Witch hunt! Really??

I don't know about anyone else but I am sick and tired of hearing Trump, the Republican Party, and the rest of the right wing screaming about Witch hunts.  For a fact we know they aren't witches, and second, when you get caught in wrong doing, screaming its a Witch Hunt, just won't cut it.

Here in the United States we had cases of Witches being hunted.  Nothing like what had went on and occurred in the European nations.  The biggest and most famous was the Salem Witch Trials.  Which according to a right wing Evangelical over on Twitter who brought it up, wasn't caused by Christians

Apparently the poor ignorant one doesn't realize that Puritans were Christians.  But they were.  In fact today's right wing Christian Evangelical's better known as Alt Christians are the descendants of the Puritans.  But let's take a quick peek at what happened in Salem.

On Jan 20 1692 Elizabeth Parris the Daughter of Rev. Samuel Parris began to have symptoms. Then Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis.

Shortly after, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Booth.  They had all types of symptoms and they had fits.  Then they begin the accusations of Witchcraft.   Tituba ( a slave that belonged to Parris), Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn who were social outcasts were accused of using Witchcraft to torment the girls.  On March 1, 1692, they were arrested and examined in court.  Next up to be arrested were Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, Dorothy Good and Rachel Clinton.  In April came more arrests, this time including men.  And so it continued each month with the number of accused growing and spreading to nearby towns.  Soon the local jails had over 200 people, and the accusations begin against the wealthy, and important.  Ministers, landowners, widows, no one was to lofty to escape the accusations.  By the time the dust cleared and sanity begin to return 24 people and 2 dogs had been put to death. The last of the Witch trials was held in November of 1693.   

Eventually in the 1700's, everyone was pardoned including those who died and restitution was paid to family members of the victims.

Now that is what a Witch Hunt looks like.  Innocent ( the operative word here is INNOCENCE) people being accused of crimes they did not commit.  

This is why women don't come forward about sexual assault.

Every single time a woman steps forward about sexual harassment or sexual assault it begins.

Why did she wait so long?  What was she wearing?   Was she doing drugs?   Was she drunk?  Is she lying?  Surely she would have told someone.  

And the woman's character is assaulted, her sexual past is brought up, innuendo's are made, she is accused of being mistaken, or lying.  (She the victim, now becomes the attacker, the guilty party)

Meanwhile sympathy is aroused for the man.  Things are said to make light of his actions.  (He becomes the victim instead of staying the attacker)

She led him on.  She teased him.  She's lying.  He was young.  Boys will be boys.  Boy's sow wild oats.  It was roughhousing.

And over and over and over the same thing occurs every time. Many girls and woman never tell anyone.  Some wait decades before they can talk about it, if ever.  Over the years I have heard lots of stories from girls and women about sexual assault.  I never automatically assumed they were lying.  The pain in their voices was evident.  The fingerprints of the assault were evident in their lives if one looked.  

Out of all the stories I have heard or accusations made, only 2 of them were false and the girl/woman made them to get attention and eventually confessed to what they had done and why.  2 out of a good 300 stories.  

I myself have had men feel that they could freely grab a body part of mine.  And when they got their face slapped couldn't understand why I was upset.  They had a hard time grasping the verbal lashing I gave them. Make no mistake I made it perfectly clear that I was not a toy to be played with, that I did not want that attention or action of theirs, nor did I appreciate it and were it to occur again there would be huge consequences that they would not like nor enjoy.

I had a 3 times great grandmother that was raped, and nothing was ever done to her attacker.  I had a great grandmother that was raped 3 different times.  In all 3 cases nothing was ever done to her attackers.  My birth mother at age 15 was assaulted by an acquaintance of her aunt.  He had been going by a fake name and was never found or charged.

When my Mom was 12 years old her brother-in-law tried to rape her. She broke free and told her mother. Who gave her a little knife to carry after that. Grandma and Mom told Billy Caldwell, Mom's father, and Mom's brothers. Lloyd the brother-in-law was approached with the accusation. He denied it. Said Mom was lying. And he made all kinds of nonsense up. Some of the brothers believed Mom, some did not including Uncle Sam, who later got converted by Billy Graham, and other nasty ass evangelicals. And poor Mom was accused of lying, of being wicked etc for years. She was implored by Uncle Sam to come to Jesus, forsake her wicked ways etc. This went on for years. It messed with my Mom's mind. She began to believe she was wicked etc. Drove me and Dad nuts. Finally years later when Mom was in her late 50's her sister finally admitted that Lloyd had assaulted several young girls and that he had gotten away with it.

