Sunday, August 16, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Kittredge Cherry on the Queer Goddess Origins of the Feast of the Assumption
Over at the always informative Jesus in Love Blog, Kittredge Cherry has an insightful article on how the ancient mid-August festival of the lesbian goddess Diana (Artemis) has been adapted by Catholic and Orthodox churches into a feast day for the Virgin Mary. Following, with added images and links, is an excerpt.
Midsummer feasts have celebrated the divine feminine on August 15 since before the time of Christ. Now devoted to Mary, the holiday known as the Feast of the Assumption (or Dormition) carries the torch of lesbian spiritual power to a new generation on the same date.
Saint Mary, mother of Jesus, is honored by churches on August 15 in a major feast day marking her death and entrance into heaven. Catholic and Orthodox churches call it the Feast of the Assumption or Dormition because they believe that Mary was “assumed” into heaven, body and soul.
The connections between Diana and Mary raise many questions. The concept of virginity has been used to control women, but sometimes it is a code word for lesbian. What shade of meaning is implied by the “virginity” of these two heavenly queens? Did the church patriarchs substitute wild lesbian Diana/Artemis with mild straight Mary – or is Mary more versatile and dynamic than many thought?
The Virgin Mary’s holiday was adapted – some would say appropriated – from an ancient Roman festival for Diana, the virgin goddess of the moon and the hunt. Diana, or Artemis in Greek, is sometimes called a lesbian goddess because of her love for woman and her vow never to marry a man. The ancient Roman Festival of Torches (Nemoralia) was held from August 13-15 as Diana’s chief festival.
According to mythology, Diana preferred the company of women and surrounded herself with female companions. They took an oath of virginity and lived as a group in the woods, where they hunted and danced together. Homoerotic art and speculations often focus on Diana’s relationship with the princess Callisto.
. . . Aspects of Diana and Artemis were taken over by the church more than 1,300 years ago. The Festival of Torches became the Feast of the Assumption. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Turkey was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, with an awe-inspiring statue of the “many-breasted” Artemis. The temple was destroyed and replaced by the Church of Mary. The Virgin Mary even assumed some titles once given to Artemis, including Queen of Heaven.
Books such as Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary by cultural historian Marina Warner show how the figure of Mary was shaped by goddess legends and other historical circumstances, resulting in an inferior status for women. In the novel Mary and the Goddess of Ephesus: The Continued Life of the Mother of Jesus, former seminarian Melanie Bacon explores the little-known tradition that after Jesus died, his mother spent most of her adult life in a community dedicated to worshiping Artemis.
Feminists praise Diana/Artemis as an archetype of female power, a triple goddess who represents all phases of womanhood. She is the maiden, wild and free, with no need for a man. She is the “many-breasted” mother who nurtures all life. She is the crone, the mature hunter who provides swift death with her arrows in harmony with the cycles of nature.
LGBT people and allies may be inspired by the queer origins of this midsummer holiday. May the Queen of Heaven, by whatever name, continue to bless those who remember her.
To read Kittredge Cherry's article in its entirety, click here.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Celebrating the Dormition of Mary
• "I Caught a Glimpse of a God"
• "A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment"
• Halloween Thoughts
• Why This Gay Man Takes Heart from the Feast of the Holy Family
Recommended Off-site Link:
The Divine Feminine Assumes Her Place – Louis A. Ruprecht (Religion Dispatches, August 20, 2010).
Image 1: Artist unknown.
Image 2: Susan Seddon Boulet.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Quote of the Day
If gender is a universal, biological, and God-ordained constant, then why do children need cultural reinforcement from a retail chain to figure it out? In the bizarro world of far-right logic, gender is at once the strongest force on the planet and the most fragile. The God of Genesis may have created male and female but unless Target puts these words on signs for action figures and Barbie dolls, all of His hard work will be undone. The protests seem to be motivated by the paradoxical fear that children will grow up genderless without Target’s help even though their biology should supposedly guide them into pink and blue aisles without any intervention.
But Target is not attacking gender itself, only the outdated idea that girls and boys should play with certain shapes and colors of molded plastic and not others.
. . . To be clear: Target is not replacing its toy section with amorphous blobs of androgynous grey putty. And if a higher power ordained that your baby boy should play with toy monster trucks, those are still available and you can still obtain one in exchange for legal tender, as is your God-given right in a capitalist society. But the argument made by [Reverend Franklin] Graham and O’Reilly Factor guest host Eric Bolling that Target’s move is an attempt to appeal to some sort of anti-gender LGBT fringe is completely off base—not “off target” because please, we’re not animals.
