In the Beginning . . . Something Changed

The Creation has fascinated me since childhood, growing up with a mainline midwestern Protestant Sunday School education and a closet agnostic physicist/engineer father. Our dinnertable discussions in the 1950s and 1960s ranged to infinity and back, to the edges of the Universe and back, and to what we could know. To me, it all has to make sense together or something is amiss. The Creation – biblical and astrophysical – is where it comes together.

I didn’t have the vocabulary for it, then, but now I do. Mixing an omnipotent deity with the discipline of scientific inquiry opens a door to chaos – which has its value in the intensity of discussion that ensues. And there are lessons to be gleaned, even when disputants slam the door and walk/run away.

Our view of the sky in any direction is, in this picture from right to left, straight down the middle

He said, “This Big Bang thing is rubbish. You can’t get something from nothing.”

Dad wouldn’t have let me get away with an assertion of “can’t” nor of “impossible”, which may be one reason an assertion like this from a friend might keep me awake at night. Sigh.

So, what do we know and what can we know about the Beginning of the Universe?

Between Steven Weinberg’s The First Three Minutes (1979), which fascinated me then, and the vast trove of information now available online, I have tried to bring myself up to date and distill the essence into simple concepts.

Because no one was present in the Beginning to observe and record, we rely on physical observations we can make today repeatedly to construct a model describing what appears to have happened. We then challenge that model with the observations we have made. We continue coming up with new observations, tweaking the model, and challenging it again – until some unsought observation surprises us and we revise or scrap the model and apply all the old challenges again. The current iteration is called the Standard Model in particle physics.

The most recent calculated age of the Universe is about 13.8 billion (1.38 x 10¹⁰) Earth years. At that point, something changed in the conditions at hand, and changes continue today. We call that point “the Beginning“.

We don’t know exactly what the conditions were prior to the change – that is, what changed? If nothing was present, then some further step is necessary to provide the Something that changed at the Beginning.

On one hand, the Universe’s origin was incomprehensibly small, on dimensions much tinier than the smallest known subatomic particles, and it was completely transformed over an immeasurably brief period, much shorter than any observable time scale. On the other, the densities and temperatures were extraordinarily large, far exceeding anything existing in the present-day Universe.
Center for Astrophysics (Harvard & Smithsonian) https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/big-questions/what-happened-early-universe Accessed 11 September 2023

Whatever was present responded to the change by disintegrating into fragments exploding in all directions, thus allowing the temperature to fall and space to be filled with particles carrying matter and energy moving away from its center. The cloud of fragments was so dense that particles collided and interacted with each other, changing characteristics and direction, and moving along to collide again.

As a visual approximation, Prince Rupert’s Drop could stand in for the primordial Something, in which case snipping its tail would be the change — filmed at 100,000 frames per second: Mythbusters and Prince Rupert’s Drop video

Those earliest particles included photons, electrons, neutrinos, and quarks, among others. Together they carried all the mass, energy, charge, spin, and force for interaction that make up the Universe today – the jury is still out on what carries the force of gravity, though of course it’s there.

It could be said that process of expanding, encountering, changing, and moving along continues today. The Universe is much larger now; the temperatures and densities are much lower; and gravity slows the speed of expansion by drawing particles together.

The Big Bang usually refers to the disintegration in all directions of that which changed. Often the literature speaks of it as involving the bigger pieces, the composite particles that resulted from encounters among elementary particles, and even atoms and molecules resulting from more complex encounters. Some articles refer to it as Inflation or Cosmic Inflation.

In a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, the Universe grew by a factor of 10²⁶, comparable to a single bacterium expanding to the size of the Milky Way.
[IBID]

Whatever it was called, by 10^-33 seconds after the Beginning, the explosive expansion was complete and the Universe contained a mixture of elementary particles, composite particles, protons and neutrons composed of 3 quarks each, and some atomic nuclei composed of protons and neutrons. The temperature had fallen with the expansion, but it was still too hot and crowded for electrons to stay with any atomic nuclei they encountered.

