Beltaine... May Day...

Beltaine... May Day...

    I have always had a place in my heart and childhood for Spring rites, and May Day was always the best. As a child, we learned about May Day and it's roots in school (sadly not taught much here in America any longer) and even did the May Pole Dance as a school project during the Spring Fairs. The events that bring about the 'new life' were the center of my life during the first few weeks of Spring, and I watched in wonder as the plants and animals around me aged and grew so quickly from my 'snails pace' growing. It was here, at about the age of 8, that I discovered that time moved differently for everything.

    Beltaine has been a wonderful time for all the peoples of the Earth in one form or another, and by several various names and cultural traditions. A time of 'new beginnings', a time of community gatherings, a time for planting, a time to revel in making it through the harsh winters months and finding life springing out all around us. Trade and wars were halted just to revel in life affirming ceremony and ritual feasts were held in honor of lords and ladies, Gods and Goddess alike. Truly a time to be with friends and families.

    Much honor is given to our Gods and our gratitude bestowed upon alters and fields ready for a new season. This was a cause for many to take hand in hand and celebrate rejuvenation of the land. And here I hold fond memories, as I once also I embraced a lover and friend on a Beltaine morning in a field ready to be planted. Memories from that day have carried me a long way, and always have been part of my ritual. There is a lot to be said about sex magic... but not here, not now. To May Day instead...

    This year my 'home community' hosts once again their May Day festival just outside Memphis, Tennessee. This years theme is 'Back to the Roots', and I definitely cannot wait. A trip back there is always good for me, and to be there with them at festival is even better. Rekindling old acquaintances, meeting new friends, swapping old and new stories and just soaking up the Mississippi River's wonderful energy in the forest.            Yeah, it is a 35 year tradition for us, and I have only missed a few times since my first attendance in 1994. There is a lot of history there, and most any Pagan in the Mid South can tell you a bit of it as well.

    Also May Day (May 1^st) this year is a call to strike by the members of the Occupy local, state and National movement along with Occupy Wall Street. Why? They remember May Day as the Labor Unions day of rest. It is a day to celebrate life, not to toil away one's life for others. Unions and non-union workers are all being encouraged to take the day off. Students of schools, colleges and universities, as well as teachers are being invited to take a day out of class. Families are being challenged not to shop, bank, or do any type of non-family engagement also. It's all about celebrating life with the people in your life that matter.

    I know that I am going to enjoy myself this Beltaine. I am co-hosting an event on the 29^th of April for our local Pagans here in Idaho Falls. I will be traveling down for family and friends in the Mid-South for the May Day Festival (11^th – 13^th). And somewhere along the way, I will try to find a nice field, ready for planting...  

America's Spring Rising

With all the Winters wet and dreary days behind us, for the most part, I see renewed activities ongoing with the Occupy and 99% movements all around the Nation. people have spent much of the winter waiting to see if this continues, or falls to the wayside. We have not stopped! America is no longer in it's deep slumber of government and media induced dreams and illusions. The Occupy Movement grows stronger every day, and their voices shout out; Wake Up!

We are seeing many new faces and hearing many new voices just in the last few weeks, as more and more people realize that we are not just some passing fad, and mean to create change in our Nation by expressing our voices, our concerns and our needs to our government. Groups like the 99% Declaration , OWS , Occupy Together , and even the Democratic Underground have been doing a lot of things in favor of the U. S Citizen, even when most of the Nation was not aware of the goings on.
We the People, yes all of us, have a voice to cry out with, and we all have issue(s) with how our government has been run  and run down by these 'elected' offials. 'Elected' by corporate spending, private monies, and most of us never voted for them, yet they won. It is time to place the People back infront of the government concerns, and not these privatized corporate mongers of self worth and demand our Constitutional Rights be returned to us, WE the People.

That is what is going on now, people like you and me, getting together, working on the avenues of redress for our grievances against our current sitting government and addressing the Nation. We started in humble lots and squares all across our Nation, to place ourselves in-front of our Nations government, our Nations media, and were systematically denied our rights, news coverage, and personal safety from government harassment. If it weren't for Livestream, U-Stream, RT TV, and many other Private On-Line media like YouTube, we would have never been seen nor heard. However, we do have the power of the free press and media sources outside government control, and we know how to use it. It gives us back our power of the media. And now, once the mainstream media and government controlled media has realized that we are not going away or will be silenced, they are slowly getting on board. A friend wrote a guest editorial in our local paper ( Kay Finley, who is running as a delegate in the 99% Declaration site) and I am going to share the important things she said:

4-4-12 Guest Editorial

Where are the people?  The people of the United States have been left out of the public discourse.  The jobless rate, foreclosures, healthcare, gas prices are all reported as “How will it affect Obama’s re-election?”  “Will that affect the Republican candidates?”  For the last two years, since the Supreme Court ruled on the “Citizens United Case”, Pacs, Super-Pacs, and media celebrities are important.  The people-not so much.
But the Constitution of the United States gives power to the people through the First Amendment “…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.  Redress – to remove the cause of a grievance or complaint (Webster ‘s New Collegiate, 1979).  
Now we have a website set up to help “We the people” reclaim our power.  The 99% Working Group, Ltd. is planning for a General Assembly in Philadelphia during the week of July 1, 2012.  On the website (the99declaration.org), set up to facilitate the process, people can sign up to run as delegates  (two from each of the legislative district), register to vote for a delegate ( a separate contracted entity will conduct the voting), give input to the preliminary set of grievances, add a new grievance, and share the plan with others.  After the delegates are elected (June 1, 2012), it will be their responsibility to pare the grievances down to less than 10.
The final ratified and signed Petition for Redress of Grievances will be presented to all 535 members of the 112th Congress, the nine members of the Supreme Court, the President of the United States and each of the political candidates seeking federal public office in the November 2012 general election. Each of the political candidates will be asked to respond to the ratified petition and each of their responses, or lack thereof, will be shared with the voting public in a series of wire press releases made in each of the 435 Congressional districts prior to the November general election.
As the real concerns of our country keep mounting, the President and Congress appear to be in continual campaign mode, not willing to do the work we elected them to do.
The 99% Working Group, Ltd is putting a tremendous amount of energy to help us regain a say in our government.  All people of the United States are encouraged to participate.  The more of us who give in-put, the more effective we can be.  It is our country that is at risk.  “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country (John Kennedy).

We have not yet begun our 'battle' in regaining our Rights, and repairing the damage done by the greedy governmental officials that have help steal and limit our National Freedoms.
Join with us!