Continuation of The Report: Freedom of Religions

In my next report, I am hoping to get some insight into what people think is religion and what is an "acceptable" religion. I want to interview a member of SODA to see what opposition they faced when their group was started. I would also like to interview the Dean of Students on proper group starting procedures. I would also like to interview a friend of mine who is openly Wicca that tried to get a group started this year. It was unsuccessful, but she has not lost hope. I plan on borrowing a video camera from the library in order to achieve this.

I haven't really had any difficulties in finding information for my research. I would like to talk to a coven leader if at all possible and maybe use some of her information in my research. I have some good sources such as the two books. I also have an interview from my friend that is Wiccan and descendant of a High Priestess. I am looking forward to making this video to see what other people think about the Wicca religion and how they feel about all the prosecution that Wiccans have faced. I really hope I won't be opposed in my making of this video.

Coexistence: Is It Possible?

Some people might think they know without a doubt exactly what religion is. I myself was feeling a little uncertain on the topic, so I looked it up in the dictionary. It had four different definitions. No wonder there are so many wars over religion, no one can seem to agree on one definition of what it is! According to Merriam Webster, religion is the belief in and worship of God or gods, or a specific system of belief, worship, etc., often including a code of ethics (544). To the Greeks religion was a way to explain away things such as the seasons. The seasons existed only because Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and because she ate the fruit of the dead she would have to remain in the underworld for three months of every year. This caused Demeter, her mother and Goddess of the Harvest and Earth, incredible sadness, so she made the plants wither and die during the winter months.

There has always been conflict over religions. That was how the United States of America was founded. One of the reasons the English came over here was for freedom of religion. In the picture I have on my blog is a list of several different religions and even gender and peace are included. If you look at the picture, one can see the word coexist. My question to the world is: Why can we not all just coexist peacefully? It’s true that some religions are more widely accepted than others. Wiccanism is one such religion that is not widely accepted. In some places it is known simply as witch craft, but it is so very much more than that. To me, it’s a feeling of being one with nature, of loving the earth, and knowing that when I die I will return to her. According to Christine Jarvis, Wicca is a nature religion that stresses the immanence of the divine rather than transcendence, which in turn leads to a strong emphasis on responsibility, rather than rules (44).

Adler says that paganism is simply an umbrella term under which wiccanism falls (3). If one was to look at the holiday calendar of a Wiccan, they would find holidays that fall around the same time as Christian holidays. Whereas Christians celebrate Christmas, Wiccans celebrate Yule. The Wiccans holidays are known as the Eight Holy Days. Other than the two solstices and equinoxes, Wiccans celebrate four other holidays. They are Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Imbolc is on February first and is the celebration of the awakened Maiden of the Goddess and for preparing for renewal and new beginnings (Conway, 79). Beltane is on May first and was originally a fertility festival. Lughnasadh is on August first, and it is one of the first harvest festivals. Finally Samhain is from October 30 to November 1, and it marks the ending of one Celtic year and the beginning of another. Also at this time the veil between worlds is the thinnest making it the easiest to communicate with the dead (Conway, 78-80). One difference in the calendars is that Wiccans actually celebrate the changing of the seasons. The dying of one season and the coming to life of another is something to celebrate don’t you think?

The “Coexist” picture I have chosen has the crescent moon and star of the Islam religion as the C. The O is the symbol of peace. The E is the gender symbols for male and female. The X is the Star of David which so many people died for in WWII because they were members of Judaism. The I has a pentagram atop it for the Wiccan symbol. The Ying Yang sign which some people just think is so cool is really the symbol of Taoism or Confucianism. Finally the symbol that is common to almost the entire world is the T which looks like a cross, does it not (Peace Monger)? How many people have died for their religion? How many people will still be prosecuted for a religion that just isn’t widely accepted? Why should one religion be any better than another?


Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. New York: Penguin Compass, 1986. Print.
Conway, D.J. Wicca the Complete Craft. Freedom, California: The Crossing Press, 2001.
Jarvis, Christine. "Becoming a Woman Through Wicca: Witches and Wiccans in Contemporary Teen Fiction." Children's Literature in Education (2008): 43-52.
Peace Monger. Peace Monger. 2007. 2 March 2010 .
“Religion.” Webster’s New World Dictionary. 4th ed. 2003.

Research Question: What is the Wiccan Religion? What holidays do Wiccans celebrate? How do they celebrate, what are their rituals like? What is the difference between paganism and being wiccan?

I chose the topic of the Wiccan Religion because it is something that has greatly interested me since I was a small child. Also I have a friend who is Wiccan. It is not exactly witch craft and neither is it good or bad. There is no such thing as white or black magic. That is something used by people who have no real idea of what "magic" truly is. It is not the magic itself that is bad it is the wielder of the magic and the choices they make.

I know that the wiccan religion is centered around the number three. What you do unto others, you get back times three. The cycle goes the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. They have different holidays than is custom for people in the United States. They celebrate Samhain, the spring and fall equinox, and the summer and winter solstice.

