| Lady Hare- Race- the- Wind Senior Priestess Cat’s Lair Temple & Seminary About my Neopagan Name - We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon, and we got to get ourselves back to the garden. Words and Music by Joni Mitchell When the Internet arrived at our abode in 1995 my sons Old Wolf and Bloodthirsty became annoyed that I was using their handles to surf the net. While pondering what to call myself I heard the above familiar song as recorded by C S N &Y. Since my maiden name is Golden, and everyone is made of universal dust, Stardust became my handle. BTW, about 40,000 tons of dust particles from comets and asteroids fall on Earth every year. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/science/life.html When I was a pagan neonate, a fellow public health nurse had a knack for identifying others totems and said I was a rabbit. I did some research and discovered I am a hare (Lepus europaeus) because of the following: Courtship involves boxing, the traditional 'mad March hare' behavior. This is actually unreceptive females fending off males, rather than fighting between males. Once upon a time I was young, a size 7, and fended off many randy males. Doe’s (females) create a simple indentation or flattened area called a form to deliver their young. I had both my, sons via the Lamaze method without any fuss or drugs. Before it was the thing to do, I went home 8 hours after the birth of my 2nd son. And, their Dad and I bought two full carts of groceries the next day with baby Joe in tow. Rabbit leverets (babies) are born naked and blind while hares are born with fur and with vision. My aunt said I was speaking in full sentences when I was one year old. And, my sons were quite precocious. Female hares are capable of conceiving a second set of young before the first set is born, which is called superfetation. I was never that fertile, but I like to have several projects going at once to avoid boredom. Hares will fearlessly charge at a crow threatening her leverets until the crow rises and lands a distance away, quite a brave act considering the size of the bird and its huge beak. Unbeknownst to many, I can be a spit fire when needed. Rabbits are social creatures living in large colonies in underground burrows. Adult hares do not usually live together and they live above ground. By living alone I can follow my own whims. Even though magical energy can be raised to a greater degree by a group than when done alone, “the whole is more than the sum of its parts" (gestalt theory), after ritual, being alone is once again desirable to self direct the energy gained. Hares escape predators by out running them, at speeds up to 45 mph. A long time ago on a galaxy far far away, I used to be a fast runner. I now drive like the energizer bunny instead. Hares have not been domesticated, while rabbits are often kept as house pets. Being wild makes it easier to create a space out of time and a time out of space. And then, I learned to ski. Many hares have coats which turn white during the winter; rabbits keep their coloration no matter what the season. I love the snow and putting on a thick warm coat in the winter. Therefore, I am Stardust the Snowshoe Hare. My nickname is Hermione Granger. BTW, jackrabbits are hares, not bunnies, Bugs Bunny is a hare, and the Easter bunny started out as the Ostara hare. The following are two of the many versions of the egg and hare paradox. Ostara transformed a pet bird into a rabbit to entertain some children, and the rabbit proceeded to lay colored eggs that the Goddess then gave to the kids. In another version, a small girl asked the goddess to save a bird she found nearly dead from the cold. The goddess saved the bird by turning it into a rabbit, which produced colored eggs. About my Neopagan History and Theosophy My path to becoming an eclectic Wiccan started at my first circle in 1996. This journey officially began at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC, at an event called “Moon on the Mall” sponsored by my first group The Nomadic Chantry of the Gramarye”. For some general information on the Chantry see - http://www.twpt.com/fire.htm Elder High Priestess Emeritus, Rosemary Kooiman, an exceptional person entered the summer land 3/5/2006. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/03/09/AR2006030902425.html We are stardust, we are golden, we are caught in the devil's bargain, and we got to get ourselves back to the garden. My Wiccan path has become more Celtic and Anglo Saxon in the last 12 years and underneath it all, I have developed a non Christian Gnostic streak. Although I do not believe in the devil, this world seems to be more of a cosmic catastrophe to me than a divine creation. (This is part of the Gnostic dualist tradition.) Gnostics seek knowledge (gnosis) and personal wisdom (Sophia). To achieve this, Gnostics read and study highly diverse and eclectic texts. They generally believe they can know God without the mediation of priests, preachers, rabbis, imams, gurus or any other mediators. And that humans are “…imprisoned, asleep, drunken, fallen ignorant”, and need to be “freed, awakened, made sober, raised and enlightened.” (Barnstone and Meyer, editors, Shambhala Publications (2003). The Gnostic Bible. ISBN 1-57062-242-6, pp. 1-3) I am pleased that within the practice and observance of Wicca at Cat’s Lair Temple, I am free to study everything, be my own priestess, and learn from all the other members and guests. The hare is my personal totem, but I am a member of the Cat Clan. How could this be possible? Read The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel, or ask any one of my five cats, Jelly and Jam, Sunny and Spice, and the Prettiest Pretty Princess, Moon Pie. Defiantly a Snowshoe Hare |
