Depth in Shallow Water

    As I mentioned in my last post, I recently went canoeing for the first time. One of my friends - whom we’ll call Ardelis - invited me to join her on a group camping trip. Her ex-boyfriend was originally supposed to accompany her, but (due to his recent status as ‘ex’) she had no one to go with her. Being that I haven’t been camping for a few years, and I’d never been canoeing, I decided this would be fun change of pace. If nothing else, more time to bond with Ardelis, one of Warden’s friends from early childhood on who has become a fairly close friend of my own in the short time I’ve known her.
   
    I had little to no idea of what to expect - I didn’t even know if we were going to be way out in the wilderness, or at a camp site with electricity and water (we were) - so I packed only what I felt were necessities, and whatever I’d need to get by. Supplies-wise, I did more than fine (I had leaned towards the idea of being nowhere near bathrooms or running water and so on) but when it came to our fellow campers, I wasn’t sure how to feel.
   
    While Ardie had warned me about her brothers, I had taken most of the descriptions I’d heard as hyperbole. I quickly learned my mistake. I commented at one point, laughing, that I felt like I was in ‘hostile territory.’ When she asked what I meant, I replied, “Well, remember: I’m kind of a witch, so…” She nodded, understanding quickly: the portable sound system which blared near constantly the duration of the trip was at the moment playing a song about wanting a ‘country-music Jesus’ to come and “save us all.”

I was, after all, camping with a large group of service men and their women - men who, at a glance, could pretty quickly be identified with one word: rednecks.

Cracked Views on Mysticism

    A recent article from the popular humor website Cracked.com was titled “7 ‘Ancient’ Forms of Mysticism That Are Recent Inventions.”

    I took a deep breath and braced myself for a semi-humorous anti-religion smear - because though I love the website and visit it daily, any time an article pops up on any topic having to do with something touchy (politics, religion, etc) it not only tends to lean strongly in one direction or the other opinion-wise, but they also stir up a lot of bad feelings. That, and the trend lately seems to be for Numbered Lists of ‘Facts’ (usually more along the line of facts + opinions) to make the front page as the three main articles of the day.

    The “7 ‘Ancient’ Forms” addressed were Yoga, Tarot, Satanism, Ouija boards, Ninjitsu, Friday the 13th (though I’m not sure how a superstition about a date qualifies as a Form of Mysticism comparable with a religion), and - drum roll please - The Viking Religion.

    I laughed a little as I read - this was an extremely sarcastic article, in which the writer C. Coville  (who’s profile declares “preachin' Jesus and blowing up meth labs”) did her best to compare the systems examined with things like Dungeons & Dragons and angry teenagers rebelling against the church. Though I did smile at times, there wasn’t much humor to be found. I nodded at the dates and facts she presented, having come across most of the same things on my own during my reading and research this past year, I couldn’t help but sense a strong dislike of ‘New Age’ systems. What surprised me (though it shouldn’t have, especially coming from a white, Christian woman in the US military, with the website like http://www.godgirlsguns.com) was the venom dished out against reconstructionist religions, especially Asatru - for example, the caption beneath a rather famous depiction of Odin calling him a hobo seemed a little much.

Really?

Still, one person’s opinion is just an opinion. Facts are facts, and how you react to them and treat them individually are what’s important.