Announcement: Virtually Untamed

Greetings and Blessings, Community!

I am so excited to see in-person events offered in an ethical and healthy way, and I am even more excited that Untamed is finally moving forward! Long in the works, the vision for this event reflects my own blessings for the Front Range Pagan Community: safe space to gather in fellowship with like-minded individuals who want to share in the beauty of community. 

Even with my excitement, I will not be attending in person. The precautions I must take to keep my loved ones safe might look different than they do for others, but we are all making choices based on our own circumstances. 

Rev. William and the folks at Mountain Ancestors and HearthFire Sanctuary still believe in the importance of gathering and inclusivity, so we are pleased to be able to support those of us who are unable to show up in person with a virtual companion event! In previous years, Mountain Ancestors and HearthFire Sanctuary has held space at many local events for offerings, ritual, and divination, and we continue that tradition this year in a virtual space. 

Virtually Untamed is a day-pass event beginning with an invitation to the dawn and ending with a bardic circle where we hope to have the guests of the event share their songs, poetry, stories, and art with the community. This event will not be recorded.

At any time during the event, Rev. Missy or Rev. William will be available for 10-minute private divination sessions. If you need more time, they are happy to set up a separate pastoral meeting with you after the event.

We are currently taking Workshop proposals. If interested, please send a description of your session to: info@mountainancestors.org. You may also send in topics you would like to see someone else present.

For more information, check out Virtually Untamed page on the event website.

We look forward to “seeing” you there!

In Like a Lion...

When I was a child, I was always fascinated with trite phrases. I enjoyed their quotable nature and how people looked at you like you were smart when you were able to recite them at a relevant time. For example, when someone (probably my little sister) was fatalistically rage-quitting a project because a part of it didn’t go as planned, I would quip, “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!” Yeah, I was that kid.

In school, we had a bulletin board that my teachers would redecorate at the beginning of the month, and my favorite was always “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb”—mostly because of the lion and lamb-themed art projects we would get to do. True to form, I still think of these clever turns-of-phrase and how they are relevant to various aspects of my life.

As we finally put 2021 to rest, this quote definitely came to mind. We rolled into 2022 like we were being chased by a lion! 2021 ended with fires and big snow and led straight into 2022 with threats of war in Kazakhstan, a volcano eruption in the South Pacific leveling half an island nation, resulting tsunamis as far north as Alaska, tornados in Florida, snow in the Carolinas, and underneath it all, an unprecedented, global surge of the Omicron variant. And the lion roared.

While the roar of the lion and all that it carries with it into 2021, the little quote from a little me give me hope, because after the lion stops roaring, the lambs will appear.

It is fitting to think of this during the early part of the year. After the winter holidays are over, many of our Ancestors began the planning for the promised Spring. The lambs who have spent the winter in their mother’s wombs are born, and the gift of milk came to the households, adding much-needed winter protein to the stores. Occasionally, a lamb would be born too early, before there would be any shoots of grass to feed it when it weaned, and these lambs graced the tables to remind the people that they already had what they needed to get them through.

Right now, the lion is still roaring, but there is hope on the horizon. As we look ahead into the coming year to plan what our focus will be and how we will achieve those new goals, we can find comfort in the fact that we are exactly where we need to be, everything is on time, and the lambs will be here before we know it. 

May the gift of perspective illuminate what is already around us to carry us through to the Promise of Spring. 

Stories Behind Our Traditions & The Life Expectancy of Trees

When I was young, my parents would get my sister and I all bundled up to go pick out our tree for the holidays every year. We’d arrive at the “farm” (which was actually just a parking lot, since all the trees were cut down and transported to the city where we lived) and wander around until we found the perfect tree in our price-range section. We’d circumambulate it, marveling at how magnificent it will look in our living room, the voices of little girls raised to the pitch of excitement. We’d call over my dad, so we could make sure it wasn’t too tall by checking the height against him, because “if it was taller than him, it wouldn’t fit in the trailer.” Then, we’d race over to let the seller know we had found our tree! He’d get up from his stool or turn around and down at our wee faces, saying, “Well, let’s see what you’ve picked.” Racing off ahead of him, we’d jump up and down as we pointed at our prize. My dad would confirm, pay him the fee, and they’d throw the tree through some netting for ease of travel.

