Pre-Yule 2012

Nothing has been particularly easy, and it never appears to get any easier either. We got to Chicago for the AAR (American Academy of Religion) and stayed in that venerable hotel, the Palmer House Hilton. Most unhelpfully, I discovered on the plane en route to Chicago that I had left my laptop at airport security in Providence. Our flight had been changed to leave two hours earlier to 05:55, and that with the hideous stripping, removing shoes and belt, etc. made the memory lapse all the easier. Angie was to meet us at O’Hare, but my mobile phone did not indicate any of her many calls until we finally took the shuttle to the hotel on our own. But at least after breakfast, we got to the magnificent Art Institute and enjoyed a calibre of feast rivalled only by such sacred edifices as the Met, the Louvre, the Prado, etc. That night we had a lovely time together with Wendy and her sister Gay at Trattoria Ricardo.

The following day was the pre-conference conference on “Occult Chicago” organised by Jason Winslade. We also had a lovely evening with Amy. And then the conference itself. My paper was on “A Contemporary Mystery Religion: The Amsterdam Coffee Shop as a Pagan Praxis.” For the Sex, Metaphor, and Sacrifice in Contemporary Paganism session, I was Respondent. All in all, I think our sessions for Contemporary Pagan Studies went well and generated active discussion – especially our joint session with Indigenous Religious Traditions on Contested Categories: Indigenous, Pagan, Authentic, and Legitimate. The major downside of the convention was the distance of the McCormick Place Convention Center from the hotels and the necessity of shuttle service and the enormous size of the centre itself. It was a marathon on all occasions. I did manage to fit in at least one session of the SBL: the Archaeology of Religion in the Roman World Section on Visualizing Religion in Roman Italy. For the rest it was networking, the New Religious Movements reception, the pagan dinner, dinner with Barbara, Patrick and Wendy in the spectacular Signature Room in the Hancock Tower and breakfast with Angie (who drove us back to the airport).

At home, we had a lovely and delicious (perhaps the most delicious salmon I have ever had) pre-Thanksgiving meal at Rosalind’s with Rosalind, Albert and Shirley. Earlier that day at Carpenter’s to get a pie, I asked if they had any cancellations on their turkey orders. They did, and Richard and I were able to enjoy a fun and relaxed Thanksgiving celebration for just the two of us with all the traditional fixings. Instead of flying back to London on the following Friday as originally planned, we had a quiet day of work and recovery. Since then, I have had a live session with Scott plus an online one, the Saturday night at the OneWay Gallery, a walkabout at Canonchet Farm led by Kathy, the setup for my hernia surgery with Dr. Capuano, and the FEMA inspection of our Sandy damages. Beside his art work, I found two large containers that I asked Richard about and which turned out to be packed with forty years of his still soaked photos. He has been dealing with it stoically and resolutely.

It has been a strange time but one still underscored by the joy and comfort of friendship and togetherness. The ‘fiscal cliff’ hanger dominates the current news discussions, and this is coupled with the overriding perception of so much that seems wrong and unnecessary – both here and globally. The following is my ‘2012 Pre-Yule Prose-Poem’:

“O this blessed Turtle Island coast in the bleak winter with its raw breezes and fading light! One feels as an interloper in these lands. But then with life in general, one can increasingly feel like an interloper. As an outsider or bystander, I watch the youth of today and marvel over their energy, engagement and hope – rejoicing in the encouragement I wish for them and the beauty of life’s flower they be. How strange our world may have always been but seems increasingly complex today! The factionalisms and special interest groupings that dominate global and regional attention at this stage of humanity’s duration: what has become of our romantic idealism for us as a struggling species navigating collectively the opportunities and challenges of nature? Why must it remain a divisive and apparently suicidal acceleration toward environmental mismanagement and our non-viable survival? What must we have as individuals, as you and me, as me-and-mine, that precludes us from capitalising on our technical achievements and figuring out an acceptable win-win situation for us all?

“In my present physical location, I may feel like an interloper – and likewise in my present stage of life, but is not trespassing both a minority and the human position? When and how does the vanquished become the magnanimous host? When do we all behave like proper guests in the house of another? The interconnectedness that many affirm is fine, but the basic manners of politeness and respect is the non-hubristic affirmation of that affirmation. Our elders in whatever form, colour, shape and status they can be found are there to be the hosts, teachers and guides from whom we might all benefit – to be accepted as for us rather than against us, to be cherished and, finally, to be that toward which we each aspire – whether yet aware of that or not.

“Things have partitioned out to each of us differently. And even those who affirm their achievements through diligence and hard work have had luck and good fortune working for them as well. But it is what we have that becomes central for us as the human species individuals we be. So do we begrudge those who have ‘more’ than we do? Do we pity and dismiss those we perceive as having less? This on the one hand. On the other, do we cherish and celebrate that which we do have? But remember, proper celebration is the feast, the banquet, the opportunity for the provider to share! If we are unable to recognise or transform the whole of life into a sacred celebration, may we not at least necklace it with the festive beads of ritual acknowledgment? Can we not punctuate the necessities of life with moments of both relaxed and festive beauty – especially when so much of nature is not already beautiful in itself but also  - through her laws, principles, procedures and offerings – a source of being beautiful and beautiful beings and doings? Where and when might we surrender to beauty despite the individual interpretations each of us have of it, or is that beyond our capabilities? Do we surrender instead to a different God?

“I believe in our hearts we know all this. I believe beneath all our political and social posturings of role-playing and mind-sets we still know all this. Can we not surrender to the collective beauty with all her pluralism, or have we been seized, indoctrinated and captured so that surrender becomes a non-possibility? I believe that surrender to beauty is the only act that is commensurate to any intrinsic dignity we might possess; surrender to anything else is capture and imprisonment. Surrender to beauty alone is freedom.”