Think about that will you? For over 50 years that man assaulted girls, Never got in trouble for it. But the girls were called liars etc.

Women's lives are torn apart by this. And when they come forth with the story, they are called liars, sluts, sinful, evil and blamed for what occured.  They receive threats, they are treated terrible and yet you all wonder why women don't rush forward to report it. Other men brush it off and try to justify it, and lots of women even support the attacker and vilify the victim.  

So when a woman tells me she has been assaulted I tend to believe her, it's not easy being a woman in this world.

An Evangelical Alt Christian Pastor's view of why women are evil.

"God created everything, and then Satan got all high and mighty and thought he could do better than God.  He led a revolt in Heaven trying to take over, but the Angels who were still loyal to God threw him and his minions out of Heaven and onto the earth, where he tries to destroy all things Godly", said the Evangelical Preacher.

"Now God had created Man first.  Adam saw that there were male and female animals so he asked God to make him a female. God loved Adam so much that he put Adam to sleep, took one of his ribs and made him a woman.  That is why women are to be subjected to the men. Because that is what God made them for.  They are to comfort and listen to their menfolk.  They are to be God fearing creatures made to serve God and man.  Now Eve like all of womankind was an inferior creature, easily misled and easily swayed by evil and Satan, a lover of gossip and the use of bodily wiles, she stopped to talk to the serpent and forgetting all about God and his rules she used her wiles to sway Adam into stepping from the straight and narrow path and into the ways of hellfire and damnation."  intoned the Pastor.  "She was the first woman to use her wiles to lead mankind down the path of wickedness and cause him to sin. Women are sinful creatures."

"God turned them out of Eden thanks to Eve, because she brought the first sin to the earth.  He told her the only chance womankind had to return to his good graces was through childbirth.  That is a direct order from God.  That through the pain and suffering of childbirth shall she find God's redemption.  She shall listen to her father, and then her husband,  to the minister and to the word of God.  She shall marry and help replenish humankind and gain through the pain of childbirth redemption in the eyes of the Lord.  It is a sin for her to use birth control or to have an abortion. Sinning against the word of God and committing murder.    Evil, sinful women going against God's plan." thundered the Preacher.  "Women have long been the tools of Satan working their evilness on the God fearing man.  They tempt mankind with sweet words that come straight from Satan.  They wear skimpy clothes to enflame a man's passions and lead him astray.  Then once they tempt him into the pleasures of the flesh they scream rape.  Oh yes indeed these wicked women will burn in the fires of hell."

"A woman's job is to submit herself to her husband.  To bear children.  To be silent in church, to read her bible, and to pray for forgiveness constantly.  As far as God is concerned she is a wicked, evil, sinner who must repent not only for her sins and wickedness but for that of Eve also.  God understands that Men are often led astray by these wicked creatures and forgives them.  God loves Man just as he loved Adam, but he is often disappointed in their inability to withstand the snares of Satan through the wicked wiles of womankind.  Sometimes husbands must discipline their wives to drive the evilness out of them.  That is not a sin.  God knows that women are flighty, creatures that Satan uses to lead Godly men astray so when a husband disciplines his wife he understands and condones it.  A man that does not discipline his wife does not love God."  prattled the Alt Christian.


Yes indeed folks, this is what an Evangelical Alt Christian Pastor told me.  Is it any wonder that they are crazy with religious leaders spouting this nonsense.  And we wonder why we have men beating their wives and women producing babies one after another.  This is medieval beliefs and has no place in the 21st century.  Nutters everyone of them that buy into and believe this drivel.  This is why rapists get off.  Societal ills caused by religious beliefs, no other way to put it.  Patriarchy at its finest.   

Back in my day....

I am a child of the 1960's.  A pivotal time in this nation's history.  I can vividly recall the assassination of JFK. Though only 3, it stands out, I also remember Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby. The entire nation was in a state of shock.  Conspiracy theories abounded and multiplied, everything from the CIA and the Mafia to Cuba and Russia were bandied about as being responsible.  A time of hope for the future and dreams of the unattainable that were held by millions were smashed in a few moments of violence.  55 years later this assassination still holds us in thrall and haunts the mind of the nation.  It left a scar on the psyche of the people.

The Civil Rights War was in full swing and daily on the news were stories of Southern States trying to retain their grip on White Supremacy.  Politicians made a mockery of the Constitution on an hourly basis and White Men and Women spewed their venomous vitriol in the streets, to newspapers and even from the pulpits.  Dogs were turned loose on people and white men and police used clubs to beat protesters.  Blacks and even whites who were fighting alongside them were hung, shot, or set on fire.  Horror filled the newscast as these types of scenes were shown on local and national news.

