Monday, October 17, 2011
i know i know i know i'm annoying
Moved the blog again. http://www.peaceworkdesigns.org/. I think this is more of what I was trying to accomplish when I switched 'rural suburbia' to 'the western homefront' but my life got all wonky and I didn't quite get there. However, our family is making some progress out of wonkiness so there you have it.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
still thinking. . .
So I'm still thinking of my friend's dilemna. How would you explain America's version of Halloween to a completely different country/culture? Well, you see, Halloween originated with the Celts in Europe. The Celts were Pagan at the time (Paganism is different from Satanism, people). The coming of winter creeped them out. So, they decided to do things that they thought would keep the creepy spirits at bay. Fast forward. Now, Americans dress up, spend TONS of money on decorations and parties, eat lots of candy, and smash pumpkins in the streets. And they do it for no particular reason at all. Honestly, most Americans are clueless about the origins of the festival, but party anyway.
How does one explain that in a different context? And what's more. It's Spring in Argentina. Why should one care about Halloween?
How does one explain that in a different context? And what's more. It's Spring in Argentina. Why should one care about Halloween?
Monday, October 3, 2011
annual halloween lecture
So I think this is my second annual Halloween lecture. Not sure if I gave my last one last year or the year before and this one is a bit early, but here it is.
What do we do with Halloween? First of all, we can study it's origins from many different sources. From all of this info, I think we can safely draw 2 conclusions. Halloween originated from a culture that did not know about 'Christianity' and therefore drew it's 'religious beliefs' from nature. Secondly, Halloween was created as a result of the changing of seasons from summer to winter in a culture that only observed 2 seasons rather than our 4. From these 2 main conclusions, I think I can safely say that Halloween- in it's original context- is completely irrelevant in our day. It is not a 'holiday' that has an origin of eternal substance (i.e Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc.). We no longer have an event to 'celebrate' or 'observe'. I think we can gain a lot from those Europeans who were so connected with nature that they built their festivals around it. We contemporary Americans have no clue what it's like to live within nature's rhythms and cycles. Back in the day, people's lives depended on a good harvest. They didn't have pesticides, insecticides, gmos, and all things unnatural to control their crops (not to mention living in a warm climate). They couldn't get strawberries in their Fart-Marts in January. Therefore, I think that their great fear of winter was totally right on.
I lived in CO for 10 years and got a taste of real winter (comparatively mild though it was). I feared winter. Every September, I got a crack in my thumb that lasted until May. My nasal passages were sucked dry. It was cold, dry, and ugly for many moons. I couldn't grow anything. If there was a late frost, my peach tree wouldn't produce. If dressing up like a ghost meant I could scare the angry winter gods away, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
So what do those of us who claim Christianity as our faith do with such a festival? I've gone round about with this one. When the boys were teeny, I thought about celebrating the Reformation and dressing my wee ones up like Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon. Ha! I've done the Protestant 'alternative to Halloween' parties which always drove me nuts. Just admit it. Just because you're not trick-or-treating or dressing up like Dracula doesn't mean you aren't celebrating Halloween (lots of double negatives in that sentence). So I have come to the fabulous conclusion that we should just do whatever we want. The festival has become void of it's original intent so really anything goes. The people who make haunted houses and dress up in vile costumes and get as bloody and gory as they possibly can are honoring the spirit of Halloween just as much as the Protestant alternative to Halloween-ers (in other words, neither group is keeping in context with the original festival and if you don't agree with the reason behind the original festival then what on earth are you celebrating anything for).
We do something different each year, but we do have a mini-celebration and talk about the changing of seasons, the autumnal equinox, and the 'harvest'. Do my kids go trick-or-treating? Usually to the houses on our street if they can come up with a quick, cheap costume. We have had friends over and done 'treasure hunts' in the backyard. Eaten pizza and pumpkin shaped cakes. Not sure what we'll do this year.
I have a friend who lives in a Latin American country who is having some rough encounters with people who have strong opinions about Halloween. It seems her young boys have been getting responses from people accusing them of not being 'Christians' because they celebrate Halloween. All I can say is, 'Ayyyyyyyyyyy. . . .Pobrecitos.' Poor little punkins. Can we really say this of each other? I can say that what you do with Halloween is definitely a reflection of your spiritual state (which quite frankly is nobody elses business). I can also say that I have no idea where anybody is going when they die, but I can say that we can choose to live in Heaven or Hell at every moment of our lives. If I'm angry with my brother, guess where I'm living? If I give up my last penny for the sake of the poor, guess where I'm living? How you choose to celebrate Halloween is definitely a reflection of your spiritual state. If you choose to participate in the blood and the gore, I can think of the place where you might be living. If you choose to take a moment and cherish the harvest and pray to your god/God about the coming winter, I can think of the place where you might be living.
