Religion in Public School?

The other day someone asked me what my opinion about religion in school. Here was my answer:

Yes, it is true that religion has shaped the world as we know it. It is enmeshed in our history and recorded in our art throughout the ages. There is no escaping it :) And as you well know, one does not have to be a Christian to learn and comprehend the history that has lead up to our "modern" world (I am using the word modern loosely).

But when it comes to religion in school, I think I draw the line when prayer in school is publicly advocated. I believe that a student should not have to be subjected to any kind of prayer in public school, silent or otherwise. When we advocate prayer (or a moment of morning silence) in school, we alienate those children, and their families even though they are not present, who do not believe in prayer. Not to mention that there is often a strong Christian undertone, even if not spoken. This leaves out children who are from non-Christian families.

Because I come from an area that is very diverse, prayer in school is a real no-no. It is hard for me to fathom whole communities where people may have never met a Jew or a Muslim, and think that prayer in public school is quite alright. Then again, because social structure varies from community to community, my opinion of "no prayer in school" might be completely obsolete elsewhere.

In my husband's elementary school, they do not put up any religious decorations. This means no Christmas trees, no menorahs, no Kwaanza symbols, and certainly no Pagan Yule logs decorated with pentacles ;-) I think this is a wise decision in that there will always be someone that is left out otherwise, and furthermore, less fights will break out, and less people will complain. Perhaps if it was a special charter school with a very small population of kids where all would be represented. But it is almost impossible to represent everyone all the time.

And the parents can teach their kids all about religion at home, in sunday school, or wherever they wish. It's not the job of a public school to enforce any sort of religious belief. I know that the trend is now creation, or "intelligent design," as opposed to "the big bang theory," and evolution. For me to explain how I feel about that, it would take a whole other email. All I have to say about that is:

The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
http://www.venganza.org/
Shira

Life as it Moves Regardless of Whether You are With It or Not

The following blog posts were uploaded onto several different websites. I decided that I needed to consolidate and organize all my postings onto one site. Hopefully I won't move around much (virtually speaking) after this.

June 24th, 2006

Feminist Majortitty
Um, I mean majority. This Saturday morning I chose to watch one of my favorite films of all time: 9 to 5, starring Lilly Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton. I must have watched it a million times growing up as a kid. It is now that I just realized how it really shaped my life. Even though I may not have gotten the more adult jokes in the film back in 1980 (I was nine!), I clearly understood the theme of inequality in the workplace.

My husband just bought me the 25th anniversary edition of 9 to 5 on DVD a few days ago. Watching the film again today after so many years, I still enjoyed it, rolled over laughing and became inspired once again. While we have made strides in the workplace in support of working women, we still have a long way to go. Women still make less than men across the board, regardless of occupation (check out the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics: http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm#National).

Let’s get out there and break that glass ceiling!Love,
Artemisia

P.S. - Dolly Parton has some big ass titties!


June 23rd, 2006

Thank Goddess...
... it's Friday! I am so thankful that I finally have a weekend off. I don't mean to say that I work on the weekends. I had been going to visit my parents for the longest time each weekend when we found out that my mother was ill. This will be the first time since her death on June 2 (actually longer - since we found out my mother was ill; we found out she was sick in December) that I will be staying home for the weekend. Part of me feels guilty for not being with my dad this weekend, although my brother is in town with him so it is easier.
I will light a candle for my mom. I will take a rest.
Artemisia


also on June 23rd, 2006

African Goddess Chant

Isis, Yemonja, Mawu, Oshun, Gbadu, Minona, Oya

(Thank you to KnitWitch for the inspiration.)


June 22nd, 2006

Midsummer herbs
Mugwort, Chamomile, St. John's Wort, Vervain, Damania
Happy Summer Solstice everyone!


