Sunday, 15 January 2012

Post No. 365 - New Moon and other Rituals, and More Reading and Speculations

I know I've missed a few rituals: I'll try to catch up in due course, but I found a few links which may be of interest to others:
Some links for reading:

And finally, I thought I'd start putting up a few small speculations and thoughts that I can't put into posts for reasons such as lack of time:
  • Peer pressure - When one comes under peer pressure, it can often be easy to succumb to that, and that is often viewed in terms of wanting to "belong". The thing is, however, that if one resists that peer pressure, what one does is clarify that one "belongs" to one's own Higher Self - one is one's own person. Worth thinking about when coming under pressure to cave into some group think (which is endemic, in my experience, in many commercial/business situations).
  • Honour - what are you prepared to lose to maintain your honour? Personal convenience? Money? Your lifestyle, family or life? That - which must be countered by your responsibilities - gives an indication of how much honour you have or don't have. I have come across many people (particularly immature people) who justify being dishonourable as a matter of convenience (e.g., park in a disabled space "well I'm not going to walk further when there's a vacant space!).
  • I have been reading (I have eclectic tastes!) of the lives of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke who lived in the 1100s and early 1200s, and Helmut Lent, a German night fighter pilot from the Second World War: two lives several centuries apart, and yet both still had to be exceedingly careful of how they spoke and behaved. In Marshal's case, to manage the intrigues of the court, where a wrong tone of voice to a sentence could be dangerous, Lent to manage the risks of an evil regime with a vicious and effective secret police - particularly as he became increasingly despairing of the war (which I think explains his surprising fatal crash), as he tried to have his brother released from the Gestapo, and when he married a Russian. I can relate to that, as writing letters for lobbying purposes is, if one wishes to be effective, a matter that requires extreme diplomacy, and managing the politics of an office can be trying - although not so demanding and dangerous as either a royal court or an evil regime such as Germany in the 30s and 40s (and there are still evil regimes in this world). Still, it shows the lack of progress of the world on some issues, which is sad.
  • Animal rights are universal rights, just as human rights are.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

Tags: rituals, Esbats, full moon, new moon, peer pressure, honour, gossip, discrimination,

First published: Sumnudagr, 15th January, 2012

Last edited: Sunday, 15th January, 2012
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