Oregon L.O.W.F.I

Posts Tagged ‘sacrifice’

About fifteen years ago, there was a local woman who sold religious folk art/outsider art items at her booth at the Saturday Market. Saturday Market is a long running street fair in Eugene (since 1970),  full of booths of hand made items, as well as food booths and lots of music.

I bought several things from her at the time and did a paper on her when I was studying folklore at the University of Oregon.

This is a beaded necklace, with a wood pendant. On the front is an image of St. Maria Magdalene. On the back is a little label: “St. Maria Magdalene Patroness of Fallen Women.” This is what Books of the Times site has to say about St. Maria Magdalene:

There is a breathtaking moment in the Gospel of Philip, one of the Gnostic gospels, which were denounced by the church as heresy. The apostles witness Jesus kissing Mary Magdalene on the mouth. The apostles are horrified, jealous. ”Why do you love her more than us?” they ask. Jesus’ response is mysterious and enigmatic. ”Why do I not love you like her?” he says.

What is the meaning of those kisses? Sexual passion? A profound friendship? Jesus anointing Mary Magdalene as his successor and as leader of the church?

Traditionally, Mary Magdalene has been seen as a reformed harlot, portrayed in paintings as red haired and bare breasted. But as Karen L. King, the Winn professor of ecclesiastical history at Harvard University, in the Divinity School, points out in her new book, ”The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle,” nowhere does the Bible say that she was a prostitute.

I know I have that paper, with photos, around here somewhere. I also have other items that I hope to take snaps of and post. I think the woman — a very colorful person! — called herself “Sister Spirit” and I want to say “bear” was in there somewhere, but it’s been many years and I don’t remember.

She sold jewelry with decorated images of the saints and the BVM as well as Jesus. She was known for her Jesus nightlights: religious plastic nightlights of Jesus and Mary, (the kind you can buy at dime stores; I’ve even seen them at Dollar Store type places) painted, often with neon colors, and decorated with beads, glitter, feathers .

I haven’t been to the Saturday Market for a couple of years; but when I have gone there, I didn’t notice her around. I think she left the area some time ago, or at least, stopped making her wonderful folk art.

Very disturbing, sad news, again, of wild horses found shot and killed in Eastern Oregon:

Crook County sheriff’s officers say they’ve found three more horses dead in the Ochoco National Forest of central Oregon, bringing the recent total to six.

In mid-March, a deputy found three wild horses — two stallions and a pregnant mare — shot and killed. The mare was with her unharmed yearling foal.

Naturally I hope the bastards who are doing this will be caught, and soon.

(Posted at my blog Mothman Flutterings.)

I had the following experience the night of Japan’s earthquake; isn’t directly related to Mothman. Nor am I suggesting it was part of the Mothman energy; and yet, there is a bit of a Mothy vibe to this, and so I’m posting it here. I want to make it clear this winged visitor was not “evil,” or a negative energy in any way. My fearful response to it was due to my own anxieties and fears, not the intent of this bird like entity.

I had an extremely unusual experience the night of Japan’s earthquake which involved a large, swooping-in-on-me bird-like figure, beeping sounds from deep within my head getting louder and louder, and a synchronicity the next day concerning tsunamis and Thunderbirds.

As I posted on both The Orange Orb and Animal Forteana, this is what happened:

I had a very strange experience last night. I spent much of the night sleeping little; listening mainly to Coast to Coast and the news coming in on the earthquake in Japan, and soon after, the tsunami warnings. Earliest reports were warnings for Hawaii and the Washington and Oregon coasts; later, California and Alaska.

I was compelled to listen through the night because of the sheer tragedy and immensity of another overwhelming earth disaster, and also, because we had planned to drive to the coast that day (approximately fifty miles from our home) and spend the weekend there. I was also concerned about my mother and friends on the Oregon coast, as well as family living up and down the Pacific coast. I tried to sleep, managed to doze off for a while but kept waking up, turning the little transistor on again. Throughout Coast to Coast local tsunami warnings came through, announcing beach and school closures for the Oregon coast.

At one point, a deep beeping sound woke me up. This beeping was deep within me; not from an external source, not an acoustic anomaly. It was inside of me. It became louder, and with it, I saw a large dark bird come flying towards me. All I could see was the shape, no details. Slowly flapping its huge wings as it came towards me, as the beeping got louder and louder. A glowing whitish-blue light or “halo” surrounded this bird. This bird vision was indie my head, not external, but it was definitely connected to the beeping sound. At first I thought the bird was an owl; and it might had been, but it seemed to be something else as well. What, I’m not sure. I had conflicting responses to this bird; one, that all this was pretty damn interesting but as the owl, or bird-creature, came closer, along with the light, I became a little scared and tried to shut it out. It sort of exploded when I did that, and I had the feeling this bird-like creature was both frustrated with me and disappointed that I chose to ignore it.

Then, I heard, again from that same, deep-within place inside me, the sounds of voices talking on the radio. So I told myself it was the radio; I still had it on, the ear buds in my ears. But the radio and ear -buds were both on the night table, and the radio was off.

