Witch Tits

Over the past ten years I have come to appreciate witch tits, in all their infinite variety. The Wheel of the Year and pagan traditions make as much sense to me as anything put forward by the Churches of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The Catholic Eucharist, for example, the body and blood of Christ consumed by parishioners is simply cannibalistic. Who would want to eat the body and drink the blood of their God? I prefer not to consume my gods. I already have sacred DNA, and that is enough for me. Being differentiated from other species by a few nips and tucks of chromosomes is enough religion for me. I don't even need to know what (or who) did the cosmological surgery to make me superior to a dung beetle. I accept the fact dung beetles have their place, and I have mine.

What makes my DNA sacred is the actions my unique life-form allows me to accomplish. Dung beetles rarely compose orchestral music, at least not on Earth. (Dr. Moze tells me, some close beetle relatives in star cluster M45, The Pleiades, are good with bagpipes. But Moze says many things which I can neither prove nor disprove.) Fish can do many things I cannot do, but no fish plays a guitar or piano. Deer are pretty to look at, but not particularly bright. I wouldn't want a deer designing an overpass or airplane engines. I also appreciate birds, as living art forms, inspirational in the flight, and their ways of life. However, their short attention-span would not allow them to write software codes, upon which our modern life relies.

I say all this to preface my religious beliefs, which require no particular gods, and no particular spiritual instruction. I call my belief The Twelve Necessities. Let's start with a list of humans needs, beyond air, water, food, shelter, and a piece of ass now and then:

1. Spiritual experience. Beauty.

2. Free Will.

3. Primary self-definitions.

4. Secondary self-definitions.

5. Truth.

6. Joy.

7. Creative Action.

8. Satisfying Work.

9. Kindness.

10. Social Interaction.

11. Beyond Individuality

12. Courage

Each item requires an explanation. I will give only a few to give you an idea of where they lead.

1. Spiritual experience is universal to all cultures and religions across all historical periods. We have an innate need for moments of Oneness, a spiritual awareness beyond the busy demands of our daily lives. Millions of people experience a Unity with the world around them. Religions have grown from these innate needs and offer detailed explanations and cosmologies to help us further understand our spiritual needs, and explore those needs. A large portion of spiritual experience has no larger definition than Beauty. Our capacity to enjoy and seek Beauty is a primary spiritual need shared by most all humans. A field of flowers, sunset, a dark sky full of stars, mountains, rivers and forests, and things of our own creation: music, art, stories, our many gardens and crafted landscapes-- all these we respond to at a primal spiritual level of Beauty. We might spend years trying to define exactly what Beauty is and why we like it so much.

2. Free Will is as essential as spiritual experience. Spiritual experience might not be possible without free will. Most sentient beings from mice to owls to wolves, whales and panda bears enjoy and need free will, freedom to do what they want, when they want. Humans are no exception. Few of us care to be locked up and told what to do every moment of every day.

Some people prefer more structure than others, and use their free will within social and economic structures built for them by other people. Built for them by leaders. People naturally divide themselves into leaders and followers. Many become leaders or followers depending on the place and time, and direction of the wind. There is often no rational thought process. Leaders and followers are both essential to the progress of humankind, and under the best circumstances both leaders and followers benefit from their roles, and retain much personal free will. This is not the case when leaders or followers are forced along paths they did not choose, and never even imagined they would ever agree to! (Like dropping bombs, annihilating cities, and telling themselves it was necessary.)

That's a place to start.