Carson, credited as the founder of the contemporary environmental movement, and author of the landmark book, “Silent Spring,” touched off a major controversy on the dangers of pesticides in the early 1960’s. The well-funded campaign of disinformation that attempted to discredit and silence Carson, continues to dog environmental science nearly 50 years later.

Environmental pioneer, Rachel Carson, a marine biologist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, meticulously chronicled the detrimental effects of the pesticide DDT, sounding the alarm over its indiscriminate use.  Her warnings sparked a revolution in environmental policy and created a new ecological consciousness.  Because of her efforts, the need to regulate industry in order to protect the environment became widely recognized.  Her research ultimately resulted in the U.S. ban of the pesticide DDT in 1972.

Better Living Through Chemistry? Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was first developed in 1939.  It distinguished itself in World War II, clearing South Pacific islands of malaria-causing insects for U.S. troops; in Europe, it was widely used as an effective de-lousing agent to reduce the spread of typhus.  As there were no immediate side effects, it was widely assumed the pesticide would not affect humans or wildlife. Carson believed otherwise.

Fast forward, circa 1950’s: Elm trees, widely used in cities for landscaping throughout the Midwest and New England states, began succumbing to Dutch Elm disease, a fungus spread by elm bark beetles. The disease was inadvertently imported into the U.S. from Europe. A campaign of aerial spraying of DDT was begun to fight the spread of the disease.

An ornithologist from Michigan State University, doing a doctoral study in robin population, discovered evidence linking a plummeting robin population on campus with the aerial spraying of the elm trees there. He and a colleague found that the birds were dying from the effects of DDT poisoning, after eating earthworms who fed on the leaves of the sprayed trees.

Rachel Carson, We Still Need You to Clear the Air: Carson became increasingly troubled by the indiscriminate use of pesticides, contending that such contamination would not stop with wildlife. As she pieced together her own observations with research and information from colleagues, she saw a frightening picture of the future for man, as well as nature.

Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” exposed the hazards of DDT and its effects on birds, linking it to egg shell thinning, reproductive problems, and bird die-off.  She documented how metabolites of DDT accumulated in fatty tissue of aquatic organisms, and further concentrated at the top of the food chain. Chemical residue of the pesticide contaminated lakes and streams, infiltrated the food chain of raptors, and interfered with reproduction processes.  Bald eagle, osprey and peregrine falcon populations decreased as egg shells became too thin and cracked during incubation.  By 1963, there were only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the entire lower 48 states. The publication of Silent Spring, combined with the habitat protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act, set the stage for bald eagle populations to make a comeback from the brink of extinction.  Today, there are more than 7,000 nesting pairs of bald eagles, and that number is growing.

Carson estimated that the U.S. alone sees 500 new chemicals to which “bodies of men and animals are required somehow to adapt each year, chemicals totally outside the limits of biologic experience.”  She warned that insects would eventually grow immune to pesticides and, as a result, would come back in greater numbers. “Thus, the chemical war is never won, and all life is caught in its violent crossfire.”

Despite Carson’s fearless tenacity, she was treading on new and dangerous turf. She accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and chastised public officials for accepting industry claims uncritically.  Leaders in the chemical industry and AgriBusiness mounted an organized attack on Carson’s professional integrity, mocking her and labeling her an alarmist. They even went as far as to question her sanity. She was labeled “a fanatic defender of the cult of nature.” Thousands of studies have since confirmed her work, and her studies were, in fact, officially vindicated in 1963 by the Kennedy Administration.

A Renewed Controversy: According to the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides  (click here), we produce pesticides today at a rate thousand of times faster than we did when Silent Spring was first published in 1962. Forty-seven years after her death, Carson’s critics continue to blame her for a half century of government regulations they don’t like, accusing her of scaring the world from useful chemicals that could be saving lives.  Critics assert she was incorrect about a link between cancer rates and pesticides, and went further to claim her warning about the widespread use of toxic chemicals has allowed diseases like malaria to make a comeback. Rebuttals from top scientists, historians and public health officials can be found at pbs.org.

Back to the Future: It should come as no surprise that BigAgri-friendly and Pharma-beholden Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), effectively blocked a resolution honoring Ms. Carson (click here) A site hosted by Conservative Enterprise Institute, Rachelwaswrong.org, purports that, “millions of people around the world suffer the painful and often deadly effects of malaria because one person sounded a false alarm. That person is Rachel Carson.”