June 13th, 2006

Mother Goddess
I consider myself to be a very lucky person having been brought up by a very loving mother. Now that she is gone from this world and passed over into the "summerlands," I reflect upon my childhood, rich with love and support.
While I was brought up by my parents with a Jewish heritage, I lovingly stumbled upon the path of the Goddess, who has become another Mother to me. I know in my heart that my own mother, Cheryl, will forever be at my side in spirit, supporting me just like she did on this earthly plane. Perhaps she is kibbutzing with the Goddess and they are calling each other divas beyond the veil. Or perhaps my mother has become one with the omnipresent Goddess.
Artemisia-Shira


June 7th, 2006

My mother passed away on Friday morning, June 2, 2006. I loved her very much. She was an amazing person and an inspiration to many. She shaped my life and I am grateful to her for her unconditional support in everything that I did. I miss you so much - I love you, Mommy.
Love, Shira


May 22nd, 2006

Goddess chant

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, - Innana!
Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, - Innana!
Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, - In-na-na!

Elemental chant

Earth my body,
Water my blood,
Air my breath,
And Fire my spirit


May 6th, 2006

Circle chant

We are a circle moving,
Moving together we are
Moving together we are One
We are a circle moving,
Moving together we are
Moving together we are One
I am Spirit, You flow in me,
We are Spirit, I flow in You

Maypole chant

Weavers, weaving
We are weaving the Web of Life



April 8th, 2006

Any Guided Meditation ideas?
I am writing a healing guided meditation for my mom. If any of you have any suggestions or scripts I could read it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.Blessed Be -- Artemisia

Past Blogging and Consolidating Life

My First Blog, My Tenth Blog Entry. Let me explain. The following is a compilation of all my past blog entries from MySpace.com. I originally joined MySpace due to all the trendy hub. However, it's not all it has cracked up to be and frankly, I'm getting a little bored. I have since realized that the thing I enjoy most about MySpace is the blog entries. I get quite a bit of satisfaction out of it - even if no one is reading. I had originally included pics in the following blogs, but haven't yet figured out how to do it here. So while this is my first blog entry EVER on livejournal, I have cut 'n' pasted my other ones to keep the "Chi" flowing. Enjoy!
Love,Shira

Sunday, January 15, 2006
I Have a Dream Current mood: hopeful
When I was a kid, my father once told me that he lost all faith in humanity when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. It was almost as if he was explaining to me that peace itself was murdered and gone forever. So I asked me dad why, then, did he bother to continue on with his life, and decide to have children, and bring them up in this world, weary with war, poverty, unrest, and still - racism? My father had one simple reply: “I still had hope.”
Today we celebrate Dr. King's life and the birth of the civil rights movement. I believe that the good Dr. King was motivated by an unseen force – love. As a reverend, I’m sure he was greatly inspired by his divine connection with the universe. But not everyone who is religious has the balls to stand up to racism and prejudice, ignorance and hatred. Very rarely did we find someone back then who was willing to put their own life on the line for the freedom of others right here on home turf, in our own backyards. And what made Dr. King so extraordinary is that he did not use weapons or offensive tactics to get his message across. He used words of love and inspiration to motivate others.

While the U.S. has made considerable progress in the matter of civil rights since the 1960's, I believe we still have a lot of work to do. It is up to us to continue the work of Dr. King to make sure that each and every person across the country has the right and equal opportunity to affordable housing, access to safe & quality healthcare, earn livable wages, and have enough food to eat on a daily basis.