We can get all into the original meaning of the 'black cat', the 'jack-o-lantern', trick-or-treating, ghosts, witches, goblins, etc. and so on, but again, let's just stick with the original meaning of the festival. It's a transition from one season to another. Yes, there was a fear of the gods of winter that may or may not be valid. Yes. There are all kinds of evil things that take place on Halloween. But there are all kinds of evil taking place every single day of the year in all of our hearts. So take Halloween and make it redemptive for your household. Carve a pumpkin. Pray for the harvest to come in in an impoverished country. Dress up like candy corn. Thank God for the beautiful fall colors. And if anyone wants to dress up and do a little jig to scare away the winter gods, I'm not opposed. There is a good book on the subject called, 'The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest' by Ellen Jackson.
And that, my friends, is this year's lecture. A bit long-winded. And speaking of Santa Claus. He's not real. Scream it from the rooftops. Tell your kids. He is a fake. A sham. A false religion. If you want to do your family a HUGE favor, read them the story of St. Nicholas in the raw. Celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. Seriously. Ditch the fat dude.
What do we do with Halloween? First of all, we can study it's origins from many different sources. From all of this info, I think we can safely draw 2 conclusions. Halloween originated from a culture that did not know about 'Christianity' and therefore drew it's 'religious beliefs' from nature. Secondly, Halloween was created as a result of the changing of seasons from summer to winter in a culture that only observed 2 seasons rather than our 4. From these 2 main conclusions, I think I can safely say that Halloween- in it's original context- is completely irrelevant in our day. It is not a 'holiday' that has an origin of eternal substance (i.e Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc.). We no longer have an event to 'celebrate' or 'observe'. I think we can gain a lot from those Europeans who were so connected with nature that they built their festivals around it. We contemporary Americans have no clue what it's like to live within nature's rhythms and cycles. Back in the day, people's lives depended on a good harvest. They didn't have pesticides, insecticides, gmos, and all things unnatural to control their crops (not to mention living in a warm climate). They couldn't get strawberries in their Fart-Marts in January. Therefore, I think that their great fear of winter was totally right on.
I lived in CO for 10 years and got a taste of real winter (comparatively mild though it was). I feared winter. Every September, I got a crack in my thumb that lasted until May. My nasal passages were sucked dry. It was cold, dry, and ugly for many moons. I couldn't grow anything. If there was a late frost, my peach tree wouldn't produce. If dressing up like a ghost meant I could scare the angry winter gods away, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
So what do those of us who claim Christianity as our faith do with such a festival? I've gone round about with this one. When the boys were teeny, I thought about celebrating the Reformation and dressing my wee ones up like Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon. Ha! I've done the Protestant 'alternative to Halloween' parties which always drove me nuts. Just admit it. Just because you're not trick-or-treating or dressing up like Dracula doesn't mean you aren't celebrating Halloween (lots of double negatives in that sentence). So I have come to the fabulous conclusion that we should just do whatever we want. The festival has become void of it's original intent so really anything goes. The people who make haunted houses and dress up in vile costumes and get as bloody and gory as they possibly can are honoring the spirit of Halloween just as much as the Protestant alternative to Halloween-ers (in other words, neither group is keeping in context with the original festival and if you don't agree with the reason behind the original festival then what on earth are you celebrating anything for).
We do something different each year, but we do have a mini-celebration and talk about the changing of seasons, the autumnal equinox, and the 'harvest'. Do my kids go trick-or-treating? Usually to the houses on our street if they can come up with a quick, cheap costume. We have had friends over and done 'treasure hunts' in the backyard. Eaten pizza and pumpkin shaped cakes. Not sure what we'll do this year.
I have a friend who lives in a Latin American country who is having some rough encounters with people who have strong opinions about Halloween. It seems her young boys have been getting responses from people accusing them of not being 'Christians' because they celebrate Halloween. All I can say is, 'Ayyyyyyyyyyy. . . .Pobrecitos.' Poor little punkins. Can we really say this of each other? I can say that what you do with Halloween is definitely a reflection of your spiritual state (which quite frankly is nobody elses business). I can also say that I have no idea where anybody is going when they die, but I can say that we can choose to live in Heaven or Hell at every moment of our lives. If I'm angry with my brother, guess where I'm living? If I give up my last penny for the sake of the poor, guess where I'm living? How you choose to celebrate Halloween is definitely a reflection of your spiritual state. If you choose to participate in the blood and the gore, I can think of the place where you might be living. If you choose to take a moment and cherish the harvest and pray to your god/God about the coming winter, I can think of the place where you might be living.
