For the last few days I’ve been going raw foods crazy. Here are the goodies I’ve been making.
These are “coconut balls”. The recipe for these is posted here. Don’t they look yummy? I made four different flavors of these. Some I left as just plain old coconut, nothing added. Some I added almond extract to and when forming them I put little almond halves in the middle. The almonds were soaked in agave nectar and something else… Not sure, someone else made them. But they are quite good. The remaining mixture I added cacao powder to for a chocolate flavor. They are delicious! To half of that, I added orange extract for a ‘orange chocolate’ flavor, and the rest I added cinnamon, something spicy (like cayenne, but it wasn’t… something my grandma had, but it added some spice), and I think one more thing, but I forgot… lol. Woops! They are great. Love these little guys… nice, sweet, raw treat.
Here we have what are called ‘tasty sea snacks’. I don’t have the recipe posted here, but I’ll tell you what’s in em! It’s so so simple. 2 cups of soaked almonds, nama shoyu (forgot how much 
), and 8 cloves of garlic. Blend them to a thick grainy consistency in the food processor, then rolled the mixture up inside nori (seaweed) sheets which are cut into rectangles or squares or whatever. Dehydrate them for 12 hours and … mmmm! These things are unbelievably good. I’m making another batch tomorrow. Rolling them up can be tedious, but with some good music or good company it goes by quickly and is SO worth it. My favorite raw snack yet! Oh, and don’t be worried if you don’t have a dehydrator. Dehydrating them makes them stay together better, gives them a nice tiny crunch, and brings out the flavors much more, but they taste wonderful without being dehydrated too. When I go home, I don’t have a dehydrator there, but that won’t stop me from making these.
For these, you do need a dehydrator. These are raw flax crackers, with pumpkin seeds. I gave some a curry flavor, and some a cinnamon and garlic flavor. Cinnamon and garlic, weird, right? Yeah. It’s a bit strange but I actually like it. I had added garlic first, but thought that was kind of boring. Out of all the herbs my grandma has in her cabinet, I grabbed the cinnamon and dumped some in the bowl. The flavor’s not bad, surprisingly… Love raw crackers! There’s not really a recipe for these. They are a pretty basic raw food staple and are easy to make. Just soak flax and pumpkin seeds (2 cups flax, 1/2 or so pumpkin, I guess) overnight, drain, and add whatever the hell you want as flavoring. But again, can’t make them without a dehydrator.
Wouldn’t you know it – just as my previous emotional and mental ‘issues’ seem to be resurfacing lately, so have my old ways of thinking and my compulsion to write it out. Coupled just like old times. So here I am.
Monotheism and Polytheism, in My Life…
I finally purchased a copy of Margot Adler’s classic book, Drawing Down the Moon. I haven’t gotten too far into it but at the point I’m at right now she is discussing polytheism and monotheism. You’d have to read the book to get a complete idea of the discussion contained therein, but here are my thoughts and feelings on the subjects she brings up, and more.
I’ve always felt slightly disconnected from the concept of polytheism, even as a self-proclaimed Neo-Pagan. Now, this could all get pretty involved and in-depth, but I have neither the time nor energy to go there right now. I’m just going to more like jot down a few general ideas, for the time being.
So connect has always been a tad iffy… I’ve wanted to believe and connect, at some level, but found it difficult. During my years as a Neo-Pagan, I have gone from considering myself to be polytheist, to atheist, to duo-theist… I’ve been around the block with the gods – or without – a few times.
I’ve written before, a few years ago, about my view of divinity which you can read if you’d like to compare it to this post (if you, rare bird, are interested, just send me over an email, or leave a comment with your email address). I had a short discussion with a fellow MindSay-er at that time which sapped some of my confidence and didn’t clear up my own issues as far as how I felt about defining divinity, at all. Just more confusion.
There are some statements in Adler’s book, however, that are helping me develop a clearer, more solid view of this. She talks of the pros and cons of both polytheism and monotheism, including research from several people, most interestingly a scholar named Robert Ellwood who, as Adler says, “is one of the very few scholars to have studied Neo-Paganism with any depth, insight, or integrity.” This is my first time hearing of Ellwood and I’d love to look into his work. *makes note to self*
Okay. Like I said, I’m not going to get too into this at the moment (sadly) so there may be a lot of “someones” and “somethings” coming up as I set my book aside and quickly type this all up from memory and the short half-page of notes on my lap.
Back on track: There is talk in the book about the fact that at some point in human history when polytheism ruled the Earth, and in parts of the world where the majority of people remain polytheists, you can see a difference in the these societies and cultures when you look at how people of different beliefs encounter each other and their beliefs. To paraphrase: since many gods and goddesses were associated with the land in which you lived in some way, and you understood that the land in which someone else lived was different than yours, you also understood that their gods were different. Since their land and usually their culture was different, you probably would not have a very good understanding of their specific deities, but you would respect them just the same as you respect your own because the gods of their land are just as real and powerful of the gods of your land. So you would see a lot more respect amongst people when it came to various deities. You respect the gods in another family’s home just as you respect those in your own.