The more I learn about All That Is and about all we have learned about how it came to be, the less need I see for an external omnipotent Power to do anything more than provide the primordial something and, maybe, to give it a push to start. All that is here, now — the Gods that are real, personal, and important to us — have been with us from the Beginning.

Casting the Circle/Creation Myth

A lesson and ritual for a group of newcomers (specifically incarcerated men) which was developed originally to satisfy an assignment in Survey of Chaplaincy, a course presented by Patrick McCollum at Cherry Hill Seminary in 2005. The Creation myth and the attributes of the directions are adapted from McCollum’s book Courting the Lady.

Priestess

Standing in the center of the circle of newcomers, beside altar with wand in hand:

speaks

Nothingness, piled upon Nothingness, gathered in the center which is also the whole of everything, which is Nothingness.

The Mother formed Herself from the Nothingness. She looked around. (look around, ending up facing East)

She was Alone – All One. In Her loneliness She screamed.

Lazra meck, Her scream, the light of darkness, went away from Her (walking toward the East, wand extended and searching) –

Until it realized it was separate from Her and moving away from the only Other that there was. (stop moving)

Here – this place of realization, this enlightenment, this first place, we will call East. Here we celebrate illumination, light, the element of Fire.

Here lazra meck began to seek the path back to the Mother. (begin walking toward South, tracing the circle with the wand)

bringing the illumination, the fire – in a shining arc –(stopping at South)

until the light takes on form and substance, and becomes solid. Here, this place of solidity, we will call South. Here we celebrate form and substance, matter, the element of earth.

Again lazra meck continued seeking the path to the Mother (begin walking toward West, tracing the circle with the wand)

heavy now with substance and illumination, yet incomplete (stopping at West)

until it found itself churned in the cauldron of creation, the womb of the Mother, and coming to birth in the waters of life. Here, this place of birth, of life, we will call West. Here we celebrate Life and the element of water.

Alive now, lazra meck continued seeking the path to the Mother (begin walking toward North)

living substance, illuminated, yet incomplete (stopping at North)

until it found the Mother’s gift of spirit, of soul, the anima, and became a complete and independent being, alive, aware, and determined. Here, this place of inspiration, we will call North. Here we celebrate Spirit and the element of air.

Complete and independent, lazra meck still longed to rejoin the Mother (begin walking toward the East)

and chose to continue the search (stopping at East and turning toward the center)

until lazra meck recognized a place it had been before and from there (walking inward, embracing wand)

retraced its path and reunited with the Mother.

addressing newcomers

In our circle, in our sacred space, this is the center of the Universe. Very small actions here can lead to major changes in the outside world. We take particular care with what we say and do here – one way of thinking of it is that what we do comes back to us, three times over, but not necessarily in the ways we predict it will. (One good reason for a Witch not to turn someone into a frog)

We will learn more ways to make magic, to do it effectively, but for the first try, we’ll start with the basics. The first step is Intention. What do you want to do, and why?

Here in sacred space today, each of you will have the opportunity to do one small bit of personal magic, with the rest of us helping. Think about it for a minute. What would you like to change in your life – something that could happen in the next week or so? If what you want is something big – I hear what you’re thinking, and remember, we’re starting small here – maybe break it down a little and pick a manageable piece. State your intention or request to yourself. Look it over to make sure it’s not going to hurt anyone else or yourself. See if it’s something you can ask the Mother for.

When you’re all ready, I’ll ask you to come up one at a time to the altar. While the man at the altar states his intention – or makes it a prayer to the Mother – the rest of us will focus our attention on supporting his magic. At the altar, state your intention or request quietly. The rest of us really don’t need to hear what it is. We will trust you that what you are asking is intended without harm, and we will focus our intention on your request.

We’ll start with the East and move around the circle the same direction we cast it.

(when all have finished)

The focus and intention of a community is stronger than that of any individual. By all working together, by supporting each other, we can each have more success in our personal endeavors than we could separately. Even when we don’t know what the other guy’s needs are, just by focusing our intention on supporting him we can make a difference.

