.
If you would like some extra support on a Gentle Thanksgiving event, FARM (farm animal rights movement) has a campaign for this. http://compassionateholidays.com/
So, happy compassionate holidays and as we rev up for Samhain, where we honor and remember those who have passed, let us already and always be living the path of "love and gratitude."
image from http://vpods.wordpress.com/tag/vpods/
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A noted writer and women's rights activist from the period around the 1900s, Gilman is best known for her women's studies classic short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, which fictionalizes her experience of post partum depression. As with many other prominent thinkers from history, her animal rights work has been largely scrubbed from history by our conflicted, defensive culture. In her utopian and satirical work, Herland, Gilman's land of women kept no animals for agriculture because agricultural animals took up land that was needed for plant crops. When asked what they did for milk, one of the women basically said, "we have plenty of milk...our own."
Gilman was an activist at a time when many feminists recognized the overlapping oppressions that also face animals of other species. In 1903 the American Suffrage women had a conference where animal rights were a special topic of discussion. Yet again, this heritage has been "disappeared" from mainstream feminist consciousness. In the modern era where contemplating our choices in behavior toward other animals, and the impact these have on our own ecosystem and personal health, hopefully we can resurrect some of this herstory. Here is one of many poems that Charlotte wrote about her observations on human treatment of other animals. I also recommend Herland and this brilliant ancestor's other works.
Gilman was an activist at a time when many feminists recognized the overlapping oppressions that also face animals of other species. In 1903 the American Suffrage women had a conference where animal rights were a special topic of discussion. Yet again, this heritage has been "disappeared" from mainstream feminist consciousness. In the modern era where contemplating our choices in behavior toward other animals, and the impact these have on our own ecosystem and personal health, hopefully we can resurrect some of this herstory. Here is one of many poems that Charlotte wrote about her observations on human treatment of other animals. I also recommend Herland and this brilliant ancestor's other works.
THE CATTLE
TRAIN
Below my window goes the cattle train,
And stands for hours along the river park,
Fear, Cold, Exhaustion, Hunger, Thirst and
Pain;
Dumb brutes we call them - Hark!
The bleat of frightened mother -calling young,
Deep-throated agony, shrill frantic cries,
Hoarse murmur of the thirst-distended tongue
Up to my window rise.
Bleak lies the shore to northern wind and sleet,
In open-slatted cars they stand and freeeze
Beside the broad blue river in the heat
All waterless go these.
Hot, fevered, frightened, trampled, bruised
and torn;
Frozen to death before the ax descends;
We kill these weary creatures; sore and worn,
And eat them-- with our friends.
-Charlotte Perkins Gilman-
Below my window goes the cattle train,
And stands for hours along the river park,
Fear, Cold, Exhaustion, Hunger, Thirst and
Pain;
Dumb brutes we call them - Hark!
The bleat of frightened mother -calling young,
Deep-throated agony, shrill frantic cries,
Hoarse murmur of the thirst-distended tongue
Up to my window rise.
Bleak lies the shore to northern wind and sleet,
In open-slatted cars they stand and freeeze
Beside the broad blue river in the heat
All waterless go these.
Hot, fevered, frightened, trampled, bruised
and torn;
Frozen to death before the ax descends;
We kill these weary creatures; sore and worn,
And eat them-- with our friends.
-Charlotte Perkins Gilman-
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Lughnasadh and the Sacrifice of the Corn King
As Lammas, or Lughnasadh, bears down on us (where does time go?!?) I find myself thinking about the metaphor of the God as a plant. Known as the Corn King, or John Barleycorn, in British tradition, the Sun God or "Son" God (child of the Goddess) dies a sacrificial death in order to feed all of us in the web of creation. He "dies," but it is not true death, for he has already re-seeded himself in the womb of the Goddess. As he returns to the Underworld, he is already in the process of being reborn.
It is compelling to think of the God as a plant. Like the corn he is represented by, he releases his seed naturally in the course of his life-cycle. The new corn seeds are already germinating when the parent plant dies off. Yet the corn seed is, literally, a living part of that plant. So the corn is "resurrected" in the next season of growth.
Our culture tends to see the God as warlike, or at least paternalistic and "in charge." Many stereotypes placed upon him are unfair to masculinity, in general. I think it is very healing to see the God as a nurturer and a care-giver. For that is what he does when he surrenders his life to the cycles of nature and allows all other living things to eat of his body. There is enough of him to go around, and still to reseed him in the underworld of the Goddess. This system is perfectly designed to allow for life without the cost of cruelty.