Poverty was a way of life for millions and images of little more than shacks filled with hungry children dotted the landscape.  When it came to poverty, all races, religions, and gender  it seemed were created equal, unlike employment, voting and other rights.

The US was involved in the Vietnam Conflict, and I had lots of cousins that were there.  Aunt Pearl had Larry, Russell, and Arthur there.  Uncle Charlie had Deanie there and many, many more cousins were there to worry about. Not to mention the sons of many of our acquaintances.  Because let's face it, it is the sons and daughters of the poor and working class that are sent off to fight and die.  It's not the offspring of the wealthy,  but the children of those who are kept down economically.  You didn't see Donald Trump sent off to fight, he, it is claimed had bonespurs.  Funny, he could certainly walk all over golf courses and go dancing though.  You certainly won't see his useless sons Eric or Donald Jr., or any of his grandchildren be sent off to fight and die, because they will be exempt or some government official will be paid off to claim that they have a health condition that prevents them from serving.

I recall the race riots, the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Union strikes, the Manson Family Murders, and even the release of the original "Night of the Living Dead". I recall the protests against Vietnam and Televangelist screaming from their pulpits about Blacks, the War, Women, Drugs, Hippies and everything else that threatened their little worlds and dreams of Puritan Paradise.

The world was changing and many didn't care for it.  Mini skirts were shocking and people screamed they were indecent and were an invitation to rapists.  Women working and using birth control were also rocking people's worlds.  The right to have an abortion was a call to arms to the right wingers who then as today screamed about murder and sin.  The crime rate was high everywhere.

It was overall a time of change and chaos.  Violence and hope.  Dreams shattered and other dreams put into motion.  There was outrage daily.  But back then, we knew that there were people in power who were trying to change things for the better.  Even the political parties were changing.  The Democrat party was changing for the better, trying to root out the racists and bigots.  This led to a mass departure of those hateful people leaving and joining the Republican Party, which as one can see today, they have overtaken it and changed it for the worse.  Today the Republican Party is owned by the wealthy and Russia, and consists of racists, bigots, homophobes, Islamophobes and other hateful, nasty people. Religious Fanatics, the KKK, and the Nazi's hold hands with the traitors and Corporate heads of industries.  At least once a month stories hit the news of Republican politicians being arrested for various crimes.

The Right Wing longs for the so called "good old days" and try and bring them back.  But those days are long gone.  What they want is the control that they had.  They wish to enforce their religious views and hateful ideals on the rest of the nation.  And they can't understand why the rest of the nation has no desire to relive the hateful past. 

No I have no desire to go back to those chaotic times.  Equality and progress is where we need to go.  Strive for the future, and stop living in the past.

Proud to be a Coal Miner's daughter.

My familia background is an awesome mix, a perfect example of the American concept of the melting pot.  Various racial backgrounds, religious beliefs, and economic statuses mixed together to produce me.  In the genetic roulette that occurs in everyone, I feel that I came out a winner in that random game of dna exchange.  I am quite proud of my ancestors, every single one of them. 


My birth father was an extremely intelligent man.  He spoke 8 languages.  A veteran of both the Army and the Navy, he was also a barber and a coal miner.  Unfortunately when it came to picking out spouses he was rather unlucky both times.  He was a first generation American on his father's side, and second generation on his mother's side.  His father was a coal miner.  Grandfather came to the United States to escape the smothering, authoritarian Austrian Hungary Empire that was in control of Poland.  His family roots were in the Tatra Mountains of Zakopane, Poland.  Grandmother was born in the United States, 1 of 10 children, at age 16 she married Grandfather.  Her parents too had come to the United States in search of a better life.  Her father and both of his brothers were coal miners.  In fact her father was killed during the Windber Miners Strike, by the mining police who were out to stop the Union from organizing.    My father's brothers, Uncle Joe and Uncle John were also coal miners.  Both of them also served in the armed forces, Uncle Joe in the Navy, and Uncle John in the Army.  Education, hard work and service to the nation were highly prized.  On grandmother's side of the family the women also served in the armed forces and higher education for them was a must.  Grandmother had several sisters who were Naval Nurses.  Aunt Anne went on to get a master's at Columbia University.  Aunt Mary also was a Naval Nurse.  She ended up marrying the Ambassador to the United States from Ecuador. 


