Laura Seabrook's Ramblings

From the Newcastle Herald:

MARK HEPWORTH is a Gardnerian Wiccan with Greek Reconstructionist beliefs but the Sydney IT worker would like to be counted as a pagan first.

''A lot of other faiths see us as the people that got too much into Harry Potter and decided to call themselves a witch instead of an actual group of people who do have a serious spirituality,'' he says. And it's like other faiths that pagans would like to be treated, at least in a statistical sense.

The Pagan Awareness Network, of which Mr Hepworth is vice-president, is urging its many and diverse faith paths - which include Druidism, Shamanism and Lesbian Feminist Goddess Worship - to nominate paganism as their religious category in this year's census.

Mr Hepworth hopes the weight of people nominating ''pagan'' as their primary faith, followed by their variant after a dash, will prompt it to be reclassified as an umbrella term by the Australian Bureau of Statistics - the first step in consolidating pagan numbers and gaining wider recognition as a legitimate religious choice.

It's an aspiration supported by past surveys, which show the number of people identifying as pagans is sharply on the rise in Australia.

Almost 16,000 people listed their religion as pagan in the 2006 census - separate to others such as the 8000 who nominated Wiccan and 1000 Druids - up from almost 11,000 pagans in 2001 and 4400 when it first appeared as a religious category in 1996. ''I believe we trounced Scientology for numbers,'' Mr Hepworth says. Anecdotally they found as many as four in every five pagans left the question blank.

Stacey Demarco, a witch and author from the northern beaches, says she is "obviously very much out of the broom closet" but many pagans weren't. The fear of outing themselves affects how they treat the optional religion question on their census form.

An Australian Human Rights Commission report released this year found many pagans felt restricted in celebrating their faith openly.

Ms Demarco says although ''there's 2000 years of stigma attached to the word witch'' if more people truthfully listed their faith on their census form, it would help others realise just how widely paganism was practised.

The bureau's assistant director of standards and classification, Philip Mitchell, says no religion can gain legitimacy through the data, but classifications are reviewed after each census.

From this page.

It seemed relatively easy to get the mandarin bush today. I could a bus that stopped right outside the nursery. I explained what I wanted and why and bought a Thorny mandarin bush, carting it home on the bus (it was lighter than I expected).

The Planting

Kevin and Michelle were back home when I returned. I had a hug from Kevin and then seemed to babble on for some time. Later, Kevin and I planted the bush over Peggy's grave. Here's some pics (select each for a larger image):

Kevin & Hallie	Me and Bobby
Um, guess I got upset	Mandarin Bush planted

A funny thing happened while I dug the hole - I found a gemstone. I don't remember losing or putting one there, so where it came from was a mystery. Kevin suggested that Peggy was giving me a parting present.

The Wake

Early evening we had a wake for the Poogle.

I bought some pizza and beer and we sat around the grave eating and drinking (and both Kevin and I left food and drink for him) while I told Kevin and Michelle stories about my life with Pegasus. Bobby and Hallie joined us, while Gabby and Xena kept a discrete distance.I talked about how:

• I dreamt of him and got him from friends;
• and where we walked and travelled;
• I got him back after he was stolen;
• he participated in my own and other religious rituals (and once as an honoured guest);
• he saved me from suicide;
• other pets came and went and came and how he always had playmates;
• Peggy would brake up fights between the Muscovy drakes I had;
• he played soccer with his ball, and how when it would bounce next door I'd get it back;
• he was obsessed by goats (there were two near door for a long time) and once chased a wild one for over 3 hours, while I chased him;
• growing old, he was still loved by all in the household and how we pampered him; but most of all
• I loved him and treasured our time together, and will miss him.

A thunderstorm rolled in at a distance as we did this, and it seemed fitting. Though Pegasus was frightened of thunderstorms (often hiding under a desk or at my feet) this time he didn't have to be, as he had the perfect hiding place. When it was all over and done I was glad, as I felt now that I've "seen him off" properly.

The whole thing took place within a brick circle I'd created back in 2001 for religious rituals. It seems fitting that Pegasus would end up at the centre  of that, as he was in the centre of my affections. Two photos (select each for larger image) illustrating this:

Brick circle in backyard in 2001

The centre of that circle tonight

In real life I'm a pagan and follow a non-Christian religion. Just a few days ago, my dog Pegasus died. He was not only my companion but also my familiar, and I sense his loss greatly. Earlier today I attended a Sahmain ceremony in SL (technically in my Hemisphere it's Beltaine, but I needed this). I was glad I attended.

Afterwards we went to an area where people could light candles and add text as a memorial to the deceased they loved. I added one for Pegasus:

It always feels odd when something in Second Life can make a difference in Real Life. My experience in doing rituals in SL however has shown that it does. I will add a memorial in real life later (I'll plant a Mandarin bush on his grave) but for now, this has helped me come to terms with my loss.

Found on klwalton's journal, this is for johanna_hypatia:

Copied from The Star NEWS:

Devotees from Malaysia and Singapore fulfil vows to deity for transsexuals

By WANI MUTHIAH

KLANG: The five-day celebrations dedicated to Goddess Bahuchara Mataji, the Hindu presiding deity for transsexuals, ended yesterday in a ceremony that saw some 400 participants from Malaysia and Singapore at a temple in Pandamaran near here. 

The temple, dedicated to the deity whose main temple is in Shankhalpoor in Gujarat, India, is owned and managed by the local Hindu transgender community. 

The celebrations began last Thursday with the highlight on the third day when devotees fulfilled vows by carrying pal kudam (milk pots) and thee chatti (earthen pots with fire). 

Dressed in green sarees, the official colour for Bahuchara Mataji, the entourage, led by the community’s matriarch M. Asha Devi, 63, carried the pal kudam and thee chatti to the temple. 

Two devotees balancing milk pots as they enter the temple at Pandamaran last Saturday.

This was followed by a chariot procession in the evening with Pandamaran assemblyman Datuk Dr The Kim Poo as the event’s special guest. 

Asha Devi said preparations for the celebrations began several months ago, as arrangements had to be made to accommodate the devotees. 

“Devotees also prepare themselves by fasting for at least three months before carrying the pal kudam and thee chatti,” said Asha Devi, who runs a food outlet in Kuala Lumpur. 

According to her, a flag bearing the Goddess’ emblem was raised on the first day followed by an ubayam (special prayers) on the second day. 

“The fourth day was also observed with prayers for Mataji. On the final day, which is today, we have special prayers for a male deity known as Veera Vetai Karar Muniandy followed by anathanam (feeding of the masses),” she added. 

Meanwhile, S. Komathi, 50, who cooked for the devotees, said this year’s event was special as they were praying hard to obtain a piece of land from the state government to build a proper temple. 

“The temple is currently situated in the home of one of our members’ grandmothers. Due to space constraints we cannot do any renovation,” said Komathi who owns a flower shop in Klang. 

Komathi said the community badly needed a bigger temple to accommodate the crowd. 

“In the past, it was only our community which prayed here but now others are also coming to the temple.” 

For K. Janani, 27, who came all the way from Singapore to carry the pal kudam, the event was both fun and colourful. 

“I like the festive atmosphere. I have been coming here for the past two years to offer prayers as our community does not have a dedicated temple in Singapore,” Janani added.

Hurray! All praise Cybele, all praise Bahuchara Mataji!