NEW OLD TRADITIONS BLOG UP AND RUNNING

The New Old Traditions blog is up and so far two authors are busy getting people up to speed on what’s been happening for the Revelers. Mystic anarchy, witchery, herbs, recipes, history, lore, pagans, sun & moon, etc…

Do check them out. Good stuff.

newoldtraditions.wordpress.com

FINDING KALI MA (part 5): “You do yoga. Give us some of your wisdom.”

All the while waiting for the pujari to arrive (who was caught in snow and traffic) about ten of us waited in the sweltering heat and sonic boom of the jet-powered heater. A few glances here and there, but overall I was simply one of the small group, just waiting around chatting about this or that until it all began.

The pujari arrived and immediately reminded me of a priest. He was even wearing what looked like a priest’s stole, which further confirmed for me that “Western” church religions and Guyanese Hindu culture must have bumped up against one another on at least one or two occasions.

When we all sat down on the floor to begin the puja the pujari asked me why I had come.

LOCATING KALI MA (part 4): Garage as Temple

Embarrassingly, this is from way back in January 2009. I had continued my search for Brooklyn worshipers of Kali, eventually finding Her, though in a different form.

Previously at the Guyanese grocery:

“Oh yeah! Did you go to the mandir?” says the man behind the counter.
“I went last week, at, like, around 11am or so, but I don’t think anyone was there.”
“I’m sure they were there. If it was cold they probably had the door closed.”
“I wasn’t sure which house it was.”
“Just walk down the street and if you look down the driveway you’ll see it in the back. I think there’s something green on the gate or something. Just go tomorrow and open the gate and walk in.”

MALCOLM X: AREN’T WE ALL…

Since most people I know can’t seem to get over the fallacy of a sexual binary, the idea of Malcolm having been anything other than a pure blood and guts heterosexual is going to have people succumbing to cardiac arrest.

Here’s a pretty weak article, with good intentions, to prick your friends with:

What could’ve been if what did didn’t

Also this, which is ok, and this, which is a quick one-two on the ordeal I found righteous. Who defines a person’s identity? The collective or the individual? Almost irrelevant, ’cause in the end it just gets defined anyway…

A NEW OLD HALLOWEEN TRADITION

Pardon the insane delay in posting. I have a weird relationship to this medium.

Anyway…I, Many Hills Mostly, am hosting the first New Old Tradition celebration at the MHM HQ, and starting it off with Halloween.

From the New Old Halloween Book of Living Undead program:

Living the New Old Tradition is about reclaiming the exciting, meaningful, and idiosyncratic wonders of our diverse heritage beaming on this diverse planet. It is about enlivening what is from the past and making room for what is new and yet to come.

SUCH-NESS INTO PRAXIS

.
I.
Is.
There is.
There is such-ness.
There is such-ness perceived as disparate things.

EXCERPTS FROM “THE LESSONS”

What is “this world” and “that world?”
While there are no two things in I (there is only One or I or God), because of my (self’s) attachment to myself I perceive a “this world” and a “that world,” or maya and Reality—heaven and hell. In reality there is only Reality or Living. However, as self I am rarely able to truly Live or “be Real.”

KALI IN WORDS

Here are some books I’ve been reading lately on Kali and her Devi sistren. I recommend this list to anyone wanting to have both a textual / intelligent and heart / gut relationship with Her:

THE DEVI MAHATMYAM (Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras)

The Devi Mahatmyam (also known as the Durga Saptashati or the Chandi Patha) is the text for worshipping the Devi. Thought to be composed some time between 400–500 CE (and depending on who you talk too earlier or later), the DM is one of, if not, the most important texts in the Shakta tradition. In a nutshell, the DM tells the story of a king (attached to his fallen empire) and a merchant (attached to his horrible wife and kids) who visit a sage for guidance. The sage then tells the story of God, presented as the Divine Mother, who defeats a litany of ever-present and ever-morphing evil demons. Let the metaphors run wild!

The SHRI MAHA KALI DEVI MANDIR in Brooklyn

Blowing the conch. Jai Ma! Photo by Lisa Biagiotti.

Here’s an audio slideshow of the Shri Maha Kali Devi Mandir in Brooklyn. Originally found here, but ultimately had to search around since link was dead.

PRESENTED TO ME BY A FRIEND (Kali Ma)…

This is an article that was emailed to me some time ago. It spoke to a good deal of what I had been concerning myself with, so I kept it. I’m not certain the author wants me posting this, so I have only left the initials. Please do not circulate this without asking. Gracias.

“THE SPIRITUAL LIFE”
JD

What is the spiritual life, the spiritual path or process? It is a process of returning to your original true natural state of being. It is not a therapy which teaches you how to achieve or improve your self it is far more destructive than that. Why destructive?