The young fox walks through the fresh blanket of Oregon snow, remembering the warmer days of spring, when he was still with his mother and brothers. He loves his independence and freedom now. But some days, like today, he can't help but think that the humans are onto something with their Yule tree and ham.
The forest seems somehow more friendly in winter, quiet, with smoke floating through from the cottage further on in the glen. He heard they celebrate this time every year to offset the cold dark days. In times past, there were food shortages, even with the best of harvests. But on this special day, there was always a special feast. The man would share his food with the birds and other forest creatures. The woman would bake breads and confections.
This year a young peasant maiden came through. She said she was from a place where her people did not celebrate. They felt that celebration was not humble and plain, as they believed their god wished them to be. The far off land she had come from was also very cold and dark during these months with nothing to cheer them up to get through. This year she decided to stay with the man's son, to see what this holiday was all about. The last time the fox saw her, she was walking home with the family after picking out the Yule tree in the forest. She looked like she had the spirit. She carried seeds and nuts to drop behind her along the way. We notice things like that. She is a good person. It is good to see her celebrating the season. One needs to celebrate, it is too cold to stay separate and just go on as usual every day. I hope she brings this holiday back to her people and shows them that it is not at all proud, it is the spirit of survival and perseverance that her people are so known for. I know that if anyone can do it, it is her.

The Art of Imperfection

Here is a book I feel it is imperative that I read "ASAP." Has anyone else out there read it? If so, please write to me or post a comment with your take on this absolutely intriguing title!
"The Art of Imperfection," by Veronique Vienne and Jeanne Lipsey

With Love,
Jerusha

Fairy Tale Yarns, Be Your Dreams!

Please join me in anticipation of my new website currently in the works, www.fairytaleyarns.com

I hope to offer our direct trade, locally aquired, free-range, humanely raised alpaca and Shetland sheep fibers in dyed and natural colored roving and bats in addition to my personal creations of handspun kitchen-dyed yarns!! All are hand processed and lovingly raised with the utmost quality and attention to detail in Portland, Oregon!
Rest assured that all processing is sure to be done in the Fairy Tale way!

As an added benefit, I do my business with small one-woman owned and led businesses with whom I have nurtured personal relationships. I share-crop with them by trading my work on their farms for fiber from animals that I, myself, interact with. Then I bring that hand selected fiber home to wash and hand process in my own little fairy tale cottage here in Montavilla neighborhood near the ancient volcano, Mt. Tabor in Portland, Oregon!! (Similar to this one!)


As a child I was raised on Grimm's stories, which now through research I have found to be the folklore and mythology of my ancestors who lived in the Black Forest region of Germany!

My mother could not have imagined what tremendous impact the characters in legends like Hansel and Gretel could have had on who I was to become as a young woman. I always wanted to know more about Sleeping Beauty's spinning wheel and Rumpelstiltskin's talent with the art of spinning the brittle straw into something as strong as pure gold.


I never imagined that when my husband bought me an antique 1860 spinning wheel that I just fell in love with in a dusty corner of an antique store just south of Salem for my birthday that year that this event would spin me into a new part of my life's destiny!


When he bought me a book to inspire my creativity towards this endeavor called Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli, I never knew that that young girl estranged then reunited with her father and so talented with the wheel would be just what I was to become!





I never knew that my admiration of Frigga, the Norse Goddess-grandmother of my ancestors would turn into the most intimate of relationships a modern woman could cultivate with a Goddess that is the Primordial Spinner of All Fate. ~A Goddess who herself learned early on that though she could see all that was to ever be, she could never lift a hand to change it, for what is meant to be is always meant to be.





To dream is to be. I experience it everyday of my life, yet I will never know the ultimate path that is my destiny, for to really be someone is to lack that knowledge that only those who we touch are able to experience.

I hope that little girl I was so many years ago, the one who lonesomely padded about the woods in Pennsylvania longing for a squirrel to talk to me like they would with Snow White, can know that one day those stories that always seemed too good to be true, could be real and she could find her own place amongst those characters she so humbly wished to get to know!

Fairy Tale Yarns, Be Your Dreams!!

Warmly,
Jerusha, Portland, Oregon
jarushawickedly@gmail.com

Handspun Yarn by Jerusha!!

