Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)
- 1a.
- April 1 - Trickster's Birthday From: Silver Fox
- 2.
- April From: Silver Fox
- 3.
- Creative Trickery From: Silver Fox
- 4a.
- April Fool's Day From: Silver Fox
- 5a.
- Re: Have You Ever... Depression From: Krystal Day
Messages
- 1a.
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April 1 - Trickster's Birthday
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Fri Apr 1, 2011 7:23 am (PDT)
April 1 - Trickster's Birthday
By Elizabeth Barrette, Copyright 2000
Almost every culture includes an "upside down" holiday. Often this comes at a period between the old year and the new, or between the changing of two seasons. It is a time, in general, for releasing tension by making fun of the rules that govern the rest of the year--a trickster's holiday, if you will.
April 1, or "April Fool's Day," once served this purpose, but it has degenerated in recent times to an excuse for idle, and often destructive, pranks. Perhaps it is time to reclaim this holiday for its original role and celebrate the birth, and exploits, of the trickster figure in all guises.
This outrageous archetype of the trickster plays an important part in creating the world and keeping it going. It is trickster's job to make things up, shake things up, and screw things up. In many creation stories, the trickster is the one who gets the ball rolling, often interrupting a gathering of staid deities and adding a note of chaos to their deliberations.
The trickster prevents things from stagnating and shows us that it's okay to make mistakes.
Almost all pantheons include some kind of trickster figure, but this whimsical deity can take on any form or name imaginable. In many pantheons the trickster is a skilled shapeshifter. Sometimes he appears as an animal, other times as a human, often strange or deformed in some way. The Norse know him as Loki, the Greeks as Hermes, and Africans as Legba. Native American forms include Raven, Coyote, and Jackrabbit. In China and Japan we find Inari, the clever fox-spirit. There are representations even in our culture, such as Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner of cartoon fame, who between them display nearly all the classic trickster traits.
Depending on the culture of origin, trickster may manifest as male, female, or some odd combination of the two. Many trickster figures are cross-dressers, salacious clowns, or herm-aphrodites. They often behave inappropriately--as defined by cultural sex and gender roles. Some even change from one sex to the other. All of this highlights their status of standing outside the norm. Some cultures believe that humans with unusual sexual characteristics are "touched" by trickster energy, making them especially powerful shamans or magicians. In many cultures, sacred clowns are trickster figures bringing divine energy into human form.
Tricksters possess many skills, powers, and attributes; however, some traits appear frequently enough to give us a basic archetype. More often than not, a trickster is clever, funny, unkempt, lewd or raunchy, lying, full of himself, greedy, graceless, cheating, and shortsighted. He may be sexually rapacious to a ludicrous degree. Some trickster figures can appear as any age they choose. Trickster may appear beautiful or ugly--or both. Most tricksters like to play pranks, tell jokes, and concoct wild schemes; most work some form of magic. Some tricksters are forever coming up with great ideas that go wrong; others continually wreak havoc inadvertently, only to find that somehow things turn out right in the end.
This April 1, take some time to invite trickster into your life. Think about old habits or patterns you would like to break--maybe you take yourself too seriously, or maybe you hate your job. Tricksters can shake things loose if you are ready for anything; you never know what will happen once you open the gates.
A good way to start is by reading about the trickster in myths, legends, and other stories. Most of these will be funny nonsense stories, but some are more serious. Collections of contemporary cartoons are good too. Try comparing and contrasting stories from different cultures. Retell one of them with a trickster from another land, or make up some trickster tales of your own.
You can also learn about trickster energy by imitating some of trickster's ways. Jot down all the social rules you can think of (shaking hands with your right hand, eating soup with a spoon) and then pick one to give up for a day. Greet every person you meet by telling a funny joke. Wear a silly item of clothing (a helicopter hat or a huge garish tie) or wear clothing that doesn't match. Reverse the meaning of everything you say (for instance, say
"goodbye" when you mean "Hello"). Take up a whimsical hobby such as juggling, mime, or making balloon animals. Paint a clown face on yourself. Embrace absurdity.
This kind of activity can make for a terrific party if you want to get your Pagan friends involved. Invite everyone over for a real whiz-bang Trickster festival. Show comedies and parodies. Serve strange food, like cracker sandwiches with different mystery fillings or Jello molded in exotic shapes. Have everyone make a simple mask with construction paper and string, then swap masks at random intervals. Hold a spoof ritual--you can make up your own or use an old favorite like the "chocolate ritual." Put party bulbs in your lamps, a different color for each room. At the end of the evening, have someone dressed as a stage manager remove the guests one at a time by hooking them with a cane.