– Samantha Allen
Excerpted from "Bigots Lose It Over Target’s Boy Toy Policy"
The Daily Beast
August 14, 2015
Excerpted from "Bigots Lose It Over Target’s Boy Toy Policy"
The Daily Beast
August 14, 2015
Related Off-site Links:
Target to Remove Gender-based Labeling in Toy Aisles – Kavita Kumar (Star Tribune, August 8, 2015).
Target Will Stop Labeling Toys for Boys or Girls. Good – Rebecca Hains (The Washington Post, August 13, 2015).
Gendering Toys Isn’t About Nature or Tradition. It’s About Ideology – Amanda Marcotte (Slate, August 14, 2015).
Image: Kristen Solberg.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Lost Hope
By Elizabeth Gray-King
I cried for lost hope.
It wasn't that it was wonderful
hearts and flowers romance.
It wasn't remembered birthdays
or unreminded anniversaries.
It wasn't even moonlit walks
in autumn crisp-cool air.
It was hope.
It was hope that this man of reality
would be the man of my dreams.
Then, you see,
the shock of honeymoon-learned reality
could be lived with.
It was hope that died.
That's why I cried.
– From Eternal Springs: An Anthology of Hope, compiled by Geoffrey Duncan (Canterbury Press, 2006).
• The Longing for Love: God's Primal Beatitude
• To Know and Be Known
• The Gravity of Love
• The Empty Beach
• What Now, My Love
• Dew[y]-Kissed
• Amoureuse
• Karl Rahner on the Need for Prayer
• The Wonder You Bring
• Active Waiting: A Radical Attitude Toward Life
• Something We Dare Call Hope
• In the Eye of the Storm, a Tree of Living Flame
• Clarity, Hope and Courage
• All 'Round Me Burdens Seem to Fall
• As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible
Image: Orlando Cruz (photographer unknown).
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Quote of the Day
The heart of the church is the people of God, living out their everyday lives. They act in faith, following God’s call to love their neighbor as themselves. Whether the neighbor is a loved one, an LGBT advocate, or even a stranger, loving involves listening and caring. It is through sharing personal stories that acceptance is fostered. The change is slow, but acceptance on an interpersonal level can lead to big changes – even in an institution like the Roman Catholic Church.
– Ross Murray
Excerpted from "The Pope Needs to Confront LGBT Issues During His Visit"
The Advocate
August 10, 2015
Excerpted from "The Pope Needs to Confront LGBT Issues During His Visit"
The Advocate
August 10, 2015
Related Off-site Links:
How Pope Francis’ Message of Encounter Might Cause a “Miracle” This September – Bob Shine (Bondings 2.0, August 12, 2015).
LGBT Catholics Are Looking Forward to Pope Francis’s US Visit and Hoping for Change – Matthew Bell (Public Radio International, August 12, 2015).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Mary Bednarowski on the Power of Our Stories
• Compassion, Christian Community, and Homosexuality
• Voices of Parental Authority and Wisdom
• Why I Take Hope in Pope Francis' Statement on Gay Priests
• Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
Image: Kristen Solberg.
Monday, August 10, 2015
For Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Well-Deserved Honor
AcousticGuitar.com reports that the Americana Music Association has announced the recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Award. They include Don Henley, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Ricky Skaggs, Los Lobos, and one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters, Buffy Sainte-Marie.
The winners will perform at the Americana Honors and Awards Show on September 16 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, which will be aired on PBS.
"These artists have not only influenced the Americana community, but the musical landscape on the whole," writes Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, a non-profit trade organization that promotes American roots music around the world. "They all have been an inspiration to our community and we are humbled they will honor us in song at the Ryman this fall."
In a statement, the Americana Music Association outlines the contributions of each artist and identifies which award they'll receive. Following is what the AMA says about Buffy.