We can get all into the original meaning of the 'black cat', the 'jack-o-lantern', trick-or-treating, ghosts, witches, goblins, etc. and so on, but again, let's just stick with the original meaning of the festival. It's a transition from one season to another. Yes, there was a fear of the gods of winter that may or may not be valid. Yes. There are all kinds of evil things that take place on Halloween. But there are all kinds of evil taking place every single day of the year in all of our hearts. So take Halloween and make it redemptive for your household. Carve a pumpkin. Pray for the harvest to come in in an impoverished country. Dress up like candy corn. Thank God for the beautiful fall colors. And if anyone wants to dress up and do a little jig to scare away the winter gods, I'm not opposed. There is a good book on the subject called, 'The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest' by Ellen Jackson.
And that, my friends, is this year's lecture. A bit long-winded. And speaking of Santa Claus. He's not real. Scream it from the rooftops. Tell your kids. He is a fake. A sham. A false religion. If you want to do your family a HUGE favor, read them the story of St. Nicholas in the raw. Celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. Seriously. Ditch the fat dude.
Monday, September 26, 2011
mo-mo
And here is Mo-Mo's plan. He is in 7th grade this year.
Math: 'Sacred Geometry Philosophy and Practice' (Art and Imagination) by Robert Lawlor
Reading: D'Aulaires' Greek Myths Text & Guides (Memoria Press), 'A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes', 'The Iliad', and 'The Odyssey' (all Yesterdays Classics)
History: The Story of Greece (Yesterday's Classics)
Writing: New American Cursive (Memoria Press) + ?
Science: 'The Wonder of Chemistry', 'The Secret of Everyday Things' (both by Jean Henri Fabre from Yesterday's Classics), 'The Book of Insects' (Memoria Press)
Art: Waldorf Form Drawing
Christian Studies: Book 2 from Memoria Press
Guitar
Geography: Draw Your World (Winter Promise)
And here is Mo-Mo + Brothers because I don't have a cyberpic of just plain MoMo:
My main interest with Morgan this year is Math. He hates math. But, he loves (and remembers) numbers and details. He can remember all of the players' numbers from Wyatt's old baseball teams and match them with the right people. He is the one who always knows where things are when someone can't find something. He remembers dates and times, etc. But, I have been boggled by what to do with him where Math is concerned. We've done Math-U-See all the way up through Zeta and the experience has been mildly tortuous. So, I am now going with my pagan tendencies and we are going to explore Sacred Geometry. Can't wait. Morgan loves rulers, compasses, and graph paper so this should be earth-shatteringly wondrous. I am fascinated by this whole 'Sacred' Geometry thing. Fascinated by nature's rhythms and forms. This is where contemporary (mostly Western) Christianity loses me. Mention anything about the 'natural rhythm' of the earth or numerology or stars and their alignments and things like 'stonehenge' or anything like that and the modern day evangelical flies into a panic attack (note the emphasis I have placed on the present mind- I don't think the ancient mind viewed things the same way- investigate 'the Magi'). Let's just say I'm passed the panic attack.
So there's that plan. We'll see what it morphs into, because homeschooling plans ALWAYS change.
Math: 'Sacred Geometry Philosophy and Practice' (Art and Imagination) by Robert Lawlor
Reading: D'Aulaires' Greek Myths Text & Guides (Memoria Press), 'A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes', 'The Iliad', and 'The Odyssey' (all Yesterdays Classics)
History: The Story of Greece (Yesterday's Classics)
Writing: New American Cursive (Memoria Press) + ?
Science: 'The Wonder of Chemistry', 'The Secret of Everyday Things' (both by Jean Henri Fabre from Yesterday's Classics), 'The Book of Insects' (Memoria Press)
Art: Waldorf Form Drawing
Christian Studies: Book 2 from Memoria Press
Guitar
Geography: Draw Your World (Winter Promise)
And here is Mo-Mo + Brothers because I don't have a cyberpic of just plain MoMo:
My main interest with Morgan this year is Math. He hates math. But, he loves (and remembers) numbers and details. He can remember all of the players' numbers from Wyatt's old baseball teams and match them with the right people. He is the one who always knows where things are when someone can't find something. He remembers dates and times, etc. But, I have been boggled by what to do with him where Math is concerned. We've done Math-U-See all the way up through Zeta and the experience has been mildly tortuous. So, I am now going with my pagan tendencies and we are going to explore Sacred Geometry. Can't wait. Morgan loves rulers, compasses, and graph paper so this should be earth-shatteringly wondrous. I am fascinated by this whole 'Sacred' Geometry thing. Fascinated by nature's rhythms and forms. This is where contemporary (mostly Western) Christianity loses me. Mention anything about the 'natural rhythm' of the earth or numerology or stars and their alignments and things like 'stonehenge' or anything like that and the modern day evangelical flies into a panic attack (note the emphasis I have placed on the present mind- I don't think the ancient mind viewed things the same way- investigate 'the Magi'). Let's just say I'm passed the panic attack.