On my birth mother's side of the family the melting pot was quite evidenced.  Aristocracy genes abounded side by side with Native American and Afro American folk.  The Shawnee genes mixed with the genes of the aristocracy of the various British Isles and the genes of Constantine the Great and William of Normandy.  The genes of Robert the Bruce and the Campbells were also united to this mixture.  The Afro American genes held hands with all the rest including the Northern, Central, Western and Southern European genes of France, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Germany.  Her parents adopted me when I was 5.  I called them Mom and Dad.  Dad had been a coal miner for many years and was a Township Supervisor.  Over the years of his long life he had worn many an employment hat.  At 12 years of age he had went to work in the coal mines to help support his family.  His brothers had also worked in the coal mines, as had many of Mom's brothers.  Ancestors who were slave owners were united through blood lines to abolitionists, and lawyers, judges and statesmen to Tenant farmers.  But again hard work, education and service to country were emphasized.  Daddy was adamant that education was necessary and that knowledge was one thing that no one could ever take away from you.  I was encouraged to work not only with my hands but to also use my brain and expand my knowledge.  Mom also encouraged me to take advantage of education.  She felt that education gave women the freedom to not have to stay in a bad situation because of economics.


As a child I was surrounded by adults who encouraged me and who were role models.  I had Aunts and Uncles including Great and Great Greats, plenty of cousins of all ages and adults that were friends and acquaintances of my parents who talked of many things, who I could ask questions of and who I learned many things from. Yes I am very proud of my family and where I came from.
 

Fall peeking around the corner and memories of the farm.

The children are back in school, and there is a hint in the air of autumn. The trees and plants knowing that fall is peeping around the corner are hurrying to finish up their summer fruitfulness.  All of this bringing back memories of growing up on the farm.

Mom would have been scurrying around trying to finish up canning as much of the bounty of the garden and the farm had produced.  All summer she would have been busy canning green beans, wax beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, corn, beets, carrots, potatoes, mixed veggies, pickles, relishes, sandwich spreads and relishes, tomatoes and all the other goodies.  She would have made her dill pickles and even Dilly Beans which was a pickled spread that included beans.  She would have dug out the huge crocks and made sauerkraut and pickles.  Jams, Jellies and preserves including red raspberry, black raspberry, blackberry, grape and strawberry would have been made.  There would be applesauce and apple butter along with grape juice, tomato juice, tomato sauces, spaghetti sauce and homemade soups such as vegetable and tomato done.  Daddy would be picking the last of produce to make huge pots of what he called his "End of the Garden" vegetable soup which was a bit of everything including okra that mom would can.  There would be rhubarb-strawberry preserves for pies in the winter.  The shelves in the cellar (because we had a cellar, not a basement) would be groaning under the weight of all of mom's hard work.  All the jars would be lined up, labeled as to content, and with the date on them.  Any stragglers left over from previous years would be moved to the front so that we could use them first.  Mom would have also bought peaches, pears and other goodies off of Aunt Maggie who had an orchard on her Dairy Farm and we would have canned them also.

All summer I would have diligently helped mom pick the produce, and prepare it for canning, plus help by washing the jars and keeping my eye on the pressure cooker while she was busy doing something else. Mom would have frozen ears of sweet corn for winter use, along with lima beans and anything else she deemed that was better frozen than canned. She would have made stuffed peppers and cabbage rolls and froze them also.  Both freezers were being stocked up, but room being left for the fall butchering of a cow and a pig.  I would come home from school, and hurry and do my chores and help Mom finish up what she was doing so that we could make supper(yes on the farm we called it supper) and hurry in a few chores after that.

Mom would want to hurry and get the last of the canning done so that we could start on the fall cleaning and have it done before butchering time came.  There were walls and ceilings to be scrubbed, curtains, doilies and other linen to be washed and starched as appropriate, and then ironed and rehung.  Floors that were waxed had to be stripped of the wax and fresh coats put down, and carpets had to be scrubbed.  Closets, drawers and other hidey holes had to be cleaned out and organized.  Windows had to be washed and be sparkling cleaned before the curtains were rehung.  According to mom there was lots to do and little time to get it done.  On mom's watch there was no lollygagging, get in, do it fast, do it right the first time and move on to the next chore.  Mom was an impeccable housekeeper and took pride in having a spotless home.  She took great pride in the rows of sparkling jars of food that she had prepared for winter's consumption. 