Buffy Sainte-Marie will receive the Spirit of Americana Award, Free Speech in Music co-presented with the First Amendment Center. Since the 1960s, Buffy Sainte-Marie has been arguably the world's most visible and vocal Native North American folk singer and social activist, but she's been so much more, including a visual artist with a PhD in fine art, an educator and a philanthropist. She is a Cree Indian from Saskatchewan who was raised as an adopted daughter in Massachusetts. She became a prominent artist on the folk music circuit, appearing on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest, The Johnny Cash Show and even Soul Train. Her songs wrestle honestly with politics, war and identity. At her most effective, she's blended personal conscience with philosophical perspective, as with the remarkable song "Universal Soldier." [Other examples include "Priests of the Golden Bull," "Bury My Hear at Wounded Knee," "No No Keshagesh," "Working for the Government," "Power in the Blood," "The Uranium War," and "Carry It On."] Sainte-Marie remains outspoken and energetic to this day; she's back on tour with the new album Power In The Blood, her first studio project in seven years.
Congratulations, Buffy! It's a well-deserved (and long-overdue) honor, and I'm definitely looking forward to the broadcast of the September 16 Americana Honors and Awards Show and, in particular, Buffy's performance in this concert.
Of course, along with her inspiring and fiery songs of social conscience, Buffy Sainte-Marie is also renowned for her "love songs," many of which have been recorded by other artists, from Elvis Presley to Barbra Striesand. These songs include "Guess Who I Saw in Paris," "Until It's Time for You to Go," "Take My Hand for a While," "Can't You See the Way I Love You," "Up Where We Belong" (for which she won an Oscar in 1983) and "To the Ends of the World". Another example of this type of song happens to be one of my favorite tracks on Power in the Blood. It's the electronica-flavored "Love Charms (Mojo Bijoux)," and you can hear it below. Enjoy!
I'm thinking up love charms
'cause I can't say a word.
I've just got to stand and stare
so far as you're concerned.
Every time I let you go
it's just an illusion.
Looking like I don't care
and trying not to show
the way I feel.
I'm thinking up love charms.
What else can I do?
For The Wild Reed's special series of posts leading-up to the May 12, 2015 release of Power in the Blood, see:
• Buffy Sainte-Marie and That "Human-Being Magic"
• Buffy Sainte-Marie's Lesson from the Cutting Edge: "Go Where You Must to Grow"
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: "Sometimes You Have to Be Content to Plant Good Seeds and Be Patient"
• Buffy Sainte-Marie's Power in the Blood
For more of Buffy at The Wild Reed, see:
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: Singing It and Praying It; Living It and Saying It
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: Still Singing with Spirit, Joy, and Passion
• Something Special for Indigenous Peoples Day
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: "The Big Ones Get Away"
Recommended Off-site Links:
Blood on the Tracks: An Interview with Living Legend Buffy Sainte-Marie – Stephanie Wong Ken (Bitch Magazine, August 11, 2015).
Buffy Sainte-Marie is Still Doing It Her Way – Sue Zalokar (Street Roots News, July 10, 2015).
The Fierce, Childlike Creativity of Buffy Sainte-Marie – Jacob Blicenstaff (Mother Jones, July 9, 2015).
Buffy Sainte-Marie: It's Her Way – Jim Tobler (Montecristo Magazine, June 15, 2015).
Legendary Native American Singer-Songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie on Five Decades of Music and Activism – Democracy Now! (May 22, 2015).
Images: Jacob Blickenstaff.
Saturday, August 08, 2015
Photo of the Day
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• "I Caught a Glimpse of a God"
• Earth Day 2015
• Boorganna (Part I)
• Boorganna (Part II)
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Rod Cameron
• Photo of the Day – May 24, 2014
Image: Michael J. Bayly.
Friday, August 07, 2015
Return to Mill City
Last Thursday I began condo- and cat-sitting again for my friends Mark and Carmen in the Mill City district of Minneapolis. You may recall I was here for almost a week in late June and early July. (For photos and commentary, click here.) This time I'll be in Mill City for about a week-and-a-half.
Above: The building in which I'm condo- and cat-sitting.
Rising in the distance is the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.
Later that afternoon the weather was grey and rainy, but it didn't stop me from walking down to the river and taking the following photos.
Above: The historic Stone Arch Bridge – August 6, 2015.
Above: A Mill City breakfast with Pete – Thursday, August 6, 2015.
Rhett (above) and Libby (below), the two beautiful cats I'm looking after.
On Saturday evening, August 8, which was my last night at the condo, my good friend Phil came over from St. Paul for a night out in Mill City! After a pleasant stroll down by the river and a photo-op in front of the Guthrie Theater (right) we enjoyed on the condo's rooftop patio a take-out meal from the nearby Kindee Thai restaurant.
