Greetings from Justinland

Are You a Good Witch...?

A Happy Friday 13th to Y'all

Here's an interesting topic I have been following the last few days.  I say go for the statue, I love Samantha, although Adam will tell you Endora was the more interesting witch.

'Bewitched' statue plan bothers, bewilders some in Salem

By David Segal Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Executives at TV Land surely expected gracious applause when they announced plans for a bronze statue of Samantha Stephens in "Bewitched." And why not? Everyone loves the statue of Ralph Kramden in "The Honeymooners," which was commissioned by the rerun cable network and is now on display in midtown Manhattan. There were upbeat reviews for their homage to "The Andy Griffith Show," which enshrines Sheriff Andy Taylor and young son Opie and which you can see near the statehouse in North Carolina. But the plans for the salute to "Bewitched" didn't go over well. That's because TV Land decided the place for this nine-foot tribute to America's most beloved housewife witch is in the middle of Salem, Mass., a town best known for hanging 19 citizens accused of witchcraft.

Okay, it happened a long time ago -- in 1692 to be exact -- but it's still a sore subject. Capitalizing on that history with a statue of a broom-riding TV witch struck some locals as in really bad taste.

"It's like TV Land going to Auschwitz and proposing to erect a statue of Colonel Klink," says John Carr, a former member of the Salem Historic District Commission. "Putting this statue in the park near the church where this all happened, it trivializes the execution of 19 people."

''It's insensitive to what happened in 1692," said Jean Harrison, one of several Salem residents opposing the plan. ''She was a fictional witch, but the people who died were not witches."

Tonight, the fate of the statue, which is already being cast at a foundry, will be determined by a vote of the Salem Redevelopment Authority. (note from JJ: they voted FOR Sam)  That organization owns Lappin Park, where Elizabeth Montgomery's character is slated for installation.

Mayor Stanley Usovicz, a vocal supporter of the TV Land plan, likes his odds. No disrespect intended, he says. The town takes its dark past seriously and deals with it reverently in museums, but that doesn't mean it should decline to showcase a pop-culture icon. "Will this statue redefine Salem? Absolutely not," he explains. "Will it add to the experience of coming here? Definitely."

"Bewitched," which ended an eight-year run in 1972, is one of those goofy, timepiece shows that seem never to leave the airwaves. It will officially have cross-generational appeal when Nicole Kidman stars in a movie version to be released this summer. The family in the original supposedly lived in Connecticut, but a handful of episodes were set in Salem, where Samantha attended a convention of witches. That made it seem like a logical place to the executives at TV Land, especially when they visited the town during Halloween and found that thousands of revelers had descended on the place. "What we saw was a huge Halloween party," says Robert Pellizzi, a TV Land senior vice president. "So we thought, it certainly makes sense to ask.

" They sought advice about where to put the statue and they made a generous offer. Not only would the town get the bronze for free, but TV Land also offered to renovate Lappin Park and to pay for upkeep of the statue, too. In return, of course, TV Land hopes for public relations points, including some good photo ops in June, when the statue is scheduled for installation and unveiling.

So what does this thing look like? Good question. The network wants maximum ooohs when it whips the curtain off Samantha so it won't release photos or drawings. But the artists who designed the statue, at a place called StudioEIS in Brooklyn, shared a rendering of the piece on condition that it not appear in the newspaper. So here's a description: Imagine Samantha, dressed in one of the sensible frocks she wore on the show, sitting on a broom, which is resting on a crescent moon. The moon, in turn, is resting on the top of a cloud, which is on a pedestal. Samantha is smiling and her left arm is turned up at the elbow. It's like she's saying, "It's a cinch to fly." Her legs are crossed at the ankles.

Not everyone is bothered by the return of ''Bewitched" to Salem, the self-proclaimed ''Halloween Capital of the World." Some in the city's Wiccan community say they welcome the tribute to one of America's best-loved witches.

''Many of us love and adore the show; we grew up watching it," said Jerrie Hildebrand, 50, a graphic designer and practicing Wiccan. ''But it has nothing to do with our religion. . . . I only wish I could twitch my nose and make my house clean."

Diversity

As a species, we sure do a lot of evil towards one another, all in the name of “my god is better than your god” Pick up any newspaper or click on any cable news channel.

Silly, ain’t it?

Around our house, we are big on comparative religion. We get to celebrate more holidays that way. Your statue of Kuan Yin is no greater than his Sacred White Buffalo and there is no reason they can’t peacefully coincide on the same altar. All religions are at their most fundamental level, the same; Only the names of the Gods and what you serve at Holiday dinners changes from culture to culture.

That Sunday School Golden Rule -- “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” -- is a basic tenet of virtually every religion in the world. Even the great, yet secular Lennon and McCartney wrote "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Observe:
African Traditional Religions
One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.