There are times in our lives when we all take ourselves too seriously. The trickster and the sacred clowns remind us that life is often crazy, crude, and laughable. This chaotic, whimsical energy helps keep cultures and individuals from ossifying. So when trickster's birthday rolls around, set aside some time to play with change and inanity. The results may amaze you.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 2.
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April
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Fri Apr 1, 2011 7:24 am (PDT)
April
Source Unknown
April is said to be derived from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, so April is the month of love
April Fools Day Other British and English Customs and Traditions
April begins with a day of fun and jokes - April Fool's Day. No one really knows when this custom began but it has been kept for hundreds of years.
It is commonly believed that that April Fool came about bease of the change of calendars. In 1582, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar called the Gregorian calendar which is the calendar we still use today.
The new calendar was introduced because the old calendar, called the Julian calendar, was ahead by ten days because each year was a little too long. Gregory moved the new calendar forward by ten days.
Britain didn't accept the new calendar until 1752.
In the Julian calendar, the old calendar, New Year was celebrated from March 25th to April 1st. The first day of the Gregorian calendar is January 1st.
In France, people were forgetful and other people refused to accept the new calendar, so they still celebrated New Year on April 1st. Other people would play tricks on them and call them April Fools.
April fooling became popular in England and Scotland during the 1700s.
The First of April, some do say
Is set apart for All Fools Day;
But why the people call it so,
Not I, nor they themselves do know.
April Fool jokes usually involve pursuading someone to do something silly, like looking for hen's teeth, striped paint, a long weight, a left-handed screwdriver or some other non-existent thing.
However, you can only play April Fools on people before midday –at midday the fun must stop or the trickster is told:
'April Fool's Day is past and gone,
Your're the fool and I am none.'
One of the great April Fool jokes took place on April 1st, 1957. The BBC TV programme Panorama did a documentary on 'spaghetti farmers' growing 'spaghetti trees.' The hoax Panorama programme featured a family from Ticino in Switzerland carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest. It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry.
The joke was an enormous success. Hundreds of people believed there was such things as spaghetti trees. Soon after the broadcast ended, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from puzzled viewers. Did spaghetti really grow on trees, they wanted to know. Others were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC reportedly replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." :)
April Fool 2005
In the age of computers we now have April fool jokes online with Ask Jeeves promising a humanoid search robot that will "find your car keys" and Google launching Google Gulp – a "smart drink" that makes you more intelligent and less thirsty.
The Cuckoo
The arrival of the cuckoo is the signal that sping has come. Various April dates are called 'Cuckoo Day' in different parts of the country.
Here is an old traditional rhyme about the Cuckoo's summer life cycle:
In April I open my bill
In May I sing night and day
In June I change my tune
In July far far I fly
In August away I must
The cuckoo sings from St. Tiburtius' Day (14th April) to St John's Day (24th June).
Superstition
If you should hear the cuckoo sing on St, Tiburtius Day, you should turn over all the money in your pockets, spit and not look at the ground! If you do this and are standing on soft ground when you do it, you will have loads of good luck. However if you are standing on hard ground - the cuckoo's call means bad luck.
Find out more about English Supersitions
The Swallow
The swallow makes its reappearance during April. Earlier people wre mystified by the disappearance of many birds during the winter and at one time thought that the swallow spent the cold months hidden in the mud at the bottom of ponds. Traditionally April 15th is 'Swallow Day' in England, the date on which returning swallows were seen again.
Weather-lore, beliefs and sayings
April showers bring May flowers.
If early April is foggy
Rain in June
Will make lanes boggy.
When April blows its horn
'Tis good for hay and corn.
April wet - good wheat.
Till April's dead, change not a thread.
Daffodil Sunday
The 1st Sunday in April is called Daffodil Sunday. In Victorian times families picked daffodils from their gardens and took them to local hospitals to give to the sick.
Candle Auctions
On April 6th there used to be Candle Auctions. A candle was lit and a pin stuck in it about two and a half centimeters from the top. Then people would start bidding for a piece of church land to let to the poor for a year. The person bidding when the candle burned down enough to let the pin fall became the owner of the land.
St Georges Day
The 23rd April is St. George's Day . St George is the Patron Saint of England and also of Scouting. It is said that he once saved a village from great danger. The village were frightened of a fierce dragon who lived close by, so St George killed the dragon.
Read more about St George here
Festivals and Traditions
Easter usually comes in the month of April. It is what is called a 'moveable feast' because the date of it is fixed according to the moon. Easter Sunday has to be the first Sunday after the full moon which means that Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.