I urge you to read, or re-read, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech,
I Have a Dream
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm
delivered in Washington D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

Dr. King as Man of the Year, Time Magazine 1963

As an idealist, I want to believe that one day each of us will see ourselves as one race – the human race. As a realist, I know that only seven people will ever read this blog. But I still have hope.
Love,
Shira

2:49 AM Saturday, January 14, 2006
Shameless.
While I do have a knack for public relations, I often shy away from "promoting" parties. But I have to say that this one is being hosted by my bro-in-law and his good friend. And I can tell you that this is definitely going to be the EVENT OF THE YEAR!!!Hope to meet you there!Love,Shira

2:42 AM Was Aladdin a Paladin?
When people talk about a succubus, they may be referring to an ancient being or creature that drains you of your holy goodness. Assuming that you had holy goodness to begin with. Today's succubuses (can I pluralize that?) could be any type of energy sucker. Like a horrible job that leaves you unsatisfied and penniless. Or a person that belittles you. Or a cancer. And cancer doesn't just strike an individual. It strikes the whole family – figuratively speaking, that is. There seems to be certain things in every day life that are very vampiric, like depression. I mean I sort of knew that anyway, but it was really all in theory. I never really thought about it much before because I am usually chipper and bubbly (or at the very least, wacky), and even though my husband understands depression much more than I do, I am just discovering this now. So now that my mind is clouded with depression, it all seems more clear. Got that? Time to get on the bus. What bus? The succubus!

Which leads me to my next question,Which Famous Vampire are You?I am Grandpa Munster. Et vous?

Over the holidays, my husband got me some cool Dungeons & Dragons books, like an old school player's handbook and all sorts of character development books, and even a guide to be the best Dungeon Master one can possible be. My younger brother and I used to play D&D as kids back in the 80's with our snug t-shirts that said things like “I love Unicorns!” on them, but really all I remember was the 12-sided dice and key phrases like, “Lawful Neutral” and “Chaotic Evil.” Nevertheless, Allie (Hubby Extraordinaire) had apparently been speaking to his friend Nate about starting a D&D game this January. Allie asked me if I wanted to be a part of this potential supercharged nerdfest, so of course I gladly accepted. You know the girl who wears that “I *heart sign* Nerds” T-shirt? That’s me. Well, it would have been me if they hadn't been sold out.

So Nate (DM) came over the other day and we began creating our characters. They are not complete yet, but I think that I am a Druid Gnome, Allie is a Paladin Human, and Mr. B. is an Elf Rogue. And we are all over 30. So there you have it. I promised, and I delivered. I will keep you posted, whether you like it or not.
Love,
Shira

P.S. - DM = Dungeon Master
Currently reading: Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeon & Dragons, Edition 3.5) By Gwendolyn F.M Kestrel Release date: By 01 July, 2003

1:48 AM Friday, January 13, 2006
Send this to 87 friends in 5 minutes & be transported back in time to receive 10000 Yen in cash
I'm so tired my eyes are burning. And itchy. Maybe I'll invite Ferris Buller's teacher over for a Visine commercial. I hope I don't have pinkeye, which would suck. I know I promised you all a little D&D action, but it is so late and I can't think straight (but apparently I can rhyme), so it will have to wait (aaahh!!!). All I have to say is, Nate (I am not rhyming him on purpose, I swear) may just be the oldest Dungeon Master in the entire Universe as We Know It. Dungeons and Dragons details coming this weekend!

I came home today, made some oatmeal for myself, and went to bed. How can I be writing this blog and sleeping at the same time, you ask? Easy. I sleepwrite. One of the not-so-fun things about being me is that I have been crying myself to sleep lately. I have been so stressed out about my mom. She has an appointment next Wednesday for a consultation for a possible liver biopsy. This is a total waiting-game nightmare. They discovered the cancer on December 22nd – it’s been over three weeks now – and she hasn't gotten any sort of treatment yet. Just more and more tests. So now we've added into our repertoire consultations for the tests. Might as well waste even more time on my mom's precious life.

Are you furry like me?pic of Wish with Mohawk on my friend’s website, The Cheap Pop
As for the cats, when Wish jumps up or down on something, she always makes this under-her-breath “hrumpff” sound, like she's really making an effort. Show off. And every time Samhain departs from the warmth and protection of my lap, she leaves a faint zoo-animal smell behind. I'm sure she would be offended if she knew I wrote that. To make up for it, I just want to let you know that she bathes regularly, without need of human supervision. Maybe I should just change the name of my blog to “Cat Update.”