In this way, polytheism doesn’t give way as easily as monotheism to narrow, discriminatory worldviews. If you want to control a people, you may introduce one almighty god under whose will and authority they are, often forcibly, subject to. One god, one will, one rule.
Obviously, at least to me, that’s not very nice…
Before I move on, I want to quickly make one point clear, and that is that in the end, beyond all the gods and goddesses, I see everything as One. The energy, if you will (oh lord, this may sound dreadfully new-age…), of various deities vibrates differently, and they manifest themselves to us differently, but the gods, just like everything else, are the result of the pulsing vibration of creation’s creative energy. To me, that pure, creative force, IS Divinity. Or, to put it in a way that more people are likely to understand, IS ‘God’, to me.
It’s more complex than that, but I haven’t yet been able to come up with any other words to say it. These words have always sounded sufficient in my mind, but now that I see them typed up I see that they may come off the wrong way as you read them. Don’t misunderstand me as saying that Creation is God, please. I’m saying that the force behind creation, or the force that is creative, that “births” from itself creation, perhaps more accurately, is Divine, or is God, which I think a lot of Americans and other people around the world would agree with on some level. That force will always elude us. It cannot be identified, pointed to, or fully grasped, but we give name to it like we give names to each other, as a way of identification and mutual understanding of what is being referred to overall.
If you happen to still be at a lost as to what I’m trying to say, I can’t put it any other way right now so you’ll just have to read and re-read until you think you’ve got it. If you think you’re ALMOST there, try reading on and it may click.
Moving on…
The thing that I’ve settled on with polytheism, and which I really like, is the idea that I’ve had for a long time but have just now fully gained a grip on.
Are the gods real? Here’s my take: I hold the view that our concepts of gods and goddesses put our own lives and experiences into context in the greater world, a world which can often be so difficult to grasp and digest in one big gulp. Why should our gods resemble us at all? Why should they be human-like in any way? The gods have complex personalities with both positive and negative attributes, with creative and destructive energies and lots in-between, and they all have a story. Why so human in these ways?
In many cultures and pantheons we know of gods of the Mountains, gods of the Sea, the Sky, the Sun, the Underworld, Love, Death and Destruction, Creation, on and on and on…
Monotheism is one God. The big ‘G’. HE’s IT. One entity to contain and control all of creation. The weakness that I see with the world-view that belief in this one God tends to create is that it is very narrow, and forgetful. People can become fixated on particular things, rules and commandments, about this particular God so that they loose sight of greater, broad and far-reaching experiences, both of the natural world and of our own inner worlds and relationships.
Recognizing and honoring several gods of several energies is, to me, a reminder of our humanity and the greater world we live in. Respecting the gods means respecting ourselves, respecting each other, and respecting the world we live in. Developing an understanding of and a relationship with the gods means developing a relationship with and understanding all of that – ourselves, each other and the world – as well.
So, are they real? If you haven’t gotten there already: I think the gods are as real and alive as the Earth is alive, as much as we are alive, and that they have a pulse as much as all things in the Universe vibrate energy. Which means: absolutely.
This understanding of the gods may not be the same understanding that our far-away ancestors had. I personally don’t see that as extremely important. Cultures and societies have all grown and developed with time, as we all know. I don’t see it as necessary to try to perfectly match the beliefs and practices of the ancients. To be perfectly honest and blunt, I think that is foolish. Part of our being human, being alive, is to evolve, and that means our understanding of things too, which further means our beliefs. This is how I, a 21st-century Pagan, believe in and understand the gods.
I’m expanding my knitting skills into the world of felting for the first time using a pattern from make-digital.com. The pattern, “Easy House Slippers”, can be found via a search at their website.
The slippers will be for my 3 year old niece. There are three different sizes provided, the smallest being a size 5. I figure since the yarn I bought for the project is a bit small, and I’m using size 8 needles instead of size 9 as the pattern suggested, and considering how small my swatch has come out to be (more on that in a sec!), they will end up being the right size for he 3 year old feet – hopefully!
The yarn that I bought, Sensations Kashmira 100% Wool, is rather thin, and the tag suggests using a size 7 needle for it. Like I said, I’m using size 8. The pattern is ho
rrible! Well, it’s a cute product, but whoever wrote the pattern does not know what they’re doing. Go ahead, go pull up the pattern and have a look (they double the number of sts CO and say do that number “back and forth”? WTF?)! So here’s where I’m at with my swatch: Considering all the factors I’ve already mentioned, my swatch now measures about 3 1/2 inches by 3 2/3 inches. Quite small! I know it’s going to shrink during felting, but I hope not too much or these would turn out to be baby booties! To the right is a pic I just took of my swatch with my cell phone (hence the poor quality!).
For this swatch I cast on 16 stitches, as is suggested by the pattern to make a size 5, but when I reached 16 rows, it was NOT a square! No, it was very much a rectangle. So I decided that instead of going by the number of stitches (bad for gauge! but there wasn’t one in the pattern!!), I would go by measurement. I tried to get it as close to 3.5″ x 3.5″ as possible. To achieve this, I ended up with 16 x 25 stitches.
