Category: Detritus

From McSweeney’s:
Love Isn’t…

Boo hoo. Nobody ever responds to my quizzes anymore.

And this one wasn’t even all that superflous…

Anyway, here’s a quick update on my life circumstances at present:

Started my new job on Monday and am awaiting proper deployment.

We are awaiting a couple of more hires at which point my normal job duties will ensue.

Not to divulge any competitive or proprietary details, but the gist of it is that I’ll be assigned to a regional sales rep who will then make me his or her bitch. I will do their gruntwork, ship their boxes, and be their Earthly representative in the corporate office. If my sales rep needs a product to be altered it is I who shall beg the product development department on bended knee to look into the possibility of making said alterations. If my sales rep wants to sell a product that is not approved as being “part of the current sales direction,” it is I who will coax and cajole and finesse a postive response from the powers that be. If my sales rep needs to be punished, I will bend over and take the beating and then fax a copy of my bruises to my sales rep. I am about to become a Salaried Professional Martyr. The differences between that and call center work being mainly that I don’t get paid overtime, but I can eat at my desk and I have a corporate email address. My fate rests in the hands of the competence and benevolence of my Sales Rep to be…

In the meantime, I thought you all should know that Kinky Friedman is running for Governor of Texas under the slogan “How Hard Can It Be?”

Accroding to this quiz, I am “A Linguistic Thinker.”

Linguistic thinkers:

Tend to think in words, and like to use language to express complex ideas.

Are sensitive to the sounds and rhythms of words as well as their meanings.

Other Linguistic Thinkers include

William Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Anne Frank

Careers which suit Linguistic thinkers include

Journalist, Librarian, Salesperson, Proof-reader, Translator, Poet, Lyricist

What kind of thinker are you then?

Reagonomics, unfortunately, is still alive.

Apparently in 2002, the city of Blue Springs Kansas alotted the sum of $273,000 to “combat Goth culture.” But the project is now officially dead. Therefore it is safe to wear black eyeliner in Kansas again. You can all breathe a sigh of relief and get on the phone to your travel agents. Yep, it sure is a slow news day…

Ten of Swords (Ruin): Crushing defeat brought about by idle intellectualism divorced from reality. Sadness and desolation in the aftermath of a catastrophic and total collapse. A decisive conclusion brought about through the swift and merciless application of overwhelming force.

Strength: Raw power. Health and physical fortitude. A surge of tremendous force. Recovery from sickness. Victory after apprehension and fear. The ability to face and overcome opposition brings the inner qualities of strength and forbearance. Delays and setbacks will be overcome.

(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)

This was one of the principle figures in pre-Christian paganism and therefore is one of the essential themes in neo-Pagan Witchcraft, especially Wicca. The Slain God, sometimes referred to as the Divine King, evolved out of the early hunter/warrior cults that existed before the agrarian societies.

In the earliest tribal communities the hunter/warrior held the highest social status. He was honored as the most bravest and cunning member of the tribe and chosen to be its leader. The well being of this individual affected the well being of the whole tribe. Such beliefs are predominant in the Arthurian legends of northern Europe, where the king and land become one. This also is reflected in the southern European mythos of Rex Nemorenss, King of the Woods, in the sacred grove of Diana of Lake Nemi.

The hunter, before the evolvement of agricultural and herdsmen, was essential to tribal welfare as he provided both food and defense. But hunting was often dangerous in that the individual suffered bodily injury and many hunters lost their lives. The needs of the tribe, in both food and defense, required that the best individuals would be sent.

Eventually religious and spiritual consciousness evolved, and along with this came the concept of a Deity. The role of Deity soon took on a role in ritual and dogma. With this emerged the idea of sending the tribe’s best member to the Gods in order to secure the needs of the tribe. This began the concept of human sacrifice to placate the Gods. Those willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the tribe were thought to become gods themselves. The concept of giving offerings to the Gods, such as food, flowers, or game, was nothing new because such offerings previously had been made; but human sacrifice now was considered the supreme gift that the tribe could offer. The belief was that the Gods would surely grant the tribe whatever it needed when a person willingly gave his or her life to them.

Following the sacrifice, the blood and flesh were distributed among the clan members and given into the soil. Parts of the body were buried in cultivated fields to insure the next harvest. Also, small portions of the body and blood were incorporated into the ceremonial feast; an ancient practiced that was assumed later by the Christians in their Communion services, the body and blood of Christ.

