Make A Yule Candelabra

I submitted my first Instructable. It details how I made my Yule candelabra last year.

Make Your Own Yuletide Candelabra - More DIY How To Projects

More Ways to Help Haiti

Anna Brones of the ElephantJournal [elephantjournal.com] has compiled a list of ways that people can reach out and help Haiti earthquake victims. Rather than copy the material and rob them of page views, here is the link to her post: Help Haiti: Ways You Can Help Via Organizations and Social Media

Ben's Methodology for the Mature Spiritual Seeker

An associate of mine, Ben Dench, is working on what he calls A Methodology for the Mature Spiritual Seeker. He is, in my estimation, a remarkable young man. And, by training/education, he is a philosopher. I think that much may be obvious in the methodology he espouses. Regarding his methodology, which is the point of this post, I feel he has made a good start of it, particularly because the process starts with experience. But it also seems to me that there is only one other experiential component of the methodology, and only partially at that. Since his original posting, I have seen no dialogue on the topic. Yet I think it is worthy of some discussion, so I have taken the liberty of posting the methodology here. I hope my few readers will take the time to look at this, and perhaps even post a note or two. I will post some further thoughts on Ben's methodology at a later time. For now I want to point out that this is important work. In an increasingly secular -- even post-Christian -- society, what is a spiritual seeker to do? Those of us in Pagan/Heathen traditions can look to the past for inspiration and guidance, but whatever is found there still has to be brought to the present and made relevant today. I know I do. But what do you say? And can this methodology be of any help? Without further ado, I give to you Ben Dench's six-step approach:

A Methodology for the Mature Spiritual Seeker 

1. Actively seek out and have your own direct spiritual experiences. Testimony is not sufficient for believing in paranormal phenomena. Direct experience is. 

2. Think critically about the experiences you have had. What can you legitimately conclude from experience X? To what extent might you be reading into your experience based on your own religious / cultural preconceptions? 

3. Form your own tentative conclusions. Don't get too attached to any one conception about the way things are. Remain open to revising your ideas about reality based on new information. 

4. Dialogue with others and rigorously test your hypotheses. If there are other interpretations of your experience, listen to them. See what experiments you could do and what background information you could find to determine which explanation best fits the reality of the situation. 

5. Seek to integrate all areas of objective knowledge into a coherent narrative. To what extent does our knowledge from other areas of study (anthropology, psychology, biology, history, literary criticism, etc.) support or oppose your interpretation of reality? 

6. Repeat. This is a continuing process. Always be open to new experiences and to revising your beliefs based on new information.

You can dialogue with Ben over at his own blog, The Philosophy of Ben Dench (http://bendench.blogspot.com/).

Baconhenge

And now for something completely different ... Baconhenge! I'm not certain of its ritual value, but it is certainly a celebration of taste (not to mention fat and calories). Because, you know, everything tastes better when it's wrapped in bacon. (I said it tastes better ... I never intended to give the perception that wrapping something in bacon actually makes it good for you, let alone better for you). Note: This is not a gluten-free delicacy. Repeat ... this baby is chock-full of gluten!

Fantasy Congress

Who hasn't dreamed of changing the world? Or, at the very least, reworking the government in your neck of the world? Well, if you're one of those people who dream of changing the U.S. government (legally, mind you), and the current election season just isn't enough for you, there is ...

It "works just like fantasy sports leagues except instead of sports players, you draft politicians who receive scores based on their legislation, votes, news*, election metrics* and other measures." C'mon! What could be more fun than that? For those of you with children, this looks to be a great way to educate them (and, maybe, yourself) about politics and legislation. And it's free! Sign-up to play now!

Stop Junk Mail

According to Melissa Breyer, Senior Producer of Care2 Green Living:

In a single year Americans receive 19 billion catalogs in the mail. That boils down to 3.6 million tons of paper at the cost of 53 million trees. Ouch. And that's not to mention all the rest of the junky junk mail that seems to flood our mailboxes like a swarm of locusts. We've collected the information here that you need to tame the catalog beast and stop junk mail in its tracks. Production of the paper used for American catalogs uses the same amount of energy required to power 1.2 million homes in a year, and contributes annual emissions equal to that created by 2 million cars. That's incredibly significant! All to get us to buy buy buy more junk. It's just madness.

For a some tips on reducing the junk mail delivered to your home, from stopping catalogs to removing your name from mailing lists, check the tips compiled at Stop Junk Mail, Save a Tree.

Dinner at the Apocalypse Cafe?

According to an entry over at Instructables.com, roadkill is what's for dinner when the apocalypse comes. This is more than just a recipe for (or with?) a gross-out factor. There is a fair bit of useful and interesting info, and a skill showcase to boot. Having said that, however, it's not for the faint of heart (or simple of palette).