Hawk’s Cry

The King is Dead! Long Live the Hero!

The King of Pop is dead and all the world’s astir. As has been done to the heroes of old, many epic tales will be told of Michael Jackson’s life. In my view, he is a true modern hero. Not in the western sanitized sense, where one lives a sinless life giving everything to others, but a hero in the ancient, true sense. The ancient Greeks and Romans saw heroes as mortals who, through an intimate connection with the divine, performed great feats. They were mortals who rose above their mortality through their awe-inspiring works.

Few can argue that Michael Jackson did awe-inspiring acts. He not only sold a lot of albums and Pepsi, he had a significant influence on the course of modern music and dance. Many artists and dancers credit him as their muse, though they use different words such as “influence.” Now that he is free of his earthly body, he can be the muse of even more on a higher level.

Another criterion for being a true hero is an intimate connection to the divine, usually through either heredity or a gift. Michael Jackson had a divine gift. The joy and happiness he brought to millions (or probably billions) of people is unequaled except by maybe Elvis Presley. His life was devoted to experiencing and sharing joy. He was a vocal virtuoso and a genius of dance at a level that cannot be attained through practice and training alone. To reach a level as he, it takes a divine gift.

The biggest problem for him was that the world does not operate on the same level as he. He was unable to truly connect with the world. He did not belong in society. As a result, his behavior was frequently confused and inappropriate to society’s standards. Sometimes it was downright naive.

He lived in higher planes, primarily Yesod, rarely returning to the earthly plane. Yesod is the sephira of illusion and dreams (and delusion) on the Hebrew Tree of Life. He was frequently accused of living in a fantasy world. The accusations were true. His world was one of eternal joy, but yet he was physically in the plane of Malkuth (kingdom/earth). He was at times able to reconcile the two and become a bridge. When it happened, it was electrifying to all who witnessed it. When he failed at creating and maintaining the bridge, it was disastrous to him and to those who were close to him.

Though I was not really a fan of Michael Jackson beyond Thriller, I always admired him as a living hero. He lived his life according to what he wanted, even when others told him to follow their norms and conventions. Being conventional was very much against his nature, as it is with most who truly connect with divinity. He honored his Great Work of expressing and sharing joy as best he could, even if he didn’t necessarily think of it in those terms.

I cannot say that I understand all that he did and all that the media accused him of doing. But that is part of the Mystery of the Hero. All heroes are human and do supremely stupid things sometimes (as we all do). That is what makes them approachable by the rest of society. They would be impossible to relate with if they did not. Take King David, seen by both Jews and Christians as a true hero. He performed epic tasks, such as slaying the great Goliath. But he was human and did things that cost him dearly, such as seducing Bathsheba (and getting caught).

We can connect with Michael Jackson (the hero) through his missteps. We can’t do this with modern, sanitized “heroes” who have no sins. Just think of what you might have in common with sanitized heroes as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Their stories (as taught in schools) are so lacking in human folly that we just think they were a different kind of person who we cannot possibly aspire to be. Thus, we long for the “good ol’ days” that never were.

Our society is suffering from a serious lack of true heroes, people who we can be inspired by. The stories told today about supposed “heroes,” such as Jack Bauer, Jean Luc Picard and others promoted by the media try to show what we should aspire to, but leave us with no bridge to connect with them. People are left feeling completely inadequate and powerless. Who can always know what to do and never make more than minor mistakes, such as they? Who in real life can possibly solve their problems within a 1-hour episode? Or even within 24 episodes?

Though I am saddened by his passing from this earth, I have great happiness that Michael Jackson can now live on in a land of eternal joy. He is now free to share it with even more people on a deeper level through his heroic spirit. Anyone who wishes to share the joy and happiness he expressed can ask him for assistance through prayer and spellwork. They can pay homage and offerings to him on their hero altar if they so choose. And through his passing, he lives on as the hero he was destined to be.

The King is dead! Long live the Hero!

Helping Others Help Themselves

Over the years I have looked for good charities to support that are honest in their desire to truly help others on their Path. There are many excellent charities, but many of them focus on giving hand-outs. There are food banks, homeless shelters, charities that give money and yet others that give necessities to those without.

I do not wish to bash these, as they do serve an important purpose. But I’ve been uncomfortable with them because I’m concerned that they unintentionally help to perpetuate a dependence in the people they help. The larger issue is to help prevent a Catch-22 between situations where someone is truly without the basics of life and getting them to the point where they leave their dependence behind and forge ahead to enact their will.

When someone is completely without food or shelter, they cannot focus on anything else. They need these things, so it is good that there are charities and individuals who wish to help such people. The problem is that after a while, the person may become comfortable in their situation of having their food and shelter provided for. Just look at long-term welfare recipients.

So what can be done to help someone who has a way to provide for their immediate needs, but not enough to really follow their will? They live in poverty, but are not able to get the capital to rise up. What will help them get off the charities and government roles and into a position to contribute to society and in turn help others?