At the bar's entrance, I was informed by the bouncer that the dress code doesn't allow for collared shirts on Saturday nights. So off mine had to come for me to get in. Phil, the good friend that he is, removed his t-shirt in solidarity! Once in and out on the patio, we put our shirts back on.
Above: Friends Pete, Kyle and Phil – The Eagle, August 8, 2015.
Above: Hello, boys!
Above: Phil and Rhett – Sunday, August 9, 2015.
See also the previous Wild Reed post:
• Mill City
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Remembering Dorothy Day's Response to the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima
Mr. Truman was jubilant. President Truman. True man; what a strange name, come to think of it. We refer to Jesus Christ as true God and true Man. Truman is a true man of his time in that he was jubilant. He was not a son of God, brother of Christ, brother of the Japanese, jubilating as he did. He went from table to table on the cruiser which was bringing him home from the Big Three conference, telling the great news; “jubilant” the newspapers said. Jubilate Deo. We have killed 318,000 Japanese.
That is, we hope we have killed them, the Associated Press, on page one, column one of the Herald Tribune, says. The effect is hoped for, not known. It is to be hoped they are vaporized, our Japanese brothers – scattered, men, women and babies, to the four winds, over the seven seas. Perhaps we will breathe their dust into our nostrils, feel them in the fog of New York on our faces, feel them in the rain on the hills of Easton.
Jubilate Deo. President Truman was jubilant. We have created. We have created destruction. We have created a new element, called Pluto. Nature had nothing to do with it.
– Dorothy Day
Excerpted from "We Go on Record:
The Catholic Worker Response to Hiroshima"
September 1945
Excerpted from "We Go on Record:
The Catholic Worker Response to Hiroshima"
September 1945
Related Off-site Links:
Hiroshima: 70 Years On, One Survivor Remembers the Horror of the World's First Atomic Bombing – Danielle Demetriou (The Telegraph, August 2, 2015).
Hiroshima Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing – Jonathan Soble (The New York Times, August 6, 2015).
70 Years After Bombing of Hiroshima, Calls to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – Sarah Lazare (Common Dreams, August 6, 2015).
The "Sanitized Narrative' of Hiroshima's Atomic Bombing – Rupert Wingfield-Hayes (BBC News, August 4, 2015).
Was It Right? – Thomas Powers (The Atlantic, July 1995).
The Indefensible Hiroshima Revisionism That Haunts America to This Day – Christian Appy (Tom Dispatch via Salon, August 5, 2015).
US bombing Anniversary: Demand disarmament – Editorial Staff (National Catholic Reporter, August 6, 2015).
The Firebombing of Tokyo – Rory Fanning (Jacobin, March 9, 2015).
Dorothy Day, Pacifism, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki – Walter G. Moss (LA Progressive, August 7, 2012).
Updates:
Calls to Abolish Nukes on Nagasaki Bombing 70th Anniversary – Eugene Hoshiko (Associated Press via Yahoo! News, August 9, 2015).
On the A-Bomb's 70th Anniversary, Obama Wants to Spend a Trillion Dollars on New Nuclear Weapons – Elliott Negin (The Huffington Post via Common Dreams, August 8, 2015).
10 Steps to Wean US Foreign Policy Off Militarism – Medea Benjamin (Telesur via Common Dreams, August 7, 2015).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Quote of the Day – August 6, 2012
• Prayer of the Week – August 7, 2011
• Summer Round-Up 2011
• The Challenge of Peace
• A Dangerous State of Mind
• Remembering Dorothy Day
• Remembering the "Radical Ethic" of the Catholic Worker Movement
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
"Say Her Name" Solidarity Action
Sandra Bland was found dead in a Waller County, Texas jail cell on July 13, three days after being arrested by Officer Brian Encinia during a stop for a minor traffic violation.
Writes Ashoka Jegroo in her July 29 article about Bland's mysterious death:
Police claim that Bland hanged herself, but Bland’s family and many activists have expressed doubts that she would commit suicide and suspect a murder and cover-up by police. Bland had just moved back to Texas in order to start a new job on August 3 at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University.
When dashcam footage of Bland’s arrest was made public, activists also expressed outrage at how Officer Encinia treated Bland during the stop and the subsequent arrest, commanding her to put out her cigarette and pulling her out of her car when she refused to do so. The released footage also included many obvious visual glitches, such as images being repeated and cars randomly disappearing, which led to claims that the video was edited and leading to even more suspicion of the police story.