1st - April Fool's Day.
Daffodil Sunday
Unusual Customs throughout the year
Anniversaries
April 1969 Concordes maiden flight.
1st - In 1973 VAT (Value Added Tax) was introduced in Britain.
2nd April 1805 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish storywriter, was born.
2nd April – 14th June 1982 The Falklands War.
5th April 1640 Pocahontas got married.
6th April Robert Edwin Peary reached the North Pole in 1909
7th April 1827 First matches sold.
8th April 1973 Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter, died aged 91.
8th April Buddhist: Hanamatsuri (Buddha's Birthday). Zen Buddhists use this day as a flower festival to celebrate the birth of the Buddha.
9th April 1806 Brunel (Great Western Railway) born.
10th April 1998 The signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
12th April 1606 Union Flag became the official flag of the United Kingdom.
12th April 1961 Yuri Gagarin made the first flight into space.
13th April 1936 Jow Payne (Luton Town F.C.) scored ten goals in one match.
13/14th April Baisakhi. India festival that takes place at harvest time and New Year in the Punjab.
13th-16th April Sonkran. A New Year Water Festival in Thailand when people make small paper boats to put candals on and float them out to sea. It is a time to cleanse all bad spirits out of the body.
15th April 1912 HMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank.
14th April 1931 Highway Code first issued.
16th April 1889 Charlie Chaplin born.
18th April 1934 First launderette opened.
19th April 1978 Post marks were introduced in Britain by the Post Office.
21st April Queen Elizabeth II was born.
22nd April 1805 Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark. He wrote poetry and fables but is famous chiefly for his fairy tales. He died in 1875.
22nd April 2000 Earth Day.
23rd April St. George's Day – Patron Saint of England and also of Scouting.
23rd April 1584 / 1613 Shakespeare's Birthday (1584). Also the anniversary of his death (1613). William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on Avon. He earned his living by acting small parts, by rewriting old plays and then by writing plays himself. His plays were written in verse.
24th April 1949 Sweet rationing ended in England.
25th April 1953 DNA, the building blokes of all life forms, was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick. Their achievement was recognised in 1962 when they received the Nobel Prize for Physiology.
26th April 1957 First broadcast of "The Sky at Night".
27th April 1791 Samuel Morse was born. Learn and practice Morse Code.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 3.
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Creative Trickery
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Fri Apr 1, 2011 7:25 am (PDT)
Creative Trickery
By Lupa; April 01, 2010
http://www.llewellyn.com/spell. php
Timing: April Fools' Day
Color of the day: Green
Incense of the day: Mulberry
Rabbit, a trickster in the myths of cultures in North America and Africa (as well as modern myths such as Watership Down by Richard Adams), is particularly appropriate for this day. While Rabbit (as with any trickster) should be approached with care, he tends to be gentle in his lessons. Rabbit and his children are renowned for their fertility. While fertility is often taken literally, as procreation of various species, it can also mean more general growth. As spring is the beginning of the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere, it's a great time for putting projects and endeavors into motion. When things go wrong, ask the trickster for tips on creative solutions:
Rabbit, Rabbit, as you run
Stop a moment by my fire
To teach, to show, and to inspire
Some fertile growth (and a lot of fun!)
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 4a.
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April Fool's Day
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Fri Apr 1, 2011 7:26 am (PDT)
April Fool's Day
Source Unknown
In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April first. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. Those who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date where called "April fools." Which is an odd path to take to have a day to hit some one with a water ballon.
In France today, April first is called "Poisson d'Avril." French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When discovered every one yells "Poisson Avril!" (April Fish!) / It was on this day in 1621 that the first treaty was signed between the American Colonists and the Indians. All that history has just been a long bloody April Fools joke? / Day of Hathor (Ancient Egypt) / Kali's Day (India) / Hans Pfall inflates his balloon (Adventures of Hans Pfall. Edgar Allan Poe)
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 5a.
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Re: Have You Ever... Depression
Posted by: "Krystal Day" day_krystal@yahoo.com day_krystal
Fri Apr 1, 2011 1:06 pm (PDT)
You've overlooked that depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. To simply tell them to snap out of it, can do more harm then good. For those that have medical depression, you are only confirming to them that they aren't good enough because they can't "snap out of it". Depression is no more real than diabetes and you certainly wouldn't tell them to "snap out of it". If any of you want to commit suicide or think you want to be dead, call your local crisis line, go to the hospital or find a doctor. It's not shameful to feel these feelings. You need help. I know because I suffer from depression and have tried to commit suicide and thought about wanting to be dead. Reach out for help. Don't carry this burden on your own.