I cannot describe how this was not a dream. It was not a dream that I awoke from, it was not a hypnogognic dream, it was not a dream then I awake to find I’m really still dreaming, … none of that. None of that. I was completely awake. The radio talk within continued; I tried very hard to listen to make sense out of it but the voices were indistinct.

Thunderbird Synchronicity
After I wrote this, I visited The Anomalist to find this link to a post from Loren Coleman at Cryptomundo: Tsunamis and Thunderbirds, which explores the stories of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest and earthquakes:

It is amazing what Thunderbird folklore may tell us about past tsunamis, says Ruth Ludwin, a University of Washington scientist. Her research has found that Thunderbird and other cryptid stories and traditions “could relate to a large Seattle fault earthquake around A.D. 900 and specific eyewitness accounts linked to a mammoth 1700 earthquake and tsunami in the Cascadia subduction zone.”

“Along the way, I picked up a lot of stories about landslides,” she said. But she couldn’t find anything that seemed to match the 1700 event, until she took a closer look at the story of Thunderbird and Whale.

“It’s a story of the underworld versus the over-world,” Ludwin said.

The Whale was a monster, killing other whales and depriving the people of meat and oil. The Thunderbird, a benevolent supernatural being, saw from its home high in the mountains that the people were starving. The great bird soared out over the coastal waters, then plunged into the ocean and seized the Whale.

A struggle ensued first in the water, the tribal tale says. “The waters receded and rose again. Many canoes came down in trees and were destroyed and numerous lives were lost.”

The Thunderbird eventually succeeds in lifting the evil Whale out of the ocean, carrying it “high into the air (and then) dropping it to the land surface at Beaver prairie. Then at this place there was another great battle.”

On the Coast
After phone calls back and forth and following news reports we decided to drive to the coast, which turned out to be a beautiful drive. The tsunami warnings for this area have been lifted. As I’m typing this I’m looking out at the shore, listening to the ocean.

The wolf is my animal totem.

Local event at the Lane county fairgrounds: Steve Martin’s Wild World of Wolves. I have strong feelings about wild animals in captivity and used for “entertainment” purposes. I don’t know anything about this outfit specifically; I assume the wolves are loved and treated well, but that is not the issue for me. My personal opinions aside, I find the wolf synchronicities lately to be interesting. (The Steve Martins Wild World of Wolves is one feature of Martin’s Working Wildlife of Frazier Park, California, where wild animals of many varieties are trained to work in film, TV, etc.)
An acquaintance on one of my social networking sites posted about a wolf hybrid that attacked his chickens the other night. The following item appeared in today’s Register Guard on-line, even though the article is from December: Biologist’s take: Wolves not as big, bad as thought
I found this juxtaposition an alarming one: a photo of a five year old boy with rifle “prepare [ing] to fire away at the quarry on a video screen at the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s electronic shooting gallery” and below, a photo of one of the three ‘wild wolves’ at the Boat and Sportsmen’s Show at the Lane County Fairgrounds. (Register Guard, Saturday February 4, 2011.)

photo Paul Carter, Register Guard, City section,2/4/11

A $10, 000.00 reward is offered in the capture of the bastard who killed a protected wolf in Oregon.

The 2-year-old male wolf, from the Wenaha pack, had been captured and fitted with a radio tracking collar in August.

It was found dead Sept. 30 on the Umatilla National Forest, Fish and Wildlife said.

There is still no official cause of death. The wolf is being sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland for a necropsy, said Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Joan Jewett.

The reward indicates the high priority Fish and Wildlife has put on finding whoever is responsible, she added.

And I was just over there in that area earlier today! Missed it; more odd animal tales.
“Randy Pape Beltline” (recently changed the name from I-5 for one of Eugene’s rich citizens. . .) is the freeway! Fortunately, sounds like the elk is all right.

Elk runs through north Eugene neighborhood before crossing Beltline

By Jack Moran

The Register-Guard

Posted to Web: Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010 02:48PM

A bull elk ran through a Santa Clara neighborhood and ran across Randy Pape Beltline this afternoon, prompting a police search for the animal.

The elk reportedly swam to an island on the Willamette River, but later left it. Police at the scene said the animal was last seen in thick vegetation north of the river.

Read more in Wednesday’s Register-Guard.

Recent news making the loop alerts us to the news that bald eagles and pelicans, are eating murres on the Oregon coast. Specifically, the murres at Yaquina Head. This is news, and very weird news, in context of what it means as signals within global changes, as we’ll see.

But the fact that eagles eat murres isn’t all that new, as the Oregon Field Journal notes in a post from June 3rd:

Bald eagles eat murres and they know where to find these seabirds: in their largest colony on rocks right off the Yaquina Head lighthouse in Newport.

We covered this story last year (and the program ran again last week on Oregon Field Guide)

Gulls swoop in and eat the eggs, the eagles eat the murres. Now scientists have noticed an added element: pelicans are also eating murres. Fish and Wildlife Bulletin reports:

Our field crew also recently observed an immature brown pelican land on Flattop Rock and run through the colony flapping its wings,” Suryan said. “As it zigzagged through the colony, it ate 10 common murre chicks and chased away many of the adults, allowing the gulls to come in and go through their egg-stealing routine.

