Temple Work Day Update

In the word's of our High Priestess: "Wow.   All I can say is:   Wow.   WOW!"

THANK YOU to Bill, who spent a solid week from Sunup to Sundown each day clearing our community garden site, chopping wood, burning brush, and creating the base for our new wood shed by the Henge!  Amazing work, Bill!  Also thanks to Tony, Barrett and Jack for helping as well (and their work on enlarging and landscaping our pet cemetery)!

Also, amazing thanks go out to Jeanne, Tony, Barrett and Tracy for working Uncle Bill's Flea Market for us!  They worked all weekend long and garnered quite a bit for our monthly mortgage payment! 

And, again to Tony and Barrett, lots of appreciation for coming out every Tuesday, and then some this week, to widen our paths and provide handrails in certain spots.  A nice compliment to the bridges you guys led in building across our stream in a couple of places.

THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!  You are much appreciated!

Think Global & Buy Local

Shopping at a local small business means supporting friends and neighbors, the community, and the local economy. We are so lucky to live here in beautiful western North Carolina and want to support the businesses in our own backyard. This is why we have chosen to participate in an affiliate program with our local bookstore, City Lights. We hope you will find look at our recommended reading section and that if you find books of interest you will chose to order from City Lights. A portion of your purchase will be donated to the Temple whenever you link from our site to City Lights.

City Lights Bookstore

WCU Diversity Week

Western Carolina University is committed to creating an engaged and inclusive campus community.  The campus Community Creed specifically states:
 
• “I will respect the dignity and rights of all persons.”
• “I will demonstrate concern for others and live up to my community responsibilities.”

In keeping with this creed, every year in September WCU hosts Diversity Week with presentations on campus. Our High Priestess gave a presentation yesterday on Wicca and Paganism and some of the struggles and persecution we face.

One thing that was discussed during the presentation was ‘Unearned privilege’ which is defined as a group of people are entitled to get special things based on the group they belong to, even though they have done nothing to deserve it. We can see this in action with people who are right-handed. They can use a computer, open a can, or cut with scissors and it is easy for them. Left-handed people, on the other hand, have to adapt to using things that are not designed for them. Right-handed people often don't realize that they have this privilege. But anyone who does not have this unearned privilege is acutely aware of it.

We discussed how the same analogy could be applied to Christians and Pagans in the US. There is a broad assumption in the states that because the majority of the population is Christian it means we are all Christian. Examples of this can be seen in something as simple as saying “Merry Christmas.” Personally I am not offended when someone wishes me Merry Christmas but I do understand how it assumes and I often reply “Happy Holidays.”

Follow us on twitter @SylvanHearth and send us your thoughts on unearned privilege, we would love to hear from you.