The names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent: The usual culprits – Giants like Dow Chemical, Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, ConAgra, and Cargill that produce ammonium based fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and the politicians they continue to buy, continue to chip away not only at Carson’s legacy, but speed forward with a focused campaign to discredit credible science in an attempt to silence voices which interfere with corporate profit margins, labeling both people and groups as enemies of prosperity and free enterprise.  Carson wrote of “an era dominated by industry, in which the right to make money, at whatever cost to others, is seldom challenged”

As we approach the 50^th anniversary of Ms. Carson legendary work, it is clear that the same obstacles are facing us today. Corporate media spin, intractable politics and governmental accomplices are just as prevalent today as we approach the anniversary of the first Earth Day held on April 22, 1970. Rachel Carson alerted us to the insidious dangers of pesticides, and how they affect the intricate web of life.  Her legacy lives on in every bald eagle, osprey and peregrine falcon that flies today.  As we celebrate Earth Day this April 22, let us remember Ms. Carson and give thanks for her voice as a champion for the health of earth and all its inhabitants.

To learn more, please visit the Web site, Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson

A documentary of Carson’s amazing life, ‘A Sense Of Wonder,’ (click here) uses the author’s own writings to provide an intimate glimpse of Carson as she is thrust into the role of controversial public figure.

National wildlife artist, Bob Hines, and Rachel Carson search out marine specimens in the Florida Keys around 1955, which Hines drew as illustrations for Carson’s third book, “Edge of the Bay.”

Editor’s Note- Karlotta is a lifelong naturalist, birder, hiker, and environmentalist. Dedicated to protecting the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. Active on social media networks as Stonecircle, and unrepentantly Progressive. Maker of good desserts.

Art by Stephen Shaw at http://www.artmajeur.com/stephenshaw/

It was only 2 months ago House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, proclaimed of Obama’s original tax plan, “If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I’ll vote for it”. How times have changed, or have they?

With the recent media blitz on taxes and the countdown to Republican control in the house, gains in the senate and the Bush tax cuts expiration on Jan. 1st, one might get the impression a political game of chicken has unfolded between the Democrats and Republicans; the freight train being the anger of the American citizens if no tax cut extension is passed while we flirt with 10 percent unemployment nationwide. Don’t buy into that hype.

Indeed a recent Gallup poll showed large support (66 percent  – 30 percent) for extending the Bush tax cuts for all Americans for 2 years. However when options are added to allow tax cuts to expire for the wealthy or to let tax cuts expire entirely, Americans support letting tax cuts expire for the wealthy (44 percent) over letting all American’s continue their tax cuts (40 percent) with an additional 13 percent wanting tax cuts to expire for everyone.

Republicans have seized the Jan. 1st due date as a ticking time bomb set to overturn one of Obama’s cornerstone promises. Obama has pledged not to let taxes go up on anyone making less than $250,000 per year. Simple enough right, all they have to do is filibuster anything that does not allow tax cuts for everyone and Obama is forced to give the rich a tax cut. Well not entirely.

Imagine for a second if the Democrats grew a pair. I know … try really hard, got it? Ok. Now imagine the only tax bill the Democrats propose continues tax cuts for those making under 250k. The Republicans oppose, the due date expires, taxes go up, Obama’s a liar, Americans are pissed. Take a breath. Ok, now imagine this, within the bill that Republicans are blockading exists an “anchor” clause that says if this bill is passed after taxes go up, the federal government would retroactively refund the additional taxes paid for anyone making less than $250k, and then continue the Bush era tax cuts only for those making less than $250k.

This places the advantage back to the Democrats and puts the ball back in the Republicans’ court. The Republicans would be faced with either, voting against a tax break (I’d be shocked if they did this but it would be an understatement to say the Republicans have shocked me before), or voting to uphold Obama’s promise. The beauty of this idea is that it does away with the population’s short attention span. As each paycheck is received with the higher tax rate, each citizen will be reminded of that looming retroactive refund that gets larger and larger as time goes on. Either the Republicans will be forced to pass it quickly or they will face a mounting opposition that keeps growing with every pay cycle. Then, as the Republicans have trained us to accept, the Democrats would have to filibuster any alternative the Republicans try to propose once they gain power in the house. Those who break filibuster records can’t rightly complain about that can they?

It would be the Republicans’ only option yet again. And Boehner has already proclaimed his stance in that situation. This is a win win for the Democrats however it requires that they hold to their convictions and exercise their majority (and minority) power.