“Who would have thought that a pelican, of all things, would devour 10 young murres in a matter of seconds?”

I started a new blog: Animal Forteana.

Two animals, the eagle and the bear, are in local news today.

One story concerns an eagle found on Dibblee Point Beach. The eagle had been shot multiple times with a BB gun:

X-rays show nearly three dozen shotgun pellets in the head, neck, body and both wings of a large female bald eagle found injured on the beach last month, and now investigators are offering $1,000 reward for the identity of the person who shot the bird.

It goes without saying I hope they find out who the bastards are that shot the bird. Amazingly, the bird is alive. It was taken to the North Coast Wildlife Center where it’s being treated and is expected to recover, though, according to the article, it may develop vision problems due to some of the shots so close to its eyes.

By the way, here is the contact info if anyone has information on who is responsible for the shooting:

Anyone with information to help in this investigation is asked to contact Trooper Schwartz at (503) 397-0325 ext. 42.

Eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which:

makes it illegal to pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect or disturb a bald eagle.

In another part of Oregon, this one close to home — very close to home, about four miles from me — a bear is feeding from the garbage cans in the neighborhood. From the photos, the bear looks young. I don’t know if the bear is lost, its mother killed, or what, but the bear doesn’t seem disturbed by humans, either that, or it’s so hungry it doesn’t care:

All of a sudden about 3:30 a.m. I heard a crash because the trash can is right on the other side of the wall,” Perdew said.

Perdew grabbed her spotlight and went outside to see what made the noise.

“Right in front of me was the bear, just chilling there eating some garbage,” Perdew said. “He didn’t run away or anything. He was a cinnamon brown. And I said, ‘Oh my God, there’s a bear.’”

Some of the residents have a good attitude towards the bear in the area:

Dassenko said she isn’t worried about the recent visitor. It’s just part of living in the country.

“This is their home too,” Dassenko said.

The sad part is that the bear might very well become a “problem bear,” meaning, a huge hassle for humans. Let’s hope the bear doesn’t become an issue.

New York City is a long way from Eugene, Oregon, but this story has my interest for these reasons: it’s related to my earlier post about coyotes seen in residential areas in Newport, Oregon, on the coast (literally, coyotes on the beach), and I’m interested in stories of wild animals interfacing with humans, or, vice versa.

Also, it seems that in the past few years, stories of known animals — meaning, mundane, recognizable creatures as compared to unknown, anomalous, cryptid types — behaving more boldly as well as more strangely, have increased. I noticed this pattern about ten, twelve years ago. For some reason I started collecting news clippings and stories of strange animal behaviors. When I told one of my professors about this he agreed it was certainly interesting, but wanted to know so what; what was I going to do with these stories, why was I collecting them? “Because they’re cool and weird” wasn’t enough of a motivation. Well, I still don’t know what I want to do with these stories, except to share them, for now.

So, we have coyotes in New York city. Part of my fascination of stories like this is the juxtaposition of humans, especially in places so seemingly out of touch with “the wild,” even though “the wild,” may be less than fifty miles away. Well dressed people eating perfect food in lovely places, and two blocks away are coyotes. Or deer, or bear or wolverines or cougars or . . .

Even in places not so la de dah as New York City, like Newport, Oregon, the juxtaposition still fascinates. Newport is a funky yet somewhat large beach town, (not a criticism) where, however, “gentrification” is going on in some areas. Expensive condos and too too cute and over priced shops are shoved up against older and poorer homes, often in disrepair. And just a few miles away from the touristy beach spots are the rural areas; some poor, some with one way glass windows wrapping around beautiful homes atop hills, and some in between. Add to this the presence of animals coming down from the hills, or out of the forests, onto the boardwalks and surrounding neighborhoods seems like both poetic justice in some ways, as well as tragic for the animals. Obviously their presence is a sign of what’s happening to their environment and the effect that has on the animals.

Well that was gloomy. I didn’t intend it to turn out that way, it just did. Maybe it’s because right now it’s a dark, rainy, windy cold day here in Oregon. Not at all unusual for western Oregon, true. . .

So, back to the coyotes in New York. This recent news items tells about a captured coyote in the city: Not wily enough: Cops corral roving Tribeca coyote along West Side Highway.

New York’s runaway coyote has been corralled.

The elusive animal was finally nabbed in Tribeca on Thursday after cops found it in a parking lot near the West Side Highway.

“He didn’t seem too Wily by the time we found him,” said Detective James Coll, who collared the coyote with Detective Robert Mirfield.

Limo driver Ralph Rothstein, 63, who witnessed the capture, said the creature “had one ear up and one ear down, like a cartoon character, and didn’t know which way to go.

“I was reading about it earlier in the day then, all of a sudden, I see the coyote and I couldn’t believe it…It looked scared,” he added.

Naturally the poor thing was scared! Fortunately the coyote is in the hands of animal caretakers and will be released into the wild. Other coyotes have been seen — and captured — in New York City over the last five years or so.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/25/2010-03-25_not_wiley_enough_cops_corral_roving_tribeca_coyote_along_west_side_highway.html#ixzz0jIfHWU3N