Awakening in a new Home

Sacred Grove Community Circle (SWC) has moved this blog and library from hosting at WordPress.com to hosting at Ghandi.net. It’s time for housecleaning and redecorating. Watch this space!

Cool Yule and Blessings of Peace,
Khalila RedBird

A Spiritual Engineering Perspective

by Khalila RedBird

I understand ritual as a process that mediates a transformation or change of state in each individual involved. In the spiritual domain, the ritual process occurs in a place and time set apart from our day-to-day reality. If only for a moment, a chosen set of assumptions and understandings interacts with our personal worldview on many levels, from critical consciousness to its deepest foundations. The liturgy of a ritual is designed to effect changes that remain when we return to day-to-day reality.

In the Sacred Grove, I look to ritual to provide me a focused, guided way to enter the presence of the Lord and Lady — into the mystical and numinous experience of interaction with the Divine. The Grove and the trance journey by which we reach it have become a sheltering framework within which I can explore the infinite spiritual realm, with anchor points I can reach and grasp without looking for them. I am grateful to Wilddragon, the author of the Bhakti-Wiccan tradition, for encouraging me to extend it.

When the ritual reality of the Sacred Grove became a spiritual home for me, after many trance journeys to the Grove, it became clear to me that there were more layers as yet unexplored than the imagery suggested. The initial spark for expansion, if I recall correctly, was a journey another Priestess and I led with a newly-acquainted couple.

The preparatory elements affirm the presence of a Living Tree in the South, a great Sword in the East, a Cup in the West, and one or more Standing Stones in the North. The Sacred Grove itself is the home of the Lord and Lady, Whose presence is our ultimate goal.

We left the Living Tree in our pathworking and arrived at the Sword, only to find that the woman with us was in great discomfort. We returned to ordinary reality to work our way through the dilemma with her.

Two things emerged: the Sword had some painful associations for her that were not going to yield at the level at which we all were able to work together, and we developed a term for the situation where everyone else on a trance journey can see the Sword (or whatever) and you want to but can’t. It’s called trance envy.

What is the Sword — any sword — but a tool that extends our reach, extends the capabilities of our hands, in particular one that separates one thing from another? It is a tool of discernment. The woman could approach the concept of the Sword by visualizing the Xacto knife she used in her daily work. While that did not trigger the discomfort, it did leave her with trance envy.

On my own first encounter with the Sword, about 20 years ago, I really wanted to see a cool Excalibur-type sword of great import and meaning — and so forth. The vision wavered at first — and settled firmly into the battered sabre from my fencing bag, with which I practiced two to three nights a week and competed on weekends. Hardly romantic.

But the Sword did have a message for me, and the quest kept me busy for the next several years.

The Lord & Lady, in Perspective

In the Bhakt-Wiccan Tradition of the Fellowship of the Sacred Grove, as in the Greencraft Tradition of Sacred Well Congregation, the Lord and Lady are familiar and beloved faces of the Divine, of Ultimate Reality. They are God and Goddess of our spirituality and religion.

But the Sacred Grove welcomes all who would join us respectfully approaching that which we all hold to be real and personal and important, despite the limitations of human language. And so we offer perspectives by which you might look through our traditional language and see the Ultimate Reality you understand. Certainly there are more and other perspectives; here are seeds for thought.

In the Abrahamic traditions, One God is central and is called by many names. The Lord may be familiar and comes associated with a male gender. The Lady had a long and often forbidden history. Would you be comfortable seeing “Lord & Lady” as another of the many names of God?

For my part, having grown to adulthood in the Christian Tradition before encountering the Goddess, I had difficulty as a chaplain speaking the language of the Trinity with Christians until i made peace in my own understanding that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could be Infinite, Incarnate, and Indwelling aspects of the Divine.

Hard polytheists might see the Lord as a category inclusive of the gods of their understanding and the Lady as a category inclusive of the goddesses, or you may see them as particular deities of your devotion. Soft polytheists may see them as encompassing all gods and goddesses between them.

The chant

Isis, Osiris, Woden and Freya; Lord and Lady, Brigid and Lugh
https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos593.htm

is part of our Tradition.

