Walking Into Another World

I don't know where to begin. I am at a total lose for words. I know I should share this experience with you, I just don't know how.

I took my wife to work this morning. After a few events I decided to stay at her workplace until she was finished with work, I didn't want to waste anymore gas. I had originally planned to go on a walk using my iPhone app to keep track of it. I like to use Runkeeper to keep track of my walks and submit them to Fitocracy. That didn't work as my Runkeeper app wouldn't start. I sat down and fiddled with it for the next twenty minutes. I finally gave up and decided to listen to one of the many Pagan podcasts I have on my phone. Specifically I was listening to Peter's Crooked Path Episode 28, not to be confused with The Crooked Path...even though they are the same thing by the same person. It's a long story, if you want to know more about it go to Peter's blog.

The episode is about invoking the Gods. In this case invoking is meant in its more original use in Witchcraft as full on possession of the practitioner. I won't get too far into this, go listen to the show. I have done something similar but never with something as powerful as a God.

As some of you may or may not know my wife works at a historic home. This gave me a perfect opportunity to walk around in a beautiful place as it also doubles as a public park. I ended up around the historic house. I walked right past it and went into the house's garden. I say the house's garden because they have several all over the property. The vegetable section of the garden had just been fallowed so the only things left were the herbs and flowers. As I was walking into the garden, mashing the freshly turned up earth with my shoes, the invocations began. At first I didn't think too much about it. Then Peter started talking, no, the God starting speaking. Something in me clicked. Something all too familiar was dancing in my head. This didn't sound fake. I know, I know, "It didn't sound fake? How can you tell it didn't sound fake?" Well, go listen! No, seriously, I will wait. Back? Good. Something about it just felt real. I know it's odd to say I felt something when I wasn't in the ritual. But there was just this sense of power and awe that came through and that was just a recording.

Walking around in the garden, on the edges of the woods, listening to these invocations was just amazing. Also with being surrounded with all of the 18th century farm equipment and the smell of the herbs in the air I felt like I was in another world all together. I haven't felt like this since I went on a very personal trip to the other world as I call it. It's a long story but I might post about how to do that later on. Then out of what seemed no where, he came. Herne. Not to me, not where I was, but into Peter. Herne is not s God I work with but one I have met more times then I have wanted to. It was him. The same person, the same God, I have met. The way he spoke, the way he acted. My first thought was "Oh no, not you again." Luckily for me it was just a recording, but that's when I knew this wasn't a fake. Being in the other world, the tween space, or whatever you call it is a very interesting thing. There you feel like you can do anything. It didn't hurt that it was about to storm so there was thunder in the air along with strong winds. I felt a connection that I had just not felt in months due to my mundane life chocking the life out of me lately. I felt absolutely re-energized and full of purpose again.

Now what? Where do I do from here? I have some serious questions to find the answers to. In the last few days I feel as if I am being pulled out of my my mundane life again. Ever since I started dialysis I have felt trapped, but now I feel like my life is getting back on track.

I know this has very little to do with the topic of the blog, but this blog is also a record of me.

I just want to take this moment to say thank you to Peter, that was just the kick in the pants I needed.

So get up and do something!
May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf

I Opened My Eyes

Poison, It's everywhere. 

I had McDonald's this morning. I had my favorite; steak, eggs, and cheese all on a bagel. Oh, and I had a large Dr. Pepper, even though I ordered a medium. Welcome to America I guess. I then went and did something I haven't done in the two years since I started dialysis; I worked. Sure, I clean up around the house, do some grocery shopping, and cook most of the meals but I don't stand on my feet all day and actually work with the public. Why did I do this? Simple, my wife got to work today and found out that there was no one to help her make any bricks for the kids workshop. So she volunteered me to help. Long story short my wife works at a historic home and this was a learning activity for a field trip. So I worked all day making clay balls to be pressed into little bricks for the kids. It's a heck of a lot harder then it sounds. Trust me, I know, I made fun of it when I first heard what I was going to be doing. After eight hours of this my hands hurt, my feet hurt, and I was starving as we didn't have time to take a lunch break. Eight hours and 108 kids later I was ready to go home. I was far too tired to do any cooking so I made us each a sandwich. The wife had some fruit juice and I had another soda.

I then spent several hours looking at some Facebook pages from local anti-GMO, homesteading, organic, and local eating movements. I had known about GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) foods for a while now but never gave it too much thought. Then I watched this lovely little video:

Did you watch it? No. Then go watch it!

I hate to say it but that should have freaked you out. If it didn't then stop reading this and go on about your fast food and TV watching life.