I have rolled out my handspun, kitchen dyed yarns. They are currently on sale at Twisted on NE Broadway, Portland OR. I hope to soon have more stores on the list of places I supply.

Please feel free to email me with questions or comments.
jarushawickedly@gmail.com

Warmly,
Jerusha

Reaching back to all of my roots

I have been impressed by the recent energy being circulated to bring people of values together in policy, politics and other affairs. I am not a Christian, yet I was raised as one. My parents attempted to raise me as a conservative Christian and a political conservative. However I identify as a Heathen, specifically of the Asatru religion.

As polytheists go, Asatruars are the most conservative of all Pagans. And many are more conservative than myself politically.
For example you will not find nudity or overt sexuality at our gatherings or rituals. A strict family-oriented atmosphere is enforced by both the strong "mama bear" types and the gentle, yet fierce daddy-types who can best be described as semi-tame wolves.

Today, I have a warmth in my heart for conservative Christians. I respect that their faith remains strong and motivates them in so many aspects of their day to day lives. I am of the belief that our values function best when we live them in every aspect of life. And in doing so we challenge ourselves to do everything with higher levels of consciousness.

I do reflect on one shortcoming I've noted in some conservative Christians, including members of my own family. This is the over focus on some aspects of personal morality, ie) what I call "literal rule-adherence" at the expense of other values, such as charitably (without religious strings attached), and social consciousness.

I have seen some Christians focus so strongly on self-deprivation that they lose track of right action in the outer world. They focus inward without challenging themselves to make the world a better place. I've seen the use of "turn the other cheek" to validate non-assertive living. And the use of praying for others to replace non-judgmental regard when interacting with non-believers and those with differing beliefs.

However what I see is a long needed focus on family values in the more liberal parts of our society. This is exemplified by the present movement of the Democratic party towards values above the typical focus on liberal policies.

Maybe we are finally starting to move more comfortably into a place where we can balance individuality, and authentic respect for diversity with common human values such as personal accountability and right action.

Something Big

Coming Soon. . .

My first entrepreneurial endeavor.
And a chance to test my dedication to the belief that values must come before profit in business.
~And that businesses with sound ethical values can indeed prosper!

~All my love,
Jerusha

The grandmother, spinner of fate, Frigga

Spinster in a Forest

You make me happy

"As a child, I had a dream to be like her.
Old and seasoned.
Generous, yet tough as nails.
Well-loved and sought,
Yet alone.

Industrious, unbelievable, persistent, capable,
Unstoppable.

Someone who is so dangerous,
Because she knows that she can survive.
Pushed so far that she has softened to the disappointment of life.

She brings grace along with her.
She shows love when it is unimaginable.

She is patient
When one can do nothing.

She is steady,
And she has unimaginable courage.
You love her,
Yet, somehow, you also fear her.

She can see right into you,
And she says nothing."

The Olde Country. . .And Welcome Sigg!

May 2, 2008 - Friday

The Olde Country. . .And Welcome Sig! Current mood: nostalgic Category: Asatru, Ancient Religion and Philosophy My favorite painting is called "The Olde Country," my favorite song, "The Admirer." Hopefully someday I will take effective vocal lessons so I may do a live show. Cello, vocal as instrument, an olde lady, medieval apparel, and my paintings. . . I shall be that olde woman in the village cottage scrambling amongst toadstools for herbs. I shall be the towne counselor, the healer. The one some will bury their heart's burdens with. But some things are not meant to be healed, you cannot, nor should not heal these things. Though to dispell pain and fear is so tempting, though it should not always be done. Being human is pain; it is joy; it is death; it is life and rebirth. To choose life, is to eventually have death. Try as we might, we cannot avoid pain of being human. To avoid pain not only evades pleasure and joy, but it also brings more pain. Vulnerable, to the elements, to god, to ourselves. Not hopeless, but difficult. No choice but to go on. . . And live the promise we were given before we can remember. 30,000 years ago, not yet at the so called "dawn of time," our people stomped wearily across that Northern land. That land of my people, my grandfathers and my grandmothers, my sisters and my brothers, we walk there together. We will walk there again. Give me my trees and my black forests, those that my ancestors knew. My heart, my heart, my grandmothers whisper behind me, they tug at my soul. They speak of times when our people were persecuted by those who would save us. . . My people were not saved, they were caged. The christians enslaved our spirits, our minds. My ancestors hid our family treasures deep within their great great grand- descendants. They hid it and put it to sleep so that it might begin to awaken when the time is right. The time is now! I have always known that I was the one. For the Folk, I choose to serve and sacrifice my time, my energy, my sweat, and blood. I will give back my spot in their heaven to earn my own place in Valhalla and to pass on the good works I am meant to leave behind me in my path. Yet, do not call me martyr, I am more. And do not call me unhumble, yet pride is nothing to be ashamed of. I will not apologize for being what you refer to as "white." I will not apologize for being who I am. I did not harm the Natives, nor those we stole from their own homelands in Africa. Yes, some of my people did this, but I did not. The Romans took the German tribes captive, read Tacitus, he wrote of what he observed of the German tribes' culture. We should be proud, they were a fine people. Did the Romans bring something better, or did they do to our ancestors much the same as what our forfathers did to the Natives? Better, worse, not so simple as that, it is more what was ours was taken and replaced by another. Our culture was overlayed with another, one from the south. Our people did not live in a hot desert climate. Our people were not meant to worship a desert god. Our people were broken as some then broke the Natives in Vinland. But we are here now, we are a resiliant people, as our gods endure, so shall we! Our virtues strengthen us, our families bind us -to our roots, above in Valhalla, below in Helheim. The time for reawakening is now, let us celebrate this new life, this new beginning. May many blessings come to you, our wonderful, bright, SIG! Welcome to Midgard!