When we got home, there was sawing to make sure it was level followed by carefully seating and screwing it into the tree stand. My mom would fill the basin with water, and we would leave the tree to “rest” overnight so the branches would settle and it would warm up after being outside for who knows how long. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the tree, imagining where the bulbs would go the next evening after my dad put the lights on.

After the new year, the tree would come down, and we would cut the wood for the fireplace. I always thought it was a beautiful life with a dignified ending for a tree to serve as the centerpiece for the holidays in the home of a family. Looking back now, it’s funny that I never actually wondered about the other trees, the ones that were not chosen. What happened to the trees that weren’t sold? What did they do with them??

I imagined they would use them much the same way we did and all those trees would become firewood or they would use them to build things. It wasn't until the first time I went with my dad to drop off something large at the dump that I saw my first tree in the garbage. So much for the majestic ending to being cut down to serve as a holiday tree!

My next meditations on the fate of trees led to realize that trees, all trees, have a life expectancy, just like humans and other species of animals. I mean, it's no surprise I assumed they were eternal. We hear about trees with amazingly long lives, such as the Methuselah pine in the White Mountains of California who is over 4,700 years old. And trees, like all living things, are born, grow, breathe, live, and eventually die. Pine trees typically live for 300-500 years when left on their own. Fir trees, like the Noble Fir popular for holiday trees, have a typical lifespan of 600-700 years. Another popular tree, the Douglas Fir, usually lives for about 400 years. Coastal Douglas Firs can live for more than 1,300 years!

Once upon a time, these evergreen trees were used for medicinal purposes like treating colds and flus. The wood was unsuitable for timber, so they were not actually cut down. Early decorating included the use of branches in the home and entire trees, living and breathing, were decorated outside. The first tree to be cut down is rumored to be the result of an altercation between local pagans and a Benedictine Monk in the sixteenth century who was so frustrated with their continual celebration of Saturnalia that he chopped down their decorated tree in anger. So, the pagans brought it inside for the remainder of the season (there is absolutely no evidence whether or not this is true, but that is kinda the point of this post. Keep reading).  

Many of the traditions we now hold dear have full, rich backstories that we may not know. Too often, the origin stories of why we do what we do are lost to time and live only with the Ancestors.  I don't know why we always went to that particular lot for our tree when I was little. I suspect it had to do with the location, cost, and perhaps a little of my dad's desire to "have a guy" for everything--a trait he inherited from his father before him. My father, of blessed memory, may not be able to tell me why, but the story of what lives on in my memory. 

We don't get a live tree at my house, but like most pagans, I have built plenty of my own traditions since my kids were wee. My favorite was getting the kids up before dawn on Solstice morning to ring bells over the sunrise fire and sing Happy Birthday to the Sun, and then go inside and have pancakes or waffles. As they've grown, we don't have room for all of those practices anymore, especially since I they have their own lives, priorities, and homes to manage, but I am looking forward to seeing how my grandchildren receive the gift of these stories from when their parents were young, when I was in charge of creating the magic and memories for them.

During this holiday season, I encourage you to consider the things you do every year and remember why those are part of your own traditions. These are the stories that make the holidays truly come alive and give meaning to everything we do for future generations to come.

May the abundant blessings of the yuletide be plentiful for you and yours.

The Gifts of Perspective

The month of November is typically a time for expressing gratitude and thankfulness. It’s a time when pre-holiday challenges help distract folks from their own lives to think about the difficulties of others. There are charity drives, food bank donation and volunteer opportunities, and themed events like No-Shave November where those who are able to grow facial hair raise money for cancer by not shaving for the entire month. It is also, curiously, a time of creativity. The annual NaNoWriMo challenge happens in November where budding and hobbyist writers are given a word count challenge and can even upload their manuscripts for perusal by publishers. There is also the annual #PrayerADay (this link will open Facebook) where folks write a prayer every day in November, encouraged to also create accompanying visual memes and share widely on social media.