I wish to learn some of the rituals and about why people feared them so much. Wiccans were among the many innocent to burn during the Salem Witch Trials and other famous "Witch Hunts". I'd like to know why some people chose this religion over others. Were they simply drawn by the idea of a natural magic? Were they raised by parents who practiced it?

I've done research on the topic in the past because it interested me so much. I also met Natasha Sherlock who tried to get a pagan group started on campus. The group leaned more towards wiccanism and not just paganism which is a broad category that wiccanism just happens to fall under.

I haven't had any trouble locating sources. There are a few books on the Wiccan religion in the library as well as an encyclopedia on everything Wiccan. I also have a book on the Wiccan religion. I think this assignment will be awesome because it's something I actually want to write about. My writing is usually much better when it's over a topic of interest.

Working Bibliography

Ballard, Byron. "Dianic Wicca Interview with Byron Ballard." 3 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~religion/newifo/religions/paganism/index/dwicca/interviews.shtml>

Conway, D.J. Wicca The Complete Craft. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press Freedom, 2001

Frost, Gavin and Yvonne. Church and School of Wicca. 13 Sept. 2006. Web. 22 Feb. 2010 <http://www.wicca.org/>.

Lewis, James R. Witchcraft today : an encyclopedia of Wiccan and neopagan traditions. Santa Barbra, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.n

Sherlock, Natasha. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2010

Author vs. Author

Blogs about figures in History require some research. I have researched two blogs that can tie into my blog and also provides some interesting information. The first blog is #32 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945 by: Brave Astronaut. The second blog is FDR, Eleanor and Lucy Mercer by: Ruby Hawk. Brave Astronaut writes because he is an archivist that writes about presidents. He writes a few times a week. His last post was February tenth. He provides "About Me" information such as his age, gender, astrological and Chinese sign, occupation, and where he's from. Ruby Hawk writes about what she enjoys. She is retired and greatly enjoys writing her blogs about anything that strikes her fancy. Ruby posts everyday sometimes more than once a day. Ruby's "About Me" information lists her hobbies and things she enjoys doing with her "extended time" including spending time with her husband (Hawk).

Neither of the two bloggers adorns their blogs with widgets or podcasts. They both have labels which make them much easier to find. Both had some of the same information. Despite being universally loved and revered by the American public and the world, Roosevelt was not the most faithful of husbands (Astronaut). FDR and Lucy were in love (Meacham). Both blogs have pictures although the second has more. Both blogs are associated with an organization. The first one is associated with the National Archives in the Presidential Library System while the second one is associated with the website Socyberty. Neither blog has a link to a social networking website such as Twitter, Myspace, or Facebook.

The first has no ads where the second blog has a Shutterfly ad and a Zwinky ad. The second blog has a black square background with an inner white background and has black and orange lettering which I feel doesn't fit the topic, whereas the white background with black lettering makes the first blog seem more professional. There is a video in the second but not in the first. The video does support the blog. It is a short clip, about five minutes, about FDR. Ruby Hawk really likes to put pictures and videos in her blogs because as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and they make the blog that much more interesting whereas Brave Astronaut uses one picture at the beginning to emphasize his main topic. There are word links in the second blog that simply go to other pages about those words whether it has anything to do with the blog or not. Brave Astronaut posts on Blogger while Ruby Hawk posts on Triond. Ruby doesn't give out her specific location, but Brave Astronaut says he lives in Chevelry, MD. Although they both talk about Lucy Mercer and her affair with the longest in office president, the second blog is only about the affair, while the first blog has only one paragraph in it about Lucy and FDR. Doris Goodwin notes, "I have often thought, 'Thank God for Lucy Mercer because it freed Eleanor and allowed her to find who she was'"(Hawk).

I feel that these blogs relate to my topic because they're basically about my topic. It further shows that FDR did indeed have an affair. It also shows that Eleanor and FDR were distant relatives. Both blogs are strictly informative. The information is supported by having several other documents that have the same basic information. It confirms my research and gives me some other things to think about as well. The information is quite accurate. I plan to incorporate the information that I found in these two blogs into the final paper.

Links

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/weekinreview/20mcgrath.html

http://merritt1213sp10.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-this-post-i-will-be-looking-at-two.html

Works Cited

Astronaut, Brave. #32-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945. National Archives in the Presidential Library System, 12 Aug. 2008. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.

Hawk, Ruby. FDR, Eleanor and Lucy Mercer. Socyberty, 13 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.

Meacham, Jon. "The Lost Lucy Letter." Newsweek 142.16 (2003): 63. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

Sexy Miss Mercer vs. Plain Jane Eleanor

Who were the women of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's life? They were his mother (of course), his wife, and his mistress? He was such an outstanding figure in history that things could be overlooked, so I was extremely shocked when I came across two pictures side by side, one of his wife Eleanor and the other of his mistress Lucy Mercer who had began a romance with FDR that would span 30 years (Historical). It made me want to know who was this mystery woman, how did FDR and her meet, and how did Eleanor take it when she found out that FDR hadn't stopped seeing his mistress?

