Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket, the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters on boulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road. Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances'—exorcisms—for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's a competitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.
...
Although old tribal beliefs in witch doctors are not so deeply buried in people's memories, and although there had been indigenous Christians in Nigeria since the 19th century, it is American and Scottish Pentecostal and evangelical missionaries of the past 50 years who have shaped these fanatical beliefs. Evil spirits, satanic possessions and miracles can be found aplenty in the Bible, references to killing witches turn up in Exodus, Deuteronomy and Galatians, and literal interpretation of scriptures is a popular crowd-pleaser.
...
Pastor Joe Ita is the preacher at Liberty Gospel Church in nearby Eket. 'We base our faith on the Bible, we are led by the holy spirit and we have a programme of exposing false religion and sorcery.' Soft of voice and in his smart suit and tie, his church is being painted and he apologises for having to sit outside near his shiny new Audi to talk. There are nearly 60 branches of Liberty Gospel across the Niger Delta. It was started by a local woman, mother-of-two Helen Ukpabio, whose luxurious house and expensive white Humvee are much admired in the city of Calabar where she now lives. Many people in this area credit the popular evangelical DVDs she produces and stars in with helping to spread the child witch belief.
Ita denies charging for exorcisms but acknowledges his congregation is poor and has to work hard to scrape up the donations the church expects. 'To give more than you can afford is blessed. We are the only ones who really know the secrets of witches. Parents don't come here with the intention of abandoning their children, but when a child is a witch then you have to say "what is that there? Not your child." The parents come to us when they see manifestations. But the secret is that, even if you abandon your child, the curse is still upon you, even if you kill your child the curse stays. So you have to come here to be delivered afterwards as well,' he explains patiently.
Any of this sound all too familiar to anyone else?
As Queer Reclaiming priest & elder Donald Engstrom said, "An Ancestor is any of the dead whose life and work has allowed you to live your own life."
My only regret is that I know there are many more I should remember, but their names have simply slipped my mind.
First and foremost, whether you support or decry the War on Iraq, there is still the mounting death toll of both Americans and Iraqis in the War on Iraq.
In addition to my own Ancestors of Blood, my Ancient Pagan Ancestors, and those Ancient Ancestors back beyond Homo sapiens, I remember Ancestors of Heart.
and countless hundreds of thousands more artists, writers, thinkers, and culture-makers
I would recommend that you look over the list of Deaths since last Samhain Deaths 2007 at Wikipedia for the Jazz musicians, civil rights activists, scholars, entertainers, and many others who enriched the world by their lives and whose deaths represent the ends of entire eras.
Whether you celebrate Samhain on October 31 (Hallowe'en), November 1st (conventional Gregorian date), tonight or this weekend (convenient date), November 7th (astronomical date), or don't even observe or celebrate it at all,
The blessings of your Ancestors of Blood and Heart, your Ancestral and Chosen Deities, and the Spirits of the Land where you dwell be upon you this Samhain-tide and remain with you always!
Sunday, September 30, 2007, 10:06 PM PST [General]
My Own History With Prayer Beads
Walking to and from high school every day, I prayed the Rosary. To Our Lady of Walsingham. In Latin. Yes, I was an unusual Anglo-Catholic teenager who stuck out like a sore thumb in a Fundagelical Independent Babdiss high school, but I covered a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time this way, did a lot of praying, developed concentration (and, in hind-sight, trance skills) as well as losing some 75 lbs. in doing so. Since I was walking while praying, I learned to coördinate my breath and my steps with the phrases of the prayers in a natural rhythm.
After being introduced to the Jesus Prayer a few years later, I became particularly attached to this devotional form of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. In the Greek form (komvoskini, κομποσκοίνι), it is simply a hundred knots for repetitions of the Jesus Prayer. I prayed it in English, French, Spanish, Greek, Latin, and Old Church Slavonic (the Russians, BTW, use 106 knots). Br. (now Fr.) Ælred at St. Gregory's Benedictine Abbey, seeing that I used the little set I had made for myself assiduously, gave me the Greek-style prayer rope that he had made and used. I long treasured that personal gift.
This is very much the same concept as the Hindu (and later Buddhist) 108-bead mala: using the beads to count the number of mantras one has repeated silently or aloud. The "power beads" fashion craze a few years ago was a big help: easy to get and easy to carry with you.
My father, despite having a radically different religious mindset, realized what a useful tool this could be, too. So we made two different sets of beads for him: one with round faux turquoise beads, the other genuine lapis—and he used these for "making his confessions" (read: "affirmations") with Bible verses. He still has them and uses them.