Atheists, agnostics, and others who are not accustomed to personifying the overarching concepts of Ultimate Reality, be reassured that we are not invoking or speaking for an omnipotent sky daddy, nor are we promulgating any absolute authority. We seek to learn through individual personal experience, and we recognized that each of us will experience our journey together differently. We value the richness that comes of our interaction, both with our human companions and with the unSeen that accompany them. Can you allow yourself, when we are between the worlds together, to understand our Lord & Lady to represent all the myriad connections, patterns, unseen entities, and richness that make up and hold All That Is together?

Out of that marvelous complexity, can you let what is real, personal, and important for you speak for itself?

Planning for Autumn Equinox Grove

Updated 10/15/2020: It didn’t happen. Maybe I can pull it together for Samhain.

It’s time for the Grove to manifest itself anew in the age of pandemic. Tools are available and being used to meet in cyberspace, and we are forging ahead. The plan is to schedule our Sabbats for the coming year, by date and time, and set up Zoom gatherings for the observance.

Invitations to participate will include the ritual structure, and attendees will be offered the opportunity to Claim the Space, while the wording is made available on screen. Host will act as Bard and Priest, at least at first.

Invitations will be distributed, at least, by email and through the Facebook Grove page. Respondents by email will be sent the link.

Priestess will establish the Zoom meeting at the specified date and time, then admit attendees, who will be welcome to chat. Once Bard begins Warnings, no others will be admitted.

Still working on the particulars of the ritual. It will be geared toward the Wheel of the Year and probably, at least at first, be of a participatory Journey format.

Watch this space — more to follow.

Sometimes it needs to be said

Cleaning house, I found a Facebook post from ‘way back with a prayer that resonates with me and which I share because so many suffer from fear of Hell, even when their theology no longer supports the concept.

If I adore You out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell!
If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,
Lock me out of Paradise.

But if I adore you for Yourself alone,
Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.

Everyone prays to You from fear of the Fire;
And if You do not put them in the Fire,
This is their reward.
Or they pray to You for the Garden,
Full of fruits and flowers.
And that is their prize.
But I do not pray to You like this,
For I am not afraid of the Fire,
And I do not ask You for the Garden.
But all I want is the Essence of Your Love,
And to return to be One with You,
And to become Your Face.
Rabi’a al Basri, a Sufi saint who died 814 CE

On Ministry of Presence in Covid Time

For my fellow chaplains

I had a particular leading of Spirit that resulted in a reflection for Good Friday and the 7 Last Words. In particular, I was drawn to Mark 15:34, the Aramaic version of the cry of Jesus from the Cross to the God he felt had abandoned him to die in agony, alone. I wonder if we do not encounter this very human depth of despair, even unspoken, in our work or lives. We sometimes find ourselves in the presence of that despair that cries for reconnection to the Presence, and our hands, too, are tied.

So that reflection does not go to waste, you are my congregation. May Peace be with you.

Let me set the scene.

In the ritual of Holy Week, we reflect on the completion of the ministry of Jesus by joining ourselves in the experiences of that time. Good Friday relives his torture and execution for the crime of sedition, which was punished in those days by crucifixion. Jesus is tried by religious and civil authorities, scourged, with a crown made of thorny vines jammed into his head, and made to carry the cross on which he will be executed through the streets of Jerusalem to the place where many are already hanging in the hot sun.

Our reflection begins after his clothes have been stripped from him, he has been nailed through wrists and feet to the cross, the cross has been hoist upright and its base dropped into a hole. Above his head, a sign proclaims “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

We are present and stand witness to the completion of his three years of ministry.

“Eloi? Eloi! Lama sabachthani?” (“My God? My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?”)

Mark 15:34

In our hearts, we can imagine the depths of pain and anguish of that prayer. We can hear his unspoken words:

“Where are you, Father? Why have you left me … hanging here all alone?

“Abba, what did I do? Wasn’t I good enough?”

“Where are you? Abba?”

No one else heard God’s reply, and some didn’t even understand the question. The Scriptures are silent.