I joined this lame blog group called “Are you furry like me?” where apparently you tell people your thoughts on what type of animal you would be if you were not human (assuming that everyone on MySpace is human). When I joined it was just me and this one other dude, and there were no posts. I decided that was no fun, so I am just going to post my answer here, like you care.

If I was an animal, I would be a bird. Mostly so I could fly.
So, D&D fun still to come… with pictures! Coming up next in Memoirs of a Shira… Guess Shira's Occupation!
Love,Shira

Currently reading: Tropic of Cancer By Henry Miller Release date: By June, 1987
2:03 AMThursday, January 12, 2006
Reconstituted meat Current mood: artistic

I stayed home today from work. In the morning my tummy hurt, but now I feel a little better, except for the fact that I am depressed. Oh well. But it makes me happy to know that I am well on my way to having a scrumptious meal of ramen noodle soup – complete with reconstituted peas, corn, and somehow – chicken. Those little dried up chicken squares totally perplex me. Which part of the chicken do they come from? Are they really made of chicken? Or is it a chicken-flavored Styrofoam snack? All I have to say is – delicious.

My cat Wish is so cute. She sleeps all day like every other cat in the world, and she loves me.
I found Wish in 2000 atop a mailbox, pacing back and forth – presumably waiting to be delivered. And while I believe that the US Postal Service is cat-friendly, I do not think they would have liked it much if someone pushed her in there. Which is what could have happened if I had not seen her there waiting to be discovered by her new human mommy: me! I picked her up. She was literally the size of one of my palms. She couldn’t have been more than 5 months old. So you could say that I delivered a cat – from an impending doom!

I named her Wish because not two days earlier, I had wished for a cat. And I envisioned a soft, loving gray cat, which is what Wish turned out to be!

Coming next blog – the perils of adults playing Dungeons and Dragons… STAY TUNED!
Love,
Shira

Currently reading: Spell Compendium : Dungeons & Dragons Supplement (D&D Supplement) By Matthew Sernett Release date: By 01 December, 2005

3:56 PMWednesday, January 11, 2006
Breathing is good.
Today I caught myself holding my breath. Not on purpose - I just at one point realized that I was not breathing. But all I was doing was sitting at my desk and, um, working I suppose. But how can one work if one is not breathing? The answer: very carefully.

And... exhale. One day when I was in college (but I swear I went to college for more than one day), I was in this yoga class where we were all learning how to breathe. During a very quiet moment, one of my classmates passed gas. The whole class giggled, and I bit my tongue so I wouldn't break out in loud, hysterical laughter. The teacher responded (to a fart!) by saying, "That's okay folks, passing gas is natural - but you should watch what you eat." Wow! What a crack at the ass-gasser. Come to think of it, I don't think that that was my story. It may have been someone else's who told that to me while I was in college and I co-opted it in my mind. I have somebody else's memories!Speaking of mammaries, my friend Lisa told me that Anjelina Jolie is pregnant (I later saw the news on AOL - how did Lisa get this information so fast???). I wonder if she will give birth to a trendy Cambodian child. AJ walks around with her son like he is some very fashionable accessory - or at least that's how the media portrays it. "Oh how lovely, wherever did you get it? Does it come with a Fendi baby sling? How cute!" And now everyone has to have one. And they all live on the Upper West Side. On a separate note, I met a teen mom once who named her son Hennessy. Think about it.Last night my father relayed to my mom to ask me if I could do a spell to get rid of her cancer. This is a true act of desperation on my father's part, considering he is Jewish. The guilty kind. My mom surprisingly was open to the idea of a healing circle that I would do with my friends. So I shall move forward.Love,Shira
Currently reading: Origin of Species By Charles Darwin Release date: By 22 May, 1995
1:04 PM Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Get the facts about genital herpes! Current mood: Pissy headded ma'amster
I’m not really going to tell you about genital herpes. That was just a ploy. I am going to tell you about my cheese adventures. I just had two delicious cheeses, one called Prima Donna (although I want to keep calling it Belladonna, but that’s a poisonous plant), and the other is a Swiss Gruyere. Mmmmmm. The Prima Donna melts in my mouth, and has a slightly sweet undertone to it while being a tad sharp. Gruyere packs a Swissy punch, but it don’t taste like yo mamas swizzcheeze. My fridge ain’t no Crackerbarrel! I am a LADY.