The case has since put a spotlight on many other suspicious deaths of people, particularly women of color, while in police custody. Bland’s advocacy and involvement with the Black Lives Matter movement has also galvanized many other members of the movement to put more focus on police violence committed against black women. But for most people following the case, the main question remains the same: What happened to Sandra Bland?
Related Off-site Links:
Supporters of Black Women Gather to "Say Her Name" – Bill Sorem (The Uptake, August 6, 2015).
FBI Joins Investigation Into 'Unfathomable' Death of Sandra Bland – Nadia Prupis (Common Dreams, July 17, 2015).
Five Black Women Have Been Found Dead in Jail in the Last Month – Terrell Jermaine Starr (AlterNet, July 29, 2015).
The Assassination of Sandra Bland and the Struggle Against State Repression – Ajamu Baraka (Common Dreams, July 22, 2015).
Across the US, Activists Shine Light on Sandra Bland's Mysterious Death – Ashoka Jegroo (Waging Nonviolence via Common Dreams, August 1, 2015).
Sandra Bland’s Sister Responds to Suicide Allegations, Lawyer Says Waller County Withholding Details – Democracy Now! (July 24, 2015).
Black Liberation Project Says Members Were "Brutalized" While Filming Cops – Michael Rietmulder (City Pages, July 31, 2015).
White Police Officer Indicted for "Senseless" Murder of Sam DuBose in Cincinnati – Democracy Now (July 30, 2015).
Police are Killing Native Americans at Higher Rate than Any Race, and Nobody is Talking About It – Matt Agorist (The Free Thought Project, August 2, 2015).
Yes, Racism is Rooted in Economic Inequality – Seth Ackerman (Jacobin, July 29, 2015).
UPDATE: One Year Since Sandra Bland's Death, 800+ More People Have Died in U.S. Jails – Democracy Now! (July 14, 2016).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• In Minneapolis, Rallying in Solidarity with Black Lives in Baltimore
• At the Mall of America, a Necessary Disruption to "Business as Usual"
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• Quote of the Day – June 19, 2015
Images: Michael J. Bayly.
Monday, August 03, 2015
Prayer of the Week
Compassionate Creator,
Awaken me to your Holy Presence,
to the divinity of all creation,
that I might honor the sacredness of all life.
May all resentment and bitterness within me
be transformed by your Love.
Guide me into wholeness, harmony and balance,
that I may be a peaceful presence.
Let me give witness to your Way of Love,
that others may grow in trust and truth.
Great Awakener, open my heart,
that I may always give thanks and praise
for my life just as it is,
and journey onward with clarity,
courage and commitment.
May I be always open to change
and to your guiding Spirit.
May I risk the unknown
and live into the Mystery.
– Excerpted from Psalm 109
as translated by Nan C. Merrill
in Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness
(with additional words by Michael Bayly)
as translated by Nan C. Merrill
in Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness
(with additional words by Michael Bayly)
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Source is Within You
• I Caught a Glimpse of a God . . .
• Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
• Quote of the Day – November 16, 2011
• Sufism: A Call to Awaken
• May Balance and Harmony Be Your Aim
• Prayer of the Week – November 5, 2013
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All
Friday, July 31, 2015
The (Same-Love) Dance Goes On
The Wild Reed's 2015 Queer Appreciation series concludes with dance troupe Full Frontal Freedom's powerful sequence of "emotions in movement" performed to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' 2013 hit song "Same Love," a song that has become an anthem for LGBT equality.
The title of this post comes from the fact that even as we celebrate recent marriage equality victories (see, for instance, here and here), much of what the Full Frontal Freedom dance group said in 2013 about the ongoing struggle for justice remains as true and important today as it did two years ago.
We were so grateful that Mackelmore and Lewis took a stand and loudly cheered for marriage equality. But, our work as a community is far from done. . . . This song – which honors our movement's struggle – is so compelling that we thought it a fitting tribute to express our emotions in movement as a contemporary dance.
"Same Love Dance" is choreographed by Emrhys Cooper and Ryan Hanson with assistance provided by "The Ninja Twins," Nick and James Aragon. The dancers featured in the video are Nick Aragon, James Aragon, Nicole Bondzie, Filippo Calvagno, Ryan Hanson, Emrhys Cooper, Charlotte Price, and Hannah May Evans.