I have never participated in No-Shave November or NaNoWriMo (I know, right?), but I have volunteered at many charity events through both time and treasure over the years. I did #PrayerADay in 2018 and 2019. And the past two years have left me focused heavily inward in my home life. Like all of us, the pandemic has me in a place of isolation from many of the activities and people I normally engaged this time of year. And stuff keeps happening to encourage this separation.

I found out a friend of mine died of COVID recently. He was 33 with no underlying health conditions, and he was vaccinated. He is not the first person I have lost to the virus, and he will likely not be the last. During these times when we are supposed to be surrounded by friends and family, their empty seats at the table are loud, screaming at me to say their names and remember their lives. I have a new name to speak over the table this year as I express the gratitude in my heart for the opportunity to have loved him.

Perspective has a way of allowing us to learn from things like as time passes. When an event is new, we are close to it, like standing in front of a single tree with our noses pressed into the bark, trying to find meaning. As time passes, we can see the entire trunk, and we notice the variations in the cracks and crevices. As more time passes, we can see the roots running along the ground and the branches of leaves overheard. And then we can see the beauty of the crown, branches waving lazily in the breeze and catching the light of the sun on the leaves. Eventually, we can see the entirety of the forest, see all the different trees in our lives—tall ones, short ones, thin ones, wide ones, ones full of leaves of every color, and ones with very little leaf coverage on top. Every one of them has a name and a story of how they have touched our lives. Every one of them reminds us of times in the past, both good and not as great, that have built the foundations of who we are as we stand here today.

May the gift of perspective be with you this year as you speak the names of those who would have occupied the chairs around your table and find peace within yourself. 

Purposeful Mindlessness

I lost an earring. It’s likely not an expensive earring. It’s silver intertwining loops with a fun diamond cut in the outer ring. It’s likely made of some sort of steel, since my ears don’t turn green. It’s highly likely not actual silver. And. These earrings belonged to my grandmother, of blessed memory, and I wear them when I want to feel close to her. And I lost one.

The truth is I am suffering from an increasing sense of mindlessness. Not mindlessness as nonsense or ignorance. Mindlessness as I use it here refers to an inactive state of mind where we are lost in a perspective or mindset and disengaged from what is around us. This state of mindlessness is a state of distractedness in which we are not paying attention to our surroundings. It is the opposite of mindfulness, the Be Here Now principle of being present and focused, and that is what happened with my earring. I likely lost it when I was taking my mask off in one of three places: my office, the restroom when I was wiping off my face, or the coffee counter when I was testing the salt content of my lunch before heading back to my office and lather, rinse, repeat.

The question arises: should we always strive to be in a state of mindfulness? Well, no. There is a merit to mindlessness. As we move through our days, we follow our rituals for the repetitive parts of our lives. We are not often focusing on our actions when we are brushing our teeth, and LOTS of people have had their best ideas then. Moving beyond the detailed processes of the here and now allows our minds to move past the mundane and explore possibilities. Epiphanies can come to us while folding laundry or washing dishes. The key is knowing when to pay attention and when to let go. Ironically, knowing when to Be Here Now and when to let our minds wander takes purposeful attention to our surroundings—which is just another way of being mindful!

I lost my earring because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. Being at work, I was probably thinking about monthly QA metrics, CAP checklist changes, or the stainer in histo. These are important items deserving of every ounce of attention I can give them, AND the true heart of mindfulness, of learning to Be Here Now in every here and now, relies on my ability to focus on what’s in front of me with purpose.

Sometimes, we make simple errors like putting salt in our tea or making a wrong turn on “autopilot” while lost in thought. Sometimes, we lose our grandmother’s earring. As we move into our final month of 2021, move through your days with purpose, knowing when you need to focus more closely, and when it’s okay to let your mind wander. As the saying goes, not all those who wander are lost!

Personal Behavioral Goals

Changing habits is not easy. We set up our environments to support our behaviors in ways that make it difficult to “escape temptation” without careful planning. When we decide we want to change—whether to start something new or to stop something we’ve been doing for a while—the change won’t be successful without some mindful attention to what’s around us (including people!).