But in our hearts, with Jesus, even now, we can hear echoes of his Father’s reply:

“I am here, with you, Son. In you, through you, now and always. You are my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

“The worst is over, Beloved. Just a few more breaths, and your mission is complete. You are coming Home.”

“Feel me here within you Breathe me in, now. With each breath let me fill you.”

“Exhale. Give me your fears. Blow out your pain. Give them back to me.”

“Inhale. Fill yourself again with my Presence.”

“Open your eyes, my Son. Look down. You are not alone.”

“Breathe in my Love.”

“Be here now. Just a few more breaths. See the others who suffer with you?”

“Behold, your mother, your beloved, who would not leave you here alone.”

“Fill yourself with me and let that Light shine on them.”

“Breathe in my Strength. You are my Voice. Lead them through this Hell.”

“You are my Beloved. Just a few more breaths.”

“We are One, and you are coming Home.”

Jesus finds the composure and strength to use the control he still has over his life and his words. He can breathe, with increasing difficulty. He can speak. He need not wait alone, in agony, for the slow approach of Death.

With Divine inspiration, he speaks:

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:34

Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
Luke 23:43

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
Luke 23:46

“Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!“:
John 19:26-27

“I thirst.“
John 19:28

“It is finished“
John 19:30

My Reflection on this Experience

After all the words and acts and turmoil of his ministry in Galilee and its endgame in Jerusalem, Jesus has been brought to a full stop. A sudden, devastating silence.

Last night, after a ritual and working supper with his followers, he had prayed fervently that he could be spared this suffering, but, if it must be, he accepted it. He had asked his closest friends to be with him in prayer, but they had fallen asleep and left him alone. And now he is alone, again. In agony and terror, bereft of meaning or hope. Is God mocking him, too?

In overwhelming pain and tormented by the wounds of trauma in the very recent past, Jesus is bewildered and powerless to help himself, to find any measure of calm or peace. He has only his voice, and with what breath he has, he calls for help. Not for physical help, taking away the pain, relieving the merciless strife between gravity pulling his body down and the nails through his flesh resisting that pull. He calls for hope that all this suffering is not a cruel joke, that the loving Father God who led him into this is still with him. His cry sounds almost angry, almost like he is accusing God of betrayal.

In my mind’s eye, giving voice to the question with Jesus, I was also hearing others in moments of pain and despair, breathing the shortest of prayers: “Oh, God!” Or even the newborn, suddenly exposed to light and sound and breezes and a totally changed world, crying out in shock and surprise. Or myself, once, as an overwhelmed mother with two messily sick babies and my own devastating case of the flu, whimpering quietly, “I want my Mommy.” Wanting Someone, somehow, to make it better.

Asking a question opens the mind to receiving an answer. And the God of Love, the Heavenly Father that Jesus had brought to the people who followed him through Galilee and Judea, would not have left him to suffer unto death alone.

But what would God have answered? What could Jesus hear in his heart that could help at all in that agony? What would I say, in all Love and Compassion, or what would I want to hear?

I fell back on the training I have had as a crisis response chaplain, on how to help when the unthinkable has happened. How do you approach someone who is in shock, when all meaning and hope for even the next breath have fled in the face of terror and anguish?

God reaches out to touch Jesus, to connect with Jesus, through the air, through his breathing. Jesus will feel the air he gasps into his lungs; let feeling that air become feeling God’s Presence; and let Jesus turn his attention to that feeling, to seeking more of that Divine inspiration. And give Jesus a way to unload the heavy burdens he no longer needs to carry; let him give them back to his Father; let him even throw them back at his Father. Which will trigger yet another inspiration of the Divine Presence.

Death will not come swiftly; crucifixion is intentionally horrible in that regard. How to help Jesus through the Hell ahead of him? Bring his focus back to this moment; not the past that got him here; and not apprehension of what is yet to come. Help him open his eyes to the moment. He is not alone. Somewhat refreshed, the old reflexes return. There are people at his feet with needs only he can fill. With the measure of reassurance that his Father is still with him, that he is Loved and accepted and has done well, and with the return of a small measure of personal agency, Jesus uses the last of his human life as his Father’s Voice to complete his mission.