It was further believed the sacrificial offering must be returned to the tribe. (see Theophagy) To accomplish this, rituals evolved for the resurrection of the Slain God. There was the preparation of special maidens to bring about the birth, usually virgins who were artificially inseminated so that no human male could be determined as being the father. Bloodlines were carefully traced from the impregnated female, and the returning soul was searched out among her children.

Eventually human sacrifice was totally eliminated as human consciousness matured and was replaced by animal sacrifice, and then by plant sacrifice, or the harvest festival. The same ancient mythos, or legend, applies to both animal and plant sacrifice. In Wicca/Witchcraft this is referred to as “eating the deity” or consuming the Harvest Lord in the ritual cakes and wine (flesh and blood) of Craft rituals.

There is present in the rituals similarities of concepts or beliefs. In the ancient tradition it was believed that through the connection of the body and blood of the Slain God that the people became one with the deity. In the “Last Supper” Jesus declare that the bread and wine were his body and blood, which he gave up for the salvation of the people. Blood was believed to contain the life force. The death of the king freed the inner spirit. Through the distribution of his body and blood, heaven and earth were united and his vital energy renewed the kingdom.

The appearances of the Slain God have taken on various aspects throughout the ages. His images can be seen in the Jack-in-the-Green, the Hooded Man, the Hanged Man of the Tarot, the Lord of Vegetation, the Harvest, and the free untamed aspect of the forest.

Perhaps the best image of the Slain God is symbolized in the Green Man. He is the spirit of the Land manifested in all plant forms. He is both the procreative power as well as the seed of life. The Slain God bridges the gap between the two worlds. This is why he is frequently depicted as hanging from a tree; the tree symbolizes a bridge between the Underworld and heaven, for its roots are in the earth and its branches reach into the sky. The Slain God is one with both heaven and earth, and to be one with him is to be one with the Source of All Things.

(courtesy The Mystica online encyclopedia of the occult, etc.

(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)

Sarah Peanut is a two year old today!

It so happens that there is already a “Detritus.net” and it is a very cool site indeed.

When we were, I suppose, about 20, my friend Tina had her first baby I came to see her and I stood on her doorstep as we were leaving and swore our kids would grow up to be friends. As the years passed, life happened and it looked less and less likely that that would ever be a possibility. But here we are years later back in our hometown with about as many bad things in common as we have good and in some ways it’s like no time has passed at all. In other ways, it’s like a million years have passed, but so goes it. Anyway, Tina’s boys and my girls played together and it was beautiful chaos. They all had a blast, and it’s so nice to hang out with someone else who doesn’t have a stick up teir ass when it comes to discipline, frankly. There was some degree of running wild, but everyone was safe and happy and nothing got destroyed, which is all one can ask out of life, really. It was especially cool to see the two babies interact, both of them being somewhat unused to playmates their own age. Mainly it consisted of handing each other things and running away. So cute. And amidst it all, we actually managed to get a little work done too. Go figure. Thanks Tina! Let’s do it again soon!

In other news, I am alternately waging a rather aggressive job search and groveling in humility at the feet of several cruelly benevolent state agencies in an effort to pay my rent and go on with my life. I have $335 to go and 4 days in which to acquire it. But ny oh so understanding parents have performed the great and generous task of delivering their unwanted, expired can goods to my doorsteo unnanounced. Thank you, Mom and Dad, maybe I can sell your half box of stale oatmeal packets and the bottle of salt free ketchup on the black market at a good markup or something. If you haven’t yet heard the details of my parents’ recent “supportive” speech, well, it’s really all too sordid to repeat, but suffice it to say some of the Chrisitans I know are terribly unchristian in their attitudes towards people in need. I bet if I “found Jesus” somebody’d come up with the rent money, but I’m, sticking to my new policy of brutal honesty and forthfrightness even if it hurts, warts and all. Saying I believed in god would be a lie, and lying to avoid hurt feelings leads to lying to save face, leads to lying for personal gain, and I’ve at certain points in recent history been gradually compelled to lie way more than I’ve ever wanted to and I never want to be that kind of person again. That’s an approach to life worth modeling for my girls, I think.

Speaking of the girls, my wee little Miss Sarah Peanut is turning two on Tuesday! She won’t be a baby anymore:(