Recently, I asked existing members of the JudeoPagan Basics mailing list on Yahoo groups if they were comfortable with a move over to blog format, and I received a number of positive responses. So that takes care of the challenge right there -- nothing like blog/list consolidation. :)
So, welcome to the new home of JudeoPagan Basics, an online learning blog for those who are interested in Earth-based Judaism. This is by no means the only group of its kind. Jewitchery has been around for many years, and is a good-sized group, so if this is the first site you've found on the topic, please consider visiting Jewitchery.com and/or signing up to their mailing list at Yahoo Groups as well.
Over the upcoming while, existing postings on specific topics will be posted to this blog. You're invited to comment on them and hold discussions in the comment sections. This is less linear than a mailing list, as you can feel free to comment on more than one posting at a time. If you were originally on my friends list when this was a personal blog, and would like to read the new postings, please go ahead and friend me again, and I'll do the same. If you're a member of the existing JudeoPagan Basics Yahoo group, and want to participate, please sign up to Livejournal, and make a friends request, and I'll add you to the list.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!
My copy recently arrived. I hope to review it here when and if I have some time. I'm very excited about this book, by talented author Jennifer Hunter. There have been other excellent books on Pagan aspects of Judaism, magic in Jewish tradition, and the like, but to my knowledge, this is the first book to examine the phenomenon of Jewish Paganism, including interviews with a number of Jewish Pagans spanning the spectrum of belief and practice.
Here is the Amazon.com URL for those who are interested in the book.
Mazal tov, Jen!
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
Source: http://www.shabot6000.com
It's iconic, this idealized meeting. The young, inexperienced and confused person embarks on a quest for knowledge and Self, and encounters the wise, all-knowing authority. Usually, this is an elder who bestows pearls of knowledge upon the initiate. At every stage of advancement, the youngling becomes stronger, and the elder entrusts and invests the neophyte with ever-growing amounts of knowledge, power and authority. At its best, the image is literary, and represents the best of mentorship. At its worst, it's a stereotype and a cliche. I'm not writing this about anyone in particular, but we see the dynamic throughout our culture.
The truths are somewhere in between. There are elder authorities who are recognized as such, and invested with power, and there are those who prefer not to lead. Some young people have a wisdom deeper than their years would betray. In the main, however, it might be said that the process is relative. The old can learn from the young, and vice-versa. In my experience, those who set themselves up as ultimate authorities lose out because they're then afraid of admitting they don't know something. That would involve losing face, so they stop asking questions, and their learning remains frozen in time.
Those who know me well probably also know that I've generally shunned the idea of authority. I've never much trusted the concept, and I am leery of power and its ability to corrupt. This is why I've never been able to latch onto a guru, a specific elder or a path with clearly defined lines of authority for very long. When I notice draining power-plays or authority games, I make myself scarce and go elsewhere.
Why am I writing this right before Shavuot? Well, this is a holiday traditionally commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. This is the ultimate in authority -- authorship and leadership combined. It's a real top-down mode of imposing belief and control on a society. In a top-down system, the law is given and the individuals obey. We are almost-Borg. Resistance is futile.
By contrast, in a bottom-up system, religious authority is given from below (if at all), and invested in those who have proven themselves trustworthy and competent. The ideas, beliefs and goals of the individuals within the system are the guiding forces, and plurality is embraced. I like structure, but I also need to know that my individuality is not overshadowed by a cult of personality, or indeed, by a cult. And perhaps this is why, at Shavuot, I think not so much of the Ten Commandments, but of the bikkurim, the first fruits of thought I bring to the table -- about my own relationship to authority, and ultimately, of the order required to achieve a good, ethical life.
Image source: http://www.isen.com/blog/billday.gif
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shades_of_nyx, I thought I'd post some info. about Jungian/type tests which are essentially online simulacra of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. There are variations here and here, among other places.According to these, my type is INFJ. Info. about the INFJ type can be found here and here.
There appear to be a lot of INFP and INFJ Pagans at this site.
What's your type?
So it is that I present you with The Dialectizer, a hilarious web-site translator. Enter the URL to this blog, or any other web site, and translate it into a number of dialects. (I find the Swedish Chef dialectizer to be rather amusing, especially when translating some of the Hebrew and Yiddish phrases you see here. In particular, you might want to check out the recent Omer update. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp!)
