25 Plants you should consider growing
I have not been over to Scienceblogs in a while, having grown tired of the Neo-atheist dogma. But you should really check out Casaubon's blog, especially if you are interested in environmental issues and trying to order adapt yourself to an earth-friendly lifestyle. Here's an example from her list of recommended plants for your edible garden:
...3. Blueberries. If there was ever an ornamental edible, this is it. A prettier shrub than privet or most common privacy hedge plants, it produces berries and turns as flaming red as any burning bush in the autumn. I have no idea why more people don't landscape with blueberries. Add to that the fact that blueberries have more antioxidants than most other foods and unlike other good for you crops, will be eaten by the bucketfull by kids. They do need acidic soil, but there are blueberries for all climates. Definitely worth replacing your shrubs with blueberries if you can...
How true. I have 3 plants of a dwarf variety growing in my front yard. But I'm thinking of getting some full-size plants. I agree with most items on her list, such as rhubarb and potatoes. But she does include some odd-balls, like rice. Rice! Seriously?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Purrrrfect Discovery
Cat Goddess Bastet Temple: Egypt Announces Find Of Ancient Temple
The Temple of Bast in Alexandria has been discovered:
Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter. The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat goddess to be discovered in Alexandria. This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period, he said. Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities were also found in the ruins, he added.
The Temple of Bast in Alexandria has been discovered:
Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter. The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat goddess to be discovered in Alexandria. This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period, he said. Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities were also found in the ruins, he added.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sol, Sun, and Son
Religion, science, and the solstice
This a fine editorial about Yule by James Carroll of the Boston Globe, I first saw over at DailyKos:
...Religion and science occupy separate and opposed spheres, no? Not to our distant forebears, from whom all of our illumination festivals derive. They could not afford the facile dichotomy between the sacred and the profane that defines thinking since the Enlightenment, when people of the West sought to free themselves from the bane of superstition. For most of history, though, religion was not taken to be a flight from rationality, but a mode of it...
Is it me, or have there been less articles this season about the phony 'War on Christmas', and more like the one above? I hope so. Carroll wishes for a peaceful resolution between two parties that are often at odds in our society:
When mystical wonder was walled off from measurable observation, science restricted its range, and religion anathematized critical thinking - disasters both. But the festivals this week, sparked by this morning’s dawn, call to mind the age-old spaciousness of informed imagination. Happily, it remains so. Knowledge is holy. Season’s greetings.
Happy Yule, everyone.
This a fine editorial about Yule by James Carroll of the Boston Globe, I first saw over at DailyKos:
...Religion and science occupy separate and opposed spheres, no? Not to our distant forebears, from whom all of our illumination festivals derive. They could not afford the facile dichotomy between the sacred and the profane that defines thinking since the Enlightenment, when people of the West sought to free themselves from the bane of superstition. For most of history, though, religion was not taken to be a flight from rationality, but a mode of it...
Is it me, or have there been less articles this season about the phony 'War on Christmas', and more like the one above? I hope so. Carroll wishes for a peaceful resolution between two parties that are often at odds in our society:
When mystical wonder was walled off from measurable observation, science restricted its range, and religion anathematized critical thinking - disasters both. But the festivals this week, sparked by this morning’s dawn, call to mind the age-old spaciousness of informed imagination. Happily, it remains so. Knowledge is holy. Season’s greetings.
Happy Yule, everyone.
Monday, November 16, 2009
God Found! He's in your genes
The Evolution of the God Gene
There have been a couple of shots-across-the-bow directed at the neo-Atheists and others who delight in kneeling at the altar of reason. The above article points up the growing evidence that religion and spirituality have imparted an evolutionary advantage to our species:
...This and other research is pointing to a new perspective on religion, one that seeks to explain why religious behavior has occurred in societies at every stage of development and in every region of the world. Religion has the hallmarks of an evolved behavior, meaning that it exists because it was favored by natural selection. It is universal because it was wired into our neural circuitry before the ancestral human population dispersed from its African homeland.
Here's the part that will sting the biological determinists (oops, I mean neo-Atheists):
...For atheists, it is not a particularly welcome thought that religion evolved because it conferred essential benefits on early human societies and their successors. If religion is a lifebelt, it is hard to portray it as useless.
But don't feel so self assured, devout monotheists:
...For believers, it may seem threatening to think that the mind has been shaped to believe in gods, since the actual existence of the divine may then seem less likely.
Now Pagans, Rejoice :
...But the evolutionary perspective on religion does not necessarily threaten the central position of either side. That religious behavior was favored by natural selection neither proves nor disproves the existence of gods...