Thanks be to God.

7 April 2020

Sandra Lee Harris, MDiv

On call chaplain, IFMC

Chaplain, Fairfax County Community Chaplain Corps

Priest, Sacred Grove Community Circle (SWC)

Where are the church ladies …

when we need them?

Haven’t we all heard someone say, in response to a very human need, “Well, where is the church in all of this? Should they be stepping up to ….?”

And, of course, my head immediately answers for me, “Which church? How is this _____’s problem?”

Sure, if you’re a decently-sized, well-funded religious organization and troubles descend on one of your own, you may well have a function established to come to the rescue with food, clothing, shelter, social support, advocacy, and the other things that help folks through a crisis. Maybe you’ll even stretch your compassion to folks not of your particular belief system or at least who are your own but rarely show up or donate.

But the troubles of the world can fall on any of us, regardless of any other considerations. There are government agencies and such set up to minister to those needs — complete with criteria, qualifications, paperwork, bureaucracy, delays — and denials. People in dire need can fall through the cracks quite easily. And no one or several decently-sized, however well funded religious or charitable organizations can rise in response to every need — although they are less hobbled by rules and regulations than anything governmental.

Where does Sacred Grove come into this rant?

We are exploring the role of the small, informally-gathered religious community filling the various roles expected of a church/ congregation/ circle, given no building, no secure funding source, no fixed membership, and only the choice to join with each other in appreciation of all that is real and personal and important about the divine connections in our lives — where the Divine lives and breathes in the infinite connections of the Sacred Web of Life.

This is a new persona for a church — this amorphous webspinning eclectic group. It is not confined to a single place or area — we are scattered as widely as the internet, yet we are as personal as individual commitment and action or two people talking it over.

We have a few resources that empower us as a church that we would not have as individuals: We have an identity that has stood the test of time, at least on the East Coast: The Fellowship of the Sacred Grove has been a visible and respected contributor to the Pagan community since 1989. We have a legal and effective association with a larger and more widespread Wiccan organization — Sacred Well Congregation — that has successfully managed the bureaucratic requirements at the federal level for years, through which the IRS knows us as a 501(c)3 religious charitable organization.

In the name of Sacred Grove Community Circle (SWC), we can stand with other churches and participate in community activities, provide clerical credentials for clergy visiting hospitals in our name, accept charitable donations to support our service to individuals and communities, and maintain our Facebook page and this website as the hub of our web.

What has Sacred Grove been doing lately?

I’m so glad you asked.

We are providing social support, spiritual support, and random material resources to several individuals in crisis who have fallen through the aforementioned cracks — and learning more about the plight of the poor, abused, disabled, and homeless with every step. We have helped a few others out, here and there. We do what we can to help folks over an obstacle or through a critical door, then cheer as they continue on their way.

We support one chaplain volunteering in a Level 1 trauma center.

We are actively working with public safety chaplains in a county chaplain corps and in the Washington-Baltimore area alongside military and civilian chaplains in disaster readiness and resilience.

We are partnered with Rising Sun Outreach Ministry to provide care for the caregivers.

We hang out with the Religious Tolerance group on Facebook and contribute the services of one moderator, helping ease the tensions and build pathways of communication among people of all religions or none.

What can I do to help?

We have a Paypal account which will accept donations, which will be acknowledged with thanks and a receipt. Other than the minor expenses of maintaining the web presence, our funds are disbursed directly and swiftly where the need is greatest.

Visit us on Facebook — start a conversation! Express a need. Share some ideas. https://www.facebook.com/SacredGroveSWC/

Email me at RedBird@SacredGroveSWC.org

PM me on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/Sandra.Lee.Harris

Glittery Bootprints

Sometimes the Goddess whispers gently that we might want to reconsider where we invest our time and energy. If we shy away from that, She comes back later — and louder. Eventually, in Her garb as Our Lady of the Silver Boot, She plants a glittery bootprint upon our posteriors.

She changes everything She touches, and everything She touches changes — sooner or later.