Oh, and one last thing: Despite what the dance troupe's name may imply, there is no "full frontal" nudity in the video below.
Related Off-site Link:
The Challenges That Remain After Marriage Equality – The Editorial Board (The New York Times, July 29, 2015).
For previous installments in the 2015 Wild Reed Queer Appreciation series, see:
• Vittorio Lingiardi on the Limits of the Hetero/Homo Dichotomy
• Reclaiming and Re-Queering Pride
• Standing with Jennicet Gutiérrez, "the Mother of Our Newest Stonewall Movement"
• Questions for Archbishop Kurtz re. the U.S. Bishops' Response to the Supreme Court's Marriage Equality Ruling
• Clyde Hall: "All Gay People, in One Form or Another, Have Something to Give to This World, Something Rich and Very Wonderful"
For other Wild Reed dance-related posts, see:
• A Beautiful Collaboration
• The Dancer and the Dance
• The Soul of a Dancer
• Five Takes on Five Dances
• Gay Men and Modern Dance
• Recovering the Queer Artistic Heritage
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Celebrating the Unique and Influential Kate Bush
One of my all-time favorite recording artists, British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, celebrates her 57th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Kate!
Over at GigWise.com Edward Keeble and Alexandra Pollard have posted an insightful piece that celebrates the uniquely talented Kate Bush by highlighting how her work has influenced fifteen well-known singers and bands, from Madonna to Florence and the Machine.
Keeble and Pollard introduce their piece by noting the following:
It's something of a rite of passage for young musicians in this day and age, particularly female ones, to be compared to Kate Bush. Too often, this comparison is lazy and inaccurate – but there are many, many musicians to whom it undoubtedly applies.
Bush burst onto the scene in a blaze of glory back in 1978, with her acclaimed debut album, The Kick Inside, released when she was just 19-years-old. Once she reached the ripe old age of 21, she decided to take a 35-year break from touring.
It's not the conventional career trajectory for a musician – but then, there's very little conventional about Kate Bush. Over the past forty years, her distinctive sound, her blend of art and pop, and her unflinching aesthetic have influenced generations of brilliant musicians.
To read in its entirety "Happy Birthday Kate Bush: The Musicians We Wouldn't Have Without Her," click here.
Here at The Wild Reed, I celebrate Kate's birthday by sharing the following hour-long 2014 BBC documentary, The Kate Bush Story, featuring interviews with such luminaries as Elton John, Tricky, Tori Amos, David Gilmour, Lindsey Kemp, and Peter Gabriel. The first five minutes alone of this entertaining and insightful documentary will give you a sense of just how unique and influential Kate Bush is. Enjoy!
For me to get into the creative process I have to have a quiet place that I work from. And if I was living the life of someone in the industry, as a "pop star" or whatever, it's too distracting; it's too to do with other people's perception of who you are. And what's important to me is to be a human being who has a soul and who hopefully has a sense of who they are, not who everybody else thinks you are.
– Kate Bush
November 2005
For more of Kate Bush at The Wild Reed, see:
• "A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment"
• "Can You See the Lark Ascending?"
• Quote of the Day – August 17, 2014
• Wow!
• Scaling the Heights
• "Oh, Yeah!"
• Celebrating Bloomsday in St. Paul (and with Kate Bush)
• "Rosabelle, Believe . . ."
• Just in Time for Winter
• "Call Upon Those You Love"
• A Song of Summer
Opening image: Kate Bush receiving the Editor's Award for her Before the Dawn concert series at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards – December 2014. Notes ClassicRock.com:
[Kate Bush's] sold-out 22-date residency in London, which ran from August to September [2014], was her first major live commitment since 1979. Bush accepted the Editor's Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards from actor Sir Ian McKellan. The event was hosted by comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
In October she thanked fans for their support for Before The Dawn, calling it “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life” and adding: “It was a truly special and wonderful feeling for all of us.” But she also suggested it would be “a while” before she appeared again.
Two shows in mid-September were filmed for a possible DVD release. The residency led to reignited interest in her back-catalogue, making chart history when she became the first female artist to have eight albums in the top 40 at the same time.
For The Wild Reed's compilation of "Before the Dawn" review highlights, click here.
For Martin Glover's eloquent and insightful exploration of the mysticism that imbues the persona and music of Kate Bush, click here.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Quote of the Day
It is time for us to encourage school leaders, both religious and lay, to refuse to comply with demands [by bishops] that they fire LGBT employees.