Carl Sagan was right when he said in "Cosmos" that the interior of the cell nucleus housed the 'holy of holies'. But I've quoted too much from this excellent article by Nicholas Wade. Please give it a read. There's also Karen Armstrong's book "The Case for God":
...The time, in other words, is ripe for a book like “The Case for God,” which wraps a rebuke to the more militant sort of atheism in an engaging survey of Western religious thought. Karen Armstrong, a former nun turned prolific popular historian, wants to rescue the idea of God from its cultured despisers and its more literal-minded adherents alike. To that end, she doesn’t just argue that her preferred approach to religion — which emphasizes the pursuit of an unknowable Deity, rather than the quest for theological correctness — is compatible with a liberal, scientific, technologically advanced society...
Amen! Er, I mean--Amon! Armstrong argues for a point of view which many Pagans are familiar with (and something I've discussed here and on other blogs):
...Both modern believers and modern atheists, Armstrong contends, have come to understand religion primarily as a set of propositions to be assented to, or a catalog of specific facts about the nature of God, the world and human life. But this approach to piety would be foreign to many premodern religious thinkers, including the greatest minds of the Christian past, from the early Fathers of the Church to medieval eminences like Thomas Aquinas...These and other thinkers, she writes, understood faith primarily as a practice, rather than as a system — not as “something that people thought but something they did.” Their God was not a being to be defined or a proposition to be tested, but an ultimate reality to be approached through myth, ritual and “apophatic” theology, which practices “a deliberate and principled reticence about God and/or the sacred” and emphasizes what we can’t know about the divine...
What we do, or how we act, is more important than what we believe.
There have been a couple of shots-across-the-bow directed at the neo-Atheists and others who delight in kneeling at the altar of reason. The above article points up the growing evidence that religion and spirituality have imparted an evolutionary advantage to our species:
...This and other research is pointing to a new perspective on religion, one that seeks to explain why religious behavior has occurred in societies at every stage of development and in every region of the world. Religion has the hallmarks of an evolved behavior, meaning that it exists because it was favored by natural selection. It is universal because it was wired into our neural circuitry before the ancestral human population dispersed from its African homeland.
Here's the part that will sting the biological determinists (oops, I mean neo-Atheists):
...For atheists, it is not a particularly welcome thought that religion evolved because it conferred essential benefits on early human societies and their successors. If religion is a lifebelt, it is hard to portray it as useless.
But don't feel so self assured, devout monotheists:
...For believers, it may seem threatening to think that the mind has been shaped to believe in gods, since the actual existence of the divine may then seem less likely.
Now Pagans, Rejoice :
...But the evolutionary perspective on religion does not necessarily threaten the central position of either side. That religious behavior was favored by natural selection neither proves nor disproves the existence of gods...
Carl Sagan was right when he said in "Cosmos" that the interior of the cell nucleus housed the 'holy of holies'. But I've quoted too much from this excellent article by Nicholas Wade. Please give it a read. There's also Karen Armstrong's book "The Case for God":
...The time, in other words, is ripe for a book like “The Case for God,” which wraps a rebuke to the more militant sort of atheism in an engaging survey of Western religious thought. Karen Armstrong, a former nun turned prolific popular historian, wants to rescue the idea of God from its cultured despisers and its more literal-minded adherents alike. To that end, she doesn’t just argue that her preferred approach to religion — which emphasizes the pursuit of an unknowable Deity, rather than the quest for theological correctness — is compatible with a liberal, scientific, technologically advanced society...
Amen! Er, I mean--Amon! Armstrong argues for a point of view which many Pagans are familiar with (and something I've discussed here and on other blogs):
...Both modern believers and modern atheists, Armstrong contends, have come to understand religion primarily as a set of propositions to be assented to, or a catalog of specific facts about the nature of God, the world and human life. But this approach to piety would be foreign to many premodern religious thinkers, including the greatest minds of the Christian past, from the early Fathers of the Church to medieval eminences like Thomas Aquinas...These and other thinkers, she writes, understood faith primarily as a practice, rather than as a system — not as “something that people thought but something they did.” Their God was not a being to be defined or a proposition to be tested, but an ultimate reality to be approached through myth, ritual and “apophatic” theology, which practices “a deliberate and principled reticence about God and/or the sacred” and emphasizes what we can’t know about the divine...
What we do, or how we act, is more important than what we believe.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Pagan Temple under attack
On Oct 3rd of this year, I had the pleasure of attending a Pagan Pride event sponsored by Maetreum of Cybele, a pagan convent in Upstate NY in the town of Palenville. I vended at this event and attended an open circle. I had a great time. Unfortunately, the Maetreum is finding itself under attack:
...Not long after we purchased the property a local slumlord addressed a town meeting calling for us to be run out of town by way of zoning and building inspection harassment. While most of the people in town rejected his call and welcomed us, nevertheless over the course of the next several years we weathered continued harassment, vandalism, threats to “burn us out” followed by harassing and illegal inspections...