There has been a great deal of change and reform delivered over the last two years.  While most of these have gone by unnoticed or are not remembered, a fine Wiki team has recorded and organized every major point in a comprehensive database, now available here.

There are a few excellent resources where the victories of Change and Reform have been assembled on the internet, including the Democratic Change Update (reposted on News Junkie Post), the 244 Accomplishments of Obama, and the Things Obama Has Done page on Facebook.

While the mainstream media narrative has been dominated by right wing and Tea Party talking points, many of the fundamental changes in direction of this country have not received the attention they deserve.  Now in one day, the very politicians who venomously opposed these reforms, the very people who want to take America back to the days of Bush are poised to retake the US House of Representatives.  They are banking on the short attention span of voters, so share this list liberally!

CHAPTER LIST

Arts and Culture
Banking and Financial Reform
Civil Rights
Commerce, Trade and technology
Conservation
Economy
Education: College
Education: Health of Children
Employment: Jobs
Energy: Green
Energy: Old
Energy: Oil
Foreign Affairs and International Relations
Government Efficiency
Health and Wellness
Health Care Reform (See also Taxes)
Housing
Humanitarianism
Immigration
Infrastructure
Labor
Law and Justice
Medicaid/Medicare/Social Security
Military and National Security
Military Veterans and Families
National Disasters and Emergencies
National Service
Scientific and Medical Research
Space Exploration and Space Station
Taxes
Transparency and Accountability
Recovery, Progress and Change
Miscellaneous

Chapter 1: BANKING AND FINANCIAL REFORM

Broad Policy

Established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. [pdf]

Established President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. [pdf]

Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Dodd-Frank (DF) Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the biggest financial reform law since the Great Depression.

Managed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) [pdf]

Assigned a Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009.

Pension Relief Act of 2010.

Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act.

Played a lead role in G-20 Summit re: financial crisis.

Reformed deferral rules to curb tax advantages for investing overseas.

Established new offshore investment policy that promotes in-sourcing.

Funding

Cut salaries for 65 bailout executives (Pay Czar).

Banks have repaid 75% of TARP funds, bringing the cost down to $89B as of June 2010.

Closed offshore tax safe havens, tax credit loopholes. [pdf]

Targeted Actions

Created the Financial Stability Oversight Council to monitor stability of the financial system & individual firms. [pdf]

New requirements for reporting financial data. [pdf]

Created self-funded Office of Financial Research (OFR) to collect information from financial firms. [pdf]

OFR employees must wait a year before working for certain financial firms. [pdf]

Provided for orderly liquidation of financial companies. [pdf]

Limited trading activities of banks (Volcker Rule) beginning 2 yrs after passage. [pdf]

Swaps Pushout Rule prevented federal assistance to swaps (including derivatives) traders. [pdf]

Derivatives must be traded transparently through a clearing house. [pdf]

Defined the amount and nature of assets required to meet capital requirements. [pdf]

Originators of asset-backed securities must retain 5% ownership/risk. [pdf]

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (DF). [pdf]

Stronger client fiduciary duty for broker-dealers. [pdf]

Higher standards for securities advertising and disclosures. [pdf]

Expanded “insider loans”. [pdf]

Higher standards for systemically important ($50 billion assets+) institutions, including annual stress tests and restrictions on bank acquisitions. [pdf]

Executive compensation must be determined by an independent committee.[pdf]

Issued compensation guidelines for bank executive salary and bonuses.

Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women & Minorities to promote more diverse hiring. [pdf]

Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

Credit CARD Technical Corrections Act of 2009.

Established a credit card bill of rights.

Reformed credit card swipe fees.

Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud.

Congress pursued Goldman Sachs for securities violations.

Permanently extended Research and Experimentation Tax Credit for domestic investments.

Results

(Treasury) Sold 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup at a profit.

G-20 summit produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis.

Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals.

Financial reform has ‘strongest consumer financial protections in history

Chapter 2: HEALTH CARE REFORM

Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Requires large employers to contribute to a national healthcare plan

Requires Insurance Companies to cover pre-existing conditions

Requires health plans to disclose how much of premium goes to patient care

Establishes an independent health institute to provide accurate & objective information

Provides minimal essential healthcare coverage by Veterans Affairs

Kids can stay on their parent’s insurance until 26 under certain conditions

Prevents children from being denied health insurance coverage

Establishes early retiree reinsurance program

Increased regulation of drug manufacturers

Cut prescription drug cost for medicare recipients by 50% and began eliminating the plan’s gap (doughnut hole) in coverage