So there's that plan. We'll see what it morphs into, because homeschooling plans ALWAYS change.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
let the games begin
or school if you want to call it that. We started 'school' last week, although, we don't have all of our books yet. As I was drawing up lesson plans last week, I realized that we really shouldn't START start for another two weeks when we have everything. We'll just skip out on Christmas vacation. Like it matters. Homeschooling is such a funny thing when it comes to 'breaks' and 'vacations' and the like. My oldest son is starting High School this year! I can't believe it. Here's his stuff:
Math-U-See Algebra
History: The Ancient World (Memoria Press)
Reading/Literature: The Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature (Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, etc.) + 'Stories From Ancient Canaan'
Christian Studies: The Greenleaf Guide to the Old Testament, 'Genesis' by Ruth Beechick, 'Our Young Folks' Josephus' (Paidea Classics), 'The Early Church' (Yesterday's Classics), 'The Story of the Fall of Jerusalem' (Yesterday's Classics)
Writing: Introduction to Composition (Blackbird & Company), 'Roots of English' (Memoria Press)
Geography: Draw Your World (Winter Promise)
Science: Astronomy- 'Geology and Astronomy' by Charles Kovacs, 'Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy'- right now, he's reading 'The Stars' by H.A. Rey (yes, the Curious George dude) until the other stuff arrives
Music: Guitar
Art: Form Drawing (the Waldorf one)
and here's him:
I'm interested in reading Beechick's 'Genesis'. Her perspective is Protestant so we'll see how it all jives. I read her other one about the OT, 'Adam and His Kin', and it was pretty good. I'm still on my kick about creating a High School science curricullum. I changed my mind and am going with Astronomy first as it is such an ancient 'science'. The universe is older than the earth, so there you have it. So, we'll start with 9 weeks of Astronomy and then maybe head toward Geology, but I'm not sure yet. I also need to find him something for his penmanship. Let's just say it's not so good. Wyatt is really into the guitar right now which is super cool. I taught him some 'beginning' guitar a few years back and he really didn't care, but he's back using the same book. He's been practicing a lot. He was into playing the drums for a while, but he's back to guitar at the moment. He also want to learn piano and I really want to play piano again, so we're hoping to purchase one at some point. Several of the kids are showing interest in instruments so we'll see where that takes us. . .
Math-U-See Algebra
History: The Ancient World (Memoria Press)
Reading/Literature: The Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature (Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, etc.) + 'Stories From Ancient Canaan'
Christian Studies: The Greenleaf Guide to the Old Testament, 'Genesis' by Ruth Beechick, 'Our Young Folks' Josephus' (Paidea Classics), 'The Early Church' (Yesterday's Classics), 'The Story of the Fall of Jerusalem' (Yesterday's Classics)
Writing: Introduction to Composition (Blackbird & Company), 'Roots of English' (Memoria Press)
Geography: Draw Your World (Winter Promise)
Science: Astronomy- 'Geology and Astronomy' by Charles Kovacs, 'Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy'- right now, he's reading 'The Stars' by H.A. Rey (yes, the Curious George dude) until the other stuff arrives
Music: Guitar
Art: Form Drawing (the Waldorf one)
and here's him:
I'm interested in reading Beechick's 'Genesis'. Her perspective is Protestant so we'll see how it all jives. I read her other one about the OT, 'Adam and His Kin', and it was pretty good. I'm still on my kick about creating a High School science curricullum. I changed my mind and am going with Astronomy first as it is such an ancient 'science'. The universe is older than the earth, so there you have it. So, we'll start with 9 weeks of Astronomy and then maybe head toward Geology, but I'm not sure yet. I also need to find him something for his penmanship. Let's just say it's not so good. Wyatt is really into the guitar right now which is super cool. I taught him some 'beginning' guitar a few years back and he really didn't care, but he's back using the same book. He's been practicing a lot. He was into playing the drums for a while, but he's back to guitar at the moment. He also want to learn piano and I really want to play piano again, so we're hoping to purchase one at some point. Several of the kids are showing interest in instruments so we'll see where that takes us. . .
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
feast day
Today is the feast of St. Aidan. It is also PoPo's name day (his name is Brennan Aidan). He was also baptized on this day four years ago. I've always thought that was super tubular. I'm begging for the prayers of St. Aidan at the moment. There is a particular situation at the pre-school that is screaming for his intervention. I love his story. Go read it today. There are a million different links out there. And float up some prayers to St. Aidan to intervene in the life of one particular wee one at my school.
And if you have the time, read the entire blog post I linked to in my previous post. The Apparent Project is one of the best charities around and their blog is THE most helpful blog to read if you truly want to know how best to help a country and a people whose lives have been turned upside-down by widespread disaster.
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