You can read more of the letter over at WildHunt.
...Not long after we purchased the property a local slumlord addressed a town meeting calling for us to be run out of town by way of zoning and building inspection harassment. While most of the people in town rejected his call and welcomed us, nevertheless over the course of the next several years we weathered continued harassment, vandalism, threats to “burn us out” followed by harassing and illegal inspections...
You can read more of the letter over at WildHunt.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Secret, 2012, and Heaven's Gate (UPDATED)
A while ago, I saw the "The Secret" DVD with a friend. My impression was that it was ridiculous on it's face. Where can I begin? How 'bout the hokey 'scientists' lending an air of credibility to pseudo-physics? Or maybe the incessant mantra of self-help speak mouthed by the participants? Best of all, if you were masochistic enough to sit till the end, came the requisite selling of cheap merchandise! A few months later, someone in our coven wanted to have a group "Secret" viewing. I noticed that at least one other group near me had a similar get-together.
I wish people in our community would do a better job calling out bullshit when they see it. You don't have to be mean about it, or try to make people feel small or stupid. But we can't ignore the tragic deaths that just occurred in a poorly constructed 'sweat lodge', sponsored by the charlatans behind the "The Secret". (For those wishing to read more about this, Jason at Wild Hunt is doing an excellent job covering the story, here and in his "Pagan News of Note, here.)
Does anyone remember "Heaven's Gate" and that cult's sick fascination with the arrival of comet Hale-Bopp? (If you want to read my rants on the subject, I blogged about it here). As bad at it is, at the point I'm writing this, only two people have died. But it could have been much worse.
The latest bunch of hooey to wash by the gutter is this "Mayan 2012" calendar stuff. It reminds me of the End-of-Days stuff spouted by Dominionist Xtians. I'm old enough to remember the "Jupiter Effect" nonsense from the 1970's. All sorts of calamities were suppose to ensue due to a rare planetary alignment. The fact that astronomers told us this alignment was indeed not going to happen, and even if it did would have virtually no effect on us, did little to stem the sale of "Jupiter Effect" books.
The people behind such things as "The Secret" and "2012" are parasites trying to make a buck off the gullible and weak. It wouldn't be so bad if it was only money at stake. But people getting involved in such things can be lead terribly--and sometimes tragically-- astray.
(UPDATE: A third person had died. The sheriff's dept, is treating the incident as a homicide. Details here.)
I wish people in our community would do a better job calling out bullshit when they see it. You don't have to be mean about it, or try to make people feel small or stupid. But we can't ignore the tragic deaths that just occurred in a poorly constructed 'sweat lodge', sponsored by the charlatans behind the "The Secret". (For those wishing to read more about this, Jason at Wild Hunt is doing an excellent job covering the story, here and in his "Pagan News of Note, here.)
Does anyone remember "Heaven's Gate" and that cult's sick fascination with the arrival of comet Hale-Bopp? (If you want to read my rants on the subject, I blogged about it here). As bad at it is, at the point I'm writing this, only two people have died. But it could have been much worse.
The latest bunch of hooey to wash by the gutter is this "Mayan 2012" calendar stuff. It reminds me of the End-of-Days stuff spouted by Dominionist Xtians. I'm old enough to remember the "Jupiter Effect" nonsense from the 1970's. All sorts of calamities were suppose to ensue due to a rare planetary alignment. The fact that astronomers told us this alignment was indeed not going to happen, and even if it did would have virtually no effect on us, did little to stem the sale of "Jupiter Effect" books.
The people behind such things as "The Secret" and "2012" are parasites trying to make a buck off the gullible and weak. It wouldn't be so bad if it was only money at stake. But people getting involved in such things can be lead terribly--and sometimes tragically-- astray.
(UPDATE: A third person had died. The sheriff's dept, is treating the incident as a homicide. Details here.)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Carolyn Porco meets Marcus Aurelius
Two weeks, there was a piece in the NYTimes about Carolyn Porco and her remarkable contributions in imaging the outer planets of our solar system. A protege of Carl Sagan, she is credited as being the model for the character Dr. Ellie Arroway in the book/movie "Contact". Definitely an interesting read.
But today there was an interesting letter called "Eyeing the Cosmos"in the NYTimes, inspired by the article:
...In pondering the possibility of life elsewhere in the cosmos, Dr. Porco echoes yet another august figure in her ancestral patrimony, Marcus Aurelius: “The entire Earth is but a point, and the place of our own habitation but a minute corner of it...