I used to make precious stone, glass, and wooden sets of prayer beads for people. Nowdays, I mostly just grab the ball of hemp twine I have, cut off a section, knot it ("granny knots" or the traditional "rosary bead" knots), and get on with it.
My Current Practices
Simple
There is always the straightforward method of the Hindus, Buddhists, and the Eastern Orthodox: take a simple string of beads and use them to count off your affirmations, mantras, prayers, or spells—whether in symbolic multiples or not. As an example, after interviewing for the job that brought me out here to California back in 2000, every morning and every evening, I'd grab my knotted hemp string, and do a mile around my neighborhood in El Paso both praying and affirming for "the perfect apartment for me in Silicon Valley." I daresay I got it, and lived mostly quite happily there for just over six years (save for a short period of the batshit-crazy, mutually abusive neighbors from Hell next door). I still thank the Gods for that apartment every time I think about it.
More Involved
The Dominican Marian Rosary is unusual in two ways: first, it is made up of sections called "decades" beginning with an Our Father (The Lord's Prayer) followed by ten Hail Marys. Second, at the same time you are praying, you are also supposed to be meditating upon a particular event in the lives of Jesus & Mary. These sets of events are called mysteries and were traditionally divided up into three, and since Pope John Paul II added another set, four sets of mysteries called the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious, with the new "Luminous" set of mysteries.
I very much like Robert Barzan's "Earth Beads". They use the same physical arrangement of beads as the Dominican Marian Rosary, but are Earth-centered in that it uses four sets of Seasonal mysteries: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. While the seasons are fixed, the mysteries of each season aren't: it's up to you to determine which events of a given season you will meditate on as well as what prayers you will use.
How I use prayer beads these days is my own arrangement based on the order of the Standard ADF Liturgy. You make one "lap" around the five decades of beads varying the prayer in a number of different ways. I translated the prayers into Old Irish (all translation errors being fully mine) with the aid of that ever-blessed lover of Old Irish, Donncha from the Nemeton-L mailing list over a decade ago now.
1st decade:The Earth Mother
Sé do bheatha a Dhanu, mo bhandia. (Literally "Be to you life O Danu, my goddess." This is adapted from the Irish translation of the Hail Mary.)
Hail, Earth Mother, full of grace, from whom all blessings flow.
Our Mother, who art the Earth, hallowed be Thy Body.
Hail, O Earth Mother, this day/night.
Blessed are You, O Earth Mother, this day/night.
2nd decade:The Spirits of the Land
Sé bhur mbeatha a Sprideanna na Talaimh. (Literally, "Be to you life O Spirits of the Land.")
Hail, O Spirits of this Land (where I dwell/visit), this day/night.
Blessed are You, O Spirits of this Land (where I dwell/visit), this day/night.
Thank you, O Spirits of this Land, for allowing me to prosper in your domain.
3rd decade:The Ancestors
Sé bhur mbeatha a Shinsir. (Literally, "Be to you life O Ancestors.")
Sé bhur mbeatha a Shinsir Fhola. (Literally, "Be to you life O Ancestors of Blood.")
Sé bhur mbeatha a Shinsir Chroí. (Literally, "Be to you life O Ancestors of Heart.")
Sé bhur mbeatha a Shinsir Fhola agus Chroí.
Hail, O Ancestors, this day/night.
Blessed are You, O Ancestors, this day/night.
4th decade:The Gods
Sé bhur mbeatha a Dheithe. (Literally, "Be to you life O Gods.")
Sé bhur mbeatha a Shendeithe. (Literally, "Be to you life O Ancient Gods.")
Sé bhur mbeatha a Thuatha Dé Dannann. (Literally, "Be to you life O Tribe of Danu.")
Hail, O Gods/Tribe of Danu, this day/night.
Blessed are You, O Gods/Tribe of Danu, this day/night.
5th decade:One's Matron or Patron
Sé do bheatha a N. (N. being the Name or titles of your M/Patron deity.)
Hail, O N. this day/night.
Blessed are you, O N. this day/night.
Nota Bene: this 5th decade can be repeated indefinitely.
I have yet to come up with a prayer which fits well for the beads between each decade. I really ought to pull out the Carmina Gadelica and see what can be usefully adapted, or what I can find to use for a springboard. I'd like to have a prayer addressing the Three Kindreds in that position. Currently I use it to take a conscious breath before shifting focus from one Kindred or Deity to the next, and begin the next decade.