As a vegan pagan, I enjoy the metaphor of the corn because it is not species-specific. The God did not sacrifice himself only for the souls of humans. He died to "feed" (physically and spiritually) all the children of the Goddess. And even in that moment, his death had no sting. He and his adepts knew the secret...his life went on, just under the mother's soil and skin.
It is compelling to think of the God as a plant. Like the corn he is represented by, he releases his seed naturally in the course of his life-cycle. The new corn seeds are already germinating when the parent plant dies off. Yet the corn seed is, literally, a living part of that plant. So the corn is "resurrected" in the next season of growth.
Our culture tends to see the God as warlike, or at least paternalistic and "in charge." Many stereotypes placed upon him are unfair to masculinity, in general. I think it is very healing to see the God as a nurturer and a care-giver. For that is what he does when he surrenders his life to the cycles of nature and allows all other living things to eat of his body. There is enough of him to go around, and still to reseed him in the underworld of the Goddess. This system is perfectly designed to allow for life without the cost of cruelty.
As a vegan pagan, I enjoy the metaphor of the corn because it is not species-specific. The God did not sacrifice himself only for the souls of humans. He died to "feed" (physically and spiritually) all the children of the Goddess. And even in that moment, his death had no sting. He and his adepts knew the secret...his life went on, just under the mother's soil and skin.
art by Charles Vess
Monday, July 7, 2014
fresh garlic scape pesto
I don't check in on this as often as I would like to, but I have been experimenting more with gardening. I am learning a lot from my mom and from websites. I am trying to keep it as organic as possible and veganic (vegan organic) when I can. I hope eventually to be all veganic. Organic gardening normally still relies on a lot of animal products...especially manure and even composted body parts of animals from factory farms. So veganic means getting away from all those products as much as possible.
The vegan zombie guys are also experimenting with veganic gardening so if you look around their UTube channel you should find some good stuff:
http://www.videorecipetv.com/video/zombiegate/4vEkAz09GJs
Anyway, a garlic scape is the curly little top that comes up on the plant about this time of year. Gardeners cut it off so that the energy of the plant stays in the bulb and not up top. Scapes taste like a combination between garlic and chives, I think. You can use them in a stirfry or soup to up the garlic flavor. But a friend of mine turned me on to making pesto with scapes and I've never looked back. I don't have a particular pesto recipe to recommend but maybe later I will blog my own. For now just experiment if you feel like it. Scapes are popping up in the farmer's markets now! I would say use a half handful of scapes to two handfuls of basil so the scapes don't overpower the taste. Also I use walnuts and an equal amount of nutritional yeast instead of whatever nuts or parmesan cheese a recipe asks for. The walnuts and "nooch" together make a parmesan flavor profile.
The vegan zombie guys are also experimenting with veganic gardening so if you look around their UTube channel you should find some good stuff:
http://www.videorecipetv.com/video/zombiegate/4vEkAz09GJs
Anyway, a garlic scape is the curly little top that comes up on the plant about this time of year. Gardeners cut it off so that the energy of the plant stays in the bulb and not up top. Scapes taste like a combination between garlic and chives, I think. You can use them in a stirfry or soup to up the garlic flavor. But a friend of mine turned me on to making pesto with scapes and I've never looked back. I don't have a particular pesto recipe to recommend but maybe later I will blog my own. For now just experiment if you feel like it. Scapes are popping up in the farmer's markets now! I would say use a half handful of scapes to two handfuls of basil so the scapes don't overpower the taste. Also I use walnuts and an equal amount of nutritional yeast instead of whatever nuts or parmesan cheese a recipe asks for. The walnuts and "nooch" together make a parmesan flavor profile.
fresh garlic scapes and basil from my garden
...a closer view
and the pesto! there is some in the freezer for this winter
Fourth of July Cookout Vegan Style
We celebrated the holiday and Gwen's son's birthday with a lovely cookout at a lake. I will let the food pics speak for themselves...vegans don't miss out on anything, except the regret of consuming unhealthy foods that cause environmental destruction and animal suffering. So we had a happy holiday, for sure! There is plenty more Summer ahead for grilling in our neck of the woods, so hopefully you will have time to give it a try. Oh, one more note. If you are intrigued by the bbq seitan pictured below and have never made "wheat meat," here is a good recipe link: http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/
my plate...yum!
seitan, veg-kabobs, and grilled corn
The finished product: beautiful, bbq seitan or "wheat meat"
lovely corn. soak for an hour in cold water to help it steam on the grill.
grilled red pepper, eggplant, and red onion. the red pepper is blanched (quick boil) first to make it easier to grill
the other stars of the grill...
tofurkey dogs and brats plus some gimme lean patties
a big bowl of rice and quinoa for putting under the other goodies, if desired
my plate...yum!
raw, vegan key lime pie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)