If you have not read Marcus Aurelius, I highly recommend the recent translation by Gregory Hays, "Meditations: Marcus Aurelius" This book belongs on the self of every well-read Pagan/Wiccan/Atheist.
But today there was an interesting letter called "Eyeing the Cosmos"in the NYTimes, inspired by the article:
...In pondering the possibility of life elsewhere in the cosmos, Dr. Porco echoes yet another august figure in her ancestral patrimony, Marcus Aurelius: “The entire Earth is but a point, and the place of our own habitation but a minute corner of it...
If you have not read Marcus Aurelius, I highly recommend the recent translation by Gregory Hays, "Meditations: Marcus Aurelius" This book belongs on the self of every well-read Pagan/Wiccan/Atheist.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Saxon Hoard Found
Amateur with Metal Detector Strikes Ancient English Treasure
A dedicated hobbyist, who was often made fun of for his passion, makes major archeological find:
LONDON — For the jobless man living on welfare who made the find in an English farmer’s field two months ago, it was the stuff of dreams: a hoard of early Anglo-Saxon treasure
Terry Herbert, the 55 year old discoverer of the find, sometimes offered up an intention when he started one of his explorations with a metal detector:
...He said that on the day of his discovery he reworked a mantra that he regularly used for good luck. “I have this phrase that I say sometimes — ‘Spirits of yesterday, take me where the coins appear’ — but on that day I changed ‘coins’ to ‘gold.’ I don’t know why I said it that day, but I think somebody was listening.”
This is a significant find:
...experts described it as one of the most important in British archaeological history. They said it surpassed the greatest previous discovery of its kind, a royal burial chamber unearthed in 1939 at Sutton Hoo,
A dedicated hobbyist, who was often made fun of for his passion, makes major archeological find:
LONDON — For the jobless man living on welfare who made the find in an English farmer’s field two months ago, it was the stuff of dreams: a hoard of early Anglo-Saxon treasure
Terry Herbert, the 55 year old discoverer of the find, sometimes offered up an intention when he started one of his explorations with a metal detector:
...He said that on the day of his discovery he reworked a mantra that he regularly used for good luck. “I have this phrase that I say sometimes — ‘Spirits of yesterday, take me where the coins appear’ — but on that day I changed ‘coins’ to ‘gold.’ I don’t know why I said it that day, but I think somebody was listening.”
This is a significant find:
...experts described it as one of the most important in British archaeological history. They said it surpassed the greatest previous discovery of its kind, a royal burial chamber unearthed in 1939 at Sutton Hoo,
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Clash of the Gods
Has anyone been watching "Clash of the Gods" on the History Channel? The show has been rather good. So far, episodes have covered Zeus, Hercules, Hades (the place and the God) and The Medusa. Most recently, 'Part I' of Odysseus aired. You can view some of the past episodes on the History channel website, above.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Darwin and the Pythoness
No U.S. distributor for Charles Darwin movie because of fear of fundamentalists
Many of you will remember the Xtian angst that ensued when the Monty Python movie "The Life of Brian" was released in the USA. At that time, I was friendly with a married couple who ran the a 'mom & pop' size theater in my college town. They were fans of Python, and dearly wanted to show the film. But they had received a very pointed threat against them on their answering machine, if they decided to show the film. They agonized whether they should show the film. In this case, this threat of terrorism had the desired effect. One of the owners told me that although someone defacing one of their movie screens would be covered by insurance, the loss of revenue would ruin them. (This was before studio owned megaplexes dominated the market). They decided not to show the film.
Well, it looks like the factually challenged have won the day again. The 'good' news is that theater owners will not have to sweat the decision to show the film or not, as the film now has about zero chance of finding a distributor in the US. From Crooks&Liars:
Many of you will remember the Xtian angst that ensued when the Monty Python movie "The Life of Brian" was released in the USA. At that time, I was friendly with a married couple who ran the a 'mom & pop' size theater in my college town. They were fans of Python, and dearly wanted to show the film. But they had received a very pointed threat against them on their answering machine, if they decided to show the film. They agonized whether they should show the film. In this case, this threat of terrorism had the desired effect. One of the owners told me that although someone defacing one of their movie screens would be covered by insurance, the loss of revenue would ruin them. (This was before studio owned megaplexes dominated the market). They decided not to show the film.
Well, it looks like the factually challenged have won the day again. The 'good' news is that theater owners will not have to sweat the decision to show the film or not, as the film now has about zero chance of finding a distributor in the US. From Crooks&Liars:
...Good God, what is this country coming to?
It seems the film Creation, a major-production biopic about Charles Darwin starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, won't be seen in the United States because no distributor with the guts to stand up to the religious right in this country can be found...
The producer said:
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