BAHÁ'Í : Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you,
and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

BUDDHISM :
"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.1

CHRISTIANITY :
In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you;
for this is the law and the prophets.
Jesus, Matthew 7:12

CONFUCIANISM :
Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.
Confucius, Analects 15.23

HINDUISM :
This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.
Mahabharata 5:1517

ISLAM :
"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself."
The Prophet Muhammad, 13th of the 40 Hadiths of Nawawi

JAINISM :
"In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our ownself, and should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such injury as would appear undesirable to us if inflicted upon ourselves."
Mahavira, Sutrakritanga

JUDAISM :
What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.
Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a

MAYA :
"You are myself. We are all one."

NATIVE AMERICAN :
"What is good and just for one is good and just for the other. And the Great Spirit made all men brothers."

Pagan
Harm Ye None, do as ye will

SIKHISM :
"As thou hast deemed thyself so deem others." Sikhism
Guru Granth Sahib, pg. 1299

TAOISM :
Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain and your neighbour's loss as your own loss.
Lao Tzu, T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213-218

ZOROASTRIANISM :
Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.
Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29

Everything is connected, everything is one. But everything is also disguised in order to make it interesting in finding out how everything is one and connected. And that, brothers and sisters, is why we celebrate diversity.

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Hummingbird Magic

The hummingbirds are back at our birdfeeders. They pass thru Kansas on their fall trip back to Mexico because who would want to winter in Kansas?

I love the little hummingbirds and we welcome them with plenty of Hummingbird Kool-Aid at their own special feeder. Perhaps you didn’t know this but tiny Brother Hummingbird is my spirit guide. I didn’t know it either, Hawk had to tell me. He says that Bro hummer is ‘The Great Spirit’s little jewel’ and the bringer of joy. The Lakota word for ‘hummingbird’ translates into ‘Sun Angel’

The Lakota (and other indigenous nations) believe that every person has animal guides or totems that come into their lives to teach important lessons. Bears, eagles, buffalo, wolves and snakes are the most common spirit guides. Each animal is believed to have it's own special medicine and power to help it's chosen human develop what is needed in life. In theory, we are drawn to that which most resounds with us and those animals which fascinate us have some important lesson to teach us.

It is believed that Totem spirits of Animals reach us in dreams or dream-like states. It is my understanding, (though somewhat limited in this area) from what I have read, that these animals seek us out, we don't choose them. Each of these animals have qualities of their own. One is no more important than the other, although some people consider some more powerful or glamorous than others. Each one is believed to have their own special medicine and power to help us develop what we need in our own lives.

Hawk’s guide is the Red-Tailed Hawk. Michael’s is the Blue Dragon. I’m a hummingbird person and that’s good. I like flowers.

In many traditional cultures of the western world the hummingbird has powerful religious and spiritual significance. The hummingbird is seen as symbol of resurrection. This is because each hummer becomes lifeless and seems to die on cold nights, but it comes back to life again when the miraculous sunrise brings warmth. Kinda like dying of meningitis but not quite.

And here you thought the hummer was my guide because he was flashy, colorful and could fly backwards. And because he eats a lot of sugar and lives to pollinate things.

Judy Evridge, who studies hummingbird magic says 'The hummingbird person is very energetic and free spirited! If restricted or restrained, they may suffer periods of deep depression and feelings of hopelessness.'

Hmmm, sounds familiar

Interesting facts about Hummers:

Underneath those shining feathers is a body structure like no other bird. Their shoulder joint, for example, allows hummingbirds to twist their wings so they gain lift on both the forward and backward strokes. However, the motion alone is not enough for the bird to hover; it has to beat its wings in a sideways figure-eight between 20 and 80 strokes per second!

To drive a hummingbird’s wings, it dedicates about 30 percent of its body weight to its breast muscles, three times that of the weakest flying birds. To feed those muscles, hummers must consume approximately their body weight in nectar each day, driving the highest metabolic rate of any animal on Earth

The Hummingbird is the world's smallest bird.

Hummingbirds can reach speeds up to 60 miles an hour.

They lap nectar with their tongues.

The fastest wing-beat during normal flight belongs to the Sun Gem, a Hummingbird found in South America, is 90 beats per second. PER SECOND!

Hummingbirds do not have a sense of smell. They locate their food by eyesight.

A Hummingbird's egg is about the size of a pea.

A Hummingbird's heart beats 1,260 times per minute.

The adult male"bee Hummingbird" of Cuba is only 2.24 inches long. That's WITH the bill and tail! They only weigh 0.056 ounces.

Here's what else Judy had to say:

Life is a wonderland of delight -darting from one flower to another,tasting the sweet nectar and radiating the colors of the rainbow.

Hummingbird is a symbol for accomplishing that which seems impossible.It can teach you how to find the miracle of joyful living in your own life.

Hummingbird medicine is herbal;it shows us how to use flowers for healing.They teach us how to draw life essence from flowers and create your own medicines.

This totem reminds us to explore the past and extract the sweetness from it.It can help you find joy and sweetness in any situation.Grab joy as swiftly as you can. Hummingbird reminds us to find the joy in what we do and to sing it out.

All things said, Bro Hummer makes a better spirit guide than Bro Skunk. Who is your spirit guide? Will Jeff claim the dreaded Louisiana Trouser Snake? Want to learn more? This is a good place to start