In the two pictures one can clearly see the differences in the two women. While one is quite homely and has "regal posture", the other is "stooped with a receding chin" (Baird). If one looks closer at the pictures, there appears to be a tree in both pictures. The tree behind Lucy is bare while the tree behind Eleanor has leaves. She is wearing a simple jacket over a simple dress of matching print. On the other hand, Eleanor is not even looking at the camera. One can't see the wall behind Lucy, but the brick wall behind Eleanor is quite visible. One historian noted that the most pleasing thing about Lucy Mercer was that she allowed Eleanor the freedom to find herself (Baird).

The two pictures were chosen to show Lucy's obvious beauty against a plain picture of Eleanor (Baird). In the picture of Lucy, it looks to me as though she is smiling over an inside joke. Eleanor, however, looks subdued in her picture. I think these two pictures were chosen specifically to show what Lucy has and what Eleanor does not have. I feel that Eleanor is in deep thought in this picture, while Lucy obviously posed for hers. Lucy to me appears rather curvaceous, but Eleanor seems rather like a poorly drawn stick figure. The brick wall behind Eleanor makes me think that she is perhaps in an outside garden where she likes to do her thinking. Whereas Lucy's background seems almost unnatural, like she had it done in a studio. I think this picture of Eleanor was taken before "her shyness had worn off" (MacLeish, page 23).

In both photographs there is a sense of balance. Each woman is the center of their photograph. Both of them are wearing a lighter color than the background, so they seem to stand out just a bit more than they would have if they had been wearing darker colors. Lucy's hair contrasts nicely with her skin tone, while Eleanor looks a little washed out with her fair hair and light clothes and skin tone. The photo of Lucy is a close up, while the photo of Eleanor is a body shot.

I have yet to find out how FDR met Miss Lucy Mercer, but I did find out how Eleanor reacted upon hearing that her social secretary was in love with her husband. She found out by finding several love letters from Miss Mercer to her husband. She felt as though the bottom of her world had just fallen out (Baird). I am looking forward to learning about FDR and his women in even more detail.

Works Cited

Baird, Julia. "The Women the President Loved." Newsweek 5 May. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2010

MacLeish, Archibald. The Eleanor Roosevelt Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. Print.

"Historical Notes: A Great Romance" Times 19 Aug. 1966. Web. 30 Jan. 2010

Research question: Who were the women in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s life? Were they strong, weak, smart, pretty, or ugly? What was the greatest quality about each of the women? How might having these women in his life affect his decisions on important issues?

I chose the topic of women in Franklin’s life because it was still a time where women didn’t really speak out all that often, and he had some amazing women in his life, like his wife Eleanor. Women weren’t as outspoken, and I feel that those who were should be given thanks by the women of today. What if we didn’t have women like Eleanor Roosevelt to have led the way for great American women? Would we be as far as we are today? I’m also in a group of all boys, so I figured I would focus on the feminine aspect of Franklin’s presidency. He was a great president but the saying goes “Behind every strong man is a strong woman.”

I know that he had a mistress named Lucy. Apparently, Eleanor knew about Lucy as well. His mother was also a major influence in his life. Although his mother and Eleanor didn’t really get along, Franklin respected his mother’s wishes and ideas sometimes even over Eleanor’s. Franklin was in a wheel chair from polio but even though he had polio he could still get an erection. I also know that Eleanor had more independence than most women of the time, and this is basically what I know about the women in his life.

I hope to discover foul play because who doesn’t love a little scandal in the White House. I want to know what Eleanor thought of his mistress Lucy. I want to know what each woman was like what morals they held dear and how Franklin treated them. I want to learn how this great president in a wheel chair got around to see his mistress. Did she simply come to the white house? Did he go see her? And if so where? I would love to know what happened when Eleanor found out about Lucy. Being a lady, I doubt it was a cat fight like nowadays.

I did some research on these women in his life. I’ve found a few like one named Daisy mentioned, but then I could not find anything else mentioned about her. I found a few newspaper articles and a few books, but I’m going to have to look a little harder to find information on some of the women in his life because they are hardly mentioned. I’m sure if I search the internet, I am sure I could find something that is interesting about each women and how they were involved with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

I think this is going to be an interesting assignment. I’ve never blogged before now. My group is all guys which is why we ended up doing a World War Two. I wanted to do the trail of tears because I have a little Indian in me. I didn’t really know very much about World War Two leaders. I think this will be a good learning experience as well as entertaining. I can’t wait to see what other people say about my blogs, and I can’t wait to read other people’s blogs.

Working bibliography

Baird, Julia. “The Women the President Loved.” Newsweek 5 May. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2010

Barry, Dan. “From New Deal to New Hard Times, Eleanor Endures.” New York Times 25 Dec. 2009: 1. Academic Search Complete. Ebsco. Web. 19 Jan. 2010.

Feldman, Ellen. “FDR and His Women.” American Heritage Magazine 54.1 (2003). Web. 19 Jan. 2010

MacLeish, Archibald. The Eleanor Roosevelt Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. Print.

“Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of United States).” Encyclopedia Britannica 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 19 Jan. 2010

First Post

This is my first blog post! I've never really done anything like this before, but I'm open to the idea of blogging. It seems like a very good way to get ideas out into the community.