Dad would decide when the rest of the potato crop was ready to be dug up, when it was time to gather in the field corn, and eye up the bottom to see if he might be able to get a final cutting of hay for the stock in the winter.  We had a small farm which meant we gathered in the field corn and potatoes by hand and I have dug many a potato, and pulled ears of field corn off the cornstalk and thrown them in the wagon.  I would be eyeing up the pumpkins to see which one's I could use for Jack O'lanterns come All Hallow's Eve. Mom would go through her flower garden picking seeds off the plants and saving them for next years planting.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it was, but I miss those times more than anyone will ever know.  But I learned many lessons.  I learned about sowing and reaping and future harvests.  I learned how to do the job right the first time.  I learned about being thrifty and how to enjoy the moment.  Mom and Dad have both been gone for many years, but I still remember the lessons they taught me many years ago growing up on the farm.     

How to freeze sweet corn using Mom's method.

Take fresh ears of corn and husk and desilk them.  Put on a huge pot of  water and bring to a boil.  When water is boiling rapidly drop in ears of corn.  Let boil for 3 minutes only.  Do not let boil any longer.  Rapidly remove ears from water and place on a cookie sheet.  Let cool completely in the air.  Takes about 2 hours.  Then take ears and place in cling wrap.  Wrap aluminum foil around that.  Place in large freezer baggie and label and place in freezer.  When ready to use, just remove from freezer, unwrap and place ears in pot of rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes only, remove and eat.  Tastes like it just came fresh from the garden

The Goddess says:

People amaze me at times with their ability to rationalize and to fool themselves by various mental gymnastics into trying put things together in a coherent manner, when said ideas are not compatible nor are they meant to be.

So let's cut to the chase.  You absolutely can't combine patriarchal ideas with any spiritual belief that is based on a system that supports the idea of equality between the genders, or a matriarchal system.
And after doing all these mental gymnastics and coming up with a system it doesn't do anything for anyone.  It is not conducive to spiritual growth. 

I see it all the time.  Someone who is fed up with the ideas of the patriarchy, and is not receiving any comfort, nor satisfaction with said patriarchal religions decides to explore various spiritual paths.  But they hold on to the antiquated and outdated belief systems of the patriarchal religions and try to fit them into the various Pagan paths.

So let me make it clear for you on a few things.

The Goddess says:

The use of birth control is fine.  Abortion is not murder, and is a choice.  There is nothing wrong with being LGBT, in fact thousands of years ago the LGBT were considered as the bridge between humans and the divine.  Greed is discouraged, having all the toys and money does not make you a good person.  Helping others is part of the reason we are here.  Hating others who have a different religion or skin color is bad.  Men are not better than women, nor are they the boss of women.  Women have the right to choose if and when they become pregnant.  No you do not need to have child after child to prove anything.  Knowledge is a wonderful thing, learning is another reason why we are here.  We need to take care of this planet, the animals and the plants.  Divorce is not wrong.  Living together is not wrong.  What 2 consenting adults do sexual wise is no one's business but their own.  No religion or spiritual path fits everyone, that is why there are choices.  No you don't have to be a doormat, sometimes you have to smack someone upside the head to get their attention, and in fact the only thing some understand is a punch in the nose because they see courtesy as weakness and have no respect for it.

Evil exists, but there is no Satan per se, that is a handy label to explain evil though.  There is no hell, that is a concept created by the Christian Church and other patriarchal religions to control others.  We are all born, die, and are reborn.  No we aren't responsible for the souls of other people.  If we deliberately mislead others into wrongdoing, we are held accountable for their misdeeds.  For example Paul/Saul, deliberately mislead others, and that led to the Catholic Church and other leaders preaching and acting upon actions that were horrible.  So, Paul would be held accountable for every single one of those folks, and even the folks nowadays doing terrible actions.  Yes indeed Karma can be a terrible thing. We are accountable for own actions yes, but if we lie or deliberately mislead others into committing atrocities we hold partial blame and karma will catch up to us.

We are here to learn and explore, to love, to help each other, to take care of the planet, its plant and animal life and the various types of waters.  We are not to harm anyone deliberately.  We are allowed to protect ourselves and others.  Meaning if I decide I don't like you and decide to hex, curse or murder you, or harm your reputation or physically hurt you I will be held accountable for that.  But should you be hurting others or me I am allowed to stop you.  In fact if I stand by and allow you to harm others and I do nothing, I will be partially responsible for your actions. 

You can only change yourself, you can't change others.  They must change themselves.  We can offer them emotional and financial support, we can help them explore and give them information, but only they can change themselves.  No you do not have to stay with someone who is abusing you emotionally or physically.  Multiple sex partners is entirely up to each individual.  Virginity is an option.  Sex outside of marriage is fine.  In fact marriage or not is an option.  You don't have to be married, nor have children, nor have to have a partner to be fulfilled. 

This is of course only a partial list.  You must root out those outdated ideas.  To obtain spiritual growth one must get rid of the garbage.