Many Catholic schools were founded by women religious. The sisters have a remarkable history of protesting nuclear weapons, racial injustice, income inequality, prison conditions, human trafficking, the death penalty and environmental degradation.
With such a legacy behind them, why would Catholic schools willingly participate in the radical injustice of terminating the vocations of its devoted LGBT employees and subject them to such financial instability and deep humiliation?
Most Catholic schools seem to have a clear advantage over the bishops. The laity has far more respect for women religious than they do for the hierarchy. The majority of Catholics in the United States strongly support the rights of LGBT people. And more than enough Catholic theologians and ethicists have argued cogently for the full inclusion and equality of LGBT people in the church.
Why, then, not call the bishops' bluffs? Imagine the pushback and negative press a bishop would get if he stripped a Catholic school of its identity for refusing to fire an LGBT employee. Imagine the momentum that could be built and the empowering precedent it could set for other schools facing the same turmoil.
– Jamie L. Manson
Excerpted from "Catholic Schools Must Refuse
to Fire LGBT Employees"
National Catholic Reporter
July 29, 2015
Excerpted from "Catholic Schools Must Refuse
to Fire LGBT Employees"
National Catholic Reporter
July 29, 2015
Related Off-site Link:
Sister of Mercy Joins Parents in Protests Against Firing of Lesbian Educator – Bob Shine (Bondings 2.0, July 24, 2015).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Thoughts on the Firing of Kristen Ostendorf
• Quote of the Day – September 2, 2013
• Truth Telling: The Greatest of Sins in a Dysfunctional Church
• Church Fires "Openly" Gay Music Director
• Compassion, Christian Community, and Homosexuality
• Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
Image: Kristen Solberg.
I Caught a Glimpse of a God . . .
. . . all shining and bright.
This haunting line, almost imperceptibly whispered by Kate Bush in her song "Suspended in Gaffa," came to me many times during a recent afternoon walk along Minnehaha Creek, close to my home in south Minneapolis.
In every leaf and stone, every wave of water and ray of light, I sensed the sustaining and transforming energy of the sacred. This experience of the Divine Presence in the natural world was one of renewal. It restored within me balance and harmony, clarity and hope.
• To stay open and responsive to the invitations all around me to spiral forward with focus, direction, and energy.
• To create sacred time and space to experience the Divine Presence as together we spiral forward with focus, direction, and energy.
• To trust that even when I feel it's not happening, I am in some beautiful and mysterious way spiraling forward with focus, direction, and energy.
In the days since that afternoon, other reflections have come to mind and heart. A number of these are from people from whom I draw hope and inspiration. I share some of these reflections today, along with some of the images I captured while out walking that summer afternoon along the creek.
The natural world itself is our primary language as it is our primary scripture, our primary awakening to the mysteries of existence. We might well put all our written scriptures on the shelf for twenty years until we learn what we are being told by unmediated experience of the world about us.
We are spiraling, spiraling together.
Onward, inward, creature to creation.
Holy Mystery, Mother Earth – Child Birth.
This is Mother Nature, this is sacred.
I walk to the trees and feel their friendly bark.
I press their fragile leaves into my hand.
I stand amidst the dancing of the grass
and listen to the silence of the land.
If I fail to see the sacred in living things
and even in this random flake of stone
then to my eyes the Universe is closed
and I wander as a stranger all alone.
In gentle voice this world is full of words
that calm the talking tumult in my brain.
"Stand still and learn to see with spiritual sight
or the pain of all your searching is in vain."
Once the scales have fallen from one's eyes, once one has seen and believed that reality is put together in such a fashion that one is profoundly united to and interdependent with all other beings, everything is changed. One has a sense of belonging to the earth, having a place in it along with all other creatures, and loving it more than one ever thought possible.
Suddenly [he] felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror — indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy — but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near. . . . [He] raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fullness of incredible color, seemed to hold her breath for the event, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on [him] humorously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Boorganna (Part I)
• Boorganna (Part II)
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Rod Cameron
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Richard Rohr
• "A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment"
• Halloween Thoughts
• "Something Sacred Dwells There"
• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
• Divine Connection
• A Return to the Spirit
• Earth Day 2015
• The Glimpse of His Face at Morning
Images: Michael J. Bayly.
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