A quick google search for creating habits yields dozens of articles, mostly centered on diet and exercise, but not all of our less-than- stellar habits are about food. We might want to create better sleeping habits for insomniacs, better time management for the chronically late, better spending habits for the impulse buyers, and so on. Stopping a bad habit is often much easier than amending a behavior we have to keep in some form. We may find it far easier to stop drinking soda by not buying it, but it’s harder to stop biting our nails, because we can’t get rid of our fingers!

So, where do we start?

First, figure out what you do. Take stock of ALL your habits. Follow yourself through both a work day and a weekend day, and look at how you spend your time. How much time do you spend doing things that are unproductive? Why? What behaviors do you notice that you didn’t realize before? How are your work days different from your days off? All of this information will help you do an informal root cause analysis for the issue you want to address. Using cellphones as an example, our amount of screen time and frequency of use may be factors in time management. When we lose track of time, we are at greater risk for being late.

Once you have a handle on what you do and for how long you do it, think about how those behaviors were supported by your surroundings. When we identify what leads us to behave in a certain way, we can help ourselves by removing those barriers.

Then, set a goal for yourself and keep track of it. Spoiler alert: the goal is not the most important part! You know all those motivational posters that tell you the journey is more important than the goal? Well, they were right. If we can break our goal into smaller, actionable items, we are more likely to succeed. If your goal is to stop being late, you can’t simply stop being late. You can, however, not pick up your cellphone in the half-hour prior to your scheduled departure time, check traffic details to ensure your scheduled departure time is adequate, and resolve not to make unplanned stops along the way. Reward yourself for those successes, too. Rewards reinforce behaviors!

Finally, the most successful goals are the ones we share. Whether you want to work on a goal together or you just want someone to check in with you for accountability, there is power in who (not just what) surrounds us. It’s easier to make good choices when someone is watching! 

Doomscrolling

Let’s talk about doomscrolling.

If you’re old, like me, you might not be familiar with the term, or you’ve heard it but don’t quite know what it means. Doomscrolling, or doomsurfing, is the tendency to continually scroll or surf through bad news. Even though the information makes you feel sad or angry or afraid, you just keep reading article after article full of doom and gloom. Common topics that will land you in a doomspiral include current news about COVID, statistics about poverty or the job market, the housing crisis, and climate change. No matter how much the doom consumes you, you just keep scrolling.

In case you’re wondering, no, this isn’t great for you. Doomscrolling can lead to some pretty significant psychological impacts, including depression and anxiety. In the very least, it will darken our moods and leave us wondering why we even bother.

The issue is complex, because so many of the social media and news outlets we consume are designed to keep showing us articles and memes (single-box web cartoons, old man) that are similarly themed to what we are currently seeing, leaving us very little diversity in content.

AND, our brains are hardwired to go with the flow. Once upon a time, our lizard-brains were set up to always handle negative stimuli first, because, you know, it just might kill you. Now that we live in a lower-stakes world where we are pretty sure the internet

won’t eat us (are we, though?), our brain chemistry still wants to examine and understand the intellectual and theoretical “threats” around us, just in case. So, the negative articles suck us in, and we have to keep reading until we understand the nature of the threat and the likelihood of it affecting us directly. We can’t not look at it!

It doesn’t help that we are surrounded by others who are doomscrolling through the same topics, sharing links to similar information, and even discussing them with us at home, at work, in the grocery store, and anywhere else they find a willing conversationalist.

If you’re like me and you’re also tired of the weight of negativity resting on your chest, I can only offer you some tips that have helped me.

First, surrounding yourself with more good news will take the edge off. I joined a group on Facebook called, “Heck, This is Wholesome,” that only allows stories and videos of people and animals being awesome.

Second, surrounding yourself with people who help you feel better about the world will make a difference in the long-run. Who brings you hope?

Finally, turn off your dang phone, or at least put it down. Find a feel-good movie or a good book where the good guys win, or just take a walk outside. Your brain, and your heart, will thank you.