TRICARE Affirmation Act

Extended COBRA (Consolidate Omnibus Budget Reconciliation) to provide for a continuation of healthcare

Medicare Physicians Repayment Act of 2009

Chapter 3: CIVIL RIGHTS AND ARTS & CULTURE

Funding

Provide $12.2 Billion in new funding for Individuals With Disabilities Act through the American Recovery and Investment Act

Targeted Actions

Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts: Equal pay for equal work

Extended Benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees

Presidential Memorandum protecting gay and lesbian partners’ visitation and healthcare decision making rights

Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include gender, sexual orientation and disability

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

Appointed more openly gay officials (150) than any other president in history

Established White House Council on Women & Girls

Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women & Minorities to promote more diverse hiring

Increase minority access to capital

Signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

Increased federal employment of persons with disabilities

Pushing through settlement in black farmers lawsuit against USDA

ARTS & CULTURE

Increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to highest level since 1992

Created an artist corps for public schools

Championed the importance of arts education

Promoted cultural diplomacy

Chapter 4: Commerce, Trade & Technology, Conservation

Broad Policy:

Promoted internet freedom as part of US foreign policy

Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

Satellite TV Extension Act of 2010

Funding

Expanded loan programs for small businesses

Targeted Actions

Small Business Act

Small Business Investment Act

Proposed tougher meat industry antitrust rules

Denied federal contracts to tax delinquents

Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer

Established Federal IT Dashboard

Modernized USA.gov portal to connect people to services they require

Launched National Export Initiative with goal of doubling exports by 2015 [pdf]

National Export Initiative/Progress report & named President’s Export Council

Launched piracy crackdown

CONSERVATION

Broad Policy:

Morris K Udall Scholarship & Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009

Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009

North American Wetlands Conservation Act

Stewardship of the Ocean (established National Ocean Council) for Coasts and the Great Lakes (executive order)

Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economical Performance (exec. order) [pdf]

Established partnerships to share environmental technology with other countries

Funding:

Increased funding for Land and Water Conservation Fund

Increased funding for national parks and forests

$175 million of ARRA allocated for water conservation – $135 million of that in the West

Targeted Areas:

Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect Antarctic

Expanded access to places to hunt and fish

Chesapeake Bay Protection & Restoration (executive order) [pdf]

Led effort to phase out whaling

Pursued wildlife management plan

Encouraged more controlled burns to reduce wildfires

Ordered removal of more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires

Chapter 5: THE ECONOMY

Broad Policy

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009: a $789 billion economic stimulus plan [pdf]

US auto industry rescue plan – Most of which has been paid back [pdf]

Start-up activity now higher than it was during the dotcom boom

Created task force to fight deficit (actually senate voted it down – only 53 votes)

Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

Temporary extension of programs under Small Business Investment Act of 1958

Funding

Increased minority access to capital

$26 billion aid to states package (Aug. 2010)

Targeted Actions

Raised small business investment limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009

Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes

Improper Payments Elimination & Recovery Act – establishes a federal “Do Not Pay” list

Extended and indexed the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch

Adopted Economic Substance tax doctrine

Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspended taxes on those benefits

Economy grew 5.9% in 4th quarter

U.S. Economy: Manufacturing has grow more than since 2004

U.S. GDP up 3.2% in first quarter

Largest rise in consumer spending in three years

Orders for most durable goods rose

Wholesale inventories and sales rose

$26 billion state aid triggered a surge of private municipal investment

EXHIBITS – THE STIMULUS ONE YEAR LATER

Success of the stimulus: How do you illustrate it could have been much worse?

Distribution of ARRA funds by years

Need for financial education: Investors who act on their own than T-bills; market timers warn negative returns

Consumer debt patterns (revolving & non-revolving) through end of 2009

Growth of the national debt from 2000-2009

Bar chart: 2009 showing increases in national debt by president (since Carter)

Pie chart: 2009 annual deficit contrasting large Bush tax cuts and relatively small ARRA

The Legacy: August 2010

The economy has been growing – seasonally adjusted change in GDP by quarter 2007-2010

The private sector has begun to add jobs – Monthly change in nonfarm employment 2008-2010

GDP would have been lower without the Recovery Act: 2007-2010

Unemployment would have been higher without ARRA: 2008-2010

The gap between actual and full-employment GDP would have been much larger without TARP and AARA: 2008-2010

More Private Sector Jobs Created In 2010 Than During Entire Bush Years

Chapter 6: EDUCATION

COLLEGE

Broad policy:

Enacted largest reform of student aid in 40 years

Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010

Established President’s Advisory Council in Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans [pdf]

Funding:

Increased funding for land-grant colleges

Provided means for students struggling to make college loan to refinance

Targeted Actions:

Expanded Pell grants for low-income students

Expanded Pell grant pool by eliminating private lender subsidies for student loans

EDUCATION: HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Broad Policy:

Created the Race to the Top Fund ($4.35 billion) to reward states that create comprehensive education reform plans [pdf]

Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization of 2009

Funding:

Provided funding for high speed, broadband internet access to K-12 schools

Established State Equalization Fund: new funds for school construction (ARRA)

Provided $77 billion for reforms to strengthen Elementary and Secondary education [pdf]

Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

Provided $12.2 billion in new funding for the Individuals with Disabilities and Reinvestment Act.

$26 billions state aid package saved 160,000 teacher jobs (Aug. 2010)

Provided over $2.3 billion in additional funding to Head Start & Early Head Start programs in 2009

Provided $5 billion for Early Learning Programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [pdf]

Doubled the amount available in Federal Child Care Block Grants

Established “Promise Neighborhood” Grants (modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone)

Eliminated abstinence-only funding in budget

Targeted Actions:

Helped rebuild schools in New Orleans

Established school programs to highlight space and science achievements

Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession

Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first time mothers

Provided affordable, high-quality child care

Unveiled initiatives to help men be better fathers

Chapters 7-33 and the full expandable database are located at the Obama Achievements Center, a project led by @shoq and @maysgg71 and contributed to by over 80 researchers on the oWiki crowdsourcing team.  Special thanks to Wayne Bomgaars for some style corrections and list/citation additions and creating a discussion group for this on Reddit.  The banner was designed by Ole Ole Olson.

By Kit Kimberly

As Halloween approaches, images of kids in costume, of Linus waiting for his Great Pumpkin, of ghosts and ghouls, the street decorations and signs of autumn fill the pop culture consciousness—at least in the USA and some other Euro-based cultures.  In the US this year, All Hallows also falls on the eve of an election—with possibly scary consequences for all!

But as witch and pagan scholar Starhawk recently pointed out in her Washington Post column , Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell and others greatly misunderstand these ancient traditions.  A self-proclaimed feminist, Ms O’Donnell’s ignorance about the religion she claimed to have “dabbled” in is a shame:  This religious mythology has much to offer women.

Founded in Samhain (pronounced sow-an, meaning “summer’s end” ), Halloween comes from the Anglo-Keltic tradition and marks the end of the growing year and harvest, the beginning of winter.  It is a time for ridding society of the old, raising bonfires, recognising the end of the old year in preparation for the new.  Other cultures celebrate the Day of the Dead (Mexico), Martinisingen (Germanic cultures), and the tradition of Qarqe’an (Arabic). Christian churches, also, recognise it as All Hallow’s Eve, the day before All Saint’s Day.

US Americans and others celebrate via (now often commercialised) rituals of popular culture and contemporary religion, but few acknowledge the ancient traditions behind them.  Pre-patriarchal, nature-based pagan cultures established festivals to correspond to the seasons of the year.  With Samhain comes the death of the Horned God, the symbol of fertility, who has been feted and blessed with the best of the harvest, the most comfortable place, the highest quality poetry, singing and dance, and the most fertile of females—including the Goddess herself—to ensure the fertility of the land and success of the harvest.

He must die, to be born again in Spring.  If he does not, as T. S. Eliot describes in “The Wasteland”, the Earth becomes barren, no longer thrives to share its bounty with humanity.

The idea of a god who is born to die and be resurrected is not unfamiliar to the Judeo-Christian tradition.  Indeed, the Christian church did not, as my grandmother so acerbically observed, “pick it up off the streets.”  Nor was the idea of a god coming down from the heavens (Olympus, Asgard, Avalon) to mate with a human woman anything new:  One of the greatest Greek myths has its foundations in the story of Leda, who was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan .  In every sacred Judeo-Christian rite or belief can be found seeds of pagan mythology.  While successful in demonising and eradicating much of the pagan belief systems and traditions behind them, the Christian forefathers were not particularly original.

The term pagan can be used in a number of different contexts; the most narrow defines all religions and mythologies not based in or stemming from the Abrahamic traditions of  Judeo-Christianity and Islam(including Buddhism and Hinduism, both of which are older than Christianity and practiced by more people) as “pagan”.