I’m now going to throw this baby in a mini pillowcase I made two years ago (perfect for this project!) and into the washer and see what comes of it. This is my first time felting and I’m super excited to see how it changes!
UPDATE:
Alright, it’s now about an hour after I wrote the above.
When I first put my piece in the machine I had used too cool of water. I let it felt for five minutes, saw very very little progress, so I drained the water and put HOT water in it this time. I knew it was supposed to be hot water in the first place, but I didn’t see the correct setting on my michine. The second time around, I accidentally lost track of time and let it run to the point of the water draining. It was slightly felted in two of the corners and a tidbit elsewhere, but not really. I didn’t want to waste anymore water so I decided to finish by hand.
I got a big red bowl we have for casseroles and stuff and filled it up with hot hot water and a bit of dish soap (just a bit!). I left the bowl in the kitchen sink while I felted so that water could splash without worry. Then I p
lunged my hands in and started aggitating. I used a few techniques that I used on my dreadlocks when I had them. It was working! It shrunk about half an inch but after a while seemed to not be shrinking anymore. The corners were felting really well but the center not so good. Maybe this is the normal process felting takes, but I wasn’t sure so I decided to switch up my technique. I loosly cupped my little swatch in my hands and shook it up vigorously. This shrunk it another quarter inch, bringing my final measurement to two and three quarters.
I’m happy with the results but I know I won’t be able to hand felt my actual piece like I did this swatch. I’ll have to keep a better eye on the wash machine to get it done, but I’m excited!
Summer is here. I know it’s not here “officially” but I think when you are hitting the upper 90s on a regular basis for two weeks, you’re safely into the summer season. Our month of Spring was a sweet time… *nostalgia*
Right now my concentration is on my car! We’ve been putting off getting it fixed for whatever reason and I haven’t been driving it since it last overheated. Since it needs to get smoged so I can renew the registaration but I can’t drive it… well, I got a sticker warning that it will be towed since the registration is expired. So yesterday I got a temporary permit to move it and I have two days before that expires to get it running and somewhere to get fixed and smoged. Then I gotta get it registered and any more work that needs to be done and I’ll be good to go for the Summer! 
Sad that it took a threat of having it taken away by towing for us to finally get to work on this, but at least it’s getting done. I can’t wait to have my car again.
We just called this German Motors place that should be good. Okay, so I’m out. Lots more to say but no time to say it!
We sucessfully sprouted a few wee seedlings last Spring but they didn’t last long. I think they were overwatered; they eventually grew some kind of white fungus all over and we eventually kinda gave up on ‘em.
This year I’d like to have a go at some flowers. Last year we bought some organic soil but I’m not sure if it’s good to use anymore. Anyone know?
In an effort to be better prepared for sucess thus year, I took some notes out of the book Elements of Witchcraft (by Ellen Dugan) about which flowers are best for this area: the hot, hot desert! Actually only two of these are said by Dugan to be good for the heat, and I chose the others for other reasons. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got so far.
Marigold
I’m not sure if any of these pictures are going to be the right flower she’s talking about. I assume that if she says “marigold” she means any marigold. Apparently there’s all different types of marigold and a lot of other flowers. So anyway, she says this one “holds up to intense heat”. It’s for health, constancy and affection.
Begonia
I’m not sure about this one because apparently they are originally from the tropics and sub-tropics, so I’m wondering how well they will really do in our dry desert. But they do like the sun and the shade equally, and do fine in pots. If I get these ones I’m thinking I will get one of those pots that hang and there is moss (is that what it’s called) sitting inside the metal bared pot. Augh, like this!
I think this would be good because I read that they need to be in well-drained soil.
Zinnia
I love how this one looks. I’ve never heard ofit but this flower is muy pretty. And, it attracts butterflies! Whic is what attracts me to it. Love butterflies. And apparently they are good to grow from seed, they are “reliable bloomers” as Dugan said.
Carnation
The common “florist’s flower”. I like ‘em well enough but not sure how well they do in this climate. I got my initial information out of her flower magic section of the book and she recommends it because it’s cheap and comes in so many colors i.e. so many correspondences. I’ll think I may stick to just getting this one from the store when needed.
That’s pretty much it. Maybe I’ll have a go at a few herbs again, too. Wish I would have recoreded what herbs sprouted last year and which didn’t. About two of them didn’t out of the five we planted. Got to start writing these things down. Well, I write a lot of things down actually, just never seems to be the right things…
I got this GREAT little tea cup yesterday while out putting in applications at every place possible and reasonable. I sent pictures of it from my cell phone to my email address but it hasn’t gotten to my inbox yet… How aggrivating. So I’ll post more about the greatest tea cup ever when those pictures come through. (I haven’t been able to find my digital camera for a while… :/) Oh and speaking of which…
I really want to get a video camera. I found this great one at BestBuy. I’m sure this is like standard these days or something, but it also takes pictures but is primarily a video camera which is exactly what I have been wanting. It is relatively cheap too so I’m hoping that once I get a job I can buy it pretty quickly. I find that I like taking videos more than I like taking pictures. My sister seems to be more the photographer type, I’m more the movie-maker type.
