The Autumn Equinox

 The trees are changing, the weather is getting colder, harvest season is wrapping up. Now is the time for cider and donuts, apple mills and hayrides. For pagans, yesterday was Mabon, a cross quarter holiday on the wheel of the year for Wiccans. It's a sort of thanksgiving.

It’s the time of ‘second harvest,’ and it’s themes center around harvest fruits. An apt symbol of this celebration is the Horn of Plenty, but most things associated with this season - gourds, pumpkins, squash, corn, grapes, apples - are fitting. In relation to nature, it’s appropriate to go out for a walk and bid good rest to the trees which are now getting ready for winter… as are most animals.

Birds are gathering to fly south, and mammals prepare their burrows for the cold to come. It’s a time to honor our aging family and friends, and to celebrate not only the bounty of harvest but the rewards of our own personal efforts. All in all, this is the time in which we reap what we sow, and give enjoy all that is good in our lives.

9/11 and Religion

Nearing midnight on the 9th anniversary of one of this country's greatest tragedies, I wanted to talk a little about this image. Or at least, it's message.

*sigh*

One of the things I find ironic is that the owner of this vehicle is probably a 'Christian.' If so, I wish someone would contact them and tell them everything certain cultures ever needed to know about Christianity, they learned during the 200 or so years the crusades lasted. Or at least during the inquisition.

A popular rebuttal to such comments is something along the lines of  "But those weren't really Christian practices - all of that happened because of people using God to falsely justify war!"

Well, let's take a moment and step back to examine that statement.

What exactly am I looking for?

What is a religion?

Sit back for a moment and try to define that for yourself.

Is it a belief?

Some people believe that 9/11 was an inside job. Is that a religion?

If you define religion by fanaticism, maybe for some...

It's a belief in a higher power, or a practice that worships god/s.

Well, Buddhism doesn't adhere to that, but it's considered a religion.

What is religion then?
Is a religion even what I'm really looking to find?

Hit the jump for more.