My mom is feeling tired, but I think she went to school today (she teaches 5th grade). I still have to call her – I get sad when I call so I always put it off for a few hours. She has had so many tests, but they still aren’t 100% sure where the cancer originated – although in my non-doctor opinion, all points lead to liver cancer. I am so frustrated. She’s had a CAT scan, a PET scan, countless blood tests, a colonoscopy, an endoscopy (I may not be spelling that right), x-rays, you name it. Now they want to do an MRI. But what the fuck??? Hasn’t she been scanned, poked, and prodded enough already? She has a huge fucking tumor. GET RID OF IT!!! In fact, she has four. Jackpot! She needs treatment, not assurance. People say that this is for the best because the doctors have to make absolutely sure that my mom gets the proper treatment. I say, the doctors don’t want to get sued. Assholes!

I had trouble concentrating at work today. I am usually quite diligent and productive when it comes to my job, but I feel like projects are reeling out of control. Or maybe that is what I perceive to be happening.

At least I still have a cat in my lap…
See you at the office!
Love,
Shira
Currently watching: Charmed - The Complete Third Season Release date: By 15 November, 2005

8:19 PM Sunday, January 08, 2006
Mothers and Daughters
I write so much for a living, so you'd think that this blog would be full of intelligent musings, thought-provoking rants, and quotes from famous people you've never even heard of - but in actuality, I am lazy so this won't really be too interesting.

I have a cat in my lap right now. Not quite sure how she got here, but she keeps me warm so I'm not complaining. For those of you who are wondering how I got my bouquet so fluffy, that's because there are feathers in it. At my wedding, there were feathers in EVERYTHING. Which is, I think, one of the reasons why I was so airy (read: vacant).

I'm pretty sure I am a gay man trapped in a woman's body. It may or may not be the reason behind my obsession with lipstick. My mom is also fierce (read: fabulous), which is probably how I got this way. She is sick - Mommy has cancer - and I am depressed and sad about it. And angry. The doctors still havent figured out where the cancer originated, although they are close to believing (80 to 90 percent sure) that it originated in the liver. The cancer has to be treated according to its origins.

So if any of you are doing prayer circles or healing circles, I would please appreciated if you put in a healing thought for my mother, Cheryl. Thanks.
Sorry I ended this blog on a down note. Better luck next time.
Love, Shira

Currently listening: The Beekeeper By Tori Amos Release date: By 22 February, 2005

12:25 PM Friday, January 06, 2006
Drained, but not cained. Current mood: drained
Hello my friends and loved ones,Even though I feel totally and utterly drained right now, I hope that I can muster up enough strength to do something whimsical, which always makes me feel better. So for me, this blog will be 3 parts whimsical, 1 part skeptical, 2 parts spiritual, and a dash of emotional. Or maybe I'll just pour myself a margharita instead. Yummy!
For those of you who are new to, um, me - I have an exciting website called Handfastings.org, where we (read: I) link people in the Pagan and Wiccan communities with ordained officiants who perform nature-inspired wedding ceremonies and handfastings.
Now if I could only figure out how to put a picture in here, I'd show you my cats. More later!Love,
Shira

11:41 PM Thursday, January 05, 2006
My First Blog Current mood: creative
Ok, just testing this out folks... MEMOIRS OF A SHIRA coming soon.
Currently reading: Neverwhere By Neil Gaiman Release date: By 01 November, 1998