For the context of this article, however, the term paganism refers to Anglo-Keltic-based mythologies/religions. These manifest today in the forms of Wicca, witchcraft and generic or “neo-pagan” adherents.  Some follow the Gardenerian tradition, based in the studies and book of Gerald Gardener which are somewhat rigid—some might even say patriarchal—in their interpretations.  Others look to more progressive philosophers such as Starhawk, whose books over the years and columns for The Washington Post have helped to dispel some of the myths and clarify the position of thousands of hedge witches and other pagans throughout the US and Western world.

Unlike the patriarchal, monotheistic “major world” religions prevalent today, Goddess-based paganism recognises the equal value of the feminine.  At the center of this mythos is the concept of the Divine Feminine  as well as a Divine Masculine.  Neither dominates the other; indeed, the concept of hierarchical values, of one gender (one species, one type of life form) dominating another is the essence of patriarchy.  It has no place in nature-based religions.

Nor does the concept of suffering for one’s sins.  In this pagan belief system, there is no dualistic “good vs evil”.  Evil does not exist as a separate entity—it is a creation of Judeo-Christianity, of patriarchy, to provide a “stick” with which to intimidate and control a recalcitrant population. Even some Christian philosophies reflect a similar tenet:  To paraphrase St. Augustine (354 –430 CE), “All that God creates is good; the only evil is in not choosing the greatest good”.

To the contrary, the pagan traditions focus on pleasure—the “carrot”—as a means of integrating the individual into the community and solidifying the whole.  This desire for—this pursuit of—pleasure is the basis for much of pagan ritual.  Samhain festivals include candle-lit parades of thousands costumed to represent iconic pagan figures such as the God and Goddess, harvest deities, and the dead.  Despite their solemnity (who says pleasurable activities cannot also be serious?), these rites can engender a profound sense of connectedness to community as well as the Earth. The other major cross-quarter festival, Beltane, comes at the beginning of the fertile season; all are encouraged to eat and drink of the new growth, of Spring lambs and wine; but most especially to engage in an orgiastic pursuit of sexual pleasure to ensure a fertile growing season.  It is here that the young Horned God meets and mates with the eternal Goddess:  She comes to us as Demeter, Medusa, Hecate, Isis; the Kelts give us The Morrighan, Dagda and Kerridwen;  his randiness recognised in the Roman Bacchus, the Greek Pan or Dionysus; in Kernunnos, Janicot, Dianus and Actaeon of the Anglo-Keltic tradition.  It is he whom the Christians patriarchs—who well knew how difficult it is to control a people whose values and mythology are pleasure-based—transformed into Satan, the horned, hoofed anti-god, whose presence in one’s life ensured an eternity in hell.

How much easier to control through fear and punishment, fear of punishment?  To ensure that the Church, the nobility and the Monarchy, had first access to all of the best the land produced, the strongest warriors, the most fertile/beautiful women, the greatest art, the most valuable elements of the society.  By providing a rigid set of rules and social structures, by demonising all that was hedonistic and pleasurable about the “Old Religions”, and especially by degrading and debasing the feminine and female sexuality as depraved, wicked and immoral, the Christian patriarchs managed to create the hierarchical pyramid value system that exists throughout Western “civilisation” today.

Yet every October 31 (based on the Gregorian calendar and not really accurate; these traditions began millennia ago and were based on moon cycles.  Interestingly, the arguably most sacred of Christian festivals, Easter, still takes its timing not from contemporary calendars but from the ancient way of telling time:  It is the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox) we in Western society dip, often shallowly, but sometimes more deeply, into our hedonistic ancient myths, seeking perhaps to reconnect to that Earth, that land that was the very first victim (and remains the most critical) of patriarchal domination.

On a personal level, however, can we not engage in Samhain as a cleansing of the old, a time to eliminate the unsound, unhealthy, less-than-valid ideas that have bogged down our progress? Perhaps even the current political paradigm could benefit from such a purge—in preparation for the fallow Winter. That way, we can emerge from the ritual as clean and empty vessels, ready to take on the challenges of the new season.

Editor’s Note: Kit Kimberly is a US-born expat who has lived in Prague, Czech Republic; the Highlands of Scotland; and Brisbane, Australia.  Raised and educated in North Carolina, she has worked as a journalist, political activist, university lecturer and creative writer and editor for more than 20 years.  Her writing has appeared in The Prague Post, The Sunday Mail, The European, Transitions, The Durham Morning Herald, and other international publications.