The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan, Documentary (Sci-Fi, 2004)

Topic: The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan, Documentary (Sci-Fi, 2004)

(Available on Netflix)

Current mood: inquisitive, inspired
Category: Art, Spirituality, Response to Modern Skepticism

Here is a posting from Museum of Hoaxes' section on the M. Night documentary controversy:

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 | 07:21 AM

"The truth is, i paid Sci-Fi to announce that its a hoax. When i drowned, i saw dead people. I tried to describe my childhood in the movie "the 6th sense", the drowning in "the unbreakable", the death of my family in "signs", and if you still don't understand the meaning of "the lady in the water", here is the explanation. The lady who comes out of the water is me when i came back from the dead after the drowning. The wolf who keeps the lady from jumping into the pool is the same force of belief that keeps me from jumping back into the pond and giving up on my superpowers. "The Village" is about a group of people i see everyday of my life. Those people are from very past generations with very old tradition believes. I see them everyday.

The reason why i include my life in movies because this something no one can be quite about, i need to tell someone, i need someone to know what i'm seeing, how i'm living. But, if i say it out loud directly people would believe i'm insane. Thank you for believing in this, for those who think the actors don't know how to act its because those are not hired actors, they are real life characters who had to do something included in my life.

Once again, thank you. ~Posted by m. night in Phila"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I, Jerusha, am aware of the common belief that this movie was a hoax. And that M. Night himself has said so. But to me that does not put an end to it.

To those skeptics who do not believe. . . We all have choices. We can choose to have the courage to believe or to instead choose the tempting ability to condescend to others, which oftentimes goes along with skepticism. Skepticism can be healthy and a protective mechanism, but sometimes it limits our ability to experience more pleasant feelings. Some of those pleasant feelings are spiritual in nature.
I too am skeptical when someone tries to sell me something. However, it costs me nothing to believe M. Night's own words in the documentary. And it costs me nothing to believe that M. Night would have written something very like what the person above wrote.

M. Night might very well have waited this long, 'til things have pretty much blown over to write, there being less at stake. Possibly those who would have been a real danger to him have moved on by now. Also, I believe him to be a genuine, large-hearted man who might feel just a bit sad about having lied to so many believers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This documentary really touched me. The shots of Night in the doc. touched me. I'm from that part of Pennsylvania, and it is magical there compared to other parts of this country. Hauntings are very common, I grew up on those stories.

The Pennsylvania Germans that settled there first are a very strong, yet mystical set, some would call it superstitious. The ancient reconstructionist religion called Asatru, which is based on their pre-Christian beliefs, shows that.

It makes me sad that so many of us decide we have to be so hard and skeptical to survive these days. I think some of the skeptics of this documentary are *afraid to believe. Afraid that they might be taken advantage of. But not this time, What harm will it do to believe the documentary, or Night's movies for that matter?

~Have some courage, walk there with him into the unprovable.