I have found a great charity that can help those who wish to devote themselves to following their will and getting out of poverty without making them dependent.

Kiva is a charity that connects people who wish to help others (with as little as $25) to poor, exploited or vulnerable people who wish to start or grow a small business. The difference between this and most other charities I know of is that Kiva does not give hand-outs, but microloans.

If someone wishes to start or grow a small business to help their family and community, they are commonly unable to raise the funds to make it manifest. They might need to buy equipment or inventory but are just living paycheck-to-paycheck. Banks turn them down (as they do most small business owners who ask for a bank loan) and their families are unable to invest. Many others who lend money to the poor charge exorbitant interest rates and require minimum payments that guarantee default to scam the borrower from what little they have.

These aspiring business owners can apply for a microloan (normally $10,000 or less) through a microfinance institution (MFI) that partners with Kiva. The microfinance institution is a company that acts like a bank that focuses on lending to poor, excluded and/or vulnerable people to alleviate poverty or reduce their vulnerability.

Once approved by the MFI, the MFI submits the entrepreneur’s profile to Kiva where it is shown to people like you and me. We can browse the global list of entrepreneurs (which now includes entrepreneurs in the United States) and choose one or more to lend $25 or more to.

Kiva does not take any of the money lent; they pass all of it on to the loan that is given to the entrepreneur. Instead, Kiva asks for an optional donation to help cover their costs. The MFI does charge the entrepreneur interest, which the MFI keeps for their expenses. Kiva screens the MFIs to ensure they are legitimate and that the interest they charge is reasonable for the loan size and the circumstances.

Through this program, many people with limited means can follow their dreams. As with any loan, there is no guarantee that the loan will be repaid, but that is part of the journey. Some people will fail and need to try again. Those who succeed will repay your loan so you can either loan again to someone else, or withdraw the money.

Kiva is a great way to help others help themselves. They cannot become dependent on it long-term, but it will help them get started. It also allows the recipient to keep their respect and dignity in a way that a hand-out doesn’t because they can (and are expected) to repay the loan on terms that they can meet.

There is a Kiva lending team for Wiccans and Pagans called Wiccans, (neo)Pagans, Witches and Fellows that you can join to show your spiritual affiliation as you lend, giving and additional benefit of good publicity for Paganism.

Join over 70 Pagans, Wiccans and Witches today and find $25 to lend to help someone get ahead at Kiva.

PS: I was not solicited to write this post, nor am I receiving any compensation of any kind other than the joy of sharing this charity with you.

Children’s Ostara Ritual

Though it’s been a couple weeks since Ostara, I wanted to talk about how our family celebrated. I got a great idea about doing Ostara Eggs from Patrick McCleary’s blog, Pagan Dad.

Ostara Eggs

We colored the eggs with frozen blueberries, paprika, frozen spinach and grape juice concentrate. We didn’t strain the colorants, as some other sites suggested, figuring that it would be neat to see what patterns develop. The results were very interesting and mostly different than what we expected. You can see our eggs in the picture above (click on it to see a closeup).

For example, we drew designs in crayon but they were completely obliterated by the boiling water. It didn’t diminish the magic, though, because we explained to the kids that the designs’ energy went inside the eggs.

The paprika eggs look very spotted with orange, like strange and beautiful egg-shaped planets. The frozen spinach did not color the eggs much, leaving only light greenish vein-like lines.

The blueberries did make a nice purple hue to the eggs. They had a slightly spotted pattern with pieces of blueberry stuck to them (see the purple egg in the lower-left corner of the picture). They also had interesting cracks in the shell, caused, I’m sure, by my putting too much vinegar in the water.

The grape juice concentrate produced the results closest to what we predicted. The color was a deep, creamy violet with spots (see upper-rightmost egg).

After the eggs were finished, we did a very short Ostara ritual that our 4 children (all 6 and under) enjoyed.

Ostara Ritual

The ritual consisted mainly of a blessing of the eggs. First, I took a small dish of sea salt and charged it with the Element of Earth. Each child took a pinch (or two or three) and sprinkled the finished eggs with it, blessing them with the power of Earth.

Next, I took a small dish of water and charged it with the Element of Water and each child sprinkled it on the eggs (over and over again). The children really loved blessing the eggs with the elements.

Lavender incense was used for the Element of Air, which I lit with the Element of Fire. All of the children helped me wave the eggs in the incense smoke. They also carefully waved the smoke around the eggs to bless them.

Last, we asked the Gods to bless the eggs with the power to help us grow over the coming summer. We wanted to grow closer as a family and for our children to grow more to know themselves and how to better live in this world.

Then we ate the eggs, taking that energy into ourselves.

The ritual took a total of about 10-15 minutes, which we’ve learned is perfect for our kids’ short attention spans. It was a fun way to celebrate the change of the seasons and to experiment with new things.