Bressed be,
Krystal Day
--- On Wed, 3/30/11, holly@ravenmadness.com <holly@ravenmadness.com > wrote:
> From: holly@ravenmadness.com <holly@ravenmadness.com >
> Subject: [Earthwise] Have You Ever... Depression
> To: "EarthWise" <EarthwiseBOS@yahoogroups. >, MurfreesboroPagans@com yahoogroups. , PaganBookOfShadows@com yahoogroups. , Tennessee_Witches@com yahoogroups. , The_New_Pagan_com Way@yahoogroups. , TNWitchesCircle@com yahoogroups. , which_witch_com is_witch@ , witchology@yahoogroyahoogroups. com ups.com
> Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 1:31 PM
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> Today’s post is dedicated to all those who have
> found themselves in
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> that deep dark hole of depression, loneliness and sorrow.
> It happens to
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> all of us at some point in time. Life becomes complicated
> and messy…
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> there are days when we just can’t deal with what
> life brings us or we
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> just don’t know how to cope. So many reasons that we
> can find
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> ourselves in this dark place. Life throws at us so much,
> sometimes it is
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> just too hard for us to take on.
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> I want everyone who finds themselves in this dark place to
> know that you
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> are not alone. This happens to us all and the thing I want
> you to take
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> with you from this post is that … it is never
> forever… the pain,
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> loneliness, sorrow, depression is temporary and you can
> overcome it…
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> there will be light again.
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> Reach out to your friends and family to help you through
> the difficult
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> times. With much love and understanding I send to you all
> great big
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> healing {{hugs}} and well wishes.
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> Have you Ever?
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> Have you ever found yourself so sad you didn’t want
> to get out of bed
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> Crazy thoughts run through your mind, like what if I were
> dead
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> You begin to wonder if suddenly I were no longer here
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> Would anyone notice, would anyone even care
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> Your world seems so dark and sad
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> You wonder, why does this feel so bad
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> It feels like there will never again be light
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> It’s so hard not to give up and continue to fight
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> You wonder what’s next and how much can I take
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> Then you think maybe I’ll close my eyes and never
> wake
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> But then you realize this is no way for your life to end
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> So you pull yourself together and cry to a friend
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> Letting go of the misery and all the pain
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> A friend shows you that there will be light once again
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> You are not alone in this fight
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> There are others who feel the same, crying in the night
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> So let tomorrow be the beginning, a fresh start
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> And let go of what burdens your mind and your heart
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> Nothing good ever comes from wishing you were dead
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> So snap out of it and get your ass out of bed!
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> Many Blessings,
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> Raventalker
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> www.ravenmadness.com
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> LuLu: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ raventalker
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> Blog: http://raventalker.wordpress. com
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> or http://wordsofraven.blogspot. com/
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> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/raventalker
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> YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ Raventalker777
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> Don't forget you can catch me every Tuesday and
> Thursday night at 7:00pm
>
> central on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ the-wolf- and-the-bear
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If you have something of interest please contact Astarte
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___________________________________________________________________________
ø¤º°` Earthwise ø¤º°`
<:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::]]======0
The Worldwide Spirit of Paganism
in Australia, America & Worldwide!
Take a Look at Our Huge EBay Store
For all your Magickal & Ritual Supplies
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Astarte-Earthwise
___________________________________________________________________________
This Earthwise Book of Shadows group holds the expectation
that a tolerant, mature and respectful dialogue be strived
for in our communications with each other. Members are
encouraged to challenge anyone not adhering to these
principles and to notify the list owner Astarte if you are
offended by a posting, write to me at
earthwise@bigpond.com
Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________________
Earthwise is a world wide group.
We are based in Western Sydney, NSW. Australia.
Located in the valley before the beautiful Blue Mountains were
we hold sacred rituals, workshops, social events and outings,
for more information see our calendar of events at Witches Meetup
http://witches.meetup.com/1293/
___________________________________________________________________________
Astarte also works full time as a Psychic Counsellor, Medium,
Clairvoyant, Healer and Teacher.
If she can be of assistance to you, please see her home page at
www.earthwise.net.au
___________________________________________________________________________
ARE YOU CREATIVE?
Astarte is always sourcing new suppliers of quality pagan
related items, to purchase wholesale or even put on consignment,
she willing to purchase worldwide items for the Earthwise Store.
If you have something of interest please contact Astarte
earthwise@bigpond.com
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