Witch Week Honours Baba Yaga

In Slavic mythology, BABA YAGA is an archetypal crone witch

who dwells by herself deep in the forest.

Baba Yaga lives in a hut which stands and

moves about on chicken legs.

She flies through the sky, not on a broom,

but in a mortar bowl, rowing it with a pestle.

She is a deeply enigmatic and ambiguous figure

who may either help or hinder those who

encounter or seek her out.

Sometimes she is good.

Sometimes she is evil.

Baba Yaga may be ancient

but she moves with the times!

She is currently updating her image

to stay relevant in our modern age --

And here's a Baba Yaga inspired chicken coop!

The chickens love it!

HRH's New Religion

UH-OH.

Her Royal Highness the Cat

read my last post and took it to heart.

Now she's busy proselytizing.

She expects you all to join.

EXPECTS it.

You will be welcomed to her flock.

And you will enjoy the warmth 

of her Divine Love.

However, never ever question HRH

or challenge her authority.

She has already put ME on notice.

What can I say?

Easy and Fun DIY Project!

Invent your OWN religion!

Have a good creation myth,

but don't get TOO bureaucratic

about the details --

 skellerbvvt

A creation myth but told through the lens of modern project management.

“Per my previous email I rerouted the evolutionary chain to crabs because it is our most finished module. if you would like to interface about this you can click here to schedule a 1x1 with me, otherwise the entire Carcinisation demo is here.”

 galwednesday

Hi, just hoping to follow up before the all hands meeting this Friday. The ocean development team has made great progress on their wildlife milestones, but early UX testing indicates that users find most of the demo products unsettling. Our VP of Product Design would like to remind wildlife developers to please follow the design team's "fish" moodboard and refrain from adding too many features (needle teeth, glowing head lamps, tentacles, etc.) or else the final product will become cluttered.

Start small and GROW!

Put in lots of CONTROLLING,

CRAZYMAKING shit!

The best part is -- base

"you know who" on

YOURSELF!

Remember: CIRCULAR LOGIC rocks!

Throw in some

FREEBIE

that people will fall for!

Literal Belief and Its Accompanying Danger

While I regard all deities as mythological, I have no problem if other people believe in some divine being's literal or actual existence. "Whatever floats your boat and harms none" is my philosophy. However, there is a very real danger in literal belief if it is also accompanied by another belief, namely, spiritual or religious supremacy, which holds that Only One Truth exists and therefore every other belief is Wrong and Heretical.

From that supremacist belief flows all manner of evil. It becomes permissible (indeed, often a duty) to shun, condemn, exclude, punish, torture and/or kill non-believers. Proselytizing and conversion, even forced conversion, are seen as admirable. Wholesale destruction of non-believers' beliefs, culture and lives is encouraged. Anything goes if it elevates and strengthens the supremacist position.

All major religions are guilty of this. Historically, Christianity is a prime example. Around the world today, Islamic supremacists wreak havoc in various countries. Judaism still teaches that only they are the Chosen People. Buddhists are not immune from this evil either, as evidenced by the ongoing persecution and genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Hindus and Muslims have long been at each other's throats in India and Pakistan.

And it's not just persecution of non-believers. Supremacist doctrines, whether concerning religion, gender or race, usually bond together like cement for even more devastating effect. How often has religion been used to justify theft, subjugation and exploitation of other races? Virtually always. What religion has historically treated women equally, or even well, compared with men? None whatsoever. Supremacist thought of every variety is toxic to human welfare and freedom, plain and simple.

The opposite of supremacist thought in religion is known as Universalism (today often disparagingly referred to as "moral relativism"). Universalism holds that spiritual truth, healing and salvation (to use the standard religious terminology) are available to all, regardless of what religion (or none) is practised. The foundational principles of Universalism are tolerance and respect.

All supremacist religions, of course, teach that Universalism is wrong, misguided and/or evil.

But is it?

Is it really?

How different would our world be today if Universalism had been the guiding doctrine over the past couple of thousand years or more?

Today's Simple Question Is . . .

When I was young, I spent many years searching for the answer to this question. For insight and guidance, I explored various Christian denominations, other world religions, New Age and lesser known alternative spiritualities, Jungian and mythological research, Existentialism, Atheism, etc. etc. etc. I pondered the intractable logical paradox of "The Problem of Evil." I spent about 15 years wandering and wondering.

And then one day, I had an epiphany and started to laugh.

"Does God Exist?" is the wrong question. It is irrelevant whether God exists or not. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that humans (for whatever reason) have a deep, abiding need for some conception of Divinity and/or spirituality, a need that has existed since we first climbed down from the trees. It is a fundamental aspect of our very humanity and is therefore important to us, regardless of any objective truth or lack thereof about the existence of Divinity in this universe.

Moreover, a sense of spiritual wonder and wholeness is entirely independent of any concept of the Divine. Some of the most spiritual people I've ever known have been atheists.

This insight put an end to my search for "The Truth" and I let go of any need for literal belief in the Divine. I still love the concept of Divinity and am, for example, devoted to female imagery of the Divine as a necessary and healing antidote to misogyny in all mainstream patriarchal religions. But now I regard everything as Mythology. This does not diminish its importance but instead, places our human psyches and needs at the centre of our spiritual lives, which is what it's all about anyway.

Next week, I'll post my thoughts on the dangers of literal belief.

My Love of Mythology

I've had many interests, enthusiasms and passions in my life, but the most enduring one of all is my love of mythology. As a child, I was fascinated by the Greek gods and goddesses. And I also immersed myself in Judeo-Christian imagery and symbolism, which I later came to understand were mythology as well. As a teenager, I could not get enough of the Arthurian Legends and then the myth cycle of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

As an adult, I've been intrigued by the mythologies of many cultures -- Egyptian, Sumerian, Middle Eastern, Hindu, Buddhist, Norse. My embrace of the Divine Feminine is really just another form of immersion in mythology. So is my ongoing interest in tarot, which is a mythological symbol system as well. Even my interest in superhero characters and stories falls into this area, because what are superheroes except modern, secular American mythology?

When I discovered the Jungian approach to mythology in my thirties, a whole new world of interpretation opened up. Mythology is where our collective human knowledge and wisdom about life, emotions, psychology, hopes, fears and deepest truths are contained from ancient times until now.

Mythology remains an inexhaustible source of fascination to me. You'll soon be seeing more posts about mythology on this blog -- some goofy, some serious, some thoughtful, some irreverent. I hope you'll enjoy them!