After much reading about the horrible things they do to our food I decided to go make some more food! I thought I would try some "Instant Low Sodium Miso Soup" for some Goddess forsaken reason. It was horrible, plain old beef stock would have been better. I made my wife some canned potato soup and another sandwich while I made myself some black bean soup with some canned corn. At least this time I didn't have another soda, only because we were all out, I had some homemade lemonade. Yes, actually homemade not that weird powdered stuff. Though the lemon juice did come from a bottle so who knows what was in it.

That brings me to today's topic (well yesterday's topic since my wife made me come to bed last night): How much real food do you actually eat during a day? Well, lets see, everything from McDonald's we will classify as not being real food as we know it was highly processed. How about the sandwiches? Well after reading the ingredients labels I would have to say no. Also, we all know the sodas are super processed so they are out too.

Side Note: Go look up "cellulose", it's an ingredient in most baked goods. I'll save some of you the trouble, cellulose is another name for wood pulp. 

The Instant Miso will not being included in this as I am pretty sure its not food at all. Oh, what about the soups? Hey yeah, they were organic soups each with less then 5 ingredients and each ingredient was a food I would eat on it's own. Finally we found some real food! Then I go dump some GMO corn into my soup. How do I know it was GMO corn? I looked up the company on some anti-GMO websites. If your wondering about the homemade lemonade let me stop you right there. The same company that made the corn made the lemon juice so it's out. Though, I did have some apple cider from a local farm and its ingredients list is so short I will post it right here. Apple Cider Ingredients: Apple Cider, Water. Just a side not it was the best apple cider I have ever had. I know its not organic or anything and who knows maybe they use toxic pesticides but hey, it still has less death in it then the mega-mart brands.

So to sum all of that up, the only real food the wife and I had were two cans of soup.

Why is this such a big deal and what does it have to do with being a Pagan Man? Simple, Pagan Men are humans and as humans our health is a big deal in our lives. Though this post might not have anything to do with your religion it will have something to do with keeping you alive and healthy longer so you can enjoy that religion.

Oh, these GMO vegetables secrete pesticide but they are totally safe to eat!

The sad fact is that you have no idea what that GMO food is going to do to you. Lets think about that for a minute. We know that companies have manufactured GMO vegetables that will secrete pesticides. Why? Simple, so the farmer doesn't have to spray the crops with pesticides. Why is that an improvement? Because it saves the farmer money. Think about it, I don't have to rent a giant sprayer if I don't own one, I don't have to pay for the diesel to make it run, or along the same lines if I am using a plane, and I don't have to pay someone to run the machinery. Also, it saves on time since I don't have to do any of the above since its built in to the crop.

What do you think happens when you eat a vegetable that secretes poison? No, there is nothing to wash off, the plant literally makes it on the cellular level so its everywhere in the plant. Want to know some of the real world side effects? Then read this article. Here, let me quote something from it:

"In 2003, approximately 100 people living next to a Bt cornfield in the Philippines developed skin, respiratory, intestinal reactions and other symptoms while the corn was shedding pollen."

What is Bt?

Sounds fun huh? This stuff literally kills insects, and animals that eat it yet somehow it's completely safe for humans. We have messed up stomachs. I mean it seems we can eat things that kill other animals. I don't just mean GMOs, we are one of the few mammals alive with a stomach acid level high enough to drink some sodas and not die, but I digress.

Let me paraphrase the Bible for a moment: "Your body is a temple, STOP defacing it!"

I could continue to rant about GMOs and highly processed food all day if you let me but I wont (at least not here). 

I will wrap all of this up be saying I am tired. I sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am tired of having no energy. I am tired of feeling bad all the time. I know it is far too late for me to fix some of the more permanent things done to my body but you know what? It's not too late for me to try and fix the things I can. What do I plan on doing? Buying real food for one. I know it can be expensive and I know I won't be able to do it all at once but slow and steady wins the race. I also plan on exercising on the days I don't have dialysis, I might even do some light walking before dialysis in the morning too. Am I going to count calories? No. Why? The goal is to feel better and eat better, I am sure that weight lose will be a happy side effect of that.

So here's to my fellow Pagan Men! Get up, do something! Act like the proud man we should all be! I doubt the Horned God sits around all day staring at the TV. Know what your putting in your body! How can we do our sacred duty as men in our community, be it Priest, Warrior, or Father if we are too tired and sick to move?

As one of my favorite Pagan author says: "Be Glorious!" You will receive some Pagan Man point if you can tell me who that is in the comment section.

As always,

May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf